I know, Tarrin. I will always be here to watch over you. You will never be alone so long as your love for me remains strong. I must go now. Be careful, and know that my light shines upon you. You are my champion, and that makes me the luckiest god in the world. A girl can't go wrong when you fight for her honor.
Make me proud, my dear kitten. Make me proud.
And then the sense of her was gone, making him feel strangely empty inside. As if she had taken a little part of him with her when she left.
"I will, Mother," he said in a quiet voice, staring at the ground, a voice full of determination. "I'll make you proud of me."
With scarcely a thought, Tarrin shapeshifted into his humanoid form, and his paw went immediately to his amulet. "Allia," he called calmly, quietly. "Allia, respond, and speak as I do," he said in Sha'Kar.
"Tarrin!" came the instant response. "It's about time! I was about to break your mother over my knee and come after you!"
"I wouldn't be surprised," he said calmly. "Now listen carefully. I only have a moment, and I'm risking alot to do this. I have the book."
"I knew that was you!" she said with a laugh. "The entire Weave lit up and began to move. We knew it was you! But why didn't you respond to me before? I called to you!"
Tarrin considered that, and realized that the Ward had been too effective. It blocked out all magic, even Allia's attempts to contact him. "I didn't hear it, sister, things have been nuts. But I can't talk about this. Sister, I can't rejoin you right now."
"What? Tarrin-"
"I said listen!" Tarrin barked, cutting her off. "They can find the book with magic, and that means that every two-copper mage and apprentice with any ability is going to know exactly where to find me. I'm not going to expose you to that, sister! Anyone with me will be in too much danger, and to be honest, the others will only slow me down! I'm going to lead them all off, inland, and I want you to get that fat circus master and his troupe on that ship any way you can and make them cast off immediately! I don't care what they have to leave behind! Just get them on that ship and get out of Arak!"
There was a short pause. "It will be as you ask, my brother," she replied.
"Good. Now listen. I have to take the book back to Suld. The Goddess told me to do it. So I want you to go to Suld and wait for me. Don't try to contact me, sister. I'm going to have to spend a great deal of time in cat form, and I can't hear you when you try. Let me contact you. Just get to Suld, sister, go back to the Tower. I'll be there as soon as I can manage."
"Tarrin, please, reconsider. You will be alone-"
"Allia!" he snapped. "Give me more credit than that! On the open plains, they'll never catch me! I was trained by the best, sister. Just trust me."
"I have dishonored you, my brother," she said in chagrin.
"Save the sucking up til when we're together again," he told her shortly. "Just get out of Dala Yar Arak, and don't worry about me. Remember, go back to Suld. Back to the Tower. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"We will do as you ask. Did Sarraya find you?"
"She did. She'll be travelling with me. Now I have to go, sister. I'm out of time, and they'll be coming after me any second now. I'll contact you as soon as I think it's safe, my sister. Until then, my love goes with you."
"May the sands part for you, and the Holy Mother show you the way," she said in a ritual farewell among the Selani. "I love you, my brother."
"Be safe," he said fiercely. "Be there for me, Allia."
And he broke the connection.
He wasted no time. He instantly shifted into cat form, then rushed over and lowered so Sarraya could mount him. When she was secure, he stood up. "Let's go, Sarraya. Are you ready?"
"Not really, but I don't have much choice," she grunted. "What was all that about? I only heard half of it."
"We'll talk about it later, when I'm not running," he told her. "Hang on back there."
Tarrin turned and dashed down the alley, towards the street with all its pedestrians. He knew where he had to go, and what he had to do. The Goddess had showed him the way.
It would be a long, torturous, treacherous journey. He would have to travel months, many months, to get to Suld, and it seemed like a phantom to him, a misty thing with no substance that was beyond his comprehension. But it was there, and it was where he had to go. And he'd have to lead every mage and Questor in Dala Yar Arak with him, draw them off, lead them away from his sister and the others. It would be dangerous, but he much preferred only him being in danger rather than everyone he cared about being in danger. He would accept that burden, he would protect the others. He had vowed not to lose another friend, and he would not.
It was a long road ahead, full of great danger, and probably many surprises. It was the long, uncertain path that the Goddess had told him about so long ago, the path with the uncertain conclusion. But it was the only path he could take. He owed it to his friends, his sister, he owed it to the Goddess. She had been there for him whenever he needed her, and he would not abandon her now. He would never abandon her.
He had won the Questing Game. Now came the Race. A race for survival, where he lured everyone who wanted the book away from his precious friends, his beloved sister, a race whose only conclusion would be measured in who lived to reach the goal. It did not frighten him. He was still too shocked over everything that had happened to be afraid. It was simply another task, another chore, another thing to do. It was another game, a game he was duty bound to play, to play out to its end.
It was his duty. Duty was honor, and the price of that honor was blood.
Honor and Blood.
Scrambling towards the northwest under the feet of the unsuspecting people around him, he fled towards the open grasslands of the Empire of Arak, and he knew he'd be leading about half the Arakite army and most of its mages. Not to mention the ki'zadun, the Zakkites, the Stygians, and whoever else wanted the Book of Ages. The people around him had no idea who he was, how important the cargo he carried was, what it meant to the world. What it meant to them. If they did, they may have very well turned on those who intended to chase him, prevent them from following, give him the time to escape. But they were blissfully unaware of the stupendous importance of that day, a day that, to them, had been filled with mysterious explosions and strange lights in the sky.
They were better off not knowing.
With a determination borne of emotionless exhaustion, borne of the tremendous weight that was now placed directly upon him, Tarrin fled for the open grasslands. He fled for freedom, he fled to protect the others. He fled because it was what he had to do, knowing full well what would be coming up behind him. Once he was out of the city, he would change form and lead them, draw them, lure them out, let them get on their horses and chase him, where he would run them into the ground.
He felt the weight of the responsibility upon him, not only to his friends, but to his Goddess and to Janette. He could not let them down. Not after he had come so far. He would prevail, he would triumph, because he absolutely refused to allow himself to be beaten. It was a weight that was more noticable now, but had always been upon him, and it was a weight he accepted with eloquence and simple pragmatism.
Better him that someone else. At least he trusted himself to do what was right.
And it was his duty.
Duty was honor. And the price of that honor was blood. Blood he had freely given for his duty, for his honor, blood he would shed in the future if the need arose for it.
Honor and Blood.
GoTo: Title EoF
Epilogue
Shiika was very, very annoyed.
It was an absolute mess. Her minions roamed around the grounds like ants, confused and flustered. Her soldiers rushed around Dala Yar Arak madly, unsure of what to do, uncertain of who was in command.
That damned Were-cat!
It was all his fault! When he killed her Emperor, he had hamstrung her very nicely. They would not obey the Empress. They would only obey the Emperor. Now she had quite a dilemma on her hands, because of him. Without the Emperor, there was no Empire. There would be another Emperor, but it would take a while for one to establish himself and be accepted by the rest of the Empire, and during that entire time Shiika and what was left of her brood would be out of the Palace. Not to mention the fact that there would be chaos in the streets of Dala Yar Arak, chaos in the Empire, until an Emperor arose and order was restored. It had happened before, many times before during the two thousand years she had come to dominate Yar Arak, but at her age, having to live out of the Palace again was an inconvenience she didn't care to suffer.