"I never thought to see a Winged Folk either," Sarraya grinned at her. She raised her hands, and he felt her touch her Druidic power. A basket with a strap appeared on the table behind her, a basket large enough for him to fit inside. "There you are. One carrying basket."

"This will help me carry you?" she asked in confusion.

"What am I, Ariana?" he asked pointedly.

"A Were-oh!" she said, her eyes lighting up. "I'm so silly! Of course! Uh, what about them?" she asked, looking at the other Aeradalla.

"What about them?" he asked dismissively. "I doubt they'll bother us. At least not now."

She laughed. "I guess not. Ready to go? Where do you want to be let go?"

"Some distance from the Selani, to the northwest," Tarrin replied, as Ariana picked up the basket Sarraya had conjured and put it around her slight waist. She buckled the basket on, and then Tarrin shifted into his cat form and looked up at her patiently. She reached down and picked him up, then set him into the large basket. Tarrin wriggled a bit to get comfortable, his head popping out of the top of it, as Sarraya crawled down into the basket herself.

"Now, Tarrin, you're in for a treat," Sarraya said in an excited tone as Ariana left the inn, as the patrons and the recovering innkeeper stared at her in amazement. She spread her wings out, beat them once or twice, and then pulled herself into the air.

Tarrin watched in awe as the ground pulled away from them, the buildings getting smaller and smaller. The wind pulled at his fur, and the city's circular layout became apparent to him as they rose above it. The tiers formed black circles that emanated out from the green central tier, giving the place a rhythmic look from the air. Other Aeradalla flew around them, but not close enough to be a danger.

Tarrin had flown before in the arms of Anayi, and he found that flying with Ariana was just as exhilerating. The feel of being so high, of looking down at the world from that lofty perch, it was one of the most incredible feelings in the world. He looked down in wonder as they reached the edge of the city, as the ground yielded to the misty cloud, which itself yielded to an amazing view of the desert from two longspans above it. In an instant, his gaze travelled further than he could run in two rides. The brown and tan desert looked like the surface of a quilt from so high up, the features of the land lost to his detail-lacking eyesight, looking like a vast tan-brown sea. The Selani carpeted the shaded area under the cloud, invisible to his cat's eyes, but knowing that they were there. He could see some of the larger rock spires as little dark blots in the endless tan, and he thought that he could make out some of the flocks of sukk. It was breathtaking, regardless of how little his eyes could make out, and the sensation of being so high above the land grabbed hold of his soul and refused to let go. He found he had no fear of having so much empty air under him, for Ariana's wings were still strong, and for once, he found he had faith in a stranger. He was safe with her.

He looked down at the world with wonder filling his eyes, wind flowing through his fur, as Ariana began to spiral down from that tremendous height, descending in a slow and easy manner, spiralling down in widening circles that were carrying him to the northwest of the edge of the cloud. The black stone of the city above the clouds fell behind the white mists that concealed it, fell away from his eyesight, and he found that he did not regret coming. He had finally managed to regain a measure of his power, and he had earned the trust of the goddess of the Selani. Those were very important things to him, things that had substance and meaning. The original mission to ascend the spire and find the object had succeeded, but it had failed in that it wasn't what he was looking for.

But, all in all, it had been a very profitable side trip. Very profitable indeed. He had regained his powers, had found acceptance with Fara'Nae, and what was probably most selfish, he was feeling the wonderment of defying gravity, of flying through the air. It wasn't by his own power, but the feeling was much the same as if it had been, a feeling of boundless freedom that incited the deepest parts of both his human and Cat halves, inspired a sensation that he had the entire world laid out before him for his enjoyment. It was something that he would not trade in, for all the gold in the world.

Some things were worth more than money, and to a being whose very existence hinged on being free, it was one of the most wonderful feelings in the world.

To: Title EoF

Chapter 16

Down and down and down, until finally the ground was once again where it was supposed to be.

Tarrin felt bitterly disappointed that it was over. Ariana was on the ground, fluttering her wings slightly for some strange reason, and with a sigh of regret, Tarrin climbed out of the basket and put his paws back on the hot, sandy soil of the desert floor.

Ariana had done a good job of it. They were some thirty longspans to the northwest of the edge of the cloud. She had spiralled down lazily, taking her time, but moving ever further out to the northwest with each broad circle. It was some time in the afternoon, and they had come down in an area where those stunted desert bushes were starting to regrow after a denuding pass by Selani flocks. The Selani themselves were well southeast of them, well beyond any area where they may be a danger to him, or pose a danger to themselves because of him.

Sarraya flitted out of the basket as Tarrin stretched, then absently returned to his humanoid form. Ariana blew out her breath and looked at him, then grunted softly. "I take it that you don't have any water, do you?" she asked. "Flying like that makes me thirsty."

Tarrin just gave her a look, then glanced at Sarraya. "One full waterskin, coming up," she declared. Tarrin held out his paw as Sarraya summoned up her Druidic power, and a full waterskin appeared in his paw.

"Magic!" Ariana breathed.

"I'm a Faerie, girl," Sarraya said chidingly. Tarrin handed it to the Aeradalla emotionlessly, and the woman gave it a suspicious look before opening it.

"This is safe, isn't it?" she asked.

Sarraya gave her a hard look, and Ariana laughed. "Sorry, stupid question," she apologized, then took a long, deep draw from the skin.

Tarrin crossed his arms and looked down at the much shorter Aeradalla. The tops of her wings nearly came up to the level of his eyes, though. "Alright, now you can tell me how you ended up as a serving wench."

Ariana chuckled ruefully. "Well, there's not a whole lot to it," she said. "When I got home, I found out that my house had been annexed by the Ruling Council, as had everything I owned. They had declared me dead. Well, my parents are both dead and my sister is married to a noble and had disowned me-I'm not up to her standards, you see. So I didn't have anyone to turn to for help. I lost all my assets when I was captured by the Arakites, and the Ruling Council took what was left. I was destitute, so I had to get a job. I worked in warehouses and festhalls, trying to get up enough money for a crossbow, so I could at least hunt for my own food. I nearly had enough, when the lackeys from the Palace tracked me down and said that I owed taxes on the house that they took from me while I was gone!" She spat. "Damned greedy bastards," she growled. "Ever since the King was wounded, they've been running roughshod all over us commoners, and we can't do anything about it, because they have magicians and we don't. They've been taxing us into the poorhouse!"

"What happened to your king?" Sarraya asked.

"He got a little too close to what he thought was a dead inu," she sighed. "It took a big piece out of him, and what was worse, it tore off one of his wings."