Members of the rebel army surged through the gap three or four at a time, some branching out to the sides and running to other sections of the city, but most chose to run forward, heading directly for the small group of men who had just appeared. They looked at the fine clothing worn by the newcomers, and with roars of rage, charged at them.

“Wall!” Shigeru shouted the single word heard even above the roars of the oncoming horde. The six Issho-Ni members dashed to the front, slipping around Shigeru, Tobi, and Samuel to form a line. Then they all moved in unison, pushing their hands out and pulling a literal wall of stone up from the earth. It shattered the cobbles apart and grew to a dozen feet in the blink of an eye.

Next to move were Tobi and Shigeru. The younger warrior was faster, and, naginata clutched in his right hand, he leaped onto the balcony of a nearby building’s second floor, then from it to the top of the wall. He crouched, perfectly balanced, on top, and made several cutting motions with his spear. Judging by the cries of men on the other side, he was causing quite a lot of damage.

“Jump!” Tobi leaped backward as his father shouted, performing one graceful backflip before landing lightly in a crouch, his spear held out to the side. Before he’d landed, Shigeru had charged the wall as fast as he could, building up tremendous ki in his body. He hit the wall like a battering ram. It shattered, and the stones burst outward. Just like with the explosion of the outer wall, men were sent flying by the blast.

“Issho-Ni!” Shigeru roared. It was the time-honored call to battle for his men. They echoed his roar and charged after, their weapons raised, poised to strike. Samuel and Tobi moved to chase after them but hesitated. Some sixth sense, perhaps his keen sensitivity to mana and ki, had alerted him to a new presence behind them. He stopped and whirled around, the sword out, and Tobi, noticing his action, copied his movements.

Several men had flanked around the buildings that lined King’s Road, taking a longer but quieter route to flank them from behind. They appeared now, just under a dozen, with that same mage he’d seen earlier standing behind them. Samuel could see the man a bit clearer now. His robe was long and white, but a slightly dimmer white than the archmages of the college. It had intricate black embroidery up the shoulders and wrapped around the torso. The pattern was continued on his face and hands, thick lines of black ink that stood out clearly against his fair skin.

“Archmage of Knowledge,” the man said, inclining his head slightly. “It is an honor to meet you. It’s a shame you had to join the nobility. You would have made quite the companion.”

Samuel hefted his sword into the ready position, raising an eyebrow at the strange mage. He had a strangely smooth, sibilant voice, and despite the tension of the moment, Samuel felt his nerves calm a little, and his body relax. Then he shook himself angrily. Judging by the marks on his skin, he was clearly a Marked One, a rare sight in Gorteau. Originally from Welsik, they had the ability to store items and even some rare magicks on their bodies in the form of tattoos.

“Can’t say I share the honor,” Samuel said. “And your hypnosis won’t help you here.”

“Hypnosis?” the man queried, his voice barely audible over the fighting that was taking place two dozen feet away. “I’m wounded that you’d give my magic such a crude name. But I wonder, what kind of magic do you possess?”

“Why don’t you come and see?” Tobi growled, bringing his weapon to a level position as well. “We’ll give you a demonstration, and boot you from our city.”

That was certainly a brave thing to say, Samuel thought. He knew, from the time they’d traveled together, that Tobi was an exceptional warrior. He could handle the half dozen men facing them without too much trouble, but against the mage, he wasn’t so sure. He was nearly out of mana himself, so the situation was especially dire.

“Only one thing we can do now,” Tobi said, keeping his voice low so only Samuel heard it. “Fight as hard as you can. Don’t stop until you’re forced to.”

Samuel gripped the handle of his sword more tightly and nodded in reply. Daunting enemy or no, they were here to protect Milagre. Without a single word passing between them, the warriors facing them lunged. Two swung their swords down at Tobi, while another three rushed at Samuel. One hung back, his eyes watching both targets, clearly waiting for an opening.

Samuel forced the runes along his spine to activate, awakening the gift that the Wild Mages had given him. Mana flooded through his body at once, revitalizing him and filling him with warmth. The barrier that formed in front of him was so strong as it grew into place that the men were shoved back, staggering and out of balance. Samuel jumped forward and jabbed at the warrior on the right, catching him high on the shoulder of his sword arm.

The two on the left tried to attack the second Samuel was unguarded, but he hopped back behind the barrier almost at once. He phased through the solid air as if it wasn’t there, but the swords of his enemies were stopped in their tracks with a bell-like gong. Then Tobi advanced, pushing his opponents back with a whirlwind of strikes. One was slashed along his chest, and the other was sent reeling back clutching his forehead, where a long line had been cut as he failed to avoid Tobi’s reach.

The apprentice gave them no time to collect their thoughts. He pushed forward like the surging storm for which the Wild mages had named him, cutting down that second man with a swift economical motion. He was flanking Samuel’s attackers now, and before they could register his presence, he’d buried the point of the spear into the man on the left’s chest. He hit the cobbled street without a sound.

Pieces of rubble suddenly flew in at Samuel and Tobi. Samuel shifted the barrier so that it covered him completely, and while it was a little weaker, it withstood the onslaught easily. Tobi didn’t bother with defense but spun the naginata in a whirl about his body. The weapon was chock-full of his ki, and smashed apart the pieces of rubble that threatened to overwhelm him.

“Not bad,” The strange mage said. “You could do well with a Welsik craft in your hands, young Nihon-Jan.”

Tobi let out a growl of impatience and dove at the mage, the bloodied point of his spear thrusting out for a killing blow. But the last warrior, the one who had hung back, flicked his own sword out and caught the steel tip of the spear, directing it upward. Then he reached out with his left hand and grabbed hold of the staff, forcing Tobi to stay in place. Samuel parried the attack of his last opponent, then cut his sword back twice, and the man went down.

Tobi gave one heavy tug on the handle of his weapon, but couldn’t break the other man’s grip. He lashed out with one foot to kick the man’s head, but was blocked again. Finally he fired off a War Blast with one hand, forcing the warrior to leap aside and release his weapon. Samuel capitalized on the chance to step in and cramp the warrior for space, his sword swinging sideways to cut the man down.

In a bewildering display of speed, the warrior ducked low. Then he went into an elaborate spinning kick, with one hand on the cobbles, and Samuel was swept off his feet. These two clearly weren’t part of the peasant army, if their talent in combat was anything to judge by. Samuel forced him back with a blast of air before the man could strike him, and rolled back onto his feet.

“Why are you attacking Milagre?” Samuel asked. “You’re clearly not one of the rebels.”

The warrior dove forward again, slipping past Tobi before he could react, and slashing at Samuel. Samuel parried and struck back, but his own blow was deflected with ease. The warrior sent his blade flying out to the side then struck Samuel’s chest with his bare palm. Time seemed to slow for a moment, and Samuel felt much heavier than normal. Some kind of energy had transferred into his body with that most recent impact, and suddenly, his body wouldn’t respond to his thoughts.

Tobi, unaware of what magic exactly had been used, rushed forward to save his mentor. The naginata flew into a spinning, sparking disc of death as he struck again and again at the foreign warrior. The man ducked, sidestepped, and parried Tobi’s blows with almost contemptuous ease, then, in a flash of movement, he had also found an opening, and struck Tobi in much the same way. Samuel watched as his apprentice was stunned, his own arms and legs going limp.

The warrior grinned down at them as the mage drew closer. “Allow us to introduce ourselves. I am Rajlen Matthias, and this expert warrior is my brother, Rajlen Torin. We decided to join the city’s invasion to complete our goal. It was most interesting to meet you two, but for now, we should depart. I hope we meet again.”

And then they disappeared, literally vanished from sight, leaving their two stunned opponents, and the bodies of their companions behind.