"But what about the Vendari? What about the Wikuni, and the Aeradalla, and the beings of Fae-da'Nar? If there were only four races of sentient beings, where did we come from?"
"The Vendari were created after the Blood War, by what was left of the Valkari empire," she replied. "They were magically engineered by the wizards there, who were trying to create a race of slave warriors that could protect them from the Mahuut natives, who had revolted against them. They succeeded in creating a powerful race, but hadn't counted on the fact that that creation had made the Vendari as intelligent as their creators. What was even worse was that their magical creations displayed a powerful resistance to magic, and could breed to increase their numbers. The Vendari rose up along with the Mahuut and helped crush the Valkari empire, overthrew their creators and established the Vendari homelands, that remain there to this day."
"I've never heard that before."
"I'd be surprised if you had," she replied winsomely.
"What about us? And what about the Wikuni?"
"The beings of Fae-da'Nar were created over time, by the magic of the world," she replied. "Magic had a hand in all of your creations, often altering existing animals in magical ways to produce a sentient result. Would it offend you to know that your race evolved from common housecats, Tarrin?"
"No, not really, Mother," he replied. "It would explain everything, actually."
"It does, doesn't it?" she agreed. "The Aeradalla are also magical beings, but they evolved from humans, not animals."
"But what about the Wikuni? You didn't say where they came from."
"As a matter of fact, I did. You weren't listening."
Tarrin blinked. She never mentioned the Wikuni. All she said was what happened to the Urzani after--
--Some Urzani built ships, then sailed into the Western Sea and disappeared!
"No!" Tarrin said in disbelief. "The Wikuni are descendents of the Urzani?" he gasped.
"That's right, my kitten," the Goddess chuckled. "The gods of the Wikuni drew the then-Urzani to them, and once they arrived in their new homeland, the gods there worked their power on them to change them. They altered their appearance and scoured the memory of the Urzani language and customs out of them, literally forming an entirely new race, with its own culture. Since those Urzani had been adventurous people, and happened to be mainly the upper stock of Urzani society, they evolved into a race of intelligent merchants with an almost obsessive bent for intrigue. The Wikuni have absolutely no idea that they are direct descendents of the Urzani, and that they're related to the Selani."
Tarrin was shocked. He never dreamed that the Wikuni had such an unusual beginning! They were originally the same race as Allia, and that Sha'Kar woman!
No, not Sha'Kar. Urzani!
Now he remembered her! He'd heard of her in stories. That Urzani woman who had goaded him into claiming his full power was Spyder!
"Correct again," the Goddess smiled down on him. "She is my oldest, most loyal servant."
"She has to be at least five thousand years old!" Tarrin gasped.
"Actually, she's closer to ten thousand," the Goddess replied dryly. "Spyder was alive during the Age of Dynasty. In fact, she was once the Empress." the Goddess laughed. "She wasn't a very good Empress, however."
That revelation boggled his mind so completely that he had to simply stop thinking about it.
"Now you may understand why Keritanima and Allia can use Sorcery. The ability has been suppressed in the other two branches of the Urzani line, but in Allia and Keritanima that ability has been reborn. In the beginning, only the Humans and that nameless parent race had the spark to be Sorcerers. All of their children retain that spark. And now that you are Were, the spark of Sorcery has been introduced into the Were-cat line. All of your children have the potential to be Sorcerers, just like their father."
Tarrin had to drastically realign his concept of the world. So many races, and they were all related in some way to some other race. It made the world seem much smaller than before.
It had been an eye-opening tale. The Goddess had never shared such obscure knowledge with him before, and in a way he felt privileged to hover there in her presence and hear the story of the origins of his sisters. It was strange to know that his own kind hadn't been one of the beginning sentient races, and neither were the Vendari.
It made him wonder at it, wonder why the Goblins faded away, and why their progeny were so violent and less technologically advanced. It made him wonder if all the Dwarves really were gone; after all, what if some of them fled across the sea, like the ancestors of the Wikuni? What if there were still Dwarven clans hiding in the mountains, as they had done after the Urzani conquered the world? And what of the Sha'Kar? Were they all truly gone, or were some of them hiding in some distant land, maybe the Utter East, or one of the dark continents beyond the Known World? The Humans and the Wikuni couldn't have been the only ones to set off for unknown places, to seek out new places to live. The Dwarves and Gnomes, the Sha'Kar and maybe even some of the original Urzani, maybe they too had had ancestors set out for some distant frontier and lose contact with the rest of the world. They could still be there, living their lives, unaware of the happenings in the Known World, or perhaps not wishing to know.
Tarrin twisted the manacle on his wrist absently, wincing as a burr on the underside pulled at the shaggy fetlock. He really had to do something about that.
"I think I see someone coming," Var announced as he returned from his hunt. Tarrin stood up, towering over the Selani Scout, looking in the direction he pointed, up into the sky. The light was bright, too bright to see clearly, so he bent down and donned the sun-dimming visor he kept near to him at all times. Var had an umuni hanging from a spear that Sarraya had Conjured for him, that night's dinner, and the smell of it made Tarrin's stomach growl. Var's incredible eyesight had indeed scouted out the two flying figures, two Aeradalla, some longspans away but flying in their direction.
It was about time.
"That's them," Tarrin agreed, taking off the violet visor and setting it on the ground beside him.
"Then the camp, we break it tomorrow, yes?" Jegojah asked from where he was training Denai.
Tarrin nodded. "This is all I was waiting for. We move tomorrow, and we're not going slow."
"Then the morning, we will part then, yes," the Revenant said. "Jegojah, he has his own mission now, yes. Kravon's blood sings to Jegojah, yes, and Jegojah must go and spill it."
"May all the gods bless you in your endeavor, Jegojah," Tarrin said seriously. "Remember to stick him a few times for me."
"Jegojah, he will cut off the vile Wizard's hands, just for ye," the Revenant cackled.
It was about sunset when the two Aeradalla landed. Ariana looked much better now, in a pair of clean breeches, soft leather boots, and a haltar embroidered with a drake hanging from her shoulders. She also wore a golden circlet over her head, entwined into her blue hair. The male Aeradalla looked much as Tarrin remembered, ruggedly handsome and much healthier now that he had been freed from the Crown's hypnotic allure. His skin was healthy, his muscles again strong and defined, and the pasty gauntness had been replaced by a healthy bronzed glow common for beings who lived their lives under the sun. His white-gold hair was tied back in a tail, clean and healthy now, framing a handsome face that filled out to show a young man with promising potential. Calm green eyes stared up at Tarrin, the eyes of a man of power.
But Tarrin was not put off by such men. He stared down at the smaller Aeradalla without expression, sizing the man up. A strong man, strong-willed. Ariana was right. This was a king that could retake his power from the men who had stripped it from him while he was ill.
The two of them looked around, and both stared quite a while at Jegojah. But the Revenant said nothing, simply standing off to the side with Denai, both of their weapons drawn. But they shook that off eventually, coming up to Tarrin.
"Tarrin," Ariana smiled, "may I present Andos, King of the Aeradalla
. Your Majesty, this is Tarrin, the man who saved your life."
"He's alot taller than you said, Ari," Andos said, craning his neck to look up into Tarrin's eyes.
"I told you he was tall, Andy," Ariana laughed. "You just didn't want to believe me."
"Andy?" Tarrin asked curiously.
"Ari and I grew up together," Andos said with a grin. "I've never been able to get her to stop calling me that."
Tarrin looked at Ariana, and the woman blushed slightly.
So that was what this was about.
"What did you need to talk to us about?" Ariana asked quickly.
"I want to borrow about fifty of you for a while," Tarrin said bluntly. "An army is threatening the city of Suld, and a group of Aeradalla scouts would help keep the city out of their hands."
"That's what this is about?" Andos asked. "We don't get involved in the affairs of the humans, Were-cat. I appreciate you healing me, but I have to think about my people."
"This is about your people," Tarrin told him. "If that army takes Suld, they'll destroy the Tower of Six Spires. That will banish the Goddess of the Sorcerers from the world, and if that happens, the Weave will tear. That means that the magic that sustains your city will be disrupted," he said with a casual bluntness that made the Aeradalla flinch. "I'm not asking for an army. I only need fifty, and I don't expect any of them to fight. All they have to do is scout."
"You get to the point," the king of the Aeradalla said, a bit wanly. "No casual smalltalk, not even a hello. Right to the point."
"It saves time," Tarrin told him.
"How can I be sure of what you say?" he asked. "You're out here, alone, in the desert. How do you know all of this?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"If you're going to get any help out of me, you'd better make me understand," he challenged. "I won't even put fifty of my people in danger for no reason."
Tarrin could respect his morality, but his stubbornness was getting on his nerves, and he found himself mightily offended that the Aeradalla would think he was lying. He had become like Triana in that regard. Triana expected to be obeyed, if only because she was who she was. Tarrin found himself being irritated by this Aeradalla for exactly the same reason. Tarrin was the stronger. He was larger, and he knew he was right. He had fully expected the Aeradalla to submit out of hand, and it had been a bit of a surprise when he hadn't. And the sense that the Aeradalla seemed to think that Tarrin was lying made it even worse. Were-cats did not lie, and to even be accused of it was reason to fight to the death. Tarrin felt his dominance to be under challenge, and that provoked him to respond.
He drew himself up to his full, imposing height, then stared down at the much smaller Aeradalla like a parent scolding a child with his eyes. "I'm not used to being second-guessed by anyone, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that your intentions are good," Tarrin told him in a strong voice.
"What does that mean?" Andos asked, his own hackles starting to rise.
"It means that you just avoided getting killed," Denai said lightly.
"You're not serious!" Andos gasped.
"Quite serious," Var agreed.
"I don't play, Andos," Tarrin said in a flat voice. "I'm not used to being ordered around. I'll give you lattitude because I don't think you're used to it either, but don't question my honesty. If I even think you're accusing me of lying, I'll rip your wings off right here and now."
The Aeradalla paled slightly and almost took a step back. But he held his ground.
"I know because Jegojah over there--" he announced, pointing to the Revenant-- "has personal knowledge of what's going on. He told me, I asked my Goddess to confirm it, and she did. What's going on in the West is very real, very serious, and if we don't put a stop to it, it's going to cause another Breaking. And what's worse, it will put the Firestaff in the hands of those that would use it to bring destruction to the entire world."
Tarrin saw that he had the man's attention now, so he patiently sketched out the basics of the enemy's plan. He watched Andos' eyes shift from surprise, to comprehension, then to horror when the ultimate goal of that plan became apparent. "I'm not asking you to fight this war. All I want is fifty Aeradalla to help scout out the enemy army and deliver messages too vital to be sent any other way. Once the fighting starts, they can leave. After all, they'll have done everything they'd been asked to do, and they wouldn't be needed anymore."
"You give a very convincing argument," Andos said, his eyes thoughtful, traces of his fear diminishing with his comprehension of the situation. "In fact, convincing enough for me to agree with your need. But I'm not going to order anyone into that kind of danger. I'll put a call out among my people for volunteers. Anyone wishing to help can do so, but I'll not make anyone go. Is that satisfactory?"
"That's good enough," Tarrin agreed.
"Well, you have one volunteer, Tarrin," Ariana broke in. "It's the least I can do for everything you've done for me."
Tarrin nodded in her direction. "It's too dark for you to go back now. You can leave in the morning."
And then he turned and walked away from them. He wasn't entirely sure he could be civil to Andos so long as he felt that the Aeradalla was challenging him.
Tarrin left them to stew over him on their own, sitting by the fire and staring into its depths, absently twisting the manacle on his wrist. He had said what he needed to say to Andos, and he didn't want to cause a scene by disemboweling a man he'd just asked for help. That seemed slightly counter-productive. He hadn't been quite as nice as he wanted to be, and things hadn't gone very well. It was more reasons to be a little aggravated with himself with the way he handled his request, but there was little he could do about it now. The moment was over, the damage was done. All he could do now was hope that Andos was too intimidated to go back on his promise to ask for volunteers.
Jegojah clanked to a halt and sat down by the fire beside him. "Abrupt, ye were, yes," he told him bluntly. Jegojah wasn't one to mince words, and Tarrin rather liked him for that.
"He offended me," Tarrin replied. "It was all I could do to be that civil."
Jegojah cackled. "A king, ye remind me of one, yes," he said. "Always expecting obedience. And power, ye give it off like heat from the fire, yes."
"Call it a racial quirk," he said calmly.
"Were-cats, they are all like ye?"
"Not all," he replied. "But we're all of a similar mindset. Any Were-cat would have stripped Andos of his skin if they thought he was accusing them of lying."
"That, it isn't the point, no," Jegojah elaborated. "A king, ye are, Were-cat, but a king in mind only. The regal command, it emanates from ye."
Tarrin looked at him, then chuckled ruefully. "If you're asking if all Were-cats are arrogant, I'd have to say yes," Tarrin told him with a dry smile.
"Jegojah, he meant no offense, no."
"None taken. I guess we are a pretty arrogant lot. Though I wouldn't call them that to their faces."
Jegojah cackled. "Jegojah, he thinks that that would be a bad idea, yes." He looked up at the setting sun, setting over the abandoned ruins of the city. "Jegojah, he thinks ye go about asking help the wrong way."
"Probably, but I really don't want an army from the Aeradalla. Just some scouts, to ferret out the opposition when they start to march."
"A good plan, that is, yes. But Jegojah, he thinks the Were-cat, he underestimates the worth of airborne troops, yes."
"Probably, but I'm not going to ask for more than they're willing to give."
"The key, it is to make them willing to give what ye want of them," Jegojah said. "Politics, it is a part of being a general, yes. A general, he must know how to say what. As important, it is, as telling which unit to go where, yes."
Tarrin looked at Jegojah. Out of circulation for fifteen hundred years, and his insight seemed as valuable now as it would have been so long ago. "I'm no general, Jegojah. If anyone does the generalling, it's going to be Keritanima."
"Genera
lling? Jegojah, he think there's no such word," the Revenant cackled. "And Jegojah, he thinks that the Were-cat is being too modest. All alone, ye thought to bring together the Wikuni and the Arakites, yes. Alone, the Were-cat thought of the value of airborne scouts, yes, and already solved many problems, ye did, with the Ungardt and the Selani. Jegojah, he thinks the Were-cat would be as good a general as the Wikuni, yes."
Tarrin was slightly embarassed. "I'm no thinker, Jegojah. I can barely control myself. I don't need to be controlling other people."
"Do that, ye already do," Jegojah grinned that ugly grin. "Jegojah, he thinks there's quite a mind hiding under that fur. No confidence, ye have in it, no. Intimidated, ye are, by the Wikuni, intimidated to where ye believe she can do anything better than ye."
"It's not that easy," Tarrin told him. "I have a little problem called impulsiveness, Jegojah. I tend to fly off on the first idea that seems good, without thinking it all the way through, and I often end up going by the seat of my pants once that good idea pans out on me halfway into it. It's a racial quirk, but it makes me completely incompetent to lead an army. I'd have them charging off at the first notion that it's the best thing to do, and that would get them all killed. I'll leave the strategic planning for those that have the mind for it. I'm just not suited."
Jegojah cackled. "Knowing one's limitations, that's also a sign of a good general, yes," he said. "Jegojah, he would march under the Were-cat's command without hesitation, yes."
"You have nothing to lose."
Jegojah cackled even louder. "True, true, yes," he admitted. "Death, she has already claimed Jegojah."
"Is there a point here, or are you just trying to flatter me?"
The Revenant grinned. "Only this. Tread lightly, yes. Kings, they have egos to match their stations. Treating Andos like a child, it will harden him to ye, yes, and ye may need him later."
"I realized that after I walked away from him," Tarrin answered. "Sometimes it's hard for that side of me to realize that there are other kinds of power than what you can pack behind a fist."
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