Denai's eyes almost glowed. "It would give me great honor, Tarrin. May I have the honor of calling you deshida?"

"It is a great honor to be thought of so highly by one such as you, Denai," He said with a gentle smile. "You are true children of the Holy Mother, and she must bless you anew with each dawn."

Denai actually blushed, and then she sniffled. Then she surprised Tarrin by giving him a crushing hug. "You be careful, deshida," she said fiercely. "Without us there to watch your back, you're going to be vulnerable."

"I'll be fine, deshaida," he assured her. He pushed her out enough to look down into her eyes, then he held out his paw and allowed Sarraya to land in it, standing there and looking at him with misty eyes.

"I hate the idea that I won't be there with you, Tarrin, but I'll do what you ask," she said with a sniffle. "I'll try to get back to you as quickly as I can. I may even catch up with you before you reach Suld."

"I'll be watching for you, Sarraya," he assured her. "You be careful, and don't let Denai here distract you."

"I'll be worse than her father," Sarraya grinned.

"Nobody's worse than my father," Denai laughed.

Tarrin stepped away from them, looking down at them with sober eyes. There was only one more thing to do. "Denai, I want you to do something for me."

"Anything, Tarrin. Anything at all."

With slow, measured movements, changing one paw at a time into a human hand, Tarrin pulled the manacles off of his wrists. "I don't need these anymore," he said calmly, looking at them. He knew every scratch, every pit, every dark imperfection that marred the surfaces of them. They had represented the price of trust, but he had realized that they had also chained him to his own fear. They had been a part of him, but now they were no longer. He had grown beyond the need for them now, and it was time to give them up. He had to move on with his life. "I want you to have them."

"I can't take these," Denai gasped. "You said they mean too much to you!"

"They mean nothing to me now," he told her, which made Sarraya start to weep. "Do whatever you want with them. Throw them away, give them to the Holy Mother, give them to your smiths and have them make something useful out of them. It doesn't matter to me."

The importance of that seemed to dawn on Denai, and her eyes filled up with tears. "I'll do something special with them, Tarrin," she promised. "They won't mean nothing to me."

"Then it pleases me in whatever you do with them," he told her.

"Oh Tarrin, that's just beautiful!" Sarraya said with a loud sniffle, wiping at her eyes.

Tarrin looked at the Faerie, then he laughed. "I'm not one for all this sentiment. Now back up so I can get myself over the mountains."

"What are you going to do?" Sarraya asked curiously, her wings pulling her into the air.

"You'll see," he said with a wink. "But you need to back up. You may get hurt."

They backed away from him, and he opened himself to the Weave. Drawing in the power of High Sorcery, he mulled over a dim memory of a spell cast long ago, one cast out of anger. But the memory of it was still in his mind, so he had little trouble recalling the exact method of weaving. Sending out heavy, strong flows of Fire and Divine power, with token flows of the other Spheres to give the weave the power of High Sorcery, Tarrin wove together an intricate knot of magical power, then he released it over his head.

A flash of fire appeared in the air over his head, then it expanded and took shape quickly. It expanded out to its full size, and Denai and Sarraya found themselves looking at a Roc, a Roc made of pure fire.

It was an Elemental, a semi-sentient creature created by magic. A Fire Elemental. It would exist in the physical world until Tarrin dismissed it, so long as he recharged the weave that made up its body once a day.

With a screeching cry, the Elemental landed beside him, nuzzling at him with its fiery beak. It was a solid mass, a being of solid fire, and that meant that it could carry him. Since it was a Roc, its magic allowed it to fly just like a Roc. The Fire Elemental would carry him over the mountains.

The Goddess said he had to get there on his own. She said nothing about him using his own magic to help himself along in the tough spots. He'd let the Roc return to the Weave after he got over the mountains, but for now, he needed it to get him over the Troll-infested Sandshield safely. He doubted the Goddess would mind.

Denai and Sarraya stared at the magnificent Elemental for a long moment, as Tarrin pulled himself up onto its back. He could feel its heat, knew that it would incinerate anyone not immune to its fire, yet found its fiery heat to be comfortable. This was another good reason not to take Sarraya.

"That's a clever trick, Tarrin!" Sarraya said with a laugh. "I'd have never thought of it!"

"What is it, Tarrin? It's beautiful!" Denai called.

"It's an Elemental," Tarrin told her. "Just don't get too close. The fire is real, Denai. It will burn you if you get too close."

"Alright."

"You flying to Suld, Tarrin?" Sarraya asked.

"No, you know the Goddess told me not to do that," he replied. "But I don't think she'll mind if I use the Elemental to get over the mountains. I'll go on foot after I'm on the other side."

"Alright, that tells me where to try to meet up with you again," Sarraya told him.

"I'll see both of you soon," he told them, waving his paw in farewell. "Until then, be careful, and watch out for one another."

"We'll be careful, and I'll see you in the Frontier!" Sarraya called.

"We'll see you in Suld, Tarrin! Var and I can't wait to get there!" Denai called as Tarrin spurred his Elemental to take off, controlling it with his thoughts alone, thoughts to which the Elemental responded instantly. The great fiery bird spread its wings, and with a single thrust that sent small embers out from it, the Elemental took to the air. Tarrin held on to a mane of fire as the Elemental began to circle, flapping its burning wings to gain altitude, captivating his friends on the ground with its beauty as the Elemental trailed a streamer of fire and sparkling light as it rose into the sky.

Tarrin again felt caught up in the intense joy of flying, of seeing the land open before him like an oyster holding a pearl, of feeling that utter sense of complete freedom that came from seeing the ground far below him. His happiness infected the Elemental as well, who gave out a triumphant screeching cry, a cry that attracted the attention of every living thing in the mountains beneath it. The massive, beautiful Elemental turned west, turned into the mountains, and began the hours-long journey that would take Tarrin out of the Desert of Swirling Sands, back into the West, and one step closer to returning to Suld.

Farewell, my son, the voice of Fara'Nae called out to him as he left her domain. May my sister watch over you as carefully and lovingly as I have.

In Denai's hands, the two steel manacles began to blaze with brilliant light, then began to change and contract. When the light faded, when Denai looked down at the miracle that had been taking place in her hands, she saw that the manacles had been replaced by two rings, made of many strands of multicolored metal twisted together to form a beautiful work of art. Denai and Sarraya stared at them in wonder, and then the Selani woman, not knowing what else to do with them, slid them onto her fingers. She would keep one, but the other, she vowed to herself, would be Var's. A symbol of their love for one another, and an eternal reminder of the strange friend that they had made in the desert, a friend as dear to her as any of her family.

Her deshida.

To: Title EoF