She formed a ball of fire in each hand, blasting another beast from the sky as it swooped too close. Yes, some would escape. But they would pay dearly. That was another goal. She had to make certain they never attacked the Tower again.
This raid had to cost them.
"Bryne! Above you!"
Gareth dodged to the side, rolling with a grunt, breastplate digging into his sides and belly as he hit cobblestones. Something massive in the air passed just above him, and a thudding crash followed. He came up on one knee to see a burning raken tumbling across the ground where he had been standing, its rider—already dead from the fireblast that had killed his mount—tumbling free like a rag doll. The raken corpse, still smoldering, slumped to a rest beside the Tower wall. The rider lay where he had fallen, the helm bouncing away into the darkness. One of the corpse's boots was missing.
Bryne heaved himself to his feet and pulled his belt knife free—he'd dropped his sword in the roll. He spun, scanning for danger. There was plenty of it to be found. Raken swooped—big ones and small ones— though most were fixated on the Tower above. The inner green at the front of the Tower was studded with chunks of stone and bodies twisted into horrific positions. Bryne's men were fighting a squadron of Seanchan soldiers; the invaders in their insectile armor had piled out of the Tower moments ago. Were the Seanchan running away from something or just looking for a fight? There were a good thirty of them.
Had the soldiers come out to this courtyard to be lifted away? Well, either way, they had met an unexpected force in Bryne's soldiers. Light be blessed, there were no channelers in the group.
With over two-to-one odds, Bryne's men should have had an easy time of it. Unfortunately, there were some few of the bigger raken above dropping stones and fireballs on the courtyard's occupants. And these Seanchan fought well. Very well.
Bryne called for his men to stand fast, glancing about for his sword. Gawyn—the one who had warned him earlier—stood near it, dueling two Seanchan at once. Had the boy no sense? Gawyn's force had the upper hand. He should have a swordmate with him. He—Gawyn dispatched both Seanchan with one fluid motion. Was that Lotus Closes Its Blossom? Bryne had never seen it used so effectively against two men at once. Gawyn wiped his weapon as part of the traditional finishing flourish, then sheathed it and kicked Brynes fallen sword up into the air and snatched it. He fell into a guard position, holding the sword, wary. Bryne's line of men was holding, despite the attacks from above. Gawyn nodded to Bryne, waving him forward with the sword.
Metal on metal rang across the courtyard, shadows thrown across the scarred grass, lit by the fires above. Bryne took his sword back and Gawyn unsheathed his own blade, on edge. "Look up there," he said and pointed with his sword.
Bryne squinted. There was a great deal of activity near a hole in one of the upper floors. He pulled free his spyglass, focusing on the location, trusting in Gawyn to warn him if danger approached.
"By the Light . . ." Bryne whispered, focusing on the gap. A solitary figure wearing white stood in the Tower's rent. It was too distant to make out her face, even with the spyglass, but whoever she was, she was certainly doing some damage to the Seanchan. Her arms were upraised with fire glowing between her hands, the burning light throwing shadows across the outer Tower wall around her. Blasts of fire flew in a steady stream, flinging raken from the sky.
He raised his spyglass higher, scanning the length of the Tower, searching for other signs of resistance. There was activity on the flat, circular roof. It was so distant he could barely make it out. It looked like poles being raised, followed by raken swooping down and . . . What? Each time a raken swooped by, it left dragging something.
Captives, Bryne realized with a chill. They're taking captive Aes Sedai to the roof, tying ropes to them, then the raken are snatching those ropes and towing the women into the air. Light! He caught a glimpse of one of the captives being pulled away. It looked as if she had a sack tied over her head.
"We have to get into the Tower," Gawyn said. "This fight is just a distraction."
"Agreed," Bryne said, lowering the spyglass. He glanced to the side of the courtyard, where Siuan had said she'd wait while the men fought. Time to collect her and—
She was gone. Byrne felt a spike of shock, followed by one of terror. Where was she? If that woman had gotten herself killed. . . .
But no. He could sense her inside the Tower. She wasn't hurt. This bond was such a wondrous thing, but he was too unaccustomed to it. He should have noticed that she was gone! He scanned his line of soldiers. The Seanchan had fought well, but they were visibly routed now. Their line was breaking, scattering in all directions, and Bryne barked the order for his men not to follow.
"First and second squads, gather the wounded quickly," he called. "Carry them to the side of the courtyard. Those who can walk should head directly for the boats." He grimaced. "Those who can't walk will need to wait for Aes Sedai to Heal them." The soldiers nodded. The badly wounded would be abandoned into enemy hands, but they had been warned of that possibility before coming on this mission. Recovering the Amyrlin outweighed all other concerns.
Some men would die from their wounds while they waited. There was nothing he could do about that. Hopefully, most would be Healed by the White Tower Aes Sedai. That healing would be followed by imprisonment, but there was no other choice. The team of soldiers had to keep moving quickly, and there was no time for litters to carry the wounded.
"Third and fourth squads," he began, urgent. He stopped as a familiar form in a blue dress strode out of the Tower, towing a girl in white. Of course, Siuan herself looked only faintly older than the girl, now. At times, he had difficulty connecting her to the stern woman he had met years ago.
Feeling a surge of relief, he confronted Siuan as she approached. "Who is thai?" he demanded. "Where did you go?"
She clicked her tongue, telling the novice to wait, then pulling Bryne away to speak to him in a low voice. "Your soldiers were busy, and I decided it would be a good time to gather some information. And, I might note, we're going to have to work on your attitude, Gareth Bryne. That's not the proper way for a Warder to speak to his Aes Sedai."
"I'll start worrying about that when you start acting like you have two bits of sense in your head, woman. What if you'd run into Seanchan?"
"Then I would have been in danger," she said, hands on hips. "It wouldn't be the first time. I couldn't risk being seen by other Aes Sedai with you or your soldiers. Such simple disguises won't fool a sister."
"And if you'd been recognized?" he demanded. "Siuan, these people tried to execute you!"
She sniffed. "Moiraine herself wouldn't recognize me with this face. The women in the Tower will just see a young Aes Sedai who looks faintly familiar. Besides, I didn't run into any of them. Just this child."
She glanced at the novice; the girl had a short bob of black hair and stared, terrified, at the battle in the sky above. "Hashala, come here," Siuan called.
;No, Aes Sedai!" the guard said. "I think it was a blast thrown from within the Tower, launched from one of the upper floors out at the flying creatures."
"Well, at least someone else is fighting back," Saerin said. "Where was it launched from?"
"I didn't see," the soldier said, still watching the skies. "Light, there it goes again! And again!" Red and yellow reflected from the smoke above, bathing the garden in light barely visible through the door and windows. Raken screamed in pain.