It was a sea of seething sentient animosity.
Tarrin stood at the top of the main Tower in the darkness of the night, staring down over the city with sight augmented by Sorcery, one of the weaves that Spyder taught him, and his heart sank every time he moved his head. There were thousands and thousands and thousands of them. Humans, Trolls, Bruga, Waern, Dargu, and things Tarrin had never seen before. Strange horse-like creatures with fanged mouths. Horse-like creatures that breathed fire. Massive moving piles of what looked like rotting vegetable matter. Strange creaturs with the upper bodies of humans, but the lower bodies of snakes. Centaur-like creatures with lower bodies of assorted quadruped carnivores and the upper torsos and heads of human women. Rank upon rank upon rank of fetid corpses or dry skeletons, animated by powerful dark magic. Human-like beings that were obviously not as human as they appeared. What looked like pictures of the old Dwarves, but with fire for hair. Ugly bird-like creatures with the lower bodies and talons of a vulture, but the upper torso and head of exceptionally ugly human females. Some of them were proudly wearing Aeradalla feathers in their hair. And many more, some beyond description.
And those were the natives. It was easy to tell the Demons from the natives, and there were many kinds of them. The most abundant were these small, four-span tall bipedal creatures with naked, mottled bodies and small claws on their emaciated hands, with utter mindlessness showing in their eyes. There was an army of those to themselves, being supervised by creatures he had seen before, much like the male offspring of Shiika, the ones he had killed. Cambisi, half-Demon offspring that served their full-blooded masters in jobs probably too menial for them. There were many of those vulture-like Demons that had attacked him on the plains of Saranam, as well as quite a few of those four-armed monstrosities like the one he had fought to gain the Book of Ages. There were tall, rugged looking bipedals ones with the heads of some kind of carnivorous toad, and fat ones with tiny wings that had the heads of boars. There were ones that looked like human skeletons, with a tight sheath of skin stretched over their frames and a large horn on the top of their head. But the most numerous of those others were large winged ones that could only be called hideous, not resembling anything he'd ever seen before, with massive tusks jutting out of their lower jaws. He had no idea of the names of those assorted kinds of Demons, but it was apparent that there were a lot of them.
And it didn't take him long to find the one. He remembered Jegojah's description of her. He called her marilith, and her appearance was so striking that one could not forget seeing her. A large creature with the upper body of a woman, with six arms, and a pretty face and generous breasts, with the twenty-span long lower body of a massive snake. Tarrin marked that one, because Jegojah had said that she was the general of the army, the main tactical organizer. Jegojah had given her a great deal of respect, telling him that she was as intelligent as she was deadly, and Tarrin would put faith in Jegojah's assessment. Of all creatures, he would know. If they wanted to win this battle, that was the one that they had to kill first.
She wasn't the only one he marked. Standing beside her was the emaciated form that he just knew was Kravon. The man that had sent Jegojah after him, that had caused the death of Faalken, that had attacked his family and friends. That was the man that now carried all the hatred that Tarrin had felt for Jegojah, and Tarrin had to suppress the wild urge to try to kill the man where he stood. Something told him that to try would tip them to how strong he really was, and killing one man wasn't worth losing the city and the Goddess. There were much larger things at stake now.
He watched in grim curiosity as the massive invading army began to set up, giving the mortals among them a chance to rest. Tarrin realized that they were waiting for sunrise to attack, and that told him that the Goddess had been wrong. They were going to commit to this battle. They had no reason to wait if they were just going to let their bloodthirsty allies rush in and assault the city. They could just let them go now, and pull out under the safety of darkness while the maniacal elements of their army kept the city defenders busy. But they weren't doing that. They were going to rest, organize, and then when the sun came up, they were going to attack. In force.
Shiika landed beside him quietly as he looked over the army. Her scent was hard to catch in the stiff wind, and that was enough of a blessing for him. "Quite a few of them, aren't there?" she asked in grim humor.
"I didn't realize there were so many kinds of Demons," he told her.
"Those are only a fraction of the various kinds," she told him. "The little ones being tended by the Cambions are called Manes. The numerous ones with the wings are called Nabassu. The skeletal ones are called Babau. The vulture-headed ones are called Vrock. The four-armed ones are Glabrezu. The ones with frog heads are Hezrou. The pig-heads are Nalfeshnee, and that single one with the six arms is a Marilith. Thank the darkness there aren't any Balors out there."
"What's a Balor?"
"The grandpappy of all Demons," she told him. "That's the last thing you'd ever want to meet in a dark alley." She glanced at him. "I think some here call them Demon Lords."
Tarrin formed an Illusion, showing some of the creatures he'd seen. "What are these?"
"The fanged horses are Leucrotta. The burning ones are Nightmares. The plants are called Shambling Mounds. The chalky-skinned fellow is a vampire, and the woman-topped beasts are called Lamias. The snake-creatures are called Naga. The short fire-haired ones are called Derro, and the vulture-women are called Harpies. All part of the Fae-da'Kii."
Tarrin remembered his lessons about them, but they hadn't included descriptions of them, or names. The Fae-da'Nar tried to forget that their human-preying cousins existed. "Quite an army to attack one city."
"When the fur flies, you'll understand why it's such a large force," she snorted. "They're trying to attack a God, Tarrin, and do it in the place she calls home. She may not be able to directly intervene, but she can give her power to her worshippers. Expect the power of Sorcery to suddenly increase when the battle starts, Tarrin. Your Goddess is going to tamper directly. And I see that their god is going to do the same thing," she grunted.
"What are you talking about?"
"I can tell you're using magic to look, the same as me. Look right over there," she pointed. Tarrin looked where she indicated, and saw a strange black obelisk being carried on a platform pulled by Giants. Just by looking at it, Tarrin could see the powerful magic tied up in it, a magic so strong that the gods had to have had a hand in its creation. "That, my dear Were-cat, is something I haven't seen in five thousand years. I didn't think there were any left."
"What is it?" he asked irritably.
"It's called a Mafeli," she told him. "It's going to give Val's troops the same boost your side's going to get. It gives Val a direct presence here, just like the Goddess' icon does for her. That means that his priests are going to be able to throw around some pretty strong magic."
And that, he realized, was their counter for attempting to take on the katzh-dashi in Suld, where the power of Sorcery was at its strongest. It also turned into Tarrin's primary target. He could feel the magical power flowing into it, and he realized that that's what it was supposed to do; absorb magical energy and then grant it to those who knew its secrets. Tarrin realized that any attempt to attack the obelisk with magic would be ineffective, because it would simply absorb the magic. The only way to effectively attack that thing was from within the Weave, to strike at the mystical connection between it and the source of its power. Break that connection, and the device would be rendered mundane. He raised his awareness until he bridged the gap between reality and the alternate reality of the Weave, and spoke into it. "Jenna," he called immediately.
"What is it, brother? I'm a little busy," came Jenna's tart reply.
"I know you are, but are you out where you can see things?"
"Not really, but I can look where you want me to see."
"Alright. About half a longspan east of due north. Look for a bunch of Giants."
There was a pause. "I see them. What's that big black piece of stone?"
"That's your primary target," he told her. "If you can destroy that, it'll weaken the magic they'll use against us. You'll have to attack it from inside the Weave, sister. It'll absorb any kind of battlemagic you send against it."
"I see," she mused. "Destroying that thing'll be a good place to start. That way they find out just what they're facing, and we don't tip our hands that we can counter their magic so effectively until it's too late."
"I'd say that that's a good idea," he agreed.
"I'll talk to the others about it. I have a feeling that it's going to be no easy thing to destroy its magical connection, judging by what I'm seeing. I think a strategy is in order here."
"I think that's a good idea," he repeated. "I'll let you go now."
"Alright. If you see anything else worth passing along, don't hesitate to let me know."
"I won't, I promise," he assured her, then he returned himself fully to reality.
"Clever move," Shiika nodded in complement. "I don't think even Val fully understands what's facing him on this side of the line. Your Goddess did a good job hiding how strong her Sorcerers are now, and very little was known about the power of the katzh-dashi, even back during the Blood War. Your order's always been rather close-mouthed."
"It's something of a basic rule of war, Shiika. Never show the enemy exactly what you've got." He turned from her, looking down on the city below. "Now if you don't have anything else to say, you'd better go get your daughters ready," he told her in a tone that clearly indicated he wanted to be alone.
"You have something up your sleeve, don't you?" she asked with a sudden sly smile.
"Something like that," he told her absently, fingering his amulet.
"Alright, I'll let you be all secretive. I'm sure I'll find out what it is soon enough. I'll tell them you're up here, in case they want to talk to you," she said, then she spread her wings and vaulted into the sky, then spiralled down out of sight.
Tarrin paid the Demoness no more mind, his attention focused on the army below. That was a force that Tarrin wasn't sure against which they could hold out. There had to be fifty thousand beings down there, of varying degrees of magical or physical power, and Tarrin knew that their own forces were outnumbered. The only advantage they had was Sorcery, in the place where, in the entire world, Sorcery was at its strongest. The presence of the Goddess' icon in Suld enriched the power she granted to the world, and it was going to be up to him and Jenna to use it to defend the city.
But where was Spyder? She should be there, he was sure of it. If they had her there, the balances would be evened. What errand had the Goddess sent her to accomplish, so important that she stopped teaching them magic to do it? When their learning about Sorcery was the most important thing he could think of. They had three sui'kun in the city. Jenna and Tarrin would fight, but Jasana-well, he wouldn't bring her into things unless there was no other choice. He'd already made that decision. He could use her without putting her in danger by Circling with her, but to do that, she had to be close to him. If he did anything, he would become the main target of anything that could reach him, no matter where he or they were. Since they had creatures over on that side with wings, that meant that if he tried to attack them, no matter where he was, they'd be drawn right to him. And the Goddess had already made it clear that he was very high up on their list of battle objectives. He couldn't do anything that would draw their attention to him. And that meant that any reason he could think of to use Jasana's power would just put them both in danger.
They were done setting up, which was literally little more than a bedroll thrown on the ground for every man or beast that required rest. But why were they setting up so close? Didn't they know that Tarrin had the range to strike at them when they were that close? Or did they do it just in the hopes that Tarrin would make an attempt to strike at them, hoping it would tell them where he was?
That was a stupid assumption. They had to know exactly where he was, because there was nowhere he would be other than the Tower at a time like this.
Ah, wait. That explained a few things. Many of the hideous Demons had looks of consternation on their faces. Obviously, they had just attempted to use their magic to appear inside the city, but found out that it didn't work. Shiika and her brood had managed that part of it very well. Tarrin guessed that they were going to send the Demons in to have some fun and cause chaos in the city, to weaken the defenders so the assault force could just waltz in come morning, which was only about two hours away.
They weren't the only ones with an idea like that. Tarrin turned and looked back towards the Tower, back to the glowing pillar of magical power that rose from its center, the main Conduit. What some called the Heart. That was going to be very useful to him in just a few moments, for he intended to beat the invaders at their own game. The Goddess had told him not to leave the grounds, but Tarrin had learned already that a Weavespinner didn't have to physically be in a place in order to wreak havoc there.
It was the wreaking havoc part that he dreaded. He knew what he was about to do, but unlike Torrian, there was no regret in this. They were all enemies, and there was no mercy for them. There was only a weary acceptance that destruction seemed to be the only thing that he could do well.
"Mother," he called grimly, turning towards the Conduit.
Be very careful, she warned. She obviously knew what she planned to do.
"I'm the backup here, Mother," he told her absently. "It doesn't matter if I tire myself out. In fact, it would better for us if they thought I did. They'd march straight into Jenna."
You underestimate your worth.
"Maybe, but right now, what I can do for her is much more important than what I can do for you," he grunted, absently spinning out a weave that lifted him off the roof, held by gentle feathers of Air. Those flows carried him up and forward, and then they pulled him into the Conduit.
The effect was visible all over the city of Suld, to all the enemies surrounding its walls. The main Conduit suddenly flared with a bright white light, a pillar of magic that rose into the heavens, bathing the city below in the milky radiance of the power that had always been a part of their city, yet had rarely been visible to them. Within the Conduit, Tarrin felt its power coarse over him, caress him, flow through him, infusing him with the unmitigated power of the Goddess. He could feel her closeness, could sense her eyes looking down on him, could feel her almost as if it were her gentle, loving hands that were holding him in the air. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall within the Weave, felt his consciousness separate from himself and hurtle into the light, joining with it and becoming one with it.
He hadn't been in the Heart for a while, but it was as it always was, an endless blackness streaked with the light threads of the Weave, and the countless stars that represented the Sorcerers upon which the Weave depended. And behind them all, seen but unseen, were the eyes of the Goddess herself, smiling down on him in gentle benediction. But he wasn't there to adore her or waste time. He could feel that, whatever it was, that black obelisk, could sense it through the Weave in the amount of magical power it was drawing from wherever Arcane magic drew its power. He sent his awareness out into the Weave, searching through it, using the techniques Spyder taught him, tracing that flow of power from the nether boundary from which it came down to its destination. The enemy army was only fifteen longspans away, but the geography of the Weave did not correspond to the geography of reality, and he found himself travelling a great distance through it before he found a pathway to the sense of intense Arcane magic that he had sensed from the Heart. Once he had reached that place, he breached the Weave with his senses and reached out into the real world, felt around until he felt the unmistakable presence of a Demon and the same sense of presence that he'd felt in the soultrap that had once held Faalken. The soultrap created by Kravon's power.
He found them. He wove together an Illusion of himself, a projection, and then pushed his awareness into it.
He opened his spectral eyes to find a rather startled, thin, rather cadaverous man staring at him in shock. The six-armed, bare-breasted woman creature beside him looked on with only mild interest, but the armed men and scaly blue-skinned Cambisi guarding the platform upon which they stood all rushed forward as one to attack and destroy the intruder. The first one drew his sword as he reached him and swung with all his might-
– -and then crashed harmlessly through the Illusion, to dive headlong off the raised platform and crunch into the grass below in a rattle of armor. Tarrin allowed the Cambion to pass through his projection calmly, not even flinching as its sword went through his Illusory head. "Typical," he snorted absently, then he focused his eyes on the two of them.
"Fools," the six-armed Demoness growled at the Cambisi. "It's an Illusion!" She looked to him, her dark eyes speculative. "It's a pleasure to get a chance to meet the famous Tarrin Kael, at least before I take your soul back with me to the Abyss," she purred. "It's already been promised to me. Isn't that right, Kravon?"
"Of course, my dear," the man Kravon said in a hollow, chillingly dead voice. "One must always give one's allies suitable compensation. Wouldn't you agree, Were-cat?" he asked conversationally.
"Be glad I don't fry you where you stand, but I'd be robbing someone else of that honor," he said coldly, and that made Kravon flinch. "He's already caught up with you, hasn't he?" he asked in a chilling, evil chuckle. "How long did it take to stop the bleeding?"
"It was of no moment," he shrugged. "I can't say the same for some of my sycophants, however. If he'd have chased you with half the enthusiasm he's been hunting down my servants, you'd not have lasted a month."
"They're the appetizers. You're the main course," Tarrin warned him with a baleful glare. "When they're all dead, he'll come after you. And there's nowhere in the entire world you can hide from him, human. He'll slit you crotch to chin and watch you bleed to death."
"I'm sure you didn't reveal yourself just to state the obvious," Kravon said. "I take it you're here to ask for terms of surrender? Or did you just feel the urge to chat? We've never been properly introduced, you know. I guess it would only be proper."
"I'm here to show you what's waiting for you when the sun comes up, Wizard," he said in a hiss, raising a paw.
"Illusions don't frighten me, Were-cat," Kravon said with an amused look.
It took every ounce of his willpower not to attack Kravon, but Jegojah had rights to him. Tarrin wouldn't deny that from him. Tarrin's paw began to glow with Magelight as Tarrin touched High Sorcery through his physical body and channeled it to his projection. Kravon scoffed at it, until Tarrin turned and levelled his clenched fist at a large group of Trolls that were lounging on the grass nearby. Fire erupted from Tarrin's Illusory paw, real fire, and it erupted into a hellish inferno as it raged towards the suddenly screaming Trolls. It slammed into their encampment, incinerating most of them where they lay, then the mass of fire suddenly exploded in a horrendous blast that sent fire, smoke, dirt, charred grass, and the smoking parts of Troll bodies flying in all directions, showering the startled creatures that had been resting near the group of Trolls with grisly flaming chunks of charred flesh and red-hot globs of steel.
"Now," Tarrin hissed, his eyes blazing with an incandescent white that suddenly shifted to an evil reddish aura, his paws erupting into flame. "Now, face me." He raised his paws at Kravon. "Face the power of my Goddess!" he roared, and he threw consideration and caution to the four winds and wove together his favorite weave, the chaotic mess of Air, Water, Fire, Divine power, and token flows to grant the spell the power of High Sorcery, and then unleashed it right at Kravon's head. He struck to kill.
Kravon would have had his head vaporized from his body if the Demoness had not intervened. She interposed herself between Tarrin and Kravon at the last second, shielding the human with her body. Tarrin's Sorcery could do her no harm, but the physical impact of it was sufficient to blow both of them off the platform, sending them crashing to the ground below.
In that moment, of having his lust for vengeance against Kravon denied, Tarrin lost all semblance of control and flew into a rage. Raising his Illusion into the air, Tarrin unleashed the full force of that rage against the amassed armies surrounding Suld, sending fire and lightning and raw power down upon them. Men and Gobliniods and other creatures screamed and ran away, but there was no escape. Weaves were formed and released with staggering speed, causing absolute destruction wherever they struck. For long moments, he vented his fury on the fleeing figures below, slaughtering them by the hundreds as they fled in mindless panic from his fury. He killed them singly and in groups, blasting them with spells and raw magical power in ways that left very little of them behind to be buried. At least the parts that could be found, anyway. He kept on killing them until some semblance of sanity returned to him and he remembered what he was doing there. He turned in the air and focused himself on that black obelisk, forming the weave of the Sunbolt and releasing it. It tore through the air, right at the black stone-
– -then was absorbed into its black stone as it touched it.
That done, knowing that that was going to happen, Tarrin pulled aback, as if in surprise. In that moment of inactivity, one of the Demons managed to get itself together enough to use its own magic. Tarrin felt that alien magic attack the integrity of his Illusion, just as the Demon had used its magic to disrupt the anti-magic Ward that Tarrin had woven back in Dala Yar Arak. But before, Tarrin could do nothing about it. This time, he realized, he could have blocked that attempt to destroy his Illusion with ridiculous ease.
But he did not.
He let the Demon's spell affect his Illusion, pulling his awareness from it a split second before it was unravelled, and then recalled his consciousness back to his body.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt the exhaustion. Weaving through the Weave like that was very exhausting, despite the fact that he was only weaving across fifteen longspans. The reality was that he was weaving through the Weave, and manipulating that kind of power over that much distance wasn't easy, even for him. He blew out his breath and removed himself from the Conduit, landing lightly on the roof of the Tower, feeling his knees wobble a bit.
"Tarrin, what in the blazes was that stunt?" Jenna's voice reached him immediately.
"Misdirection," he panted in reply. "They know I'm strong, and they were expecting me to try something like that."
"What in the nine hells does that mean?"
"It means, sister dear, that now they think they can stop me," he told her. "I took a shot at that obelisk and let one of the Demons disrupt my projection. They had to know that I'd try to destroy the obelisk, and now they think that their spells can stop me from trying again. They'll be worried about me trying to destroy it, so it should give you an easier chance. After all, we both know that we'll have to attack it through the Weave instead of physically."
There was a long silence. "Dammit, Tarrin, I hate it when you have a good explanation for things," she growled. "But you may be right. If they're going to defend it from you, it'll give me the chance to attack it the right way."
"I just revealed one of my new tricks, but it should certainly keep them on their toes," he mused grimly. "They'll be so paranoid about seeing another projection of me appear that they won't get much rest. And it should pin those Demons in place. They'll have to stay with the army to protect it from me, instead of trying to cause trouble for the soldiers on the walls. Especially if you weave up an Illusion or two every now and again to keep them where they are. You're closer than I am, you should be able to do that without wearing yourself out."
"That'll be handy. Alright, I know you're up there, brother, so get yourself into the courtyard," she ordered. "Let us handle this for you. You just keep the Goddess company, and keep her safe."
"Alright," he said. "Is Kerri there with you?"
"Right here," she replied.
"Tell her no heroics. I'm going to the courtyard, just as soon as I pick up my mate, daughter, and Jula. If anyplace in this city is going to be safe, it's going to be the courtyard."
"Good luck."
"You too," he said, then he turned towards one of the staircases.
It was tense, waiting for the sunrise, but it did eventually come. It was the dawn of a fateful day, a day whose outcome wasn't entirely certain.
Tarrin stood near the fountain, fidgeting uncomfortably, looking through a magically created window in nothing he had made. An image within it showed the enemy army, massing up and preparing for the assault. Jula stood beside him, watching in nervous worry, and Jasana sat on the bench at the foot of the fountain, playing with the doll Triana gave her and chatting idly with Miranda as Jesmind paced near the tent, and Phandebrass' drakes chased each other through the air around the fountain. Everyone else was out there. All his friends and family were out there, out in the danger. His sisters, Triana and Thean, Kimmie and Dar, Azakar and Phandebrass, Camara Tal and Sarraya, they were all out there, all ready to fight. Keritanima had forced Miranda to seek refuge in the courtyard with Tarrin, knowing that it would be the safest place in Suld. Miranda had bristled at the command, but she couldn't argue about it for long. This would be a battle fought primarily with magic, before the magic broke down and it turned into a melee. Miranda was not suited for fighting either kind of battle. Miranda was suited for wars of rumor and messages and looks and plans, not spells and swords and muskets and blood. The little mink Wikuni needed to be out of harm's way. Phandebrass had left Chopstick and Turnkey with Tarrin as well, leaving him a note to kindly watch after his pets, and not discount how useful they may be in his serious task to defend the last line. Phandebrass had managed to say as much in only a page and a half. That was rather brief for the long-winded mage.
Right about now, Tarrin regretted not having Keritanima tell him what was going on. He scanned the area of the city, seeing lots of Wikuni and Sulasians and Arakites, but little else. All of the katzh-dashi were hiding, which was only smart seeing as how they would be targeted for elimination, but where were the Were-kin? Tarrin looked carefully at the lines on the walls, and recognized Audrey, the sharp-tongued Were-wolf. She was wearing a Wikuni uniform, and was in her human form. Clever! Hiding the Were-kin among the Wikuni, who resembled them too closely to tell them apart when Were-kin were in their hybrid form. He watched Audrey shift into her hybrid form, a bipedal body with fur and a wolf's head, and then she was totally indistinguishable from any other wolf Wikuni. He didn't know the battle plan, so he wasn't sure if everything was ready. About all he remembered was that they were going to open with Shiika, because they knew that the first thing the other side would do would be to send in their Demons. Shiika had arranged to eliminate that threat.
"When's it going to start?" Jula asked, with a quivering voice.
"I don't know, daughter," he grunted in reply. "I wasn't sitting in the planning sessions. I don't have much idea what's going to happen."
"I should be out there."
"I need you here," he told her. "If they get this far, then it's up to us to stop them. You, me, and Jasana."
"I know, but it feels… cowardly, hiding here in the courtyard. I know about them, I should be out there helping."
"You're not a part of them anymore," he reminded her. "You're one of us now."
"I know, but after what Kravon did to me-" she cut herself short, closing her eyes. That was still a very raw wound for her. "I just wish I had him right here. I'd show him how it feels to be a lab rat!"
"You may get your chance," Tarrin said absently, seeing that the ki'zadun had finished forming up their lines. Now, they were just waiting for the sun to rise, so it would put the light of the sun in the faces of their enemies. Tarrin watched, and he considered what one of them would have to go through to get to him. The katzh-dashi at the walls, and the combined forces of some four kingdoms, complete with a large number of cannons. Then they'd have to get past the Centaurs and Selani charged to defend the streets against anything that got past the walls, as well as the other soldiers stationed in the city proper. And if they got to the Tower fence, they'd find themselves facing the rest of the Sorcerers, the venerated Knights of Karas and the fearsome Vendari dug in behind impressive fortifications. If that weren't enough, the priests of Karas were also stationed on the Tower grounds, to provide even more magical assistance, and Phandebrass and the handful of Wizards that lived in Suld were also picketed within the monstrous defenses surrounding the Tower. Priest magic could affect Demons, as it was the power of a god, just as Wizards could affect Demons because their magic originated from outside the world, so they were set in the one place the Demons were guranteed to come. Phandebrass may act like a scatterbrained old fool, but Tarrin knew fully well how educated the man was, as well as how experienced and skilled he was in his chosen magical profession. If the other Wizards were as good as him, then they could probably turn back any Demon that managed to reach the Tower.
All that protection, yet in the face of the countless numbers arrayed against them, Tarrin did not at all feel as confident as he did a few days ago.
The sun finally managed to peek over the eastern horizon. Tarrin knew that they'd wait just long enough for the sun's light to cause a problem for their advesaries, and then they'd attack. He explained that to Jula, who growled in her throat. "The cowards," she snapped.
Something was happening. Tarrin saw it on the corner of the image, and mentally moved it. He adjusted it to include sound, and the sound that greeted them was a massive, hideous tearing of the earth. Tarrin watched in mute fascination as a great thing clambered out of the soil of the earth, leaving a massive crater behind, and that fascination turned to utter awe as the thing stood up. It was absolutely immense! He could actually see the very top of its head in the distance, towering over the buildings and the city wall. It had to be a hundred spans tall! What power had summoned up something so huge?
When it turned to face the inhuman armies sieging Suld, Tarrin realized what it was. It was an Earth Elemental, and its size meant that it was a druidic Elemental. That was Triana's work!
Goddess! All this time, Triana had had that kind of power, to summon forth something so absolutely massive that it defied rational explantion? And he'd never known!
"What is that?" Jula gasped, making Miranda leave Jasana's side and come over to look.
"It's an Earth Elemental, a Druidic one," Tarrin replied. "Triana summoned that thing up. It should take a big bite out of Kravon's army."
"Then we're right on schedule," Miranda mused.
"You know the plan, don't you, Miranda?" Tarrin asked.
"Of course I do," she said with a cheeky grin. "It's easy to miss me, you know. I don't think they even realized I was there. And if they did, they certainly didn't think I was paying attention."
"I've been standing here mulling all that over, and all I had to do was ask you," he said in disgust.
"I can't help it if you forget things like that," she teased.
"It's been a while since I've seen you, Miranda," he said defensively. "Given your attributes, it's easy to forget how smart you are."
Miranda gave him a beaming smile. "It's not often a girl gets complimented on her mind and her cleavage in the same breath. I feel honored."
"Save it and tell us what's going on," Jula said impatiently.
"Well, we all know that this is a battle of magic," she told them, pointing to the image in his magical disc. "Triana's sending that thing out first, because only the Demons can do anything about it, since its sheer size makes most magic useless against it. That keeps them pinned with the army. As soon as it starts stomping on the enemy, Shiika is supposed to summon the Demons that hate the Demons on their side, and hope that they'll get in the first shot while the Demons are trying to slow down Triana's little surprise." She tossed her hair back over her shoulder. "With any luck, they'll keep the Demons too busy to break down the walls, and that'll force the ki'zadun to attempt an assault to compromise the wall."
They watched through the magical viewing disc as the Elemental lumbered across the empty no-man's land between the walls and the amassed army, but the Demons did not move to attack the great hulking monstrosity. They all suddenly rushed forward in a single wave, a terrifying howling mass of anticipation, going right by the Elemental.
"Oh dear, Darvon was afraid that might happen," Miranda said soberly. "It's a good thing he planned for this possibility. Shiika should be conjuring up the Demons working on our side about now." She chuckled humorlessly. "I never thought I'd say that."
"It's like the Blood War all over again," Jula said nervously. "Demons fighting on native soil, but this time, they're going to be fighting one another."
In a great shower of sparks and smoke, Demons began to appear outside the city walls of Suld. They were of the same basic types as the Demons charging towards them, and there were very nearly as many facing them as there were charging forward. Tarrin immediately had a very bad feeling about this. He trusted Shiika, at least after a fashion, but he wasn't sure about this. For a long moment, it hung there as to what the summoned Demons were going to do, until they too surged forward in hideous cries of hatred, seeking out that particular Demon they had been summoned to destroy.
They clashed on the fallow farmland outside the city, and it was horrendous enough for them to hear it in the courtyard. Screaming, shrieking, howling monsters attacked one another with claws and fangs, fists and pincers, not even trying to battle with magic. Tarrin found himself repulsed by the scene as the creatures tore into one another with absolute wild abandon, knowing that even if they were destroyed, it would do nothing but send their spirits back to the Abyss unharmed. Black blood flew, even as bits of putrid flesh and even entire limbs were torn from Demons, to disintegrate into that horrid black ichor that burned and melted into the ground. For long moments it went on like that, until ki'zadun Wizards stepped up and began attacking the opposing Demons with magic. Wizard magic could affect Demons, as it was what was used to bring them to their dimension to begin with, and with their help, the ki'zadun's Demons began turning the short, ugly battle in their favor.
"Damn," Miranda muttered. "Phandebrass said that would happen, but they didn't want to listen to him. I told them to put a few Wizards at the wall."
"Now what?" Tarrin asked.
"Now the walls brace for the Demons," she replied. "They'll tear a hole in the wall and enter the city. Our troops have been told to let them go by without attacking them, and then prepare to meet the assault of the troops that will come in behind them. The Demons are going to come straight here, and this is where the Wizards will attack them."
But things didn't quite happen that way at first. In a sudden withering storm of projectiles, many of the Wizards attacking the Demons were felled by arrows. Tarrin looked up from the disc, since they had come from above, and he saw the Aeradalla. They were very, very high over the battlefield, well out of range of any magic or missle, so high up that the winged creatures on the other side would have to climb for a long time to reach them. They were firing down on the Wizards, using their superior vision and their outstanding skill and knowledge of firing their crossbows at extreme distances. They had probably been circling up there in the darkness before sunrise, at least a longspan over the battlefield, waiting for their opportunity to attack. The Aeradalla had taken their shot, and now they all turned and dove back over the city wall as winged creatures simply appeared just behind where they had been-the winged Demons-and then dove to give chase. Tarrin realized for a moment that there was nothing to stop those flying Demons from reaching the Tower-
– -and then they began to fall from the sky.
Tarrin used the viewing disc to get a view of it. Shiika and her Cambisi had appeared in the midst of the flying Demons, those vulture ones and the ones with the horrid tusks, and they assaulted them with what looked like long spears. They had appeared out of thin air within striking distance, then they drove the spears into the backs or sides of the Demons, and then vanished to attack the next. The Demons suddenly scattered in every direction, some of them vanishing just as they had appeared, but those that did not, those that kept after the Aeradalla, were systematically eradicated.
"Shiika used something to keep the Demons from teleporting into the city, but she also figured out a way to allow her and her daughters to get around that," Miranda told him. "If they're over the city, they can slaughter any flying Demon and probably get away with it without being touched." He saw what she meant. There was one particularly large one over the city, and all six of them were attacking it with their long spears, jabbing it again and again. Every time it tried to turn on one of them, that Cambisi simply vanished from sight, to reappear somewhere else and just within the reach of her long spear. The six of them harried the monster mercilessly, until a large gout of black blood erupted from its neck, and the thing began to dissolve into black ichor even as it fell from the sky.
"I didn't know that they could do that," Tarrin said in surprise. "They never used that power against me."
"Only Shiika can teleport. She said that could use a spell to give her daughters that power for a limited time. Shiika said that the Cambisi don't have any of the Demonic powers in our world. They'd have those powers in the Abyss, but not here."
"I wonder why."
"Well, you can track down one of those Demons and ask it," Jula said shortly.
Tarrin felt a sudden influx in the Weave, and realized that Jenna had begun to assemble her Circle. Jula gasped and looked up, then stared at Tarrin in surprise. "What is that? The Weave is, I don't know what it's doing."
"Jenna is building the Circle," he said grimly. "She's getting ready to attack."
Jesmind came over and looked into the disc. "It looks like they are too," she announced, pointing at the disc's image. The landbound Demons had destroyed their attackers, but at a massive cost. There were only about twenty Demons left on the battlefield, and all of them were showing the extent of the viciousness of their fight with their own kind.
"She's not going to attack. She's supposed to erect a Ward that will eliminate all magic except Sorcery that tries to cross it, and smother any magic except Sorcery from being used within it. Those Demons didn't use magic against each other, but they will when they attack the wall. Jenna is supposed to stop that, force them to try to tear down the walls with muscle instead of magic."
"Clever," Jula said appreciatively.
"When she finishes the Ward, then she's supposed to start destroying anything not a Demon that tries to come at the walls."
Tarrin considered that, and found it… inefficient. They'd lead with their Goblinoids when they sent in their attack force. Tarrin thought about that a moment, and realized that they could eliminate that threat without having to expend energy destroying them. He turned towards the statue of the Goddess, her icon, but she cut him off.
"I know what you're about to ask," she said audibly, though the statue didn't move. "I'll tell her how to make it."
"Was that-was that-" Jula stammered, going pale.
Tarrin nodded simply. "The Goddess," he told her.
Jula clutched her amulet tightly in her paw, staring at the statue in awe.
"What is she going to do?" Miranda asked curiously.
"Show Jenna how to make a Ward that will kill any Goblinoid that crosses it," he replied.
"Ah, very smart," Miranda said approvingly.
"Wards take more energy to form than battle spells, but they last as long as you set them to last," Tarrin told her. "It's not as tiring to just let the enemy kill themselves."
Miranda chuckled. "I'll say."
Things quickly got very fast, very violent, and very chaotic. The Demons reached the city gates, and began to batter against them with their fists. In a sudden flash, the obelisk on the far side of the battlefield began to glow, with robed men and women surrounding it, chanting sonorously, and Tarrin could sense an oppressive weight suddenly form on the Weave, as if it meant to bottle up the flow of magic. He felt Jenna's counterstroke to that, a blasting eruption of power that surged over the weight, around it, then infused it and shattered it. Tarrin felt what was going on, and realized that an entirely different battle was being fought in the invisible reality of the Weave. The men and women around the obelisk were using it to assault the powr of magic directly, to interfere with the Sorcerers, but Jenna and her very large, powerful Circle were resisting it. Tarrin felt the enemy seek to charge all the local strands with an absolute saturation of magic pulled from elsewhere, which would increase the power of Wizard magic, but would also make Sorcery more difficult and exhausting to use by weighing down on the Weave's capacity to allow magic to flow. Like filling a bottle half full of water the rest of the way with oil, making it impossible to reach the water beneath it without getting oil first. He then felt Jenna counterattack that by spinning out a multitude of feeder strands, saturating the local area with strands to support that extra magic, and also making Sorcery stronger in the process even as it spread out the burden of containing the Wizard magic filling the Weave. He then felt the Wizard magic within the Weave attack the integrity of the Weave itself, seeking to disrupt the strands, even feed back to cause damage within the Conduit. He felt that, and realized that it wasn't the Wizards doing it, or even the Priests. This was coming from somewhere else. This was being done by some being of immense power.
He felt it clearly. He felt the presence of the Goddess suddenly rise up from the Heart, rise up and directly face this new power. Her presence caught him up with her, caught up Jasana, even Jula, causing all three of them to have their awarenesses drawn up into the Weave even as the Goddess laid her hands upon them and commandeered their power. The Goddess took control of them, caused them to Circle, and then joined her power to theirs in a way Tarrin did not think possible. The direct might of the Goddess flowed through him, flowed through all three of them, and his senses were suspended in favor of the alternate reality of the Weave.
He was within one of the strands, facing a rolling mass of liquid blackness that sought to consume the rainbow light generated by the flows within the strand. It was a seething mass, without form, boiling angrily in place as its progress suddenly was impeded. He could feel Jula beside him, within him, a part of him, even as he was a part of her. Jasana was on his other side, joined to him in a similar manner, as they were joined to one another. The Goddess was behind them, around them, her power surrounding them even as they caused her power to come to bear. They were the instrument by which she enacted her direct might.
"THIS WILL NOT BE," they heard her voice thunder through the Weave, directed at the black mass before them. "Didst thou think that if thee violated the strictures, I would not be permitted to do the same? Take back thy power, or I will strike at thee, Val. In this place, thou canst not hope to defeat me."
"I fear thee not, Niami," came a hissing reply. "Come then, and strike at me if thou dares."
"As thou wishes."
What happened next could not be explained in rational terms. He only had a sensation of the entirety of the Weave flooding into him, sending him spiralling to the upper limits and constraints of mindless pain, only have to have it vanish in a heartbeat, replaced by a glowing light that suffused him with boundless pleasure. His mind, linked to the Goddess, saw into a fraction of her being in that fleeting moment, and his mortal mind shuddered away from the vast immensity that stared back at him from that place, nearly drove him mad as his mind tried to understand what it found there. That indescribable power suddenly lashed out, driving into the roiling blackness like a shaft of solid light. He felt the titanic clash of power that took place in the Weave, which suddenly began to thrash and tremble as it struggled to remain intact against one force that sought to destroy it and the other that sought to protect it. The shining bar of light seemed to be sucked up by the black cloud without effect, but then the main Conduit seemed to reach out into the strands, providing its power to protect the integrity of the strand in which the confrontation was taking place. When that happened, the bar of light became blindingly bright, and it blasted into the cloud with renewed vigor, puncturing it, penetrating it, causing it to fold in on itself where it was struck by the magical light. He felt it drive through the darkness, then carry back to its source, the mafeli as a guide to track back to the origin of that power. That might struck at what was there, causing it to recoil and retreat, even as he became dimly aware of the earth shaking beneath his feet. What the Goddess had done had carried such power that it had literally shaken the earth.
In the real world, out beyond the walls of Suld, the black stone obelisk that was the mafeli flared with a sudden incandescent light, then exploded with such force that it killed every man and woman that had been tending it, sending shards of smoking black stone catapulting hundreds of spans into the air.
For a lingering moment, the divine union of their minds to the Goddess remained, until she seemed to become aware of them. She laid a hand over their minds gently, repairing the damage that being exposed to her true power had caused them, then doing something to Jula, and then he felt her retreat from them.
As one, all three of them collapsed to the ground, weak as kittens. Jesmind gave out a strangled cry and took turns checking on Tarrin, then Jesmind, but Jula lay on her back, staring blankly up at the sky, as Miranda tended to her. Tarrin felt like all the life had been sucked out of him, but he also felt his strength beginning to return steadily. He felt strong enough to move as he felt the earth continue to shudder beneath him. He looked to Jasana, who was crying in fear, and then to Jula.
Just looking at her told him everything. For one, she was nude, her clothes having been destroyed by what happened to her. The Circle had been too much for her power to bear, the communion between the two sui'kun and the Goddess had caused her to go beyond the limits of her body. But instead of being reduced to ash, the Goddess had shown her the way, had accepted her into the fold, despite the rather unusual circumstances. Tarrin stared at her, sensing it in her, realizing that the Goddess had done it to her to protect her life.
Jula had crossed over. She was a Weavespinner, a da'shar.
"Umf," Jasana groaned, sitting up. "What just happened, Papa?"
"I have no idea," Tarrin replied as rubbed his forehead gingerly, remembering what he had seen. He remembered looking into the mind of the Goddess… but he couldn't quite recall what he'd seen there. He only remembered that it was probably best that he didn't remember.
"What's wrong with Jula?" Jasana asked immediately. Then she gasped. "She's different now! I can feel it!"
"She'll be out for a while, cub," Tarrin told her, finding the strength to stand. "She crossed over."
"What does that mean, Tarrin?" Miranda asked.
"She became a Weavespinner," he replied woodenly as Jesmind helped him to his feet, kissing him in relief. "She couldn't handle the power the Goddess was putting into us, and made her face being Consumed. When that happens, we either get Consumed or we find our way to the Heart and adjust ourselves to survive. Jula was connected to the Goddess with us, so she was already halfway there. All she had to do was prevent herself from burning up, which she did." He grunted. "Or the Goddess did for her," he reasoned. "I can't remember."
"Will you tell me what happened now?" Jesmind demanded. "I almost fainted when I saw the three of you start to glow!"
"I, I'm not sure," he said. "The Goddess needed us for something. She had to use us, because she couldn't do what was done without us."
"That's not an explanation!" Jesmind snapped.
"A dark man tried to break the Weave," Jasana said seriously. "The shining lady there stopped him, but she needed our help to do it."
"Val," Tarrin grunted. "He tried to disrupt the Weave to rob us of our magic. The Goddess stopped him. From the feel of it, she even took the fight back to him."
"That must be why the earth shook," Miranda said. "The world isn't strong enough to support two gods fighting one another."
"That is why I had to use you," the voice of the Goddess called from her icon. "Val was acting through his mortal agents. I had to do the same. Had we confronted one another directly, the city would have been destroyed in our fight."
Tarrin realized that that was why Val didn't care if the Goddess attacked him or not. He wasn't in any danger. The only ones to suffer would be the mortals doing his bidding. He was willing to throw away their lives in a vain attempt to damage the Weave before the Goddess defeated his attempt. But he had erred, and erred badly. His all-or-nothing attempt to disrupt the Weave had cost him the mafeli, and now the katzh-dashi had a powerful advantage. But there were still the Demons, so maybe he was willing to take that risk. Thirty Demons when they had only Shiika and the Cambisi to counter them did make things rather even. And even with magic, the numerical advantage for the other side was considerable.
"Is she going to be alright, papa?" Jasana asked, squirming out of her mother's arms and kneeling by the dazed Jula.
"She'll be fine, cub," he replied. "She'll go to sleep as soon as she comes out of her daze. Why don't we move her someplace comfortable?"
They laid Jula on the bench, after Miranda brought some of the pillows and a blanket out of the tent for her to make the hard stone more comfortable, and he knelt by her, holding her paw, worried about what was going on. He felt too tired to make another viewing disc, but it was apparent that the fight had started. Aeradalla and Harpies were visible in the skies over Suld, fighting one another in a dance of winged aerobatics. The sound of the Wikuni cannons rumbled over them, the sharp sound of their explosive discharges softened by the distance the sound had to travel.
"It's started," Jesmind announced grimly at the first sound of the cannons.
"It won't get nasty until the Wizards either send in the humans or find a way to break the Ward Jenna will lay down to stop the Goblinoids," Tarrin surmised.
They waited in tense silence for a while, at least an hour, listening to the Wikuni cannons sending out their sharp reports that told them that their forces still held the walls, as well as the magical attacks and counterattacks he felt in the Weave that told him that Jenna and her Circle were still battling with the magicians on the other side, despite the loss of the mafeli to aid them. Tarrin recovered his strength over that hour, until he felt strong enough to use Sorcery once again. Jula came out of her daze and slipped into a deep, natural slumber, and Jasana had calmed down from the frightful experience of being hijacked by the Goddess. Tarrin paced nervously where Jesmind had been pacing before as Jesmind and Jasana sat with Jula, and Miranda sat on a chair she drug from the tent and sat with her knitting. He wished he was calm enough to knit at a time like this, but he knew Miranda. She knitted for the same reason he paced, to occupy her mind and expend some nervous energy. He wanted to use Sorcery to see what was going on, but he wasn't sure if that was a good idea at the moment. He may need his energy to repel an invader.
There was one way to find out. "Mother, what's going on?" he finally asked.
"The Demons have finally battered down the gate," she replied. "They sent in the Goblinoids, which died by the windrows when they crossed the Ward. Now they've recalled the Goblinoids that are left and sent in the Fae-da'Kii and their undead troops to try to establish a foothold in the city while their Wizards and what Priests that survived battle with Jenna and her Circle to try to break the Ward. Even without the mafeli, Val is influencing the power of his magicians, and they outnumber Jenna's Circle by about a hundred to one. So Jenna is a very busy young lady at the moment."
"More or less what we expected," Miranda said confidently. "The idea now is to let the Demons pass and force the troops entering through the breach to seek refuge from the muskets and arrows by running into the city, so the Centaurs and Selani can wipe them out before their numbers get too great. That way they keep coming in, but can't organize a large enough force to threaten our defenses."
"That's pretty clever," Jesmind grunted with a nod.
"I thought so myself," Miranda agreed. "It was that Arakite General's idea, Kang. He's a devious man. Few would think to create a defensive perimeter by allowing enemy troops to gain a foothold. It was pretty ingenious."
They waited for long moments, until Tarrin heard an unmistakable roar from outside the Tower grounds. A Demon. They had allowed the Demons to pass unmolested, so the Wizards at the Tower could deal with them, but he didn't know if they could take on thirty at once. He immediately stopped pacing and recalled his sword from the elsewhere. "Jesmind, Miranda, take Jula over to the corner of the courtyard, and keep her there. Jasana, you stay with them," he ordered, feeling the sword in his paw. Its weight was comforting to him now, for he knew that it gave him a weapon against the Demons coming. He set himself directly before the fountain, sword in paw, and waited with his senses open. He felt an oppressive surge of magical power flow through the Weave, and then another, and then another. Those were spells cast by Wizards, and they were not simple or weak spells. The third was marked by a great explosion on the eastern edge of the grounds. He felt several more spells flow through the Weave, flowing from that other place where Wizards drew their power to the Wizard, coming faster and stronger than the last. There was another roar of a Demon, and then another different one, and then a flurry of spells all drawn from the Weave at the same time.
Then there was a great crashing sound, the sound of the magical fence surrounding the Tower being ripped asunder. The enchantment on the fence was disrupted with its mauling, and caused it to explode as a Wildstrike at the point of destruction. He felt that clearly, even as he heard the loud bang of the torn fence section literally exploding as the magical power contained within it was released from its containment. Tarrin was certain that now there were Demons on the Tower grounds, and it made him worried. He gripped the sword in both paws and started turning in his stance, watching in all directions for whatever may appear tramping through the maze.
He didn't have long to wait. A dog-headed, four-armed Glabrezu appeared over the hedges, which were waist-height to it, trampling them down as it moved directly towards the icon. It looked quite the worse for wear, with one of its pincer arms missing and black blood flowing liberally down its manged fur body. It was also missing an eye, and had a rather gruesome wound over the same side of its face. Keritanima and Shiika had been right; what did reach him had definitely been put through a meat grinder. Tarrin blocked its path to the icon, sword held at the ready and simply waiting for it to enter the courtyard. It approached, closer and closer, stepping to flatten down the hedge that formed the wall of the courtyard. Tarrin settled down into a defensive posture, letting it come to him. Jesmind jumped up and put the others behind her, claws out and ready to fight that monster if it came after them. It stepped over the flattened hedge, but then the statue of the Goddess exploded in a bright, radiant white light. The Demon flinched away from that light, snarling and snapping, the pincers on its outer arm clacking together in a sound that still made his stomach quiver at the memory of being crushed between them. Tarrin felt that light on his back, felt it permeate into him, reassuring him that the Goddess was with him. He stood his ground against the wounded Demon as it stalked warily into the courtyard. It could see its objective, but it could also see that there was one more barrier standing in its way. Clacking its pincers together, it regarded the smaller foe, holding a sword that could injure it, seeing its tail lash in anticipation and the grim look of business all over its face, glowing green eyes glaring back at it. The little creature actually snarled at it, baring its fangs as its tail lashed straight behind it suddenly and its ears laid back against its head. Some kind of threat display, that would have been comical if not for the sword in its furry hands. But it would not move, staying firmly between the Demon and its goal. It paused to consider how to best finish off this small foe-
– -and then its head was suddenly soared from its body, to bounce once on the grass of the courtyard before coming to a wobbling halt. The body remained stock still for a moment, then collapsed in on itself in a heap even as it began to dissolve into that horrific black ichor.
Tarrin blinked, then saw a bat-like wing out of the corner of his eye. He turned in time to see one of the Cambisi, probably Anayi, swoop away with a huge scimitar-like sword in her hands, sending drops of Demonic blood falling onto the grounds below. It had been so intent on Tarrin that it had never heard the winged Alu approach, and she took it completely by surprise. For that matter, Tarrin hadn't noticed her either.
Tarrin decided that he was going to soundly kiss each and every Cambisi after all this was over. Given what happened the last time he shared a kiss with Shiika, perhaps a hug would be more in order for her. He let his breath out explosively, then regretted it as the horrific smell of the dissolving Demon reached him. He heard Miranda laugh delightedly. "I didn't expect that!" she remarked from the corner.
"It didn't either," Tarrin called in reply.
"What was that?" Jesmind asked.
"One of Shiika's daughters," he told her. "I think I'm going to give her a big kiss when this is over."
"I may give her one too," Jesmind admitted with a laugh.
There wasn't time for any more chitchat. Another Demon appeared, one of the thin tusked ones with wings, coming in through the hole the first had made. It didn't hesitate like the first, it howled in a victorious manner and rushed forward, huge clawed hands leading to rend apart the last obstacle to the goal. Tarrin put his ears back and darted forward to meet this threat. It pulled up just as Tarrin reached it and took a swipe at its midsection, managing to nick it slightly. That seemed to take the Demon out of its bloodlust, causing it to take another step back and regard the smaller foe with wary respect. It held out its hand again, and then a searing blast of fire erupted from its open palm.
That was a very bad idea. For a moment Tarrin wondered if they'd bothered to explain a few things to these Demons as he charged confidently through the blaze of fire, sword leading. It seemed genuinely surprised as the Were-cat erupted from the gout of fire, and nearly lost the taloned hand casting the spell as the Were-cat slashed at it. But it recovered from its surprise quickly, moving with a speed that belied its height and bony, ungainly appearance. It reached out and tried to grab Tarrin in its taloned hand, but the Were-cat slid underneath its grasp in a display of his own unnatural agility. He tried to stab it in the narrow belly, but it slithered aside at the last moment. He turned to face it, but the light suddenly was swallowed up by some kind of impenetrable blackness.
Tarrin didn't panic. He sensed that it was a magical effect of some kind. He heard the thing moving, and ducked underneath a broad swipe of one of those hands with their huge talons. In the single step it took to square himself, he had puzzled out how the spell worked, then willed the Weave to disrupt it. The Weave responded, choking off the flow of power that caused the spell to function, and then light suddenly reappeared, nearly as quickly as it had appeared. This startled the ugly creature, severely startled it, for it was caught trying to sneak up on him. It was easily within reach of his sword. "Fool," Tarrin chided as he skewered the monster on his weapon, driving the blade up and into its chest. The Demon gurgled incoherently, and then staggered backward off the blade and collapsed to the ground. Its body began to decompose into that horrid black sludge, smoking and sizzling on the grass and the ground, sending up fumes of toxic smoke.
But those two were just the first of them. Two more Demons were trudging towards them, and a vulture-headed third was in the air, flying just ahead of them. All three of them looked to be in rather good condition. The vulture-headed one had no visible wounds, carrying a guisarme built for its twelve span tall frame that was stained with blood. The other two were both those frog-headed Demons, smaller than the vulture one, but more solidly built and looking remarkably uninjured. What happened to the gauntlet they would have had to run to reach him? Tarrin would tangle with a single Demon, given the sword, but not even he would try to stop three uninjured Demons at the same time. He took a few frantic steps back towards the icon, his mind racing and his heart speeding up in his chest as he saw an undefeatable enemy advancing on the courtyard. Where was Shiika? He needed her help right about now!
His heels hit the edge of the fountain. He couldn't back up any further. Where was Shiika? Where were the Cambisi? Where were those damned Wizards and Priests? Sorcery and Druidic magic wouldn't affect a Demon, and he couldn't fight three by himself! His mind raced as he considered all the possibilities. He could try to blow them away with wind; they couldn't be harmed by magic, but they were still subject to the application of physical force. It could do them no harm, but it could very damn well pick them up and hurl them out of the courtyard. That would give the others time to put some wounds on these three.
Yes, that would work. It wouldn't hurt them, but it would buy him some time, maybe split them up so he could deal with them one at a time. He raised his arms out to his sides and prepared to weave together the flows to do it, but then he saw his shadow on the ground before him, a shadow cast by his body interposed between the ground and the light emanating from the icon. The light of the Goddess, his Goddess, shining her power upon him to bolster him, to reassure him, to remind him that she was with him.
Or was it?
Tarrin hesitated, realizing that he had made a fundamental, elemental blunder. He'd even thought it several times, and had never made the connection. Priest magic affected Demons. And the katzh-dashi were the Priests of Niami, the Goddess of the Weave.
Whenever you need me, I will be there. All you need do is ask, and I will give, the Goddess had told him once, long ago.
Don't experiment, my kitten. My constitution couldn't take it. The clue that had made him realize that he could use Druidic magic. He had completely forgotten the fundamental reason she said it. To not experiment with Priest magic.
And him, the fool, had even learned some of the Priest magic used by the katzh-dashi, and hadn't thought that since he wasn't technically mortal, he could go beyond that! All it required was the blessing of the Goddess!
He threw the sword down in disgust, a move that surprised the three Demons that stood against him. The Goddess hadn't been shining her light to scare the Demons, she'd been doing it to make him understand!
Alright, I'm a thick-headed fool, Mother, he thought inwardly. What must I do?
There came, of all things, a silvery laugh in reply. All it takes is faith and belief, my kitten. Ask, and I shall provide what you need. The words will come to you of their own volition.
Faith and belief. Those were no problem. He believed in his Goddess, he had faith in her power, he loved her. He stared at th three Demons and words did indeed simply come into his mind, strange words in some language long forgotten by the world. Those words definitely seemed to have meaning to the Demons, for they suddenly recoiled from him, recoiled from the glowing icon of the Goddess. He was aware of a massive surge of magical power flowing directly from the Goddess, a power unlike Sorcery yet related somehow. This did not come from the Weave, it flowed directly from the Goddess, from wherever her real being existed, which was some place beyond his imagination. This was a direct blessing of her power, akin to the power she had used to smite Val not an hour before.
He grabbed his amulet and held it before him. "In the name of Niami, Goddess of magic, I abjure ye, creatures of darkness!" he thundered at them in a voice that seemed to make the very air quiver, a voice charged by the power the Goddess poured into him. In that moment, he was a living extension of the Goddess, had been entrusted with a tiny fraction of her power, which was still enough to make the Demons before him tremble in fear. "Begone to the pits that spawned ye, or face the wrath of the Goddess!"
They stared at him in shock and horror, but then they squealed in pain when the amulet around Tarrin's neck flared with intense light, a light that seared and burned at the Demons' eyes and flesh. They turned and fled from the light of the amulet, but by then it was too late. The light flared again, and then the bodies of all three of them simply evaporated into a misty vapor, which itself disappeared from view.
Far to the southwest of Suld, far beyond Wikuna, a sudden bar of shining light suddenly erupted beyond the horizon. It was only visible to the fish and whales in the sea, shining with a radiance that made the sun seem dim, sending great light out over the trackless ocean. It flared thus for a long moment, and then faded from sight. But the sudden release of magical power exhibited by that display rushed away from its source like ripples over a pond, ripples through the air, ripples through the Weave. Travelling away from it.
Tarrin sighed, feeling alot of his strength wane as the light of the amulet and the icon both waned away. He understood what had happened. He had called upon the Goddess for help, and she had directly provided it by banishing the three Demons back to the Abyss. He had used the spell of Banishment.
Finally, the Goddess said to him radiantly. You have finally accepted what you are, my kitten. I'm glad I didn't have to hit you over the head with it.
"I, I never really considered it," he admitted contritely, blushing and abashed. "Are there any Demons left?"
No. Those were the last three you need worry about. The Wizards and the Cambisi are currently dispatching a rather troublesome Nalfeshnee, that's why they couldn't aid you here.
"What's happening out there?"
It is house to house fighting, she replied. The Wizards managed to break the Ward, and the Goblinoids have rejoined the battle. But they paid for it in blood, for Jenna allowed them to break the Ward and struck them down while they were busy undoing her work. The Goblinoids are part of the battle, but the Sorcerers can now fight them without countering the enemy Wizards.
Tarrin considered that. That put the advantage firmly with them. The Goblinoids wouldn't last long without Wizards there to force the Sorcerers to concentrate their attention on them. Sorcerers couldn't weave spells and actively disrupt Wizard magic at the same time, it was one or the other. Jenna could do it, as could he, but she had been facing a vastly greater number of Wizards, it probably took all her attention to counter them all, and consumed all the resources of her Circle to do it.
The Centaurs and Selani have the invasion contained in a fifty-block section around the east gate, she added.
"What about Kravon, and that Mary-lith?"
Marilith, she corrected. They survive. The Marilith is commanding the assault. Kravon is one of the few magicians left alive on their side. Kitten, you aren't needed here any longer. Now that you have accepted my power, I can use you to protect my icon myself. All I needed was a true Priest, and now I have you.
Tarrin flushed slightly. He was still a little embarassed that it had taken him so long to realize that. He was about to say something else, but something of tremendous power flowed through the Weave, an echo of some immense use of magical power. It chilled his blood, froze his soul, to feel something so powerful. And it was but an echo of the true power that had spawned it! He stopped dead in his tracks, and turned impulsively in the direction from which it came.
Wherever the wave of magical power passed, any who had the aptitude to use magic, be him Priest, Wizard, Sorcerer, or Druid, felt its passing, felt it in the marrow of his or her bones. And as one, they all turned in the direction from which it came, unsure what it was, but knowing it was something of great power. Even the Sorcerers and Wizards locked in combat at Suld stopped what they were doing and turned southwest, turned towards the origin of that power. Some of those that knew what it was rejoiced. Others that knew it for what it was were consumed with fear or dread, knowing what it meant.
It was the end. Or, possibly, the beginning.
"What was that?" the four awake beings in the courtyard asked simultaneously, Jasana to her mother, Jesmind to Miranda, Miranda to herself, and Tarrin to the Goddess. As one, all four of them had turned in the direction from which it had come.
That, my kitten, is what I hoped would not come so soon, the Goddess sighed. Tarrin, that was the Firestaff.
Tarrin paled, his ears rising up to point towards the statue.
It has revealed itself to the world. Now, my kitten, now things get very serious.
Tarrin was stunned. No wonder it could make someone a god! That power had been incredible! And it had revealed itself! He realized that from that wave, he could tell the general direction in which it rested. That meant that any magician with a ship was going to be sailing off into the western seas, searching for the location of the Firestaff. But where they would flounder around, Tarrin and his friends knew the way there. It meant that they were going to be running into quite a few challengers for the Firestaff out on the open ocean.
"Papa, what was that?" Jasana asked as she and Jesmind approached him warily, ready to sprint back to the corner if another Demon appeared.
"It's safe now," he told them, wearily. "Miranda, could you help us carry Jula back to the Tower?"
"Is it safe?" Miranda asked.
"I was told it was," he replied.
"Then come over here. I'm not carrying her over to you, you know."
"What just happened, my mate?" Jesmind asked. "I felt… something. Just on the edge of my senses."
Tarrin remembered that Jesmind had minor Druidic ability. It was enough for her to sense that. He padded over to Jula with them following him. "The Goddess showed me how to banish the Demons," he explained. "That's why they disappeared, and the Goddess told me they were the last ones. That magic you felt was the Firestaff," he said grimly. "It's revealed itself, just like the Goddess said it would."
"What does that mean?" she asked fearfully.
"It means, love, that now we'll have to race everyone to get there first." He reached down and picked up Jula, his bond-daughter, and looked down at her. She really was a pretty young thing, her wary expression softened by her slumber. His mind was racing, but he kept enough about himself to assign priorities. If he didn't have to stay in the courtyard anymore, he could go help. But he couldn't leave the Tower grounds, so if he saw any more fighting, it would have to come to him. Before he worried about that, though, he wanted to get Jula into a warm bed, and make sense out of the two major events that had just happened.
Why couldn't these things ever come at him one at a time, when he had time to digest them before the next big shock came along?
"You realize that there was a direction in that," Miranda told him. "We're going to have company."
"You felt it too?" he asked, then he remembered what Miranda was.
"Who wouldn't have felt that?" she asked. "I thought my blood was going to freeze."
He didn't answer that. If he told her that it came through the Weave, and she shouldn't have felt it, it would leave open all sorts of questions he wasn't quite sure for which she was prepared to accept the answers. "I know," he answered her original question. "But they won't know exactly where they're going, only a general sense of it."
"That's still enough to make it a crowded journey."
"It's a big ocean, Miranda."
"Not that big."
"I can't argue with that. I'm sure they'll find some way to get in our way."
Things weren't quite so peaceful for Allia, Keritanima, Jenna, and their group of Sorcerers. They had paused at that strange event, but were again locked in battle. The ki'zadun had established quite a foothold in the city, and had pushed most of the defenders off the walls around the east gate. Savage fighting was taking place on the walls, accented by the spells of the minor Wizards not important enough to join in the main battle of magic that had been won by the Sorcerers earlier. These were war mages, assigned to the front lines to use magic to support their troops directly. It was against these that the Sorcerers now battled, breaking the large Circle and forming a large number of smaller Circles among the katzh-dashi that were defending the walls, to spread their magic around for best effect. The Wizards could help their Goblinoid troops to overwhelm the Sulasians, but they found themselves vulnerable when a company of Wikuni musketeers opened fire on them, or the Were-kin hidden among the Wikuni soldiers made its presence known by tearing through the Goblinoids struggling to take the walls and rob the defenders of the high positions to kill the invaders with missle weapons.
The screams of the dying and the wounded were drowned out by the sharp cracks of Wikuni muskets, their deadly weapons withering the advancing Goblinoids along the walls. One brave Were-kin had turned one of the massive cannons, fully loaded, and set it off in the face of a large group of Trolls that had just ripped through a phalanx of Sulasian regulars. The courageous Were-bear then waded into their ranks with his huge claws flailing, felling those not killed by the cannon's discharge. Keritanima led a Circle of four, with Dar and Ahiyira in her host, and they moved along the walls, targeting and killing any Wizard they spotted even as they used their magic to kill Goblinoids by the score. She spotted Jenna on the ground below with her Circle of seven, which included the Keeper and Koran Dar. The sister of Tarrin was still fresh, still impressive, weaving spells that quickly made any who had recognized her and her group flee in terror at the sight of her, for few survived long enough to escape once she noticed them. Allia was in the host of a Circle on the other wall across from the east gate, led by Dolanna, but the Selani was too busy killing Goblinoids with her short swords to worry about granting her power to Dolanna. All the Circles had formidable protection to isolate them from harm. Szath, her massive bodyguard, and Azakar were just two of a host of assorted Vendari, Knights, and Ungardt that had been assigned to defend the Sorcerers, and they did so with a ferocious efficiency that even made Trolls wary to try to get through them to reach the magicians behind. There were ten defenders protecting Keritanima's Circle, and though all of them were a little battered, bloody, and bruised, their weapons were drenched in the blood of their enemies. Szath and Azakar had entered something of a competetion to see who could kill the most enemies, and they led a squad of ten frightfully nasty warriors that were just as dangerous as they were. With them to protect the Sorcerers, no enemy had gotten within spear's length of Keritanima.
"Watch it, watch it!" someone shouted, and a Sulasian used a long pole to push a ladder of Waern off the wall. Though they had breached the gate, they still tried to come over the walls to surround the defenders. Keritanima shouted for her bodyguards to get clear, and they melted out of her path immediately as the Sulasian soldiers scrambled out of the way themselves. A host of Trolls tried to surge forward as the soldiers blocking their way suddenly fled, but all they managed to do was rush headlong right into a savage blast of pure fire that lashed over the battlement at the top of the wall, frying a good fifty foot length of the wall's top and everyone atop it.
Keritanima blew out her breath, panting. Jenna looked like she could go on forever, but Keritanima was getting tired. She had given so much of herself in the large Circle, it had taken so much to act as a link between her Circle and the larger one Jenna led. But she would not shirk off her duty! They needed her magic, and only Ahiriya in her Circle had the aptitude, ability, or experience necessary for a highly volatile situation like fighting in a battle. It required split-second reactions and decision making. Ahiriya would be a competent lead, but Keritanima wasn't going to give up quite yet. It would be better if Keritanima waited until she was too tired to lead anymore, to give Ahiriya the longest possible time to act as lead before the stress of it forced her to pass it to someone else. Hopefully, by then, they wouldn't be needed anymore.
The soldiers closed ranks before Keritanima, the Sulasians using their pikes to push the burning Trolls back among their own burning kind, or forcing them to fall from the walls. The ones that were burning shrieked and flailed wildly, some of them impaling themselves on Sulasian pikes in a mad attempt to run in their pain. But more Goblinoids advanced over the burning bodies of their cousins, Waern and Dargu, filling in the hole she had made before they could advance to retake that section of the wall.
That was enough! Keritanima could see that they weren't going to be able to stop the Goblinoids from taking the wall, unless they took the wall away from the Goblinoids! She looked down, where Jenna had just annihilated a large formation of undead zombies, and shouted down at her with a voice augmented by Sorcery. "Jenna, the wall!" she shouted. "Take out the wall from here back to the gate!"
"Are you crazy, Kerri?" Jenna paused, shouting back to her. "It'll open a bigger hole for them to come through!"
"They'll have to climb over the rubble, you'll kill a mess of them when the wall collapses on them, and it'll give you a clear shot at all those troops trying to come over the rubble!" she shouted back. "It's better to kill them before they get into the city, because we don't have to worry about killing friendly troops! And I can stop defending the wall and start killing the ones trying to come in!"
"Good point! Alright, brace yourself!"
Keritanima called for all of them to hold on, and grabbed hold of Szath. She felt Jenna draw up a massive amount of power, then unleashed it against the wall itself. The wall shuddered, then a good hundred foot span of it from the east gate to about twenty feet from where Keritanima was exploded outwards, showering the sieging troops in a deadly avalanche of falling stone. The Goblinoids atop the wall sank into an billowing cloud of dust as the ear-splitting sound of tearing stone drowned out their screams. The wall beneath her feet shuddered and swayed, knocking many off their feet, even making a few tumble over the side to plumme to the street below, but it stopped rocking and again became firm. "Alright, now go blow the gate and the wall on the other side!" Keritanima shouted down to her. "If they can't come up the stairs in the gatehouse, they'll have a bloody hell of a time getting up here!"
"I see why you're a Queen, Kerri!" Jenna shouted at her, then she collected up her Circle and the Vendari, Knights, and Ungardt defending it and moved to obey Keritanima's orders.
Keritanima paused to catch her breath, bent over, hands on knees, feeling her joints tremble. Someone grabbed her by the shoulder gently. "Let me take the lead," Ahiriya's voice called over the din. "You're about to fall over."
"In a few minutes," she promised. "So you have as much time as possible in the lead."
"Now!" Ahiriya barked at her. "I can feel your hold on the Circle fading, girl! If you try to weave in a Circle if you don't have full control, you'll Consume yourself!"
"I can handle it!" she snapped.
"This is no time for stupid heroism!" Ahiriya snapped at her. "If you lose control while Circled, you'll put us in danger too! Now give over the lead, or I'll break the Circle!"
Keritanima glared at her, but realized that as tired as she was, she wouldn't be able to stop Ahiriya from breaking the circle against her will. Usually, those in a Circle were at the mercy of the lead, unable to leave until released. She finally nodded, then submerged herself into the Circle, giving it no one true lead. She felt Ahiriya step up into that role, and then felt the hot-tempered Fire seat take up command of her power.
Keritanima's quick thinking turned out to be pivotal. The Goblinoids were robbed of their easy way onto the walls when Jenna destroyed the gatehouse, then destroyed the section of wall on the far side that the Goblinoids had won from the defenders. That freed up the Sulasian archers, the Wikuni musketeers, and the katzh-dashi on the walls to stop fighting for every finger of wall and turn their attention on killing the enemy troops charging towards the city. That advance turned into a withering killing field when Jenna climbed up onto the rubble and unleashed a blast of Sorcery against them that Keritanima had only seen from Tarrin, a cutting weave of pure Air that was sharper than the keenest blade. She sent that scythe of Air through the advancing Goblinoids like they were wheat, mowing them down by the hundreds as she whipped it back and forth over the land before the exposed, destroyed section of wall. Ki'zadun archers continued to try to shoot arrows at them, but they continued to be turned away by a weave that Jenna had placed earlier, a weave that was still active, a Ward that prevented any non-living thing not in the possession of a living thing from crossing from the outside to the inside. It stopped the arrows and catapult shot from coming in, but did not impede the arrows, muskets balls, and cannonballs from going out. She had set that not long after they had destroyed the main threat to their magic, the opposing Wizards and Priests with enough experience to undo Sorcery, and now those protections allowed the defenders to rain death on their attackers without fear of being fired upon in return. Jenna had wanted to weave a Ward that would have stopped any living thing from crossing it, but she couldn't spread it to cover the entire wall. Since their plans revolved around allowing a limited breach, they couldn't do something that would make the enemy attack the wall in a different location. Not when they already had a foothold in the city.
Jenna changed tacks, raising her hands as blazing light surrounded her form. Keritanima felt the buildup of power within her, and realized she was about to do something big. The little girl, barely more than a woman, suddenly looked like some avenging Avatar at that moment, surrounded by Magelight, looking like an unstoppable force against which nothing could stand. She had bought herself enough time by killing the enemies trying to get into the city to allow herself to do something drastic, probably aimed at the reserve forces still formed up well outside the city.
Keritanima watched with slightly blurring vision, blurring in exhaustion, as the spell was woven, diving into the earth. In a moment, a lage, lumbering hulk clawed itself out of the ground, and she realized that it was another Earth Elemental. This one was by no means as large as the one Triana made, which had reached the limits of its time here and returned to where it came from-which had totally wiped out Triana and took her out of the battle-but it was still monstrous. About thirty feet tall, looking like a two-legged barrel with stumpy arms and no head. It began lumbering out towards the reserve forces, but it was much faster than the Elemental that Triana had summoned. The soldiers rushing towards the city stopped dead in their tracks and scrambled out of the way of the surprisingly mobile Elemental, which went out of its way to step on a few of the slower ones as it stomped off to harass the enemy reserves. She saw the regimented lines of the reserve troops, mostly humans, began to waver, then back away, then flee in every direction as the huge magical creation reached where they were formed up, squashing anything it could catch and causing a total panic in the enemy reserves.
Keritanima had to admit… she liked Jenna's style.
The Wizards left on that side tried in vain to counter it with magic, but their spells bounced off the great Elemental or had no effect at all, and they too ended up fleeing from its advance when their attempts to destroy it did nothing more than make it notice them.
She turned her attention woodenly to an undulating cry below, and saw a pack of Selani chasing a group of Trolls with eager enthusiasm. The Selani and the Centaurs had run wild over the invading forces. They were both impossibly fast, able to attack and the melt away before the invaders had any idea what had just happened. They moved from street to street, block to block, house to house, attacking and destroying the invaders that had, at first, been seeking refuge from the withering missle fire coming from the walls. Those slashing tactics became a grim line of defense when the walls began to be taken over, the Selani proving that they were among the best warriors in the world by devastating any who came against them. Only the animated, undead creations in the enemy army, which had no fear, proved any kind of match for the Selani, who relied on crippling blows to fell an enemy and allowing them to finish it off at their leisure. The skeletons and zombies couldn't be killed by anything other than decapitation, and the Selani had to learn that in a costly manner, counted in the number of casualties they and the Centaurs suffered before the trick of it was discovered. But after the weakness was exploited, the defending lines were stabilized, then began to push back when an element of the Knights and a large reserve force of Arakite Legions were dispatched to help the Selani and Centaurs hold the line. The Arakites, masters of various defensive tactics, formed a shield wall and held the mixed host of undead, Fae-da'Kii, and Goblinoids off long enough for the Selani and Centaurs to regroup and rejoin the fighting. That shield wall parted as the mounted Knights and Centaurs crashed into the lines with their lances leading, trampling a wide swath through their opponents, and then the hole they created was quickly filled in by the Arakites and Selani, who, Keritanima had realized, were probably fighting side by side for the first time in their histories. The Knights and Centaurs curled around and separated into two groups, then engaged the enemies from behind while the Arakites and Selani assaulted their disorganized and demoralized front ranks. When the invaders' lines were split, the two halves were quickly swarmed under by the less numerous yet much more highly trained Arakites, Knights, and Selani.
Keritanima felt the strain of leading the Circle fade from her as Ahiriya took the lead, but she was still completely exhausted, and every time Ahiriya's demands for power reached her, she found it harder and harder to answer them. Her legs began to tremble, and she nearly fell as Ahiriya moved the Circle near the shattered edge of the destroyed wall, then began to attack the battling enemies below with magic, who had tried to circle around behind Jenna and her Circle as the young lady created the Elemental that was still causing chaos in the reserves of their enemies. Keritanima felt light-headed, and found herself clinging to Azakar for support as Ahiriyra drew more and more out of her, power that she wasn't sure she was capable of supplying. "Zak," she said weakly, in a quavering voice, "Zak, have Ahiriya drop me from the circle," she asked. "I, I don't feel well."
"Kerri? Kerri, are you alright?" he asked in sudden concern, putting an arm around her shoulder.
Ahiriya began to weave again, and it put a demand on Keritanima that was just too much. She felt something inside her give, and then a sudden eruption of power snapped out of the Weave and assaulted her. In sudden panic, Keritanima let go of Azakar, falling to the floor of the wall, as she realized that the power of the Weave was flooding into her unchecked. She was too weary, too exhausted, to struggle against it, and Ahiriya's demands on her had overwhelmed her attempts to stop it from happening. The sudden inundation of power into the Circle caused all of them in it to shudder and recoil. Ahiriya gave out a strangled cry and tried to break the Circle, but the power flooding into the Circle resisted any attempt to break it. In desperation, she turned that power against itself, using it to try to forcibly sever the ties binding the Sorcerers together.
The attempt worked, at least in a way. The Circle broke violently, causing a huge backlash, and the other three Sorcerers joined to it were thrown from their feet by the power of its disruption, causing a blast of wind to issue forth from the middle of them and a shockwave of pain to lash through them. All the power that had been flowing into the Circle fed back into Keritanima, filling her beyond her capacity, dropping her into a sea of fire that burned at her insides. She let out a ragged scream and rose up on her knees, hands over her face and muzzle as Azakar and Szath scrambled to her. "Get out of here!" Ahiriya barked in fear, staring at Keritanima.
"What's going on?" Dar demanded.
"She hid how tired she was from me!" Ahiriya snapped angrily. "The damn fool! She's lost control! She's going to be Consumed!" She looked at Dar with steady eyes. "Now if you value your life, then run!"
But Dar did not run, as the others in their group did so. He joined Azakar and Szath as they tried to do something, anything, to make Keritanima stop shrieking in agony. He put his hand on his friend's shoulder and touched the Weave, trying to think of some way to stop what every teacher he'd ever had told him could not be stopped once it began.
"Back away from her," came a voice. They all looked over to see Jenna, standing on thin air, a compassionate look on her face. "I'll take care of her, but it's best if you're not close to her." Then she smiled warmly at them. "I promise," she said, giving Dar a wink.
"Go on," came Tarrin's voice. Dar whipped his head around and saw Tarrin standing right behind them, when he hadn't been there only a second ago! "Go. We'll take care of her now. She'll be just fine."
Dar nodded mindlessly, and then he found himself being pulled along by Azakar as the Mahuut pulled him away, trusting in Tarrin and Jenna's ability to help. Szath seemed defiant, then found himself being lifted into the air and set gently on the ground below by one of them-he wasn't sure which. Dar watched as Azakar dragged him away as the two of them got on either side of the Wikuni, and were talking to her even as he felt… something, he wasn't sure what, but something pass between them. He couldn't hear what they were saying, couldn't make out what he was feeling, and at first it seemed to be doing nothing. Keritanima rose up onto her feet as her screams became horrific, a sound of incredible agony, and then her feet actually lifted up off the wall! She seemed to hover there, screaming mindlessly as the power of Sorcery roared into her unchecked, reaching what he could see and sense and feel was a crescendo, an absolute limit that heralded the inevitable destruction of his friend. The power built and built until it reached that point, and her screaming became even louder, even more terrible, searing itself into his memory as one of the things he'd wished he'd never heard… and then she just stopped. Dar distinctly felt the power rushing into his friend also just stop, defying everything he'd ever been taught. Her body suddenly began to glow, and then a sheathe of light surrounded her, just like the concave four-pointed star at the heart of the shaeram a light that seemed to simply dissolve away her clothes. He wasn't sure what he was seeing, what he was feeling, but he knew one thing for certain.
Keritanima had just done the impossible! She had avoided being Consumed!
Tarrin and Jenna made no moves towards her until the light faded, and then Jenna wrapped her arms around the Wikuni and kept her from collapsing to the wall's floor. Jenna was weeping, but the look on her face made it clear that they were tears of joy.
To: Title EoF