"Wait," Moragon said, holding up his hand.

"What is it?"

"I sense something," Moragon said, standing. "A presence."

Miro had been lucky to have escaped notice this long. Several times he had noticed Moragon tilt his head or pause mid-sentence. Once the melding had even shifted in his chair, glancing around the shadowed command tent.

Miro had been whispering under his breath, a trick he had used once before to keep the shadow ability of his armoursilk activated while he hid. But shadow drained his armoursilk at a phenomenal rate, and in his desire to learn more, he had waited, hidden in the dark corner of the command tent, too long.

Worst of all, he still didn't know where Amber was.

Miro let the shadow effect go, changing his song so that the protective power of his armoursilk was given priority. He drew his zenblade from behind his back, cursing that he hadn't brought his rail-bow — perhaps he could have ended it here, or at least taken down one or both of the enemy leaders.

"A bladesinger!" Moragon shouted. "Guards!"

Dain Barden pulled his war hammer from his belt, growling with menace, while Moragon didn't bother to grab a weapon; his grafted arm was weapon enough.

Miro spun and tore a huge hole in the side of the tent. He hadn't learned as much as he might have liked, but he knew the knowledge he had would still be vital to the struggle. He ducked as he heard a sizzling sound and Moragon's arm tore through the air where a moment ago his head had been.

Every instinct told Miro to turn around and face his enemies. He didn't know if he could defeat both Moragon and the leader of the Akari, but he could try.

But if he failed, the men he was responsible for would never know how sparse their enemy's supplies of essence were. If he failed, who would care about Amber in his stead?

Miro turned on his heel and the zenblade lanced at Moragon's head. Faster than Miro would have thought possible, the melding ducked with the speed only those with the taint of the elixir possessed. The metal arm smashed into Miro's side, knocking the wind out of him, and Miro fell to the ground.

Miro rolled to the side as Dain Barden's hammer smashed the ground where he'd been a moment before. With a grunt the Akari leader jumped forward and thrust the head of his weapon into Miro's face. Miro managed to pull back but the hammer still hit his temple with the force of mountains, nearly causing him to black out.

Miro gulped a breath of air and forced out the words that would strengthen his armoursilk. He rolled backwards and leapt to his feet, finally standing to face his two opponents with the zenblade held out in front of him.

Even if he could take them both, in moments Miro would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.