Everything was even in the same place.
This was the only place in the desert where to which he was absolutely sure he could Teleport, and seeing it again made him go through all the memories anew. It was the broken arena in the Dwarven city that Jegojah had called Mala Myrr, with the collapsed tower on one side and the clear field on the other. Tarrin and Jegojah had fought in this arena, the grandest of all battles it had ever seen, a duel of sword and staff, magic against magic, cunning against cunning. Tarrin had won that battle, and in the course of it had freed both Jegojah's and Faalken's souls of the Soultraps, devices used to imprison them and make them do the bidding of Kravon. Tarrin had spent days memorizing this arena, coming to know intimately where every single pebble was located, to give him every possible advantage in his fight with Jegojah. That exacting familiarization was more than enough to allow him to Teleport back to this place. Since he wasn't very close to where he wanted to go or couldn't see it, it meant that he had to have a good knowledge of the place in order to Teleport there.
They had only just arrived, but it was like he'd been there for years. It had been many months since he'd last been there, but part of him expected to still find his and Jegojah's footprints on the ground. His life had changed in this arena, and it was here where events were set in motion that saved the city of Suld, saved the katzh-dashi from destruction. It had been many months, but the pain he felt at seeing the crypt was almost like new. He, Sarraya, Allia, and Sapphire had appeared facing its magnificent marble walls, gleaming like snow in the midday sun. It had been months since he'd last seen it, but it was completely untouched by the elements. Its white marble was just as brilliantly white, and the inscription etched into it was still clean inside, with no sand built up in it as it tended to do in nooks and crannies.
Faalken. How he missed his old friend, even now. The only one to die, and who had died because Tarrin, in a fury, cared more about killing Jegojah than he did about protecting his friends. He had been indirectly responsible for Faalken's death, and though he didn't let it consume him, it was a fact that he would never allow himself to forget. Just as he'd worn the manacles to remind himself of Jula's betrayal, he carried inside him a scar that would never disappear, a scar he would never allow to vanish from his mind. It was his reminder of what happened when he lost control, of how those around him he loved could pay the price for his own failings. Creating this wondrous crypt in the ruins of a Dwarven city, a race who had allowed itself to be exterminated in order to save the rest of the peoples of Sennadar during the Blood War, was the least he could do. And it seemed right to lay him to rest here. A new hero to rest beside those of antiquity, to add his name to their countless unknown ones, to remind everyone of the sacrifices that had been made both in the present and the past.
Tarrin had brooded a long time about the Dwarves when he first came here, he remembered. He had a towering respect for a people who were willing to sacrifice absolutely everything for others, who had been destroyed to the last man, woman, and child in order to defend their home. That was courage, and it was something that everyone on Sennadar, even now, five thousand years later, did not forget. They had been gone five millenia, but the songs and stories of the legendary bravery and sacrifice of the Dwarves still echoed from taprooms and parlors all over the Known World. In their own way, they had had a profound impact on his life. They had built the city where he and Jegojah had fought, but their sacrifice and his memories of this place had had quite an effect on him, and it was here that he had started significantly shaking off his feral nature. On many levels, in many ways, both blatant and subtle, Tarrin owed the long-dead Dwarves a great deal of gratitude and thanks. Though dead five thousand years, their hands had stretched across time and helped shape the present, and Tarrin thought that they would have been satisfied, even happy, to know that they had had one final chance to help protect the world that they had died to save.
Tarrin stared at the marble crypt a long moment, every memory he had of Faalken swirling unbidden through his mind, and then he turned his gaze to look past the broken walls of the arena. The city was exactly the same, every tower exactly where he remembered seeing it rise up over the walls and the rubble. He knew exactly where he was, and could guide them with unerring accuracy to any part of the city they wanted to go.
Mala Myrr, the Lost City of the Dwarves, protected from looters by the desert and the Selani, cradled in the arms of the Holy Mother. If there was anywhere he would want to begin a journey through the desert, it was this place.
A thought occurred to him. In all the confusion after leaving here, he had forgotten that the Goddess had moved a great deal of priceless Dwarven art after he had stupidly left it sitting out at the mercy of the howling winds. She had never told him where she put it, and after a while, he'd forgotten to ask any more. But the turning had restored all his memory, even things he had forgotten through time and nature rather than a curse, and it was again very fresh in his mind.
He was going to take this up with Mother as soon as he got back. He wanted that art put back where he'd gotten it from. To take it seemed wrong to him. It belonged to the Dwarves, it belonged in Mala Myrr. "Is this it?" Allia asked quietly in Selani.
"This is Faalken's crypt," he affirmed, looking at it again. "This is where I fought Jegojah."
"I remember this place," Sapphire said, looking around. "It looks much different from the air, though. It looks like time hasn't touched it very much. It looks the same now as it did a thousand years ago."
"I kind of like it that way, Sapphire," he told her. "This place is very special to me. I like the idea that no matter how much things change, this place will remain the same."
"Dwarves lived here?"
"They did," he answered.
"A pity I'm not old enough to know them. They look to have been quite remarkable stoneworkers."
"How old are you?" he asked curiously.
"About two thousand," she answered. "But a thousand of that was the time I spent as a drake, so it doesn't really count in my mind."
"Shew," Sarraya huffed. "I forgot how hot it gets out here."
Tarrin turned his attention to himself. He could feel the heat, but it didn't really bother him. His Weavespinner protection from fire made the searing heat of the desert actually rather pleasant. And it was hot. The heat shimmered off the stones and sand of the city in undulating waves, hot enough to burn unprotected skin that may touch it, and the sun struck down like a hammer on anything its rays touched. It was late summer in the desert, and summer in the Desert of Swirling Sands was one of the most hostile environments in all the world. But as summer waned, the famous storms that gave the desert its name would begin to spawn off the Sandshield, howling across the desert like tidals waves of raging destruction, scouring the rocks and threatening to scald and strip exposed flesh off the bone. "I like it," he told her.
"You would," she said acidly. "Mister immune to heat."
"Be thankful it is just hot," Allia told her. "This is the quiet season. Not long from now, the storms are going to begin."
"Don't remind me," Sarraya grunted. "I still feel a little tender from a few of those. But right now, I may actually prefer a little skin-stripping sandstorm to this heat."
"Stop complaining and shield yourself, like you did back then," he said dismissively. "When are you going to leave, Sapphire?"
"As soon as we get clear of the city," she replied. "If I return to my true form here, I'd knock down several buildings. That would defile this place, and it's not very pleasant for me either."
"How long will it take you to get home?"
"Not long," she smiled. "My lair is on the eastern edge of the desert, but conditions this time of year are perfect for flying east. The winds aloft will push me along. I should be home in about seven days."
"Well, let's get started. It's going to take us about an hour to get to the edge of the city," he told them. "This place is pretty big."
After climbing up to the stands to get out of the arena, they exited near the grand open courtyard or plaza or whatever it had been in antiquity and turned up one of the wide avenues leading to the eastern edge of the city. "Why did you bring us here, deshida?" Allia asked curiously.
"This is the only place in the desert I'm sure that I'm familiar with enough to Teleport to, sister," he answered.
She frowned. "How familiar do you have to be?"
" Very familiar," he answered.
"Then how did Jenna Teleport into the dining room?" she asked. "Surely she did not study it."
"No, but it's what you'd call local," he answered. "There are two ways to Teleport, deshaida. There's local and long distance. They have different rules."
"Explain them," she said.
"Well, if you're going to Teleport a very short distance, the rules are very lax," he answered as they passed the building where he, Sarraya, and Jegojah had taken shelter from a sandstorm. "If you're Teleporting where you can see, or someplace within just a few hundred spans, you can do it without knowing the area very well. There's another rule about Teleporting in a confined area called domain, too," he continued. "Jenna could Teleport into the dining room because it's hers. She's the Keeper, and the entire Tower is her domain. She can Teleport anywhere in it or on the grounds, because it's all hers." He stepped absently over a place where he knew a Dwarf skeleton lay buried under the sand. "Jenna can do it, and most of the Sha'Kar can do it too, though they can't go everywhere. They can only go to public places or areas that they consider their personal domain."
"Why is that different?"
"Mother makes it different," he told her. "It's the Goddess' influence that changes the rules. She wanted it to be much easier for us to Teleport in the Tower, I guess. Though why someone would Teleport when they can walk is beyond me." He threw his braid back over his shoulder after a gust of wind pushed it around him. "The third rule is the rule concerning what I just did. If you're Teleporting a great distance, or somewhere that isn't your domain, you have to be very familiar with the area to do it. You have to know exactly what you're looking for in order for the spell to find where you want to go. You don't have to get down and study every rock and pebble, but you do have to be able to conjure up a very detailed memory of the place you want to go. And I mean detailed. I could come here because I spent three days studying every rock and pebble in a longspan-wide radius of that arena to give myself an advantage over Jegojah. But I didn't need that kind of preparation to be able to Teleport here. I could have done it just by spending a day or two camped in one place in the city, staying in that one place long enough to get a good detailed feel for it and a good memory of it. I might be able to Teleport to Amyr Dimeon, but I'm not sure. I also might be able to Teleport to the Great Canyon, but again, I'm not sure. I spent a goodly amount of time in both places, and some pretty memorable things happened, memorable enough for me to possibly be able to make a connection with those places."
"Could you Teleport to Dala Yar Arak?" Allia asked.
"Easily," he replied. "I could also Teleport to the Star of Jerod or the Dancer, because I was on both ships a long time."
"But they are not where they once were," she protested.
"That doesn't matter," he told her. "I'm Teleporting to the ship, not to the place where the ship is. No matter where it is, I can Teleport onto the deck, because it's that deck that's my target. Not the location where the ship happens to be."
"Ah. I understand," Allia nodded. "What happens if you try to Teleport to a place you are not familiar enough to reach?"
"The spell fails," he answered. "It can't find the destination, and the spell unravels before you can release it."
"Quite a restricting rule," Sapphire said. "Wizardly Teleportation is much more liberal. You can try to Teleport anywhere you want to go, but the less familiar you are with a place, the greater the chance that you miss."
"Miss? What is a miss?" Tarrin asked.
"Not appearing where you intended to appear," she answered. "If you happen to Teleport inside a solid object, you won't live to learn from your mistake. That's why it's not done without extreme care or a great deal of desperation."
"Ouch," Sarraya said, and he felt her shudder a bit on his shoulder.
"Can you do that?" Tarrin asked.
She shook her head. "There's a size limit for the Wizard version, and dragons are just a bit past it. Besides, I'd much rather fly. I've never in my life felt a need to get somewhere faster than my wings can carry me."
"I wonder if there's a Druidic version," Tarrin mused.
"I doubt it," Sarraya answered. "Transplanting yourself like that absolutely defines unnatural, Tarrin. You know how the effort goes up when you cross that boundary."
"It's theoretically possible, but not even I would care to experiment," Sapphire agreed. "You'd either succeed, or you'd die trying. I'll leave making that kind of a choice for when I have nothing more to lose."
"I think I agree with you, my friend," Tarrin nodded sagely.
It took them about an hour to get to the edges of the city, where there was much, much less sand. The winds blew predominantly from west to east through the wide valley in which the city was nestled, and the stone buildings of the city formed a barrier that broke up the wind and caused the sand to pile up on the western edges. After they passed the last building, Tarrin and Allia followed Sapphire as she got what she considered to be a safe distance from the outlying edge of the city, out onto bare, windswept rock that was strewn with rounded stones from the size of Tarrin's fist to large boulders, too large for the summer winds to pick up and carry away. She stopped suddenly and turned around, then opened her arms expectantly. Tarrin stepped up and embraced her warmly.
"Now you be careful, little friend," she said. "Did you think to bring my bell?"
"I have it with me," he told her with a smile.
"That's a good boy," she said, looking up at him with a satisfied smile. "If you need me, call me. I'll come."
"I appreciate that, my friend," he said as he let her go. "Have a good journey, and try not to be too hard on your brood when you get home. Remember, they're young."
"That's the problem," she said with a dry smile. "Take care of him, Allia," she called.
"He will be safe with me, honored dragon," Allia replied confidently. "This is my home. I will not allow its dangers to take him unaware."
"That is the only reason I'm letting him out of my sight," she told the Selani calmly. "Step back now, both of you. I need some space."
The space Sapphire needed, as they both well knew, was a good hundred or so spans. They retreated well away from her, and then they watched in mute fascination as the human female shell that had held her was cast aside, and she quickly expanded and regained her true shape. She was absolutely majestic in her true form, a proud, handsome, noble and stately creature, and her gigantic immensity still did not fail to boggle Tarrin's mind. She had to have blood vessels inside her body so big that he could stand inside them without having to stoop. It was almost unbelievable that something could be so huge. She only had to take a few steps towards them and crane that seventy or so span long neck over to get her head almost directly over them, and amber, serpentine eyes, each larger than Tarrin was tall, regarded them with unblinking intensity. Sarraya had never seen Sapphire in her true form before, and the little Faerie's hands were clutching the fabric of his shirt so tightly that she was about to punch her fingers through it. Tarrin was only as large as one of Sapphire's clawed fingers, but Sarraya wasn't even as large as one of her scales. The difference in size between the dragon and the Faerie was as profound as one could possibly imagine.
"Am I impressive now, sprite?" Sapphire asked with light humor in her deep bass voice, a voice that actually vibrated the air around them, making them feel the words more than hear them.
Sarraya could not reply rationally. All Tarrin heard was a series of high-pitched squeaks and stutters. Tarrin wondered idly if the dragon, with its huge eardrums, was even capable of hearing so shrill and mumbled a sound.
"I thought so," she noted with eyes narrowed in amusement. "Well, little one, this is farewell," she sighed. "I hate leaving clan alone, but you have your duties, and I have mine. I'm sure we'll meet again."
"I'm sure we will, Sapphire," he called to her.
Her massive head bobbed in a single nod, and then her neck carried her head away, faster than Tarrin or Allia could have run the same distance. Tarrin wondered absently what it would be like to be so incredibly immense, to be able to cover in one step what would take a human more than fifty, and move with a deceptive speed that came with the strength and size of the form that could outpace anything else alive. Putting things in a perspective of relative sizes, Sapphire's movements, though stately to her and very graceful from a distance, were amazingly fast when viewed from so close. Tarrin was sure that he moved with the same incredible swiftness to an insect gazing up at him from the ground, who would have to walk along for several moments to cover the same distance he could traverse in a single step. The ground shook noticably when her huge paws struck it, as she turned and walked several steps away from the Selani and the Were-cat, and then her sail-sized wings unfurled from her body.
"Uh oh, turn away, sister," he warned quickly in Selani.
"I want to see her take off," Allia protested.
"You won't see it," he warned quickly. "Her wings are going to kick up their own little sandstorm."
"Hmph," Allia snorted, reaching under her shirt and producing a crystal visor the the Selani wore to protect their eyes from the brilliant sun and the sand-stinging wind, a single piece of crystal that was tinted violet to reduce the power of the sun's light.
"Good idea," Tarrin mused, absently Conjuring a new visor for himself and settling it over his eyes as Sapphire's wings snapped down in the first stroke, even as her legs pushed her titanic frame off the ground. A virtual shockwave of air rushed away, expanding on the ground under her and blooming out, carrying with it a cloud of dust and sand. It blasted over them, pulling fiercely at their clothes and making Allia have to reset her feet to keep the wind from pushing her backwards. The sand and dust concealed the dragon's ascent into the air for a moment, and when the dust cleared enough to see, she was already a few hundred spans in the air and about a quarter longspan away.
"Now that was an experience," Allia said, pushing her turban-like headgear back down over her bangs. The wind had nearly pulled it off. "You're going to make sure that I have an entire lifetime of things to sing about when I return home, brother."
"Who wants a dull life?" Sarraya piped in.
"I didn't know you speak Selani, Sarraya," Allia said with some surprise.
"Neither did I," Tarrin added.
"Triana put it in there last night," she answered. "I think she thought I may have a need for it this time."
"It's best to know that now, I suppose," she mused. "Before I say something."
"You wouldn't talk about me behind my back, would you, Allia?" Sarraya asked challengingly.
"No, I'd tell you to your face, then comment on it to Tarrin," she replied immediately.
"I thought so," Sarraya laughed.
"Well, brother, where are we going?" Allia asked.
"Amyr Dimeon," he answered. "I want you to see it, and I want to see how Ariana's doing."
"The Cloud Spire is only about fifteen days' run from here," Allia said. "Ten if we push."
"It took us nearly a month the first time," Sarraya said.
"Then you weren't going very fast," she snorted in reply.
"I was thinking of having an Air Elemental carry us, sister," he told her.
"Posh. It's been too long since I've had the chance to stretch my legs, and I am not going to be carried like a child. Besides, deshida , we have two months. Does it matter how long it takes us to get there, as long as we get there?"
"Alright, that's a good point," he acceded with a chuckle. He could see her opening up already, shedding the protective manner she kept when surrounded by the others. She was home, she was very comfortable, she was in her own element, and the Allia that he knew when they were alone was going to be right there all the time. She had no reason to subdue her true personality out here. In the desert, she could breathe free, and Sarraya was about to get the full Allia experience. He had no doubt that the Faerie was going to be quite surprised at how playful and emotional his Selani sister really was.
"Come on then, Tarrin," she said with a wonderfully glorious smile. "Let me show you my home. I've waited too long to do this with you, and I won't wait any longer."
"I just hope you can keep up, Allia," he teased as he brushed Sarraya off his shoulder with a paw.
"Well excuse me!" Sarraya snapped, flitting in front of him. "Should I try to sting you now, or just buzz in your face until you swat me?"
"Save your energy, Sarraya," Allia said with a quirky smile. "You're going to need it."
And with that, the sleek Selani female turned and started loping off towards the east, towards the Cloud Spire, in easy strides that ate up shocking amounts of ground with each step. Tarrin burst off after her, catching up with her quickly as Sarraya zipped along behind them, cursing and shouting at them. Together the two of them ran on, in the traditional and effective Selani mode of travel, setting a pace that would kill just about any other living thing within an hour. They ran in silence, but fully aware of one another, and both showed with glances and smiles just how much both of them were looking forward to spending time together, spending time in Allia's home, renewing a bond of love and trust that often defied rational explanation. Tarrin's relationship with Allia was one of the main cornerstones of his life, and without her, he wouldn't know what to do. Time and need had separated him from her more than once, and his amnesia had made it difficult for them; harder on Allia than it was on him. The journey before them, those two months, would renew the ties that bound them soul to soul, forever together as brother and sister.
For them, there could be nothing better than what was right now. Together in the one place where Allia felt relaxed and open, with nothing but welcoming desert before them, and all the time in the world to spend with one another.
Allia set a murderous pace, but Tarrin felt she did so not to punish him, but to get her legs back. Two years of comparatively sedate inactivity had marked his sister, reduced some of her endurance, and he could tell that she meant to get it all back as quickly as possible. They moved across the windswept fields of stony rubble at a fair speed, up and down the rugged hills that surrounded the ancient Dwarven city. The heat of the day cooled into a somewhat pleasant afternoon, and as the sun crept closer and closer to the horizon, the winds began to pick up with greater and greater force. They blew in from behind them, rasing up a low cloud of sand and dust that dimmed the light of the sun and made the Skybands almost invisible.
They decided to camp for the night near a wide, broken rock spire, one that Tarrin remembered passing some months ago. He'd passed it in midmorning then, however. It was a quiet campsite, because Allia was a little tired from her running, and Sarraya was a little put out with him for brushing her off as he did. Tarrin didn't mind the silence, however, because it was a silence filled with the companionship of his sister, and that made him perfectly content. As they'd done the first time, Tarrin and Sarraya Conjured everything they would need for a campsite, including the food and water served at the fire, and the tents were left behind the next morning, still standing, waiting to be Conjured to the new campsite that night.
The pace the next day was just as hard as the first, as was the day after that. Those two days were nondescript, seeing no Selani and no major predators. They did pass a wild flock of sukk grazing in an isolated patch of tough desert scrub, which supplied them with a midmorning meal the first day, and they came across the stripped skeleton of a kusuk. Tarrin hadn't seen one of those on his first trip across the desert, but Allia had no trouble identifying the remains because of the large, heavy plates of what looked like bone that surrounded the skeleton. Kusuk meant "shielded," and the animal, a low, squat thing with short legs and overlapping ridges of heavy plating on its body, supposedly looked like a twelve-span high walking suit of living armor. Tarrin envisioned it as looking like a wide-headed armadillo. The thing had a huge bony club-like growth on the end of its tail, a very powerful and formidable weapon used to fight off predators like inu and kajat. Whatever had killed this one had had to literally tear off vast sections of bony plates to get to the flesh beneath.
The kusuk was strangely out of place. They were in a section of desert with very little vegetation. What was it doing way out here?
That would be a mystery forever unsolved, as they moved on, and the skeleton behind slowly faded from Tarrin's memory and care.
After stopping to rest in the midday heat, Tarrin took the opportunity to let Jenna know that he'd made it and was on his way. He did it through the Heart, going there and using her star to find his way back to her, then Whispering in her ear, so to speak, to deliver his message. It was a trick he'd learned from the expanded knowledge he'd gained from the Weave, one of the little things he'd forgotten to teach Jenna. The Goddess said to teach her spells, and that's what he did. But there were other aspects of Sorcery besides spellweaving, and he'd learned a few nifty tricks from the Weave when he'd been turned. He would have taught her if he'd had more time, but he'd been pretty pressed that day and night, between teaching Jenna and getting instruction from Triana. Tarrin Whispered in Jenna's ear that they were safely in the desert, Sapphire had already left, and they were basicly just taking things easy for now. He told her how safe he felt now that he was in the desert, and that he missed her. He asked her to let him know when Keritanima and the others got to Ungardt, and also to let him know after she went to go see Grandfather and ask him for his help.
He considered trying to Whisper to Keritanima, but he had the feeling that she was mad at him for not saying goodbye. If she wasn't, she would have projected out to see him by now-no, she couldn't do that. He forgot, she was on a ship, and as long as the ship was moving, she couldn't join with the Weave. So he took the time to find Keritanima and Whisper to her as well, repeating what he told Jenna, and also asking her to come see him as soon as they docked somewhere.
That done, he opened his eyes and reflected a little on what he'd said to them. He did feel safe here. In the desert, with the Selani and their fierce goddess protecting him, he truly felt safe. He knew that nobody would dare come in after him, if they even knew he was here at all. He hadn't realized before how calm that made him, how calm and relaxed and quite happy. It had been so long since he'd felt safe anywhere, so long since he'd truly let his guard down, but he could do it here. It a very liberating experience. He felt safe and secure, and he had good friends along in Sarraya and Allia, people to talk to, and people he would enjoy talking to. All in all, despite the pangs he felt at being separated from his children and Jesmind, not being there to take part in the progression of Kimmie's pregnancy, he was probably more happy at this time than he'd been in a very long time, even the time he spent in domestic bliss with Jesmind.
Strange. Since coming to the desert, thoughts of his mission had been very far away from him. It was almost like a vacation, him not having to worry about the Firestaff and who may try to take it from him every waking moment. He knew he was here on serious business, but it just didn't feel serious. It really did feel like a holiday, a vacation, an escape from the intensely nerve-wracking experience that was his daily life.
It wasn't freedom, but it was the closest thing he'd felt to freedom since the morning Dolanna and Faalken led him away from Aldreth, the day all this insanity began. And he wasn't about to squander the opportunity to enjoy his sense of freedom.
And so, when they got up to continue on, he started running with a renewed sense of peace with himself and with his situation. He was going to enjoy the two months in the desert, if only because for the first time in years, he truly felt like the crushing weight of the burden of his responsibility had been lifted from his shoulders.
When they made camp that night, Allia ghosted off and then returned moments later carrying an umuni by the neck. It was a big one, its tail dragging the ground, and to Tarrin's surprise, it was still alive. Allia hadn't killed it, she had caught it.
"How about this for dinner?" she asked him lightly, holding up the struggling lizard.
"Allia, are you crazy?" Sarraya challenged. "That thing's going to bite you the minute you let it go!"
"I'm immune to umuni venom," she told the Faerie calmly. That wasn't a big surprise. The years and years in the desert, surrounded by an absolute onslaught of venemous creatures, had bred a very strong resistance to poison into the Selani, and some were completely immune to some kinds of venom. Allia was one of them. "For that matter, I'm quite lucky. I seem to be immune to most venoms of the more common animals."
"What, did you go sticking your hands in burrows when you were a baby?" Sarraya teased.
"I was born with it," she shrugged. "Some Selani are blessed by the Holy Mother in that way. Others instill it into their children with time and careful work. Smart parents introduce the poison in very small amounts to their children when they're young, so they can build up a resistance to it. Well, deshida?"
"Let's see," Tarrin mused. "Eat a tough, tasteless lizard, or Conjure anything I want. Decisions, decisions."
Allia looked at him, then laughed heartily. "I get the message," she winked. "I'll go let this go."
"Just make sure it doesn't wander back this way!" Sarraya called. "That thing was looking at me like I was the next item on its menu!"
The next day they moved into flatter land, stopped a few hours to wait out a small, savage little squall of a sandstorm, and then moved on through grazing land of thick, tough desert scrub and the occasional needle-lined cactus. The thicker vegetation meant there were grazers wandering the plains, sukk and chisu, as well as the insectoid draka. Tarrin saw his first live kusuk around midafternoon, a trio of them surrounding a youngling, and they also saw their first major predator. A young kajat had killed a chisu and was feeding on it, oblivious to the passing of the two figures and the tiny winged one that rode on the top of the taller one's head. Close to sunset, as Allia began to tire, they passed within a longspan of a small pack of inu. The sharp-eyed predators would usually have gave them a great deal of notice as they passed, the leader of the pack debating if expending the energy to try to run down a swift Selani was worth the effort, but they were already engaged in a hunt, stalking a small flock of sukk that had wandered away from the large numbers of them to the west.
As those days passed, Tarrin watched his sister. She grew more and more expressive, seemed happier and happier, even if she was so tired by the time that they set camp that she had trouble moving. She complained about that lightly when she got up the next morning, teasing him that it was his fault that she was so woefully out of shape. But Selani were amazingly resilient beings, and over those few days, Allia's endurance and stamina had grown by half, and every night when they stopped to camp, she was significantly less tired. The harshness of the desert environment had bred them to be able to build strength quickly. That was why their children could go from riding to running with the tribe and not falling behind in just a matter of weeks.
Sarraya noticed that on the fourth day, as Allia moved off to relieve herself. "Is it me, or is she almost doubling her endurance every day?"
"That's not unusual, Sarraya," Tarrin said absently as he swatted a large venemous wasp with his tail, which was trying to land on his shoulder. The stunned little insect buzzed off irregularly, staggering through the air as it tried to recover its senses after the strong tail smacked it halfway across the campsite. "Selani are very resilient."
"That's not natural."
"I think Fara'Nae tampers with them a little bit," Tarrin chuckled. "That, or five thousand years in the desert has bred some very handy abilities into them."
When they were camped or resting or waiting out the midday heat, they would talk. Allia would tell him stories of the desert and her tribe, what it was like being the daughter of a clan-chief, and she would often describe animals and plants to them. Allia was alot more experienced than Denai had been, and she knew things about the desert that Denai hadn't. It made hearing about animals they already knew just as interesting, because Allia could tell them much more about them. Sarraya also had a turn, but she concentrated on expanding the very hasty lessons that she and Triana had given him. Every day during the noon break and after they made camp, she and him would practice Druidic spells, or he would sit and listen to her as she explained things to him in greater detail. Sarraya was actually a pretty good teacher when it came to Druidic magic, at least if one overlooked her endless badgering and the childish delight she took in berating him when he made a mistake, and Tarrin learned a great deal from her.
Tarrin noticed that Allia seemed to be missing Allyn, but she also wouldn't let that show. He knew her well enough to know that it was bothering her, but he wouldn't say anything about it. She was very happy to be home, even if it wasn't with her intended, and he was going to let her enjoy that happiness rather than try to console her for the missing company of a loved one.
The fifth day on their journey to the Cloud Spire turned out to be quite a bit more exciting than the others. Not long after setting out that morning, they came over a blind ridge and stumbled directly into a rearing kajat. It was a huge one, nearly twenty five spans high, and with a massive, gaping mouth filled with browned and pitted teeth. The wily predator had carefully and wisely selected that spot, knowing that the ridge hid it from anything coming over, and the winds would keep its scent away from its prey until it was too late. Tarrin wasn't really that surprised, since he kept his eyes open and expected trouble at all times, so he reacted smoothly and calmly to its attack. It lunged at them, jaws snapping, and Selani and Were-cat split to either side of it, not even breaking stride as those jaws cracked shut in the air that separated them. The kajat seemed momentarily confused by this, unsure of which direction to turn, then decided on turning towards Tarrin. He picked up into a sprint and angled in along the side of its body; he'd had some experience at this, and he knew that kajats didn't turn very quickly. By staying close to it, he would stay out reach of its teeth and its tail, both formidable weapons.
But the creature roared in pain and turned in the other direction quickly. Tarrin saw Allia right beside its other leg, and she'd stuck it with her sword to get its attention. Then, to his surprise, she ran right under it and between those huge, pumping legs, legs that shook the ground when they set onto the sandy soil, darting aside quickly as one of those tree-trunk sized legs shifted towards her as the monstrous beast made its turn. She angled up and came right by him, motioning with her hand for him to follow, and he did so quickly. The turning animal's tail passed harmlessly over them, and it bellowed in frustration when it made its turn and saw its meal already running away. Tarrin felt the earth shake as the massive predator gave chase, actually catching up with them for a moment or two but it could not keep up with them. It trailed further and further behind, then finally gave up and slowed to a walk.
Allia was laughing in delight as they slowed to a walk, seeing the kajat well behind them and already turning to return to its ambush site. "That was exhilerating," she said in a bubbly manner, sheathing her shortsword after cleaning it.
"That was a pretty dangerous stunt, Allia," Sarraya accused.
"It's an old trick for getting away from them," she told the Faerie lightly. " Kajat are fast runners, but their size makes them ungainly when trying to maneuver. The closer you stay to its flanks, the safer you are. You get away from one by making it commit to turning in one direction, then running away in the other by going underneath it. By the time it turns around again and starts chasing you, you have enough of a lead to escape."
"I've used similar tactics on them, Sarraya," Tarrin reminded her. "Remember?"
"I remember," the Faerie laughed. "I'm sure the kajat does too."
"That one certainly picked a good spot," Tarrin said in appreciation. "I never smelled a whiff of it until it was trying to bite my head off."
"He is mature and wise, deshida. That's why he's so big. That one has alot of experience, so he knows where the best ambush sites lay." She looked around. "I'm a bit hungry. We should stop for a meal."
"There's a fairly big one back there a ways," Sarraya grinned, pointing back at the kajat.
"That would be wasteful," Allia said condescendingly. "Besides, we don't kill kajats. They prey on the inu, and that keeps their numbers in check. Inu are more dangerous to us than the kajats are."
"The inu are the second most dangerous thing out here," Tarrin agreed calmly.
"What's the most dangerous?" Sarraya asked.
"Them," Tarrin said, pointing at Allia.
Sarraya laughed, and Allia gave Tarrin a bright smile.
That turned out to be the only adventure that was in store for them that day. They camped before sunset and built a large fire, as they were moving into regions of the desert where Sandmen prowled, and Sarraya Conjured for them quite a feast. All four moons would rise early that night, and the White Moon and Red Moon both were all but full, which cast bright light down over the desert. The white and red light mingled with the sand and rock and scrub, casting strange shadows over the plain and giving the scrub an eerie blackish color.
"Strange night," Sarraya mused, looking out past the firelight. "Not often that Domammon and Vala are full and in the sky at the same time."
"Things are probably going to be a bit strange up there until Gods' Day," he told her, then explained what was going to happen.
"A conjunction, eh?" Sarraya said, looking up. "Now that you mention it, the moons have been tightening up in their tracks, and the Twin Moons have been hiding behind each other more than usual.
"Well, there are the missing ones," Allia noted, pointing to the northeast, where the Twin Moons were just starting to rise. They were in their waning phase, and Duva was partially hidden behind Kava.
"Domammon and Vala are going to wane and wax one more time before the conjunction," Tarrin noted. "The Twin moons are going to wax, wane, then wax again."
They both nodded in agreement. They both were familiar with the lunar cycles. Domammon and Vala had lunar cycles that were fairly close to one another; Vala's lunar cycle renewed itself every twenty days, two days shorter than Domammon's twenty-two. They matched phases about every fifteen months, as their cycles converged to give them the exact same phase on that one night. The Twin Moons' lunar cycle was only fourteen days long, for not only were they always very close to one another, their phases were also always exactly the same. Right now they were about half full and in the waxing phase of their cycle. They would come full, go new, then come full again in about two months. And their full phase would correspond with the full phases of Domammon and Vala. That did happen about every two years, called the Lantern Night for the amount of light the four full moons and the Skybands cast onto the land, but only once in about every thousand did the four moons line up in a conjunction.
There were other unsual nights. When Vala was full and alone in the sky, the red light over the land it cast gave that kind of night the name Blood Night, and it was basicly seen as an unlucky night by most. The Twin Moons often partially concealed one another, but sometimes one moon would be hidden completely behind the other. That was called Child's Night, named so because the hidden moon was said to be playing a child's game of hide and seek. And on some very rare occasions, one moon would pass behind another, and that gave them the order that most people associated with them. Domammon, the largest, was always behind the other three. Vala was in front of Domammon, but behind the Twin Moons. And the Twin Moons were always in front of the two larger ones, but traded often in which moon was in front of the other between themselves. The moons would eclipse one another, and certain eclipses were said to have certain meanings. When Vala eclipsed Domammon, it was supposedly a night for finding a husband or wife, and that was why it was called the Lovers' Clip, so named because a vast majority of the time, Vala only partially eclipsed Domammon, clipping its edge for a few hours. When Vala was eclipsed by the Twin Moons when they were both fully visible, it was said to be a night for embarking on new ideas. This was why it was called Denthar's Brood, named after the Younger god of knowledge. When only one of the Twin Moons eclipsed the edge of Domammon, it was called the Dagger Night, was it was rumored that such an eclipse incited men to acts of violence. In Aldreth, it was a custom for everyone to meet on the Green and tie all the men's hands behind their backs on Dagger Night, a social ceremony that the women always enjoyed, for it had evolved into a kind of festival of food, drink, music, and dancing. On that night the women supplanted all the normal tasks of the men, and after their hands were rebound in front of them, the men served all the food and did all the cleaning afterwards, and had to do it all with their hands bound together. Needless to say, the men of Aldreth were never too happy to see a Dagger Night come around.
In two months, those four moons were going to line up behind one another, and on that night, Tarrin would know that his task was over, and it was safe for him to finally go home. He couldn't wait.
"Do the Selani have any special names or customs when the moons eclipse one another?" Tarrin asked Allia curiously.
She smiled. "Not really," she replied. "But when all four moons are full, the Selani stay up all night and feast, and sing songs to the Holy Mother. We call it the Night of Passage. Our legends say that it was Fara'Nae's voice that led us to the desert, but she guided us home by causing the four moons to be full and form a line in the sky, lighting the way home, as the wind blew at our backs to push us in the right direction."
"Maybe it was a conjunction," Sarraya mused.
"The moons line up all the time," Tarrin shrugged. "At least in a straight line. I think if it was a conjunction, the legends would be pretty specific about how it looked. I think seeing all four moons lined up behind each other would be rather memorable."
"That must be why a Selani always walks with his back to the wind," Sarraya said.
"That, and it keeps the face from getting scoured by flying sand," Allia smiled. "We always turn our backs to the wind when we first feel it to honor the Holy Mother, a custom done in memory of how the Holy Mother guided us to her. After that, we can turn and face it as we please, but that's usually not very pleasant. Even with a veil and visor, the sand finds ways to scour off the skin, and it gathers under the veil and hood."
"Did I ever mention how glad I am that I don't live here?" Sarraya asked.
"Frequently," Tarrin drawled.
"Remind me to do it a few thousand more times," she grinned. "Fervently."
"You're about to annoy me, Sarraya," Allia told her. "I don't complain about your home."
"That's because my home is perfect," she said airily. "You can't complain about it, because everything is perfect."
"Everything here is perfect to me," she retorted.
"Well, I can't help it if you're all mixed up," Sarraya said flippantly.
"I can't help it if a small body houses a small brain," Allia said in an off-handed manner, only glancing at the Faerie. "It must be hard to go through life with such a limited ability to appreciate things."
"I am not dumb!" she snapped hotly. "And stop making fun of my height!"
"It's a pity, brother," Allia said to him casually. "She doesn't even have the awareness to know she sits in paradise. I guess it's true what they say about the size of a person's head. The larger the head, the smarter the mind."
" Well!" Sarraya huffed, flitting up into the air. "I'm going to bed. Good night!" she added in a vociferious manner, then buzzed angrily into one of the three tents arrayed around the large fire.
They watched her fly off, and Sarraya got an earful of their laughter to follow her into her tent.
"That was well played, sister," Tarrin said with an appreicative smile. "Var and Denai used to drive her crazy like that too."
"I really want to meet your Var and Denai," she told him, looking out into the plain after a very faint noise ghosted to them, too faint to be made out.
"They were quite a pair," Tarrin chuckled warmly. "Var was serious and sober, but Denai was very young and very impulsive, and not a little reckless. They turned everything into a competition, and when they weren't competing, they were usually fighting. I miss them sometimes. They never made a campsite dull, that's for sure."
"They're lovers now, aren't they?"
"They're married, actually," he corrected. "And Denai's pregnant with their first child. I'm not sure which tribe they're with now. Denai is training to be obe, and that probably means Var ended up in her tribe."
" Obe don't change tribes without exchanging with another obe from that tribe," Allia affirmed with a nod.
"Well, she's only an apprentice, so she might have gone to Var's tribe. You know, just apprenticed under the obe in Var's tribe. Either way, the territory of their clan is way southwest of here, so I doubt we'll run into them," he sighed.
"Which clan are they?"
"Clan Dellinar," he answered.
"An honorable clan," Allia nodded. "Our clan has never had blood issue with them. They're a very respected clan."
Tarrin chuckled. "Denai couldn't identify my clan brand when we first met," he told her. "There are only thirteen clans. How could she not know?"
"You said she was young, brother. She must have just forgotten. That does happen, you know," she smiled lightly. "Sometimes that memory of yours makes me sick, deshida. You never seem to forget anything!" She laughed. "I struggle and work and tear out my hair to remember something you pick up in a matter of seconds, and never forget! It's one of the rare times I ever feel anything negative towards you!"
"Well, I'm sorry," he told her. "I can't help it. I've always had a good memory, and I just seem to have a knack for learning spells and languages. Believe me, sister, I have a hard enough time remembering just about anything else."
"Don't bury yourself in the sand, brother," she said with a quirky half-smile, using a Selani term that meant don't sell yourself short. "That mind of yours seems to soak up everything. You can always remember the little details that the rest of us forget. That must be why you're so good at learning spells and languages. You have amazing attention to detail, and both things are nothing but a stack of details piled one on top of the other."
"I'll take your word for it, sister," he shrugged, his ears picking up when that faint sound reached them again. He stared off into the eerily lit plain, his tail slashing a few times in irritation. "What is that sound?" he asked shortly.
"I think it's a Sandman," she answered. "It'll need to get closer for me to be sure."
"I don't want it to get any closer," he grunted. "That moaning always makes my teeth grind."
"I don't want it approaching either, but if we can hear it, at least we can keep track of it. It won't sneak up on us."
"We don't need any more of those kinds of surprises," he chuckled as his ears continued to scan the ghostly lit scrub beyond the light of the fire.
The sound trailed off, and the night passed without incident. They saw no Selani for two days as they moved south of east, but there were signs of the passing of a tribe. The vegetation was eaten down in one area, and though the wind had scoured away all traces of them, their scent was still lingering on some of the exposed stones on the desert floor. The scents were fresh, not even a day, and he realized that they had stopped here to let their animals forage.
"They're going north," Tarrin announced.
"That's not unusual," Allia replied. "There are blooms in the northern marches in the fall." A bloom was a rapid growth of vegetation, usually proceeding a rare rain shower or shifts in the ground water that brought it closer to the surface."
"How can you tell it's fall?" Sarraya complained. "There are no seasons out here. Just hot desert, hot desert, and more hot desert."
"The days are getting shorter," she told her.
"Well, that's obvious," Sarraya huffed, flitting off his head. "But it's not like this place suffers from the climate changes that everywhere else does."
That much was true. Because both spring and autumn were notoriously short, the transition from season to season was pretty swift. The late summer of just a few days ago was probably full-fledged autumn in Suld now, with frost in the mornings and less rain than normal. Winter would be marching in but a few rides behind that, and there would be snow on the ground before the last month of the year began. It wasn't because spring and autumn were actually shorter than summer and winter-all four seasons were two and a half months long by the solar calendar-it was that what people tended to call "late summer" or "early spring" was actually another season. Tarrin had been calling it "late summer" for a while now, when actually it was well into the calendar season of autumn. But Tarrin was a farmboy, and in Aldreth, they went more by weather than they did by a calendar. Tarrin didn't think his parents even bothered with them. He never had. He often had no idea what month it was. The seasons ruled them, and it was by those seasons that they reckoned all time.
Tarrin stopped and added it up. If Gods' Day, the day after New Year's Day, was a little under two months away, then by a calendar, they were in the middle of autumn. By a calendar. In Suld and Aldreth-both had similar climates, though Suld saw alot more rain-they would be having warm days and cold nights, with sudden and often wild temperature shifts. It could be hot one day, and bitingly cold the next, only to have it hot again the day after that. A day that started with frost on the ground could end too hot to wear wool without sweating to death. And when the rain came, it came hard in Aldreth. Such wild temperature changes made rain during both the summer and the fall tend to be thunderstorms, and those storms could be very, very fierce. In spring more so than fall, but the fall storms could occasionally match the savagery of their springtime cousins.
"Maybe the rest of the world should take lessons from our desert," Allia teased the Faerie.
Sarraya flew off, muttering curses.
"Is she always so obnoxious?" Allia asked him honestly after Sarraya was well out of earshot.
"Sometimes," he admitted. "But she's been especially bad here lately. Usually she's nice about as often as she's contrary, but for the last few days it's been nothing but snide comments and snippiness. Something must be bothering her. I think I need to ask about it."
"She's the kind to take her discomfort out on others," Allia surmised.
"She lets you know she's not happy, that's for sure," he agreed.
"Well, she'd best come out of it soon. She's starting to annoy me."
"Sarraya loves to fight, sister," Tarrin chuckled. "Get used to it, because she likes you, and she picks on people she likes alot more than she does on strangers. That, or just do what you've been doing."
"What is that?"
"Get the best of her. Whenever she's losing, she runs away."
Allia laughed. "I think that won't be too hard," she winked.
He was about to agree, but he felt a familiar pulse flow through the Weave. Another came, and then a third, and that third seemed to lock in on him. Tarrin could feel them clearly, and the familiar hand of Keritanima was behind those sweeps. She was searching for him, and her probes had finally found him, probably using his star as a means to find him as he used their stars to find the other Sorcerers. "Kerri's looking for us," he remarked to Allia. "I think she's going to project over here."
Before he was finished speaking the air in front of them shimmered, and then an Illusion was built out of flows that were manipulated from thousands of longspans to the west. It was an Illusion of Keritanima, exact down to the smallest detail, and a faithful representation of her at that moment. And at that moment, the image of her was dressed in a frilly little nightgown made of silk, untied at the neckline and hanging off her left shoulder in a manner that would be very appealing to a Wikuni male. The Illusion's eyes seemed to shimmer, and then it went from being a mere magical vision to seeming alive. That, Tarrin knew, meant that Keritanima had joined to her Illusion, and now it was as if a spectral version of herself was with them.
"Kerri," Tarrin smiled. "You look sleepy."
"It's dawn over here," she yawned.
"You look tired, deshaida," Allia noted.
"I've had a long day and a very short night," she complained grumpily.
"Are you in Dusgaard?" he asked.
She nodded. "A bloody cold place. I thought Wikuna was cold," she said with a shiver. "Did you know that they have to have a foot-er, span-of snow on the ground?"
"Winter comes early in Ungardt, sister. Very early," Tarrin chuckled.
"That grandfather of yours is impressive, brother," she said with a toothy grin. "He's as big as a bear."
"He's pretty mellow for an Ungardt, Kerri," he told her.
"I noticed."
"What were you doing last night, if you're in Dusgaard?" Allia asked.
"Staying up with Anrak," she frowned. "It's something of a custom for visitors to sit up and drink with their host. Thank the Goddess I'm a Weavespinner. I was neutralizing the alcohol before it could get me drunk. At least I don't have a hangover, thank the Goddess."
"I'll bet that really annoyed the Ungardt in the hall," Tarrin laughed. "To see a little slip of a Wikuni girl stone sober."
"I made quite a bit of money," she said smugly. "They decided to wager just who was going to be under the table first."
"You cheated, Kerri," Tarrin accused with a grin.
"So?"
Both Allia and Tarrin laughed loudly. "Did everything go alright?"
"Smooth as silk," she said confidently. "My clippers had to chase off about six ships that followed us out of the harbor. They lurked on the horizon until we crossed into Ungardt waters. We had a tense moment with a squadron of longships, but I managed to talk our way around them. They didn't like seeing a squadron of Wikuni clippers sailing into their waters. Not that I can't blame them," she added as an afterthought. "They escorted us to Dusgaard, and now they and my clippers are patrolling the waters off Ungardt to discourage anyone trying to sneak in."
"Sounds like our ruse worked," Allia noted.
"I think it did. Jenna said that there was a mass exodus out of Suld when we left. Everybody and his brother was in the city. Oh, that reminds me," she said. "There's been a bit of bad news out of Suld, Tarrin."
"What?"
"The Regent and the boy-king both are dead, as well as about half the Royal council and the heads of the four major noble houses," she told him. "It was an accident, before your paranoia starts getting the best of you."
"What happened?"
"A fire at the palace," she replied. "It gutted the wing that held the Royal apartments. It was started by a kitchen cookfire, and got out of control. It's very bad timing that alot of the heads of the higher noble houses happened to be at the palace at the same time. It's left a serious vacuum in the city and kingdom both."
"Who's in charge?"
"Right now? Jenna," she answered. "It's part of the treaty between the Tower and the Crown. If the throne vacates due to accident or treachery and there's no heir, the Keeper acts as Regent until a new king is chosen by the nobility. Jenna's fairly ticked off about it," Keritanima laughed. "She had enough work just being Keeper. Now the courtiers of the Lion Throne are banging down Duncan's door to get audiences with her. She's been howling at me for two days now, asking me how I do it."
"Do what?" Allia asked.
"Run a kingdom," she answered. "It's really not that hard. If Jenna can run the Tower, she can run Sulasia. It's just a little more paperwork, that's all."
"Poor Jenna," Tarrin chuckled.
"Why would a treaty be set up that way?" Allia asked.
"Simple, sister. The Keeper's neutrality is never in question," Keritanima answered. "If a king dies because of treachery, then someone had to kill him, and you never know who that may have been. They added accidents because you never know if an accident is as accidental as it seems. Either way, it puts someone with absolute neutrality in power who can punish the killer or determine that it truly was an accident. It also frees the nobility to get down to the business of getting a new king immediately, without all that messy disorder that tends to follow the death of a monarch. You know, some noble deciding that he's going to run things himself, and all that."
"That's rather practical," Allia said appreciatively.
"You know Sulasians, sister. Practical, pragmatic, and as much fun as a box of wet sand," she said with a teasing look at Tarrin.
"Joke all you want, but it works," Tarrin shrugged absently.
"Where's Sarraya?" Keritanima asked curiously, looking around.
"Off in a tizzy," Allia answered.
"I was not!" Sarraya's voice called as she flew back to them. "Hullo, Kerri. You're looking a bit frumpled."
"I feel frumpled," the Wikuni chuckled.
"Well, that explains why Jenna hasn't talked to me," Tarrin mused. "She must be up to her ears in paperwork."
"Alot more than that," Keritanima told him. "The citizenry is very nervous because rumors are flying that the fire was set on purpose, and Jenna's had to go out several times and calm things down because the nobles are too busy jockeying for a shot at the Lion Throne. They all adore her, and she's about the only one in the city right now that can keep that powder keg from exploding. The nobles think it was arson too, no matter what Jenna tells them, and they're all blaming each other."
"How would Jenna know?" Sarraya asked.
"There are any number of spells she could use to find out," Tarrin answered, cutting Keritanima off.
"So, Sulasia's about to fly apart at the seams," Keritanima said off-handedly, "and it's going to get worse."
"How can it get any worse?" Tarrin asked.
"When they try to choose a new king," she answered. "The heads of all four major houses died in the fire. There's going to be little internal wars within those houses to choose the successors, and while they're doing that, the minor houses are going to be maneuvering to get the throne before any of the major houses can get organized. It's so perfect for the minor houses that it really makes me think that someone did set that fire. All the minor nobles houses are chomping at the bit, because they think it's their chance for their smaller, minor houses to get on the throne."
"Isn't there a good candidate among the minor nobles?" Tarrin asked.
"Several, but nobody knows them, brother," she answered. "When it comes to winning the throne, reputation is almost as important as ability. They're not going to put someone on the throne if they're not sure he'll do a good job, because anyone that backs the new king may end up on the wrong side of the sword if it comes out that he's really incompetent, and the rest of the gentry defies him. It's a very unique situation, and I've already warned Jenna that the nobles may start fighting one another. Without one good qualified and well-known candidate, it's going to spread the support out among a number of lesser ones, and you know what that kind of scenario can degenerate into."
"Civil war," Tarrin growled.
"Not quite. More like an internal period of turmoil," she said succinctly. "If I were a betting woman, and I am, I'd put my money on Duke Arren of Torrian. He's a minor noble, but he has one of the best reputations in Sulasia as a fair, just, and kind lord, even if his desmense was what the Suldans would call a backwater town."
"Suldan?" Sarraya asked.
"A citizen of Suld. You can't very well call them Sulasians, can you?" she asked with a toothy grin.
"Arren would never seek the throne," Tarrin scoffed.
"I know, and that's more the pity," Keritanima sighed. "It may be a kingdom-wide affair, but if the citizens of Suld don't accept a new monarch, they don't get the throne. That's why all the heads of the noble houses stay in Suld, no matter where their fief is. It's more than an old saying in other parts of the world that as Suld goes, so goes Sulasia." She grinned. "In Wikuna, we say 'Sennadar marches to Suld's drum.' It's a fairly accurate description of the international politics of the West."
"So you say that more than Sulasia could be affected by this?" Allia asked.
"Sister, the entire world can be affected by this. I don't think either of you understand just how critically important Suld is on the world stage. The person who sits on the Lion Throne wields vast amounts of power, power that extends far beyond Sulasia's borders. Sulasia's the most important kingdom In the West."
"Why?" Tarrin asked.
"Because of the Tower, for one," she answered. "And it's also the most stable kingdom on Sennadar. All the other kingdoms have histories of turmoil and unrest, but Sulasia's been plodding along in domestic harmony for about five thousand years now. Even when there's a change of dynasty, things have always been settled quickly and without much fuss, because the Keeper's always been there to step in and keep things running smoothly while a new king was chosen. All the other kingdoms look up to Sulasia like a big brother. That's why whoever sits on the Lion Throne has a great deal of influence. But this time it's different, though," she mused, tapping her muzzle with a finger as she thought. "Things have never been this unstable in Sulasia before, at least not to Wikuni memory. If the nobles don't find a competent successor and ram him through the selection process, they may very well start fighting among themselves."
"What's the selection process?" Allia asked.
"The same as it is for any other kingdom, sister," she replied. "Someone with a tracable royal or noble bloodline steps up and says 'I'm the King.' Noble houses either support or denounce him. If he has enough support among the noble houses, he's the king. If too many powerful houses denounce him, he's usually exiled. That's why the candidates are always very sure to have their support lined up before they make a claim on the throne."
"That's a fairly simplified explanation, but it's pretty accurate given how much you left out," Sarraya agreed. "There's a great deal of maneuvering and jockeying among the nobles to line up that support, and sometimes it can take a while. There are also a bunch of formal ceremonies and such involved with making the claim. And the High Priest of Karas has to at least not openly denounce the candidate."
"I forgot about that part," Keritanima admitted. "But it's not an official rule. In just about any kingdom, if the church rejects a monarch, the people are likely to reject him too. Churches hold alot of power over the citizenry, and the king rules at their suffrage. Especially in monotheseistic nations like Sulasia."
"Mono-what?" Sarraya asked.
"Only worshipping one god," she answered. "We have nine here in Wikuna, so as long as I don't offend a majority of the churches, and the church of Kikkalli in particular, I'm on solid ground."
"I didn't know you have nine," Tarrin mused.
"Oh, yes," she smiled. "Kikkalli is the only name you've ever heard. She's the goddess of trade, ships, good weather, and the seas, and every Wikuni alive worships her. But we also have a god of money and prosperity that's fairly popular, a god of luck, a goddess of bad luck, a goddess of joy, and a god of protection. Denthar, the god of knowledge, and Dragor, the god of creativity, are human gods, but they found roots in our pantheon because they appeal to us, and we also worship Saltemis, the Elder god of the waters and oceans. We are an ocean-going people, after all," she chuckled.
"You have two gods of the ocean?" Allia asked in confusion.
"That way we cover both sides of our butt," Keritanima said with a wolfish smile. "Saltemis is the Elder God, and that means he's the god of all the oceans. But Kikkalli is a patron of the seas too, among other things, and she's much more likely to answer our prayers, because she's the ruler of the Wikuni pantheon. When your entire culture depends on the sea, you don't take any chances that you may offend one of the gods who has sway over it."
"Ah. Why worship a god of bad luck?"
"To keep her from visiting you," Keritanima grinned. "Shaar isn't worshipped out of love, sister. She's honored to keep her from singling you out. A devout Wikuni in search of a little luck first asks for luck from Sheel, then appeases Shaal to keep her from taking that good luck away."
"Sheel and Shaar?" Tarrin noted.
"According to Wikuni myth, Shaar was originally the goddess of beauty. She was in love with Sheel, but he spurned her, so out of spite she became the goddess of bad luck, in order to undo everything Sheel represents. When she became the goddess of bad luck, she became ugly, and a very old legend says that when she turned ugly and we lost a god of beauty, all the Wikuni turned ugly too," she said in a scoffing manner. "According to that old story, that's why the gods turned us into what we are now, to hide our looks behind the faces and fur of animals. I think it's a crock, myself. In fact, I know it is. I remember the story you told about our origins, Tarrin. Our gods changed how we looked to sever us completely from our Sha'Kar origins. To make us our own people."
"I'd say they succeeded there," Sarraya agreed.
"That's an interesting story," Allia mused. "I'd like to hear more about the legends of your gods someday, sister."
"Someday when we both have lots of time, I can have every priest and bard in Wikuna tell you everything you want to hear," she smiled. "But that'll have to be later. Right now, there are more important matters, and I've drifted way off the topic here."
"We didn't mind, Kerri. Actually, it was interesting to hear about that," Tarrin assured her.
"Whatever," she said with a toss of her hair. "Jenna's going to project over here sometime today, so try not to go so fast," she teased. "I thought about it yesterday, but you and Allia must have been racing or something. It's too hard to keep up with you."
"Just get ahead of us," Allia told her.
"We can't do that," she answered. "You forget how this works. The Weavescape doesn't match the landscape, so I can't just jump ahead. Ahead in the Weave is different than ahead in reality. If I tried that, I may build my projection inside solid rock. It wouldn't hurt, but I'd be wondering why it was so bloody dark."
Sarraya laughed richly as she landed on Tarrin's shoulder.
"I can feel it when you're looking for me, Kerri," Tarrin told her. "I didn't feel anything yesterday."
"I didn't really get that close," she answered. "I can feel you moving around from the Heart, brother. That's how much of an effect you have on the Weave now. Anyone in the Heart can feel you moving around."
Tarrin frowned. He didn't know that, and more to the point, he didn't like it. He'd never sensed Spyder like that; perhaps the Urzani had learned to mask herself in some way. If so, that was a trick he fully intended to learn. The idea that any Weavespinner could find him any time they wanted did not sit well with his cautious Were-cat nature.
"Tell Jenna to seek us in the afternoon," Allia told her. "We'll have stopped for the night by then, and she should be able to find us."
"That'll work," she said, pulling up the shoulder of her nightgown absently, only to have it immediately slip down her arm. "Any trouble?"
"Nothing major," Tarrin answered. "We had a close call with a kajat, but it wasn't anything serious."
"How far are you along?"
"We're about seven days from the Cloud Spire," Allia answered. "That's our destination. Tarrin wants to show me the city at its top."
"I'd like to see that too," Keritanima grinned.
"Come over when we get there, and you will," he told her.
"Any instructions or anything you need to pass on?"
"Not really. How are Auli and that human doing?"
"Auli's having a blast," Keritanima chuckled. "Don't worry, deshaida," she's not acting wild. She's just having alot of fun. She has you absolutely pegged, by the way," she winked. "Sometimes even I forget it's not you. The human's doing alot better now than he was before. He has your personality down well enough, but the Illusion wasn't working out as well as we'd hoped."
"Why not?"
"The tail never moved," she said with a slight frown. "It wasn't Dar's fault, though. He put the tail on, but unless he was there to make it move, it didn't do anything. One of us had to be with him all the time to make it convincing, or at least that was before."
"How did you fix it?"
"Jenna fixed it," she answered. "She used a spell I've never seen before, a spell I didn't even think was possible. She Transmuted him!"
"She what?" Allia asked.
"She changed him, sister," she said in wonder. "Right now, he looks, moves, and even smells like a Were-cat. She even put a lingering weave in him to mimic Tarrin's strength. I don't know what Jenna did, but I can't even tell the difference now. It took the boy a little time to figure out how to move the tail and control the claws, but he's more than a mirror image of you now, brother. I just want to know where she learned how to do that!"
Tarrin knew exactly which spells she used to do that. Actually, it was a rather clever idea. "I taught it to her," he answered. "I taught her all the spells I learned when I was turned. I see she's already putting them to good use."
"And you didn't teach me?" she protested a bit indignantly.
"We'll have all the time in the world for that later, sister," he told her.
"I'm going to hold you to that. It's the least you can do for running out without saying goodbye."
"We were on a tight schedule," he said contritely.
"I know, I'm just teasing," she winked. "How is the desert?"
"Hot," Sarraya said in a grumble. "Hot and sandy."
"I'd say that about describes a desert," Keritanima laughed.
"Me and the Faerie have been having a running disagreement about whose home is more perfect," Allia said with a sly smile. "So far, I'm winning."
"So you say," Sarraya retorted.
Keritanima looked behind her. "Well, I'd better go. Miranda's tugging on my tail for some reason. Kinda stupid for me to look, isn't it?" she added with a wry smile. "I can't see anything but scrub and strone."
"It's a reflex," Tarrin assured her. "Make sure you pass on the message to Jenna."
"Will do. Come visit us in the Heart, brother. It would be nice to see you."
"If I think it's safe enough," he replied.
"I can't ask for more than that. I have to go. You three be careful."
"We will," Allia assured her.
"Bye deshaida, deshida. I love you both. Oh, bye Sarraya."
"I love you too, and be careful, sister," Allia warned.
"I love you too, sister. Keep an eye on our imposters," Tarrin added.
"Well thank you so much for remembering me," Sarraya huffed acidly.
"Being the second helm isn't very fun, is it?" Keritanima said with a wolfish, toothy grin, and then her image vanished.
Sarraya threw her hands up in the air and flitted off, muttering to herself.
"She's having a bad day, isn't she?" Allia asked with a laugh.
Although she pouted for a while after Keritanima disappeared, Sarraya's temper improved during the rest of the day. She became less and less combative, and by sunset she was actually starting to make jokes. She hadn't been doing that before-at least not what was usual for her-and it was something of a good sign.
Tarrin had a feeling that he knew what had been bothering Sarraya. He knew his little friend rather well, and he had the feeling that she'd been just a little intimidated by Allia. That, and she was a little intimidated also by how close he and she were. He realized that she was starting to feel like she was both not needed and not wanted, and for Sarraya, that was somewhat intolerable. It was why she'd been so snippy lately. The first time they'd gone through the desert, he had absolutely depended on her. They traded barbs alot, but they were very close. Sarraya had had that relationship disturbed by Allia, who, she had found out, was not just another Denai. It wasn't that Var and Denai hadn't been competent, but Tarrin's relationship with them had been very distant at the beginning. Even though they were with them, Tarrin still only talked with Sarraya. She'd gotten used to that. And now here was Allia, who had quite literally taken over their group, and in Sarraya's eyes, had stolen Tarrin away from her. Tarrin talked with Allia, and joked with Allia, and all of Sarraya's attempts to interject herself had met with miserable failure. The Selani woman had proved to have a sharp wit that quickly turned the Faerie's barbs and comments, her normal method of starting a conversation, back on her.
They decided to stop early that afternoon, just in case Jenna was looking for him, and Tarrin decided to deal with this little situation. They found a good spot nestled on the leeward side of a rock spire, a rather short and stubby one. After Allia left them to go hunting, Tarrin sat down with his back to a large wind-roundedstone and motioned for Sarraya to land on his knee. "I think you're being just a little silly," he told her.
"What do you mean?" she asked in her high-pitched voice.
"We don't think you're a fifth wheel, you silly woman," he told her with a light smile. "I know that's bothering you."
She flushed slightly.
"And Allia being here doesn't change the fact that we're friends, does it?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
Tarrin fixed her with a hard look.
She blushed, and laughed ruefully. "Alright, I'm jealous," she admitted, patting his knee. "You're always talking to her, and I can't seem to get a word in edgewise. And I don't know how to talk to her."
"Just talk to her," he said pointedly. "If you try to fence with her, you're going to lose, friend. I think you've discovered that."
Sarraya gave him an indignant look, then flushed and laughed. "She's quite different from what I expected," she admitted. "I thought she was always that quiet and reserved."
"She acts like that around strangers because it's what her honor demands," he told her. "Think about Var. He acted much the same way until he got to know us, if you don't recall. Selani consider it unseemly to laugh or show humor in front of strangers. That can lead to misunderstandings, and that's the last thing two Selani clans or tribes want to have happen. And Allia's a clan princess, Sarraya. She doesn't take her title seriously, but it does require her to act with a measure of dignity. The honor of her entire clan is on her, and she has to live up to it."
"Denai was nothing like that," she mused. "She was so open and bubbly."
"She was also very young and rash," he told her. "Denai is an exception. Var is the rule."
"I understand," she said thoughtfully.
"Now that you've seen the Allia I know, you understand why I like her so much," he smiled. "She's nothing like what she seems to be in company."
"That's no lie," Sarraya laughed. "I never dreamed she had such a sharp tongue."
"You've never seen her in action," Tarrin grinned. "She can cut you in half with it. To my memory, I've never won an argument with Allia."
"Never?"
"Not once," he answered honestly. "She submits when she knows I'm being very serious and when it suits her, but when it's a point of contention that didn't go into those areas, she won every single one of them." He chuckled ruefully. "She's not afraid of me, so my usual techniques for winning arguments don't work on her."
"I think I just may see just how good she is," Sarraya said in an oddly professional manner, flexing her fingers in a predatory manner.
"It's your skin," Tarrin told her.
Their little talk seemed to have had the effect he intended. Sarraya was quiet and thoughtful for a while after Allia returned, dragging a dead juvenile sukk by the leg, and she seemed to be organizing herself as Tarrin and Allia dressed, quartered, and then started roasting the bird over the fire Tarrin had built while she was hunting.
"I don't see any bows," Sarraya noticed, as Tarrin realized she was starting her run. "How did you catch it?"
"The same way we catch anything," she shrugged. "You sneak up on it using the brush as cover, then jump up and run it down." She pulled out her short sword. "This is the only hunting weapon a Selani really needs, Sarraya. The only thing in the desert that can outrun us are inu and kajat, and even they can only do it for short distances."
"I remember seeing some Selani use javelins," she noted. "Remember, Tarrin?"
"Javelins are safer when you're going after chisa or a large flock of sukk," she answered. " Chisa are big, and they'll gather into defensive circles when we attack them. If there are enough sukk, they turn and attack predators in a large group rather than run. Even inu and kajat won't attack a large flock of sukk. Remember the inu we saw a few days ago?" she asked, and Sarraya nodded. "They were stalking that small flock because they knew that a flock that size would run rather than fight." She reached down and picked up one of the severed feet of the big bird, showing Sarraya its very long and wicked talons. "Believe me, Faerie, you do not want to be on the wrong side of these," she said with a slight smile.
"It looks like it would be something of an educational experience," Sarraya noted, which made Allia laugh. "How did the Selani come to tame them?"
"Actually, it's not very hard," she answered. "If you can get a sukk egg, even a wild one, you can tame the sukk when it hatches. It imprints itself to the first thing it sees, thinking that that is its mother. It will follow you around, and you can train it to prepare it for life in the tribe's flock. When it matures and separates from its mother, it remains in the flock. Even if that flock happens to with be a Selani tribe," she said with a smile.
"What about the eggs the sukk lay in your flocks? Do you have to get those too?"
"No, the mother will teach the baby everything she was taught herself," Allia answered. "Once you train one, it will train all its babies. Sukk are actually rather intelligent. That's why they'll turn and attack predators when they have sufficient numbers. They've learned that numbers give them strength." She laughed. "I've seen a flock of sukk attack kajats before," she said. "They confuse and fluster the kajat while they shred its legs with their talons. The kajat never fails to kill one or two of them, but in the end, it's the kajat that comes out on the worse side of the bargain. Once they're incited like that, sukk will actively defend the bodies of dead flock members for days, ensuring that any predator that kills one of their number won't have a chance to enjoy the spoils of its labor. Every kajat learns the hard way that ambushing a large flock is a very bad idea. Look closely at the next kajat we see's legs. You'll see the scars."
"I'm sure it's quite a surprise for it," Sarraya grinned. "Things that big aren't used to being pushed around." She said that while giving Tarrin a sidelong glance.
Allia gave her a knowing smile. "Even the mightiest kajat can be felled if enough rock mice stand together," she said in a cadence that said it was one of the Selani's sayings. But she too gave Tarrin a sly look, which made him snort shortly.
"If sukk defend the dead, how do javelins make it safe to hunt them?"
"They only defend if they're excited into fighting," she said pointedly. "When you hunt a large flock, you kill a sukk from cover. If the flock doesn't know it's being attacked, they won't defend the carcass. Sukk do occasionally die from natural causes, so when you spear one, the rest of the flock thinks it succumbed to some disease or something like that and leaves the body behind."
"Clever," Sarraya said appreciatively.
"After so long in the desert, we've learned how things work," Allia replied with a light smile.
Like that was opening the gates of a city, Sarraya and Allia began to open up to each other a little. Now that she wasn't trying to lace her conversation with barbs and comments, Sarraya was managing to hold a conversation with the Selani. Tarrin quietly withdrew himself from them to let them get to know each other all over again, and to avoid becoming a common target. As was his habit, he climbed the rock spire and sat down at its top, a surprisingly wide top that was worn generally flat by the scouring wind, and looked off to the horizon. It was too far away to see the Cloud Spire quite yet, but at least it would be a relatively easy journey. The land between them was more or less flat, with many rock spires, and there was alot of scrublands. He did remember one expanse of boulder-strewn barrens, but it wouldn't take them more than half a day or so to cross it.
He wondered how Jesmind and the others were doing. By now, Mist had to be going stir crazy, and was probably becoming something of a threat to the Sorcerers in the Tower. Jasana was probably still being punished, and Jesmind and Triana both had to watch the girl like a hawk to make sure she wasn't trying to weasel out of it. He still regretted not seeing his children and saying goodbye, but things had been rushed, and Jesmind had taken up what little free time he'd had, and Jasana was still being punished. He doubted that Eron would particularly care if he said goodbye or not; Eron was a typical Were-cat child. His mother was the only thing that truly mattered to him, the absolute center of his very young life. Tarrin wasn't angry or sad about that, because he understood it. Besides, Eron liked him and had shown some affection, and in a Were-cat child, that was the most for which he could ask. And the unusual circumstances of the situation probably made it very hard for Eron to rationalize showing love to a human. Eron had never seen his father as a Were-cat, and Tarrin had a feeling that that would make a significant difference in how the child behaved towards him.
He felt a familiar surging in the Weave that immediately centered on him; it was Jenna, and Jenna could find him much faster and more efficiently than Keritanima. She locked in on him almost instantly. He looked to where he felt Jenna's will exerting itself against the Weave, where flows pulled free of the strands and quickly wove themselves into a perfect image of her young, attractive appearance. The eyes of that projection opened, and she smiled down at where he was sitting. "Brother," she said grandly, walking over to him. "That's quite a view," she said. "I didn't know the desert was this pretty."
"Some parts of it are breathtaking," he said calmly as she sat down beside him. "Kerri told me what happened. How has it been?"
"Don't even start about that," she groaned as she had her projection sit beside him. "It's a nightmare, Tarrin. A nightmare! They dumped a mountain of problems on me from before, and the nobles are all starting to get combative and sneaky, and if that wasn't bad enough, the people in the city keep wanting to riot," she said, blowing out her breath. "Some fanatic out there is whipping them into a frenzy in the main square every day, and I have to go out there and break things up to stop it. I actually had to break them up with Sorcery today," she growled. "They can't catch the inciter, and Goddess I wish they would. I intend to peel off his skin in little tiny strips."
"I've had a bad influence on you," he teased with a smile.
"I guess you have," she grinned in reply.
"How are Jesmind and Mist?"
"Mist is getting cranky," Jenna frowned. "Triana's been splitting her time between us and Jula, and she spends most of the time with us keeping Mist from killing people. Jesmind's been a little short-tempered, at least a little more than usual. I think that's because of Jasana," she mused.
"What's she doing?"
"Moping and crying alot," she answered. "Whatever Jesmind and Triana did to her had a big impact. I think Jesmind's upset at what they did to her, and it's making her waspish."
"Typical mother sympathy," he sighed. "She sees Jasana suffering and wants to stop it, but she can't because she's the one causing it. So it makes her short-tempered."
"I think that's about right," she nodded.
"I guess I'm part of that too," he grunted. "She knows I'm angry with her. She hasn't even tried to talk to me through the amulets yet. I think that's just piling things onto what's going on with Jasana."
"Probably."
"How is Kimmie?"
"She's doing fine," she answered, then she laughed. "She's getting bigger every time I see her. Jesmind said that's normal, but it's almost eerie. She's eating enough for four people, and she's been an absolute sweetheart. Triana told me that pregnancy signficantly mellows out a Were-cat, and it's really showing on her. Kimmie's always been friendly, but now she's like a grandmother."
"Maybe Jesmind should get pregnant, then," Tarrin mused.
"That's your department, not mine," Jenna winked.
Tarrin let that pass. "Are things calm, other than that?"
"More or less," she nodded. "There was a mass exodus after Kerri left with the fake you. Every inn and boarding house was overflowing before, but now the merchants actually have somewhere to stay. It's just as well. With what happened with the king and Regent, it's best right now to get all the extra bodies out of Suld."
"Good point," he agreed. "How did Grandfather take it?"
Jenna laughed. "Actually, he didn't have any complaints at all. He was happy to help out, and he really liked the idea of the possibility of a little warfare. I had to convince him not to allow them to invade Ungardt."
"You shouldn't have bothered," Tarrin chuckled. "I feel sorry for any ship off Ungardt's coast. You know they'll be attacking anything afloat that's not Wikuni."
"I didn't think of that. This may be a bad time to be a merchantman," she giggled.
"Eh, it'll keep them on their toes. A little exercise now and then is good for you. Kerri's mad at you, you know. Well, at me actually."
"About what I did to Fox?" she asked, and he nodded. "I told her I'd teach her that."
"Have you talked to mother and father lately?"
"Yesterday," she nodded. "I told them that it may be a good idea to disappear for a while, so they agreed to pack up and go visit a few old army friends in Torrian."
"Torrian? They rebuilt it?"
"They're in the process," she said delicately.
"I guess they would. It's been, what, three months? Four?"
"About four," she affirmed.
"How far along are they?"
"They're doing rather well," she answered. "The army's been sent there to help out, and between them and the citizens, things are going up pretty quickly. They're taking this chance to rearrange things a little bit. You know, give the city a little better layout. And Arren wants to put up a stone wall this time."
"Oh, that reminds me. How much can you influence the nobles about a king?"
"Who did you have in mind?"
"Arren."
"Ooh, that's a good choice," she said with an enthusiastic nod. "They're not going to like it, but I might be able to ram him down their throats. They're all thinking they have the best chance. That's what's making this all so messy," she growled. "No house wants to support a potential from any other house. And without that, there's no way any one man can get enough support to get the throne."
"You may have to take steps," Tarrin warned.
"I think you're right," she said thoughtfully. "If I don't step in and do something, I'm going get stuck with it, and I hate it. I'll be regent over a kingdom torn apart while the nobles all fight with one another."
"You may have to step on a few people."
"Then I'll wear some iron-shod boots," she grinned. "I've learned how to step on people, brother. The first thing I learned was that they're going to hate me no matter what I do, so I may as well do things my way."
"Kerri taught you that, didn't she?"
"She didn't have to," she told him. "I learned that the first time I butted heads with the Council, and they hinted that my power extended as far as they'd allow it to go. I wasn't about to let that happen, so I let them have it. I think that shocked them, to see this little girl come in there and bite their heads off. I think that was when they realized that I didn't think that the appointment was for show. It took me a while, but I finally got them under my heel. I can do the same thing to the nobles. After I make a few ugly threats, then threaten to keep the crown for myself, they'll probably be amenable to my choice for the throne."
"Think you can get away with that?"
"Probably. I'm pretty popular in the city right now, so they'll all probably think I have a chance of winning the people over. If you can win the people of Suld, you have a good chance of keeping the throne, no matter what the nobles think. They know that any monarch that sits on that throne does it because the people of Suld are content with him."
` "Kerri said much the same thing," he nodded.
"I'll need to get a good running start at it," she mused. "Have some people drop a few stories and rumors here and there."
"What for?"
"To get the people of Suld thinking about Arren," she answered. "It won't matter how much I want him on the throne if the people won't accept him. I have to make sure they've heard about how kind he is and how devoted and caring he is for his people, and how good a job he's doing overseeing the rebuilding of the city. Did Kerri suggest Arren?"
"She did mention him, and I happen to agree," Tarrin affirmed. "You know, you picked up on this pretty fast, Jenna. Making all these clever plans and being political and all. You sound like Kerri."
"I should. She had to teach me alot about politics," she laughed. "Her and Alexis. I still make way too many mistakes, but at least I can keep things from becoming a total disaster."
"That's all we can really ask for, Jenna," he said thoughtfully, looking out over the plain, which was now colored red from the setting sun behind them. The stones out in the scrub caught the light better than the plants, making the plain look like there were small pools of blood around the plants, like the plants were bleeding. "It's all so different now, isn't it?"
"Yes, but I'm not sad things turned out this way," she said sincerely. "I may not like some of my duties as Keeper, but in a strange way, it feels like I belong here."
"I do too, about being a Were-cat. Almost like I was born into the wrong family."
"Well, then, I'm very glad someone messed things up then," Jenna grinned. Then she sighed. "It's almost over, isn't it?"
He knew exactly what she meant. "Not quite yet, so don't let your guard down. I'm not going to relax until afterwards. I think I'll sleep a few months-at least as soon as the Goddess tells me what to do with the Firestaff-and then do absolutely nothing for at least ten years. Well, the doing nothing will come after I get my house built."
"Where?"
"Out in the Frontier, in a nice meadow with a little stream running through it," he answered. "I used to go there alot when I wandered the forest. That's going to be my new home, and I have no intention of leaving it for about ten years."
"Then all the excitement will be gone," she sighed. "I'll have my boring duties, and you'll be lounging around out there in the Frontier avoiding all this work."
"I think I've done my part. Now it's your turn," he said shamelessly.
She laughed. "I guess so. Well, I'd better get back. Goddess only knows what kind of mischief they're getting into without me there to babysit them. You have anything you need passed along?"
"Not really. Just tell Jesmind, Kimmie, and Mist that I'm alright, and I'm thinking about them. Tell my children I love them, and try to keep them out of trouble."
"That's not easy," she giggled. "But I'll do my best. I'll talk to you tomorrow, alright?"
"Alright. Good luck."
"I think I'm going to need it," she fretted. "Bye Tarrin. Talk to you tomorrow."
"Have fun."
She gave him a slightly hostile look, and then her image vanished as he felt her consciousness retreat back into the Weave at the unimaginably fast speed of thought itself. She was returning to her body, where it sat, physically connected to a strand of the Weave, and probably under guard.
Things sounded a bit dicey in Suld, but if there was one thing he'd learned about Jenna during his amnesia, it was that she was a very capable young lady. She may think she made alot of mistakes, but the truth was, Keritanima and Alexis had trained up a young but gifted Keeper. He had no doubt that she would handle things, and she would do it smoothly and efficiently. Between what she had learned from Keritanima and Alexis, and the maturing information that Spyder had put in her head, Jenna was a remarkably detail-oriented and organized ruler, with a maturity and intelligence to handle these kinds of problems, and the cool, level-headed training she received from her parents only helped those things along. She would make good decisions, because she wouldn't rush into them, she would look at a problem from several sides before deciding on the most practical and efficient solution, and she knew when to ask for help from advisors. She had the perfect balance of confidence and a willingness to accept aid that made her an excellent ruler.
He felt confident that before Gods' Day, Arren was going to be sitting on the Lion Throne of Sulasia. And he didn't once doubt that they couldn't have chosen a better man.
They had no trouble at all as they continued to move, shifting to a more southeasterly direction the day after he talked to Jenna. The plain made it easy to see the more dangerous predators well before they got close enough to be a threat, and they moved through a strange void of Selani. They saw a few Scouts from a distance, but that was all. The Scouts were ranging out to find the best grazing for the animals, and their presence meant that tribes would be moving in to take advantage of the scrub bloom around them within a matter of days, if that. They saw several signal fires built atop rock spires during the nights, beacons to guide the tribes to good grazing.
Tarrin relaxed more and more as they moved towards the Cloud Spire, as any signs of a possible pursuit didn't materialize. Jenna had everything under control in Suld, Keritanima had everything under control in Dusgaard, and they had everything under control here. Things seemed to be going even better than he hoped they would, and he couldn't find any reason within himself not to relax just a little and enjoy the advantage of it while he could.
His little talk with Sarraya seemed to have had a major impact. She reverted to the Sarraya he remembered very quickly after that, full of witty remarks and sly comments, and she seemed to completely relax around Allia. Allia, to his surprise, warmed to the Faerie alot faster than he thought she would, and they began trading stories of the desert and Sarraya's colony. Allia, he knew, was trying to understand the Faerie, and she'd do that best by learning about her past. Sarraya was a very complicated little female, as Allia was finding out, alot more complicated than her shallow demeanor presented to the world. Her Faerie flightiness and impulsiveness waged a constant war against the intense discipline instilled in her by her Druidic training, and those two diametrically opposed traits gave her an unusual personality. She seemed flighty and scattered, but she was as sharp as a tack, possessed of a great intelligence and also having had a very thorough education. Sarraya knew things that people would never expect a Faerie to know, like the intricacies of human politics and a great deal of human history. Tarrin was very fond of her, for she was also a good, solid companion and she never made things boring. She was always full of surprises, be it a new dig on him or a new way to entertain herself in the monotony of travel across the scrub plain.
Such an example happened three days after he talked to Jenna. She had moved ahead of them as they stopped so Allia could get the sand out of her boots, and when they caught up with her, they were rather shocked to see her aggravating a lone juvenile inu. The reptillian raptor, only coming up to Tarrin's waist, snapped in frustration at the darting Faerie, trying to catch her as she weaved and buzzed around its head. Tarrin noticed that the animal had a rather long, half-healed gash on its flank, and it looked thin and a little bony. It was a rather handsome specimen, with sand-colored scales and a darker stripe on each flank and along its spine, starting at the end of its snout and ending at the tip of its tail. It also had small irregular stripes on its powerful back legs, running from hip to ankle. The coloration would break up its profile out in the scrub, making it harder to see.
"What are you doing?" Tarrin demanded in surprise as they stopped and looked around. That inu 's pack couldn't be far away, and the last thing they needed right now to was to be ambushed.
"Hold on," Sarraya said breathlessly, slipping aside as the inu again snapped shut its jaws, just barely missing her. "Would you hold still?" she demanded sharply at the animal, "you're ticking me off!" And to everyone's surprise, probably even the inu 's, it did just that. It recoiled from her in surprise, then stopped trying to eat her, standing there in its hunched posture, wickedly clawed forepaws tucked in under its chest.
"How did you do that?" Allia asked in surprise.
"I'm a Druid, you silly girl!" she told her with a grin. "Druids can command animals when it's needful. Hasn't Tarrin ever showed you that?"
Allia looked at Tarrin speculatively. "Don't look at me," he shrugged. "Nobody ever taught me that."
"You are so dense," she said scornfully. "It's not a spell, you dope! Animals can sense who we are. If you speak in a commanding voice, they'll obey you!"
Tarrin gave her a very hard, flat look. "You mean to tell me that all this time, you could have just ordered anything that may attack us to leave us alone?"
She grinned wickedly. "I didn't want to interrupt your fun," she teased.
"Even after that kajat bit off my leg?" he demanded hotly.
"It was too intent on eating us," she answered. "When they're like that, it's alot harder to get through to them. That's why this one didn't just stop the first time I told it to. Besides, I'm so tiny and it was so big, I think it had trouble hearing me. They have to hear us."
"What about the pack of inu?"
"They were trying to eat Denai, remember?" she said pointedly. "And I think she really ticked them off by killing a few members of their pack. I just said that when they're like that, it's hard to get through to them. Their predatory instincts have taken over." She looked at him. "And yes, we did tell you that, Tarrin. When we were in Shoran's Fork, remember?"
Tarrin looked back through his expanded memory, and found what she was talking about. When they were telling him about Druids, they remarked that no animal would attack a Druid. Now he understood why.
"Why didn't you teach me that?" he demanded.
"Because I'm really not sure if it will work for you," she answered honestly. "You're a Were-cat, Tarrin. You're a predator, and some animals won't trust a predator no matter how sweet you talk to them. That may have been a little dangerous, especially if you'd have tried to talk down a hungry kajat. Knowing you, that's the first thing you'd do," she snorted.
"Does it work for Triana?"
"Triana never does it," she answered. "She said she never tries to talk to a potential meal. It's bad manners, and it's not very sportsmanlike. That's also why she won't Conjure anything that isn't already dead."
Allia laughed, looking at Tarrin. "I guess that makes sense. I wouldn't like having a chat with a kajat, knowing it may decide to turn around and eat me."
Tarrin, however, was a little intrigued by the idea of it. He looked at the inu and drew himself up. She said all one had to do was speak in a commanding manner. Well, if it was one thing Tarrin had learned as his time as a Were-cat, it was how to be commanding. He looked the inu right in its sinister, amber reptillian eyes, his own implacable and steely. "Come here," he told it, pointing to the ground before him with a furred finger.
The animal seemed a bit torn. Tarrin could tell that his command had reached it, but just as Sarraya said, it seemed wary about obeying something that was obviously a predator.
"I'm not hunting you, you foolish cub," he chided it. "Come here."
Bolstered by that, the inu warily stepped towards him, its sleek head snapping back and forth between Allia and the Were-cat. It stepped up in front of Tarrin, craning its head almost straight up to look at him, its long, meaty tail out to give it balance.
"I've never seen a living one from so close before, at least in a relaxed state," Allia said in appreciation. "We respect the inu for its power and cunning, but they also have a certain grace and beauty about them."
"Only a Selani would think a big lizard was cute," Sarraya huffed.
Tarrin knelt by the inu and pushed it til it turned, presenting its wounded flank to him. It was a very nasty laceration, wide and deep, and it was starting to show signs of infection. From the size of the wound, Tarrin knew that it was caused by the claws of a kajat.
"A kajat did this," he noted.
"It probably killed the rest of its pack," Sarraya added. "Allia said that they do that."
" Kajat eat inu because it gives them a meal and also cuts down on competition," she nodded. "That, and inu are sometimes foolish. They'll continue to attack, even when they have no chance of winning. Only after the majority of the pack is killed will the survivors finally turn and run."
"I'd say that's exactly what happened here," Tarrin said. The inu probably wouldn't react too well to Sorcerer's healing, so he reached within, through the Cat, and touched the vast power of the All. His intent and image were simple and clear, something he had done many times before, and the All read his intent, saw his image, and responded as he desired. The wound on the animal's side began to heal unnaturally fast, before their very eyes, as Tarrin's prodding caused the animal's own healing ability to accelerate at an incredible rate, even as the All supplied the animal with the life energy it needed to undertake the task.
"Why heal it?" Allia asked. "A lone inu rarely survives long, and I don't think we want something like this as a pet."
"So it at least has a fighting chance," he replied as the wound completely closed, and the last traces of Tarrin's magic killed off the now internalized infection.
"You're getting too sentimental in your old age, brother," Allia teased. "Why were you playing with it, Sarraya?"
"I guess I just wanted to get a close look at a live one," she said. "The ones I've seen up close weren't very whole. Tarrin isn't very neat when he kills things. There were body parts laying everywhere," she said with a little shudder.
"Dead is dead," Tarrin said flatly as he patted the animal's flank, feeling the powerful muscle underneath those scales. Tarrin felt its warmth, and, curious, he sent probing weaves into the animal, weaves usually meant to find sickness or injury. These weaves instead inspected the internal workings of the animal, puzzling out its biology.
Tarrin whistled. "It's not a reptile," he said in appreciation.
"What do you mean?" Allia asked.
"It's not cold-blooded," he explained as he slid his paw along its flank. "It's warm-blooded. It's not a reptile. It's a close cousin of reptiles, but it's not one."
"Maybe it's in the same family as dragons," Sarraya said. "They're warm-blooded too, and it's very apparent that they're related to reptiles. You know, scales, big teeth, claws, bad attitudes, that kind of thing."
"We know that there are relatives of dragons," Allia mused. "Drakes are their relatives, and Dolanna told me that Wyverns are also related to them. I've never seen a Wyvern before, so I don't know about that."
"They're not something you want to see," he snorted, the memory of the fight he'd had with the Wyvern on the riverboat coming up to the front of his mind. "Strange." He stood up. "Alright, I'm done," he told it. "Go on."
It looked at him quizzically.
"You're on your own now, cub," he told it. "Just be careful out there, and don't try to take anything bigger than you are. You should be alright."
With a curious chain of short growls in its throat, the inu turned and started off towards the south.
"Now there's something you should have tried to tame, Allia," Sarraya said with a grin.
"It wouldn't be prudent," she shrugged. "You can't have tame inu and tame sukk and chisa around each other. They're natural enemies."
They continued on southwest at an easy pace, as Tarrin mused over what he'd learned. After looking back on things, he realized that the first time they'd come through the desert, Sarraya had never really had the chance to use that Druidic trick to help him. The fights he'd had with the local wildlife had been fast and furious, where Sarraya's presence would have only complicated an already complex situation. And the times when she would heve been very useful, like when the kajat attacked them down in the Great Canyon, she hadn't been there. That probably would have been the best time for her to calm an attacking predator, but she'd been off scouting.
It showed one of Sarraya's problems when she taught. She was a good teacher most of the time, but that was with things she thought he could use or learn. If she felt it wouldn't work for him or he couldn't use it, she not only wouldn't teach it to him, she also wouldn't even mention it. Tarrin understood the reasoning for it, because with Druidic magic, there was absolutely no room for error. By not even telling him about something, she was making sure that he wouldn't get curious about it and try to use something that either wouldn't work or was beyond his ability. But it still irked him a little bit.
Tarrin mused a little about that, realizing that he was his own warden in that regard. He was a curious one, always trying anything someone did that he saw. That curiosity was coupled to an admittedly strong power and a clever mind, and when Druidic magic was concerned, that could get him into a great deal of trouble. He was alot like Keritanima that way; when he saw someone do something he couldn't do, he just had to figure out how it was done. He couldn't help himself. At first, when he was just learning Druidic magic, he accepted Sarraya's warnings and commands without question, not trying some of the things she did. But he was more experienced now, more confident, and now she had to be careful. From the way they talked, Tarrin was probably as strong as Sarraya now, and that put anything she did in the realm of his possibility. He'd see her do something and try it, and that could get a little tricky, given he may not be capable of it. But, on the other hand, she'd also be willing to teach him, since he was more confident and more experienced.
They made camp early, as a small sandstorm roared over them an hour or so before sunset, taking refuge in a very narrow fissure of rock at the base of a broken rock spire. Tarrin had often wondered about the rock spires. They were everywhere in the desert, from the most barren sandswept sandfields to the most rugged badlands. Some were large, some were small, some tall, some short. But most of them were made of a dark stone that seemed oddly out of place with the sand colored rock most common in the desert. There were some sand-colored rock spires, but those had seemed most prevalent in the southeastern stretches of desert, and they'd shown alot more effects from the scouring wind than the darker ones had.
Curiosity driving him, he reached out and put a paw on the stone, sending flows of Earth and Divine into it. What he discovered made his tail twitch. The stone was igneous, hardened lava, and as Tarrin followed its root down into the ground, he realized that it had come pouring out when someone or something punched a hole in the ground, a hole that went all the way down to the vast sea of magma upon which the land floated.
All these dark rock spires were probably the same, the result of a breach into the magma.
They are the scars left behind by the Blood War, kitten, the Goddess told him, her choral voice echoing in his mind. The rock spires are what's left of magic that the Demons used to pull lava from the ground and kill the defenders. Five thousand years ago, this was a lush grassland. But then the Demons came, punching holes into the mantle and causing the lava to erupt. That covered large areas of this verdant belt with pools of lava. The heat and the fumes killed the grass, changed the weather itself, turning this place into a desert. At one time, this was a hellish wasteland covered with thousands of small hill-sized volcanic cones. But the winds this area is famous for wore them down, eroded them into a sand that still rests in the northeast sections of the desert, where the sand and dunes are black instead of white. The normal rock beneath too was worn away, which made the light sand and dust you find everywhere else here. The rock spires were the cores of those volcanic cones. If there is a testament to the destruction of the Blood War, my kitten, this is it. The Desert of Swirling Sands is the last great scar left behind by a war that raged five thousand years ago.
That sobered him, left him with a grim resolve. The Blood War had been so long ago, but even now ripples of it flowed through the present, showed themselves here in the wound left behind by its raging, echoed in the songs and tales of the valiant Dwarves, who sacrificed everything to save the rest of the world. So much destruction and pain, and all of it had been caused by the Firestaff. Val had used the Firestaff to become a god, then raised an army of Demons to conquer the world. They turned on him, and Val was forced to help the very ones who had been his enemies, as the entire world was forced to unite to fight off the Demonic invasion. It was the Blood War that caused the gods to take the position they had now, where the next who used it would be destroyed. They couldn't allow a god that was not bound by the laws of the pantheon to exist. Even if it meant another catastrophe on level with the Blood War or the Breaking, they couldn't allow it, because Val had proved that such a one could destroy the delicate Balance which the gods strove mightily to maintain.
After all, a world destroyed by their own hands could be rebuilt. The price in the lives of those who lived on that world would be staggering, maybe even insurmountable, but the world would survive. And that was all that mattered to them. The Elder Gods cared only for the world as a whole. The civilizations that lived on it and their accomplishments did not matter in the grand plan of things which was the Balance. The Elder Gods would grieve for their act, but they would still go through with it, because it was what had to be done.
You must be able to do what must be done. He had heard that so many times, and for the first time, he realized that he wasn't the only one in this mad game that had to live with that heavy rule.
He was shaken out of his sober reverie by a series of low growls coming over the howling wind outside, their pitch and timbre causing him to pick them out from the shrill whistle of the wind. Tarrin's instincts warned him immediately when he realized that it was an inu, and he rose up to block the fissure to protect Allia and Sarraya, who were chatting behind him. The owner of those growls stepped around a bend in the narrow, constricting cave, and Tarrin saw with some surprise that it was the inu he had healed. It had followed them! If that wasn't impressive enough, the fact that it could keep up with them was itself quite astonishing.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded irritably of the animal.
"What is it?" Allia asked, then she rose up and looked under his shoulder. "It followed us?" she asked in confusion.
"I guess it likes you, Tarrin," Sarraya laughed.
"What is it with you and these big animals, brother?" Allia asked lightly. "First Sapphire, and now an inu. What is about you that attracts them?"
"I think we'll have to leave him behind when he brings a kajat into camp, trailing along behind him like an energetic puppy," Sarraya sniggered.
The inu looked slightly embarassed, but didn't look away, its reptillian, amber eyes unwavering as they looked up at Tarrin.
"It lost its pack. I guess it thinks we're its new one," Allia mused.
"She," Tarrin corrected absently. "This one is female."
"Ah, now I see what it is," Sarraya said in a wicked manner. "First Sapphire, now this one. I never knew Were-cats were sexy to these warm-blooded reptiles."
"Don't ever let Sapphire hear you say that, bug," Tarrin warned in a flat tone. It wouldn't do to send her back out into the sandstorm. Tarrin blew out his breath. "Alright, but keep out of trouble," he told her imperiously.
Having a little trouble turning around in the very tight space, the inu turned and laid down in the fissure with her head facing outside, keeping watch on the entrance to their refuge.
"What are we going to do with her now?" Allia asked, looking at the inu.
"Nothing," he shrugged. "If she wants to follow, let her follow. We can't do anything about that."
The inu remained even after the sandstorm was over, and that irritated Tarrin just a little bit. He didn't want to be nasty to her, but he didn't like the idea of her following along behind him either. Not that it bothered him or he feared her, but if she followed them, she wouldn't hunt, and she was going to get weak. If she followed too long, she was going to get too weak to hunt once she did break off. Tarrin felt kind of responsible for her, but he knew the instant he fed her, he'd never get rid of her. And taking an adult inu home with him would cause Jesmind to absolutely explode. He went to sleep worrying over that, understanding that he'd have to run her off in the morning, for both the good of both of them.
It turned out that Allia totally destroyed any chance that they would ever get rid of the inu. When Tarrin woke up the next morning, he came out of the fissure to see his Selani sister feeding the inu a rather large umuni. She had a strange, bright look in her eyes, and she was stroking the animal's sand-colored flank gently, almost affectionately. The inu seemed to enjoy the attention, even sidled up against the Selani and growled in a playful manner, nuzzling at her side with her wickedly toothed snout.
Tarrin groaned. "Allia!" he admonished in expasperation. "Now she's going to follow us around all the time!"
"Let her," she said with a strange kind of enthusiasm. "Sarraya may have joked about it, but now the idea of taming inu intrigues me. They would be excellent hunting partners. Inu are swift and intelligent, and we respect their ability."
"What about the domestic flocks?"
"Some of those sheep-herding men use dogs to control their flocks," she shrugged. "Dogs are predators. It would just take some training on both sides to keep them from fighting."
"It's a bad idea," he warned.
"I'll find out in time, won't I?" she asked pointedly.
Tarrin blew out his breath. "Alright, have it your way," he said shortly.
"Naturally."
"Before you get too attached to idea, you should consider what we're going to do with her when we go up to the Cloud Spire."
"Take her with us, of course."
"Are you out of your mind?" he said hotly. "If I take an inu up there, they may throw us off!"
"They would throw you off if you took a kajat," she said calmly. "But not an inu. She's too small to be a danger, and you and Sarraya can explain things to her so she doesn't cause any problems." She patted the inu 's flank fondly as the big predator bent down and ripped the umuni carcass apart with her long, dangerous teeth, swallowing it in huge, bloody chunks as she held the remaining carcass down with her wickedly clawed foot.
This was an argument he knew he was destined to lose. He knew when to cut his losses and at least bow out with some measure of dignity. "All right, but I'm not going to help you in any way. She's your burden."
"Yes you will," she said absently. "You'll argue, and you may even try to put your foot down, but we both know in the end, I'm going to win." She flashed him a bright, affectionate smile. "Because you love me."
"Sometimes love really stinks," he said with a snort, turning and stalking away.
They didn't have to slow down much for their new pet. The inu that Allia named Talon could keep up with them rather well, a testament to her stamina and her will to keep up. Inu were born runners, but Tarrin hadn't realized how much like the Selani they were until he saw Talon and Allia together. They had the same basic survival instincts. Both inu and Selani were nomadic, going to where the food was, and that meant that both groups were used to travelling great distances. Inu were fast sprinters, but they were also effective distance runners, able to eat up the longspans with an easy stride that they could hold for hours on end. He realized that the Selani had probably learned from the inu when they first came to the desert, for the inu 's hunting tactics were similar to the Selani's. They used ambushing tactics, running down a meal in a furious sprint, and a pack cooperated during hunts meant to bring down more than one prey animal, with one group chasing meals to where the rest lay in wait. The Selani did the same thing, able to either run down lone prey or chase them into an ambush set up by the rest of the hunting party. The Selani had found the desert a harsh, forbidding place when they first arrived, so they probably turned to those who thrived here and learned the secrets of survival from them. Selani were alot like inu, and it was no surprise that someone had finally noticed that.
Talon herself surprised Tarrin a great deal. She was very intelligent, playful, and seemed quite happy to stay in their rather unusual pack. She seemed a formidable, intimidating predator to him, but at the same time she was affectionate and very social, and surprisingly gentle. It amused him that he realized that he'd done the same thing so many others do, only see the bad side in a thing. He'd judged the inu from a bad experience with a pack and their fearsome reputation, but hadn't once thought about how they lived. A pack of wolves seemed dangerous and forbidding, but wolves themselves were very social and intelligent animals, capable of great expressions of devotion and love to members of the pack. Inu were like wolves that way. They were ferocious, and they were dangerous, but they were also mothers and cub, mates and pack members. To members of the pack, they were cordial, even compassionate, dutiful and loyal, and protective. That, he realized, what was caused them to attack in what some thought was a suicidal manner. They weren't attacking mindlessly, it was a powerful instinct to defend the pack against a dangerous enemy. That instinct to defend caused them to be wildly aggressive, attacking even things like kajats, because the concept of pack lived on even if the entire pack was killed in the fight. Even the last surviving inu thought in terms of pack, as we instead of I, and would continue to fight on for the pack. It took the realization that the entire pack would die unless someone retreated to make them break off from an attack.
Talon had adopted Tarrin and Allia as her own pack, and she had assumed a place in it. Inu were exactly like wolves; they had a hierarchy of command that ran from the leader all the way down to the lowest member. She assumed that lowest place willingly, not willing to challenge the mighty Tarrin over his role as leader, and sensing that Allia was just as deadly. She wouldn't challenge Sarraya because she was a Druid, and that left her in the most submissive position. Besides, she was a very young inu, and the youngest occupied the lowest ranks. After all, they still had much to learn.
Allia seemed entranced by the inu, and Talon seemed just as taken with Allia. She had gained the animal's trust, and after Tarrin used Druidic magic to speak directly to it-something he'd done with Sapphire before she could speak-some ground rules were laid down and some Selani was taught so she could obey Allia's verbal and hand-signed commands. After that, the two of them would go off and hunt together, and they would often drag back animals too big for either of them to catch alone. Or at least seemingly. Allia's intelligence and understanding of her environment and the animal she was stalking allowed her to take on virtually any animal in the desert. It would be a bit dangerous, but she could do it. But with Talon's help, they could easily bring down any size prey animal, from the largest sukk to the most heavily armored kusuk. It seemed odd that Allia would choose an inu as a pet, but on the other hand, a sleek and deadly raptor fit in with his sister's personality. The fact that Talon was just as big as Allia only made it seem even stranger.
There was no doubt as to who Talon's favorite was. She was friendly with Sarraya and Tarrin, but she behaved like a puppy around Allia, prancing about and almost trembling with delight every time the Selani stroked her scaled flank. She was right by Allia's side almost all the time, and Allia was so trusting of her that she'd even let the inu groom her. She had no fear of the animal, but it seemed to him that fear of Talon was woefully misplaced. She was a deadly predator, but she was also an animal with a pack mentality. Since she'd adopted them as pack, it made her as safe and secure a travelling companion as they could have.
Sarraya found the whole thing quite amusing. "Next thing you know, Kerri's going to bring home a kajat," she teased, giving Tarrin a wolfish grin one fine desert evening, as the two of them sat on a short rock spire, staring out into the desert to make sure no little surprises were close enough to cause any problems.
"As long as she feeds it, it's her problem," Tarrin snorted, which made the Faerie burst into laughter.
Several days of light travel as they adjusted to the inu seemed to fly by, but not without news of the outside world. Keritanima and Jenna projected out to him about every other day with news. Keritanima's news was redundant, for they were safely entrenched in his grandfather's house in Dusgaard, and were surrounded by an army of watchful Ungardt. They would probably be just as safe in the arms of the Goddess herself. The only real news there was that Auli seemed to be playing games with the human that had been altered to take his place. Fox, he was told, was an overly clever young man with a penchant for causing trouble, and someone like that would immediately catch Auli's attention. Tarrin wondered if the young human knew just how much trouble he was getting himself into. It wouldn't seem too strange for outsiders to see that, for Tarrin and Allia were quite close, and were known to tease and play with each other from time to time. Triana would be there to step on it if it got out of hand, though. She was visiting about every other day or so to keep an eye on Jula and make sure things were going alright for them.
The news from Suld wasn't as light-hearted. The strange inciter still hadn't been caught, and the crowds he was whipping into a frenzy in whichever square or marketplace he appeared in that day were getting bigger and bigger. Jenna had a real problem on her hands with him, and no matter how hard they tried, he always seemed to slip away during the chaos of the riots he would incite. On the king front, she reported that she had made significant progress. She had dropped Arren's name in the right places around Suld, and now there was open verbal speculation about the worthiness of the respected duke of a far-flung desmense. That was the first step to getting him on the throne, and Jenna told him she intended to go see him in a couple of days and order him to accept if the throne was offered to him. And she would make sure that it was offered to him. Jenna had a great deal of power, and her power inside the boundaries of Sulasia rivalled the monarch's. Picking a king was well within her abilities.
Jesmind had still yet to talk to him, and that was bothering him a little bit. She knew he was angry, but he figured she would have put that aside to make sure he was alright. That wasn't normal for her, and he realized that maybe he was going to have to put his anger aside for a little while and check on her himself. He was depending on her to let him keep tabs on his daughter, Mist, and Kimmie as well. Then again, tht may be one of the reasons she wasn't talking to him. Jesmind had shown a great deal of jealousy over him, and he had the feeling it was because Mist and Kimmie, her two rivals, were right there. If they weren't around, she'd probably be alot less jealous, but with them there, she felt she had to compete for his attention.
Probably not. As a reason, anyway. Jesmind could do something that Mist and Kimmie couldn't do, and that was talk to him any time she wished. That she wasn't using her advantage meant that something else had to be bothering her.
He knew that it had to be Jasana. Having to punish her that severely had strained her, but she knew it had to be done. That was another reason to talk to her, if only to cheer her up a little bit.
The next morning, the four of them ran with a sandstorm threatening from behind, and they came over a rise and looked over the very gentle hills that crowned the distant cloud on the horizon, not yet hidden by the wavering air caused by daytime heating. They pulled up and looked at it a long moment. "Here we are," Allia said. "We'll be there by the midday heat."
"I wonder why we haven't seen any Aeradalla," he growled, looking around in the sky. "The last time we came, we saw a bunch of them before getting this close."
"I was wondering the same thing myself," Sarraya agreed. "I didn't think we were this close, seeing as how we slowed down so Allia's pet could keep up with us."
"They don't normally go in this direction," Allia said. "They seem to hunt to the south of the Cloud Spire. You don't see them very often when you approach from other directions."
"As often as they fly just for fun, you'd think that we would have seen some of them by now," Tarrin fretted. "It's strange."
"Well, by this afternoon, we'll know," she told him sedately. "Let's move, brother. We're wasting valuable travel time."
"We'll find out now," he said bluntly, setting his feet. "I'm not about to wandering around up there unless I'm sure of things."
"How do you propose we do that?" Allia asked.
"Easy." He put a paw to his amulet. "Ariana."
"I forgot about that," Allia chuckled.
There was an interminably long pause. "Ariana," he called again.
"Tarrin?" came the startled reply. "Is that you?"
"Would it be anyone else?" he asked archly. "Where are you?"
"At home," she replied.
"Good. I'm about twenty longspans northeast of you right now. Why aren't there any Aeradalla in the sky?"
There was a long pause, then her laughter reached him. "What are you doing in the desert?" she asked brightly.
"That's not important right now," he told her. "What's going on?"
"It's the imbralla," she told him. "A religious observance. For one ride we don't fly unless we're hunting or moving from tier to tier. We do it memory of our distant past, when we had no wings and couldn't fly. After the imbralla, we have a grand holiday to honor Shaervan and the gift he gave us. You're just in time for it, my friend," she laughed. "The imbralla ends the day after tomorrow."
"Do you think we'd cause much of row if me and a friend or two come up?" he asked.
"Not at all," she replied. "I think you'd be the only outsider we'd allow in. Andos hasn't forgotten what you did for him, you know. Neither have I. Do you know I'm the richest merchant in Amyr Dimeon now?" she asked with a laugh. "I also just happen to be the Queen," she added with a smug little smirk in her voice. "I'll tell Andos you're coming, and if he doesn't allow you to come up, I'll do the allowing for him."
Allia smiled, and Sarraya laughed. "She hasn't changed," she snickered. "That's the same girl we saw flatten the nose of a fresh patron in that bar."
"From barmaid to queen. What an interesting turn of events," Tarrin chuckled.
"I'll tell you all about it when you get here. Do you need me to come and get you?"
"I can get up on my own."
"I rather thought you could. I've seen you fly before in Suld. Remember where the palace is?"
"One of those four buildings on the top tier surrounding the obelisk, right?"
"Just so. It's the one facing north. I'll tell the guards to expect you."
He was about to reply, but a power of staggering greatness suddenly broke in between them. "Tarrin, come back immediately!" it was Ianelle's voice, and she sounded frantic. Almost panicked. "Tarrin, you have to come back right now!"
"Ianelle?" he asked in confusion.
"There are Demons on the grounds, honored one! We need you!"
Tarrin was shocked, and Allia and Sarraya both gasped. Demons on the grounds! No wonder things had been so quiet! They were going to lure him back by attacking the Tower, because that's where his mates and children were!
Well, it was going to work. "I'm coming right now!" he said quickly, letting go of the amulet.
Demons on the grounds! The horror of the battle of Suld rose in him again, but this was a different kind of horror. The guards and Knights would have no way to fight against Demons, and only someone with an extensive knowledge of Sorcery could fight against them. Tarrin and Jenna had that knowledge, and she would need him to help her.
Everything was out the window now. They were attacking the Tower, and it held many things that were precious to him. The Goddess, his sister, his mates, his children. So much of his life tied up there, and he could not turn away, no matter how dangerous it may be to go back.
Without a thought, without even a warning, Tarrin enveloped the four of them in the weaves of Teleportation, and they vanished from the desert, within sight of the goal they had decided upon when they arrived, within sight of a goal they did not reach.
So close, yet a world away.
To: Title EoF