Shadows of light [attn. Aramina]

[silhouette]

 

 

The bond was improving. It was every bit as solid and real as it had been since the very moment Aramina had weaved it on her, and yet it was improving. While their first moments as bondmates had been confusing, Rosheen felt that they were getting used to each other now. Not much had changed. She had always been aware of Aramina’s location, only now she had this awareness confirmed by the bond. They were still learning to control their emotions, but now that the first moments of shock and worry were over, she felt that the bond was balancing out.

 

It was a shame that there hadn’t been a trollic raid to show Rosheen how the bond would feel if they were under attack, but this was Kandor. Sooner or later there would be a raid. It was as inevitable as the rising of the sun in the morning, and the setting of it at night. She was patrolling the makeshift wall now, peering to the north. Aramina was in the village somewhere, talking to someone. She felt the amusement in her bondmate, so she assumed it was a good talk. It was better than the worry she felt in her sometimes, when her bondmate joined her in looking to the north.

 

There was still the fear that they wouldn’t make it out alive. They had had a few close calls already, and while Rosheen was as good a warrior as you would find in the borderlands, she was just one warrior. If only they had one squadron of Tower Guards with them. Or just ten. Ten well trained tower guards could make a difference here, on the edge of darkness. But so far they had heard nothing. Not a peep from the South. Not a word from Tar Valon. Aramina thought it was because such things took time to get through the hall. In the deepest, darkest corner of her mind, Rosheen thought it was because the Hall had given up on Kandor, choosing instead to focus it’s energy on those nations that could be saved. Could she really blame the Hall, after seeing Kandor with her own eyes?

 

Some excitement at her back drew her attention away from the north. One of the younger boys came sprinting towards her, calling out to her. He came to a full stop mere inches in front of her. “Mistress Rosheen, Mistress Rosheen!!!” he cried out, even though she was right in front of her. She felt instantly alarmed. An attack from the south. “Aes Sedai!” he cried out. Something wrong with Aramina? Rosheen searched the bond, finding nothing out of order there. “Aes Sedai coming in from the south! With men! Armed men!” Hope springs eternal. With a wide grin Rosheen sprinted off in the direction the boy had come from. The White Tower had send reinforcement after all.

 

~Rosheen Tahn Sakhr

 

[TaeaDawn]

“Aes Sedai coming in from the south! With men! Armed men!”

 

Word spread quickly and though Aramina was glad to hear of incoming Sisters, she was shocked none the less.  She said her good-byes to the young man she had been talking to, one who believed himself well enough trained to assist her, even after she had pointed out that her Warder was doing well enough on her own, then headed out to see what the fuss was about. 

 

There was no army coming to their side but the signs were unmistakable.    These few were what?  A message?  Come home before it's too late?  Come home because you are alone in your fight?  Or stay put.  Help is on it's way?

 

It was the last she wanted to hear, but she was skeptical.  The Tower worked in slow ways and she would not have expected an answer so soon.  And if they had an answer, she would have expected an army.  Still, she found herself moving forward until she could reach the side of her    Warder.

 

"What news are we looking for Rosheen?" She asked quietly.  She felt herself on edge as the moved forward, tension coming back from the bond as well as she and Rosheen moved together to see what new business was ahead of them.

 

Aramina

[silhouette]

“Be on edge.”

 

It wasn’t much of a reply to Aramina’s question, but it was the first thing to come to mind. Back-up was much needed and much desired, but that didn’t mean Rosheen would trust every seemingly good gift without knowing it was actually a good gift first. She had survived too many battles to become careless now.

 

And yet the group seemed to come from the White Tower. With the spring to guide her, she could see the number of people arriving and the colour of the shawl the woman was wearing. “It’s a Red sister, with… five guards to accompany her. Red coats.” Narrowing her eyes slightly, she tried to recognise some of them. The one in front looked like John Gregory. That was a good sign. She could feel the tension drain from her muscles.

 

“The one up front… I think it’s John Gregory. He’s a captain among the guards. If they’ve sent a captain, then there must be more Tower Guards in Kandor already.” Hope seemed to swell up inside of her. “I’m surprised that they didn’t send a Green Sister to assess the situation, but it’s entirely possible that they didn’t think that was necessary, with you here. Maybe they expect the Shadow to put up a fight here in Kandor, with dreadlords as well as shadowspawn."

 

It was a good, solid explanation. That was what Rosheen would tell herself, afterwards. If something looked, sounded and smelled like an Aes Sedai and a group of Tower Guards, then she could not be blamed for thinking it an Aes Sedai and a group of Tower Guards. It was no comfort at all when the ground next to her erupted, and she was knocked off her feet. Her ears were ringing and her vision was shaky, but the implications were clear. Betrayel. Darkfriends. Death. With a roar she sprang to her feet, her sword already in hand. “Die!” she shouted, the only battle cry she had ever needed. “Die!” so that she and her bondmate might live.

 

~Rosheen Tahn Sakhr

[TaeaDawn]

She had only a slight warning that something was wrong before everything seemed to turn to chaos.  In all their time in Kandor, she had never expected something like this.  Trollocs and the Eyeless she had known.  She would not have thought to be betrayed like this though.  Aramina had been holding the One Power as she rode out with Rosheen, in case of trollocs or shadow agents come to make another attempt, when it was suddenly gone.  She knew what it was as soon as it hit, though it took a moment to realise that it was their supposed envoy that was to blame.  The ground erupted around her Warder even as she tried to scream a warning out.  The sounds was lost in the blast of earth and Aramina lost her footing and fell to the side.  A second later, bands of air caught her and she was unable to move.

 

She heard Rosheen's cry and screamed in frustration.  The bands kept her from being able to move and she was shielded from the One Power.  She felt emotion surge through the bond, fear, excitement, but overall a desperate determination.  Aramina knew it without having ever felt it before.  Rosheen was prepared to die to save her, prepared to kill for their lives.  She was oddly comforted by the fact that Rosheen at least was there with her now, that Rosheen was fighting for her.  It was the last thing she thought before the world fell away and she was in the darkness, alone.

 

Aramina

 

 

[silhouette]

Through the bond Rosheen felt a sudden loss. It was vague to her, as she’d never channelled. She realised what it meant when she felt Aramina’s helplessness and frustration ooze through the bond. They had shielded her bondmate. The lack of movement at her side told her that they’d probably tied her down with air as well. They’d focussed on the Aes Sedai because that was where they expected the threat to come from. Two of the male dreadlords rode forward even as the woman held back. What did they think they were going to achieve there? With her? Arrogant fools. She’d show them.

 

Of course it was a lost battle to begin with. Of course there was little she could do against a group of channellers. But even as she felt Aramina black out, Rosheen knew that she would give them hell at least. Maybe kill a few. Others would sprout up to replace them, but she would still. She fluidly fell into Lion on the hill and waited for them to arrive. Whatever their intentions had been beforehand, seeing Rosheen ready to fight must have inspired their idiocy a little further. Both of them dismounted, one taking up a sword made of Saidin and the other taking up one made of steel. Tools that would be made useless if no wielded by a master. They would see.

 

She charged at the one with the Saidin blade then, ducking underneath his clumsy slash and aiming Black pebbles on snow at his ribs. He danced back then, unsteady on his feet. His demise was postponed by an attack from his steel-wielding companion. Rosheen rolled away from Courtier taps his fan, and met his Boar rushing down the mountain with Lightning of three prongs. Rosheen circled the man , who kept his back to his companion, allowing him the time and space to get up. “You’re going to die.” She stated casually. “If not here today, then you will die by my hand or that of my brethren later. Either way, your fate is sealed.”

 

The one with the steel sword smirked, and launched another attack at her. Their blades locked because Rosheen allowed it, pulling him close enough to kick him in the knee. He stumbled back, but this time it was his companion who saved him, rather than the other way around. “We’ll see, wretch.” That one hissed. Rosheen smiled at him. “Sooner, rather than later I would hope.”

 

~Rosheen Tahn Sakhr

Grand Master

[silhouette]

Gideon know they had underestimated the warder the moment she took a guard stance. He had been fighting for many years, and unlike Cedric, he’d always been particularly good at picking his battles. Oh, he wasn’t a master like Cedric, but he at least had avoided getting scarred up so badly it had taken the Master’s healing to set him right again. So when the woman calmly awaited them, Gideon had been ready to just swat her down with the One Power. No deaths, Nyssa had said. Fine. He could immobilise her just as well as the Aes Sedai. At least, he thought he could.

 

Between Cedric and him, the shield on the Aes Sedai was hard enough to maintain as it was. He was glad Nyssa had knocked the woman out before she could contemplate struggling against it, because that would have meant they were in trouble. As it was, Gideon had welcomed the chance to use a sword instead of the one power. Up until she moved. Cedric fabricated a sword of fire and spirit and air for himself, draining himself even further. Gideon would have frowned at his friend, if he hadn’t been too busy saving his life. The woman was good. Too good.

 

Even as he stumbled through Arc of the moon and Low wind rising the warder closed in, deflecting his efforts with an ease that spoke of decades of practise, a pure dedication to the fight. He had no business fighting her, and she knew it. In the end he got off lucky. The warder blocked his Moon rises over the water with parting the silk. Things went downhill rapidly from there. So far downhill that he was staring at her face from a few inches distant, before she withdrew her sword from his abdomen. A killing blow. All he could do was lie down and wait for it to end, or for Cedric to win. He just had to remember keeping up the shield. “Told you so.” The woman said, before turning away and sauntering over to Cedric, who at least had the decency to scream in rage.

 

Gideon

Dreadlord says ouch.

[silhouette]

With a howl Cedric launched himself at the warder. Gideon had been his friend and apprentice for many years, and to see him fall at her feet... To see her smile at his soon to be lifeless body… It was more than he could handle. The saidin-made blade he was holding flashed brightly with the intensity of his hatred. Still, he had to stay focussed. The woman was good, but she had to have flaws. Everyone had flaws, even the Chosen. That wasn’t a thought he’d ever voice out loud through. He attacked the woman with Bundling the draw in hopes of finding an opening in her defences which he could use to destroy her.

 

Cutting the clouds almost put a quick stop to those plans. Cedric was able to leap back just in time to avoid losing his swordhand all together. “Damn you!” he cursed as he parried the following attacks clumsily. The river cuts the underbank had as little effect as The Rose unfolds. Striking the spark seemed to slide of the warder’s blade as if he didn’t even put all his effort into it. Even though he was outmatched by her in skill, she should have been affected by the fire of his blade at least, but she didn’t seem to feel the heat any more than her blade did.

 

A stroke of luck, then. The warder seemed to stumble to her knees. Cedric raised his sword high, ready to run it straight through her head for what she’d done to Gideon. “Die!” he screamed. “Maybe later.” she said. Cedric didn’t even see her move into Lizard in a thorn bush and yet that had been exactly what she had been doing when she pivoted and went to her knees. She thrust outwards with her sword, planting it firmly in his thigh. He screamed again, with pain this time. Time seemed to slow to a crawl when the warder pulled the blade from his thigh and directed it in an upward slash in the same motion. It slowed and slowed, until her blade was but an inch from his chin.

 

Cedric

Eep!

[silhouette]

It had been inevitable, of course. When fighting a pair of dreadlords, it was only a matter of time until one of them cheated their way into winning. Rosheen consoled herself with that thought as her blade stayed frozen in the air, a mere inch away from a killing blow. With a bit of luck the other one would at least bleed to death before his companions could heal him. “Cedric.” The woman that had been with the party called out to the one she had just stabbed in the leg. “Back away from the pointy end of her sword.” The woman sounded irritated. That was good. Another fine thing accomplished before the end.

 

Rosheen tried to turn to look at Aramina one last time before the woman would end it. The bond had been good, while it lasted. Maybe they would allow her bondmate to live, as a warning to the White Tower. Maybe not. Either way, Rosheen had given it her all in hopes of postponing the end just a little while. It had been a good fight. Neither of the dreadlords had ever stood a chance, even if the one with the saidin-made blade was a decent warrior. In any fair battle, Rosheen could have defeated him, his companion and four more of his level without taking a single blow. It was of no concern in a battle like this though.

 

She watched ‘Cedric’ as he limped away from her sword, and towards his fallen companion. She didn’t have to see Saidin to understand that the other was being heal. All that effort, for nothing but a few minutes of life. “You fought well.” The woman said, standing next to her frozen form. “Of course this was never going to end any other way, but at least you will have the comfort of knowing that you fought well.” And oddly enough it was a comfort. When Lyanna had died, she hadn’t even been there. She had failed her by default. This time she had been around to fight, and she had done the best she could. She had defeated them, and if it had been just the two of them, she would have won.

 

Of course that meant little when she felt a pressure on her mind. The woman’s face faded into darkness even as she felt her body go limp and land on the ground. So this was it then. The last embrace of the mother would welcome her home at least.See you soon. she thought, hoping that somehow Aramina would hear it.

 

~Rosheen Tahn Sakhr

Grand Master

Not as dead as she thinks