"Go," he said flatly.
She stuck her tongue out at him, then turned and buzzed off towards a rock spire that was about a longspan from the canyon.
She was nearly as bad as Denai.
"Well, it looks like I'll never settle my blood debt," Denai huffed. "Now I owe blood debt to you, Var. You stopped me when I fell."
"It's not important," Var panted in reply. "We wore the rope for mutual protection. That we had to use it isn't a matter of blood."
"So you say," she said stubbornly. "I feel I owe you blood debt. Do you want to fight about it once we recover?"
"You'll lose."
"Not this time I won't."
"And you'll dig yourself deeper with your loss."
"That's my problem, isn't it?"
Tarrin raised an eyebrow--and more to the point, he opened his nose. Tarrin's sense of smell was exceptionally acute, and he'd been around Selani long enough to understand how their scents related to their moods. Just like humans, Selani had specific textures in their scents that related to happiness, anger, fear, and other common emotions. Denai's scent carried a spicy texture to it that told him that she was starting to show interest in Var.
It was about time.
Tarrin realized that Denai had slipped on purpose. She did it to incur blood debt to Var, to give her a reason to stay with him. She couldn't settle her debt with Var until she finished settling it with Tarrin. It explained why she wasn't frightened or screaming when she fell. Anyone, even a Selani--even him--would have done more than give out that little cry when faced with falling so far that one would probably die of panic before hitting the ground. No wonder she wasn't hurt, or she wasn't all panicky after she reached the end of the rope. She had been ready for it.
He was right. Denai was crazy. She was totally fearless, probably too fearless for her own good. To risk her life just to give herself an excuse to catch herself a man! That was the craziest thing he'd ever seen!
She did more than risk her own life, she had put all three of them in danger!
The minute he realized that, he felt a surge of hostility towards the affable Selani girl, but it quickly died away. Were-cat females weren't exactly well known for their restraint. What Denai did wasn't much crazier as what Rahnee or Jesmind might do.
Jesmind. He wondered what she was doing, and if she was well. In a strange way, he still missed her, and missed her terribly. He wanted to kill her for abandoning him, but he still yearned for her in that peculiar way. Not just for her companionship, but for the sense of safety he had felt when he was around her.
But that was a cub's reaction to the big scary world, and he was too old for it now.
And he thought that the Selani were immune to acting like total idiots when it came to hormones. Denai was thinking with her glands, not her head. Then again, she was young. Allia certainly wouldn't be so foolish. If she wanted Var, she'd march right up to him and tell him in no uncertain terms exactly what her intentions were. It was Allia's way. But not every Selani was Allia. Just like humans, they were very different from one another, within certain cultural boundaries.
Tarrin tuned out their arguing long enough to not realize when they stopped. Sarraya came flitting back several moments later, a smile on her face. "There's a nice flat on the far side of that rock spire," she reported. "It's perfect for a campsite. I already conjured up all our camp gear, so it's waiting for you."
"Good. Get up," he called over his shoulder. "We have to be there by sunset, or we'll attract Sandmen."
They made it in plenty of time. Tarrin got the fire going as Var and Denai wearily went out and killed something to eat, then dragged themselves back. Tarrin watched as they broiled the catch, a fairly large umuni, on a stick Sarraya conjured up, and then took his portion and went to the far side of the fire. Var rolled himself up in his bedroll the instant he was done eating, and was asleep before he stopped moving.
Tarrin stood up as Denai spat out a bone from the lizard, and then she gave out a squeak when he hauled her up off the ground by the back of her shirt. He pulled her up and turned her so she was looking him right in the eyes, her feet dangling two spans off the ground, and his expression was enough to make her very, very frightened.
"If you ever do something as stupid as you did today, I'll make sure your father finds what's left of you scattered over three day's run from here to the Cloud Spire. Do you understand me?"
"I didn't--"
"Do you understand me?" he hissed savagely, his ears laying back and his eyes igniting from within with that unholy greenish radiance that clearly marked his anger. Sarraya had described all the warning signs to Denai, and the expression of sudden terror on her face made it clear to him that she understood that one.
"I--yes," she said in a fearful voice. "I understand. Can I get down now?"
Tarrin dropped her roughly, causing her to fall to her backside with her teeth clicking.
"Now go to sleep," he commanded harshly, "before I decide to make you sleep in the dark."
She didn't say a word. She just scrambled to her bedroll beside Var and rolled herself up in it, then rolled over so her back was to him.
Tarrin snorted, then went back to his side of the fire. That had been sufficient. She knew better now, or at least she'd better. Tarrin did not make idle threats. If she continued to be stupid, then he would kill her, if only to protect the rest of them from her.
The camp was quiet for a long time. Sarraya kept looking at him curiously, and when Denai's breathing slowed into the deep pattern of sleep, she roused herself from her seat near the fire. "What was that all about?" Sarraya whispered, flitting over and landing on his shoulder.
Tarrin blew out his breath, then told her. That made Sarraya blanch slightly, then chuckle. "She's got guts."
"It was stupid," he snarled. "She could have killed all three of us with that stunt."
"But she didn't. I'm not surprised she'd do something like that. Denai's kinda fearless, if you haven't noticed."
"It's called a lack of common sense," he grunted. "I should make Var marry her, if only to let his good sense keep her from getting killed."
"Var likes her. He told me so."
"Denai's scent tells me everything I need to know about how she feels," Tarrin replied. "She's young, but she's an adult. She may be coming in season, but I'm not sure yet."
"What?"
"Selani are like Were-cats, Sarraya. They're only fertile a few rides every six months, and that affects their behavior. Allia explained it to me. You haven't been with us long enough to see Allia in season, but I have. She gets very cranky. Almost like a human woman."
"What does that have to do with it?"
"She gets cranky because she has no release. Denai does."
"Var," Sarraya giggled.
"Denai likes him, but if she's coming in season, it's going to make her militant." He scratched his nose. "She was toying with trying to catch his eye before, but now it seems that she's taking steps. And it's more than just a quick roll in the blankets. If that's all Denai wanted, it would be as easy as inviting him into a tent."
"Oh."
"Selani are pretty casual about things like that. They don't attach sex to relationships the way humans do. But Denai is young, so I'm not sure what she's after yet. Maybe she's fishing for Var, or maybe she just wants to play with him before satisfying the demands of being in season. I'm not sure. She's pretty erratic for a Selani."
"They'd be a good couple."
"If Denai doesn't get them both killed," Tarrin said sourly. "And us too, while she's at it."
"Give her a break, Tarrin. Weren't you ever like that when you were a kid?"
"Probably," he admitted. "I used to do all sorts of crazy things when I was a kid, but at least I didn't get others in trouble with me. I only had myself to blame if I messed up, and I was the only one who would pay for it."
"You, do crazy things? I can't believe that," she said with a totally insincere grin.
"Childhood is the time for insanity," he grunted. "The ones who are either lucky enough or smart enough survive to reach maturity."
Sarraya laughed. "I never looked at childhood as a process of natural selection before," she told him with a grin.
"Of course it is. Kids who do stupid things usually don't live long enough to reproduce, unless they're either very lucky or have very alert parents. Weakness and illness are the weeding out processes for animals. Blatant stupidity is the weeding out process for humans."
Sarraya laughed. "So, for humans, it's survival of the smartest?"
"Or the luckiest," he shrugged. "Maybe the richest."
"You look worn out, Tarrin. Why don't you get some sleep? I'll keep the fire going tonight. I feel kind of bad that you three worked so hard, when I did little more than ride along."
"I think that I'll do that," he said with a sudden yawn. "Goodnight, Sarraya." He twisted around a little and shapeshifted into his cat form, then curled up by the fire. He really was tired. More tired than he'd been in quite a while. He closed his eyes, and sleep claimed him almost immediately.
Denai had taken his threat seriously, because she was remarkably well behaved the next day. She kept giving Tarrin fearful looks as he instructed Sarraya in Sha'Kar as they travelled more or less due north. He had been serious. He liked Denai, but he wasn't about to let her wild nature put his life in jeopardy. Next thing he knew, she'd be bringing kajats to the campsite to try to impress Var, and fighting kajats on a daily basis was not on his list of fun things to do.
The campsite that night was one of quiet reservation. Denai was remarkably cowed, and went to sleep almost immediately after sunset. Var wasn't very comfortable being generally alone with Tarrin, so he went to sleep soon afterward, leaving Tarrin and Sarraya to enjoy the rest of the night in relative peace.
But like any youngster, Tarrin's ugly threats had only affected her for so long. As days stretched into rides, Denai slowly returned to her more fearless character, again teasing and challenging Var whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Their destination was the Cloud Spire. Not because Tarrin wanted to go to the Selani Gathering, but because both Var and Denai needed to contact their tribes, to let them know that they were alright. Tarrin could understand that, so he was willing to go on a small detour to get there. It was only about a day out of his way, and they'd saved more than that crossing the Great Canyon. Neither of their tribes would be at the Gathering when they arrived, but at least the two could wait there for them to arrive. Tarrin also wanted to go there because he had no intention of taking them along with him past Gathering. He liked Denai and he could tolerate Var, but to be honest about it, he had no reason to take them with him after that. Denai had guided him past the major obstacles in the region, and that was all she really needed to do. It was time to let them go back home. He'd feel a little better if he knew that those two were away from him, where his ability to draw in trouble didn't put them in jeopardy. Denai had had her adventure, and Var had got more than he had probably bargained for when he asked to come along. Both of them had their own lives, and it was time for them to go back to them.
The travel north had done more than allowed him to reach that conclusion. As they moved north, the power of the Conduit in that direction became more and more clear to him, and about a ride after leaving the canyon, he realized that what he was feeling wasn't a Conduit at all. It was something close to a Conduit, but it wasn't a part of the Weave. It was some kind of artifact or magical object, and judging from the power it emanated, it was incredibly powerful. Its power had something to do with drawing in the magical energy of the Weave and directing it, that was why it gave off a sensation much akin to a Conduit. Conduits were, after all, little more than major strands, where the magic of many strands joined and was directed back into the heart of the Weave. This object performed a similar function, but it didn't seem to do anything with the magic it channeled. It simply directed it. That confused him, really confused him, because he couldn't sense any kind of companion object that did anything with that power.
About two days after he made that realization, he finally figured out why he didn't feel anything. He had been wrong twice. The object was something of a focus, and it did sit on a major Conduit. What made it so curious was that the object was what was creating the Conduit. It was like a magnifying glass set before the sun, creating a beam of light hot enough to burn paper. The object sat on a minor Conduit and focused that power, and turned it into a major Conduit. It was both a Conduit and a magical device, and the blurring of their two magicks had given him conflicting sensations.
That piqued his curiosity. An object of that magical power was something not seen since the Breaking, and from the feel of it, no modern magician would have been capable of creating it. Its magic was too strong, and the sense of it was that it was exceedingly old, like his amulet. It, like his amulet, had somehow managed to survive the Breaking. He wondered what it was, and where it was.
The next morning, the morning before they sat out for their day's journey, he decided that whatever it was, it was worth checking out. It had a magical power that put it on a level with what he expected the Firestaff to be. There was an outside chance that it could actually be the Firestaff, hidden out here in what became the Desert of Swirling sands after it was last used, some five thousand years ago. That was a possibility that he absolutely could not risk ignoring. Whatever this object was, he had to see it, to discount it so he could move on. The Goddess had said that he had to go back to Suld to find the Firestaff, but maybe she had just said that to give him an excuse to go through the desert, to put him in a position where he could find the Firestaff on his own, without her help. Maybe the vision of the strange town with the exotic buildings was wrong. Maybe it had just been a common dream placed in the middle of the succession of foretelling images the Goddess had put in his head.
Even if that weren't the case, he found that he couldn't just pass by whatever this object was, not without looking at it and figuring out why it was out here.
They pulled in around noon for a meal and to cool off, finding a small den of sorts in the side of a rock spire. The region was pretty much well denuded of plant life, showing that a Selani tribe had passed through with their flocks in the last few days. The day was particularly hot, and even his Selani companions were starting to drag a little bit under the merciless sun. He had sat down and counted back through the months the night before, and he was shocked to realize that it was almost the dead of winter back home. It hadn't felt like so much time had passed. Yet out here, it was just one hot day after another, with very little to give him a sense that the seasons were passing aside from the rotation of the stars and the phases of the moons. Midwinter. Jenna was fourteen now, and if they were still in Ungardt, then she had to be freezing her shift off. If there was indeed a war in Sulasia, it had to have bogged down in the heavy snows common there this time of year. Allia and his friends were still safely in the Tower, waiting for him, and Keritanima was probably on the way there by now.
He saw no reason not to find out. He excused himself from the others and climbed up the rock spire, a particularly tall and wide one, and reached its flat top. He seated himself facing north, then took his amulet in his paw and formed an image of his sister in his mind. "Keritanima," he called.
"Tarrin?" she replied almost immediately. "Where have you been? I've been worrying about you!" She was speaking in Sha'Kar, the accented Sha'Kar that Tarrin had shed with his contact with the Sha'Kar woman.
"I'm alright, sister," he told her. "I'm still in the desert. Where are you right now?"
"About halfway to Suld," she replied. "The icebergs have been pretty bad for so early in the year, so I'm getting a little peeved. Miranda says hello."
"Hi, Miranda," he called. He knew that Miranda could hear her.
"What's with the dialect?" she asked.
"Kerri, you wouldn't believe me if I told you," he replied. "Let's just say that
I learned the proper pronunciations from someone that I know was right."
"I take it that it's something you don't want to talk about like this?"
"Exactly. How did things go before you left?"
"Pretty good, actually," she said with a brightness in her voice that told him she was smiling. "I managed to get the nobles to heel. Sashka is probably teaching them how to sit up and beg about now, I'd imagine. He made it pretty clear that the Consitution I gave him to go by would be the absolute law of the land, and the nobles aren't stupid enough to not believe him. They also know that I gave Sashka power of the military, so if they try anything funny, he'll crush them. I may have a heart, but Sashka is a Vendari. His idea of warfare tends to go along the lines of 'scorched earth.' The nobility won't cross him."
Tarrin smiled. "I'm glad things worked out pretty well. How are Zak, Binter, and Sisska?"
"Zak is fine. Binter and Sisska stayed in Wikuna."
"Why?"
"Sisska is pregnant," she replied calmly. "There was absolutely no way I was going to permit her to travel. I have a new Vendari bodyguard named Szath. He's pretty unimaginative and not very bright, but at least he gets along with Zak. I guess that's all that matters."
"Only one?"
"I thought the same at first, because of Sashka's nearly fanatical insistence that I be well protected. But I have Zak, who's turned out to be an equal to a Vendari in a fight. The fact that Szath is the biggest, strongest, toughest Vendari I've ever seen in my life may have something to do with only having one sent to replace Binter and Sisska."
"He's that big?"
Tarrin, he lookes like a mobile tree," she said in a sudden voice. "He's a salt-water Vendari, and they have brown scales. He's a head taller than Binter, and about half again as wide. He could probably knock down a house with his bare hands. He can't even fit through the door to my cabin, so he stands out in the hall. Nobody can get around him when he does, so the staterooms past mine are empty."
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