The Gathandrian Trilogy 02 - Hallsfoots Battle

albeit by default and cowardice, pursued the path of temperance as best he can, has friends he did not look for. Whereas the Gathandrian in thrall to greed for power only has slaves or those he bends to his will by force or temptation.
    Which, then, do you think will hit the mark more closely?
    For the fact of the matter is this, Greed can never understand or take into itself the truth of Temperance, but Temperance can, on occasion, grasp what is strongest in Greed and use it for the good, as long as it remains good. This I do so now. This is our legend, this is our story. We will live and die by it.
    Using all the strength he could muster, the scribe gave an almighty shove to his opponent, praying to all the gods Talus would not be harmed. The mind-executioner fell to the earth, bringing Simon with him. Talus fell on the other side, Gelahn still clutching him. The scribe couldn’t sense if the boy was conscious, felt his heart beat faster, breath catching in his throat at the absence.
    At the same time, a mighty roar rang out across the singing air and the fire circle split into two. Without having to ask or look, the Lost One knew the red-haired woman was there. Behind her came his cousin and the Lammas Lord.
    He scrambled to hold Gelahn down as the executioner spat his fury into the stories’ colour and dance, while his mind continued searching, searching, searching for the boy’s life. An emerald heat flowed from somewhere deep within him, tearing at his enemy’s skin, while the mind-cane carved lines of blood and pain into Gelahn’s flesh. It came to Simon that he did not know how long he could hold him down, or how this would end.

    Annyeke
    She was surprised when the barrier of strange fire began to yield at the first cut. She ignored Johan’s shout from behind her and the flurry of nameless emotions from the Lammas Lord and kept on slashing at the flames. She could feel the heat of them singeing her hair, but it didn’t matter. In the mind-world, she’d just given her eyes to the Lammasser for Simon’s sake, for the city. But for Talus, she would give it all if she had to.
    Just as she felt Johan’s hand on her back and the pull of Tregannon’s clutch at her skirts, the fire split from top to bottom, like a mantle being torn in two. She and her companions tumbled into a world of singing stories, battle and terror. But all she could see was Talus and the blood on his face from the executioner’s knife.
    Everything happened at once and she had no room for hesitation or doubt. Indeed, she wished for none. Holding Johan’s sword, Annyeke leapt onward through the open wall of fire and sprang towards the two fallen men.
    Talus.
    As she landed, Gelahn gave a cry of triumph and his eyes caught hers. Even as the Lost One fought to hold him down, emerald fire sweeping from his flesh into the executioner’s body and the mind-cane carving blood and unimaginable darkness into his skin, Annyeke saw the limp body in the executioner’s grasp, the way Talus’ head drooped at an impossible angle. The stillness of his mind, the emptiness.
    At the sight of him, there was no question in her mind as to what she would do.

    Duncan Gelahn
    The Spirit pours out his blood and he cannot take it back again. Eyes pound with impossible heat and the treacherous mind-cane tears a path into him through which everything he has ever lived, loved or wanted is scattered to the five winds. The precious stories have not been strong enough to hold him safe, to fulfil the Spirit’s desire, his desire.
    It will not end like this. It cannot.
    The circle of fire has ripped open and before his eyes he sees Annyeke Hallsfoot. Darkness rises from his depths and he wonders if she will be the very last thing he sees at all.
    His knife is, somehow, still on the young boy’s throat. Gelahn opens his mouth and laughs at her, at all who stand with her. Then his knife cuts deep into the child, piercing skin and sending a final rush of blood into the singing air. It is done. He will not leave without giving back some of the misery he has endured, though never enough, never enough. Never enough.

    Annyeke
    She sensed the very moment when Talus’ life was ended. She could feel the throb of loss in her mind.
    What happened after, she never knew the flow of it, simply scenes painted in snow and emerald fire. Scenes she could never regret.
    The feel of the mind-sword in her hand. Johan’s cry of shock. And the power he gave her. The Lost One’s