He was ready. There was only one thing left to do. He reached out-such a simple thing to do!-and touched Jesmind's mind directly. Run! he told her as Val managed to recover himself, drew in his power and prepared to do direct battle with another god. Run as fast as you can, and don't look back no matter what happens!
Val struck, and in that attack Tarrin understood the nature of the danger. Val attacked not in one manner, but attacked Tarrin on uncountable levels, in so many myriad ways, on mental, physical, magical, and metaphysical levels, that only a god could have countered it. Only a god could attack another god in that manner, for they were not bound by the laws and restrictions of the material world, as Val had been so restricted when he struck at the mortal Tarrin, forced to limit his power to the restraints of mortal capability. Tarrin countered on every level, and the strain it put on the very fabric of the universe spilled over into the physical world. A shattering concussion emanated around Tarrin, containing more energy than every magic-user alive on Sennadar could have generated in a combined effort, knocking down all the mortals, sending Jesmind and Jasana tumbling down the stairs, as the stone of the pyramid shuddered and rocked from the blow. Dust billowed out from the ceiling, but a shrug of fiery wings showed Val that his divine opponent was not impressed by the attack. Carried into the air by his divine power, the blazing light of the god Tarrin met the swallowing darkness of the god Val, who had conjured forth a rod of absolute blackness to serve as his physical weapon, and they locked into mortal combat, a duel that could very well destroy the world.
The Elder Gods, present only in spirit and unseen on the battlefield, had no interest in what was happening with the armies. They could sense what was transpiring in the pyramid, and in what was but a flicker of time to the mortals, a long and heated debate arose among them to decide what must be done. But it was the voice of Niami, the goddess of magic, that quelled all objection and unified them to a common goal.
It is as he wishes it, she said with undisguised pain tremoring her spirit. We cannot interfere.
Then what shall we do? Step back and watch them destroy what we labored to create? came a hot demand from Ahiriya, the goddess of fire.
We will do as has been decided by our champion, the voice of Ayise, the mother of all gods, stated firmly. We can be of use without interfering in what must be done. Join to me, my children, and let us summon forth the aid of the Youngers. Combined, our power can limit the sphere of destruction about to be wrought upon the land. We must confine the damage as much as possible, so as to save the lives of the mortals currently embroiled in war around us and protect the Balance from being disturbed by what is to come.
And when one defeats the other, then what shall we do? Leia, the goddess of nature, demanded.
What must be done, my daughter, Ayise said grimly. Destroy the victor before he regains his power and can defend against us.
Such a rude end seems a grave disservice to one who served us so faithfully, stately Darian, god of earth, noted.
It was an end the champion fully understood would be awaiting him, Ayise sighed. He has made his choice. Dishonor not the nobility of his sacrifice, my children. What he does, he does in service to us all.
And so, the Elder Gods called forth into service the power and presence of the Younger Gods. Forty-five of them, representing every aspect of the forces that served to shape the world of Sennadar. From grim K'Tar, god of war, to capricious Elia, goddess of song, dance and revelry, from baleful Niskar, god of enmity and hate, to insatiable Lenani, goddess of vice and lust, from dutiful Aldoran, god of law, to raging Vykar, god of chaos and destruction, all answered the summons of the Elder Gods. Elder and Younger gods raised forth the hands and joined in unified intent, creating a boundary of defense through which the destruction about to be wrought within could not pass. It was not a physical boundary; indeed, the mortal Goblinoids below them passed freely across its boundary, but it would serve as a powerful defense to limit the destruction surely about to unleashed upon the land as two gods lashed at one another using power and might the physical world was never meant to contain.
They would ensure that the world would not suffer with what was about to come to pass.
Never in her entire life has Jesmind been so terrified.
She cowered on the floor, clutching her desperately crying child as all reality seemed to go wild around them.
The immense chamber seemed to waver and distort as two indescribably powerful figures seemed to duel with one another in the air over the platform. One of them was the god Val, but the other, somehow, was Tarrin. Jesmind didn't understand what had happened, but somehow, Tarrin could somehow fight against Val. And the change in him! Was how he looked now some kind of great magic? Triana had told her long ago that she sensed something special about her mate, something unusual, as if there was a potential within him that transcended the bounds of normal magic. Could this be the final realization of that hidden potential? A power so great that it gave him the power to fight a god?
Whatever it was, they were tearing the world apart! They struggled against one another, Tarrin's brilliant blade crashing into some kind of rod of utter darkness in Val's shadowy hands, and every collision between those two weapons sent out a shockwave of power that was shaking the very earth itself. She could feel the power exchanged between those blows, and she could also somehow sense that what she could see was only a fraction of the true struggle going on between them. The shaking of the earth was only a part of what was happening, though. Images and shapes floated transparently in the air around them, like some delusions of reality, and magical streamers of light and energy cascaded down from the air to hit the ground. When they struck, sometimes they exploded, sometimes they just disappeared, but sometimes they did bizarre things. One streamer hit a stone in the floor and changed it into a puddle of water, another hit and transformed a small piece of rock fallen from the ceiling into a sparrow, which then frantically rose into the air and flew towards the large passage that led outside. Jesmind rolled wildly aside each time one of those dangerous motes of light drifted towards her, then managed to regain her feet as the shaking of the earth subsided by a small amount, enough for her to stand.
Clutching Jasana to her, she was momentarily stunned and confused by what was going on. She woodenly saw that six-armed Demoness come down the platform with the naked human female secured firmly in the grasp of her six arms, keeping her prize, and the human woman actually clutched to the Demoness like a child, willing to accept even her aid if it got her to safety. The other Demons were right behind her. They were fleeing from the battle, and the looks of terror on their faces were sincere and obvious. One of the pig-headed ones squealed in sudden fright and tried to dive aside, but it was too late to avoid a massive blast of fire that billowed forth from the combatants high above that crashed into it. She clearly saw the silhouette of its body evaporate, outlined by the furious fire, wavering away to nothing and leaving not even ash behind when the fire splashed into the floor and winked out of existence quickly. Jesmind looked up to see Tarrin raking Val with a column of fire that emanated from his outstretched paw, his braid and tail and those wings all covered in angry red fire stretched out behind him, as if bracing him for the attack. Val had blocked the fire with his black rod, and the remnants of the fiery attack were raining down on those below.
Tarrin had told her to run. Now she understood how good an idea that was! They were going to get killed if they stayed in there!
Gathering up Jasana, Jesmind turned and raced towards that archway, her terror and desperate concern to get her daughter out alive consuming her, giving her great strength and speed. She sprinted past the six-armed Demoness, and the creature made no move to attack her or hinder her. In this, they were all united by their powerful instinct of self-preservation, and there were no enemies anymore. She flinched away and nearly fell down when a shadow of absolute blackness raced over her head, leaving her chilled to the bone in its wake. That wave of utter blackn
ess struck the wall over the archway, and instantly covered every part of the stone that it touched in a thick layer of crystal clear ice. Tarrin and the god Val were completely consumed in their battle with each other, and the power that was flying around them was indiscriminate and deadly. They had to get away!
Almost flying through the archway, Jesmind entered the long tunnel that would lead them back outside. The columns lining the wide gallery were shuddering and swaying alarmingly, and stones and dust were dropping down out of the ceiling like rain, concealing the passage and reducing her vision. But she ran on wildly, recklessly, consumed with the need to get her daughter out alive. She jumped over a boulder-sized stone that had fallen out of the ceiling, and raced underneath one of those huge pillars as it broke free of its anchors and toppled out into the gallery, racing under it literally as it fell, and the deafening sound of its impact behind them shivering her fur, a palpable force against her skin.
Insane. This was insane! What had happened? How had Tarrin managed to face off against Val? He was fighting a god, and he seemed to be holding his own? Why was he doing it? Why? All he had to do was get away! If he had that much power, he could just run away, and take the Firestaff with him! He didn't have to fight! He couldn't win! Val was a god!
Jesmind screamed when a huge fissure opened up in the stone beneath her feet, making her leap aside to avoid falling into it. Hot light poured up from the base of that longspan-deep chasm in the earth, and Jesmind realized that the power those two were giving off was tearing the very earth apart as they battled! More fissures crisscrossed the floor, and the land began to shift crazily as some blocks of stone-capped earth rose up and others fell, an insane obstacle course of shifting sections of floor that ground and crushed against one another. Those fissures went up under the columns and snaked up the walls, and she saw with some serious terror that some were being shattered by the forces being exerted against them, and others were beginning to tear free as the ground dropped out from beneath them, tear free where they would begin to fall. The walls were crumbling, as massive stones began toppling out from them to strike the pillars, and larger and larger stones began to rain down from the ceiling.
Sprinting forward because she had no other choice, Jesmind relied on her inhuman agility to navigate the wildly shifting floor, loping from platform to platform as fast as she could possibly go. She glanced back when she heard a deafening tearing sound, an awful tearing of rock, and she glanced back just in time to see that six-armed Demoness get crushed under thousands of tons of rock as the walls and ceiling collapsed on top of her. She and that human she was carrying were certainly dead, and the Demons behind her, if they weren't dead, were trapped. But she felt little satisfaction in seeing that hated bitch die. At that moment, their own survival was in serious doubt.
Moving with renewed terror-induced motivation at seeing the walls collapse behind her, Jesmind surged forward, taking greater and greater risks, keeping her eyes peeled for any large stones that appeared out of the dust ahead and above them, dust so thick that she could barely see more than ten spans ahead of her. She clutched Jasana to her with one arm, the little girl clinging frantically to her mother as the Were-cat danced along uneven patches of rubble-strewn ground, evaded flying rocks that rained down from the ceiling, and jumped high to clear the massive pillars that had already fallen to the floor ahead of them. The noise was deafening, tearing and exploding rock all around her, and the dust coated her nose and throat and made breathing more and more difficult. But to her eternal relief, the strange light that lit the gallery had not failed, lighting their way and providing Jesmind with just enough light with which to avoid the lethal stones that rained from above and see enough of the floor and debris on it to set her feet without having them slide out from under her.
A thunderous detonation shook the entire world, it seemed to her, shaking everything so badly that Jesmind and Jasana were spilled to the ground. She barely heard the snapping of stone and saw the shadow appear out of the dust, and wildly rolled to the side as one of the huge pillars toppled down on top of her. She rolled up against a huge stone that had already fallen to the floor, and the massive black shadow of the falling pillar suddenly consumed all the light. She flinched, covering Jasana with her own body as the pillar crashed to the ground, and then she screamed in agony when something crushed her left leg. She looked back to see that the stone by them had stopped the pillar's fall and kept it from killing them, but the pillar had broken, and the very edge of its end had landed on her left foot. She realized she could cut off the foot with the Cat's Claws, but they would leave a permanent injury, and she would have no chance of getting Jasana out alive with only one foot. And she would only slow Jasana down as she tried to get out alive herself. Grimly, she realized that there was only one choice to make.
"Mama!" Jasana said in wild terror, struggling under her. "Mama, are you hurt?"
"Cub!" she said in a gasping voice. "I'm pinned! You have to keep going! Go!"
" No!" Jasana shrieked, wriggling out from under her. "I won't leave you, Mama!"
"You stupid cub!" Jesmind shouted at her. "You have to get out of here!"
"I won't leave you!" she screamed, grabbing Jesmind by the arm and pulling with all the might her little body could muster.
Jesmind yanked her paw free, fixing Jasana with a penetrating stare, summoning up all her motherly authority. "I told you to go!" she said in a voice that would brook no disobedience. "You're all that matters, cub! You have to get out!"
"I will not leave you!" she declared adamantly. "Tell me how to get you out!"
She saw that this was argument she was not going to win. She couldn't force Jasana to go, so she realized that the only thing she could do was let her daughter help her in any way she could. "If only we had something to cut my leg off that wouldn't leave a true wound!" she said. She could tear her leg off with raw power, or use her claws to rend the flesh to the point where she could snap her leg off, but both would take time, and time was the one thing that they did not have.
Jasana took on a look of dreadful concentration, and to Jesmind's surprise, the woodcutting axe that they had used in Aldreth appeared in her little paws. "Will this work?"
"How did you do that?" Jesmind asked, forgetting the terrible danger they were in.
"It's Conjuring, Mama," she told her. "I realized I could do Conjuring a few days ago. I was going to use it to get away from the evil man."
Jesmind gave her daughter a fiercely proud look. A Druid! Her little Jasana was a Druid! Just like her father! She took the axe from her daughter, twisted around, and did the deed with one swift blow. She severed her own leg just below the knee, feeling that wild sting of pain, then the angry burning that heralded the rapid growth of a new foot.
As soon as that foot was fleshed out, she scooped up Jasana and raced into the dust once again. The whole pyramid was coming down around their ears, and they absolutely had to get clear as quickly as possible.
She had no idea how long she ran along that passage, wildly dodging falling stones collapsing pillars, and holes that suddenly appeared in the floor. It all blurred together in Jesmind's frenzied mind, a mind consumed by the absolute need to get her daughter out of the pyramid and to safety. But time caught up to her when she saw light ahead of her, piercing the dust-induced gloom of the treacherous passageway, and it caused her to redouble her efforts. Now that she could see the exit-the way out!!!-her utter desperation to reach it caused her to speed up, to move like an arrow shot from a bow, to get her daughter out of the deadly tunnel and get nothing but empty air over them. Her eyes fixed to that light, growing stronger and stronger with each racing step, narrowly avoiding a house-sized block of stone that dropped from the ceiling to crash into the floor behind them, shaking the ground with the might of its impact. Her only sight, her only goal, the very focus of her entire life was that light, and it was with almost religious joy that she suddenly burst from the darkness, burst from the dust, leaping out of t
he collapsing tunnel just ahead of a shower of stones from the archway that marked its entrance, leaping free of the pyramid and setting foot on lush grass.
She didn't look back. She raced forward with all the speed she could muster, rushing towards a column of smoke where huge winged figures circled over something. They were dragons, and she realized quite unahppily that the dragon that was supposed to be there to pick them up was not there. What had happened? Was it late? Had it already come and not found them? The area around her was empty, all the Goblinoids moving forward to engage the armies that the gods had brought here to deal with them. With Tarrin fighting Val, why weren't the gods doing something about the army? Couldn't they just destroy it? She raced on as the ground shook and rumbled beneath her feet, and she realized to her horror that the fissures that had collapsed the tunnel were also snaking out into the earth itself around them, tearing the very earth apart. Far to her left, a geyser of molten rock erupted from the ground in a deadly spray, flying hundreds of spans into the air to spatter back to the ground, killing anything that it landed upon and setting fire to the lush green grass. She angled away from that horrid display almost unconsciously, and was forced to leap over a ten span wide gash in the earth that stood in her way, a gash that had a terrifying reddish light and powerful heat rising up from it as she sailed over it, so hot it singed the fur on her feet and lower legs.
Gods above! If someone didn't come to get them soon, they may not live to reach safety!
Ahead and to the right, to her terror, she saw a chunk of land that had be be a half a longspan in area suddenly sink down into the earth itself. A gout of fire and magma flew into the air a few seconds later, and an ominous black column of smoke rose over the pit.
Goddess! The land was sinking into the liquid fire that was beneath it!
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