Weavespinner

It seemed an eternity, but then he finally felt her searching for him, reaching out for him. He rushed out to meet her, and in their touch he was again shunted off the the side as the awesome power of the Goddess reached directly into him, through him sweeping him up with it and joining his mind to hers. He could feel her near-panic, her fear and fury at what had happened, but she did not let it her affect her judgement. With her swift and sure ma

As his eyesight failed and the Goddess quickly separated herself from him, he saw the terrible gash in his son's neck begin to close, and pink flush his chalky skin as his body's regeneration restored the blood spilled by Jegojah's sword. All he could feel was relief as he spiralled down into unthinking blackness, knowing that his son and the mothers of his children were going to live.

To: Title EoF

Chapter 12

The first thing he smelled was Je

Her scent was saturating his nose, and he dimly realized as his mind clawed its way back out of the blackness that it was all over the bedding on which he was laying. The old smell came from the bedding, but there was also a fresh scent of her, mixing in his nose with the scents of Jesmind, Mist, Allia, Sarraya, and his son, Eron.

Comprehending that one scent made him snap immediately awake. Eron! The last thing he remembered was seeing his son's wound slowly began to close, and color start to bloom in his pale skin. Happening so fast that it made him a little dizzy, Tarrin's mind became completely alert and his eyes snapped open even as he sat up in the bed, fear clamping around his heart. Was Eron alright? Had he healed completely? Had the terrible wound had any lingering effects?

He was in Je

Still holding Eron tightly, who hugged him back just as intensely, he looked at Jesmind. His mate had tears standing in her eyes, and he could see the desperate, terrible feeling of loss that was raging inside her. It was inside him, too. He could see that she was trying to tell him what happened, but he remembered it all with an awful clarity.

"I'll get her back," he promised immediately, reaching out to her. She clutched his paw with both of hers, then burst into tears and buried her face against his shoulder.

"How long?" he asked, looking to Mist.

"You've been asleep for nearly a day," she answered. "Je

"Je

Je

"She's a Demon, Je

"We found how she did it," she said, holding up a strange hat. "This is magical. It changes the appearance of anyone who wears it. She got in hiding under an Illusion."

"How did it work on the grounds?" he asked quickly. "Wizard magic won't work here."

"This isn't Wizard magic, brother," she said. "It's a relic left behind from the Age of Power, like the cold metal in our cellar back home, and this one has weaves in it. It's an object of Sorcery."

Tarrin snorted, kicking himself. Of course it was Sorcery. Only Sorcerers could create Illusions. He fixed his eyes on the hat, and he could feel the weaves inside it.

"They found it in Jesmind's apartment," Je

"What's happened while I was asleep? And where were you, Je

"I was up to my eyeballs in Demons," she snapped in reply. "I had to go out and stop another riot, but when I got there, I was suddenly swarmed over by a horde of Demons. It was all I could do to protect myself and as many as the rioters as I could. And we found that instigator," she said with a growl. "It was a cambisi!"

Almost immediately, the depth of the plan locked in his mind. "And I'll bet a Demon set the fire in the palace," he concluded emotionlessly.

"If they did, I couldn't find any evidence of it," Je

Still holding Eron, he patted Jesmind's shoulder comfortingly. "I need your strength right now, my mate," he told her in a calm, icy tone. "We can both fall apart after we get Jasana back."

Jesmind sniffled a few times, then pulled off his shoulder, her eyes haunted, but her expresson stony. "I'm sorry," she apologized in an emotionless ma

He took her paw in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. She gave him a wan smile, and he looked to Mist. "Where is Triana?"

"On the way here," Sarraya answered, flexing her wings a little and shifting in her seat on Je

Tarrin sensed her reluctance. "What happened? Was someone hurt?"

Sarraya lowered her eyes, her expression pensive. "I don't think you're ready to hear this, Tarrin," she warned.

"If you don't tell me now, while I'm too numb to react, you may not like what happens when you do," he warned her bluntly.

"Your grandfather is dead, Tarrin," she blurted. "They killed him when he tried to stop them from getting Jula. They all came after Jula like she was the only thing that mattered."

That was like a knife twisting in him, but it was lost in the weariness and emotional turmoil of knowing his daughter was in the clutches of a Demon. It was just one more on a growing list of reasons to avenge himself against that six-armed Demoness. More fuel for her funeral pyre.

"If Triana hadn't have been there, they would have gotten her," Sarraya said. "Triana found a way to hurt Demons with Druidic magic. I never thought that possible," she added thoughtfully. "It took her a while to recover from using it, and as soon as she did, she started back to the Tower."