The air beyond the village shimmered visibly for a short moment, and then it vanished from sight.
Closing his paws, the light fading from around them, Tarrin released the residual energy inside him back into the Weave and let go. "That's it," he said calmly. "Nobody other than humans or Were-cats can cross the Ward, and no steel or iron can cross the boundary from outside the Ward. I set it so it will last about ten days. I think that's more than enough time."
"It should be, lad," Garyth agreed.
"Good. What time will the men be ready--"
Tarrin was brought up short as a sudden shift of the Weave warned him that something was going on. He looked around as that feeling became more pronounced, and then his eyes locked on Jasana just in time to see her close her eyes and assume an expression that was both serene and intensely focused. He could feel her reaching out with her power, reaching for the Weave, and what was worse, the Weave was reacting to her!
"Jasana, no!" he said with sudden fright. She wasn't trying to touch the Weave, she was trying to touch High Sorcery! He took three quick steps towards her, nearly reaching her, but he recovered from his frighetened reaction and went about stopping her in the only way he would be able to do so.
There was no time. The Weave was reacting to her, and if he didn't move quickly--now--she was going to succeed in what she was trying to do. Flooding himself with the power, causing his paws to explode into Magelight, he diverted that energy away from his daughter by draining it into himself. She opened her eyes with an almost exultant look on her face, Jasana reached out towards him with those tiny paws--
--and he felt her power reach out to him, exactly as it had done the day before. But he was joined with the Weave this time, joined in power, and he was too busy managing that power to attempt to deflect his daughter a second time. Before he could conceive of a way to use the power he held to stop her, she managed to form that bond between them, managed to lock herself to him in a manner that he had only experienced a rare few times before.
Jasana had formed a Circle with him.
The shift in the Weave was dramatic and unmistakable. Their two separate powers combined into a whole that was stronger than the sum of its parts, and a tenuous link materialized inside him, a tiny piece of his daughter's mind that had joined to his own. That link of minds was something that the Cat violently rejected every time he had tried to Circle before, but this time, it saw in the link something that did not seem alien to it. The Cat welcomed this link where it had rejected all others, because the one at the other side of the link was another Were-cat.
Jasana's child mind had formed the Circle with Tarrin leading it, acceding to the authority of her father, and he could feel her through that mental bond. She had no fear of what was happening, what she had done, more satisfied that she had done something she thought she could do rather than fearing this strange new sensation.
What else he could feel was their power. Incredible! Even untrained, Jasana's power was monstrous, and that power had joined with his to become something greater than what they were alone. Tarrin found himself in command of that might, the might to rearrange the world, the might to nearly feel like they could challenge the gods themselves. It was almost intoxicating!
Too intoxicating. No mortal was meant to experience that, meant to command such incredible magical power. He realized that quickly, that the power was a trap unto itself, tempting him to use it. And in that use, he would become its slave. The combined might of their united powers was his to command, and he realized quickly that that meant that it was also his to disburse.
Instinctively knowing what to do, Tarrin severed the link with his daughter, causing their united whole to split back into its component parts. The draining feeling of that was formidable, making him drop to his knees, but it had little effect on his daughter, making her merely sag her shoulders. It was because she was the stronger of them, he knew it. That's why it didn't affect her as hard as it did him.
"Are you alright, papa?" Jasana asked in concern.
"Cub, never do that again!" he managed to shout. "You nearly killed yourself!"
"Killed?" she asked with suddenly wide eyes.
"Yes, killed!" he shouted angrily. "What you almost touched, cub, it's not for those who don't know what they're doing! If you'd have managed to do what you were trying to do, it would have killed you!"
"I'm sorry," she said with sudden fright. "I didn't know. I didn't mean to make you angry, papa, honest!"
Tarrin blew out his breath as Garyth's hands rested on his shoulder, under his arm, helping him to his feet. Amazing! Jasana had Circled with him, without knowing what she was doing!
And what was much, much worse, she had managed to consciously touch the Weave. Done once, it could then be done again and again. Tarrin's worst nightmare had become a reality, because now his daughter could, at any time, incinerate herself with High Sorcery.
"Tarrin, lad, what happened?" Garyth said in fright. "You and Jasana were glowing! Are you alright? What happened?"
"I'm fine, Garyth, just a little drained," he said shortly, regaining his feet and glaring down at his daughter. He was at a loss now. Jasana had consciously used her power, and now she could do it again. No matter how much he warned her or scared her, her childish curiosity would eventually make her do it again. And if he wasn't there to stop her--
He shivered. What was he going to do now?
Jasana hugged his leg tightly. It was apparent she was either terrified or trying to divert his anger. Either way, he felt that standing in the middle of a pack of gawking humans was not helping. He reached down and scooped her up into his arm, then looked down at Garyth. "Come for dinner, Garyth. We'll talk about when we're leaving then. Right now, I have to get Jasana home."
"I understand, lad," Garyth nodded. "I'll be there."
Without another word, Tarrin carried his daughter out of Aldreth, moving swiftly towards home, his mind racing. Jasana was active now! He couldn't leave her alone, but he had no choice, he had to leave! He was stuck between duty to the Goddess and duty to his mate and daughter. He wasn't about to sacrifice Jasana to find the Firestaff. The entire world could go to hell first! He could not leave her alone now. There was absolutely no choice in the matter.
I wouldn't ask that of you, kitten, the Goddess called in his mind. I feel your confusion and your indecision, my kitten, so allow me to solve it for you.
"How?" he asked aloud.
Take her with you, she told him. That is not a suggestion, Tarrin. That's an order. She goes with you.
"Are you crazy?" he demanded hotly.
"What, papa?" Jasana asked fearfully.
"Nevermind, cub," he muttered under his breath, shifting his mode of communication. Are you crazy, Mother? I'm going to war! I'm not about to take my daughter into a battle!
You don't have to take her into a battle, but she does need to go with you, kitten, she said firmly. If you don't stay near her, she's going to end up killing herself. We both know that.
He couldn't argue that point.
So the only option is to bring her with you, she continued. Jesmind can watch her when you have to leave to take care of your fighting. Besides, I want you to consider one thing.
"What?"
What you could do if you and Jasana were linked, she said in a nearly seducing tone. Together, your combined power is formidable. When it comes time to defend Suld, don't you think that that power would be best served protecting my icon?
Tarrin stopped dead in his tracks. He remembered too well what it had felt like to hold that kind of power, but to use it.... It made him shudder. The damage he could cause commanding magic of that power would be mind-numbing. The bodies of the innocent dead would pile up by the thousands around them. With that kind of power, he could shatter the walls of Suld, tear the earth a new Scar....
He could kill a sizable chunk of a massive enemy army.
Yes, that's right, kitten, she said reasonably. It's not a sin to use t
he power I gave you, because I trust you to use it responsibly. And if you do use it, you'll be saving many more lives than you may take defending Suld, saving the lives of those men who would have had to fight and die to defend my icon, and the lives of the innocents that would be caught in the middle, should the invaders breach the walls and get into the city.
He slumped his shoulders. The thought of using that power both thrilled and sickened him, and he knew that he would have to kill, kill on a scale upon which he had never killed before. The old eyeless face suddenly ghosted up from where it had been hiding all these months, and it made him fear that it would have many, many more for company very soon. He would personally be responsible for the deaths of thousands, but he saw no other way. Better to be responsible for the deaths of ten thousand enemies than a single innocent, if they managed to break into Suld and attack the civilians in the city.
But in the end, no matter what he thought about it, he had no choice. The Goddess had ordered him to do it, and he could not--would not--disobey.
That's my kitten, the Goddess said with pride. But now you face a danger ten thousand times greater than an army of Demons.
"What?"
Telling Jesmind that she has to pack her things and be ready to leave in the morning, the Goddess said with a twinkling little laugh. She goes too. And that's also an order.
Tarrin groaned. Given facing an army of enraged Demons or facing an angry Jesmind, he'd choose the Demons.
I'm glad I don't have to do it.
"Shut up," Tarrin snapped heatedly, which only made the Goddess retreat from him with her silvery laughter echoing in his mind.
"Who were you talking to, papa?" Jasana asked curiously. "I thought I almost heard someone talking to you."
She may very well have, at that, Tarrin realized. "Someone you'll meet when you're a little older, cub," he replied wearily. This day had turned into a nightmare. He was so overwhelmed by it all, he didn't even want to think about it.
Both of them were overly quiet all the way home, and Tarrin found his anxiety growing by the moment when he realized that Jesmind hadn't come home from hunting. Tarrin paced in the common room back and forth, back and forth, as Jasana sat in the chair by the fireplace and watched him anxiously. Back and forth, back and forth, Tarrin considered, tested, then rejected any number of ways to break the news to his excitable mate, from coming right out with it to a day-long leading up to it. He even once considered not telling her at all, just whacking her over the head tomorrow morning and bundling her up, then carrying her along, but that would be the worst way to go about it. He couldn't think of any good way to tell her, so that meant that the direct approach would be best. It would be the shortest, and Jesmind wouldn't get angry with him about being evasive or downright deceiving. He'd only have to be worried about her being angry one thing than angry about three things.
"Papa? What did I do wrong?" Jasana asked in a small voice, fidgeting nervously.
Tarrin looked at her, saw the look of fear on her face. She obviously didn't ever want her mother to come home.
"You didn't do anything wrong, kitten, but what you did do has really messed up everything I had planned," he told her. "What you were trying to do, it would have killed you. And now that you've done it once, you'll be able to do it again. That means that I can't leave you alone now, because whether you do it on purpose or by accident, you will do it again. And when that happens, I have to be there to stop you."
"I'm sorry, papa."
"There's no reason to be sorry, Jasana," he sighed, turning to pace back towards the door. When he did that, he missed Jasana's victorious little smile, a smile that evaporated the instant he reached the door and turned around. "It was going to happen eventually anyway. What you have, you're bursting at the seams with it. You've already used it without knowing what you were doing, but now you know what to do, and that makes you very, very unsafe."
"What is it? You keep calling it it, papa. What is this thing I can do?"
"Sorcery," he said bluntly, looking at her. "A kind of Sorcery only a couple other people in the whole world can do by themselves. I really would have much rather taught you the simple ways to use Sorcery first and led you into what you did, but unfortunately you started at the top."
"Magic? I can do magic?"
"Yes, kitten, you can do magic. And it means that now, your life is going to change."
"How, papa?"
"I hate to tell you this, cub, but your childhood is over now," he said grimly, turning around again. "Using magic is a very, very serious thing, and it takes discipline and self control. Before I teach you a single magic trick, you're going to learn when it's good to use Sorcery, and when it is not good. You'll learn how to use your magic without hurting anyone, unless you intend on hurting someone with the magic you're about to use. And you're going to learn how to not let it go to your head. I know how little girls are. There will be no using it for no reason, no using it unless you can't do what you're trying to do any other way, and no using it to show off. Using it just to show off got your aunt Jenna in a great deal of trouble, so you're going to meet her and find out what happens when you use magic for no good reason."
"Aunt Jenna can do magic too?"
"Yes, she can," Tarrin told her.
"I'll learn those things, papa," she said dutifully. "I promise. I'll learn anything you want me to learn."
"You'd do that anyway," he said archy, sensing deception about her. For a Were-cat, Jasana could be surprisingly untruthful. Dealing with that from a Were-cat was downright shocking, for truth was a moral cornerstone of the entire species. Tarrin suspected that Jasana had alot of human in her, since her father was more human in mentality than Were.
The door opened, and Tarrin's heart skipped a beat. Jesmind's scent washed over him as he turned around, and he saw her stepping inside the door with a quartet of hares in one paw and a dead deer slung over her other shoulder. There were no clawmarks on it, telling him that Jesmind had run it down and broken its neck, or hit it with a rock. For beings of their strength, a thrown rock carried the same lethal force as an arrow, or even one of the Wikuni's musket balls. Jesmind took one look at Tarrin, then Jasana, and she took on a dark, serious look. "Alright, what happened?"
A thousand different strategies flew through his mind, but he found himself unable to use them. "Jasana had an, accident," Tarrin told her bluntly.
Jesmind's eyes darkened. "What kind?"
"The only kind that matters," Tarrin told her calmly.
Jesmind swore, using language not really suited for a young child. Then again, Jesmind's method of teaching her daughter weren't exactly normal to a human. "What are we going to do about it?" she asked.
"There's nothing that can be done about it, Jesmind," Tarrin told her, taking a cleansing breath. "I can't leave her now."
"So you're staying?" she asked with sudden brightness in her voice.
"No, she's going with me," Tarrin said, then he braced himself.
"What? Absolutely out of the question!" Jesmind shouted vociferously, throwing her kills to the floor. "There is no way you're taking my cub, Tarrin! None! If you want to do it, you'd better be ready to kill me to get her out of this house!"
"Jesmind--"
"I can't believe you'd even suggest such a thing! I don't care who you are or what you are, you're not taking my child!"
"Jesmind--"
"Shut up! Get out of my house, Tarrin! I don't even want to look at you right now, because I may try to kill you!"
In two big steps, Tarrin was on top of her. He grabbed her by the paws so quickly she didn't register what he was doing, then pulled them down and forced her to look at him. "Do you think I want to do this?" he demanded hotly. "Jasana's life is the issue here, woman, not any need of mine to take your daughter away from you! I have to get to Suld, and it's something that my life depends upon! I can't leave Jasana in such danger, but I can't risk my own life, and the sake of this entire kingdom, just because of you!
" He jerked her paws down, displaying his superior strength, and looked her right in the eye. "Jesmind, Jasana is coming with me, and so are you," he declared in a strong voice. "I'm not taking Jasana from you, I'm taking you both with me."
"No," Jesmind hissed. "I'm not going anywhere! This is my home, damn you, and I'm not leaving it!"
What started as a logical argument as to why Jesmind should come along degenerated into a heated shouting match between the two mates, as each one tried to drown out the other with their voices. Tarrin couldn't believe Jesmind's pig-headed, stubborn refusal to see the big picture, to not even be understanding enough to listen to his side of their dispute. Both of them were very stubborn, and the dogged refusal each showed to bend even a finger for the other was apparent in the intense manner in which they faced off against one another. Jasana sat in her chair and watched her two parents fight with a worried expression on her face. But her worry became firm resolve when Jesmind raised a balled fist in Tarrin's direction, threatening to elevate their dispute to actual fisticuffs, despite the fact that her once-young mate now overmatched her.
Jasana got up and quickly and quietly inserted herself between her two fighting parents, then put a paw on each of them and inoexorably started pushing them apart. Both of them looked down at Jasana in a kind of outraged incredulity, shocked that anyone would bother or interrupt them in what was an entirely personal disagreement. Were-cats just didn't interfere in those kinds of things.
"Stop it!" Jasana called in a strong voice. "Mama, it's not papa's fault!" she cried out. "I did it."
"What?"
"I did it. I heard papa say that he couldn't leave me if I did what I did, so I did it on purpose to make him stay," she admitted with a guilty expression. "But I didn't think he'd leave anyway and make you two fight over me! Honest I didn't!"
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