He was quiet a long moment, as Sarraya looked on fearfully. She had heard it all, and she had no idea what he intended to do, what the news would do to his sanity. Then he turned his back to her. "Sarraya," he growled. "Contact Triana."

"Why?"

"Because I told you to do it!" he snapped in reply. "She seems to be able to move around very quickly. Have her come here, as fast as she can. I'm going to need her."

"She can be here by sunset," Sarraya said uneasily. "But using that kind of magic is really going to take it out of her. She won't be any good to you."

"She doesn't have to fight," he growled under his breath, his rage giving him tight focus, a clear purpose. An objective. "She just has to be here. For Jula."

Sarraya gave his back a very long, uncertain look. Then she bowed her head. "You're going to kill yourself, Tarrin," she said softly.

"I don't care," he snapped. "The only thing that matters to me is the lives that bitch Shiika is holding in her hand. I'll burn this city to the ground to get them back, and my own safety be damned." He looked down. "I… I don't want you to see what I'm about to do, Sarraya. I'm about to break about every law there is in Fae-da'Nar."

"What are you going to do, Tarrin?"

"The only thing I can do, Sarraya," he replied grimly. "Attack Shiika through her throne." He turned and looked at her. "When Triana gets here, tell her to stay out of the city," he said. "It won't be safe here. There won't be anywhere safe in this city until Shiika frees the others. And the gods help her if she hurts any of them," he said with an ominous undertone. "Now get out of the city, Sarraya. Stay out of my way."

"Tarrin," Sarraya called as Tarrin started walking away. "Tarrin! Don't leave me like this! You're going to get yourself killed! Tarrin! Tarrin!!!" she screamed as he left the alley, then turned out of her sight.

But he didn't hear her. He didn't want to. He knew he was going to die trying to free the others before Shiika could enslave them, but he wouldn't let that stop him.

Some things were worth more than a single life.

"Mother," he called aloud, under his breath. "Mother… I need your help."

I am here for you, but I do not agree with what you have in mind, kitten, she said stiffly. It is wrong. The deaths of innocents will not balance the lives that Shiika threatens.

"There are no innocents anymore," Tarrin said in a tight hiss. "I don't care if you agree or not. I won't stop. The only thing that will stop me is if Shiika hands over the others and the book. Nothing else."

I'm sorry you feel that way, my kitten, she said sadly. I truly am.

"I'm not exactly happy, Mother," he admitted. "I know what this is going to mean. I know that even if I do live through it, I may not be able to live with it. But I don't care. Allia-she means more to me than my own life or sanity does. I won't abandon her, no matter what I have to do to get her back. I owe it to her."

But, kitten… surely there is another way.

"I'm listening."

There was momentary silence. Shiika is the Empress. Attacking her through her throne is a wise idea, but slaughtering thousands and destroying entire blocks of the city will not bring her to you. You have seen the condition of the city, kitten. You know that the lives of her subjects will not affect her, especially since her Empire's population is numbered in the tens of millions. If you really wish to confront her, do so by being where she will be, not where you try to lure her. Every ten days, Shiika attends the gladitorial games with her husband, the Emperor. It is the highlight of the ride, and this next occasion will mark the end of the Festival of the Sun. Perhaps if you could reach her box in the arena, you could force a negotiation?

"Not weaponless," he grunted. "That's what I need help with, Mother. Shiika destroyed my staff. Is there another weapon in this city I can use against her? If I can't prove that I can kill her, she won't take me seriously."

I can't give you direct help with such a request, kitten, she sighed. It impugns on the restrictions under which I operate. But, as always, I may give you a hint, and affirm it if you guess correctly. Tarrin, such a weapon does exist. And you have seen it.

Tarrin stopped. Seen it? He'd seen lots of weapons since coming to Dala Yar Arak. But the way she said it, she meant that this weapon was something out of the ordinary… something that he would have remembered. He thought back to the weapons he had seen, the ones that had caught his attention. The sword the Emperor wore was striking… but Shiika would be insane to equip her puppet with a weapon that could harm her. There were those black swords the Demons had… but they didn't hurt their own. It couldn't be them. Shiika herself carried no weapon. She didn't need one, she had the magical powers of a pureblooded Demon to be her weapon.

Black sword. There was that one sword, the one hanging in the inn. The Eastern weapon, the one with the black metal blade, a metal that was too light to be steel.

That was it! It wasn't steel! And it was a weapon of battle, no ceremonial piece! It had to be that sword!

That is the one, the Goddess told him with a heavy voice. It was forged of a metal not of this world, and that gives it the power to harm a Demon.

Tarrin nearly bounced in his step. "I remember where that inn is," he said fiercely. "I know where it is!"

Tarrin went from a slow, methodical walk to a full-out sprint in the blink of an eye. It was late night, approaching morning. He could be there by sunrise, and he could be at the stadium by midmorning. He'd have to all but run all the way across the vast city and back… but he would make it. And he only hoped that Shiika hadn't started in on his friends already.

"Mother… are they alright?"

Shiika has imprisoned them, she replied, in her Palace. I protect the Sorcerers and Phandebrass with my power, Allia is also protected by Fara'Nae, and Neme protects Camara Tal. Shiika can feel this, so she must break our protections before she can reach our subjects. That will take time, and as you know, she must be at the games this day. It is expected of her, and she must attend.

"So that gives me time," he said. "No wonder you were against my plan."

Among other reasons, she replied. Just be careful, my kitten, and remember that my power is here for you. All you need to do is call upon it.

And then she was gone, leaving him with an empty feeling, as if she took a part of him with her.

But she left behind a feeling of hope in a desperate situation. He knew where Shiika was going to be, a place not in her Palace, a virtual fortress that not even he could invade, where he would have to face an unopposable force to reach her. And he could face her armed with a weapon she would have to take seriously.

He was going to make her pay for what she did to him, to all his friends. One way or another.

She was going to pay.

He reached the inn about an hour after sunrise. He knew where it was, generally, and it had taken him nearly two hours to find its exact location, tracing his own faint scent trail on the rooftops. It had been two hours of frenetic, nearly frenzied searching, as he constantly looked at the sun to figure out how much time he was wasting. He had no time to waste; every moment counted. He had to reach the stadium before Shiika left, and he had no idea when the gladitorial games would begin.

Games. It was nothing but an organized battle on sand, fighting and dying for nothing more than the pleasure of the spectators. While thousands of decadent sadists watched on and bet on the lives of the men that fought them. Barbarism.

After finding the place, he dropped down to the streets and threw the door open, threw it so hard that it broke it off the hinges. There was all of six people inside, the barkeep, one serving woman, and four drunken patrons sitting at the bar. They all looked at him, and the barkeep, that same youngish man, paled visibly when he realized who it was. The last time Tarrin was there, he killed three men right in the middle of the bar. The sword was still hanging on the wall, right where the man had left it.