The scores of men idling outside of the manor stood in eager anticipation of a command from their Lord. Numbering in the hundreds, they were a force far greater than could fit inside the manor walls, clearly supplemented by a number of sellswords and borrowed soldiers. The guards that had left with the young Master Bram were among them, as were the guards that the Ikoras had expelled with the Lord. The father and son sat astride horses far removed from the front lines with the latter's betrothed beside them.

"The messenger has been gone for rather a long time," spoke Lord LeBaron.

"Have patience, Father," said Bram. "You don't really mean to destroy our home, do you?"

"If those peasants refuse to come out, then absolutely I do. Just as well, really; they've no doubt defiled every item and chamber their grubby hands can reach. I'm certain there's no shortage of stains that only fire can cleanse now."

"But our possessions!"

"We've plenty of recourse, my boy. The Lord Adamanth has been kind enough to lend us some extra hands. I'm certain he'll be pleased to have us at court once we've returned them all unscathed."

Bram was left pouting at the thought of losing everything he owned because of a pack of upstarts invading his home. "I wish they'd come out," he said. "There'll be no fun to be had if we don't get to see them as they're slaughtered."

Would that they could peer into the walls of their stolen home. The rite concluding within promised their misfortune, signified by the mystical brands burning into the backs of the Hovaleans' hands.

"Bloody hell!" cried Torbin, gripping his hand as he looked around to see a room full of eyes shining with golden light. His eyes, too, gleamed with the power gleaned from Ikorae blood, but as he had been the first to taste it, his were the first to lose their shine.

"It is my Mark," spoke the newly-christened Mara, "and you all are now Mark-bearers. My will is your law, but so long as we are aligned, the power of Wonderworking shall never fail you."

"Spare me the speech, girl!" said Torbin. "Dammit, that hurts. A little warning would've been nice."

Mara shrugged. "I didn't want to give you another reason to decline."

"Tch. Sure. So what now? How do we do the wonders or whatever?"

"Wonders of Might will come to you naturally. You will find that you are much stronger now and far more resistant to harm. Untrained though you all may be, I'd wager each of you is worth at least ten of them."

The Mark-bearers muttered among themselves, awed by Mara's claims. Eager to test them, Mara pressed on. "You will learn to work other Wonders in time," she spoke, "but there's no time for a lengthy lesson now; the Lord's forces will soon be upon us."

"Have you a plan?" Ars asked through his teeth, still suffering the searing pain of the Mark.

"I have," Mara answered. "You, Torbin, and Hethys will remain here with me. The rest of you!" She turned to the gathered Hovaleans. "To the armory! Take to hand any weapons you can find and prepare yourselves for combat. You're not to exit the gates until I give the word!"

By her will, her newly-minted Mark-bearers headed for the dining hall's exit and filed out. They moved at a brisk pace to reach the manor's armory, which was rather less stocked than they might have hoped. Most, however, were able to take swords or spears to hand. Some contented themselves with a trip to the stables to seek shovels and gardening tools. Others were left to rely on their fists and on Mara's promise of Might.

In the dining hall, the designated trio gathered with the Ikoras. "Right, then," said Torbin. "What are we doin'?"

"We're going to work a Wonder of Light," answered Mara.

Ars swallowed hard. "Wonder of Light? S'not Might. Didn't you say it'll take time t'learn others?"

Hethys chuckled. "A Wonder of Mind I'll work for thee if Mara a Wonder of Light would see," she chanted. Mara scowled at the hag's mocking tone, but forced herself to keep focus.

"You three are the most closely connected to me," she explained in a statement that had Ars blushing. "Hethys will link our minds and reinforce the bond between our spirits. The flow of power from me to you and back again will strengthen the Light, and I will use its power to build a wall around the manor."

Torbin chuckled. "Manor's already got walls, love."

"Not like this one it hasn't."

He scrunched his face. "I dunno. Don't know if I much like the idea of havin' you lot inside me head."

"I have been inside your head since the moment you set foot on this land," Mara stated coolly.

"You what?" Torbin exclaimed.

Mara scoffed. "I didn't welcome a horde of boisterous strangers to reside with me blindly. None of you have any secrets from me."

Ars' blushing intensified. "Should we start?" he interjected. "Time's short, right?"

"We should," said Mara. "Come. Sit with me. Close your eyes and focus on my voice in your mind. Let all else fall away."

"Oh lord," Torbin muttered sardonically.

As they settled in to open and focus their minds, the sands of time raced against them. The Lord LeBaron had dismounted his horse and taken to pacing through the grass. "I daresay that's plenty long enough," he said. Bram then dismounted to confront him.

"Father, please!" Bram exclaimed. "Start with a warning shot or two. Surely, that should be enough to draw them out."

The Lord stroked his beard as he pondered the suggestion. "Very well," he said after a few moments' consideration. He turned to the trebuchets at his rear and beckoned over one of the soldiers tending to them. "It is time to load the trebuchets," he ordered. "Light two of the stones and send them over the eastern wall. Hold fire thereafter and await my command."

Soon, the grounds around the trebuchets were abuzz with activity. Mercenaries brandished their blades and quipped to one another about who could slay the most peasants. The more fastidious folk tended the siege weapons and made sure all the parts were in good working order.

Horse-drawn carts came to the trebuchets, each carrying an overlarge boulder for ammunition. With great rounds of heaving and straining, the soldiers loaded in the massive stones. The designated pair were then doused in oil and set ablaze. The soldiers made ready to fire.

Meanwhile, the seated quartet within the manor's dining hall yet strained to raise their defense. Golden light poured copiously from all of their eyes as Mara and Hethys poured pure knowledge into the minds of the men. Torbin's face was contorted into a painful grimace as though he was struggling to lift a great weight. Ars appeared to have gone nearly catatonic.

"Mouns...live..." he uttered as drool dripped from the corner of his lips.

"They are overfed, Mara," mused Hethys, whose own features brightened with dissonant mirth. "They'll not survive much more."

"Hold it together," Mara said. "We are almost there. Forge the sign."

In unison, the four brought the index and thumb of their right hands together and raised them before their chests. No sooner had they completed this motion than did a great crash pierce the air and shake the building to its foundations. Shouting from nearby made it clear that the quake was the result of an attack against the manor. It seemed the Lord's patience had run out.

The Hovaleans sent to arm themselves grew antsy in the face of the attack, unwilling to wait to die, but unable to charge or flee.

"We have to move!"

"We must wait for the lady's order!"

"We are protected!"

"We're trapped cattle!"

Opinions differed on the proper course, but bound as they were to Mara's will, they were obliged to await her blessing.

The second stone came crashing through another segment of the wall, spreading flames over the gardens and stables. The people gathered at the gates, but went no further. In the distance, the enemy was just scarcely able to see the crowd.

"Well well," said a well-muscled merc. "Looks like they might run out after all. Shall we ride?"

"Not just yet," warned a soldier at his side. "The bombardment isn't over."

"Crux sakes, girl!" exclaimed Torbin in the dining hall. A trickle of blood seeped from his left eye as the strain of their task took its toll.

"Fear not," spoke the Ikoras. "The time has come. Now, reach for the Light!"

Together, they raised their right hands high, and all four were engulfed in overwhelming radiance.

Their light contrasted with the darkness that had overtaken Lord LeBaron's countenance. "I have had quite enough of this," he seethed. "I'll not suffer that filth to defile my property a moment longer!"

"Father, no!" Bram protested, but his plea fell on deaf ears.

"Fire!" shouted the Lord. "At the gates! At the hall! At the main house! Fire everything!" Soldiers hastened to carry out the Lord's will to see the whole of the manor burn.

One by one, they drenched the great stones and set them ablaze. They aligned the many projectiles to take aim at all corners of the manor. With the tug of a cord, the first flaming boulder was launched. It burned through the air on a collision course with the center of the manor grounds.

It failed to reach its mark, smashed to oblivion against a translucent wall of Light.

Lord LeBaron winced at the sight, horrified as recognition set in. Alas, he was too slow to stop the bombardiers from carrying out his last order. One boulder after another was launched against the manor, and all met the same fate as the first. All failed to breach the Wondrous wall that blocked them from their destinations.

Those outside stared on in bewilderment at the spectacle. Bram appeared more amused than anything else, but his father fell into a state of rabid rage that had him wholly at a loss for words. His fury did not subside even as the wall began to fade, its task at last complete.

Two loud thuds resounded through the dining hall as Ars and Torbin collapsed, both twitching and gasping for air. Mara, conversely, got to her feet. "Tend to them," she said to Hethys. "I'm going."

"Certainly, lady Ikoras," Hethys responded. "I shall see to their sanity." She brought a golden glow to her palms and placed them on the foreheads of the fallen.

Mara threw wide the doors of the dining hall and strode confidently out onto the grounds. The others were still some distance from her, but she conveyed to their minds a message that freed them from the stricture she'd imposed:

"Go forth."