//------------------------------// // 8.0 An unexpected visitor // Story: Prey and a Lamb // by Lambs Prey //------------------------------// Prey hung limply in the Solar Guards magical grasp as he was carried through the night of Vanhoover, the long cloak almost trailing on the road. He'd refused to walk once Bright's own levitation spell had worn off, and so without missing a heartbeat one of the Solar Guard Unicorns had just cast another one on him and they'd continued on uninterrupted. Prey didn't respond to anything around him. He just hung there head drooping and eyes glazed, the picture of defeat. But on the inside he was thinking furiously, trying to think of a way, any way, out of this. He hadn't really expected his calculated words to sway Captain Valour, the unicorn was too self righteous and stubborn. He'd judged his chances at one in ten of success. Still, he'd had to try. Unfortunately, Prey now didn't have many other options. If the Captain hadn't listened to his pleadings, then these Solar Guards escorting him certainly wouldn't. There was no way they would go against their captains orders. And as all of them were still ever so careful to keep out of hoof's reach, he couldn't break into their minds and force them to release him either. Even without those mind lock helmets they wore. In fact, Prey only had one gambit left to play, and it was a shaky gambit at that. The desk that he'd placed all those runes upon one by one, during those tense hours where he'd been under constant supervision risking discovery. They hadn't been supposed to bring him along when they went to confront the thieves. If they'd just left him behind, he could have used that wooden block of prepared runes to disable to magical locks and escape unopposed. But even the best laid plans can fail. But Prey had one consolation. A back up that he'd worked into the runes. Not a strong, or even certain one, as all the etchings had been lower runes and weak ones too, but it was all he had going for him at the moment. Prey'd only just managed to set off the correct activation rune before he was dragged from the office. However, the back up was a long term one, it would probably take a month to fully take effect. If he was lucky. And Prey didn't believe in luck. ------ Prey was carried along by the unfeeling Guards down one dark side street, then the next. It was a clear, starry night, but no one, pony or otherwise, was out, all safely tucked away behind cozy yellow windows of light. Prey pushed the hood back, his manacles clinking as he did so, and looked up at the night sky. There was the mare in the moon as they called her, the Scorpion and the Manticore, the North Star, the Dipper, it was all there, exactly the same. This might be the last time he ever saw its vast starry expanse spreading above him. Prey had hated the night, but then he'd hated the day too. All the rising of the sun did every morning was remind Prey of Celestia and all that he despised about Equestria. Hypocritical yes, but he'd rather be free to hate in freedom than from within the belly of an inactive volcano. Prey'd hated the night for a different reason. Because of all it brought. In the Deeper Green, night was a time to curl up and hide. Although it certainly made sneaking past Border Guard patrols to lay a Bone Rot mine in their Sargent's tent easier, it also brought out all those things that go bump in the night. Prey'd heard the screams on both sides of the war, and sometimes, if he was unlucky, he even found the remains in the morning. The Border Guard may have named him as one of those horrors in the night, but Prey knew he was nothing compared to those things. There is always a worse monster out there. ------ The Solar Guard seemed to be heading up the side hill under gem street lamps, towards a large, squat, square building. The darkness hid any of its features, making it nothing but a solid block of blackness as they approached. It stood next to the river, invisible in the night. Something wasn't right. It was small, but Prey was almost certain something was watching them from the darkened streets. Prey's head snapped up, scanning the sky. Most people tend to forget to look up, but being a runt, Prey always knew to look up for threats. He couldn't see anything up there, no drifting patches of darkness against the stars that indicated a pegasus or griffin. Prey licked his lips, eyes darting to the Solar Guards surrounding him. He weighed the possibilities, then closed his mouth and held his tongue. --- In under a minute they'd reached the squat building as it loomed over them and passed through its gates. The faint gurgling of the lazy river came to them on the breeze as they entered, sounding secretive in the dark. The Solar Guards went round the side of the building, and Prey saw they were heading for a metal rung staircase that zigzagged up the side of the building till it was lost in the night. They didn't even pause, evidently the Solar Guard knew where they were going and just marched right up to the stair, armoured horse shoes clanking noisily on metal steps as they climbed. The number of of quadrupled hooves hitting the stairs raised quite a din, drowning out anything else that there might have been to hear. Prey covered his sensitive ears as best he could, but the Guards were unbothered by the noise. That meant they knew no one was around, which just made Prey even more nervous as they neared the top. It would be the perfect place for an ambush if anyone did know they were coming. But once again, there was no ambush waiting for them as the Solar Guard filed out onto the large open roof. Prey squinted at a number of low blocky objects set in rows all around the rooftop, all neatly lined up. When the Guards started moving towards the centre where a wide, cleared strip down the middle lay, Prey finally made out what they were. Flower boxes, with what looked like in the dark, the first shoots of young plants just starting to grow in. Prey did not like it up here. The Solar Guard unicorn to Prey's left pulsed his horn with a flash of blue magic, seeming to listen to the results only he could hear, "It's clear. Just us up here." He announced after a moment, and the other Solar Guard's relaxed somewhat at his words. "How soon will they be here?" One of the other Guards questioned. "The chariots are about fifteen minutes out, then we can rid ourselves of this filthy mind leech." The other Solar Guard replied, giving Prey a look of disgust. Prey didn't spend any time thinking of a response. He was casting about in the dark, turning this way and that where he floated, trying to stop the cloak falling in his eyes as he searched. The feeling was back, that instinct that all prey naturally possessed. Something was up here with them. Prey saw it first, or rather saw him. He opened his mouth to sound the alarm, but the Solar Guards had seen the intruder a second after he did, "Halt! Identify yourself!" The unicorn next to Prey barked. The figure stopped and raised his hoof to show it was empty as he stepped closer, but didn't reply. Three horns around Prey started to glow as stunning spells were readied. "Halt-!" The unicorn started again at the exact same time Prey tried to shout out a warning, "It's a distraction, just shoot-!" "Gold Bit? Is that you?" The Solar Guard asked in sudden confusion. The golden armoured unicorn finally stepped close enough to be clearly seen, his white coat coming into view. It was indeed Gold Bit, but Prey's eyes were drawn to one thing; the unicorn wasn't wearing his helmet. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in hospital-?" That was as far as Prey's guard got. All of the Solar Guard had relaxed their guard for a second on seeing who it was. They'd then hesitated a second further in confusion as they tried to process how Gold Bit was here standing in front of them. By the time they came to the same conclusion that Prey had immediately reached, it was too late. Gold Bit was too close, and they'd hesitated too long. Gold Bit's horn flashed, and a yellow shockwave slammed every Solar Guard off their hooves. The magic holding Prey disappeared with a faint pop and he fell, twisting at the last instant to avoid landing on his face and taking the impact on his side instead. There was another yellow flash from Gold Bit. A crackling stun spell leapt off his horn and blasted the closest downed Solar Guard before he could rise, the spell crackling with raw, excess energy. It overwhelmed the Guard's armour and threw him into spasms. Prey rolled, desperately trying to get himself behind the nearest planter and out of the line of fire, as Gold Bit turned a vacant expression towards the next Solar Guard and fired again. The downed unicorn was casting what looked like a shield spell when Gold Bit fired. The Solar Guard wasn't quick enough and took the bolt to the face. "No!" The pegasus solar Guard pushed himself to his hooves and lunged at Gold Bit, wings driving him forwards in a blur of speed. Gold Bit's empty eyes didn't so much as flicker, even as his already smoking horn lit up again. Prey saw the pegasus contort mid air, somehow swerving around the crackling bolt that blew past and tackled Gold Bit, who went down like a sack of bones. Then Prey was behind the planter and his field of view was cut off. 'Got to get out of here, Gold Bit isn't alone, the mind Mage controlling him must be close by.' Prey thought as he scrabbled to his hooves, almost tripping over the cloak and chains. The only way he knew off the roof aside from leaping into the river was past the fighting and down the stairs, but there must be another route. Someone came up regularly to tend to all these flower boxes, likely from within the building itself. A trap door or skylight then, but where? Prey couldn't spot it in the dark. There was a crash and a cry of pain, and Prey peeked out to see Gold Bit had sunk his teeth into the pegasus's wing. With a mighty wrench of his neck, he threw the Solar Guard over his head and into the side of a flower box. His horn lit up once more and another crackling bolt lashed out, but this time a shield sprang up over the struggling pegasus and deflected the bolt. The last Solar Guard unicorn had finally regained his footing and his bearings, despite the trickle of blood leaking from under his helmet. Now he was up and casting again, sending out a stunning spell of his own that took Gold Bit in the chest, "Stand down Gold Bit!" He yelled. Gold Bit twitched and stumbled, tendons in his neck spasaming, showing the damage from his over exertion in bodily tossing the large pegasus overhead, but his face never changed and he didn't go down. His scorched horn lit up again in preparation to cast, "Don't make me do this, I don't want to hurt you." The Solar Guard yelled even as his own horn lit up in response. Prey saw the pegasus pull out a small crystal and crush it under his hoof at the exact moment both unicorns fired. Gold Bit's spell went wide, but the returning shot knocked him off his hooves. Prey didn't wait to see if he stayed down, he was already crawling away, searching for wherever the roof entrance lay. "Is he down?" The pegasus groaned from somewhere behind Prey as he crawled away in the dark. "I'm not sure, quick, get me-" There was a choking noise, and the unicorn's voice abruptly cut off. "Hey, what do you think you're-!?" The pegasus shouted. "Be silent heathen." A new, cold voice stated. Prey crawled faster. Behind him there was a thump, and then a groan of pain, then several more thumps and the sound of something blunt and metal indiscriminately striking flesh. Then silence descended. Prey went still. He lay in the shadows of one of the box planters. He couldn't see what had happened, but he didn't need to, he could quite easily picture what had taken place. His best chance lay in staying hidden and silent until help arrived, he'd seen the crystal the pegasus had crushed. There was a chance that this second enemy, likely the mind mage, wasn't here for him. "I know you're there, so come out and stop wasting both of our time." That voice called. Prey got to his hooves, took a deep breath, and walked calmly out from behind the planter, the cloak and chains dragging in his wake. If the mind Mage already knew he was here, then there was no longer any point in hiding. Because of that, Prey did as he was commanded. Continuing to try and hide would only show weakness and fear, where as stepping out into the open showed that he wasn't worried. A cloaked unicorn stood in the midst of the downed Solar Guards with his hood thrown back, revealing what seemed to be a dark blue coat and white mane, although in the dark it wasn't certain. The outlines of his face appeared soft, but the unusually sharp and curved horn atop the unicorn's head was anything but that. In his silvery magical aura, the unicorn held aloft a battered and dented Solar Guard helmet. A glance around showed Prey that it'd belonged to the third Solar Guard unicorn, who'd been the last of his kind to go down. From the looks of both the helmet and the bloodied face and unmoving form of the pegasus, it had been used to viciously bludgeon the winged Solar Guard into submission. "Ah, I was wondering if it was you, the little ewe lamb. I got a glimpse of you and Captain Valour's operation from that heathens memories." The blue coated unicorn said, idly tossing the helmet at Gold Bit. Gold Bit's open eyes didn't even flicker as the helmet bounced off his bloodied nose. Frozen tendons stood out in his neck and there was a faint trace of smoke drifting from his scorched horn, but there were no signs of life. Prey gave Gold Bit a cursory examination as he stepped closer, before turning his head back to the now confirmed mind Mage. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting before. Whom might I be addressing?" Prey asked with a polite smile. "To you, I may be called Night Watcher. And you are Gossamer." The unicorn replied. "Please, call me Prey." Prey answered, his smile tightening ever so slightly. "Hmm, an interesting name. Do the implications of such a name also apply?" Night Watcher asked with a nasty smile. Prey shrugged and started pulling off the cloak, using the mundane actions to force the unicorn to wait till he was free of the baggy thing, "That depends on your perspective I guess. But I doubt that's why you're here." Prey stated, giving the unicorn a chance to explain. "Maybe, or perhaps I am indeed on the hunt and looking for 'prey'." Night Watcher's eyes narrowed, "It was because of you that these filthy heathens interrupted our work, which also lead to the capture of six of my brethren." He said flatly. "I had no choice in the matter, I was their prisoner and had to do what they wanted." Prey answerd simply. This was a dangerous game, at any moment the mind Mage might snap and attack him, so the longer they talked, the better. "That still leaves you on the opposite side of the board to me." Night Watcher said, casually starting to walk forwards, "And those who stand in our way will be eliminated." Prey started shuffling sideways towards one of the flower boxes, "Then why haven't you done it already? Because you want something else. Information? A traitor in their midst? Or a new recruit?" Prey asked, unhurriedly gathering up a loop of chain in his fore hooves. "What you can do for me remains to be seen, as you may be of no use to me after all." Night Watcher said airily, still maintaining his unhurried pace towards Prey. "A recruit or information then." Prey decided. Prey reached the flower box, and with a flick of his hooves threw the loop of chain over its corner. Pulling it tight, Prey used it to help him scramble up the side of the planter to take a seat on its edge in front of Night Watcher. "Sorry about that, but it makes my neck sore to be looking up at ponies all the time." Prey said with a lopsided grin. Anything to appear less vulnerable than he really was, and sitting on eye level with the mind Mage was a start. Night Watcher saw and understood what Prey was trying to do. He offered the tiniest nod. Not of acknowledgement, but to show he knew what Prey was doing. "You seem like quite the interesting little ewe, perhaps you wouldn't mind answering a few questions for me? Or we could do this the hard way and I could simply take the answers, it's your choice." Night Watcher said, his indifferent tone saying he didn't care either way. "You know it's impolite to go rummaging around in another's mind," Prey responded airily, "Especially a fellow mind leeches. They might have anything nasty locked away in there." "Please don't waste my time with bluffs. I know what those inhibitors on you are, so if I decide to simply take my answers by force, all you'll be able to do is offer a piffling resistance at best." Night Watcher replied. Prey shrugged, "Touche. Alright, what are your questions?" "What is that fool Captain Valour planning? And please, don't bother lying." Prey could of course have answered that he didn't know for sure. And while that was true, Prey assumed that Night Watcher knew that as well, and expected Prey to give him his best estimate instead. "I imagine Captain Valour will interrogate his six captives. However when he finds out that they know nothing, he'll probably build a task force to try and bring you in. He's proud, so I doubt he'll go to Celestia yet, not until he's tried and failed first for himself." Prey glanced dispassionately at Gold Bit, "That is unless you already got Captain Valour's plans from that fool over there." He said. "Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to look around before I had to shred his mind so I could install my own commands. I was on a bit of a tight schedule, what with the Solar dogs raiding the mansion and all." Night Watcher replied. "They really are like faithful hounds to the sun tyrant aren't they?" Prey agreed. Night Watcher regarded him with dark amusement, "More than you realise. Now, next question: Do they know what it is that we were after?" He asked, turning serious again. "Aside from that you're searching for certain books, no." Prey replied, kicking his heels against the flower box as he pretended to consider, "Certainly, they know you're after some type of forbidden knowledge, even they would be able to see that after I discovered it was the books you were really after. A books value is based off what it holds inside after all." Prey added. Night Watcher gave him a long look, "You are not as clever as you think you are, little ewe. Don't push me, tonight I'm not in a forgiving mood. I am giving you a chance here, do not waste it or you will live to regret it." He told Prey. Prey cast a quick look over the unconscious figures of the beaten Solar Guards. He knew Night Watcher caught the look, and misinterpreted it as one of nervousness. Although Prey was nervous, it wasn't an instinctive need to look caused by fear; Prey was checking if all of the Solar Guard were still alive. All but Gold Bit were definitely unconscious, not dead. But the fact that they hadn't been overtly killed and that Night Watcher hadn't taken any steps to rectify that spoke volumes. 'Or you will live to regret it.' Prey repeated to himself. That threat was terrifying to those who'd seen what could be done to an individual while still keeping them alive, to the point where death was a mercy. But, in this case, Night Watcher's threat showed that he, despite being a mind Mage who spoke of eliminating those who stood in his way, still instinctively leaned towards preserving life rather than ending it. 'Even their criminals are soft.' Prey thought disgustedly. What had happened to those ruthless ponies from the war? What had become of that mentality? Had Equestria really been saving them all up to be born at just the right time to oppose the Resistance? Everything had been against them from the start it seemed, even fate. Prey twisted his head sharply away, long ear obscuring his view, as if looking at the defeated Solar Guards made him nervous, "Oh? I'm listening." Prey said quietly, hiding his thoughts behind a fake mask of deliberately false bravado. Night Watcher saw what he wanted to see, "I'm glad you can realise a way out when it is being offered to you, and nor are you too proud to take it. These worthless day ponies can't get off their high rears to realise when they're beat, they always think they're so much better than us." He paused to sneer down at Gold Bit. "But I see you know better. No doubt you had your own plans and schemes to escape from their custody. Judging by the fact that you were still in their grasp when I turned up, those plans fell through. Despite your youth, you have almost as much reason to hate these day ponies as me. So Prey, my little ewe, how would you like the chance for revenge? To serve the one who would bring this filthy land down around Celestia's ears?" Night Watcher asked with a slow, cruel smile that bloomed over his face as he spoke, till by the end of his little speech he was practically grinning like a crazy pony. "To serve your exiled mistress, Nightmare Moon your mean, cultist?" Prey asked quietly. Night Watcher hid his surprise masterfully, but Prey saw it anyway, "Why yes. It certainly is a surprise to find one so young who has been blessed with knowledge of the mistress, but a happy one. Tell me, how did you come to know her?" Night Watcher asked. Prey could hear the silent 'did you lie to me about the Guards not knowing?' question just as loudly as Night Watcher wasn't asking it. Prey also knew that he was expected to provide the answer without Night Watcher having to ask. It was a dance they moved to, of words and questions that to an observer, appeared to be inconsequential. But both of them knew what was really being said, and both moved to the tune. Prey idly twirled the end of the chain from the collar round his hoof, making Night Watcher wait a moment before he answered. "To be honest, it wasn't that hard to see, even if the Solar Guard couldn't. I had my suspicions when I learnt the titles of the books being taken; L, M, N. Luna, Moon, Mare, Night, Nightmare. But that was just one possible theory. However, during the raid, I saw the titles of the books, 'Luna Cycles of the Ages', 'The Longest Night', 'Lunacy Follows', 'Night & Regime.' One of the books even flipped open in the fight, old star maps and archaic moon cycle spell theories. All clearly point to one known factor of restricted knowledge; Nightmare Moon." Prey answered. Night Watcher gave another small nod, "Deductive reasoning. But you haven't given me your answer, will you serve the mistress? Her return is nigh. Hurry with your answer, the Solar dogs with their chariot come to return you to whatever dank hole they pulled you from. They are only fifteen minutes out. I intend to be safely gone in ten. The only question is, will I leave here with or without you, little ewe?" Night Watcher asked with a faint curl of his lips. He was confident and sure. Once again, the was the unspoken message that Prey heard clearly, 'I know about the coming Solar Guards, and I will be long gone before they get here. If you were waiting for help to arrive, it will come too late.' Prey understood, it was Night Watcher's rejoinder. He'd shifted the advantage of the conversation back into his favour after Prey unexpectedly swung it towards himself by his knowledge of who, or on this case what, Night Watcher really served. It was all just words, push and pull, posturing and digging at one another while remaining civil. But words wouldn't mean a thing when the knives came out, when push and pull turned into stab and slash. But that's all peace and negotiation was, wasn't it? Two parties smiling at each other and exchanging pleasantries all the while eyeing up their opponents throat. Prey considered Night Watcher's offer. Did he want to take it or not? Truthfully, Prey had already known what he was going to pick. He was just evaluating and double checking his reasoning to make sure he wasn't missing some benefit or hidden cost. In the end, it was an easy decision. Night Watcher did not know everything, or even as much as he pretended to. He kept calling Prey 'little ewe'. Prey had at first thought that Night Watcher was merely subtly insulting him, but as the unicorn kept using the term 'ewe', it showed that he truly thought Prey was an ewe. Which meant he'd extracted even less from Gold Bit than Prey had originally thought, or else he would've known that Prey was a ram. That meant Night Watcher almost certainly didn't know about that crystal the Solar Guard pegasus had crushed just before he'd been taken out of the fight. That was an alarm crystal, linked back to its larger counterpart somewhere in the Solar Guards headquarters. Prey had seen a Border Guard major use something similar once before back in the Resistance. The Solar Guards weren't fifteen minutes away, they were probably less than five. Night Watcher hadn't been bluffing then in an attempt to catch Prey in a lie. The unicorn really did think the Solar Guards were only arriving with the transport chariots and that he had plenty of time. He didn't, and Prey had no intention in being dragged down with him when he was caught. And, at the end of the day, Prey would never choose to willingly serve someone who had tried to threaten him into compliance. "Hmm, how about no?" Prey answered. Night Watcher's smile faltered, then turned into something ugly, "Are you sure? Think carefully about your answer, little ewe. If you're not with me, you're against me." He warned. Prey sneered at Night Watcher, mouth twisting down with scorn, "Your little cultist activities have gained you the attention of the Solar Guard, allying myself with you now, once you've already lost, would be an idiotic move. You've shot your quiver and you've missed, so don't try and drag me down with you, filth." The disdainful hate in Prey's words actually drove Night Watcher into speechlessness for a second, but then the unicorn returned full force with his own contempt. "I've offered you the safety of the night's embrace and you've thrown it back in my face. I will not offer again-" Without warning Prey sprang to his hooves and with a running jump, leapt from the flower box and onto the next one, choosing to run rather than listen to the end of Night Watcher's words. Prey heard Night Watcher snort in frustration behind him and felt the tingle in his wool as the unicorn called up his magic to grasp Prey, but he had no intention of allowing Night Watcher to do as he wished. Prey leapt from his current flower box and dashed off between them, weaving in and out with surprising speed, considering he was still chained. He heard Night Watcher start after him. No breath wasted on shouts to stop or calls to come back, just the sound of hooves striking the roof as Night Watcher ran after him. Prey ducked behind one flower box and into its black shadow, putting it between him and Night Watcher's line of sight so he couldn't be magically grabbed. Then he started off at a dead sprint for the fast approaching edge of the roof, starry night sky panning down to a long, long drop to the blackness of the river below. Prey skidded to a stop not two paces from the roofs lip. Across the divide to the invisible river below, the outlines of high buildings were clearly visible in the night, an uneven sprinkling of lit up windows scattered across their surfaces. Prey looked down towards the black river he couldn't see, but his keen hearing picked up its far off watery gurgle. A jump from this height would be almost certainly prove fatal, at a ninety five percent probability. He was over fifty yards up, the impact with the rivers surface would break his underdeveloped bones, not to mention he wasn't a strong swimmer and weighed down by the manacles and two inhibitor collars. He would be dragged to the river bottom and drowned. Prey didn't need to turn to hear Night Watcher cantering up behind him, "Well that was pointless," The unicorn sneered, not even breathing hard, "Have your senses so deserted you as to reject the one and only life line offered to you? I was your only hope, but now the night is devoid of help, and you'll have to reap the consequences of your actions." Prey spat over the edge into the night, still not tearing his eyes away from the drop into blackness, "Don't make me laugh, a plan to return a foal's tale demoness from her imprisonment? I don't know which is the greater mistake, releasing a demon or expecting it to reward you. Fool, you have no understanding of this world, you will receive no thanks. Predators eat the prey, they do not consort with it." He said. "On that last point, we are agreed, 'Prey'." Night Watcher replied, "But I have delayed long enough..." His horn started to glow, "And now-" "And now you lose, just like me." Prey interrupted gleefully, "The Solar Guards aren't ten minutes out, they're less than one. You didn't realise it, but that useless pegasus Guard sounded the alarm before you disposed of him. It's too late to run, I know your name, your face, and your goals, I can inform them when they arrive. I'm sure I can negotiate time off my sentence for that. I wonder, do you think maybe they'll even put us in cells next to each other?" Prey asked with mock pondering innocence. --- Night Watcher didn't waste any time in answering Prey's words. Prey knew what Night Watcher was going to do a moment before he did it. Night Watcher couldn't be sure if Prey was telling the truth, but if Prey was, then he didn't have much time, but nor could the unicorn just afford to flee straight away either. Prey knew Night Watcher couldn't just leave him here, he knew to much. The safest course of action would be to kill Prey and run. A simple spell, just a magical push off the ledge and that would be that. But Night Watcher wouldn't do that. His words earlier had shown he still wasn't a killer. He still lacked the necessary ruthless, bloody minded calculation for such a course of action to immediately occur to him. Killing Prey wouldn't occur to him in that hurried moment of decision. No, Prey knew Night Watcher would instinctively resort to his biggest strength to solve his problem instead: mind magic. He could invade and simply erase all knowledge of this encounter from Prey's mind, and also learn if Prey was lying about the Solar Guards arriving shortly at the same time. Also influencing Night Watcher in his moment of decision was that he couldn't just grab Prey and teleport away to interrogate later. A unicorn needed to be quite powerful, tier four and above, and clearly know where he or she was going before they could teleport just themselves, and uninterrupted focus to cast. To bring anyone or anything else along with you either took multiple unicorns participating in the spell, an additional external power source, or a unicorn who's special talent was teleportation. Night Watcher had none of these. He was a mind Mage, that was his special talent. But however mystical, rare, and outright hated his branch of magic was, it didn't actually take that much magical power to use. Just lots of skill. Prey had led Night Watcher here with his little fleeing act, away from the staircase, which was now all the way on the opposite side of the roof. Meaning it would take Night Watcher even longer to escape. Prey guessed that Night Watch had followed them up the stairs and not through whatever roof trap door or skylight was around here. Gold Bit had come from the direction of the stairs, and that scan the Solar Guard had done when first they'd gotten up here had shown that Night Watcher wasn't already lying in wait. This was how Prey knew that's what Night Watcher would do, and it was his one chance. Night Watcher would try to invade his mind, but once the connection was made, it went both ways and Prey could bite back. Not much of a chance, he was weak, still bound by two inhibitors, and facing a mind mage specialist. But it was the only chance he had. ---- All this took less than a second as Night Watcher's horn lit up with a red light. Prey only had time to fervently hope he hadn't miscalculated, before Night Watcher's spell took effect and his consciousness was yanked out of his body, and sent tumbling into his mind scape. ---- [[[Bonus Picture - Night Watcher - Praise the Moon!]]] https://imgur.com/r8JRKm6