Station Of Seers : 49

At first the Riders seemed wary when Hirrilow asked them to state their reason for presenting such a force of arms on the bridge to the peaceful Enclave of Kalonia. They had come a long way to bring war to the plateau and the chief seer found their strong eastern accents hard to understand. Eventually he was able to piece together a story; that they believed Kalonia had taken captives and was keeping independent Riders prisoner against their will. They were here to demand their release. There was a small measure of truth in this accusation of course but there was only one Rider at Kalonia. Orietta had come here of her own free will, had been saved by the seers from certain death and had by now made her home with them. Ironically, the Enclaves Hirrilow suspected were behind the lies the Riders had been told would have been far less lenient themselves had they received a Rider "guest" and in this their manipulation was especially cynical. It was Kalonia's mercy they were punishing using these dupes as their agents.
Throughout the stilted exchange Hirrilow had the feeling the Rider chief was waiting for something though he could not tell what and it perplexed him. A starburst of light flashed from the top of the dome. Then there was a ripple of voices that spread over the horsemen and the leading Rider's face turned grim.
He unsheathed his axe and raised his hand to signal a general advance.
"Enough talking old man! We shall find out for ourselves whether you will it or not!"
They began to charge. Turning back to the dome, Hirrilow fled from their misguided anger. "Now would be a very good time for Tenerick to activate the shields," he thought. "Why doesn't he act? Where are Kalonia's defences?"
But Tenerick was already dead and Gyrun had sabotaged the shields. Moments later the chief of the seers of Kalonia was dead too, with an axe in his back and the Riders were charging on towards the undefended station.