08/13/2000

Battle Room #1: North Wall of the Fort(#1380J)

The massive gates of Fort Cubiyari'Shain tower above the land here, giving
the impression of a mocking grin. Come get me, they seem to whisper. The
black stone of the Fort walls seem nearly impregnable, a formidable sight
for anyone who dares this charge. The remains of the Nai's camp is
scattered about...tent pegs, firepits. The Army has retreated inside of the
Fort.

Off to the side the squat Barracks building sits, vulnerable.

The fort of Cubiyari'Shain stands tall against the comming army. People can
be seen moving along the top, and in the few archer-holes along the side.
The wind blows softly through the camp of the Nai, but no one can be found
there. The gates have been closed for the first time since the Fort was
built, and the hard wooden doors are closed over that, soaked through with
Water to hold down flames. All around the Fort, streaching for over fifty
paces, a mine field has been activated, with small explosive weaves set
about every three feet in a random pattern. It's impossible to predict.

Tetrarch stands a bit back from the gates, pulling deeply of the Source
through his Sa'angreal. He lets his eyes scan across the approaching Army.
Zashta stands next to him, feeling generally useless. She can't use a bow,
and little of the fighting today will be hand-to-hand.

Across from those forbidding doors, across the field that once held the Nai
army.. comes the Army of the Light. Rank upon rank of men in perfect
formation, banners waving in the breaze, sun glinting off of armor and
spear tip. Men with faces that look young, but no less determined. If any
of them are intimidated they are hiding it well. At the head of the army
rides a smaller contingent, flying the banners of the White Tower, as well
as those countries loyal to the Light. Beneith those banners rides
Christabel Sedai, and her staff. The entire force comes to a halt some
three hundred yands from the gates, And there is silence.. save for the
wind..

Tahei stands to the left and slightly behind Tetrarch, wearing a blue
horshoe with wickedly pointed ends on a chain around his neck, and like his
mentor, is also holding vast amounts of the one power through the
sa'angreal. He occasionally switches his gaze from the gate before him
toward Tetrarch, gathering strength from the composure of such a great man.

Nilsha seems pretty dazed by the whole proceedings. She tries to keep as
much out of the way of everyone else as possible, not having much of a clue
what might happen.. except that its not going to be good. She's even less
idea about what she might be able to do to help, despite that little object
tucked away in her pocket. She's not even curious enough to want to go and
look at what lies beyond the gate. Quite happy to remain in blissful
ignorance.

Today the Amyrlin Seat will not ask anyone to participate in a venture so
dangerous, if she herself will not. Despite the furious looks from many,
she sits astride her horse proudly, a tiny china doll who would not look
formidable at all if it were not for the nimbus of saidar surrounding her.
She's fairly far back, away from a great deal of the proceedings, but she
raises her angreal staff high and points it at the Gates. Flows of Water
spin out and into the door. Its water soaked? Great. She begins expanding
the water, filling it even further. The Fort gates begin to buckle inward,
and leak water. A few scattered cheers arise.

Raeth sits on his warhorse next to the Amyrlin looking out towards the soon
to become battlefield with icy cold eyes. His bladed staff lies across his
legs...waiting. He remains silent, observing his wards actions while
keeping an eye on things around him

Why did Neelkan choose to come to the Fort when he caught wind of the
movement? Well no doubt his trainers thought he might be an asset after the
last battle he was in, or something of the such. But if he really didn't
want to go, he probably wouldn't be here. Instead, he has every intention
of helping whallop the Fort but good. Why? Because he was held prisoner
there!! Why else? He's up on a horse, near the back in the general area
where the Amyrlin is. His sword is drawn in one hand, and there's something
hanging from his waist that looks like a weapon of some kind. His horse
isn't exactly a warhorse, or even overly impressive, but it doesn't spook
too easily at least, so it isn't dancing around.

From the back of the channelers lined at the Fort steps U'saana. Emaculate
in an outfit of white and her hair expertly coifed. Some would think she
was to attend a banquette with the opposing army instead of battleing them.
She steps up behind Tetrarch then up along side of him, pulling at the
source a good deal more than a normal channelers could, she obviously has
assistance from somewhere. "The Wolf is ready to Shine Asha'cor." Formal
words are spoken.

Tetrarch smirks. "Good." he says. "Prepare the flamers." he whispers to
her. "Links!" he calls out once, and all throughout the Fort one man and
one woman link together for a moment. Tetrarch pulls U'saana into just such
a link, two of the strongest channelers in the Fort. First things first,
Tetrarch cuts that annoying weave off his Gates. That also makes him smirk.
The Amyrlin decides to come to the battle. Such a shame. Well, he can't let
the Army just sit out there all day. "Fire!" he calls, and the Archers all
along the ramparts let loose a long barrage of flamming arrows up and down
into the light's Army, followed by huge fireballs flying up and out as
well, include one nearly fifty-paces wide from the Tetrarch-U'saana link.
And with that, the links disolve as the rest prepare for single combat. All
weaves are woven, and can no longer be cut, they are simply going to fall
into the ranks.

Christabel holds up a hand, her own staff of white birch wood held tightly
in it. "For the Light, and the Amyrlin Seat!" her voice booms across the
field... right in the face of the fire raining down upon her army.. Such
simple tactics... But she should have expected such from Him. "Runners!"
And with that command the first ranks break into a dead run for the walls
of the fort. Men who have volunteered, who hate the Shadow as more than
anything.. men who have lost everything.. Men who know they will be the
first to die. The Vangard. The Rest of the army follows at a slower pace,
archers now in the front. At the same time Sedai scattered throughout the
army throw up their shields to protect their troops. Fire rains down,
arrows bouncing off shields... Fireballs bursting in the air.. and of
course.. amoung the troops.. cries of pain merg with the cries of the
runners charging ahead... untill one is impossible to tell from the other.

Tahei smirks as a razor sharp blade of air, laced with spirit, cuts through
the shields of air that the Sedai have set up in front of the army. Light
army troops barely have time to scream as they are cut down by the awesome
blade of air flowing through them like a hot knife through butter.

Somewhat naively, Nilsha had expected to be quite safe within the fort,
never really anticipating that the gate might be in danger of being
breached at all.. even less quite so soon. Eyes widen at the sudden flurry
of activity and she edges over towards where U'saana and Tetrarch stand,
somehow feeling a little safer positioned behind them. Fingers reach into
her pocket, wrapping around the angreal as she embraces, still having no
idea what she might be able to do, but feeling more secure holding onto
saidar. At least she can watch what her mentor U'saana does and try to copy
perhaps.

Alright, brother, you want to play? Lets play. Raw power is not everything.
Kaomi smirks herself, controlling her horse expertly with her knees even as
she dances about. Her flows split. More Water goes rushing for the gates
even as Earth begins tunneling under them. Finally Fire and Air make
massive flashes of light right in front of Tetrarch's face, to try to keep
him from seeing to channel. He's not hard to follow...just follow the
source of the spirit knives cutting her toys.

Raeth softly strokes the warhorse's neck; a gift. He shakes his head softly
at it, thinking it a bit ironic, then pulls a cautious blue gaze up towards
the battlefield. Even with the battle raging on, he will not move from his
ward's side. If anything makes it through towards Kaomi, he and his staff
will receive them with a fiery embrace. Raeth gaze follows the flashing
lights that appear across the battle field. That must be _him_. Knuckles
whiten from the tight drop on his staff.

Yikes. Last battle the fireballs weren't quite that big. Neelkan keeps his
horse calm enough not to kick him off somehow, and is helped by the fact
that the majority of them hit a good distance away from him. Being a bandit
and fighting /people/ was one thing. Fighting channelers? Well, he's going
to leave that to the Aes Sedai. A-yup. He doesn't channel, (thank the
Light) so he is just going to hold back for now. He may be a "fearless" and
"brave" guy, but he's not stupid (despite popular belief) enough to go
chargeing into fireballs...

Cutting their way through the men like butter, Fades begin to slink in and
out of the ranks, making their way near towards Kaomi herself as fast as
they can and hardly even pausing with each slice of their black blades.

U'saana stands calmly beside Tetrarch. Not able to create her own flows
while the man has control of their link. Even so, her eyes watch the battle
below, a small light beginning to burn deep within the dark orbs that would
be hard to see from more than a few feet away. Oblivious to the girl behind
her, she pays only heed to Tetrarch and the weaves he creates with the
Source drawn with her help.

Tetrarch drops U'saana away from the link and looks away from the flashing
lights for a moment with a soft growl. He looks back long enough to cut
away the flashing lights. He looks around. Nice trick, Kaomi. He pulls
deeply and tosses up a small present for the Light Army. A trick he learned
from them. A small ball enters itno the air, shimmering with power. It
hovers far above the battle field and suddenly starts to fire Lightening
down into the army, completly at random. One even manages to strike a Fade
and frys him. Even as he does that, ravens and crows fly up out of the fort
and start to cicle around, part distraction, part scare tactic.

Note: The mines continue to explode under those who step on them, killing
dozens.

Onward through the destruction the army goes, following in the tracks of
the dieing vangard. Then it is the Light's turn to attack. Archers stop as
Swordsmen run past, loosing scores, hundreds of arrows up at the walls of
the fort, some carrying explosive weaves of the Power placed by the Sedai
amoung their ranks. At the same time Sedai from throughout the army, some
in links, some singly, begin to throw weaves at the Fort. Greens go for the
walls while Reds begin to single out Dreadlords, begining the duels for
which they were trained from a young age. The battle field becomes awash
with the One Power, as weaves are thrown back and forth, severed, then
restarted. Screams can be heard, and on the field the Yellows do their best
to save those whom they can. Christa meanwhile simply sits her horse where
it is... watching. Not even embracing yet. Oh yes.. a slaughter.. and not
the kind that she enjoys. She glances to the infantry, already starting to
hit some of the mines that the Vangaurd missed... then her eyes wander back
through the army.. and she spots a Fade.. then another. With a small smile
she raises her staff once more and with a glance at each of the three she
spotted Fire is channeled directly into their bodies. Then with a sweeping
motion of the staff, the outer wall of the Fort begins to explode inwards,
in a line from one end to the other. It may not get many of the defenders..
but one never knows.

Tahei morphs the weave of his razor of air and a whirlwind forms at its
last location. It increases in size until it reaches approximately 100 feet
into the air, its swirls darkened by the dirt being sucked up along its
length, showering debris down on the troops of the light army. The
whirlwind begins to move quickly through the troops methodically throwing
them upwards in a gruesome spout of blood and limbs, which in turn, though
relatively harmless in itself, rains down on the army coating many troops
and some sedai with a thin sheen of the blood of their comrades.

The little tricks Nilsha can do with her channelling just don't compare to
anything on this scale, so she just remains behind the others, watching and
hoping that she's picked the safest spot. Stuff might be channelled at Tet,
but he's going to be able to stop it before it does any damage.. or such is
her assumption. She stares wide-eyed at the carnage which ensues, face
paling beneath that tanned skin. Slowly her head turns about and she notes
those falling wounded to the ground, some of them she knows. A couple of
slow steps carry her backwards, as her mind races desparately. What to do?
Indecision lingers for a few long moments, before she rushes across to one
of the fallen, still not sure what she can do, but wanting to help somehow.

Um...that's not good. Suddenly the Amyrlin is changing her flows
altogether. First a shield of Air and Spirit flies up above the heads of
herself, her Gaidin, and Neelkan. It is bouncy, so any lightning that hits
it fires upwards, into the ravens. In the nick of time, too, because a
random lightning bolt strikes down on it...right...above...her...head.
Seared birdies thunk down on the shield. Great smell. She has to abandon
her assault on the gate altogether; Spirit and Water aiming to one Fade's
head, exploding it. She sends more lights around the wall in general,
trying to blind anyone and everyone, not discriminating anymore...but has
to stop as another Fade's blade passes within bare inches of her nose. The
horse freaks, and it is sheer grit that keeps her holding the source, her
sa'angreal, and her lightning-guard...the lights just stop as abruptly as
they started.

That same fade makes another attempt at Kaomi. Raeth growls and nows he
can't make it to the other side of her on time. He leans over and thrusts
his staff before Kaomi's face, just as the fade tries again. Black sword
and bladed staff crash into, the force nearly making the two weapons smash
into the Amyrlin's face. With another loud growl, he pushes the fade's
sword back hard. No time to get around Kaomi's horse. Raeth suddenly grabs
Kaomi's reins and pulls back hard, hoping the trained horse will move back
out of the way so he can get to the fade.

Awwww. Isn't the Amyrlin nice? She's definately not on his list of the evil
women of the world. Neelkan hasn't the faintest idea there's a shield
around him, holding his horse as steady as possible, until lightning
strikes the very far edge of the shield. It would have missed him by meer
inches, and probably thrown him off his horse with the impact, but as is it
just slides off and in another direction away from him. Not straight up,
but away from him, and that's really all he cares about. Then of course...
Fades. His horse dances around, calling out loudly at all that is happening
and quite skittish and wanting to run. He abandons the riegns, knoting them
onto his saddle in an attempt to keep the animal still while he takes the
other weapon off of where it dangles from his waist and flicks it opened.
It's layered, rectangular metal blades that folds out into... a fan. A
metal fan. (And they thought just his "woman hating habits" were weird...)
Another Fade happens to be heading right at Neelkan, so he uses his sword
to keep from getting hit by the slash of that blade, luckily keeping his
eye on said blade and not on the Fade's face (which is why he doesn't get
frozen in terror). After deflecting the slash he nearly loses his seat on
his horse as he swings around afterwards and aims to slash at the fade's
face and neck with the curved, metal, sharp edge of his fan.

Free of the Link, U'saana is able to channel on her own again. A surge of
Air and Spirit woven tightly together lifts around herself and Tetrarch,
extending a few paces onto either side. The sheild is easily seen, thick
and absorbant in it's protection of the two Dreadlords. For a moment,
U'saana takes her eyes off the wonderful display of carnage below to look
to Tetrarch. The words she says to him lost in the battle to any that arn't
right atop of them.

Whatever U'saana says, Tetrarch shakes his head. He looks down onto the
battle and smiles. The Amyrlin's Army has reached the gates. "Open the
gates." he calls out, and the gates do open. And out come the Trollocs.
Thankfully, the fades kept the Amyrlin from putting too much Water in
there. Out pours a hugh number of Trollocs, more than Tetrarch has had in a
long time. They fall against the Army, crushing against it and forcing it
further back, back into the mine filed, those that haven't exploded.
Tetrarch looks over the wall one more time. From behind the Army, the Earth
jumps, a hugh ripple running forward toward the Fort.

Poor Kaomi. This battle is not going well at all is it? You might actually
have some help had the tower not alienated the Almorens so severly.

Christabel finishes her sweep across the wall with a resounding explosion
near the gate. Her horse sidesteps slightly, avoiding a Fade that came too
close as Kayne, her warder, gets between the two. Now the infantry has
something they can fight, and wishing they did not. The clamour of hand to
hand fighting can be heard near the wall, but on the left flank men are
running.. the whirlwind having not only ripped through flesh, but moral as
well. Christabel curses slightly and the fire in her eyes burns bright..
Then the wave of Earth starts... And she is torn. But Kaomi has been
handeling Tet's weaves.. She will do what she has to. The staff raises once
more and she looks to the sky. She is not going to retreat without a
parting shot. thick weaves of all five powers flow into the sky above the
Fort... at first nothing happens... then a small red ball comes falling
down.. then another... then another... Hail of Fire, raining down upon the
fort and those inside. Meanwhile the call for retreat comes... most likely
from some sign of Christa's though she looks to have her full attention on
what she is doing.

Tahei's whirlwind continues to the rear of the battle, continually
fountaining the gory remains of soldiers onto their comrades. It quickly
moves towards a small knot of Novices, almost as if purposely being
directed that way. Closer and closer it gets, Tahei barely taking notice of
the hail of flame falling around him, though he has been lucky thus far.
The whirlwind breeches the circle of novices, sending two of them brutally
upwards, scraps of their pristine white dresses floating gently downwards
towards the ground, on the gentle breeze, and an arm flying nearly three
hundred feet to land at the side of Christabel's horse. Just as the
wirlwind is about to take another of tha madly fleeing Accepted, one of the
balls of fire lands just in front of Tahei, and he loses his hold on the
source, as he flies backwards and hits a door, it splintering behind him,
and his whirlwind winking out, just in the nick of time.

So many bodies.. so much blood.. Nilsha picks her way over to were several
lie slumped on the ground, still twitching and groaning, so not yet dead.
Still a chance she might be able to do something to help. Strong hands roll
the first man over, wincing at the wound they find. She starts as his hand
makes a weak grab at her, but his tenacity seems to only increase her
desire to help him. Almost in a daze, she weaves the flows that will seal
that wound, laying him gently back down on the ground before moving onto
the next. And so she continues, the sounds of the battle ringing in her
ears but ignored, her own personal little battle now to help as many of the
wounded as possible. Blood collects on her dress, but passes unheeded as
she draws on the power of the angreal to help her in her task. Even the
explosive impact of one of those balls of fire landing rather too close for
comfort doesn't cause her to faulter. She might not be the brightest or
best channeller, but she's sure got the determination to make up for some
of that.

The Amyrlin is going to be furious with herself later for more reasons than
one, including the scream of terror she lets out when the two weapons
collide in front of her face. Even as Raeth takes charge of her horse she's
leaping, finding the back of his. The shield above them flickers as her
concentration wavers, then solidifies. Then determination hardens her
features, determination and sheer hatred for what they're fighting. She
knows Raeth can defend them. So she raises the Angreal again. Air, Fire,
Spirit...a keening shriek sounds over the entire battlefield. It is at a
range that it would be merely annoying for human ears...but would drive
Trollocs nuts. She ignores the fleeing men. This isn't /done/ yet, burn it!
Sweat slicks down her face. Her hair goes wet with it. She clutches Raeth's
waist tightly to stay on the horse, snarling a long list of old Jaramidan
obscenities.

This is fun to watch. The Almoren spy busily recording this all away in his
mind cannot help but be delighted at the tower receiving its just desserts
at the hands of the Shadow. If only they had chosen their allies more
carefully...perhaps this whole thing would be different, Almoren siege
engineers would be busily at work on those giant walls. Perhaps an extra
20000 men added to their force. What do they have now though? Essenian
whelps who have stopped their aid to the battle to invade Coremanda. Yup,
this is most satisfying to behold.

Raeth is burns inside with a hidden rage as the blade is impaled upon the
fades chest as it makes a fately mistakes. He pulls it out then swings the
blade, slicing it's head off. Raeth growls again, snapping his head around
to meet the blade of another fade. The trained warhorse suddenly kicks hard
at fade making its way behind them while he tramples with it's front feet
anything that should happen to get under there.

Everyone underestimates the power of a metal fan. Even the Fade apparently.
If it weren't eyeless already, it'd be missing one now. Fade blood slides
down the metal blades of Neelkan's fan, soaking his hand and splattering a
little up. He doesn't hesitate though as he comes around again and digs the
blades deep into the Fade's neck, but not enough to behead it. Then using
his sword to knock the blade from his hand. And cutting a couple of the
things fingers off in the process. Eeeeeeeeeeeeccccch. This is disgusting.
But it could be worse. He knees his horse away from the Fade now, leaving
it there. He doesn't know it'll take a while to die, but he certainly isn't
sticking around to wait. He secures the now very bloody fan at his waist
and grabs the reigns and moves towards Kaomi. And what is the annoying
sound!?

The fire raining on the Fort doesn't do as much damage to the Fort itself
as some would hope. Most of the red balls bouncing off the buildings to
'tumble' to the ground, setting alight bales of hay and even a few of those
citezens stupid enough to be out of doors while a battle rages just outside
the walls. More cries are added to the sounds of battle, blending with
those of the troops who are being cut down on either side. U'saana tries to
strengthen the sheild she holds herself, important enough to hold her
attention more so than destructive weaves. The constant holding of the
Power has yet to effect her, with such an easy, if heavy weave, to hold.
The Saferi woman stays close to Tetrarch's side, trying to move at the same
moments as he so as to keep the shield in place. More of the rained fire
fizzles into the sheilding, making the sphereical shaped weave glow red in
places. Still, the female Dreadlord's eyes stay ablaze, excitement running
through her once her single question to Tetrarch was answered.

Okay, now the Draadlord is /pissed/. Even before the first wave of Earth
comes to a stop a little from the Fort, two more follow it. Only these
start to pop with small but powerful explosions as they hit the main part
of the Army. As for the little ones running away... a small ball falls
infront of them, flashing out a serices of lightning strikes, slaughtering
most of them and forcing them to turn back into the Killing Field. The
Trollocs continue the charge despite the noise, only now some of them are
fighting each other, but mostly in the back ranks until a Fade is close
enough to break it up. One Trolloc near the front lines, apartly deaf, sits
and starts to gnaw on an arm he grabbed from an unsepsecting soilder.

Not done yet indeed... even as the Light troops begin to rout... The
falling Brimstone stops for several momments... Christa's concentration
maintainining however. "To Me Soldiers of the Light!" booms across the
field, over even the screams of the dieing. A flaming nimbus seems to
spring to being around Christa. Who cares that it illuminates her for all
the Dreadlords to see... "Come to me!!" And let the Dreadlords come to her
too... but for all her words and actions she looks very strained.. still
her weaves are in the air... And for what reason? Earth slowly cloecting
bits of dust, Air, holding and squeezing them togeather, fire to heat it
all up into a firy ball. Just as her troops are turning from their rout to
gather around the General, the ball falls, like a falling star... straight
to where He stands.. A ball of almost molten earth nearly three feet
across. A weave like this must be taking everything the general has.

Tahei drags himself out of the door that he crashed through, his legs a
gory mess of char from the hail of fire that hit him moments ago. He is
grasping the source once again, and there is fire in his eyes, a look of
hate he is directing towards the woman who did this to him. He grasps his
sa'angreal in his hand, as he lays feebly in the doorway, and pillers of
stone a foot across rise out of the ground around Christabel and her horse,
a few inches apart. He then weaves fire together with a little bit of air,
to make an exceedingly bright light between each of the pillars. He ties
off the light weave, as tired and hurting as he looks, and his head falls
to the ground, his grip on Saidin dissapearing as he loses consciousness.

Moving between the bodies scattered on the ground, tears begin to streak
Nilsha's cheeks. Definately not hardened to the rigours of battle and with
far too soft a heart to look upon this scene without any reaction. And to
think, before this she'd never really considered that the Light were
capable of causing such death and destruction.. which somehow draws the two
sides even closer together in her mind. Kneeling down at the side of one
body after another, she heals wound after wound, the unfamiliar weaves
suddenly seeming to fall naturally into place. Tired though she quickly
becomes, having never channelled on this scale before, that grim
determination keeps her going. Only when she realises that the figure she
kneels beside is dead, does she rise and move onto the next. The body
slumped by the door? She recognises him.. Tahei! Quickly does she stride
over to him, kneeling down beside him to see just how she might help him.
Delving his wounds she weaves the flows to heal them, hands gently holding
him as she mutters softly, urging him back into consciousness.

The Amyrlin Seat still has a look of fury on her face. And self-blame.
She's running out of ideas, and fast. But it doesn't take her long to come
up with at least one. She pulls on the power, even through the angreal now
to the point of pain. She shoves a web of Spirit deep into the earth. Razor
sharp spirit. The rolling Earth just...stops. Its gone. She sways on
Raeth's back but keeps it up. She wants that son of a fade and his little
chit on the wall, but she is not interested in any /more/ exersizes in
futility today.

Raeth's horse suddenly spins around to meet a trolloc, his hand grips her
hands wrapped around him trying to keep her on the horse. Another trolloc
comes to view, Raeth raises a his foot and gives the bloody trolloc a
smashing hit to the face. The animal crumbles to the floor. "I don't think
we can take much more of this, Amyrlin." He shouts to his ward behind him.
But whatever she decides, he will follow. To the dark one's own prison if
necesary.

Erk! Neelkan holds onto his horse, barely able to stay on as it dances
around in the rolling earth. Don't let him fall, don't let him fall. That's
pretty much what got him captured last time. But by sheer dumb,
Light-blinded luck, he's able to stay on his horse until Kaomi stops the
rolling of the Earth. Trollocs are getting closer. And it's pretty damn
obvious that the battle is over and the Light is going to have to retreat
eventually. He doesn't like it one bit. He wanted to get Verbena back after
all. Make up for not getting her out like he'd promised. But there's
nothing he can do about it right now. And his hand is starting to get
irritated for some reason (Fade's blood...)... But he's not going to
retreat until the order is given, so he swings his sword at each Trolloc,
taking down one with a beak the size of the young man's head.

U'saana has barely time enough to really see what is being thrown at the
sheild she has covering the Asha'cor and herself before she can do
anything. The shout she lets loose is wordless, meant to get Tetrarch's
attention as she herself goes to one knee, trying to cover her head from
what she must fear to be a very damagaing blow. Her worst fears are not
realized though, her shield holding true for the most part. The large
fireball pelts down against the shield, the red glow surrounding where the
fireball hits getting more red than any of the other, smaller fireballs
even thought of doing. Here is where the mistake shows through. Having made
the shield absorbant, U'saana messed up. All the heat from the large
missile sent from Christabel burns into the sheild itself, creating
something of a steam oven for U'saana and Tetrarch inside. The steam fog
inside the shell obstructs the view of the two inside.

Dark anger glows in Tet's eyes as the falling star strickes down. Zashta,
still beside her lord, crys out in pain and that only causes the Asha'Cor
to burn more, ignoring his own heavy wounds, though they are already
Healing. His dark eyes search out Christabel as he drops all other weaves
to focus in on her. A moment of cold silence surrounds him, and then comes
the crash of multiple lightning strikes, rising up out of the ground around
Christabel, slautering those who came to her on command. The stone pillars
explode and the light between them flashes out, only to be replaced with
the searing light of the strikes as the front line becomes nearly a soild
wall of lightening strikes. Tetrarch raises himself a bit, probally not the
smartest of moves as he concentrates solidly on the multiple weaves droping
into the ground. Hair all over the battle-field begins to stand on end as
the static charge enters the air. And then Tetrarch gets shot by an arrow
and falls back, off the wall into a hay stack. Lucky him, and the
lightening continues for a few moments more before finnaly flashing out.

Christabel slumps forward on her horse as the ball of molten earth hits..
her eyes closing for a momment.. Sleep... that would be good now.. but only
for a momment. Then she snaps up shakily. Something is wrong... and then
the Lightning comes. Men around her begin to die and it is hard to even see
in the area. Most loose sight of her completly. She tries to form a
shield.. but she is far too weak. She tries to rally her troops.. but there
are none left in the area to rally. Finally sight of her is lost.. And the
true rout begins, men running away without thought to their safety. And out
of the carnage that had been where Christa was standing her horse, a lone
rider runs out... a limp body slumped over his horse, as he is slumped over
the neck of it. Riding fast to the rear.

Trollocs begin to run back from the lightning in utter terror. Kaomi uses
the opening. A huge opaque wall of Air flings up between the two armies,
blocking any view for channeler attacks and covering their escape. Fire and
Air spiral out so that all can hear. "For the Light! Retreat! Retreat!" And
then a snarl that she can't keep back. "This isn't done yet, Tetrarch." All
over the field. Is that /hatred/? Frustration? All sorts of un-Aes Sedai
like displays of emotion? Oh yes. Very much so. The Air and Fire go away
"Hold us here long enough for me to keep covering their escape, Raeth," she
says, wearily, sounding depressed, "and then get us out of here."

Tahei screams as Nilsha heals him, his ragged and charred legs coming back
to their former state, though without most of his pants. He pushes himself
up, barely able in his weakened state, and turns to Nilsha, offering her
what small state of thanks he can muster. Without much thought to his tired
state, he once again grasps the source looking out across the retreating
battle, his fuzzy eyes failing to find a target for his wrath.

Breathing a little sigh of relief as she sees Tahei respond, though she'd
rather it had been without the scream. As he sits himself back up, she
nods, a tiny smile wavering briefly on her lips, as she staggers back to
her feet, a hand reaching out to steady herself. Eyes widen as she looks
around, surveying the reality of the battle, seeing its grand scale for the
first real time. Too much, along with the effort of all that channelling.
She slumps back down to the ground, not far from where Tahei sits.

Trollocs begin to run back from the lightning in utter terror. Kaomi uses
the opening. A huge opaque wall of Air flings up between the two armies,
blocking any view for channeler attacks and covering their escape. Fire and
Air spiral out so that all can hear. "For the Light! Retreat! Retreat!" And
then a snarl that she can't keep back. "This isn't done yet, Tetrarch." All
over the field. Is that /hatred/? Frustration? All sorts of un-Aes Sedai
like displays of emotion? Oh yes. Very much so. The Air and Fire go away
"Hold us here long enough for me to keep covering their escape, Raeth," she
says, wearily, sounding depressed, "and then get us out of here."

Raeth nods to Kaomi silently and calmly, yet the cold anger rages through
him. His go up to the huge walls forming across the battlefield. "Neelkan!
Get out of here now!" He shouts to him as his gaze falls upon the trainee.
The white army begins to flash by them as they retreat, some others barely
able to walk are helped by others who can. Raeth fights off the rest of the
trollocs that happened to be around, but mostly he's help by the same
people retreating, eager to protect the amyrlin. Cold gaze looks up to the
battle, the walls having trapped some of the trollocs and fades on this
side. "Come on. Come on." He urges them in a whisper. Another trolloc comes
up from behind, while a fade seemingly out of nowhere comes into view.

Retreat. Get out of here now. Good order! Neelkan sheathes his sword as
most the Trollocs around him are gone for the most part and puts both hands
on the reins, motioning the horse away. And as soon as he even starts to
motion away the thing starts to run full speed. It's been wanting to run
away since this whole thing started, so it's happy to finally be allowed.
Holding on to the horse as good as possible, he starts rubbing his hand on
the front of his tunic, trying to figure out why it's itching and hurting
so much. He hasn't had a class on Shadowspawn yet... Likely going to need a
little healing for his hand when he gets back. Not to mention new blades on
his fan... sigh. And it's so hard to find a metal worker that will actually
make them. And not snicker too loudly when he asks.

From somewhere near by, two guards come up to 'rescue' U'saana. The
sheilding she has been holding up so good for so long, puffs away and the
part of the Source that she holds dwindles down but does not disappear. She
lets the two Wolves pull her back from where everyone else is, the retreat
making it safe enough to start her towards the innerds of the Fort.

Rolling out of his hay-stack, Tetrarch pulls the Arrow from his shoulder
with a jerk and growl. He survays the damages. Not bad, but not good
either. The arrow breaks in his closed fist and he calls out, using Air and
Fire to carry his voice. "Let them go." With that, he picks up Zashta,
cradiling her in his arms and heads for the Fort itself.