The Questing Game

by James Galloway

  The place was just so huge. He never passed a window, never so much as had an idea if he was fleeing into the Palace's depths or towards the outer wall. He was utterly lost, and there was nothing, no breeze, no scent, no light, to tell him which way to go.

  He felt helpless. "Goddess, if you want to give me a hand, this would be a very good time," Tarrin grunted under his breath, hiding behind a tapestry as a large force of armed guards raced by.

  You had to but ask, my kitten, came the glowing, glorious response. She certainly seemed happy about his success. Turn right at the next intersection, then left, then right. That hallway will lead to a window. I think you can manage things from there.

  "I think so."

  You have done well, my kitten, she beamed in his mind. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am. You have done well.

  "Save the congratulations for when we're all safe," he breathed, darting out from behind the tapestry and turning right at the intersection.

  "This way!" a voice shouted from behind him. Tarrin could hear another group of men behind him, armored men. He looked to and fro for a doorway, a passage, anything to use to hide, but he was trapped in an open area. And they were close.

  "Ummmmmm," Sarraya said blearily in his paw. "Tarrin, where are we?"

  "Sarraya, listen to me!" he said in a harsh whisper. "You have to turn invisible! Can you do that?"

  "Ummm, yes, I can," she said groggily. "Where's that big monster at?"

  "Just do it!" he whispered fiercely, carefully setting her down against the wall, then he shapeshifted into cat form and stood right over her, keeping anyone from accidentally stepping on her. Sarraya gasped in pain when she moved, but her form did fade from view. Tarrin sighed in relief and remained over her, anxiously awaiting the guard party.

  If they hadn't been warned about what he was, they'd probably pass him right up. Readying to either fight or run, Tarrin's heart lurched when the men turned the corner, seven human guards being led by a man in yellow robes. The man looked a bit confused. "What is it, Watchwizard?" one of the guards asked in Arakite.

  "I thought I saw something," he said. "No matter. Let us continue!"

  They rushed right by him, paying him not a single thought.

  Tarrin blew out his breath in relief. That was close! But they didn't know he had a cat form, so they hadn't paid the black cat any mind. He remembered how much he loved the fact that his animal form was something small and inconspicuous. "Sarraya, are you alright?" he asked quickly, moving away from her.

  "I'll be alright," she said breathlessly, sitting up. Sarraya grunted audibly as she looked over her shoulder. "My wings...ah, well," she sighed, then she gave a squeak of pain. "I'm not going to be flying til they grow back. And I'm not feeling very well at the moment."

  He moved away slightly, then hunched down on his belly. "I don't think you'll be too heavy to carry," he offered. "They won't be looking for a cat, so it'll be safer for us this way. Just stay invisible."

  "Just don't jostle me, I think my ribs are broken," she replied. He felt her pull herself up onto his back, very gingerly, and when she stopped fidgeting, he stood back up. He felt her grab some handfuls of fur for purchase, and he started slinking off in the direction the Goddess had indicated, moving very carefully so Sarraya wasn't needlessly bounced around.

  It worked rather well. The guards paid the black cat no attention at all as they raced here and there, and Tarrin simply walked to the window, walked slowly and carefully, relieved beyond measure that he wasn't going to be leading a procession off the Palace grounds. He may get spotted trying to get over the wall, but once he was off the grounds and into the city, it would only take a moment of isolation to shapeshift and hide from them.

  The window was a problem. It had no ledge, and it was too high for him to see the outside. To look, he'd have to shapeshift, and if he did that, he'd be exposing himself to the men that he could hear very close to him.

  Again, the guards provided him with the perfect solution. One of them stopped at the window after he scampered away, and another appeared at the end of the hallway. "We're to form up on the practice field, Vol!" the distant guard shouted.

  "I'm coming!" he replied, moving immediately back the way they came.

  And so Tarrin simply followed the guards, followed them to a set of stairs, followed them down wide passageways, followed them right to a small servant's entrance that led to the outside. He followed them right outside, and when he got outside, he started across the wide expanse of ground between the Palace and its wall. Nobody stopped him. Nobody challenged him. After all, how silly would it look for a human to accost a cat?

  Tarrin's anxiety only deepened as he made his way across the wide lawn. He was so close he could see it, so close he could smell success. Until he got off the grounds--all the way out of the city--Shiika and her Demons were a dangerous threat. He was totally exposed out on the grass. Just one of the cambisi, just one that knew he had the power to turn into cat, could ruin everything simply by looking out a window. He had come too far to be stopped just outside the Palace walls.

  His anxiety reached nearly unbearable proportions when he reached the wall. Now came the danger.

  "Sarraya," he said in the unspoken manner of the Cat, "get off of me."

  "What are we going to do?" she asked in a whisper, climbing down.

  "I'm going to change, get over this wall, and get out of sight and change back before they can get anyone in a position to follow us," he told her. "It's going to be fast, and it's going to hurt you. I just wanted to warn you up front."

  "As long as I know it's coming," she said, fading into view before him. "Just try not to kill me," she winked.

  "I'm going to put you on my head. Just don't let go," he warned. "Ready?"

  "Let's do it," she grinned.

  Tarrin changed, and immediately stuffed the book under one arm, then reached down and scooped up his tiny friend. He set her on top of his head at the same time as he vaulted up the wall, feeling her grab a good hold on his hair and dig her legs into the tighter areas where it went into his braid even as his claws drove into the stone of the wall. He scrambled up as fast as he possibly could with only one paw and two feet, nearly falling off three times as his claws slipped, but he reached the top and raced over the wide top, where men patrolled, and started down the other side. He barely heard the first shouts of alarm from the men on top of the wall, who had seen him race across, but they were too late. He dropped the twenty spans left to the ground effortlessly, and was racing at full speed away from the wind band of empty space and into the buildings before the first of them reached where he went across. He ducked into an alley immediately, and after making sure nobody could see him, he changed back before warning Sarraya. She was suddenly on his head, sagging it nearly to the ground.

  Tarrin's breath exploded from him. The hardest part was over. They had escaped from the Palace in one piece. More or less. Now another task lay before them, to hide until the searchers gave up, then go and find the others. He could contact Allia with the amulet, but that would require him to change back, and he couldn't risk that so close to the Palace, with so many of Shiika's men so close to him. He had to get further away, so they could escape before they could get to him.

  "Warn me next time!" she snapped, sliding down to his shoulders gingerly.

  "Sorry," he replied. "They know we went in here, so let's get out of here," he said. "We have to find the others."

  There was a commotion at the end of the alley. Tarrin and Sarraya both instantly shut up, Sarraya turning invisible and Tarrin hunkering down behind a broken crate. Two yellow-robed Arakites appeared at the end of the alleyway with nearly twenty guardsmen behind them. Tarrin hunched down even more as they both looked in, and there was confusion on their faces.

  "Stroka, where did it go?" the shorter robed man asked.

  "I know not, Vadren," he replied. "The spell was pointing straight to the book, and then it simply vanished. There is nothin
g there!"

  "I felt the same. Did we stray back into that dead-magic area?"

  "No, my spell is still operating. It just has nothing to find!"

  "Mine as well."

  The taller man growled. "It cannot be far!" he said. "Spread out and search, guardsmen! Turn back and search near the wall, perhaps the thief took it back into the magic-dead area, where our spells cannot locate it!"

  "As you command, Watchwizard!" one guard said sharply, then he turned and barked orders to his men. They all broke up into pairs and moved back towards the wall enclosing the Palace grounds.

  If Tarrin were human, he'd be jumping up and down in glee. Of course! How lucky could he get! The Demoness said that they could use magic to find the book. But when he shapeshifted, he placed the book into the elsewhere, a place their magic could not reach!

  So long as he stayed in cat form, they could not find him!

  "What's got you so happy?" Sarraya asked.

  "They couldn't find me, Sarraya!" he said happily. "Shiika said they could find the Book of Ages with magic, but when I shapeshifted and it went into the elsewhere, they couldn't find it! They can't track me down!"

  Sarraya chuckled lightly, then winced. "Tarrin, you have the weirdest luck."

  "I'm not going to complain about it, Sarraya," he said, sitting down. "You talked to the others? Are they safe? Did Shiika let them go?"

  "They're alright, Tarrin," she replied. "She did let them go. I think she realized that taking them was only going to make you angrier. And boy, was she right," she added with a grin. "You're spectacularly nasty when you're angry."

  "Save it, Sarraya. We have to find them and get the Abyss out of here."

  "We just have to look in the largest city in the world, with you as a cat, to find them," she said cynically.

  "You're such an optomist," he grunted, slinking deeper into the alley. He waited as she got more comfortable on his back, after getting moved when he hunkered down to hide from the men. When she was settled, he turned and started for the other end of the alleyway. He didn't want to bounce her around, so he moved carefully, but with as much speed as he could manage with her injuries. "I have a plan, we just need to get some distance from the Palace."

  "You and your plans," she huffed. "Was tricking me into taking the first hit part of your plan?"

  "Don't start with me, or I'll carry you in my teeth," he warned as they disappeared from sight.

  "At least then you'd shut up!"

  "You weren't supposed to be there!"

  There was a silence. "Sorry about that. I saw the Book, and I guess I just lost my head."

  "It happens. Now get our bony butt out from between my shoulder blades. It hurts."

  "Don't talk to me about bone, Tarrin! I must be sitting on a pile of them!"

  "They're yours."

  "Jerk."

  "I love you too," his chuckle echoed silently through the alley, for those capable of hearing it. "I love you too."

  Chapter 29

  Sarraya wasn't that heavy, but she got heavier and heavier as they moved.

  Then again, his mind wasn't very involved with her weight on his back, as she rode him like a horse. He was occupied with everything that had happened, and it caused him to all but be led around by Sarraya as they sought to distance themselves from the ImperialPalace.

  It was over. He had the Book of Ages. It had been so long in coming, it almost didn't sound right to him to think it. He really never looked forward to this moment, and if he had, he certainly wouldn't have imagined it happening the way it did, being where he was right then. He had the book. He had had to battle the book's guardian for possession of it, a huge Demonic creature of untold power, but he had defeated it. And that was what made him think so much. He had used Druidic power to gain the upper hand, used a type of magic other than Sorcery to bring his sword to him, to give him the advantage. And it had brought him the victory.

  It went against everything he was taught. They always told him that no being could wield more than two orders of magic. It was against the will of Ayise, the Allmother, the greatest of the Elder Gods. If that were true, then he was an abomination, existing outside the natural order of the world. But then again, he probably already did. Him and all the other Were-cats along with him.

  That was a scary thought. It meant that all the Were-cats were like him. They all had at least a tiny amount of Druidic talent, but every single one of them could learn to use some other kind of magic. They could also be Priests, or learn the traditions of arcane Wizard magic. A race of super-powerful beings, superior to mankind and wielding a magic against which they could not stand, it was frightening.

  But that would never happen. The Were-cats didn't desire domination. Only a shady meadow, lots of squirrels to chase, and the occasional pleasure of an old friend coming to visit. They were a simple breed, a simple people, and their instincts made them curiously humble, despite their exceptional power and potential.

  Maybe that was why they had that potential. Simply because they wouldn't use it for such evil ends, and that power would be there to defend the land, if it were ever needed.

  And then there was the Goddess. She seemed...ecstatic. He could still feel it on the fringes of his consciousness, for she had never broken her connection she used to speak to him. It was still there. He could feel her on the other side of it, an overwhelming presence just outside his mind, almost over his shoulder, radiating upon him a sensation of pride, of compassion, and of love. He understood the enormity of it. He could use Priest magic as well. He could call upon the Goddess, and if she so desired, she could respond with gifts of her power. That depended on her, of course, but the potential was there. He had the feeling that it wouldn't work quite that easily when it came to her. After all, she was the Goddess of the Weave, and he was a Sorcerer. What need did he have to directly ask for her power, when in a roundabout way, he could already use it? The Weave was the Goddess, and the Goddess was the Weave. Her power was available to all her children, not just him.

  So. The katzh-dashi actually were Priests. Just with different traditions and a slightly different type of magic, that was all.

  It just seemed so strange. He didn't feel special. Actually, he felt rather rotten. He had killed innocents. It didn't bother him as much as he thought it should, and that bothered him in and of itself. He had been sliding into the depths of madness, and had caught himself. But this wasn't madness. This was something else. He just didn't care. Perhaps he was just tired. Perhaps he had lost that part of his humanity to the Cat. Whichever it was, it was something with which he would have to cope. And that would come later.

  At least the others were alright. Sarraya told him as they scampered away that Triana had come, faster than she ever dreamed she could get here, and that the others were all safe. They were free of Shiika, and Triana was with them. His powerful bond-mother would protect them, would help Jula since he was not there, would be there for them until he could find them. He felt a great deal better knowing that Triana, the most powerful of the Were-cats, was there to watch over them.

  For right now, he had enough problems. He was carrying something that every mage and two-copper joker with delusions of grandeur wanted, and they wouldn't be squeamish about killing him over it. The Wizards could use magic to find it any time he left his cat form and brought the book out of the elsewhere. That kept him trapped in cat form. It wouldn't be easy to get back to the others in cat form, when it would take him two days to travel through the city. He'd have to find some way to get to them, as soon as he knew where they were. He couldn't contact Allia in cat form; he had to change back, restore the amulet to be able to do that. But doing so would bring the people hunting for the book after him, which meant that it was going to be tricky. He was still utterly exhausted from the fighting, from the victory, so tired that even Sarraya's slight weight felt like a pile of rocks tied on his back. He didn't feel up to more fighting.

  "We have to stop," Sarraya wheezed brea
thlessly, kicking him lightly in the side with a heel. "Can we stop?"

  Tarrin stopped gently and hunched down so she could get off. Instead, she sagged onto his back, panting heavily. Sarraya was hurt, broken ribs and shattered wings. The riding was hurting her more, and though she wasn't complaining, he could tell that she was starting to really feel the effects of her injuries. Without his Sorcery, he couldn't help her, and he had the feeling that she didn't feel quite up to using her Druidic power on herself quite yet.

  "Are you alright?" he asked gently. They shouted at each other a great deal, but Tarrin loved Sarraya, loved her like any of his dear friends. He was worried about her, and it hurt him to know that she was in pain, and he could do nothing to make it better.

  "I'm starting to appreciate how you've felt sometimes," she wheezed. "How do you stand it?"

  "I'm a male. Males are supposed to act tough," he told her with gentle humor.

  She laughed, and that caused her to suck in her breath. "Don't do that," she jibed at him. "It hurts when I laugh."

  "We've been walking a while," he noted, though his concept of time while in cat form was never very profound. The Cat lived entirely in the moment, and concepts such as past and future were alien to it. He had to labor to keep track of time when in that form, and the longer he stayed in it, the harder it became. "Do you think we're far enough away to contact Allia?"

  "I think so," she replied. "It's hard for humans to move around in the streets. We could be long gone before they get here."

  Tarrin laid completely down for her. "Alright, go ahead and get off. Just be careful."