Theana and her young Initiate friend, We-Rin, carried in the unconscious form of what they hoped was the last of those injured in the battle. They found a courtyard filled to overflowing with pain, confusion, and dismay. Several dozen lay wounded or dazed in the center of the courtyard, with Priests kneeling by their sides to provide what healing they could. Only a few of the Priests were specialists in medicine, but more doctors were on the way. Those injured who had more serious needs had been carried to the nearest infirmaries of the Center, with messages to bring the needed doctors.

Around the edges of the area reserved for the wounded, the other survivors of the battle (for there had been a handful of deaths) were gathered in murmuring, fearful knots or in solemn, strategic huddles led by Guardians. But there was no order to any of it that Theana could see.

Once she and We-Rin had deposited the wounded woman they carried, they each went their separate ways, searching for friends. Theana sought Gern and Mir-Ven, fearing the worst. She was somewhat relieved that she did not spot them among the wounded, but then could not help wondering if they lay among the dead that had yet to be retrieved.

“Theana, you’re okay!” came a glad cry from her back, and by the time she turned she was being crushed in half by Mir-Ven. Gern stood beyond the embrace, and Theana shared a glad smile of reunion with him.

“I’m fine,” Theana assured the girl. “Just a bit scraped and bruised. And my hearing’s still a bit stuffy.”

“What happened?” Gern asked, concerned. Mir-Ven released her hold and stepped back to listen.

“I came about a hair’s breadth from getting blown to bits, that’s all,” she replied, waving her hand as if it were an everyday occurrence. “I don’t recommend the experience. What about you two? You look healthy enough.”

Gern’s lips thinned to a firm line, a grim expression. “They hardly gave us much notice. The Paladins, that is. The Members spotted us looking as if we were ready to scale the wall, they raised an alarm, but then a couple of Paladins appeared and exploded a few spots in front of us. As a warning, it served well. If we had actually planned to move forward, that would have stopped us nicely. But I think they knew we were a diversion tactic.” He seemed rather insulted by how easily his team’s role in the battle had been dismissed.

“They definitely had the advantage,” Theana agreed, shrugging. “What can we do?”

“If we can get more Mage-Priests,” Gern said, appearing angry. “We only have a few full-fledged magic-users among the Defenders, and they weren’t organized enough, weren’t ready for that kind of violent magic. They’re used to mainly defensive magic, but with some planning and the input of the Guardians…”

“You don’t sound as if you’ve completely lost hope,” Theana observed. She was not certain if such was admirable or not.

“We can’t just let them take over!” he replied, throwing his hands in the air. “The Comu Liba will be here soon. If we’re just sitting on our hands when they arrive, we may as well be ready to just hand the Center over to them!”

That may be exactly what we have to do, Theana thought, but she didn’t have the heart to say it out loud to Gern.

As everyone managed to calm somewhat, order began to be restored. This was in large part due to the arrival of Shul. Whatever had happened between them, Theana had to admire his ability to inspire others with his straightforward, unwavering approach. His strong and handsome appearance did not hurt matters, certainly.

In any case, between Shul and a few other charismatic and efficient Guardians, the wounded animals in the courtyard again became an organized fighting force with plans in the making.

The Guardians were certainly realistic concerning the power they faced in the form of the Paladins’ magic, but they were not about to give in. They fought on two fronts at that point, and the battle was not to immediately be a physical one. One front consisted of the Priests who had not so far been supportive of fighting the Cha within the walls; messengers were sent to arrange a meeting to appraise those Priests of the need and to stress the importance of recruiting magic users. The other front consisted of the Cha Paladins. Physical confrontation was not advisable with the current status of the Defenders, so messengers were sent for negotiation with the Cha. This negotiation was partly sincere, for without the help of the Mage-Priests, battle was useless. But the negotiations were also intended as a delaying and distracting tactic while the Defenders gathered themselves. It would not be beyond the scope of possibility for the Cha to decide that they could go ahead and attack without the backup of the Comu Liba forces.

Once the messengers had been sent, there was not a whole lot to do for those who were not a part of the active leadership and strategy teams. Theana sat with Gern and Mir-Ven, discussing possibilities and plans concerning the battle, but also speaking of matters having nothing to do with the battle. Mir-Ven told of how the Priests were dealing with Rel, and Theana shared her disgust. She avoided comment when Gern told of his plea to Shul as he guarded the tower where Rel was being held. But even uncomfortable topics were an improvement over thinking about the battle, helped them to relax, and to relieve some of the tension of waiting.

Further relaxation came in the form of We-Rin and another young Initiate he introduced as his brother. It turned out that Gern knew them both, which made sense concerning the similar status of the three of them. We-Rin’s brother, We-Run, produced a small bundle of cards corded together, a strategy game played by many of the Guardians that was beginning to catch on with the younger folk in the rest of the Center. We-Run’s version was actually a modified form of the game that involved pitting Guardian-Priests against mythical, magical creatures such as dragons and, to Theana’s bemusement, Guba-Lan.

Theana felt a bit moronic at first, finding herself confused by the complex gameplay, but she was beginning to catch on when someone walked up beside and behind her and stood. Theana, too involved in the game to pay much mind to the spectator, was surprised when Gern looked up, his features alight, and quickly leaped to his feet.

“Rel!” he exclaimed, rushing to embrace her as Theana turned and stood.

Rel shared a smile with Theana as she hugged Gern and Mir-Ven joined in. “Hello, all.”

“What…? How did you get out?” Gern asked, amazed. “Did they come to their senses?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Rel said, and she seemed to blush slightly for some reason. “My current Guardian is apparently more…compassionate than the others. He…unofficially freed me…or perhaps looked the other way while the door was open.”

“Was it Shul?” Gern asked brightly. Rel nodded, and Theana could see more than gratitude in the woman’s demeanor. She was not sure how she felt about that. She had no right to feel anything about it, did she?

“I knew he would find a way to help,” Gern said happily. “I knew even his devotion to duty wouldn’t let him keep you locked up for long. He’s too nice for that, isn’t he Theana?”

Theana smiled tightly. “He is very nice.”

“You know him?” Rel asked, acting surprised but obviously fishing for more information.

Mir-Ven interrupted, apparently seeing a need to head something off. “Theana and Shul are…”

“Good friends,” Theana cut in, glancing significantly at Mir-Ven and receiving a bewildered look in return. “I’m not surprised he let you out. But why did you run right into the midst of all of this mess? After what they did, I would have thought you would have headed straight home!”

“Well, for one thing, I don’t have much left back home,” Rel admitted. “So I can’t say my efforts are fully noble. But I also decided that this would be the best way to show the Priests that I am not…whatever they think I am. I want to fight.”

“Good luck,” Mir-Ven commented wryly.

“We’re…not doing too well so far,” Gern informed her. “The Cha Paladins…when we attacked, the Paladins just gestured toward us and made the street blow up in front of us. We can’t fight that, not unless the Mage-Priests will come to their senses and join in.”

“Leaving alone the fact that the Comu Liba will be on our doorstep within a matter of hours,” Theana added grimly, returning to a cross-legged seat on the ground where We-Rin and We-Run sorted and arranged the cards of the game. “At this late hour, I’m not sure what we can do besides run and leave the Center to the Cha and the rebels.”

“No!” Gern replied with startling passion. “We can’t just…just…”

Theana caught his eyes with hers. “Gern, look. We can’t win. If we fight, a lot of us will die. A lot of those that make up this Community will die. Are we fighting for these buildings and these walls? Or are we fighting for the people who live here?”

“That’s not the point and you know it,” Gern responded. “That’s a good way to rationalize giving up, but not good enough. If we let them take this place, that will be letting them add to their strength, their resources. One Center at a time, and they have a huge army protected by walls, and they also own Southern Lorcron. We can run, but where are we going to run to if they take over everything? Are you just going to go back to Brunwyth and chalk it up to the problem of another Realm?”

Theana was quite taken aback by all of this, and hardly knew what to say. She felt ashamed, in a way, of the portrait Gern was painting of her, but she also felt affronted. “We won’t be able to ‘save the Realm’ from the Cha and the rebels if we’re dead, now will we? You’re implying that I’m scared. Fine. I’ll say it. I’m scared. I don’t want to get blown up. Forgive me. I just don’t foresee us doing much more good here at this point.”

Feeling strangely affected by the harsh words that were passing between her and Gern, as well as feeling the eyes of their audience, Theana stood to walk away, to find an isolated corner where she could be alone. Gern’s expression softened and he opened his mouth as if to apologize, but whatever he had to say was interrupted by the approach of a Guardian. Theana saw that it was Shul.

Apparently someone out there thought that she was not in enough of an emotional tangle already, so had decided to complicate matters further.

Shul greeted the lot of them, nodding politely to everyone in turn, though Rel did not see his nod for staring at the pavement. The Guardian then addressed Theana and Gern directly. “Could I see the two of you for a moment?”

Theana’s eyes narrowed, and Gern seemed curious. The two of them followed him to the shadows of the eave of a building that bordered the courtyard.

“Can either of you tell me why the Cha, the rebels, or both might want to take Gern?” Shul asked without preamble.

Theana blinked, nonplussed. “They…they said that?”

“They told the negotiators that they wanted two things: full control of this Center and its resources (meaning we must all leave), and for us to turn the young man named Gern over to them,” Shul elaborated evenly, and waited for an answer from whomever might have one to offer.

“The Power,” Gern said simply.

“That’s not…” Theana began, but was not certain what she had planned to say. “Why would they want that? How would they even know anything about it?”

Gern thought a moment. “Neel? Perhaps he…no, that doesn’t seem right.”

Shul shook his head slightly. “Excuse me, but are you speaking of the Power that Am-Te says lies ‘within’ you? There is no real assurance that such is even…”

“Shul…” Theana said by way of forestalling anything the Guardian might say to downplay Am-Te’s perceptions in front of Gern.

“Paladin Resk!” Gern burst out, interrupting Theana’s interruption. “He knows! Remember, Theana, when we talked about why he interfered when Wue-Drae came to take me? He must have been able to sense the Power somehow…and he communicated with his fellow Paladins…”

Shul looked at Theana dubiously, as if for verification. She shrugged. “This Paladin did seem quite interested in Gern, even to the point of engaging in deadly combat to keep hold of him. I mean, whatever the true nature of the Power, the Cha obviously want Gern for some reason related to it.”

Shul did not appear quite satisfied, but he sighed and shrugged to match Theana’s gesture. “We just wanted to know exactly what we were fighting for now that we have refused their demands.”

Theana’s brows lowered. “How do we plan to fight them? Were you here for the battle? Did you see what they can do?”

“I heard tell of it,” Shul said. “There is a way. There is always a way.”

Theana gave no response to that, mindful of where it had gotten her with Gern. “Have you heard from the other Priests?”

“Soon, I hope,” Shul answered, turning slightly as if to leave. His eyes flicked to Gern, then to Theana. “I…be careful. We have a long night ahead. And a long day after that.”

Shul stalked off into the night, his dark cloak swallowing the usual gleam of his plate armor. Theana stared after him for a moment, troubled.

“Something…something happened between you and Shul?” Gern asked hesitantly.

Theana looked to him, smiled gently. “Let’s go join the others and play some more cards, maybe try to grab some sleep. You heard Shul; we have a long night ahead.”