The Demoness reached the top, and seconds later Tarrin set foot at the top of the platform. He looked around, but all else was forgotten when his eyes locked on his daughter. Two boar-headed nalfeshnee stood on either side of his daughter, who looked unharmed, but was still wearing the same clothes that she had on when she was taken. They were badly torn and absolutely filthy, and her hair and fur were similarly stained, but there was little defeat in his daughter's fierce green eyes. She glowered at the Demons, stared defiantly at them, glared at the others on the dais, but when her eyes met his, there was nothing but boundless joy and relief. She made a move to run to them, but Tarrin put out a quick paw, and she nodded and bowed her head slightly, folding her little paws before her. She would wait. He was there now, and her father would make everything alright.
Tarrin tore his eyes away from his daughter and looked around. There were ten figures on the platform aside from him and Jesmind and Jasana, and seven of them were Demons. The two nalfeshnee and the marilith, as well as a single Cambisi, a four-armed glabrezu, and a hideous creature that looked like a gigantic fly with a hideous, vaguely human-like head. The seventh was a creature that towered over all the others, with a vaguely ape-like body and a canine maw, with burning red eyes. It was huge, with membranous, bat-like wings that had many tears and holes in them, and an aura of fire and heat seemed to shimmer around it. Tarrin recognized this creature as the mightiest of the Demons, a vicious, powerful brute known as a balor. These were the direct servants of the Demon Lords, the unique beings that held absolute power over their infernal realms in another dimension of reality. Phandebrass said they were quite smart and incredibly powerful, almost as powerful as a minor godling, but they lacked the refined cunning and cleverness of the marilith. The three humans on the dais looked extremely uncomfortable, and it was apparent that one of them was a slave of some kind. She was a quite pretty woman with dark hair and lustrous dark eyes, stripped naked, with a collar around her neck that had a chain attached to it, a chain whose end laid negligently on the floor, unattended, but that did not bolster the woman into jumping up and fleeing. She knew that it would be pointless. She knelt by the statue with her eyes on the floor, a look of utter defeated misery on her face, trembling in fear. The other two humans were gray-haired men wearing simple black robes, standing behind and to each side of the black stone statue with their hands in their sleeves, simply waiting to serve.
Tarrin's eyes fixed on that statue. That was the icon of Val, and within it, all of his power had been imprisoned by Spyder five thousand years ago. It looked remarkably nondescript, much like the icon of the Goddess didn't seem to be what it actually was. It shared her icon's detail in appearance, the individual hairs on the statue's head visible, but this statue wore a robe, where the icon of the Goddess was unclad. Tarrin realized that that had to have been how Val appeared in life before using the Firestaff to become a god.
The marilith slithered up to the statue and bowed deeply to it. My Master, as I promised, so I deliver, he heard her mental voice address the icon. The Were-cat. He brings the staff.
I am pleased with you, Shaz'baket, the voice of Val emanated from that statue, a voice that chilled Tarin's soul. As is promised, Lyselle is yours.
The woman kneeling on the floor moaned in pitiful despair, her head dropping to the stone as she curled over herself.
The marilith slithered aside and took a place to the immediate left hand of the statue, reaching down and grabbing the chain. She jerked it sharply, literally dragging the woman to her by the neck, and the woman made no attempt to resist. She settled into a submissive kneel at the Demon's scaly side, her head lowering and her hands resting on her knees. The Demoness' green scaled snake body coiled around the human, but did not crush her, as if to establish her ownership of the woman.
As I wanted, so it is, the voice of Val reached out and struck at Tarrin like a thousand hammers, the full power of the god lashing out with that communication. I wanted to look into your eyes as you die, mortal. And be assured, you will die today. Who dies with you is the only matter subject to negotiation.
Tarrin looked up towards the hole in the sky, and saw that Vala had already started passing in front of Domammon. The Twin Moons, Duva and Kava, were but moments from touching the edge of Domammon's white disk, Duva completely concealed behind Kava, already lined up with one another. That one glance told him exactly how much time he had, and it wasn't very much. The conjunction would occur in mere moments. As soon as the borders of the four moons mingled, even without them being perfectly lined up, the conjunction would be upon them. The instant Duva and Kava passed their edge in front of Vala's edge, the conjunction would be upon them, and it would remain so until the Twin Moons' edge passed clear of Vala's opposite side. A span of twenty minutes.
Bringing himself up to his full height as Jesmind's eyes stayed locked on their daughter, on the far side of the statue and with two Demons guarding her, Tarrin looked at the icon of Val with cold, dead eyes. "You already know the bargain," he announced aloud. "Release my daughter, and do not interfere with her or her mother as they leave this place. When they are free of here, and only when they are free of here, I will give you what you want. Double-cross me, and I'll make sure you spend eternity trapped in your prison, godling." He put a paw around his amulet and reached within, deep within, through the Cat and into the boundless power of the All. He caused the All to reach into the Weave, and the Weave somewhat startlingly responded to that summons, boiling out through the All and filling him with its power. Magelight appeared around his paw, around the paw holding the amulet, a clear indication that he was ready to carry out his threat the instant he felt that he was being betrayed. "It is a simple bargain. Accept or decline as you wish, but know that I'll carry out my threat the instant you backstab me."
Then the lives of you and your mate and daughter are forfeit, and their souls will belong to this one, Val responded, and the balor stepped forward.
"I'll go knowing that I forever denied you the one thing you desire more than anything else in the world," Tarrin hissed in response. "That will be sweet satisfaction no matter what torture you lay over me."
And you would condemn your mate and daughter to similar torment?
"If we're going to die, we may as well spit in your eyes on the way down," Jesmind hissed at the god vituperiously, surprising Tarrin with the raw emotion in her voice.
"Face it, weakened god," Tarrin hissed. "There is no way you're going to get all three of us and the Firestaff as well. I offered you a bargain. The Firestaff for the release of my daughter and mate. That choice is yours, but remember that you have a deadline," he said, pointing to the hole in the ceiling meaningfully.
And I think you fail to understand that you deal with a god, mortal, the voice emanating from the icon hissed, and Tarrin felt an explosive release of power.
Jesmind stepped back in shock and fear as darkness surrounded the statue of Val, living darkness, enshrouding it like a blanket of inky blackness that boiled like an angry stormcloud. The veil of darkness, the cloud of black swelled and expanded, lifting off the floor, took form a vague shifting shadow of darkness that seemed to suck in all light and heat, leaving the place cold and empty. Jesmind gaped at the shadowed visage before them, just as the marilith Shaz'baket stared up at it with something approaching adulation. That dark form, the true form of the god Val, his icon caught up within his form, looked down at Tarrin and Jesmind with hollow, dim white eyes, the features the same as the features of the icon, but now cast in shades and dimensions of solid shadow, of living darkness. The oppressive power of Val became almost unbearable as the god released his power into the room, establishing his godly presence. He felt that power crush down on him like an attack, using his divine power to smite at the will of the Were-cat, seeking to smother his desires and intent under a hooded mask of control, seeking to subdue his will and make him a puppet of the god.
Tarrin's mind reacted instantaneously and savagely to that a
ttempt. He reached as deeply into the All as he could, bringing forth all the magic of the Weave he could muster. He formed a shield of raw power with it, again working with the the raw, elemental state of energy, beyond Spheres, beyond order, magic at its most primal form. Again, just as before, he felt the Goddess rear up behind that power, the might of her hand reaching between him and the power of Val, and turning it aside. Jesmind clung to his back, seeking his protection, her claws digging into him, whimpering slightly as the effect of Val's attack was swept out of her mind by the protection of the Goddess. He struck again, and then again, but each time he was foiled by the power behind him. He turned his attentions to Jasana, gathering himself up to crush the child, but then he stopped before unleashing that attack, understanding that it would be the one thing he could not do, the one thing that would make Tarrin carry out his threat and forever deny to him that which he most desired.
"And I think you forget that I am not alone!" Tarrin shouted hotly in the face of that living darkness. "You are nothing compared to the might of my Goddess! Face it, Val! You can't have everything, so choose what it is you want! You can have the Firestaff, or you can have us and never get the Firestaff!" he raged, putting a paw over his amulet threateningly. "Which do you want more?"
Val howled in fury, a sound that chilled Tarrin's soul, a sound of the purest form of anger and hatred. He felt the god's terrible power gather itself, but Tarrin plunged his awareness down into the weaves of his amulet, setting his will like a knife against them in such a way that if his concentration was disrupted, the loss of his power would destroy the weaves of the amulet and destroy everything held within the elsewhere it created. "Now then," Tarrin hissed. "This is what is going to happen. Jesmind is going to go get my daughter, and they are going to leave. Nobody will get in their way. They will march out of here, and when they are safely away from here, I'll give you what you want. But not a second before that!" he shouted.
He felt Val's awareness probe into the amulet, and it seemed startled that Tarrin could so completely intertwine his power into the staggeringly complex weave of the amulet in the way that he had. Unless he very carefully withdrew his power from the amulet, he would destroy its power. "If you make one more attempt to attack us or stop us, I'll cut the weaves! I swear I will!"
And then your lives and souls are mine to vent my fury upon for all eternity! Val retorted in a grim manner, the living shadow making up his form shifting in anger and anxiety.
"I can live with that," he replied in a voice so cold, so ruthless, so utterly devoid of emotion that even Val was taken aback. "They chose me because I can make the decisions that must be made," he said in a dead voice. "It's not the first time I've had to choose like this, and by the Goddess, it will be the last. So test my resolve, you worthless bastard," he spat. "Try me. Push me and see how far I will go, how far I'll go to deny you what you want, no matter what it costs me. You should know, you had a hand in making me what I am today," he hissed spitefully. "So if you don't think I'll do it, you just go right ahead and try attacking one of us again. I dare you."
It hung there for a long, utterly silent moment, a moment absolutely charged with energy. Tarrin glared up into the shifting shadows of Val's form, and the god stared down at the Were-cat with utter hatred on his face, but also a very sincere concern. The Demons, Jesmind, and Jasana stared at the two of them in mute shock, but Jasana had a resolute expression on her face, clenching her little paws repeatedly. The three humans, overwhelmed by the power of what was taking place before them, look dumbfounded and totally confused.
And as Val considered, as he debated, as he decided if Tarrin really had the nerve to do it, the seconds kept ticking away, the moons came closer and closer together.
There was a moment of dreadful fury that emanated from that shadowy form, then it pulled back slightly from the ground. Then so be it, Val said in a furious manner. The two females are free to go.
Tarrin glared viciously up at the shadowy form, showing absolutely no fear. "Jesmind," he said in a careful voice. "Go."
Shaking off her shock, Jesmind patted his back and quickly rushed across the platform, avoiding going directly under the hovering shadow-form of Val, as Jasana suddenly rushed away from the two Demons flanking her. They did nothing to prevent her. Jesmind knelt and held out her arms, and Jasana jumped up into her embrace, hugging her tightly, tears flowing down her cheeks as Jesmind crushed her in a powerful embrace.
Tarrin didn't look at them too long. Seeing them like that could be his undoing. He kept his eyes on the dark form of Val, his eyes narrowed and his ears back, his long tail almost straight out behind him as he kept his paw and his power on the amulet around his neck, threatening to destroy it the instant Val showed signs of betraying the deal.
"On my back, cub," Jesmind said in a tight voice, and Jasana settled herself on Jesmind's back, her little arms wrapped around her mother's neck. Jesmind stood up and gave Tarrin a long searching look, but Tarrin only gave her a barely perceptible nod. Jesmind turned and rushed back across the platform, then passed by Tarrin. She looked deeply into his eyes, but there was nothing in his gaze that gave her hope that he would be right behind her. He looked deeply into her eyes, looked at her beautiful face, taking in the sight of her, memorizing her every line, her every curve, branding her into his memory, giving him something that could never be taken away from him.
Her eyes brimmed over with tears, and then she turned away from him and started towards the stairs.
In that moment, one of the programmed things clicked in his mind. He had to tell the Goddess something. Mother, he called silently in his mind. Summon the army.
It's too soon, kitten! she replied urgently.
It's the perfect time, he answered.
He felt her invade his mind once again, but this time she searched much more deeply than she did the time before. This time, she found what he was hiding, and her touching of it caused her to shrink back from in shock. Oh, kitten! she wailed in his mind. NO!
Do it, and protect Jesmind and Jasana, he said, then he pulled away from her. He looked up at the moons. The time was but a moment away. As he'd hoped, the bantering and useless posturing and threats and counter-threats had eaten up what little time there was left, time to do nothing but stand around and wait.
Now came the gamble.
Withdrawing his power from the amulet carefully so as not to damage it, he reached out his right paw and summoned forth the Firestaff. The lull of the artifact became a loud roar in his mind as soon as his fingers closed over the strange stone-like material of its length, and Val's shifting form suddenly expanded when he saw the object he had desired for so long within his reach. The black stone of the Firestaff was actually glowing now, radiating a powerful reddish aura that illuminated the boiling black clouds within Val's shifting shadow form. The Demons all seemed to lean forward when Tarrin brought the Firestaff forth, reaching out for the power that they all yearned to possess for themselves.
"Here it is, Val," he said in a grim tone, standing fully erect with the glowing staff held lightly in his paws, reaching within and summoning up the power of Sorcery through his Druidic magic, causing the paws holding that glowing staff to begin to glow with soft blue light. "If you want it...then try to take it."
There was nothing Tarrin could have said or done that could have enraged the bound god more than that. With an infuriated howl, Val struck at the Were-cat with enraged fervor, a blasting wave of power that Tarrin had never before conceived possible. The Were-cat stood defiantly in the face of that power, Firestaff held before him as he summoned up every iota of power at his command. Sorcery, Druidic magic, the Wizard energy within the Weave, the raw, unaltered energy that was the base of all magic, and his powerful faith in his Goddess. He did nothing with them more than use them as a shield against the might of an enraged god, defending instead of attacking. Val's full might crashed down on the Were-cat as a wave of unfathomable blackness, and Tarrin's knees buckled under the ass
ault. The magic within him, around him, before him, actually withstood that initial crash of collisions. Intense pain roared through him as he fought against a tidal wave of power against which he could not stand for long, felt it blasting into his defenses, seeking any weakness through which it could pour and strike at the vulnerable mortal hiding behind that power.
This was the gamble. This was the moment of truth, when the Goddess was engaged with transporting the army and could not help him. He didn't have to hold out forever, just long enough for the Goddess to complete her task and rejoin her power to his and protect them. He had infuriated the god to such a degree that Tarrin was the only thing he could see, the ony thing that mattered, and all that existed in that terrible moment was destroying the defiant Were-cat and claiming the prize that Tarrin had dangled so tauntingly in his face.
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