The first thing he smelled was Jenna.
Her scent was saturating his nose, and he dimly realized as his mind clawed its way back out of the blackness that it was all over the bedding on which he was laying. The old smell came from the bedding, but there was also a fresh scent of her, mixing in his nose with the scents of Jesmind, Mist, Allia, Sarraya, and his son, Eron.
Comprehending that one scent made him snap immediately awake. Eron! The last thing he remembered was seeing his son's wound slowly began to close, and color start to bloom in his pale skin. Happening so fast that it made him a little dizzy, Tarrin's mind became completely alert and his eyes snapped open even as he sat up in the bed, fear clamping around his heart. Was Eron alright? Had he healed completely? Had the terrible wound had any lingering effects?
He was in Jenna's bedchamber. He knew that because her scent was everywhere, and the place fit his sister's personality. It was a fairly large room, filled with furniture that was both handsome to the eye and sturdy. Jenna was a farmgirl, and to her, durability was just as important as the way it looked. On a farm, getting the most out of something was very important. Before he could get more than the most cursory look around, he was buried by hugging arms. Jesmind and Mist had rushed forth to embrace him, and their scents in his nose was like the sweetest perfume. He held each of them tightly for a moment, then made them give over when Eron climbed into the bed. Tarrin hugged his son to him desperately, with trembling arms, unable to feel nothing except the relief that came with a parent's assurance that his child was well. He clasped Allia's hand as she greeted him, then sat sedately on the bed beside him as Mist and Jesmind continued to cling to him.
Still holding Eron tightly, who hugged him back just as intensely, he looked at Jesmind. His mate had tears standing in her eyes, and he could see the desperate, terrible feeling of loss that was raging inside her. It was inside him, too. He could see that she was trying to tell him what happened, but he remembered it all with an awful clarity.
"I'll get her back," he promised immediately, reaching out to her. She clutched his paw with both of hers, then burst into tears and buried her face against his shoulder.
"How long?" he asked, looking to Mist.
"You've been asleep for nearly a day," she answered. "Jenna wouldn't let anyone try to wake you," she said in an accusing manner.
"Jenna did the right thing," he admonished in a grim tone. "What happened after I went out?"
Jenna stepped forward with Dolanna and Allia. Sarraya, who was sitting on Jenna's shoulder, had to buzz her wings a little to keep from sliding off the young woman's narrow shoulder. "The Demon got off the grounds," she answered. "I'm sorry, Tarrin, but she had a sword to Jasana's throat. Nobody dared challenge her, so they had to let her go. They had no choice. She disappeared into thin air the instant she got on the other side of the fence."
"She's a Demon, Jenna," he said woodenly. "She can Teleport. She had to get off the grounds before she could do it. Now tell me how that Demon got inside the Tower. Didn't anyone notice something like that moving around?"
"We found how she did it," she said, holding up a strange hat. "This is magical. It changes the appearance of anyone who wears it. She got in hiding under an Illusion."
"How did it work on the grounds?" he asked quickly. "Wizard magic won't work here."
"This isn't Wizard magic, brother," she said. "It's a relic left behind from the Age of Power, like the cold metal in our cellar back home, and this one has weaves in it. It's an object of Sorcery."
Tarrin snorted, kicking himself. Of course it was Sorcery. Only Sorcerers could create Illusions. He fixed his eyes on the hat, and he could feel the weaves inside it.
"They found it in Jesmind's apartment," Jenna said. "It must have come off when she attacked."
"What's happened while I was asleep? And where were you, Jenna?" he demanded.
"I was up to my eyeballs in Demons," she snapped in reply. "I had to go out and stop another riot, but when I got there, I was suddenly swarmed over by a horde of Demons. It was all I could do to protect myself and as many as the rioters as I could. And we found that instigator," she said with a growl. "It was a cambisi!"
Almost immediately, the depth of the plan locked in his mind. "And I'll bet a Demon set the fire in the palace," he concluded emotionlessly.
"If they did, I couldn't find any evidence of it," Jenna answered. "They may have just taken advantage of the situation."
Still holding Eron, he patted Jesmind's shoulder comfortingly. "I need your strength right now, my mate," he told her in a calm, icy tone. "We can both fall apart after we get Jasana back."
Jesmind sniffled a few times, then pulled off his shoulder, her eyes haunted, but her expresson stony. "I'm sorry," she apologized in an emotionless manner, much like his own. "You're right. We'll have plenty of time for getting emotional after we get our daughter back."
He took her paw in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. She gave him a wan smile, and he looked to Mist. "Where is Triana?"
"On the way here," Sarraya answered, flexing her wings a little and shifting in her seat on Jenna's shoulder. "She'll be here within the hour, I think. We weren't the only ones attacked, Tarrin," she reported, a little hesitantly. "Keritanima and the rest had to put down their own Demonic incursion."
Tarrin sensed her reluctance. "What happened? Was someone hurt?"
Sarraya lowered her eyes, her expression pensive. "I don't think you're ready to hear this, Tarrin," she warned.
"If you don't tell me now, while I'm too numb to react, you may not like what happens when you do," he warned her bluntly.
"Your grandfather is dead, Tarrin," she blurted. "They killed him when he tried to stop them from getting Jula. They all came after Jula like she was the only thing that mattered."
That was like a knife twisting in him, but it was lost in the weariness and emotional turmoil of knowing his daughter was in the clutches of a Demon. It was just one more on a growing list of reasons to avenge himself against that six-armed Demoness. More fuel for her funeral pyre.
"If Triana hadn't have been there, they would have gotten her," Sarraya said. "Triana found a way to hurt Demons with Druidic magic. I never thought that possible," she added thoughtfully. "It took her a while to recover from using it, and as soon as she did, she started back to the Tower."
"Where are Kerri and the others?"
"Still in Ungardt," she answered. "Kerri's Teleported back here a few times already to check on you, but the rest are holding firm there."
"Bring them back," he said emotionlessly. "There's no reason for them to continue with the charade, especially since it didn't do any bloody good." He snorted shortly. "Let's get everyone in one place, and this is the safest place for them to be right now." He looked at Sarraya. "Why didn't Triana have Kerri Teleport her here?"
"Kerri was out," she answered. "She, Dolanna, and Jula did something to repel the Demons, but it wiped all three of them out. By the time Kerri woke up, Triana was already gone. And nobody can contact Triana while she's travelling, Tarrin. Not even me. When she's doing what she does, it's like she's outside the boundaries of this universe. Nothing can reach her."
Tarrin thought a moment, still holding his son close to him with one paw. It was all very carefully planned and executed. Had it not been executed against him, he would have been impressed by it. Whoever had planned it had identified all their strengths and weaknesses, carefully prepared their plan, then executed it with flawless precision. They had done everything they needed to do to get Jasana. They had lured Jenna off the grounds and then pinned her in one place long enough to keep her from interfering. They had eliminated the danger he posed when they forced the Sorcerers to recall him and burn off all his power defending the grounds against the horde of Demons who were nothing more than a means to deplete him and occupy his attention. They had trapped Keritanima and Dolanna in Ungardt to keep them from stopping what was happening here, and they had cleverly also targeted Jula, his other daughter, in case the attempt to kidnap Jasana failed. That way, they'd have at least one of his daughters to use as leverage to make him hand over the Firestaff. This was a broad, intricate plan, and somehow he just knew that it was the brainchild of that six-armed Demoness. The marilith were supposedly the brains of the Demons, their planners and generals. This was a plan that reeked of her supernatural touch.
"Where is Kimmie?"
"She and Phandebrass are setting down a Wizard barrier around the Tower grounds, just outside the fence," Jenna said stonily. "I have about fifty Wizards and Priests working on it."
"Where did you find them?"
"Some are the Priests of Karas. The rest are Wizards who happened to be in Suld at the moment. After the Demon attack, they agreed to give us some help. Phandebrass is in command down there, believe it or not. I'm not sure how Wizards rank themselves, but Phandebrass seems to be at the top of the pecking order."
"When it's Demons, it concerns everyone," Sarraya said grimly. "There are no groups. It's them and us."
"Well said," Jenna said with a nod.
"It's not a surprise to me," Tarrin said shortly. "He may be a little scattered, but you won't find a better Wizard than Phandebrass."
"What now?" Allia asked him in a calm yet steely voice.
"Now? Now I find out where they have Jasana. Then I go there and destroy everything standing between me and her," he said in an ugly tone, sweeping Mist and Jesmind out of the way as he swung his legs out of the bed. They'd undressed him, but his unclad condition meant absolutely nothing to him as he got out of bed, still holding Eron in his arms. His son was picking absently at the black fur on Tarrin's arm, seemingly content to be held by his father.
"I've tried searching for her, but I can't find a trace of her," Jenna frowned. "She crossed over, Tarrin. As strong as she is, I should be able to sense her anywhere on the planet, but there's nothing. It's like she dropped off the face of the world."
"Or they have killed her," Allia said grimly. "I am sorry to say it, but it must be considered," she said quickly when Jesmind laid her ears back and hissed at the Selani threateningly.
"They won't kill her," Tarrin said shortly. "As long as I have the Firesetaff, they won't dare. If they do, they know they will never get it. Even if I have to live for all eternity, they'll never so much as see it." Without even thinking, Tarrin Conjured new clothes for himself. With as much Demon blood he got on himself during the battle, he was surprised the old ones didn't melt off of him. "And I know exactly where to start to find her."
"Where?" Jenna asked.
He was reluctant to set Eron down, but he needed both paws to dress. Eron immediately ran over to his mother, clinging to her leg. The assault had to have been very traumatic for him. Another reason to pay that Demoness back for everything she did. He jerked on his new trousers, barely registering that his claw ripped them from the lower thigh down He pulled on the vest without a shirt and flexed his paw briefly. "The place where I found Faalken's Soultrap," he finally answered. "I can find my way back there again." He turned a powerful stare on Jenna. "Is Amelyn still in the dungeon?"
"Yes, but she's told us everything she knows."
"I doubt that. Take a Circle down there and drag everything out of her."
"That may destroy her, Tarrin."
Without batting an eye, without even so much as a shiver of warning, Tarrin's paw lunged out with blinding speed and grabbed a pawful of Jenna's dress. He hauled her off the ground and brought her up to look him eye to eye, to stare into two green glowing pools of utterly ruthless determination. " I did not say that you had a choice ," he said in a seething hiss so cold, so brutal that it made Jenna pale. He put her back on the ground so hard it made her teeth click, and his paw tore away part of the bodice of her dress as he recoiled it from her, threatening to expose her breasts. What was revealed of them showed that each had a pair of bloody lines running down them, from the claws on his fingers. He had not been gentle with her.
At that moment, everyone in the room realized that in his present state, he would kill anyone who stood in his way. Even a sister.
With a brief snort, he smoothly seated himself right in the middle of the room, legs crossed. He reached out a paw and set himself against the Weave, spinning out a strand that led back to the main Conduit that looped directly through him, then he crossed his arms, hunched his shoulders and bowed his head, then wrapped his tail around his legs and closed his eyes. "You can tell me what you found out when I get back," he told her in a tone that grew more and more distant as he spoke.
"What is he doing?" Jesmind asked, a voice that grew further and further away as he pushed himself into the Weave.
"Going out into the Weave," Jenna's voice replied, as if from half the world away.
He hovered in his strand a moment, feeling the Heart tugging at him. If he let himself go, that's where he would end up, but he held his position just aside from his body. He could see into the real world from the strand, but everything was oddly discolored and wavering, like looking through the heat shimmer of the desert at a distant object. Just as his eyes could see the Weave in a kind of background sense, so could he see into the real world from the Weave, though it was just as insubstantial as the Weave was from the real world. He could feel every tiny bit of magic flowing around him, through him, the tiny eddies and currents within the strand, currents that had altered the currents in nearly every other strand around the Tower because of its creation.
He had never done what he was trying to do, but he knew that he could do it. His anger was not rage, it was that cold, focused anger of the Human, an anger that actually made him concentrate harder on the task at hand to complete it. The anger swept out all the panic and worry of a parent, left behind nothing but a burning need to accomplish the task at hand, a task that his daughter's life depended on him succeeding.
In a blur, Tarrin moved himself back to the desert, back to the ruins of Mala Myrr, back to the exact place where he'd started when he released Jegojah and Faalken from the Soultraps. He sent his senses into the strands, seeking out the path he had taken so many months ago, hoping that there would be some trace of it remaining in the Weave. Then, rather foolishly, he realized that all he had to do was send himself back to that dark, emotionless room where the Soultraps had been the same way he sent himself to Mala Myrr. He didn't have to know how to get there; he just needed to know where he was going. That was all.
And he was. Just wanting to go there was all it took. He found himself looking out through the strand into that room, but it was a room that, even through the distortion, looked much different than it had before. Tarrin wove a spell that opened a clear window between the Weave and the real world, an undistorted image of what was beyond the strand, and he was quite surprised to find that the room had been emptied of the furniture and the vials and the bottles and the books and strange objects that had been there before. The room was empty. Completely empty.
A little puzzled, Tarrin cast out his senses, looking for another strand that intersected with the building. He found one, which wasn't very easy, given that the Weave was much thinner where he was than it was in the Tower. He moved himself into that one, which required him to double all the way back to a major Conduit and then come all the way back, a journey that would have been a hundred leagues up and back had he had to travel it in the real world. He changed his position instantly, moved into a strand that moved vertically through the building where the room was located, a strand that would let him see the inside of the place a little better. He moved up and down floors, looking out into the real world using his window, but found the place empty. Most of the furniture was still there, but all the small things were gone, and he found the place was devoid of occupants. In some rooms, snow had piled up in corners, blown through open windows. Rising up out of the building, he looked down on it from the strand from overhead and found himself looking down on a huge castle, more like a citadel, sitting on top of a huge grey mountain while snow and howling winds swirled around it. In the distance, he could see a large body of water surrounded by rugged grayish peaks, but he couldn't see much beyond that because of the wind-driven snow.
A little annoyed, Tarrin wove a projection of himself and pushed himself into it, which would allow him to move about in the real world. He used it to explore the castle, every room of it. He combed it level by level, chamber by chamber, even using Sorcery to ferret out every hidden room and secret passage and checking them as well. There was no one there. Not only was there no one there, they had left absolutely nothing behind to give him any clues or information. They had abandoned this place, he realized, and in that evacuation they had been extremely thorough in removing any trace that they had been there. Tarrin returned to the Weave in disappointment, and because the effort of projecting was going to tire him if he kept it up too long. He may need to project again when he did find where Jasana was, and he didn't want to tire himself prematurely.
There's nobody here, he said to himself, which became a Whisper in the Weave, since he had no body to make sound. Now what?
That is because you look in the wrong place.
Tarrin was startled; that voice was a voice that he had not heard in many months.
It was Spyder.
Follow my thought, her voice commanded. I will guide you to what you seek.
He did so, following the sense of direction from which her voice emanated. It led him back into the major Conduit, back into a Core Conduit, one of the seven of the greatest Conduits that depended on the sui'kun for their existence, and then out through a steadily shrinking series of strands, becoming smaller and weaker and thinner with each intersection or split, until he reached a place where all the strands seemed to have been turned, pushed back away from something that felt like it was as solid barrier.
Come out.
Without much thought about it, Tarrin pushed flows out of the strands at that strange location and wove them into a projection of himself. Once the weave was formed, he pushed his consciousness into it, and then opened his spectral eyes.
He was on a snow-choked plain. There was nothing but snow as far as he could see in any direction, but there were mountains on the southern horizon, and directly ahead of him, about a league, the snow suddenly stopped to reveal a strange swath of grassland.
Tarrin's ears laid back slightly when he saw a vast army of Goblinoids and humans camped in that grass, and they weren't bundled up against the bitter cold that he could sense plagued this area. There was a sea of them, specks of dark breaking up the green of the grass, sitting around fires, training with weapons, sleeping or sitting in row upon row upon row of small tents that were erected in that grassy plain. Standing directly beside him was Spyder, and he realized that she too was a projection. She wasn't actually there.
"Gora Umadar," she said in a distant voice, pulling that black cloak around her a little more. "You are Ungardt. You know the name."
He did. It was supposedly a cursed place far to the east and north of Ungardt, in the tundra north of the Petal Lakes. Ungardt legend said that an ancient beast of evil was imprisoned within it, and it was bad luck to venture out of the Ice Mountains that separated the lands of Ungardt from the tundra holding the fell place on the other side.
"That is where they hold Jasana," she told him in that same dead, sing-song voice.
Tarrin tried to push out into that grassy plain, to try to sense Jasana, but it was like there was a wall holding him out. "Why can't I sense anything over there?" he asked.
"Val's icon is there, Tarrin," she answered. "He exerts a force that the Goddess cannot counter. The restoration of the Weave has restored most of his power, and now he can wield it directly. That is something that no god can counter without bringing his own icon here, and no god will risk that. If Val and another god did battle through their icons, the results would be disastrous."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because they would be fighting directly," she answered, her eyes sweeping out over the snowless plain and the army it held. "Should one god triumph over the other, his icon would be destroyed, and all his godly power contained within it would sweep out like a firestorm. It would destroy the entire region. For any other god, it would mean millenia of banishment from the world. For Val, it would mean death."
"Because he's trapped in his icon?"
"Because he is a child of the Firestaff," she corrected. "He has never existed anywhere else but here, Tarrin. That is the difference between him and the other gods. That is why they cannot allow any more children of the Firestaff. When I sealed him into his icon, I didn't draw the very essence of him out of where the gods are and imprison him in it. That would be impossible for me to do. I am only a mortal." She looked at him. "His essence was already here. I sealed him into his icon to restrict his power, to force him to be physically present in order to use his godly powers, which restricts the range of his reach. Nothing more. And that I could do only because all ten Elder Gods united and gave me that power. For the gods, an icon is a presence in this world. For Val, it is him, just as your physical body is you. Destroy it, and you destroy him, whether he is sealed in it or not."
That filled Tarrin with a kind of grim excitement. "Then I could destroy him," he said in a dreadful voice, his need to avenge himself against those who had abducted his daughter running hot in his mind.
"You are a mortal, Tarrin," she told him pointedly. "Had I had the power, I would have destroyed Val myself rather than seal him into his icon. We, not even all the sui'kun together, have the power to destroy Val's icon, my brother. We may seem godlike to mundanes, but we are as mundanes compared to the gods, and we are as nothing compared to Val, because of the circumstances of his existence."
Tarrin wanted to growl in frustration at that. Val had been the directing force behind everything that had happened to him over these years. The idea that he couldn't avenge himself against him was like bitter medicine in his mouth. Had he been rational and calm, he would have balked at the idea. But in his current mental state, the need to punish was overriding his common sense.
Calming down a little bit, he looked over at the army. That army was going to make things difficult. If Jasana really was being held inside it, then any attempt to get her out meant that he'd have to go through an army of Goblinoids, fight a god, somehow beat him, then fight his way back out through the army of Goblinoids he'd battled to get in. And do it all inside a void that would rob him of his most powerful asset, his Sorcery.
"Hold on. The ki'zadun attacked the Tower to destroy the Goddess' icon. You just said it's impossible."
"It is impossible against Val, Tarrin. You continue to forget that since Val exists in our world both spritually and physically, it allows him to bring more power to bear here than any other god, even Ayise herself." She paused, clicking her tongue absently. "A mortal would have a much better chance of destroying the icon of any god other than Val. Only Val can exert his full and true power in our world, where all other gods are restricted. Someone such as you or I could possibly destroy the icon of a god. It would be exceedingly difficult, but it would be possible. All the sui'kun acting together would have a respectable chance of success," she admitted. "The ki'zadun used Demons in their assault on the Tower, and Demons would have a good chance of destroying an icon, because of their power. But not Val's. The power he can wield in our world makes him invulnerable to the attacks of a mortal, even invulnerable against the very Demons he summons. It is part of the reason why he has no fear of them."
Tarrin growled in his throat, a little angry with her that she could bring up a valid argument against everything he wanted to do, arguments he couldn't refute. "Where exactly is Jasana?" he asked.
"There is a structure at the center of the grass," she answered, raising her hand. An Illusion appeared, that of a grim black stone pyramid sitting out in the middle of the grassy tundra. "This. This is where Val is holding Jasana, and where Val is himself. He's also assembled the strongest of his servants among the ki'zadun, amassed this army, and has started summoning Demons to do his bidding." She lowered her hand, sliding it back under her cloak, but the image remained. "That is why I am involved," she told him grimly. "He has broken the strictures and brought Demons into our world."
"I thought they couldn't get in because you guard the gate."
"They cannot, unless a Wizard Conjures them. I cannot control that, because when a Wizard Conjures a Demon, they bring them here using the power of their magic, much the same way you have learned to Conjure using Druidic magic. They do not have to use the gate to gain entry into the world. I also cannot stop a god from doing the same thing. Where a Wizard can only Conjure and keep control of one Demon at a time, Val can raise an army of them. And that is what he is doing."
Tarrin paled. An army of Demons? It was going to be another Blood War!
"Exactly my fear," she nodded, somehow knowing what he was thinking. "Val tried this once, and nearly destroyed the world. Now he tries it again, either believing he can control his Demons this time, or not caring about what happens to the world he conquers. He may be content to rule over a wasteland of blasted ash, so long as he does rule. These are here for the same reason," she said, nodding towards the Goblinoids. "Val raised his army believing that when the Firestaff releases him from his icon, he could use them to sweep out of the tundra and begin his conquest."
"Why can't the gods stop him?" he asked. "And why can't they just destroy him?"
"Because he is a god, Tarrin," she said patiently. "If they face him directly, they could destroy him, but in that battle would come the end of the world as we know it. It is why the Goddess had you claim the Firestaff in the first place, my brother. Think."
She was right. The Goddess told him that if someone used the Firestaff, the gods would have to rise up and destroy him, and the entire world may be destoyed in that confrontation. Confronting Val would be no different.
"Because Val is a child of the Firestaff, it means that all his power is here," she told him. "That gives him a great deal of power dealing with the other gods, whose power is in another dimension. Where they have to work through an icon, he does not. Where they can only devote a portion of their power to the battle, he does not. It makes him as powerful as any Elder God on this world. Perhaps even more so. That is why even the Elder Gods would be wary of confronting him. Even they run the risk of losing their icons. And if that happens, then the world would be in chaos," she said grimly. "The power guiding the forces of nature would be cut off, and the entire world's workings would run amok until the gods could form new icons and regain control. Very little would survive that."
Tarrin frowned. She was being very careful to spell out for him what would happen if the gods started fighting. But why? And that caused him to ask a quesion that, though he had never even considered before, made him wonder why he had never asked it before. "If Val's already a god, why does he want the Firestaff?"
"Because if a god used it, it would cause the god to have his full power manifest in this world," she told him. "A Younger God that used the Firestaff would have all of his power in that other dimension where his spirit resides, as well as an equal measure of power residing right here in this world, and it is a power that does not depend on the faith of the mortals who worship him. It would make a Younger God something even greather than an Elder God, truly immortal and wielding a power that even the Elder Gods would fear. For Val, who is already a child of the Firestaff, it would double the power he already possesses, and that power would make him unstoppable." She looked at him. "Do you know the story of Val, my brother?"
"Some of it," he answered.
"Then you know that he is a god without rules, without constraints. Do you know why?"
Tarrin mulled over that for a moment. "Because he's a child of the Firestaff."
"Yes. He is not a child of Ayise. His power was not granted by her, and it means that he did not have to accept the responsibilities and restrictions that came with that power. He is truly a god without rules, a god that does not care about the Balance. In fact, in his own way, he is a god seeking to destroy that Balance. We call him Val, god of darkness and conquest. The gods have another name for him."
He looked at her.
"They call him Entropy, the embodiment of the force that seeks to unmake all," she said, looking at him. "They fear him more than they fear any other thing." She looked at the army again. "I brought you here to show you what stands between you and your daughter, Tarrin," she told him in a quiet voice. "Now that you see what you have seen and heard what I have told you, do you understand why?"
"To show me what I'm up against."
"To show you that what you intend is impossible," she told him bluntly. "There is no way you can get Jasana back without surrendering the Firestaff to Val. He is a god, Tarrin, and he holds your daughter in the very center of his seat of power. You cannot sneak in, you cannot trick him, and you cannot beat him with either magic or brute force. He will sense you coming from a thousand longspans away, and he will hear every thought that passes through your mind. Any bargain you try to make with him, he will not honor, seeking to kill you as quickly as he can to regain the Firestaff before the appointed day. And if you do face him, he will crush you as if you are nothing and take the Firestaff from you, and there is nothing you can do to prevent it. You intend to rescue Jasana, without thinking about the consequences. And now you know what will happen if you do."
You must be able to make the choices that must be made.
No! Not Jasana! He had chosen his duty, and it had cost Faalken his life! He had chosen his duty, and it had nearly killed Kimmie! He would not make a choice that would kill his daughter. He would not! The entire world did not matter more than his precious child, because the world would not be worth continuing if Jasana was not there to share in it.
In a flash, an instant, a plan formed in his mind. It was a simple plan, an elegant plan, yet a plan carrying flavors of nuance and subtlety that would make Keritanima proud. It was a plan that addressed all the problems of rescuing Jasana without getting her killed, and after going through it in that instant, he realized that it was a plan that would work, no matter if it was a god that would be the one trying to defeat it or not. The simplicity of it made it almost infallible.
He had to be able to make the choices that must be made. In that instant, he made his choice, and that choice was Jasana.
Quickly, he buried the plan in the deepest parts of his mind, submerging it into the Cat, the one place where no one, not even the Goddess, could dig it out. He knew that if she knew what he intended, she would not allow it. She would stop him, and he would not be denied.
If Val wanted the Firestaff, Tarrin would give it to him. It was not worth the life of his daughter.
"If there's one thing that you should have learned about me by now, Spyder," he said in a voice that held absolutely no emotion, "is that the world does not matter to me." He looked at her. "Val has my daughter, and I'm going to get her out of there alive. That's all that matters to me. The world can go to the Nine Hells for all I care."
"Then your daughter will grow up in a blasted wasteland."
"As long as she grows up, I don't give a damn about where it happens to be," he said, looking over the army one more time.
"You are foolish to say that to me," she said, drawing herself up. "I will not permit you to decide the fate of us all, Tarrin."
He felt her power build up, felt the terrible might of it even though both of them were working through projections. But he ignored her, keeping his back to her. "I'm not going to go out and intentionally destroy the world, fool woman," he said with a snort. "But I won't abandon my daughter. If it would have been anything else, anyone else, I would have let it go. But not Jasana. Not one of my children. I'll find a way to get her back. I'll do my best to keep the Firestaff away from Val. But if it comes down to it, I'll hand it over to him without hesitation."
"Then you doom us all."
"Then we all die," he said grimly. "That doesn't matter to me in the slightest."
"Then you leave me little choice, my brother," she said with terrible finality. He felt her power immediately build up to its peak, felt her half a world away, probably doing the same thing he was doing, sitting somewhere in a small room in a nice comfortable chair, projecting herself out across the vast distance between them.
"Go ahead," he told her without emotion. "Let's just get it all out of the way now, woman. It doesn't matter to me anymore. Nothing matters to me anymore except my daughter," he said in a dead tone. "Strike at me, Spyder, and I'll tear the Weave. I know how it's done. Try to stop me, and I'll cause another Breaking. You won't have to worry about Val destroying the world." He turned on her, and there was awful burning fanaticism in his eyes that took her aback. "If you deny me the chance to save my daughter, I'll destroy the world myself!"
There was a shocked silence from Spyder, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. "Mother!" she gasped in consternation. "This cannot be!"
I cannot interfere, the voice of the Goddess touched them both, a very subdued, serious voice, nothing like the voice he was so accustomed to hearing. You understand the rules, daughter. I cannot directly interfere. I cannot demand. I can only ask. If Tarrin decides to defy me, I can do nothing but deny him his powers. And he does not need Sorcery to tear the Weave, daughter. He's a strong enough Druid to do it. It will kill him, but he can do it.
"What must I do, Mother?"she asked in confusion. That was something he never thought he'd see. Spyder was at a loss as to what to do.
I suggest you withdraw your threat and release your power, she replied dryly. If my kitten is this determined, then I say give him his chance. He has proven again and again that he can find ways to accomplish his goals. We must all have faith that this time will be no different.
"I do not like it, Mother. It takes an awful risk."
I don't like it either, she said with a rueful chuckle. But if there's one thing I've learned about my kitten, Spyder, it's that once he truly sets his mind to accomplishing a goal, he finds a way to succeed. Just as he has faith in me, now I must show faith in him. I won't interfere, kitten, she told him directly. I disagree with what you're doing, you must know that. I love Jasana too, but I can think of no way to safely get her out. But I'm going to trust you on this, Tarrin. If you believe with all your heart that you can get her back without giving the Firestaff to Val, then I'll support you, and I'll do everything in my power to make it happen.
"I can do it, Mother," he said confidently. "I swear it."
Then that is good enough for me, she said simply. All you need to do is ask, Tarrin, and I will help you as much as I'm allowed. Because of what Val is doing, he is forcing us to directly interfere anyway, so I'll be able to help you alot more than usual.
"What is he doing?"
"The Demons, Tarrin," Spyder said. "He is Conjuring Demons by the dozens every day. He already has a force of nearly a thousand, and they grow by the hour. The gods themselves must take steps now to prevent another Blood War. It is why I am here. It's why I've shown you what's before us. I am the Guardian, and now I am summoned to execute my duties. To defend our world against incursion from hostile extra-dimensional invaders. That is my purpose."
The weight of that was not lost on him, no matter how adamant he was about rescuing his daughter. The possibility of Val getting the Firestaff was only one of the dangers presented in this very delicate situation. If Val raised enough Demons, he could threaten the entire world whether he was freed or not. And now that the Weave was restored, he would bet that the same lack of magic that kept the dragons trapped in the form of drakes was keeping Val's icon rooted to his spot. The Goddess was animating her icon now, moving it around. Val couldn't move it around the way she did, but he could move. He'd be at least as mobile now as any other living thing with arms and legs.
Even if they kept the Firestaff away from Val, they were going to have to deal with him and the army he had amassed.
"You already have a force at hand to deal with Val," Tarrin told them both absently. "I think the battle at Suld showed how effective it is to bring the Wikuni, Ungardt, Knights, Selani, and Arakites together. Assemble them again in greater numbers, and you'll have an army that even Val is going to fear."
I already realized that, kitten. I'm already starting to make some arrangements with their gods. The Younger Gods have a stake in this too, and they'll help. They rule as patrons of the mortals, so it is through them that we must act. Karas, Dallstad, Kikkalli, and Fara'Nae have already pledged their children to the cause. I'm even asking Neme for her Amazons and for the outworlder god that commands the Wizards to release them to my charge. Every Elder and Younger God both are going to be devoting a block of their priesthood to the cause to serve as magical assistance along with my Children and the Wizards. We may even get assistance from the Druids and Fae-da'Nar, this is so serious. I've yet to approach Shiika over her Legions, though. Because the Arakites really have no one god that could force such a large empire to mobilize, it forces me to deal with their Demon Empress. Tarrin could sense the intense distaste present in her voice.
"Shiika's actually not bad for a Demon," he said in defense of her.
"Truth be told, I have an odd fondness for her," Spyder admitted. "At least she is old enough to understand me."
I hate Demons, the Goddess said with a shudder in her choral voice. I still say it was a mistake for us to allow her to remain on Sennadar.
"You know, I remember Allia and Camara Tal saying the same thing about Jula," Tarrin said pointedly.
There was a startled silence, then the Goddess laughed, a symphony of silvery bells. Point taken, kitten, she said. We should break this up. Were I not shielding us, Val would be hearing every word we say with us so close to him. I think it's time for us to withdraw and start making plans for what's to come, outside of his earshot. As it is, he knows we're here, and you can bet that he knows that we didn't come just for the view.
"As you say, mother. I will come visit you in Suld presently, my brother," she told him. "What comes requires my direct intervention. When the army marches, I will march at its head."
"I'm looking forward to seeing you," he said in a grim tone. "And Mother, thank you for your confidence in me."
Ayise and the other Elder Gods are going to thrash me over it, but it was long ago decided that in this particular area, my word is absolute. I accepted responsibility for this, and it also allows me to act with absolute authority. Not even my parents can gainsay my decisions. So don't worry about Ayise or Shellar coming along behind me and unmaking my decision for me, kitten.
"Thank you," he said again. He felt much calmer now. He needed to think about what had to be done, and the need to destroy that army would change his plan around a little bit, but everything was still more than workable.
He was glad they were going to help, but he didn't need it. He had been deadly serious when he threatened to destroy the world. He would do it to get Jasana back. He would sacrfice anything to recover his daughter, his precious child, and nothing was going to stop him from his goal of her safe return.
She was all that mattered.
It took him a while for him to open his eyes.
The room was silent, empty, and he could tell that Mist, Jesmind, Allia, and Eron remained in the room. Talon's scent was also present, and he heard his son giggling slightly, along with the inu 's throaty growls. He did open his eyes and turn his head towards that sound, seeing the inu playing with the Were-cat child, nuzzling him on the belly with a foot holding him down while the boy laughed. The inu was tickling him!
"Tarrin!" Jesmind said quickly, standing up from the couch in which she'd been fidgeting.
Tarrin pushed himself to his feet without ceremony, looking down at them. He knew what was coming, and he knew it wasn't going to be easy on any of them.
What was coming was a war, a war of a magnitude not seen since the Blood War. Val's endless hordes of Goblinoids and his force of Demons had to be stopped, no matter what happened with the Firestaff. But their presence was going to interfere with his own plan, and it meant that he was going to have to make certain arrangements with those who made the plans.
Maybe it was good that Val and the armies were at Gora Umadar. That way, the battle wasn't going to threaten any cities or centers of population. That barren tundra was uninhabited by men, not even by the small tribes of barbarians that were common in the empty lands north of Ungardt.
He took Jesmind's paw, then allowed her to embrace him. He put a paw on her shoulder and took in her scent, but inside there was too much turmoil for his love for her to establish itself.
"Did, did you find anything?" she asked, looking pleadingly up into his eyes, a look that said to him that even if it was a lie, she wanted to hear good news.
"I know where she is," he told his mate. "It's going to be… difficult to get her out. But it is possible. I'm going to need help to do it."
"Then you will get it," Allia said quickly and sincerely, clicking her tongue a few times. Talon disengaged from the Were-cat child and stalked over to her, lowering her head.
"You're going to help me a different way, Allia," he said. "The only one I'll need to help me recover her directly is Jesmind."
She looked up at him with shimmering eyes. "What can I do to help?"
"Go with me," he told her. "When the time comes to get Jasana and get away, I'm going to need you. Nobody else can do it but you."
"I'll do anything to get my daughter back," she told him sincerely.
Tarrin was silently glad to hear that. When the time came, her declaration was going to be sorely put to the test.
He put his arms around her and then explained what he'd seen, and revealed some certain exhchanges he'd made with Spyder. "Val is summoning up an army of Demons," he concluded. "We're going to have to put a stop to that. The Goddess has already started assembling an army to face them, and she'll need help from the rest of us, and she'll need all of us when the time comes to start fighting."
"What will I do with Eron?" Mist asked in worry.
"I don't expect you to fight, Mist," he told her. "Your cub is still too young, and I want you to stay with Kimmie. She's going to push herself too far with her magic if someone doesn't stay with her and reign her in, and that may harm the baby. So you have two children again."
"I don't find that idea to be totally repugnant," she said with a slight smile. "I know Kimmie, and she won't disobey me. I'll keep her on a short leash for you."
"Is Triana here yet? How long was I out?"
"Nearly an hour," Allia answered.
Tarrin brooded about that. It certainly didn't seem like an hour. Then again, time seemed to work a little differently within the Weave. It was not as absolute there it was in reality, moving at the same pace everywhere. In some places it moved swiftly, in some places ponderously. He guessed he must have crossed a boundary into an area where time marched quickly, making a substantial chunk of time in reality seem like only a moment to him there.
"If I've been out that long, then Kerri and the others have to be back by now," he said. "And Spyder and Shiika may be here too."
"Shiika? Why would that Demon be coming here?" Jesmind asked.
"Because we're going to need her," Tarrin replied.
"Is it wise to ally with a Demon against its own kind?" Mist asked.
"Shiika is a dependable ally," Allia told her calmly.
"If there's one thing you can absolutely depend on about Shiika," Tarrin elaboratted, "it's that she'll do whatever it takes to keep her position of power and luxury, and do anything it takes from being banished from Sennadar and sent back to the Abyss. Val's army threatens her luxurious lifestyle, and his Demons are a direct threat to her status. She'll fight on our side because we represent a better lifestyle for her if we win." Tarrin snorted. "Shiika probably hates the other Demons even more than we do," he added absently. "Because she's so different from them."
"How so?"
"Shiika doesn't have the same mentality as other Demons," he answered. "If there was ever such a thing as a nice Demon, Shiika is the closest thing you'll ever find to it. She's rather nasty, and she is a Demon, but she lacks that fundamental sense of evil that infects the rest of her kind. She's not a good or kind woman, but she's not like the others either, actually unlike just about any other Demon. If they ever noticed it, they'd probably destroy her."
"So between the two extremes, she falls somewhere in the middle," Mist surmised.
"That's a pretty good way to look at it," he agreed. "She's a dangeous woman and I don't entirely trust her, but I do trust her when her interests happen to coincide with mine. As long as we're working towards the same goal, she can be a loyal and very powerful ally. It's when those goals start drifting apart that you have to start watching her, because she'll step on your head to advance her own cause."
"Tarrin, you know some of the most unusual people," Mist laughed. "A Demon, a dragon, and everything in between."
"Normal people are boring," he replied with no humor.
"I think I'd like to meet this Demon," Mist said.
"You'll get your chance," he answered, pushing Jesmind out from him a little. "I'll warn you now, though, they smell worse than anything you could ever imagine. I've built up something or a resistance to it." He looked to his mate. "I want you to stay here," he told her. "And when Jula gets here and as soon as I track down Kimmie, I'm sending them up here too. I want all of you together, so you can protect each other in case they try this again."
"I'll do it for now," she said. "But don't make me stay here too long."
"We won't be here very long, Jesmind," he told her. "As soon as I tell Jenna what I'm going to need from them, we'll be on our way."
"Where are we going?"
"North," he said. "And we'll be travelling a long time. We have to go quite a distance."
"Why not just fly us there, like you did when we came to Suld?"
He shook his head. "This time, I want to go slow," he told her. "I have to arrive at our destination on a very specific day. If I'm too early or too late, the plan will fail. It's important, Jesmind. So if I slow us down or speed us up on the road, I don't want you to argue. Alright?"
"If we have to be there on this specific day, why not wait here and just magic ourselves there?"
"I don't want to be where people can find me," he told her. "I need to be travelling, on the road. I need to be looking like I'm on the way, not lounging around here looking like I'm planning something sneaky. Do you understand?"
"I, no, but I'll trust you," she said uncertainly, then she gave him a wan smile.
"I trust you, but I would like to know why it's so important," Mist said.
He looked at her. "Val wants the Firestaff, that much you should know," he told her. "But the Firestaff can only be used at a particular time on a particular day every five thousand years. We absolutely have to be there on that day, not a day sooner or a day later, because the immediacy of the situation will make Val desperate enough to give me the chance to get Jasana and get her out of there alive. You know that he'll have no intention of letting any of us leave him alive. I have to have a powerful bargaining chip when I do come for her, or else he won't do what we need him to do to get Jasana back alive. That chip is going to be the fact that if he doesn't do as I demand, he'll have to wait another five thousand years before he'll be freed. He knows that not even he can take the Firestaff away from me, Mist. It's locked in the elsewhere in my amulet, and any attempt to take it by force will cause it to be sealed up there forever, out of reach of everyone and everything. I have to give it to him, and that will give us the opportunity we need to get Jasana back."
Mist turned it over in her mind, and then nodded. "That's clever," she complemented.
"It's just luck that circumstances fell as they did," he snorted. "If Mother had never given me this amulet, and the amulet's magic wouldn't actively defend itself from attempts to defeat it or get the amulet away from me, I'd have no way to get Jasana back."
"Perhaps what you call luck someone else calls a plan," Mist told him, which made him start. She had a point, but to hear Mist talking like that was very odd. He'd never thought that she had much of a mind. Then again, he made the same mistake about her that so many others made about him. They saw nothing but his outwardly violent personality, thinking that someone who acted so brutish could not possibly also be rather intelligent.
"Maybe," he admitted.
"Did I ever tell you about when your Goddess visited us?" she asked, reaching under her shirt and pulling out a black shaeram. "She gave me and Eron these amulets."
Tarrin was a bit surprised. "No, she never told me, and neither did anyone else," he said honestly. He suddenly felt a little foolish. He'd seen the one Eron wore many times, but it had never crossed his mind as to where and how he got it. He'd been human then and had no memory, and it didn't seem odd to him at the time that Eron had one. Everyone seemed to have one, even him. But he had no excuse for not sensing the amulets after he regained his memory and his Were stature. In all the confusion and worry about what happened to him and his need to get out of the Tower quickly, he guessed he had never had the mind to realize what he was feeling from Eron's amulet. Then again, with all the background magic in the Tower, sometimes it was hard to sense things unless he was actively concentrating on it, or it was very, very close to him.
Accepting it as merely one of the many things that went on without his knowledge, Tarrin recalled his pack from the elsewhere, taking it off and setting it on the ground, then kneeling before it and rooting through it absently. He'd almost forgotten about what was inside it, and he had the feeling that it would be vitally useful. If Val was going to summon Demons, magical juggernauts and powerhouses of destruction, then it was only fair that their side call up similarly dreadful assets to challenge them.
Val had his Demons. Tarrin had dragons.
He pulled a small crystal bell, plain and unadorned, but the crystalline object almost pulsed with magic under his fingers. It was an object that Sapphire had made to allow him to contact her if he had an emergency. Well, this was an emergency.
Holding it by its top, he used a claw to sound the bell. It made a sweet, clear ring, a ring that reverberated in the air and seemed to increase in both its volume and the choral harmonics it emanated steadily. Then it suddenly stopped.
"What is that, Papa?" Eron asked, slinking forward to look at the small object.
"A means to call a friend," he answered, feeling the Wizard magic in the bell flare into life, feel it reaching across a vast distance, searching for something… searching… and then it found it.
"What is it, my little one?" Sapphire's voice called through the bell, replacing its crystal chime.
"Sapphire, I need your help," he said immediately. "In fact, we may need the help of every dragon you can find."
"What is so serious as to need that?" she asked.
"Val has raised an army of Goblinoids and Demons, my friend," he told her. "An army large enough to conquer everything on this side of the Desert of Swirling Sands." He blew out his breath. "And they've kidnapped Jasana."
"WHAT?" she demanded hotly.
"Demons working for Val attacked the Tower and took Jasana," he told her. "They've done it to force me to give them the Firestaff."
"We will see about that!" her voice was hot, almost infuriated. There was a long pause. "It is an attack on clan, Cyrus! Clan comes first! Tarrin, where are you now?"
"We're in the Tower. Our Goddess is organizing a massing of forces to face Val's army, but I'll be leaving soon to recover my daughter before the fighting makes it impossible for me to get to her."
"Where in the Tower?"
That question took him a little aback. "We're in a guest apartment," he replied. "Jesmind's was destroyed in the attack."
"What level? Which side?"
A little confused, he looked at the others. He honestly didn't know the answers to those questions. "Where are we?" he asked them.
"Ninth level, north side," Allia answered.
He repeated that to Sapphire dutifully. "Alright. Put the bell down, my little one, and back away from it. I'm coming right now."
Not sure what was going to happen, Tarrin put the bell on the floor and backed away from it. Mist grabbed Eron by the tail and dragged the curious cub away as they did the same, giving the little crystal bell a very wide berth. Jesmind looked at him in confusion, but he could only shrug and look at the bell. He had no idea what was going to happen either.
There was no sense of magical buildup, no hint or sign that it was coming. One second, she wasn't there, the next she was, standing over the little bell in her human form in a lovely violet brocade gown, a look of tightly controlled fury burning on her face. She looked around, then her eyes locked on the Were-cats. Eron scrambled behind Mist, seeking protection behind her legs, looking up at the angry dragon in fear and curiosity both.
"I thought you said you never felt a need to go faster than your wings could carry you," Tarrin noted.
"This is not the time for play!" she said in a brusque manner. "Where are Jenna and Triana? They swore to me that this place was safe! I will take them to task about their failure in a very severe manner!"
"This isn't the time to be throwing accusations, Sapphire," he said grimly. "They used Demons, and they had a very good plan. Even if Jenna knew that they were coming, I doubt she could have stopped them."
"Demons do not plan," she said in a frosty tone.
" Marilith do," he countered. "A marilith led the attack."
That brought Sapphire up short. "Perhaps," she admitted.
"Me and this particular marlith have something of a history," Tarrin said grimly, flexing his claws, the image of that six-armed Demoness cutting Eron's throat forever burned into his mind. "A history I mean to end at my earliest convenience."
"Where is Triana?"
"She was in Ungardt," he told her. "She's making her way back here as we speak. She was checking on Kerri and the others to make sure they were safe. The Demons made sure to attack when Triana was gone, but that turned out to be a good thing. Another group of Demons attacked them in Ungardt, trying to kidnap Jula. But Triana was there to help drive them off before they could get her."
Sapphire frowned, and then she looked at Mist and Eron. "I see you are safe," she told them. "Is Kimmie safe?"
"She's safe," Mist replied calmly. "She was with Phandebrass when the attack happened, and they had went out to do battle with the Demons on the grounds. They joined up with Allia out there, so I was told. Her and this strange new pet of hers," she said, looking at the inu standing beside Allia, seemingly unconcerned about this strange new visitor.
"Those Demons were but a diversion," Allia growled. "The six-armed one had snuck into the Tower using magic to disguise herself and assaulted Jasana in their apartment."
"She had Jegojah's sword," he told Allia in an emotionless tone. "I thought they buried it with him.":
"They did, but everyone knew where he was put to rest," Allia answered. "I do not think the Priests of Karas could have stopped the Demon from taking it from his crypt, even if they knew she was there."
"Where was he buried?" Sapphire asked.
"In the Cathedral of Karas," Allia answered. "They did not know who his patron god was, so the Priests decided to bury him on the hallowed ground of Karas. It was the least they could do for him. Jegojah has already become something of a legend in Suld, because of what he did during the battle. Someone told someone that leaked it out to the world that Jegojah was a Revenant, and quite a story has developed around him. He has become a hero."
Sapphire blew out her breath. "We waste time here," she said. "Take me to Jenna, little one. I mean to scold her, then we will see about destroying this army and getting your daughter back."
For some reason, hearing her say that made him feel immensely better. Sapphire was a dragon, and she had immense, awesome power. Dragons were the most powerful beings on Sennadar. Just one of them was enough to give an army of humans nightmares. If Sapphire brought her clan and they fought against Val, then Val's army was going to have a very formidable enemy to face. "I can't tell you how relieved I am that you're going to help us, my friend," he told her sincerely.
"You may have more than me and my brood. I have called for Kriss'thass," she said.
That made Tarrin rock back on his heels. Sapphire had taught him some of the dragon language, and that was a word he understood. That was a term that meant Council of Wisdom, and it meant that Sapphire had summoned the dragons that represented the ruling body of their race to come and debate an issue of dire importance.
"If Val is raising an army of Demons, then it is an issue that concerns us all," she said simply, seeing Tarrin's horrified expression. "I was not alive for it, but I was told that during the Blood War, the dragons held themselves aloof from the troubles of the little races, wrapped in an aire of their own superiority. The devastation the Demons wrought before they finally came to their senses and fought with the little races caused famine among our kind and taught us a harsh lesson," she told him bluntly. "When we ignore the plight of the weaker races, when we believe our own power makes us as gods ourselves, inviolate and omnipotent, we doom ourselves to a fool's end. The Blood War taught us that the happenings and problems of the little races can affect us. This time, the dragons will not sit on their haunches and believe that the fate of the little races is not our concern. If Val is fielding an army of Demons, he will find dragons facing him across the line."
Mist laughed nervously. "I'm pretty sure that'd be a sight enough to make even a Demon wet his pants," she said, looking at Sapphire.
"We can harm Demons," Sapphire said with a terrible kind of eagerness. "Our power may be of the land, but not even a Demon's invulnerability can withstand it. We know how to get around that."
"Triana must have figured it out as well," Tarrin said. "Jenna told me that Triana's magic was what drove the Demons away when they attacked Jula in Ungardt."
"It can be done," she nodded confidently. "It speaks much of Triana's power if she is capable of it. To do it, one must take native Druidic magic and make it unnatural, and you know that the demands on the Druid rise exponentially when he reaches outside of the bounds of the natural order." Tarrin nodded emphatically, remembering the many lessons Sarraya and Triana had taught him about that. Druidic magic could do anything, but as soon as one tried to use it in a way that wasn't natural or existed beyond the bounds of nature's workings, the toll it took on the Druid raised drastically. If Triana could twist it into an unnatural form of magic, then she had to possess awesome power. "When this is over, she and I must meet and teach one another," she said. "I have the feeling she can teach me things even I do not know, and I have much to teach to her. I think she is capable of much of what dragons can do with Druidic magic."
She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, looking up at him. "Now, time is wasting, little friend. Take me to Jenna. Let us get her scolding out of the way, so we can move on to the important matter. Getting my little one's daughter back."
He gave her a sincere, honest, and emotionally charged look of utter relief and hope. If Sapphire was going to help, then his chances to recover Jasana alive just went up significantly.
"Wait here," Tarrin told the females. "When Triana gets here, send her to Jenna's office."
"We'll be here," Jesmind nodded.
Tarrin led Sapphire through the halls of the Tower, and the dark looks on the two of them caused every other person that happened across them to get very far out of the way. Tarrin had no patience for anoyone who got in his way, and Sapphire's expression was as dark and ominous as a thundercloud. Everyone in the Tower, from the lowest servant to the Keeper herself, knew that the dark-haired woman with the chilling eyes was actually a dragon, and they all gave her a very wide berth. That cushion of safe area increased greatly when they saw how angry she was.
But not everyone respected that cushion. When they turned a corner, he saw Kimmie and Phandebrass moving in their direction. Kimmie gave out a low cry and ran towards him, then literally jumped up into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry!" she said in a weepy voice. "If I'd have known, if I'd just had more patience and stayed inside, maybe-"
"No, Kimmie," he told her gently. "It's best you did what you did, and you probably saved lives out there on the grounds. I don't blame you."
"But Jasana-"
"She won't be there long," he said in a dangerous voice, looking down into her eyes.
She sniffled, her luminous blue eyes shining with unshed tears. "Anything you need, my love," she said with all her heart. "Anything you need, and it's yours. If we don't have it, we'll take it from whoever does."
Tarrin actually laughed. "Don't get savage on me now, Kimmie," he told her. "It doesn't suit you."
"I can't help it. With my own child under my heart, I know exactly how you feel. I'd take the world apart stone by stone if someone threatened our baby."
"I say, that's no lie there," Phandebrass said as he reached them. "You should have seen her out on the grounds, Tarrin, you should. I say, I've never seen her so, aggressive with her magic before. I didn't know she knew half of those spells, I didn't!"
"She's a mother defending her children, biped," Sapphire said bluntly. "You males fail to appreciate how dangerous that can make a female."
"I fully understand it, madam," he said with a bow, "but to see it in my gentle, sweet little apprentice, it was a surprise, it was." He scratched his face, now starting to show signs he was growing a white beard. "I say, if you're off to help plan a rescue mission, count me in, lad. We can't let something like this go, we can't. It's time we put our foot down. Hard."
Hearing the usually easy-going and addled Phandebrass say something like that was a shock. He rarely showed any signs of actual aggression, and he didn't show signs of such focus very often. He was usually quite happy with talking his enemies to death. He rarely fought, but when he did, Tarrin realized as he thought back to the serveral battles they'd fought together, he used his magic wisely, efficiently, and to devastating effect. He showed signs of irreverence during minor skirmishes, but when it was a serious fight, he rose to the challenge, showing an almost inhuman coolness in the face of anything that faced him. Phandebrass seemed scattered, but when he focused his mind, he was a dangerous adversary. And he seemed focused right now.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you, Phandebrass," Sapphire told him.
"As you say, madam dragon, clan is all," the Wizard replied soberly. "I say, I may be no relation, but I'm rather fond of the lad, and I'm truly fond of his daughter, I am. They've been very good to me, and I say, I've not had such good company and such opportunities to learn in all my life, I've not. I take personal offense at them lowering themselves to such a dastardly trick, I do. I say, it's fair time we took the ki'zadun over our knee and spanked them with a spiked bat."
"I couldn't agree more," Sapphire nodded.
"Kimmie, I want you to go wait with Jesmind and Mist," he told her.
"Keeping us all together, hmm?" she said with a smile.
"Exactly that," he answered. "Sapphire wants to talk to Jenna, and there are some things I have to do before I can leave."
"Where are you going?"
"After Jasana," he answered.
"I say, let me pack up then," Phandebrass said.
"No, I'm going alone," he told the Wizard. "But you'll need to pack up anyway. They'll explain it all as soon as Spyder gets here."
"Spyder? She's going to help you?"
"No, she's going to help you," he told her. "You'll find out what's going on later, Kimmie. We don't have time to explain it right now."
"Alright," she said trustingly, letting go of him. "I take it I'll have to follow your scent trail back?"
He nodded.
"Alright then. I'll see you later, and we'll talk," she told him, pulling his head down and giving him a kiss.
"I say, I think I'll tag along with Kimmie," Phandebrass said. "I'll be a fifth wheel in a room full of Were-cats, but with me there, nothing's going to sneak up on them, it won't."
"I appreciate that, Phandebrass," Tarrin said sincerely, nodding to the human. "But before you go, I need a favor."
"Just ask."
"How good are you at astronomy?"
"Astronomy? I say, I'm no expert, but I do know a bit about it. What do you need?"
"On Gods' Day, the four moons are going to form a conjunction," he told him in dreadful intensity. "I need you to find out exactly when that's going to happen. Use a clock and find out to right down to the second. Down to the second, Phandebrass."
He gave him an unblinking stare, then nodded. "I'll draw you up a chart," he promised. "It will be ready by supper, it will. You have my word on it."
"Thank you."
"All you need do is ask, lad. All you need do is ask. Now if you'll excuse me, your pretty girlfriend is going to leave me behind, she is."
They left them behind, then quickly made their way towards Jenna's office. Tarrin paused to turn and look back, watching Kimmie hurry back the way he had come. Kimmie was looking well, and he was glad of that. He hated the idea of leaving her behind, but there was no help for it. He wasn't about to endanger another of his children. If he hadn't been so angry and so driven by his need to rescue Jasana, he would have paid her the attention she deserved. Ever since he'd some back to the Tower, she'd been pushed more and more to the fringes by Jesmind, and Tarrin felt sorry for her because of that. Jesmind seemed perfectly capable of being friends with Kimmie and dealing with her amiably about Tarrin as long as he wasn't around. But as soon as he did come around, she got defensive and possessive, and he knew her behavior was an attempt to push Kimmie out of competition for his affection. He remembered Jesmind's heated declaration when he'd argued with her back when he was a human, and it opened his eyes a great deal about her behavior. As long as she was the only one he loved, she had no qualms about allowing him to stray. But now that she knew that he loved Kimmie, she was worried that he may find more happiness with Kimmie than with her. And Jesmind, being who she was, was responding by trying to drive away her competitor.
Jesmind was jealous, and he probably couldn't blame her. He loved Jesmind with all his heart, but he also loved Kimmie. There were no depths or levels of love to him; love was love. What Jesmind didn't seem to understand was that both he and Kimmie knew that right now, he belonged with Jesmind. He had promised he would come back to her, and he would keep that promise. They were still mates, in his mind as well as hers, and only time and the process of their instincts driving them apart was going to change that. She had probably been a little hurt by what happened as well, feeling that she wasn't woman enough to be everything he needed, or feeling betrayed that he would fall in love with Kimmie when he was already in love with her, or probably both. And now with Jasana gone-he sighed. He needed to pay her some very special attention. With everything happening, she needed some reassurance.
Tarrin watched Kimmie walk away with hooded eyes, taking in the sight of her. Even from behind, her expanding waistline was starting to become apparent, but she was still one fine figure of a Were-cat female. If she only knew, but there was no way he could tell her. Then he turned and followed Sapphire.
Jenna's scolding was brief, but it was also intense and thorough.
Sapphire blasted into her, venting her anger and her displeasure in a very effective manner, blistering Jenna's ears with heated tirades of her lack of responsibility and her inattentivess, then drifting into outbursts of obscenity so vile that it even made Tarrin's ears cringe to hear them, things he wouldn't even say. Not satisfied with the colorful expressions available in Sulasian, her black vituperations extended into several languages. From Arakite to Sharadi, Torian drawl to a flowery language he'd never heard before, she ranged through all the worst available foul language present in those languages, sizzling the pale Jenna's ears. Then, as if to crown it off, she started raging at the girl in the language of dragons. She had never taught him any of the obsceneties, and that was probably why he barely understand a quarter of the words that came off of her lips. Jenna stood stock still and pale as the dragon bored into her with her remonstrances for allowing Jasana to be taken off the grounds. The Keeper stood there like a meek little girl who had just been caught with her hand in the pasty dish, taking the dragon's hot lecturing with a bowed head and a pale face.
There was silence for several moments after Sapphire seemed to play herself out, looking at Jenna with those ominous eyes and panting from the exertion of such an outburst, as Jenna simply stood there with her hands folded in front of her, looking as contrite and vulnerable as she could possibly look. It was a trick Jenna used to devastating effect against her father, and it had allowed her to weasel out of a great deal of punishment when she was a little girl.
A devious nature was something of a family trait on the female side of Tarrin's family line.
But Sapphire had the same mettle as their mother, and Elke Kael had been immune to her daughter's suffering and simpering posturings. She glowered at Jenna for a moment as she recovered from her tirade, then she sighed and looked to Tarrin. "I feel much better now," she admitted.
"I don't think Jenna agrees with you," he said absently.
"You're right," she said in a weak voice.
"I would not have been able to focus on the matter at hand if I hadn't gotten that out of my system," she said conversationally.
"Has Spyder contacted you, Jenna?" he asked.
"She did. She said she's coming, and we have something serious to talk about. You have any idea what she means?"
"Yes. We're about to stop a second Blood War, Jenna," he said grimly. "Before it has a chance to get out of control."
"What?" she asked woodenly.
"The same people who attacked the Tower aren't done yet, sister. They've rebuilt their army, they have Val raising an army of Demons to aid them, and Spyder herself is going to put a hand in to stop it. So are all the gods, both Elder and Younger. This is going to be a direct confrontation, Jenna," he said with unwavering eyes. "If we don't stop this here and now, it's going to be the Blood War all over again."
"I can understand why she's so upset," Jenna said, putting a hand to her stomach. "But what does this have to do with Jasana?"
"She's being held in the middle of that army," he said emotionlessly. "That's going to make getting her out a bit tricky."
"I can tell you have a plan, little one. What is it?" Sapphire asked.
Tarrin sat down in the chair in front of Jenna's desk. Jenna sat in her own, and Sapphire in the one beside his. He Conjured up a small map of the area of Gora Umadar, which consisted of little more than a square surrounded by a large circle. But it geographically correct and to scale, since it was a Conjured creation. "This is Gora Umadar," he told them.
Jenna whistled. "They're holding Jasana there?"
He nodded. "It's a big pyramid built on the tundra," he told Sapphire. "Spyder told me about it. Val's icon is in the pyramid, and that's where the Demon took Jasana. I can get her out, but it won't be easy." He traced a finger around the circle. "This line is where all the snow is melted," he told them. "They must be using some kind of magic to keep the area warm, because they've got a few hundred thousand Goblinoid and human soldiers surrounding the pyramid."
Jenna frowned. "That must be where all the survivors from the battle here went."
"As well as their armies from probably every stronghold they have here in the West," he added. "I went to the place where they had Jegojah's Soultrap, and the place is completely empty."
"Where is that?" Sapphire asked.
"A castle overlooking the Petal Lakes," he answered.
"Castle Keening," Jenna told them. "Sitting on the road leading out of the Iron Pass."
"Well, it's empty now, and I'll bet Val's recalled all his troops that were within marching distance to Gora Umadar. Val's also been raising Demons by the hundreds to add to his army, and that's what Spyder and the gods are getting involved to stop. You know that all of this is about the Firestaff," he told her.
She nodded. "They took Jasana to make you give it to them," she said.
"I'm going to use that to get her back," he said. "The Firestaff only works on day every five thousand years, and I'm going to make sure I get to Gora Umadar on that day. The immediacy of the situation is going to give me a bargaining chip. It's the only time I think I could get that close to Val and face him directly."
"Why is that so important?"
"Because I want his attention on me," he told her. "I'm taking Jesmind with me. While I'm holding Val's attention, Jesmind is going to get out of there with Jasana. Only after they're clear will I pretend to be willing to give him the Firestaff, and that's where you're going to come in."
"Us? How?"
"At that moment, I'm going to need a huge distraction," he said dryly. "I think something along the lines of a powerful army arriving to do battle with Val's forces will qualify. With a little luck, I can escape in the chaos. Val has turned Gora Umadar into a void, but I know I can do other kinds of magic. I'm going to have Triana teach me some way to escape from Gora Umadar with a Druidic spell. That way, after Jesmind gets Jasana out of there, I can get out myself."
"Why not just go alone and use the same trick to kidnap Jasana back?"
"Because me being in the pyramid is going to distract them," he told her plainly. "You're going to need that kind of a distraction, sister. Val is a god. Don't forget that. If he catches you before you can get a chance to set up, he'll slaughter your army. But if all his attention is on me, you have a chance to get there and set up before he can respond."
"Besides, little one, I doubt that they would let Tarrin get that close to his daughter," Sapphire added. "They know he is a powerful magician. They will take no chances that he has a little surprise. And Val would be a fool to allow Jasana to leave without Tarrin remaining behind, so he must have someone with him to help him. But why Jesmind? Kimmie or Triana would be better."
"Jesmind is Jasana's mother," he said. "She will obey Jesmind without question. She won't even do that for Triana. And at that point, Jasana doing exactly what she's told could mean the difference between life and death."
"You have a point," Sapphire acceded.
"The only sticking point I have right now is how to get them out once they get out of the pyramid," he admitted. "There's going to be a hostile army between them and freedom, and they'll attack as soon as Jesmind comes out."
"I can take care of that, little one," Sapphire said. "Sandwing is very young, and his youth gives him both speed and brashness. And he a very small dragon yet, so he won't be so large as to cause any undue trouble."
"One of yours?"
"My youngest," she nodded. "The one that took so long to get word to me. He is as small to me as a baby is to you." Tarrin considered that, realizing that Sandwing was probably only about a hundred spans long, where Sapphire was five hundred. A much smaller, sleeker, and probably faster and more agile dragon, but still a dragon. Something not even the most fanatical Troll would dare to cross.
"That will work," he nodded to her. "The timing is going to have to be perfect, and your child may have to think on his feet, but it can work."
"Sandwing is a very clever dragon," she told him confidently. "He will do fine."
"Well, that takes care of the only real hole I had," he said.
"What's the rest of the plan?" Jenna asked.
He got up and started to pace. "Timing is going to be everything in this," he told them. "I asked Phandebrass to draw me up a chart so I'll know exactly when the conjunction happens. I have to get there before that happens, but not so late that it does happen while I'm there. I want Val watching the clock every second, desperate to get the Firestaff from me before the conjunction occurs. That's going to be the only window where I'll be able to extort demands out of him. With me right there and the Firestaff within his grasp, I'm confident he'll let Jesmind and Jasana leave as long as I stay behind. That's what matters. After they're out of danger, then I'll get out of there. Val and the others know I can do other forms of magic, but they don't know how strong I am with Druidic magic. With the void, I'm fairly certain they'll assume that they're preventing me from escaping using magic. I want that to be a nasty shock for them," he said with a grim smile.
"It is a plan with possibilities, little one, but it has a fatal flaw."
"The tundra," he nodded. "I know. There's nowhere to hide out there, and no way an army can approach without being spotted days before they arrive. That is where I'm hoping that Mother can help. She said the gods themselves were going to directly involve themselves in this. I think the best thing that they could do is use their power to transport the army right onto the battlefield. Their sudden appearance should create a nasty shock in our enemies, and if they're set up for attack before they leave, they can literally throw themselves at the enemy army before they so much as get out of their tents." He gave a dry, hollow chuckle. "If the Sha'Kar can Teleport several hundred people, I think the Elder Gods can Teleport an army."
"You are correct," the voice of the Goddess sounded from thin air, and then her animated icon appeared behind Jenna's chair. With her was the black-cloaked Spyder, and the two of them looked the unusual pair. Jenna immediately got up and offered the Goddess her chair, the chair of the ruler of the Tower, and she accepted it with a warm smile and a pat on Jenna's cheek, seating herself with Jenna standing to the left of her chair and Spyder to her right.
"Divine One," Sapphire said, standing up and giving her a surprisingly graceful curtsy.
"I'm not much one for ceremony, Sapphire," she smiled. "And call me Mother. It pleases me."
"As you wish, Mother," she said with an eloquent nod.
"That's a fairly cunning idea you have, kitten," she continued with a light smile. "It certainly would have a good effect for our side. The sudden appearance of the army and the sense of presence the Elder Gods would have over them will definitely get Val's attention, and that will give you the chance you need to escape. Let's not forget the element of surprise that will give us an immediate advantage. And I find that the rest of your plan has merit, kitten. It relies a little too much on luck, but for you, it's a remarkably well thought-out plan."
Tarrin flushed slightly.
"I know, it's a very tricky problem, and sometimes problems like that require a little unconventional thinking. The idea to transport an army right onto the battlefield is clever, my kitten. You've just revolutionized warfare. It's the ultimate surprise attack!"
"And it lets us amass our army wherever we wish," Sapphire added. "Suld may not be the right place for it. There are too many eyes here."
"There's no need to mass the army anywhere," the Goddess told the dragon. "If we do what Tarrin suggests, we can assemble elements of it wherever they may be, then bring them all together right before we move them to the battlefield. That way the disappearances of entire armies don't raise any suspicions, we don't strip any friendly kingdoms of all its protection while we're borrowing their armies, and we can get them all assembled and set up before we transport them to Gora Umadar. All we need to do is assemble the command staff in one place and let them work out the battle strategy. The common soldier rarely knows the full plan anyway. He merely goes in the direction his officers lead him."
"The best place for that would be Abrodar," Spyder finally said. "It is the one place where Val's eyes cannot reach. As Sapphire said, there are too many unfriendly eyes in Suld."
"Agreed," the Goddess said with a nod. Then she looked to Sapphire. "I heard you've called council," she said. "How many dragons do you think will help?"
"You will have all nine of my clan and every blue in my territory," she said immediately. "When I call them to war, they must obey, as is custom. That is some seventy blue dragons. The golds, silvers, diamonds, and sapphires will heed such a call to arms against Demons, and I'm fairly sure we can get a good number of the bronzes, greens, emeralds, topazes, and blacks, but I'm not sure how many of the others will agree. The reds will probably be the hardest to sway. Them and the coppers. Both are very selfish breeds. And you know how much we will have to argue with the steels to get them to agree. Sometimes they fight just for the sake of fighting."
Seventy blue dragons. Just the image of seeing seventy of those massive creatures in the sky would be enough to strike utter terror in the heart of any mere mortal that happened to witness such an event.
Standing up, Tarrin gave the Jenna a steady look. "None of this really concerns me, and I have other things to do," he announced. "Jenna, I'm going to be asking you to Teleport me to Ungardt as soon as I get everything done."
"Why Ungardt? And why leave?"
"It's the easiest route to Gora Umadar, and right now I don't want to be found," he answered. "If they can't find me, they can't deliver any ransom demands that put me in a hopeless situation. So long as I'm out of their reach, they have to keep Jasana alive. And that's what matters."
"Good point," she agreed after a moment of thought.
The Goddess looked at him, and he felt her reach into his mind. It was a gentle touch, almost comforting, but he wasn't sure what she found. He couldn't sense what she was doing, only that she did it. Whatever she found, though, caused her to smile.
He left them without another word and sought sanctuary in the one place where he could find peace, and that was the courtyard. The statue of the Goddess was missing from the merrily bubbling fountain, but the sense of peace, of welcome, that had always been a part of the courtyard remained. It was that sense of peace that made him seek this place out, to calm the turmoil of his mind. He sat on the lush grass near the fountain and closed his eyes, drawing up into a cross-legged meditative posture, closing his eyes and trying to calm his mind and his emotions. He needed to do it, because he could feel the All starting to take an interest in him. It seemed almost alive, the All, attracted by the noise that an upset Druid could cause, almost as if it were curious to find out what had upset the Druid so. It only seemed to be attracted to the stronger Druids, those with a more intimate connection to it, the ones that could make the most noise. Regardless of why it was attracted, he could feel it creeping towards him, the first of the signs Triana had trained him to detect. That feeling of swelling in the All, as if it were building up around him. That was what it felt like when the All was starting to build itself up to reaching out and making a connection with a Druid of its own volition, and his meditative attempts to calm himself caused it to lose interest in him, made that swelling in the All subside.
There was plenty to cause him turmoil. His daughter was the core of it, that much was given. Jasana's abduction was like a knife twisting inside him, an intense pain that he never thought was possible. His mind was consumed with fear and worry over the safety and well being of his daughter, the kind of reaction that only a parent could have for a child. It was all he could do to try to think through that worry, that fear, to maintain his focus and keep his mind on the task of retrieving her safely. It was not going to be easy, and that meant that he had to push that to the side. Like he told Jesmind, they could fall to pieces after she was safe. After he rescued her, he'd let all his pent-up emotions go, finally give them release. But until then, they were only a liability, and as dangerous as this was going to be, he couldn't afford any distractions.
That was only one of the problems facing him. He was very concerned for his sisters and friends, because what was coming would be much worse than what happened at Suld. This time it would be a pitched battle on open terrain, where there would be no fortifcations, no defensive fallbacks. Only army against army, where the one with superior numbers, magical firepower, and leadership was going to prevail. the Sorcerers, Wizards, Priests, and dragons and other magical creatures were going to be countered by the ki'zadun's black Wizards and Priests, the Fae-da'kii that had survived the battle at Suld, and the Demons. The humans, Selani, and Wikuni would be faced by humans and Goblinoids. Unless the Goddess did some serious recruiting, they were going to be severely outnumbered, and that really worried him. In a battle like that, the safety of his friends and sisters was very much in doubt. Even Allia would tire, and after battling for hours, even she would make a mistake that may get her killed. He was very worried that he was going to lose a sister or dear friend in this coming war, because more than ever before, the chances of that not happening had never been so against them.
And even if they prevailed, even if they destroyed Val's army, Val would still be there. He was a god, invincible, unstoppable, and he would only retreat to Zakkar, the ancient base of his power, and assemble another army. He would keep coming back, and coming back, and coming back, because nobody could stop him. Not even the gods themselves were willing to confront Val, to eliminate him and the danger he posed to the world once and for all, and it was all because they were afraid. That seemed unbelievable to him, but it was true. Despite all their vast power, despite the absolute need to get rid of Val, they were afraid to face him. Afraid of what damage it may do, and what he understood with sudden clarity, afraid of the losses they may suffer to themselves. They were afraid to be diminished, even if it meant that Val would rampage across the land with absolute impugnity as they did nothing but wring their hands and fret over it. Spyder said that the gods called him Entropy, but he realized that he only posed a danger because the gods were unwilling to do what had to be done to end the threat he caused. They were afraid of destroying the world, but they seemed perfectly content to allow Val to destroy it piece by tiny piece rather than risk destroying it all at once. Fear was a good thing, but not when it prevented one from doing what had to be done. That was something his mother and father had taught him, and he realized that it may be time for some gods to start thinking about that.
Again it came back to Val. Val had been behind Kravon, and he had been responsible for much of the misfortune in Tarrin's life. He was the root of it, and it was upon him that all of Tarrin's anger had been affixed. His abduction by Jula, the death of Faalken, the countless innocents he slaughtered after turning feral, the near-destruction of the Goddess' icon and the death in the battle of Suld, it was all directly attributable to him. And now he threatened his daughter, an unforgivable offense, one that made Tarrin want to tear out his eyes. Only the desperate danger his daughter was in kept his mind from wonderfully graphic and gory fantasies of somehow tearing Val limb from limb then defiling his shattered remains in a final act of defiance and hate.
But Val was a god, while he was but a mortal. Val held supreme power here, beyond that of even the Elder Gods, because he existed solely and completely in the material world. He was little more than a gnat flying in Val's face, annoying him and in danger of being crushed like nothing as soon as he annoyed Val enough.
But some gnats were more resilient than others.
Tarrrin remained in his calm state for an hour and more, trying to compose himself and ready himself for the trials ahead. A trek across Ungardt in the winter would not be pleasant, and the end of that journey led to its own significan problems. The trip was nothing more than an exercise in wasting time, anyway. Everyone was waiting for Gods' Day, even him. Everything up to that point really meant nothing. At least to him. But at least it would be time with Jesmind, a chance to spend some time with her before everything was said and done, when he knew that nothing would ever be the same again.
But he had no regrets. He would do what must be done, just as the Goddess had commanded him. Jasana would survive, Jesmind would survive, and that was all that mattered to him.
The waiting was all. He was waiting for Phandebrass to finish his chart. He was waiting for Triana to arrive. He was waiting to leave. There would be no goodbyes, just as there were none last time. The time before, it was to maintain a veil of secrecy. This time, it was to maintain a veneer of believability. He was absolutely depending on something Spyder said, that Val would be out there listening, picking the thoughts out of everyone's minds. He went to a great deal of trouble laying down a believable convincing plan, a plan that he was absolutely certain that Val was going to learn. A plan Tarrin had absolutely no intention of following. It would be the same plan up to a certain point, but when those paths split, Val was going to be in for a nasty surprise. So much of one that it was going to allow them to get Jasana out of Gora Umadar alive, and with Sapphire's child dragon there to pick them up, get them to safety.
And that was all that mattered.
It was forty-one days until Gods' Day. Forty-one days to wait, forty-one days for snags to rise up in the plan.
Forty-one days until the very real possibility that it would be the beginning of the end of the world. Or, depending on how one saw things, forty-one days until the opportunity of wiping out Val's army and forcing him to start again from scratch and rebuild. That would give everyone all the time they needed to recover and be ready for the next round of this extended, unending contest between Val and the rest of the world.
Forty-one days.
He became aware of Triana's scent. He heard her come into the courtyard, pad over to him silently, then seat herself facing him. He made no indication he knew she was there, and she was silent a long moment, as if content to wait for him to acknowledge her.
"They said you wanted to see me," she finally said.
"I did," he said serenely, without opening his eyes. "I want you to take the other Were-cats into the Frontier. Take them as far from Suld as you can get them, and don't leave them. I don't want them anywhere near what's coming."
"I guess we can all go to Mist's place," she mused. "It's going to be a bit cramped with me and Jula there, but we can manage."
"And I want you to warn Fae-da'Nar of what we're going to do."
"I've already done that. That's why I'm so late getting here. They've agreed to help again. They know what Demons mean, cub. Everyone has to put a hand in to stop this before it gets out of control."
"Good. Me and Jesmind are going after Jasana."
"I know, they told me," she said. He felt her put her paw on his shoulder. "I don't know what you have up your sleeve, cub, but I hope it's a damned miracle. Do you have any idea what you're about to walk into?"
He opened his eyes and looked at her, and she actually flinched her hand away when she saw the look of almost burning obsession in his eyes, and the cold emptiness behind them. The eyes of a man willing to go to any lengths to recover his child. "I'll manage, mother," he told her.
Because they had seen into each other's minds, they were much closer now, and her intimate understanding of him made her pale when she realized the truth. "Don't think like that, cub," she told him, almost pleadingly. "It's not a given that you're not going to get out alive. Don't give up hope."
"I'm not. But I'm also not going to ignore reality," he told her. "After I get Jesmind and Jasana out of there, and the moment passes when Val can use the Firestaff, I'll have nothing left to use as a bargaining chip. If Jenna and the others can't distract Val long enough for me to find a way to escape, I won't."
"They said you wanted me to teach you how I travel."
"I only said that to reassure the others," he said dismissively. "I doubt I could learn something that complicated in one day."
"You're right."
"When the time comes, I have an idea of how I'm going to get out," he told her. "It's going to depend a little on luck, but no plan doesn't rely on little on luck at some point."
"You're going to give me gray hair, cub," she told him with a weak smile.
He reached out and put his paw on her leg, patting it. "Don't tell the others," he said. "Part of this depends on the other side hearing and seeing things that reinforces the ideas I've laid down. If things don't happen the way I've set them up, I'm not going to get Jasana back."
"I'll keep quiet."
"I only told you because you're a Druid, mother. Spyder told me that Val can pick the thoughts right out of your head from great distances, but I'll bet that not even he can do that easily to someone with a mind as disciplined as a Druid's. That's why nobody else can know. Val is going to find out about the plan from others, and he'll prepare to deal with that plan."
"While you have something else up your sleeve," Triana nodded. "Clever."
"I do. Forgive me if I don't tell you, but this is something I can't risk for any reason."
"I don't blame you, cub. When are you leaving?"
"Phandebrass is doing something for me. I'll leave when he's done."
"That book?" Triana asked. "I saw him when I tracked down Camara Tal. He had a book with him, and he said it was for you."
"That's what I've been waiting for," he said, quickly standing up. "There's some information in that book I need. Now that he's found it, I can go."
"Want me to gather everyone?"
He shook his head. "I don't want anyone to know I'm going. As soon as I get that book, I'm getting Jesmind, and we're leaving. I don't want any explanations. Kerri and Miranda will dog me until they get what they want out of me, and it's critical they know only what I want them to know."
"I think that's a mistake, but I won't gainsay you, cub," she told him, standing up. "Let's go see Phandebrass, and you can get on your way."
Without another word, the pair of them left the courtyard, devoid of the statue that defined it, yet with the presence it represented still present within it.
A presence that heard every word.
Kimmie was tired.
She'd been getting strangely tired here lately, usually when working with her magic, and sometimes just after a long day. Despite her pregancy, she still tutored under Phandebrass, though now he told her that it was more of her refining the skills he taught her than any real additional instruction. Under his watchful eye, she practiced her art at a grueling pace each day, wearing herself out and coming back stronger the day afterward. But now that her pregancy was entering its final phases, her due date only a month and a half away, the child inside her was putting more and more demands on her body and her energy. What had started out as help at the fenceline turned into more of an active supervision, for she had grown too tired to continue after a shocking short time. Were-cat females were only vulnerable in their pregnancy during the last few days, when the baby was ready to drop, but they weren't totally unaffected by their condition until that time. Were-cat babies were infants, but they were Were, and that put more stresses on the mother, more demands on her energy, than a human baby. Until they made their own connection to the All and their powers became independent, the mother was carrying the burden for both mother and child, and Were-cats were a strongly magical Were race. Their regeneration, and to a lesser degree their strength, were aspects of Druidic magic, not physical conditions. Until the baby was born, became an entity completely separate from the mother, the mother was supplying the unborn infant the magical energy it needed for its Were nature to remain strong and healthy.
That was getting to Kimmie, but there was an emotional toll as well. What happened to Jasana had hit her hard, made her rather fearful for her own baby, and it had hurt her to see the damage it had done to Tarrin. She knew exactly how he felt, and to a degree felt the same way herself. Jasana wasn't her daughter, but she did love the little girl, considered her a part of her immediate family. The grief of her abduction was only matched by her anger over it, and the need she felt to help Tarrin and Jesmind get their daughter back. She knew that they'd need to stay together now, in case the enemy decided that having two of Tarrin's children or mates was better than just one. They would gather together and probably have Triana with them to protect them, and they would not permit them to take another Were-cat.
She was exhausted. All of them had gathered together, including the ones from Ungardt, and Jenna told them what was happening. Keritanima immediately had something of a power struggle with Jenna, a confrontation that Jenna won; Keritanima was so used to giving orders that she probably didn't even realize she was infringing on Jenna's authority. But things did look hopeful. They needed to get a look at the army they were facing, but the simple idea that dragons may be fighting with them made any enemy numbers seem even to their own. The idea of gathering the army in small elements then having the gods themselves collect the pieces and then transport the entire mass to a surprise attack on the battlefield was a clever idea, one with a great deal of potential.
That had been the hardest thing about the meeting. The Goddess of the Sorcerers was there in person, sitting on a luxurious chair and letting the mortals make their plans, either answering questions or making suggestions from time to time. Kimmie had found herself staring at the figure more than once. It seemed too bizarre to be in the presence of a god! And she was such a beautiful one! Her very presence was overwhelming, as if her body couldn't contain all her mighty power, and her voice too seemed to echo and resonate in choral tones, as if no one voice could hold the power it contained. But her aura of power was a gentle one, and her smiles reassuring. Kimmie almost immediately understood why the Sorcerers informally referred to their Goddess as Mother. There was a nurturing quality about her, a feminine aire of protectiveness and kindness, that made her seem like the mother of them all, and she had felt quite safe sitting there in the Goddess' presence. And had been reluctant to leave it. Their Goddess was a gentle and loving goddess, and Kimmie felt a little jealous over it. The patron god of Wizards, the god of the original Wizard who had brought Arcane magic to Sennadar from his other dimension, was called Azur, and he had never once answered one of Kimmie's prayers. It seemed unfair that the Sorcerers would have a patron so intimately involved with her followers, while their own god was so terribly aloof and uncaring.
And when she'd thought that, the Goddess looked right into her eyes and gave her a loving smile. There was something in that smile, that look, almost like a look of invitation. Was the Goddess inviting her to cast off the worship of an uncaring god and accept her as her patron? She had to admit, being there in her presence, she was sorely tempted. Azur had never answered a prayer, had never seemed like a part of her life, and her worship of him was simply because he was the patron of her order. Because it was expected of her to be a subject of Azur. She even had his holy symbol, that of a human hand surrounded by an aura of flames, but she kept it in the bottom of her pack, where it rarely saw the light of day. But was it a real invitation? She'd never so much as seen any hint that Azur knew she was alive, but the thought of being rejected by the Goddess if she did try told her that Azur would definitely notice that. As long as she was a good little subject, he'd not care, but if she sought acceptance with another god, he'd probably be rather offended, and she would suffer his wrath.
Still, it was a rather intriguing idea. The Goddess of the Sorcerers was never known to have any worshippers outside the members of the order of which she was patroness. Would she accept Kimmie, even though she wasn't a Sorcerer? It was an idea to ponder.
But all those thoughts left her when she returned to her room, and found something waiting for her on a small table beside her bed. She noticed it immediately because Tarrin's scent was strong in the room, and it came from those objects. One was a black metal statuette, a sleek cat sitting on its haunches with its tail curled around its legs, an expression of truly feline indifference on its face. It was a lovely sculpture, very detailed and remarkably lifelike, with emeralds for eyes that seemed to glow in the light of the glowglobe hovering over the bed.
The second object was what looked like a piece of rope laid carefully around the statue, but as she got closer, she realized that it was Tarrin's braid. He had cut it off and left it in her room, carefully weaving the cut end with the braid's tip to form an unbroken circle.
Seeing that braid, knowing from experience what something like that meant, Kimmie immediately burst into tears and ran over to the table, kneeling before it and clutching the severed braid between trembling paws. She knew that he would never have left something like that, a piece of himself a magic-user could use against him, without a very good reason. And giving it to her, the mother of one of his children, told her his reason, even if she wasn't entirely sure how she knew what it meant.
Weeping into the braid, she cradled it and the cat statue to her breast, knowing that it was Tarrin's way of telling her goodbye.
And that he wasn't sure if he was coming back.
And so, without fanfare, without farewells, and without even any notice, Tarrin and Jesmind disappeared from the Tower of Six Spires after Tarrin retrieved a small book of lunar charts and astronomical observances from Phandebrass, made a few other arrangements, picked up Jesmind, and then he had Jenna Teleport them silently out of the Tower. The only ones who knew they'd left were Triana and Jenna, and neither mentioned anything to anyone until well into the next day
And a quiet, mourning Kimmie, who jealously guarded the precious gifts he had left to her, gifts that she did not reveal to any other living soul.
To: Title EoF