He looked in to gauge the situation and best determine a good plan of attack. The room was a large open chamber with a table and chairs in the center; apparently the room was designed for eating. Quahlen, Torran, Jagar, and the soldiers that they had met outside the inn had already burst into the room and were battling the inhabitants, but had not made it far. One of the swordsmen that Mallah and Quahlen had met outside the inn was already lying on the floor dead. His lifeless eyes stared at the ceiling in apparent surprise, his mouth hanging open. There wasn’t a mark on him.

Koreauras quickly looked around to locate the reason for why this soldier was dead without a mark, and didn’t have far to look. Mallah Sedai was staring intently at another regal looking woman, who was glaring back at Mallah with an equally fierce gaze. The pair was not actually doing anything that Koreauras could see, but there was a look of grim determination and strain on each of their faces. Mallah’s opponent was slightly taller than she was, and very beautiful, with waist length blonde hair, accentuated by a black dress and green shawl. Strangely enough, the woman that faced Mallah had the look of Aes Sedai agelessness about her. Koreauras knew very little about the Aes Sedai, but he had always heard that the Aes Sedai were always unified in front of others, and certainly wouldn’t oppose each other so openly. Koreauras wanted to believe that he had made a serious error in his assumption, but the fact that Quahlen, Torran, Jagar and the remaining swordsmen were all facing against men in eye-bending Warder Cloaks made it hard to dismiss the assumption as false. Quahlen seemed to be doing well on his own against a fellow Warder, Jagar and the cleft-lip swordsman were holding their own against a second Warder, but the third swordsman and the guardsman Torran were hard pressed by their opponent. The three moved swiftly with precise movements, but it was readily apparent that the Warder that Torran and the third swordsman faced had more experience with a blade. Torran would be finished if the battle continued for much longer.

Koreauras waved at Torran to catch his attention. Torran didn’t acknowledge him, his attention apparently focused exclusively on his opponent. Just as Koreauras was about to abandon his idea in favor of a different plan, Torran began to press the Warder in an attempt to drive him closer to the window where Koreauras was at. Torran struck aggressively at the Warder, forcing the Warder to step back repeatedly to avoid the fury of blows rained upon him by Torran. Koreauras had to admit that Torran had a lot of talent with a weapon; even facing against a more experienced opponent, he was managing to herd the Warder closer to the window. The third swordsman tried to follow Torran’s lead, helping to press the Warder toward the window.

Koreauras sprang into action. Vaulting back up on the roof, he ran back several steps to get some slack in the cord. Koreauras veiled and readied a spear. He sprinted forward as he let the Oneness envelop him, distant thoughts outside the Oneness idly wondering if he had measured the length of the cord correctly. He leapt from the roof of the inn, briefly hurtling through the air until the cord halted his forward motion in a sudden jerk. Twisting his body around, Koreauras swung around in a pendulum-like arc toward the window. He crashed through the window panes feet first, glass shards exploding into the room from the impact of Koreauras’ entrance. Using the forward momentum of his brief jump to his advantage, Koreauras rammed his spear square between the shoulder blades of the Warder that had been facing Torran, even as his feet were finding purchase on the ground. The Warder staggered forward upon Torran’s blade, his features never registering comprehension of the cause of his death.