Chapter 14

It took the army nearly four days to return home, but that return was done with a bit of uncertainty. Everyone had heard about the arrival of the Solar to take Tarrin to answer for what he did, and some wondered why he didn’t resist them. It seemed odd to many that someone like Tarrin Kael would so willingly surrender to those he could defeat in combat, but those were the ones that didn’t know him very well, only knew of his reputation. But still, it put something of a dampening effect on the elation of the victory. Nobody knew exactly what kind of punishment he might face, or if he would even accept it. Mist had made it known that Tarrin promised he would come home and wouldn’t allow them to try to kill him, so that put something of a question mark on the whole thing. After all, once rumor of his actions started to circulate, people weren’t sure how he was going to avoid a death penalty. He did do some pretty terrible things.

Kyrienna and Phandebrass opened Gates for the peoples of Sennadar to return home, and evacuating them back to their world took three days, but not everyone was going to return. Two days after their victory in Pyros, the One returned to them briefly and informed them that it had been decided to allow the Weave to remain in place. The Sorcerers of Sennadar had interbred into the Pyrosian people, introducing the power into the Pyrosian humans and the Elara, and Sorcery was now considered a natural part of the order of Pyrosia. The Elder God of Pyrosia had taken up the burden of being patron of the Weave, for now, but the Pyrosian Sorcerers had no training, no experience with their legacy. The announcement that the Elder God would now support the Weave relieved Dolanna of the burden of acting as the conscious force that maintained it, and she stepped out of the Heart, leaving it to support itself. Dolanna assured Darax and Zebri that she would remain, however, to help teach the native Sorcerers about their gifts, and her decision to remain caused a complement of Sorcerers to decide to stay behind, both to support Dolanna and also to build a Tower. Ianelle was the strongest and oldest of those who would remain behind, which would give the new Tower both discipline and organization. Jasana too had to remain, for even though the Elder God was now guiding the Weave, it still required at least one sui’kun to hold it together. She was assured, however, that her stay on Pyrosia would be no longer than three months. A new sui’kun would be born by that time to take Jasana’s place and represent the Weave, and after that first, six more would be born in quick succession. Jasana only needed to remain for a little while. Though she was out of sorts and upset with worry about her father, she agreed to stay behind. Triana agreed to remain with her, both to continue her training and give Jasana someone in her family to keep her company.

That Tower was erected in two days, raised by a huge Circle led by Jasana, who Circled with Dolanna to act as a bridge between the Were-cat and the others, and allowed for the first time for a Were-cat to Circle with those outside her race. It was a single Tower built on the former site of the One’s cathedral, stretching so high that its top was of a level with the volcano’s peak. It would comfortably hold a thousand Sorcerers and a staff of servants.

In the end, fifty Sorcerers, a hundred Knights, and a complement of Elara, Dura, and human followers of the One agreed to remain behind, both to defend Pyros from bandits and to begin learning how to cooperate with one another. Azakar would return to Sennadar, but Ulger would remain in Pyrosia with his new promotion to Colonel, to command the Knight garrison left behind at Pyros.

There were other moves, as well. As those from Sennadar decided to remain on Pyrosia, there were some outworlders who were permitted to travel to Sennadar, both to learn and to live. Nightshade was granted permission to come to Sennadar, honoring Tarrin’s promise to her, but only under the stern warning that she had better behave herself. Her dark nature was not lost on the Elder Gods, and they really didn’t want her there, but they couldn’t deny that Tarrin had promised her…and they all felt maybe just a little guilty about how they acted towards him. So, they relented. Elaran and human Pyrosians found with potential in Sorcery were brought to Sennadar to teach them about their heritage and powers, and a complement of Elementalists were permitted to travel to Sennadar to learn at the Tower. Bringing them to Sennadar would free up the pressure on Dolanna and Ianelle, giving them time to get the Pyrosian Tower built, settled in, and work out the details of how it was going to operate. Kyrienna gained permission to travel to Sennadar to study the advances in Wizard magic the Sennadite Wizards had managed, but half of that was obviously so she could simply remain close to Phandebrass.

Tarrin’s plea to the Dura to return hadn’t fallen on deaf ears. There was a small complement of Dura who were intrigued about the idea of going back to Sennadar, to discover their ancient history and establish a new colony of Dura in their ancestral homeland. And so, when the Sennadar armies began to return home, five hundred Duran men, women, and children went with them. In Sennadar, they would find a suitable site to build their new city, Mala Menn, which meant City of Hope in Duthak.

Even the Elara agreed to at least a temporary exchange. One hundred Elaran of the Noble caste had agreed to go to Sennadar to, in their words, investigate the possibility that the Elara and the Sha’Kar were related. Even now, the haughty Elara refused to admit that they were descended from the Sha’Kar.

The Elder Gods of Sennadar saw that their total isolation of the world would cause them a headache as Sorcerers petitioned to be allowed to return to Sennadar from Pyrosia, so special precautions were taken, almost unheralded in Sennadar, a world famous in the multiverse for its secrecy and nearly xenophobic defense against the outside. Niami, the Elder Goddess of the Weave, convinced her parents to allow the creation of a semi-permanent window that would permit a one way gate that led from the Tower in Pyros directly to the Tower in Suld be created using magic. It was agreed to only under stringent conditions and the fact that it was not permanent. Only a Wizard could open that gate, and it would require one every time, to cast the spell. Niami would be given control of that window, meaning that she had to directly consent every time a Wizard opened the gate, which meant that the gate could never be opened on a whim, only by a scheduled window opening. Knights had to defend the location where that gate could be opened in Pyros at all times, and it even required negotiation with the new Elder God of Pyrosia for certain guarantees that he would defend that location from his side in case anyone ever tried to use it to invade Sennadar. The Elder God gave his consent in the matter, and the rules were relaxed to create the window. Because of that, Ianelle and Dolanna negotiated with the Elarans, and secured an agreement that one Gatemaster would be stationed in the Tower of Pyros at all times, to perform this magical service.

It took four days to return everyone to Sennadar. Bragg and Kang agreed to exchange letters, via the steady stream of messengers that would come to Pyrosia via the apple orchard gate and then travel to Pyros, and then be returned home through the gate at Pyros. The stream of Sennadite humans, Vendari, Wikuni, and Selani was a steady stream, and along with them came the last of the immigrants to Sennadar, the sneaks. Myn was one such sneak, being literally rolled in a carpet and carted back to Sennadar by Tara and Rina while stern-faced Elaran magicians watched the lines for her, since she had vanished and they wanted her back. Quite a few humans who felt that life on Sennadar would be better than life on Pyrosia had also snuck through the gate, dressing in borrowed or stolen uniforms and pretending to be Sulasian army regulars. In the end, several thousand Pyrosians had snuck into Sennadar without permission, and they quickly dispersed and assimilated into their new world, but never without the watchful eye of the Elder Gods, keeping watch on these unauthorized immigrants, but doing nothing about them yet. They were…curious, to see what they would do, how they would make their way, and besides, even though Ayise could not strike them dead in an instant, they could always dispatch a Sorcerer or Druid to the location to deal with the invader if he became a problem.

And still, those who knew him wondered where Tarrin was, what he was doing, and if he was alright.

The Tower, over the years, had evolved. At first, it was the bastion of Sorcery, but Jenna’s tenure there had opened the Tower to new ideas, which was mainly due to Phandebrass and his incessant prodding and meddling in Tower affairs, which got the Sorcerers used to the idea of a Wizard being around. There were any number of Wizards on the Tower grounds now, as they came seeking the lore of the Tower library and to consult, but then found themselves not leaving. After the Pyrosian campaign, seeing the influx of Elementalists coming to learn about Sorcery and try to expand their powers, Jenna decided to take steps to make matters official. She called Phandebrass and Shara to her office, the two most senior representatives of other magical orders, and proposed a plan of action that made both of them wildly excited, a plan that would open new branches of the famous school in the Tower to teach Wizard and Elemental magic, two new paths that those who completed the Novitiate could take, if they had the gift for it or if they so desired.

They agreed to it immediately, and it didn’t take them long to draw up plans to make it come about. Phandebrass, it turned out, had had something like that on his mind for quite a while, but had never really brought it up. He returned the next day with a large book filled with his ideas on how to do it. Within that book was a list of competent Wizards who might be amenable to the idea, lists of merchants and certain individuals who could procure the components Wizards needed on a large scale, and even a schedule of courses to introduce the curious to Wizard magic in a safe environment and teach them. The course schedule Phandebrass devised would graduate a Wizard with the basic ability to cast simple spells, the first step over cantrips, and arm him or her with everything he needed to know in order to pursue his Wizarding career further.

“The question here is, can we convince them to come?” Jenna asked him as they went over names of respected Wizards who were known to tutor.

“I say, they’d jump at the chance,” he answered. “Thanks to the work of many Wizards, you know my dear, the ones that came to use your library and are still here, your library has become one of the most formidable repositories of magical lore, it has.”

“That would be mainly you, Phandebrass,” she chuckled.

“Well, I can’t take all the credit, I can’t,” he said modestly, but he did smile. “Any Wizard worth his material components would jump at the chance to come here permanently. You must remember, my dear, that even though they’ll be teaching, they’ll also be learning. This would be a wonderful opportunity for them to teach new Wizards but also improve their own art.”

“So, you think we can get most of these Wizards?”

“I say, we can get all of them,” he answered immediately. “I’ve been contacted by quite a few of my countrymen already, asking me if or when the Tower would open its library to the public, and if not, how they could secure permission to travel here and study in it.”
“I don’t think I’m quite ready to open the Tower grounds,” Jenna warned. “But, I do think we might have to expand it. We’d need a lot more space to accommodate all the tomes a Wizard’s library would need.”

“I say, don’t expand it. There’s four unused floors in the northwest tower, my dear. It would be perfect for a splinter library devoted to the school’s needs, while the more dangerous or advanced works could be kept in the main library.”

“That’s a good idea. I guess we could rerrange things, move some people out and set that tower up for the school, so they wouldn’t have to go very far.”

“I was going to suggest that, but I say, I wasn’t sure if you’d like the idea.”

“Well, we’re going to be doing some reorganizing no matter what, we may as well just do it right the first time.”

“Always the best course of action,” he smiled.

Shara scurried in and bowed. “Lady Jenna, I have some of the things ye wanted. I’m sorry, but I didna’ have much time to write them down, so it’s a bit o’ a scribbled mess. I thought we could sort it out and fix it while we talked about it, ye know.”

“I love her accent,” Jenna remarked with a smile to Phandebrass.

“It is rather interesting, isn’t it?” he agreed.

Shara blushed, then laughed. “The first thing ye’d need ta’ consider is that ye’ll need four sets of instructors, ye know. I can only teach other Earth adepts, and if ye want ta’ be serious about it, ye’ll need instructors for all four elements. But, the good side o’ it is that ye’ll only have a few Elementalists here, ones allowed ta’ come here from home to learn, so ye’d need no more than eight teachers.”

“Well, this is going to be about more than just training Elementalists. It’s also going to be about learning about how Elemental powers work, and how they interconnect with Sorcery. The school is so we can see how Elementalists teach their own, so we can get a better understanding of your power. And of course, it doesn’t hurt to help you train more Elementalists.”

“Aye, and that’s why I gave ye the names of some of the best Elementalists among the Shadows. If ye send word to Dolanna, she can track them down and give them the invitation ta’ come. And since the teachers are going ta’ be busy helping the Sorcerers, it’s a good idea ta’ keep down to small number o’ students for them, at least at first.”

“Sounds good. Do you think we can get these Elementalists to come?”

“Most likely,” she answered. “The big question really will be which Elementalists come here, and which ones stay in Pyros to staff the Tower there.”

“I think they can sort that out, as long as the right numbers of right kinds of Elementalists end up in both Towers at the end.”

“Aye. The big rub for them will be deciding who stays in Pyros to teach, and who comes here to help.”

“The Elementalists here will be teaching too.”

“Aye, but not as much as the ones in Pyros.”

They debated it for a long while, and then Phandebrass and Shara were dismissed, leaving Jenna alone with her thoughts. She stood up and went to the glass paned doors leading to the balcony, and stepped out into a chilly autumn evening, unnaturally cold for this early into fall. Her breath misted around her as she looked down on the grounds, knowing that she was doing the right thing by expanding the Tower’s role in the magical societies of both Sennadar and Pyrosia, but not really feeling all that happy about it.

She too was worried. It had been nearly two rides now, and no word either from or about Tarrin. She couldn’t even really imagine what might be going on, why he was gone so long, but she could just hope he was alright.

“Oh, he’s fine, daughter,” Niami called aloud. Jenna jumped and looked behind her, and saw the Goddess standing sedately in her office, near the desk, appearing as she always did with her shimmering gown of woven starlight gracing her form. She rushed in and took her hand, feeling her power and her warmth emanating from her. “I just received word through the grape vine. He’s fine.”

“What’s happening to him, Mother?”

“To put it in simple terms, he’s working off a debt,” she answered with a smile. “It seems that his penance is to perform some services, the kinds of things that only someone like Tarrin can do easily. He has a few tasks on his list, and once he completes them, he’ll be on his way home. But for now, you can put your mind at ease, daughter. He’s fine, he’s well, and in a way, he’s kind of happy.”

“Happy? About being punished?”

“It’s really not much of a punishment,” she laughed. “This time is being good to him. He was feeling a little unsettled after defeating the Demon Lord. He learned some things that really surprised him, and he needed some time to sort things out. Him working off his debt to the Deva is just giving him some time to think things through in a nice quiet place, where he has the time to make a little peace with himself.”

“Oh. I was worried they would try to kill him or something.”

Niami laughed. “Oh, child, even they weren’t crazy enough to even consider something like that. You don’t threaten Tarrin that way, or he makes your life a living hell. They gave him a punishment that publicly rebukes him and reinforces the authority of the Deva in Crossroads, showing the people there that not even someone like Tarrin Kael can escape justice, but not provoking him into another little war that might make them look even worse. Yes, some sages in Crossroads see it as a slap on the wrist, but they’ve also started to learn why he stole the bow, which was what the entire little war in Crossroads was about. They saw a man driven to extremes to defend a material plane, and they started to understand why he did it when they found out what happened on Pyrosia. They see the light punishment he got from the Deva as them acknowledging that they could sympathize with what drove him to it, but he still had to be punished for his actions.”

“Oh. So, what kind of work is he doing?”

“I don’t know, and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you, daughter. It’s not our business.”

Jenna flushed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, child,” she smiled, lifting Jenna’s chin. “Could you be a dear and let everyone else know? They’re worried about him too.”

“I’d be happy to, Mother. Do you have any idea when he might be coming home?”

“No, not really, but I don’t think he’ll be gone long,” she answered. “Tarrin is very resilient. He’ll work through his issues and return soon. I’m sure of it, child. He has children here who need him, and friends and family who wait for him. He wouldn’t stay gone for too long.”

“I hope so. I really miss him.”

“We all do, child. We all do.”

Rides passed into months, and life quietly settled back into a sense of routine, of normalcy. The war in Pyrosia became simple history, though the repercussions of it did ripple through Sennadar society.

The Tower opened its school for Wizard magic in midwinter, quietly, without much fanfare, but it was an event much heralded by the Wizards, who very much liked the idea of a major center of learning for Wizards in the West. The only real places for Wizards to truly learn from masters in Sennadar was in Arathorn and Valkar, among the old kingdoms of Sharadar, Stygia, Telluria, and Valkar. The academy in Suld was the first major inroads for Wizards in the West, and they had wanted to either build one or see one built somewhere in Arkis or in Suld for a long time. It was just that nobody had bothered to try.

That winter, Darvon officially retired, and Azakar Kanash, former gladiator and slave, became the new Lord General of the Knights. With him at all times, and always causing something of a row, was the six-armed marilith, Shaz’Baket. Only now she simply was now as Shaz, and and there were wild rumors circulating about the relationship between them. The rumors started when she first arrived, how he would work her hard, make her carry heavy stones, paint walls, clean armor and equipment, do about any menial labor except look after the horses, which were terrified of her. Everyone knew exactly what she was, and that Tarrin had personally captured her to make her work, to pay back the debt incurred on Sennadar by serving its interests, and many of them treated her coldly and callously. And she treated everyone just as coldly, seeing her position as a humiliation, and hating everyone around her. But, as time passed, she graduated up to less demeaning work, and while not earning any friends, at least earning some grudging respect. She began to help train the cadets by giving them an opponent very exotic and unusual. She conducted classes for the Knights on military tactics, teaching them different ways to think, new ways to approach the art of war, but still, Azakar kept a tight leash on her, never letting her out of his sight. By that winter, she wore an ornate breastplate and carried weapons, which worried many Knights around the academy to no end, but Azakar didn’t seem concerned at all. He was convinced of her loyalty, and they could not recall a single instance, word, or action that countered that faith. Yes, she had a foul mouth and an evil-tempered disposition, but she always obeyed Azakar’s commands, even as she complained about them. Even when she was alone, Shaz acted exactly as Azakar insisted; courteously, quietly, and with calm and focused attention to the task at hand. The Demoness became known as Azakar’s personal servant, attendant, and bodyguard, her six weapons ready at any time to defend his person.

But, as the time passed, it became more than that to Azakar. To him, Shaz wasn’t a Demon being forced to serve, but a person in need of a new focus in her life to find peace and a reason to continue on. And he provided that focus. Shaz slowly began to come around, until the landmark day when he returned her weapons to her. It was that day that she developed more than just her usual hatred of her position and her loathing of her master. The day he returned a small part of her dignity, she began to see him as something more than a master.

On the ceremony of Darvon’s retirement, Shaz was there, lurking behind the new Lord General, who accepted handshakes from dignitaries and friends and kisses from Jenna. That day, she had become, in her own small way, a part of the order, for it had been her arm—or at least one of them—that had led Darvon to the podium, where he gave his sword to Azakar in a blaring of majestic trumpets and the smart snapping flags held by an honor guard of Knights.

The winter was one of quiet progress for Jenna and the Tower. The Wizard school was teaching its first class and the Elementalist school was about ready to open, and more progress was made with the Tower in Pyrosia. Ianelle was installed as the First of the new Council, and she would act as regent until the sui’kun who had been born there, on Pyrosia, was old enough to take the position of Keeper. That baby rocked the Elara to the core, and Jenna had a feeling that Tarrin’s alter-ego Elder God had a hand in that little event.

The Elaran child was of the Worker caste.

Tarrin hated the Elaran castes, and Jenna had a feeling that his godly half-brother had inherited that dislike and wanted to teach the Elara a lesson…so, the first of the Pyrosian sui’kun was of the lowest caste of Elaran society. To say that there was a storm of outrage from the magician casts was the mother of all understatements. The magicians were the second highest ranking caste, only behind the nobles, and the idea that, if they were stationed in or visited Pyros, they would have to take orders from what to them was a being just higher in the ladder of life than pond scum nearly caused a revolution in Elaran society. They raged and shouted and sought satisfaction from their King, who was wise enough not to get into the middle of this one. The Elara had made binding agreements concerning Pyros, and he wasn’t about to renege on those promises…and part and parcel of those agreements was that the Sorcerers ran Pyros as they saw fit. The child was an integral part of their system, royalty among the Sorcerers, and he knew he didn’t have the legal ground to stand upon to make any kind of challenge. Having been rebuffed by their king, the magicians went so far as to kidnap the child and his parents and refuse to release them to the Sorcerers of the Tower, to raise him themselves and no doubt instill utter obedience to the Elaran magicians into him. The King tried to negotiate, but Ianelle was too angry and annoyed to wait out that negotiation. The magicians would just stall until they conditioned the parents to teach the child the way they wanted, then relent. Ianelle dispayed rare and uncharacteristic anger at her long-lost cousins, and moved to involve the katzh-dashi in the matter directly.

That was when the Elara learned that just because they lived on the moon, where the Weave did not reach, they were by no means out of reach of the might of the katzh-dashi.

Ianelle got in touch with Jenna, and asked her to ask a favor of Triana. Triana, who didn’t much like the Elara either, gladly agreed to help. She returned to Pyrosia and invaded the moon of Elara, by herself, and took the child and his parents right out of the Halls of Knowledge, the headquarters of the magicians. The Elara did try to stop her, but they had never seen a Druid before, and they were in no way prepared to deal with Triana. Their magic was useless against her, since they’d discovered that Elementalists shared a Sorcerer’s vulnerability to a Druid’s interdiction. Triana simply cut them all off, beat the stuffing out of anyone who got in her way, and took the family right out of the building. The magicians howled for retaliation, but the king of the Elara simply shrugged and told them that there was nothing he could do. And, when the magicians started talking about doing something about it themselves, it touched off a rare and rather tense confrontation that set the entire Elaran society on the brink of civil war, that required the soldier caste to surround the Halls of Knowledge at one point. The magicians did finally relent, but the new Tower of Pyros was emptied of any Elaran magician, even the Gatemaster they had agreed to station there to open the doorway to Sennadar, as the magicians recalled all of their people, refusing to leave them in a place where a worker would command them.

Ianelle simply shrugged their withdraw off as if it was nothing. Phandebrass had already learned much of their magic, and he was simply asked to return from Sennadar and get things back in order. Phandebrass returned, and Kyrienna nearly got herself expelled from the order when she returned with him from her extended sojourn on Sennadar to study Wizard magic there. Phandebrass got the library in order, negotiated an agreement with a Sennadar Wizard named Jayenne Madelle, a Shacèan man of middle years, to come to Pyrosia and act as the Gatemaster. Jayenne was taught the proper spells, and then he and Kyrienna returned to Sennadar.

The Elara flap settled down, but the birth of the first sui’kun did mean that Jasana could finally go home. She returned to Sennadar with Triana, and brought home Fireflash and Fury, both of which deciding to stay with her when Tarrin left, but that didn’t last long. Fireflash was very fond of Zyri, and became her constant companion once Jasana brought him home. Fury too found someone to take care of her while Tarrin was gone, and oddly enough, that person was Dar. Dar and Tiella came to visit Jasana when she returned, since both were doing work in Sharadar for Alexis, and Fury took an instant fancy to Dar. Dar’s charismatic nature even seemed to work on Gehennan animals. She adored both him and Tiella, even let them ride her, and they took Fury back to Sharadar to take care of her until Tarrin returned home. Jasana was taken back to Haven to continue the training that had been interrupted.

Things in the Tower had also returned to normal, but only just. Tara and Rina started moving up very fast through their training, and by spring, they had graduated the Initiate. The nearly unheard of speed through which the two of them completed the Initiate was because they got private lessons from Jenna Kael every single day. Jenna trained her nieces diligently, and both were naturals, both strong and smart, able to master new teaching quickly. The time in Pyrosia had been good to them in that regard…Jenna had a strange feeling that when Tarrin Circled with them, some of his skill was imprinted into them, because they certainly came back much better than they were when they went. Granted, the Initiate wasn’t really that difficult, dealing more with teaching Sorcerers how to control themselves and use basic Sorcery than teaching them anything complicated. They breezed through in months what took some Initiates years. Jenna had really pushed them through, because Kimmie wanted to introduce her twins to Fae-da’Nar in the fall and make them adults. Zyri was making her own headway, moving with amazing speed up through the ranks of the Initiate, because she too was getting private lessons from Jenna.

When Tara and Rina graduated from the Initiate, Dolanna returned home temporarily to attend the ceremony.

“Dolanna! You’re married?” Jenna gasped when she saw her.

She simply smiled and touched the ring. “Not yet. But you can consider it an engagement.”

“I’m sure Haley is ecstatic,” Jenna laughed.

“He nearly fainted when he proposed,” she said with a bright smile. “And nearly fainted again when I said yes. He has waited for me for a long, long time, child. I could not in good faith snub his patience. I agreed, if only out of pity.”

“You big liar,” Jenna teased.

“I love him very much, Jenna, though it took me time to see it for myself,” she admitted with another touch on the ring. “I can never thank Tarrin enough for his help. And, also, that is the other reason I am here. I have a promise to keep to him.”

“When’s the wedding?”

“After Tarrin returns. Neither of us wish to wed until he is here to share in our happiness.”

Dolanna fulfilled her vow to Tarrin while she was there. She passed on to Jenna, Zyri, and Jal her unique condition, and then traveled to Ungardt to pass on the condition to Tarrin’s parents, forever protecting them from an accidental Were infection. Zyri seemed stunned by the idea that Mist couldn’t infect her now, and Mist had taken a rather direct approach to testing Dolanna’s claim, by biting Zyri.

The protection seemed to drop every barrier between Mist and the human children. She was still tender and motherly with them, but she began to be much more intimate. She wasn’t afraid to kiss them now, or play rough with them, or do many of the things mothers did with their own children, because always before she had to maintain that quiet distance to prevent an accidental infection. It didn’t change Mist’s feelings for the children, but it did let her express her feelings to them on a much more intimate level.

Dolanna returned to Pyrosia to complete her work there, but she promised that both she and Haley would be back by midsummer. Ianelle had the Tower of Pyros running smoothly, and she wasn’t really needed there anymore. The Sorcerers that had gone to Pyrosia were already teaching the first wave of Novices, though now they were all humans since the Elara had yanked all their students from the school.

It was their loss.

The happy news from Dolanna wasn’t the only such happening. Phandebrass finally seemed to realize that Kyrienna wasn’t just a Wizard, but was also a girl, and a girl that seemed to have a sincere interest in him. The difference in race didn’t seem to matter to her, and Phandebrass was simply too bizarre to classify in such terms. The two began to talk of more than magic, and things moved rather quickly from there. By the first bloom of spring flowers, Phandebrass and Kyrienna were engaged. It was a good match, Jenna could see. When Kyrienna was around, Phandebrass was much more focused, more aware of things other than magic, more willing to surface to breathe in the air of life before diving back into his weighty ponderings and endless thinking. Kyrienna was his anchor, and Phandebrass was the only male she’d ever met that matched her magical powers and was dynamic, exciting, and fun. Every day with Phandebrass was an adventure, and that was the kind of man Kyrienna had always sought.

That bit of news did get her expelled from the Elara. She was banished from Elara by the High Masters for getting engaged without permission, and to a human of all people, which was also a violation of caste law. She was only allowed to marry within the caste. But, it didn’t bother her one whit. Kyrienna spent more time in other worlds than she did at home, and being exiled from the Elara meant about as much to her as a split end in her lovely hair. “I spent years out there looking for him,” she had confided to Jenna the night after they announced their engagement. “I’m sure the High Masters are going to have a seizure, and I’ll probably be declared an outlaw and exiled from Elara, but I don’t care. I’m happy here, and that’s all that counts.”

“Well, Kyri, I think you don’t have a problem there. You’ve got a new home now.”

“I surely do, as long as your gods allow me to stay.”

The gods didn’t seem to care too much about Kyrienna. She moved in with Phandebrass in the Tower and took up a position in the new Wizard academy, and settled into her new position of prominence and importance on Sennadar.

She would have been banished anyway, despite that, if they would have found out that Kyrienna had taken Myn as an apprentice not long after she and Phandebrass had become engaged. Kyrienna had seen Myn’s potential the first time she crossed paths with the girl, who knew who she was and managed to avoid her in the halls of the Tower for months. She tracked her down—which frightened Myn, who thought the High Masters were coming for her—and then demanded that the girl become the apprentice of herself and Phandebrass. And she refused to take no for an answer. Myn resisted the idea, for she was quite content serving as a teacher in the Tower for the Wizard’s school, but the appeal of learning serious magic from two of the best in the business, two who knew more than she did, was just too much for her to deny.

As spring took firm hold, and with summer just around the corner, Jenna was quite content, if not still a little wistful. Everyone seemed to be quite happy now, if not for one little thing.

Tarrin was still away.

It was the first thing Eron and Elke asked when they returned from Ungardt after Jenna’s mother got everything all situated with the new clan King and came home. “Any word from Tarrin?” Eron asked as Jenna met them at the dock.

“Not yet, father. How did it go?” she asked Elke.

“Fine. I didn’t really need to be there, but you know how the Ungardt can be.”

“Yes, I know,” Jenna laughed.

“I hope you don’t mind a short visit, honey, but we’re tired and we’d like to go home,” Eron told her. “Would you be too upset if you took us home after lunch? We have a lot of unpacking to do, and we’d like to get it done before bed tonight.”

“Not at all, not at all!” she laughed. “After all, I can come see you whenever I want.”

“I’m sure the house is all dusty,” Elke grunted.

“I’ve been keeping it clean,” Jenna told her. “I’ve had plenty of help, too. Zyri and Jal go with me.”

“They’re still here? I thought Mist would have taken them home.”

“She wants to stay here while Zyri’s in the Initiate, but she’ll pull her out as soon as Tarrin comes home. I think she doesn’t want to go back to the house without him. It wouldn’t seem right.”

“I can understand that. I bet she’s been quite a handful,” Eron chuckled.

“Actually, she’s been very well behaved. She has cubs to care for, and that always makes her happy.”

“That it does,” Elke nodded.

They ate lunch, and then Jenna took them home. The farm was exactly as they left it, quietly tended by some villagers who came out from time to time to make sure everything was alright and to feed and water the animals, but the instant they appeared within the fenced in area that held the invisible gate to Tarrin’s house, Jenna squealed in excitement and ran towards the house. Eron and Elke followed her in confusion, but they cried out in joy when they reached the front door.

There, by the chairs, their son stood, hugging his sister.

Tarrin looked exactly as they remembered, complete with the white-furred arm. He embraced his parents one at a time, then was barraged by immediate demands to know where he’d been, when he got home, and why didn’t he tell anyone!

“I’m only back for a quick visit,” he told them. “I’m kind of in the middle of something. When I finish it, I’ll be coming home for good.”

“What are you doing, Tarrin?” Jenna asked.

“I can’t tell you,” he told her gently, but with a firm hint to his tone that he would not budge from that position no matter how much they wheedled, nagged, whined, begged, or demanded. “All I can really say is I’m almost done, and it’s not really very difficult or dangerous. I should be home in a month or so. I just had a little spare time, and I’ve been wanting to see you.” He sniffed delicately at them. “I see Dolanna was here.”

“Yes, she made us drink some of her blood,” Eron said with a shudder. “But, she said we’re immune to Lycanthropy now.”

“You are,” he affirmed. “It was something I felt was long past due. It would have been my worst nightmare to accidentally infect one of you.”

“Mother said you needed time to work through some things,” Jenna said. “I take it you’ve got things sorted out?”

“More or less. Most of the reason I stayed away was so things would calm down without me here,” he said. “I didn’t want to be pestered while I was thinking things through. But that’s not an issue now. I’m ready to come home, I just have to finish what I promised to do first. And, I’m bringing some friends with me.”

“Friends? Who?”

“I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise,” he smiled. “Let’s just say that a few friends of mine are going to take some time off, and I invited them here.”

Eron looked at him curiously. “Son, are you…taller?”

Tarrin laughed. “How long have I been gone?”

“Just a few months.”

“Well, it’s been a few decades out there,” he explained. “Time moves differently where I’ve been. I’ve actually been ready to come home for a very long time, but I had some obligations to someone you do not renege on your promises to. I’ve missed you so much,” he said sincerely, which caused Elke to hug him again. “But we’re almost done, and when we’re done, I’m coming home.”

“That’s why you’re visiting,” Jenna reasoned. “Because another month for us will be ten years for you.”

“Clever,” he said. “Yes, to me, it’ll be ten more years or so until I come home, but that’s the worst case scenario. I might be home in a few months, I might be home in a few years, but it shouldn’t take any longer than ten, no matter what.”

“Well, let’s get in touch with—“

“No,” he said, cutting Jenna off. “Just Allia, Kerri, Mist, Kimmie, my cubs, Triana, Sapphire, and Jesmind, if she wants to come. Jula’s probably already on the way. She can sense me no matter where I am.”

“Why don’t you want to see everyone?” Eron asked.

“I do, but I have to look at some control here,” he sighed. “I only have an hour, father. After that, I have to go. If I spend all that time trying to visit with everyone, then I won’t have any time for you.”

“Oh. Well, why don’t we sit down while Jenna rounds everyone up?” Elke prompted.

“Mother!” Jenna growled. “Oh, alright! Just let’s get this done quickly!”

It took Jenna all of ten minutes to find everyone and get them to the farm, including a few tagalongs, Miranda, Dar, Tiella, and their children, who had been visiting with people Jenna picked up. They swarmed Tarrin, asking endless questions he wouldn’t answer, then he got them over that and had them catch him up on everything that was going on. Zyri and Jal never left his lap, quietly and subtly fighting each other for room. He heard all about what happened in Pyrosia from Jasana, who had just recently returned from there, and heard all about the Tower from Jenna and the cubs. Sapphire told him that Nightshade was settling in in a lair in the Skydancer Mountains, not far from Aldreth—no doubt chosen deliberately—and Triana told him that things in Fae-da’Nar were calm and well. Allia and Keritanima brought their husbands and their own children, and it became a joyous and raucous reunion. Zyri and Jal got their first look at Kor, their cousin, who was now unsteadily ambling around. Where babies his age would be crawling, maybe standing, Kor was fully ambulatory, if a little clumsy sometimes. Faalken sat with grave dignity by his mother and father, acting the prince, until Dar and Tiella’s oldest baited him into a game of jacks by the table. Selani went from helpless to running much faster than human children, because of the harshness of their environment.

But it was entirely too short. Before the children could even get bored, Tarrin sighed and stood up, dislodging Zyri and Jal. “I’m afraid I’m out of time,” he told them. “I have to go back now.”

“No, not so soon!” Mist protested. “Not now!”

“I’m sorry, my mate, but I have a little more left to do,” he told her gently. “I promise, though, I won’t be gone long. A month at the most. You can wait for a month, can’t you?”

“I don’t want to,” she told him, looking up the small differences in their heights.

“Remember the promise I made, Mist?” She nodded. “Just remember it. Give me one more month at the most. I might actually be home earlier than that, but it shouldn’t be any longer than a month.”

She sighed, then nodded. He kissed her gently, and then accepted fond farewells from everyone, and then to everyone’s surprise, he got up and went out the front door, careful to close it behind him. Miranda gasped and ran to the door and opened it, not even half a second after it was closed, but Tarrin had vanished. There was no sense of him using Sorcery, no use of Druidic magic, no Wizard spell…he was just gone.

Miranda laughed. “He has to tell me how he did that when he gets home!”

“I think he’s learning too many tricks from Spyder,” Jasana noted to Triana.

“I think you’re about right, cub.”

A month.

Word of Tarrin’s hasty visit stormed through the inner circle, and people became quite excited and anxious. Everyone in Tarrin’s life started marking the days off on calendars, getting impatient, wondering if he was going to really come home early and if it would be today.

But it wasn’t today, day after day after day.

Everything went into a kind of suspension, and word, even rumor, that Tarrin Kael had returned stormed back and forth between the Sorcerers, among the Druids, between Wizards, and even through Sennadar itself. Everything stopped, everyone waited, even people who knew of him only in legend or stories. It was then that Jenna understood why Tarrin had left. Here, so soon after what happened in Pyrosia, he would have found no peace, no tranquility…at least not without killing people. Jenna had managed to worm a little more out of Mother, and had a better idea of the kind of mental quandary Tarrin was in. He’d found out that he was the Elder God of Pyrosia…but not him. That was confusing enough, but then Mother tells her that Tarrin had come face to face with what he really was, and the feeling of helplessness that came with reaching the end of his journey, the uncertainty. Jenna knew her brother, and knew that those kinds of feelings, in an environment where everyone wanted to bother him, was a very, very bad combination. The time away would be necessary. Either that, or barricading himself inside his house against an army of the curious, the well-wishing, and the opportunists looking to wrangle a little favor from a man who wasn’t bound by the rules of reality like the rest of the mortals.

She could forgive him for his absence, most certainly.

She also had to wonder. Where was he that timed worked differently, that months passed for every day here? It couldn’t be any place she could imagine, that was for sure. He mentioned he was working for someone, and someone he couldn’t deny. Then he let it slip that he was working with others. It could only make him wonder just who he was working with. Odds were, she figured, she’d find out. He said he was bringing some people back with him. A vacation for them, he called it.

She was almost giddy with anticipation. When was he coming home? Who was he bringing with him? What stories would he bring from his adventures out there, out in the dimensions and worlds beyond Sennadar? She almost couldn’t wait.

News of the impending return did more than make Jenna hard to concentrate on her job, it made things downright antsy. Sapphire had taken up residence in the Tower, not content to wait in her den for news of his return. Triana was there as well, and Dar and Tiella and their children, and Keritanima had handed Wikuna over to the sashka, handing Wikuna a line about wanting Faalken to get some firsthand exposure to dealing with King Arren of Sulasia and the Keeper, which would be necessary duties for a monarch of Wikuna. Camara and Koran Tal also arrived, with Shaul in tow, who was even more blustery and obnoxious than she was as a toddler. Amazons were raised to be aggressive and commanding, and Shaul was the paramount Amazon, even as a little girl. She was bossy, nosy, pushy, and drove most of them crazy. Sarraya arrived the day after the Amazons, with Sathon and Audrey along to check on things in Suld. King Arren began to come over to the Tower every day, to keep up with the news and also to visit old friends. Thean, Jeri, Rahnee, Singer, and Shirazi also seemed to show up, all around the same time, and they made no bones about the fact that they were there to see Tarrin when he came home. They were all closer to the Kael family than other Were-cats. Allia had come as well, but so did half of her tribe. Most of Tarrin’s friends had not met Allia’s parents, Kallan and Kaira, and they were quite surprised at how polite they were, but also demanding respect through their very stances. They too talked with Allia’s distance, her stiffness, uncertainty of their words in Sulasian compounded by the need to act with decorum and honor. Allia’s extended family was there, cousins, aunts, uncles, showing her family first hand the Tower and the amazing people who gathered there. They were all quiet and reserved, reluctant to be too friendly with most, but to Jenna they showed warmth and kindness, for she was the sister of Tarrin and was part of the tribe and Selani by virtue of that relationship. Kallan had even gone so far as to quietly take Jenna aside after they were greeted and try to talk her into taking the brands.

Even Dolanna returned. With her hand on Haley’s arm, they entered the Tower grounds after Haley checked in down at his festhall to make sure everything was going well. Dolanna was certainly marrying someone who wouldn’t make her wash clothes for a living, that was for sure. Haley was one of the richest men in Suld, because his festhall and the surrounding businesses, all his, were the most popular place in town, among both the law abiding people and the shady side of the city. After all, it was the only place in the populated West where someone could come and hear a Dryad sing, four days a ride. That left Ianelle in command of the Pyrosian Tower completely, but Dolanna confided that Ianelle was overjoyed to be able to build a Tower from the ground up, and they couldn’t tear her away until the Pyrosians were running their own Tower.

With Dolanna back in the Tower, everyone was ready and waiting, counting the days with anxious excitement. Even without Tarrin, though, it was a time to renew friendships, tell stories, and reinforce the bonds that made them who they were. It was a time to celebrate, a time to enjoy one of those very rare times when everyone was gathered together in one place. Jenna didn’t get much done, and got even less done when Alexis arrived from Sharadar. Alexis was never very far away from a party or celebration, and she was also a very old friend of Dolanna.

It was a strain on the Tower staff, dealing with so many, and many with unusual eating habits or mannerisms. Having to feed all those people, and many of different races with unusual tastes or strange activity cycles, put a serious strain on the kitchens. Cooks were staffed there at all hours of the day and night, a large menu was drawn up, and the Tower became responsible for a sudden shortage of seafood in Suld. But, the kitchen had always prided itself on having anything the Keeper wanted on hand at any time, so it went overboard ensuring that her personal guests and family were afforded the same luxury.

More got done than simple waiting, especially after Shiika arrived, bringing along with her four Hellhounds that she immediately handed out to people. Dolanna and Haley were given the second largest of the four as an engagement present, a truly massive female that Dolanna decided to name Sibann, which meant greatest gift in Sharadi. Camara Tal was a tiny bit jealous, since Sibann was larger than Ember, her own Hellhound. Sibann had been the alpha female of her pack, a smaller second pack of Hellhounds, but Shiika had disbanded that pack because of rivalries with the main pack she couldn’t resolve. The alpha male, who was the largest of the lot, was given to Azakar to be his bodyguard and companion, which put a second Demonic being under his supervision. Azakar, however, seemed to truly delight in the animal, an animal his size, he had jokingly mentioned. Azakar named it Kanja, which meant formidable in his native Mahuut tongue. Shiika gave the third one to Allia, but at first Allia simply with a polite decline, explaining that Kedaira was all the protection Kor needed, and besides, Selani children needed to experience danger to respect the desert…at least until Kaira got wind of it. She browbeat Allia into accepting the animal, and Allia couldn’t deny her mother. So she took the young male Hellhound, a juvenile but promising to be an absolute beast, maybe the biggest of them all, and named it Siwa, which meant steadfast in Selani. Kallan wasn’t too keen on the idea of bringing a Demon dog into the tribe, but Jenna had enough experience with Forge to know that a fixed Hellhound wasn’t really a Hellhound, it was just a huge dog that was nearly as smart as a person and could breathe fire. Siwa would be just fine, and if Kor wasn’t safe before, he was now the safest living being on Sennadar.

The last, smallest Hellhound nearly caused an apoplexy in the family, because Shiika gave it to Janette. Janine almost burst a blood vessel with her vociferous, strenuous objections to the idea that her daughter would own that animal, and absolutely refused to allow it in her house. Janette simply shrugged her mother off and told her, in simple, blunt terms, that the Tower was her home now, and she would probably never move back into her parent’s house. That caused quite the row between Janine and Janette, which forced Tomas to intervene. The smallest of the Hellhounds was a male with a somewhat timid disposition, since he had been the lowest member of his old pack and was used to being ordered around. Janette named him Brand, and seemed to be quite happy with him. Forge didn’t seem too impressed by him, though, assuming a dominant stance to which Brand immediately capitulated.

Even after that excitement, though, things calmed back down into a nervous anticipation, waiting for the day. Each of them dealt with the waiting in his or her own way. Jenna spent most of the time in discussions with Keritanima, Alexis, and Shiika, talking politics, when she wasn’t being evasive about brands with Kallan. Camara Tal spent a good deal of her time over at the Academy, talking with Azakar and grilling Shaz, trying to divine just how Tarrin had changed her, and how trustworthy she was. Allia spent most of her time around the Academy as well, with her parents and family, introducing them to the Knights and letting them get a feel for each other. Sarraya spent her time trying to get the most detailed account possible of what had happened in Pyrosia, even going so far as to write it all down, getting everyone’s account of the happenings and the battle. Jula retreated with Jeri into the dark halls of the Tower, and Tara and Rina spent most of their time getting what they learned about Sorcery refined by their elders, for they had picked up a lingering trace of memory from their father and sisters from Circling with them under such stressful circumstances, a memory that literally freed them from the Initiate. They had all this lingering knowledge of the Weave, Sorcery, and spells, but needed time and training to understand it and learn how to master their new abilities. It was here were the only difference between the Twins became pronounced. Rina was a very strong Sorcerer, but Tara was stronger than her, one of the strongest. Only da’shar powerhouses like Ianelle would outshine her when she crossed over. Sapphire summoned Tenshale and Nightshade to the Tower, and the three dragons spent much of their time in talks with Kang, Shiika, Keritanima, Jenna, Triana, and Sathon, for the society of dragons wished to start open relations with the humans, but wanted to do it indirectly, through Fae-da’Nar and the relationship between the northwest desert clan Blues and Tarrin’s family. Sapphire and Tenshale were to be ambassadors of sorts to filter important information directly between the bipeds and the dragons through Jenna, Tarrin, Sapphire, and Tenshale, while Nightshade was tasked by the dragons to act as a direct messenger when called upon, since she had a great deal of experience dealing with non-dragons of many races and breeds, given she was an outworlder dragon. Phandebrass and Kyrienna got absorbed in their work, as Kyrienna helped Phandebrass move from the rooms and labs he had been given to the northwest tower so he’d be closer to the Wizard school that now operated there. He had the largest apartment in the tower, with the most labs, where two Wizards could set up a common living area and private library, but separate labs, since the two often studied different things. Dar and Tiella often became impromptu babysitters, watching Faalken and Kor while their parents were busy, since they were the only ones that Keritanima and Allia trusted with their children, and the two children adored Dar and Tiella’s growing brood. They also became the center of things, for everyone knew that Dar and Tiella knew exactly where everyone was all the time, and they found themselves watching the Hellhounds as much as they watched the children, given that Shadow stayed near Faalken at all times, and Forge often preferred to be with Dar and Tiella if everyone else was busy. Most of the time, Dar and Tiella had someone else in their apartment, and usually had three or four Hellhounds there as well.

And Mist…Mist spent most of her time on the balcony of her room, looking out over the sea, patiently waiting.

As the days turned into rides, people got very unsettled. Tarrin had promised a month, and it had almost been a month. There were only five days left before he would be late, and there was already talk, centered on Miranda and Camara Tal, about mounting some kind of expedition out into the multiverse to find him and bring him home. Both of them just couldn’t imprint the idea in them that that would be impossible. Not even Jula, with her given ability to know exactly where Tarrin was, would be capable of it unless they were in the same plane, and there were an unlimited number of planes out there.

It was such an argument that had brought Jula into the thick of it, as they argued about where to start looking. Sarraya, the main protagonist of the group that wanted to find Tarrin if he was late, was arguing with Miranda about the idea of simply waiting in Crossroads until he showed up, but she wasn’t too keen on that idea. “So, you want me to drop my own life to sit in Crossroads, maybe for years, just waiting?” she snapped. “Sarraya, father said he’d be home in a month, and he still has five days. Why all this fretting about something? Just be patient and have a little faith. Father never breaks his word. He has five more days, so we give him five more days.”

“I hate waiting!” Sarraya snapped.

“You’re a Faerie, I’m sure it’s a word you can’t even really understand. Then again, maybe you do. Just wait a minute, and you’ll forget all about whatever got you in such a twist in the first place,” Miranda told her with a cheeky grin.

“I hate you sometimes, Miranda,” Sarraya growled.

“Then I’m doing it right,” she added, which made the Faerie stick her tongue out at the mink.

“How can you be so calm about this?” Sarraya protested to Jula.

“Because I trust my father,” she said simply. “He always—“ she broke off, standing up quickly, then she laughed. “And my trust in him is never misplaced,” she said, giving them a radiant, ecstatic grin.

“He’s here?” Sarraya asked breathlessly.

“He just came through the gate,” she answered with a nod. “He’s in Haven.”

“We should—“

“We can’t do anything,” Jula cut her off. “Haven is Spyder’s domain, and no one can even get in without her permission. Let’s just spread the word and wait. He should be here very soon.”

Home.

It had been so bloody long. Decades out there, and after long last, he had done everything he promised to do, and he was home. He stepped from the gateway and put his foot lightly down on the smooth, bare stone of the gate chamber, and took his first breath of the air of home.

He wasn’t happy as much as he was relieved. The work he’d done for Him had been relatively easy and straightforward, giving him lots of time to think and understand who he was, and come to a simple conclusion.

No matter who he was, he was still Tarrin Kael.

It was the same revelation that Miranda had searched for for all those years, when he looked at himself and saw something that didn’t seem like, like him. What he saw in the mirror wasn’t the man he’d thought it was for all those years. In the time he’d been away, he discovered the same truth that came to Miranda for himself, that he was still Tarrin, and the fact that he was a mi’shara didn’t mean as much as he thought. Even though there was no longer a path out there for him, it wasn’t that bad. He was just like everyone else now. He had no path, no locked future, no task. He had always wanted to be free, and now he was…and when the moment came that he looked out at the horizon, he’d been afraid.

He had been right. All he needed was a little time to get used to the idea that he was no longer a mi’shara with a purpose, though he still had the power. That couldn’t be taken away. He’d always wanted to be free, to live each day on his own terms, doing his own thing, and now, finally, he’d earned that.

Before him, as he expected, stood Spyder. She looked like a formless shadow in that cloak of hers, a cloak that bent space, and within it he knew was an extra-dimensional area like his Portable Hole. She was just as lovely as he remembered, with her sharp cheeks and large blue eyes, and that little scar on her left cheek, a mar that only seemed to enhance her perfection instead of detract from it.

Tarrin took a few steps forward, and then Spyder smiled and reached her hands out to him. He took her slender four-fingered hands in his paws and held them, smiling down at her, and she picked at the white fur on his right paw, then looked up at him curiously.

“He let me keep it,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ve gotten used to it.”

“He?” she asked curiously.

“Long story. Oh,” he said, looking back. “Spyder, there are some people I want you to meet. Well, two, anyway. One you already know.”

Spyder looked curiously, then saw a golden haired Deva step through the gate. It was a face she knew, a face she hadn’t seen for several months, but she did look a little different. Her white wings now had black tips on the feathers, a mark that Ch’Belle had commited some kind of offense against the Deva, and she had been exiled as punishment. She was no longer one of the pure chosen, no longer attached to the order, but had not committed a crime so terrible that her wings turned black, which would mark her as a Fallen One. “Ch’Belle? What do you do here?” she asked.

“Tarrin invited us to come here for a while,” she answered. “I was given permission to come, so how could I refuse?”

“You know him?”

“Of course. We’ve been working together for quite a while.”

“What happened to you?” she asked, looking at her wings.

Ch’Belle blushed slightly and ruffled her wings. “I had to, uh, intentionally get exiled from the order in order to take my new job. They couldn’t know I was called to another task, so I had to misbehave. It’s subterfuge. I’ll regain my position when my work is done.”

“Ah.”

Behind her came a gnarled old woman with long gray-white hair, wearing a simple peasant dress and a cloak, but the sinuous grace with which she move belied her elderly appearance. “Spyder, I’d like you to meet Mother Wynn,” Tarrin said. “She’s been my teacher for a while. She’s almost as strict as you.”

“I doubt that,” Spyder said with a smile. “A pleasure. It is nice to know the name that goes with the face.”

“So, you remember me, do you?” Mother Wynn asked with a cackle.

“I do not forget, madam. Ever,” she said simply. “It has been a few thousand years, but I remember you.”

Mother Wynn cackled again as another figure came through the gate. It was a small Arakite girl wearing a boy’s doublet and leather trousers. Given her narrow hips and lack of a bust, she almost looked like a boy.

“This is Sashi,” Tarrin introduced. “One of my friends.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Spyder,” Sashi said in a gentle voice, offering her hand. “Tarrin goes on and on about you.”

“A friend to Tarrin is a friend to me,” she said graciously. “How did you come to know him?”

“He’s been working with us for a while,” she answered. “We, um, do certain things for certain people that they don’t want to be common knowledge.”

“She means we’re spies, thieves, sneaks, and sometimes we’re assassins,” Wynn said in a slaty voice. “Any time something needs done that people can’t dirty their hands over, it comes down to us.”

“And they’re very good at it,” Ch’Belle noted with a sly look.

“They? You’re in it with us, goldie,” Wynn barked at her.

“Ah. So, this is what you have been doing? Skulking around the planes as a cat burglar?”

“Among other things,” he said dryly. “But right now, I really want to see my family. You need to come with us, Spyder. I think you could do with a little break.”

She took a step back, and threw her cloak back from her left shoulder. “Really? And where do you think you are going, Tarrin?” she asked archly. “You seem to forget that my duty is to defend the gate against all incursion. And you and your companions are an incursion.”

Tarrin sighed. “Don’t be difficult. You know I have the right to pass.”

“I’m not being difficult,” she said in Sha’Kar with a slight smile. “I just seem to recall a certain promise you made to me. If you want through that door, brother, you have to earn it.”

The corner of Tarrin’s mouth curled up slightly. “I just get home, and you’re spoiling for a fight?” he asked.

“I would not hurt my brother,” she said simply. “But you did promise me any place, any time. I have waited quite a while for it.” She did smile then, an eager smile. “I choose here and now.”

“Pay up,” Wynn demanded, holding a gnarled hand in front of Sashi. The small girl scowled, and handed a small white coin to the old woman.

“Girl, you’re just making it ugly,” Tarrin told her, and his voice was not kind or gentle. “I want to see my family.”

“Then you have suitable motivation,” she answered simply. “I am ensured you are not holding back.”

Tarrin closed his paw on empty air, but in his paw was a gleaming crystal staff, the light in the chamber spending prisms of rainbow color scillinting off of it. He pointed it at her. “You just better hope you have enough strength when I’m done to heal yourself, Spyder.”

“You think he’s serious?” Sashi asked Wynn. “He might go after her for real.”

The old woman shook her head. “No, he’s been looking forward to this. And he wouldn’t hurt her.”

“And you bet on if she would press it immediately?” Ch’Belle asked.

“I won,” Wynn said smugly.

“Be glad you did not bring that bet to me,” Ch’Belle chuckled. “I would not have taken it. I know Spyder.”

“That’s why I didn’t bet you. Now, I think we’d better move back a little. I don’t think we want to get between those two.”

“By the way,” Ch’Belle noted as they backed up. “I’ll put ten krin on Spyder.”

“I’ll take that action,” Wynn cackled. “Easy money.”

“You don’t know Spyder as I do, Wynn. The easy money is mine.”

Spyder produced a weapon that Tarrin had never seen before, at least not as a conscious choice. She pulled a very long length of black metal chain from the depths of her cloak, with small pendulum-like weights on each end. Tarrin quickly worked through the potential of such a weapon in his mind as he took a couple of steps back and pulled his staff up into the end grip. Blocking that thing would be useless on the links, he realized. The weighted end would simply swing in, bending around his staff or paw or arm, and strike at the soft parts behind that raised protection. Any blocks would have to be at the weight, nowhere else, or he’d either be struck or have the chain wrap around his staff or arm. He saw the potential of snagging him in the weapon, a weapon that could snare an arm or leg, or snag his weapon, allowing her to attack with the other end of the chain or her hands or feet. The weapon would give her both long reach and dangerous power close in, and since it was an archaic weapon, and she had thousands of years to practice with it, she would be a total master wielding it. He had no doubt he was about to learn what a chain could do as a weapon. She had defeated Tsukatta repeatedly, and she probably did it using that weapon.

Spyder then did something which shocked him; she unclasped her cloak and let it fall to the floor. She stepped away from it, snapping the chain taut before her. “It makes me invincible, and that is no measure of who is better,” she explained simply, with a slight smile.

“Well, then I guess it’s only fair that I face you with nothing more or less than I had when I left,” he said simply.

“Oh, no, my brother. Hold nothing back. I want to face you at your absolute best.”

Tarrin raised his white-furred paw, and Spyder gasped when she rose into the air, through nothing more than the exercise of Tarrin’s will. “I’ve been taught new tricks while I was gone, Spyder,” he told her. “Want me to spin you around til you throw up?”

“Well, if you are willing to put yours away,” she said, nodding her head upward. Tarrin felt himself get pulled up into the air, in the exact manner he had lifted her. All mi’shara, he’d learned from Wynn, had some degree of Psionic power, the ability to exert control or effect change on reality with nothing but the power of the mind. It was a side effect of being what they were, since they were creatures who were just outside the natural order of things, and could command that natural order in unnatural ways. Most of the training he’d received was on how to use this power.

He should have known! Spyder could exert her will against reality, just as Mother Wynn had taught him! She knew how to reach beyond her granted power as a mi’shara and touch on the power to affect reality with her mind alone, and she had learned to do it on her own! “Then I will refrain from using the powers of the mind I have mastered over my lifespan. Weapons and magic only is fine with me.”

“So that’s how you disappear without using magic!” Tarrin realized with a laugh.

She nodded. “Anyone who lives as long as I have cannot help but develop Psionic power. But my question, brother, is who taught you?”

“Mother Wynn,” he said, putting her down. She put him down in return, and then brought her chain up.

“There will be time enough to catch up afterwards,” she told him. “Don’t keep me waiting any longer.”

“This won’t take long.”

“Promises, promises,” she taunted, crooking a finger at him.

There was no feeling out, no signal, no warning. Tarrin was upon her in an instant, and from the first chiming tang of steel against the harmonic crystal of his staff, he knew she would be the most dangerous foe he had ever faced. She was as fast as Allia, and moved with sinuous grace and strength. In the blink of an eye, that taut section of chain blocked seven strikes of the staff from various angles, almost impossible ones, high low high low low high low as the staff moved with such blazing speed it looked like a rainbow of light captured in his paws. Spyder slithered back and lashed out with both ends of her chain, which caused him to weave and dodge, contorting himself even as he struck back with his staff. End grip flowed into center grip and back to end grip as the two traded furious, mind-numbingly fast series of strikes, which Spyder blocked and Tarrin evaded. Spyder flowed through her forms like living water, her entire body moving with a strange, hypnotic kind of rhythm that he realized what what kept the chain moving, kept it dangerous. Her entire body moved in harmony with that twenty span length of chain, and she was as much a weapon as it was. He found that out the hard way as he evaded several whizzing chain ends, as she seemed to bobble and teeter in the middle, then he felt his breath try to whoosh out of his lungs when her booted foot slammed into his ribs. He reacted with his unnatural strength, tensing his muscles even as her foot tried to drive into him, resising the force of the blow. She rebounded and lashed both ends of the chain at his head from opposite sides, but he responded by evading the left weight and snapping his staff out to catch the right side. The weighted end wrapped around his staff and snagged tight, and the instant it did, he yanked as hard as he could to try to rip the weapon out of her hands.

She simply came with it. She vaulted into the air when he yanked and let his pull drag her along. Tarrin raised a foot and slammed it into her leg in defense, kicking her backwards and out to the length of the chain, which prevented her from going any further. She let more slack out and pulled back in, spinning, and he barely got his foot up to intercept her own. He blocked three kicks with his leg, bent back to evade the weighted end of the other side of the chain, then his back twisted in an unnatural position for a human when she punched him squarely in the midsection with her free hand, all done before her feet even set back on the floor. And the instant those feet were on the floor she knelt and tried to sweep Tarrin’s feet out from under him with her shin, but he set his tail on the floor and looped over it, putting a paw down to let him walk over, putting him back out at a safe distance. He stayed low as she tried to hit him with the end of the chain, then she snapped the chain in an odd manner that caused it to release from his staff.

Goddess, s