"You are out of shape, girl," Spyder said critically. "You must exercise. A strong body is critical to strong magic."

"I will, I promise," she said, getting her breath back. "I don't get much chance to do much here in the Tower. Where are we going to start?"

"Brusque, is she not?" Spyder asked conversationally to Tarrin.

"When she's interested in something, she tends to forget custom and courtesy," Tarrin chuckled in reply.

"Well then, since you are so ready to begin, then let us begin," the Urzani said, stepping up to the smaller human adolescent. "I can tolerate not the ugliness of the Sulasian tongue," she stated flatly. "I will teach you the True Tongue, so we can speak without sounding like a pair of clucking chickens."

Despite who Spyder was and the eminence about her, the sense of awe she tended to inspire, Jenna laughed at that. That laugh was cut short when the tall, tall Urzani reached out and put her slender, four-fingered hands on each side of Jenna's head, on her temples. Tarrin didn't see anything, but he could clearly feel the Urzani pull the flows out of the strands with a surety and speed that made him nearly miss what she did. An unbelievably complicated spell formed between those hands, directly inside Jenna's mind, that had tendrils of the spell feeding back into Spyder's own. He felt a sudden surge of envy for his sister, for in that fleeting moment, the minds of Spyder and Jenna were linked as knowledge passed from one to the other. Jenna had had the privilege to share knowledge with the oldest, wisest, most learned living being on the face of the world. There could be no higher honor than that.

As quickly as it happened, it was over. Spyder removed her hands easily as Jenna staggered back a step or two and put a hand to her forehead. "Goddess!" she gasped. "How did you do that!"

She spoke in flawless Sha'Kar, even having the same accent as the Urzani. Of course, that was expected, seeing as how the Urzani's knowledge of the language was what was given to her.

"Easily, if you know how, young one," Spyder smiled down at her.

"I, I know, Tarrin!" she said in wonder, standing there and staring at her brother in surprise. "I know who we were, and what we used to be! She showed me what we were like in the past! And she showed me how we came down to where we are now!"

"I know, Jenna," he nodded. "I know."

"I, I can't believe it," she said in surprise, dropping her shoe. "How could it all have happened?"

"It's all there, young one," Spyder told her. "All of it. You will write that down, Jenna," she ordered. "You will pen it in your own hand, in your own way, and then share it with the others."

"I-yes, I will," she said, looking in his direction, but he could tell her eyes were distant. "It's sad, really. All that beauty, gone. Why didn't we see it coming?"

"Think, child."

"We were naive," she realized. "We believed everyone would think and act as we did. We thought everyone understood. But we were wrong."

"We were wrong," the Urzani mirrored in a wan tone.

"And now it's the three of us?"

"Yes and no," Spyder smiled. "I may be sui'kun, but I have other duties. Tarrin is sui'kun, but he exists outside the order of things. For now, there is only you. But in time, others will appear, and then you will help the katzh-dashi restore the order to its former glory. It will be as it once was, Jenna. But only if you work hard to realize it."

"What are you talking about?" Tarrin asked.

"There used to be seven Towers, Tarrin," Jenna said, closing her eyes to remember what Spyder showed her. "Every Tower had a sui'kun. At any one time, there are only seven sui'kun. One for each Tower. But if you and Tarrin don't count, won't that make nine?" she asked the Urzani.

"It won't matter," Spyder said dismissively.

"The power of magic may come from the Weave, but it's the Sorcerers that bring it out," Jenna said. "Every Sorcerer alive enriches the Weave, but every sui'kun that's alive restores a portion of the Weave to its original state. There are three of us-"

"Four. You forgot Jasana."

"You're right, four. That means that four-sevenths of the Weave's original power is back." Jenna's face screwed up a moment. "But if there are nine, won't that mess it up?"

"No," Spyder assured her. "Tarrin and myself may impact the Weave, but we are meant to exist outside the order of things. When the eighth and ninth and tenth are born, they will simply be linked with the aspects of magic we already represent. They will replace us."

"What will happen to us?" Tarrin asked curiously.

"We will simply no longer represent an aspect of magic," Spyder shrugged. "We won't lose our powers or be killed, if that's your worry. After what happened with the Breaking, the Elder Gods have decided to allow the Goddess to keep two or three sui'kun in reserve, to use a term, in case one of the others dies, or another such accident or dark plot occurs. If one of the other sui'kun were to die, their burden would fall upon us until a new sui'kun is born to take up the burden."

"Ten? Who is the tenth?"

"Jasana," Spyder replied. "You and her and I, we will represent the stability of the Weave. Our presence will ensure that another Breaking won't happen."

"Oh. I understand," Tarrin told her.

"Every sui'kun is linked to a major Conduit," Jenna explained to him. "Our being alive makes it appear, and it remains until we die. We're like the living extensions of the Goddess."

"In our own way, we are Avatars," Spyder told Tarrin, using a word he understood. "We are blessed by the Goddess and the other Elder Gods. When the power of magic was formed, the Elder Gods decreed that its power be limited in some manner, so it was decided that it would be tied to mortals. Sorcerers. Every Sorcerer alive makes magic- all magic-just a tiny bit stronger. But the realms of magical ability are restricted by us. When your daughter was born, Tarrin, it restored a portion of magical ability back to the world. Wizards regained the power to conjure Demons, though it took them a great deal of time to rediscover the spells for doing so. Priests regained the power to commune directly with their gods. Sorcerers and Druids gained no new powers, but the enrichment of the Weave strengthens our powers unilaterally. When the next sui'kun is born, Wizards and Priests will regain another realm of their lost powers, and Sorcerers and Druids will gain more power. And it will continue until there are once again seven. When that happens, all the old powers will be restored, and magic will return to its former power. At that stage, even the mundanes will have enough magical ability to cast minor Wizard cantrips without any deep study." She glanced about. "I think that is enough debate. I am here to teach you Sorcery, not teach you history. You can debate things on your own time."

"Yes!" Jenna said emphatically.

"Come," Spyder told them, motioning towards herself. "Sit. Sit and listen."

They obeyed her quickly, coming to sit before her. She sedately did the same, facing them with her stormy blue eyes and the deep mysteries contained within them. "You two, both of you, you are clumsy," she told them bluntly. "You are slow, ungainly, wasteful, and inefficient. The time it takes you to weave your spells is absolutely inexcusable," she said in a hard tone. "That is where we are going to begin. You will watch me, watch and feel and learn. By the end of this session, I expect both of you to be able to pull the flows from the strands as quickly as I can."

Jenna swallowed, but Tarrin, who wasn't as intimidated as his sister, fixed the Urzani with a disapproving look. "I didn't come up here for insults," he warned her.

"Until you impress me, it is all you will receive," she replied in a diffident tone. "You are both children. Until you show me that you deserve it, you will receive no respect from me." When Tarrin's eyes narrowed, the woman simply stared at him. "What I offer is not something you cannot live without," she warned in a dangerous tone. "Anger me, and you'll be receiving your lessons from Jenna."