Calmy, my daughter, the voice of vibrance said, mirroring the first to rebuke her.

But it is too much! she protested vehemently. Mother, this has destroyed his soul! What we made him do here, it is more than he can bear!

What was done can be undone, the first to speak to her said gently. But consider the cost to the world to protect just one. The test here will become tainted by our hand, and it may change our champion's ability to make such hard decisions later. The echo of this will always remain in him, and it may alter his behavior later on. As all of you know, he stands beyond mortal restrictions. He will know without knowing what happened here today, and we cannot change that. Faced with another such decision as this, he may not choose as must be chosen.

It must be undone! the fourth cried out. It is my land that has sufferered for this! My people! To take so many, it is a crime! Mother, father, I beg of you, undo this!

Such a thing comes at a price, my son, the voice said gently. A terrible price.

Perhaps, the first said hesitantly. Perhaps, a compromise can be reached?

What do you propose, my daughter? the voice of vibrance asked.

Perhaps if only a portion of it is undone, the first offered. It is not the destruction of the land that weighs on my sweet child, it is the knowledge that he has destroyed the innocent. If the children of Karas are not destroyed in this test, it would give my child the will to go on. All of you understand his nature. For the guilty, he cares nothing, but for the innocent he cares almost too much. Perhaps, if we asked our Twin siblings to return the souls of only the Sulasians, a compromise could be reached to satisfy all sides. Karas would not lose his faithful. Our champion would have cause to continue his quest, and the test and the knowlege it has provided shall stand and bolster us, for we would know without tampering that my child has the fortitude necessary to make decisions that must be made.

Would this be acceptable to you, my son? the voice of authority asked.

It would be most acceptable to me, Father, he answered immediately. Cities can be rebuilt, but the life that makes it so can never be replaced. If I could have my children returned to me, I would be most grateful, even if the power I lost by their destruction cannot be returned to me.

I find your devotion to your children most admirable, my son, the voice said, which made the point of light which represented Karas suddenly shine brighter, as if he were beaming in pride. Would you find this acceptable, my wife?

I find it to be a sensible alternative, my husband, the voice of vibrancy agreed. The path of things shall not be greatly changed by such a compromise. All things will continue as they need to continue, and it will assuade great turmoil and grief that could put the quest in jeopardy by forces within Sulasia. Such things already exist in great abundance. The Balance would be better served to show mercy in this.

Then we are in agreement, the voice of authority declared. With your leave, my wife, it shall be so. Do we consent?

We consent, the voice of vibrancy agreed.

Then it shall be so, the voice of authority repeated. My wife, summon our daughter Sheniia. Only the goddess of mercy and life can demand of the Twins of Death what all others, even ourselves, must plead. Only Sheniia can assure that the bargain is fulfilled.

It shall be so, my husband, the voice of vibrancy answered.

Then let it be so, he declared in a voice of finality.

The four points of light then flared into incandescence, and were gone.

All over the blasted, burning city of Torrian, points of light appeared within destroyed buildings. Charred bones and ash suddenly began to glow with a soft, gentle radiance. And then, in a simultaneous blinding flash, brighter than the fire, the glow flared up and then faded away, leaving behind it whole, living, breathing people, eyes closed and minds asleep, bodies unclad and exactly as they had been before the fire that destroyed them, protected by gentle cocoons of magical power, shielded by the hellish firestorm raging beyond. They were the townsfolk of Torrian, restored to life by a bargain between the gods, a bargain struck in compassion and sealed in duty.

The fires suddenly began to die out, unnaturally so, and the air cooled to where it would no longer burn the skin from the bodies of those left behind. When it reached that point, when the air was scrubbed of the toxic gases that would kill those remaining within it, the coccoons of protection wavered and vanished.

And the thousands of Torrian citizens opened their eyes, staring at the blasted devastation with confusion and uncertainty. Many of them were too confused to understand what had happened. Many of them cried out in embarassment when they realized that they were laying in ash-choked rubble with no clothes on. But most of them realized that something of titanic proportions had occurred, and they got up and started wandering about, looking for family or friends, trying to make sense of it all.

"Did you just see that?" Mikos asked suddenly as they all watched the flames. "Did you see that light?"

"I saw nothing," Arren said, but Sathon had an ashy pall, and his eyes were about to pop out of his head. And then the Druid laughed.

"What is it, Sathon?" Arren asked in irritation, watching his precious city burn.

He was about to respond, but the flames burning what had once been the walls simply stopped, like closing a tap on a cask of ale. Smoke rose up from the charred remains of the wall, and for the first time, they could see well into the city itself. It was a scene of total devastation, all black, charred ash and twisted fingers of debris rising from the black ground. But then they all saw something moving out in it. It approached them uncertainly, and when the haze began to clear, they saw that it was a young woman, no more than twenty, wandering the devastation with ash smearing her totally nude, yet totally unmarked, body. It was apparent to them all that she was Sulasian, and she swooned about in disoriented stumbles. One of the Rangers jumped forward, rushing over the burned logs that had once been the wall, and he reached the woman quickly. He threw his cloak over her and swept her up from the ground, then began carrying her out towards the others.

"She's alive!" someone called in an Ultern accent, which caused a short roar of happiness to rise up from the Rangers. "Look! There's another one!"

"I think Timon shows the way, men!" Arren said in sudden excitement as another figure appeared, rising up from the ashes of Torrian. Then another, then another, and then another. "Let's go see what miracles this fire left behind! Go find anyone alive, and bring them out to the field behind us!"

The Rangers rushed forward into the smoking ruins of Torrian, and they weren't alone. The Centaurs and the Were-kin rolled forward with them, just as surprised and intrigued by this seeming miracle as the humans were. Jesmind rushed forward with them with Jasana in her arms, but her mission was not to find the humans or help them. The only thing she cared about was that Tarrin was still somewhere in the city, and she had to find him. And she wasn't alone. She heard Thean call out to the other Were-cats, who still stayed protectively near Kimmie, "Alright, everyone, Tarrin is out here somewhere. Let's find him!"

Consciousness returned slowly, because he did not want to be awake. He did not want to remember. He did not want to feel. But consciousness was a dogged, determined opponent, forcing his mind back to coherence, forcing him to open his eyes, forcing him to sit up from where he lay.

He looked around and blinked. The fires were all out. Puffs of smoke still wafted up from some remaining embers, but the fires were gone. Had he been out for so long? He looked up into the night sky, and saw that the moons had barely moved since the last time he saw them. Had he been out for an entire day? His body was still dreadfully weak; it was all he could do to rise up and look around. It certainly didn't feel like he'd been asleep an entire day, not as worn as he was.