Things Fall Apart; The Centre Cannot Hold [Attn: Sojin Majere Gaidin]

[Bella]

It had been a long time since Miahala had had to channel on this large of a scale. The horde was not yet close enough to try to assail the walls, but were getting closer with every heartbeat. She was determined to cull down that number as much as possible. She was powerful, but knew she had her limits... Even so, she would stretch them to breaking to bring down this mass of Shadow rushing toward them.

"That's what I have you for," she replied after he pulled her clear of the shockingly accurate Trolloc arrow. (He'd probably been aiming at the soldier beside her.) Forgetting herself, she added, "You're here to watch my arse, as I recall."

She continued to rain lightning strikes into the back while she shifted her split focus away from the cords of Earth. They were getting too close and she didn't want to risk the stability of the outpost. Now came the Air, her next best strength. Dividing her focus again, she joined battering rams of Air along with the archers' focus fire upon Sojin's direction. She drove them from each side to cluster more in the center.

Upon those in the middle came a steady stream of Death Spray, tearing apart those in the front lines and leaving piles of steaming flesh to be trampled, until the next pile was formed.

She needed Sojin, a warder, more than ever then as she focused on all the moving parts of her efficient, brutal assault.

OOC: Up to you if any reach the wall and give him something to do.

[Jack]

Sojin smiled softly as he looked at Miahala and he whispered in her ear, “I never stopped looking since our last time in this part of the world.”

It was an admission free of guilt. And at the moment, with his blood pumping and his mind thinking strategy, common sense had fled, including the ability to watch his tongue.

Once more he was watching the scenes below. The archers were following their orders, and the Trollocs were clustering together to avoid the arrows that rained down death and destruction.

But they still kept coming.

And then he saw those Trollocs carrying ladders.

His eyes looked around for the commander but found him busy preparing for a possible ground assault. And so he once more pulled aside the younger officer who managed to snap the archers into place.

“We need oil or boulders or whatever ...”

The officer blinked and shook his head. “I'm sorry, sir, but our supply of oil is nearly depleted ...”

Sojin cut him off without a second thought. “You have barrels of whiskey for visitors of esteem and cooking oil, do you not?” The officer nodded. “Find able body men and women to haul them up. If you can tame a Trolloc into doing it, then bloody do it ...”

“But sir, the Mistress of Kitchens would cook me —”

Sojin pulled the officer close, his sapphire eyes meeting the man's brown gaze. “Would you rather be burned by the Mistress of Kitchens or a meal for the Trollocs, because I've seen their meal pots.”

The man gulped and nodded before hurrying away. Ten minutes at best before fuel came up to help defend the place.

The Trollocs were already at the walls. Sojin could feel it in his bones and by the sound of metal hooks clasping stone. He turned back to the wall, rushing to its edge even as the first goat-livered beast popped its head up. His sword hilt found its skull and it went flying off balance.

Quick footwork sent the ladder over not two seconds later, along with its load of Trollocs. Soldiers along the wall were doing similar work.

Below he could hear the pounding against the gates.

By then, the first Trollocs were up the wall. Sojin's sword cut across the neck first one that came near Miahala's side.

The second on the other side of her didn't fare much better as he rounded around the Aes Sedai. A goat-headed Trolloc wielding a wicked knife advanced and Sojin reached for a throwing knife … the one throwing knife that was valuable to him … and let it fly.

The beast fell to the courtyard below.

“Miahala, we need to retreat. The wall is lost.”

As much as he hated uttering those words, he knew it was true.

But the words that came next as he prepared to sound the retreat (he'd bear responsibility for that order personally), were harder to say yet.

“Bring the wall down around them if you have to,” he murmured.

[Bella]

The mind of the former Captain-General raced.

Their numbers were staggering, but she had managed to slaughter a great many of them. Those that remained charged the wall with the single-minded focus of the beast. Sojin tore them down to her left and right, and then he called the retreat. Bring the wall down around them if you have to. But she could not do that.

Or, more to the point, she would not. To tear the wall down now might take out the present threat, and then leave them even more wildly vulnerable to another. She would not leave them defenseless.

"Not yet," she said, her voice a hiss as she focused. Using her Air, she knocked Trollocs back off the wall. "Sojin, get everyone clear." To him, she spoke in that hoarse voice but then her tones rang out. "Everyone, get off the wall!" The roar of both battle and enemy was difficult to compete with, but she knew that they had heard her.

She opened herself up to more Saidar, filling herself with as much as she could handle. She was too old to not know her boundaries intimately, but she flirted with so much that it might burn her out. I will not leave them defenseless against the Blight, she heard herself whisper inwardly. Sounding like a Green again. This was the insidious voice, for once not belittling her.

With all the Power she could handle, she pulled back all her other weaves and then dug into her personal antiquity to a time long past with another warder of the yards in another life... Floor That is Not a Floor covered the ground. Starting at the edge of the fortress where the Trolloc ladders rested, she spread it out--carefully but quickly forming the elemental lattice--to engulf the remaining horde.

The wall she stood on groaned as it lost some of its ground, weakening and tilting slightly but it did not fall. Neither did she, though only a dancer's grace was what kept her upright as it shifted below her.

She did not know where Sojin was, but she couldn't stop to look.

Managing a weave this large took effort that made her hands shake, but she was unblinking as she stared. The ground now took on its quicksand-like nature. The ladders lost their footing and fell back into the pile as the rest sunk into the earth. They could not charge ahead nor could they retreat. The calls of the beasts rang out in their blind, animalistic panic.

But Mia was not done.

A faint sheen of sweat broke out along her body. She lifted her eyes and wove together great columns of Air and Fire, bringing them down into the helpless beings of Shadow below. The heat of it all blasted back against her, ruffling her hair and her clothes as though in a great wind, but the fortress--dented and leaning but still standing--did not catch fire.

The beasts tore each other apart in their ill-fated attempt to flee. Others caught fire. Some did both, but they all ended up in the same result: the beasts were dead, or dying quickly.

With that, the Amyrlin Seat of the Grey Tower passed out cold on the tilted battlement of his Saldean outpost.

[Jack]

Sojin turned at Miahala's orders, prepared to give some sense of reason when he saw the look on her face. Sweat already covered it, but there was something deeper, buried in those eyes of hers.

She had a plan and it was likely both more insane and practical than the one he had proposed.

“Aye, Aes Sedai,” Sojin murmured with a nod. Some soldiers still held true to their stations, unable or unlikely to heed or hear the command Miahala had just given.

“Clear the wall now!” Sojin bellowed over the din and ruckus of the battle. His voice roared enough the surviving garrison guard saw the sanity. They pushed themselves back from the fighting none to soon.

The ground began to grown and Sojin turned back to look at the Aes Sedai.

Was she planning to bring the wall from underneath her? As much as it shook, he doubted it.

A goat-headed Trolloc attempted to sneak up on her, but the silver-haired Gaidin met the beast's cudgel with his jian. The long blade sliced the beast's neck and it fell over the battlements into the horde of its cousins below.

That's when he saw the Aes Sedai's handiwork below take effect. The ground beneath them gave away and the Trolloc horde that had smashed its away against the walls sensed something was wrong. The army began to run in a futile attempt to run.

The few Trollocs on the ground sensed an opportunity apparently to attack the Aes Sedai.

A pair of them rushed, only to find Sojin in the path. The battlements were narrow enough that neither of the beasts could properly attack, giving Sojin the advantage. One got ahead of itself and the Warder's blade ended its life.

The second one managed to slip its rusty knife into Sojin's rib … only to snag and snap on his mail. The goat-headed beast, scrawny for a Trolloc, grinned toothily. Sojin smiled back.

The headless corpse followed its head over the wall.

“No one touches my Aes Sedai,” he muttered as he turned back to Miahala.

And then fire danced across the plain beneath them, whipping into the Trollocs like a living storm. He was only ever just able to watch as the enemy attempted to maul itself in escape or burn to cinders. His eyes went to Miahala. She stood there glorious in the light of the fire, almost like a living creature of destruction and creation.

And then it was over. As he sheathed his sword, the Gaidin saw her collapse. He rushed to her side before she could completely hit the battlement floor and he scooped her up in his arms.

She'd always been a wholesome woman, but the rush of battle adrenaline still pumped through his body. She was as light as a feather at the moment. He turned his back to the inferno beyond the walls of this borderland keep and stepped from the battlements.

Commander Alnar was the first to greet him, a sheen of sweat covering his face. The man was covered in the blood of the enemy, but at the moment looked relieved and worried at the same time.

He also looked more than a little upset when his eyes landed on the Gaidin, but Sojin couldn't care less at the moment.

“A room, sir, I need a room with a bed, and tismin and silverleaf if you can spare some,” the Warder requested. The commander nodded and gestured for one of the nearby soldiers to accommodate the Warder.

“We owe her a great deal and more,” the Borderlander said. Sojin inclined his head and looked at the unconscious Aes Sedai in his arms.

“Aye, we all do,” Sojin murmured before following the soldier.

~ ~ ~

Sojin didn't know how long or when Miahala would awake. He had seen this with channelers before, those who exerted themselves to the breaking point and those who collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Some knew their limits while others burned themselves out.

He was fortunate enough to assume the Amyrlin Seat was the former. But the effects that came after could be unpredictable.

He sat in the modest guest chambers next to a full bed, watching the woman sleep. She had since stopped sweating, and the servant had taken away the cloth the Warder had used to clean her face. The look of exhaustion was noticeable on the ageless face, her auburn hair frayed in some places from the heat of her weaves.

A plate of food went untouched, his sheathed broadsword sitting across legs. Commander Alnar had come in briefly to inquire about Miahala's health and to deliver a report. The walls had suffered some but remained strong and steady. Whether they would withstand another assault like they had today's was uncertain.

All that was suspected was that if any Trollocs did escape to deliver a message to whatever horde waiting to attack next, they might hesitate. And that had an Aes Sedai not been there, the loss of life would be much greater.

Sojin reached out to touch the Aes Sedai's face and he smiled faintly. “You were magnificent today, and so flaming foolish,” he murmured. “Light, but that flaming mule-brained Indigo would be hard-pressed to keep up with you.”

His hand fell to hers then and he squeezed it lightly. His sapphire eyes grew bittersweet then.

There would not be much time together after this mission was complete.

“In a different life, I might find myself staying, even being something more than someone who occasionally watched your backside,” he murmured. His lips formed in a smile that matched his eyes. “I never thought I could feel something like that again … and that usually spells trouble for those I care about, or those I love.”

There comes a time when one must follow his heart or his mind, Sojin, and the two are usually at war with one another. The thought was one imparted on him by his foster father Caleb Ashe. Choose the heart, and you risked everything when it broke; choose the mind, and you distanced yourself, but at the risk of always wondering what might have been.

He was about to speak again when he felt her stir.

[Bella]

The state of unconsciousness that comes from utter and total exhaustion came with the benefit that there were no Dreams, or even dreams, and it was simply blissful darkness and silence. She knew nothing of the world around her until her body had finally gained enough rest to return to the world of the living.

"----re about, or those I love." She caught just those final words as her mind awoke. This feeling was reminiscent of when she had awoken alive, but a muted version.

She couldn't really wonder about what he was talking about, or who, as she was still in a fog she was clawing her way out of. She had taken in and used more of the One Power than she had in a really, really long time and certainly since she'd been dead. So in some ways, it was for the first time. Her body and mind were telling the tale to her as she woke.

It was an in-between state that she loathed, and once she emerged from that deep sleep, she pressed herself to wake the rest of the way to escape that middling consciousness. Her body started in small movements and she let out a faint noise as she opened her eyes. She turned her head to look at Sojin, as he sat beside her. She realized then that his hand was over hers.

He looked worn. Had he rested at all while she had? How long had she been asleep, anyways... "Is the field quiet?" she asked, her voice not weak but sounding somewhat hoarse. She wanted to know that her expenditure had made a different, and the fort was secured. Then she asked, softer, "Are you well?"

[Jack]

Sojin tilted his head slightly as Miahala awoke. It appeared a struggle at first and he wondered briefly if she would suffer the effects of overchanneling.

He was a bright enough Warder to know what the symptoms were — both from observing Jerid Walker and Saphire.

Sojin gripped her hand tightly and leaned forward with a nod.

“Aye, the field is clear,” he murmured. “Well, at least aside from the remains the crows are feeding on at the moment. I do believe Commander Alnar and the keep's head cook are debating over the proper disposal of the carcasses.”

The last was an attempt at humor, though he had seen such debates in the past. Some might argue cooked Trolloc was a good source of protein.

“The walls are safe and will hold for now, the casualties are low and for now I think the enemy will not attack without first considering what just happened,” he said as he reached for a nearby tea kettle and cup. A servant had brought it in not too long ago, steeped with Andilay Root. The local healer had plenty of this and not enough of the herbs he had requested, but it was more fitting.

“I'm fine,” he added as an afterthought. “I'm more concerned about you. What you did was completely foolish, brazen, mad and — you saved a lot of lives today. Also, you look becoming when you're bathed in firelight.”

He saw the Aes Sedai ready to speak and and quickly placed the cup to her open mouth. “Drink. It's Andilay root tea. Not too tasty, but it will help with the recovery.”

His sapphire eyes fell still. “Commander Alnar is not well stocked and the paths to the capital are not safe. His men need rest and new supplies.” He paused before adding, “I'm sending a pigeon to the Caralain and House Walker. Balen Asha'man is likely there advising my nephew. A hundred armsmen and supplies can be here within hours after the Asha'man receives it. Perhaps a raken or two for scouting and a corps of Seanchan troops.”

It was not a pleasant thought, but House Walker was married into a family of the Seanchan Blood, albeit one that had freed its damane as a gesture of goodwill. Without their help, Walker Manor would not have been rebuilt, but it also meant giving a once-sworn enemy a foothold in Andor's northern border.

“The alternative is sending for aid to the Grey Tower or Citadel,” he murmured. “And that means you go home … something I trust you're not looking forward to yet. Even the First Seeker will be adamant about that, and he'd be bringing a cadre of Greens and Indigo along with him.”

He put the cup down and smiled. “At least with Balen, you have the understanding that he won't blab to my father where you've gone, what happened and we can carry through with your steadfast stubbornness and likely determination to find out where these Trollocs are coming from. Or am I wrong?”

[Bella]

Miahala Sha'hal had always abhorred feeling like an invalid, but she accepted his care of her...for the moment. The woman had a history in the infirmary of leaving ahead of their better wishes, with the only exception being after difficult childbirths. She'd had more than one, after all, but, for the care of her children, she listened better.

Now she took the drink offered and tried to not make a face over the taste of it. She felt weak, but not ill. Perhaps she hadn't pushed as far past her limits as she had originally suspected she had.

She appreciated that he had already seen to sending for aid, because the outpost needed it. Her own family was extensive, but they were farmers (for the most part) and she didn't quite have the call-to-arms that he had. "You're not wrong," she said with a weak smile as she examined her own state of being and then pushed herself up to sitting, though leaning back against the headboard.

"I don't leave business unfinished," she went on, feeling heavy but better for being upright. Her clothing was covered in smoky scent and some soot, however, and she wasn't thrilled about that. It was business for another time. "There is something odd at work here. The group was so large yet organized, however, I saw no Fade. They were still directed...but to what end?"

Her mind churned, not racing with the energy of earlier but picking up speed. "This outpost is somehow more of a threat than the average locale and they are trying to take it out. To what end?" she repeated the thought. "There is something out there..."

[Jack]

Sojin nodded in agreement at Miahala's assessment.

“I agree,” he said. “I've been trying to figure out why and how they are managing this, but everything comes up blank.”

He'd never accredited Trollocs with an over-abundance of brains. Even the smartest of them could probably speak a smattering of the common tongue at best. Most seemed only to give into lust, carnage and their own depraved appetites. Normally a horde that large would, as Miahala pointed out, have a Myrddraal driving a portion of the assault.

“It could be that this outpost represents the strongest threat to a thrust into the heartland, or a diversion,” he said, gripping the Aes Sedai's hand briefly. “Or the Shadow wants to send a strong message that something larger is coming for Saldaea. But like you, I'm not prepared to leave until this threat is ascertained.”

He looked at Miahala for a moment in silence before he leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “But you, my Aes Sedai, need rest before you attempt to step out and save the day once more. At least a day.”

Of that he was quite insistent, because he knew she would argue for less time and he more.

“It's that, or I have the Wisdom here brew up something foul to put you under and I ship you off back to the Tower,” he added. It was an empty ultimatum, but one he could easily carry out. “The First Seeker will likely send Zae Sedai and a contingent, and mind you, she might look like a mouse, but she has teeth. And then she will steal all the glory from these fine soldiers.”

His nose picked up the odor that had since been lingering in the back of his mind for so long. He frowned and muttered, “In the mean time, I'll have a bath and water brought up for you. It's about time we got you out of those clothes … well, I mean … well, yes get you good and naked and scrubbed.”

Light, there was no right way to say that.

[Bella]

His stammering about the bath made her laugh softly, although it was cut short with a slight wince because her head still ached. She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. "That would be...appreciated," she said simply. Her brain still tried to run with all the thoughts. The battle had come upon them and happened so quickly, yet there was this underlying sense of being...ill at ease.

Was it personal, for the news of Sojin choosing to leave the Tower? Or was it just being so close to the Blight? Or was it something specific?

She was too tired to tell.

Settling back against the headboard, she closed her eyes with a sigh and let him see to it. Before she realized it, the doors were opening and it was being seen to. As a Blight Border outpost, the amenities were not the most seen to. But a fire and buckets of water could be arranged, and they were happy to for the Aes Sedai who had helped them.

By the time the bath was ready, she felt well enough to see to herself. Although she didn't turn Sojin away, of course, but she was able to stand and disrobe her battle-worn clothing. Her bag had been brought in from the stable, so she had clean clothes to change into when she was done. Even without her shirt, she could still smell the smoke on her skin.

She took down her hair and smelled it even there.

"Could you help me?" she asked. She hated to but knew that fatigue still reined in her body and she didn't want to do the remarkably un-Aes Sedai-ly thing of losing her balance. She held her hand out to him for help keeping her balance as she stepped into the tub and divested herself of the battle.

[Jack]

As the servants brought in the hot water and the bath tub for Miahala's much needed wash, Sojin watched carefully. While they were in a friendly stronghold, he wouldn't put past agents of the Shadow to make a move on a powerful Aes Sedai, Amyrlin Seat or not.

All the while, his mind ran through the past few days, mainly on his decision to leave the Tower. Every passing day, he felt it was right decision and yet he also felt a lingering sense of doubt.

After all, with him gone, Miahala might find herself in more trouble than not. The only other person around to watch after her was the First Seeker, and he was not himself these days.

The thought fled him as the Aes Sedai disrobed. Of course, he might be one to turn his head in respect, but their time together had abolished any notion of false modesty. Instead he stood, admiring her body for the beauty it was, scars and all.

Whatever secrets that might be between them, it did not extend to that of the flesh.

Sojin nodded quietly as Miahala asked for assistance into the tub, taking her hand carefully. Before she moved to lower herself into the tub, however, he was quick to steal a passionate and short kiss.

“As you wish, Aes Sedai, so shall I fulfill or accommodate,” he murmured as he lowered the Aes Sedai into the bathtub. “And if it's to scrub the smoke from your skin, I'll be happy to oblige, because it's not becoming,” he added playfully, splashing some water against her.