"You would," she said acidly. "Mister immune to heat."

"Be thankful it is just hot," Allia told her. "This is the quiet season. Not long from now, the storms are going to begin."

"Don't remind me," Sarraya grunted. "I still feel a little tender from a few of those. But right now, I may actually prefer a little skin-stripping sandstorm to this heat."

"Stop complaining and shield yourself, like you did back then," he said dismissively. "When are you going to leave, Sapphire?"

"As soon as we get clear of the city," she replied. "If I return to my true form here, I'd knock down several buildings. That would defile this place, and it's not very pleasant for me either."

"How long will it take you to get home?"

"Not long," she smiled. "My lair is on the eastern edge of the desert, but conditions this time of year are perfect for flying east. The winds aloft will push me along. I should be home in about seven days."

"Well, let's get started. It's going to take us about an hour to get to the edge of the city," he told them. "This place is pretty big."

After climbing up to the stands to get out of the arena, they exited near the grand open courtyard or plaza or whatever it had been in antiquity and turned up one of the wide avenues leading to the eastern edge of the city. "Why did you bring us here, deshida?" Allia asked curiously.

"This is the only place in the desert I'm sure that I'm familiar with enough to Teleport to, sister," he answered.

She frowned. "How familiar do you have to be?"

" Very familiar," he answered.

"Then how did Jenna Teleport into the dining room?" she asked. "Surely she did not study it."

"No, but it's what you'd call local," he answered. "There are two ways to Teleport, deshaida. There's local and long distance. They have different rules."

"Explain them," she said.

"Well, if you're going to Teleport a very short distance, the rules are very lax," he answered as they passed the building where he, Sarraya, and Jegojah had taken shelter from a sandstorm. "If you're Teleporting where you can see, or someplace within just a few hundred spans, you can do it without knowing the area very well. There's another rule about Teleporting in a confined area called domain, too," he continued. "Jenna could Teleport into the dining room because it's hers. She's the Keeper, and the entire Tower is her domain. She can Teleport anywhere in it or on the grounds, because it's all hers." He stepped absently over a place where he knew a Dwarf skeleton lay buried under the sand. "Jenna can do it, and most of the Sha'Kar can do it too, though they can't go everywhere. They can only go to public places or areas that they consider their personal domain."

"Why is that different?"

"Mother makes it different," he told her. "It's the Goddess' influence that changes the rules. She wanted it to be much easier for us to Teleport in the Tower, I guess. Though why someone would Teleport when they can walk is beyond me." He threw his braid back over his shoulder after a gust of wind pushed it around him. "The third rule is the rule concerning what I just did. If you're Teleporting a great distance, or somewhere that isn't your domain, you have to be very familiar with the area to do it. You have to know exactly what you're looking for in order for the spell to find where you want to go. You don't have to get down and study every rock and pebble, but you do have to be able to conjure up a very detailed memory of the place you want to go. And I mean detailed. I could come here because I spent three days studying every rock and pebble in a longspan-wide radius of that arena to give myself an advantage over Jegojah. But I didn't need that kind of preparation to be able to Teleport here. I could have done it just by spending a day or two camped in one place in the city, staying in that one place long enough to get a good detailed feel for it and a good memory of it. I might be able to Teleport to Amyr Dimeon, but I'm not sure. I also might be able to Teleport to the Great Canyon, but again, I'm not sure. I spent a goodly amount of time in both places, and some pretty memorable things happened, memorable enough for me to possibly be able to make a connection with those places."

"Could you Teleport to Dala Yar Arak?" Allia asked.

"Easily," he replied. "I could also Teleport to the Star of Jerod or the Dancer, because I was on both ships a long time."

"But they are not where they once were," she protested.

"That doesn't matter," he told her. "I'm Teleporting to the ship, not to the place where the ship is. No matter where it is, I can Teleport onto the deck, because it's that deck that's my target. Not the location where the ship happens to be."

"Ah. I understand," Allia nodded. "What happens if you try to Teleport to a place you are not familiar enough to reach?"

"The spell fails," he answered. "It can't find the destination, and the spell unravels before you can release it."

"Quite a restricting rule," Sapphire said. "Wizardly Teleportation is much more liberal. You can try to Teleport anywhere you want to go, but the less familiar you are with a place, the greater the chance that you miss."

"Miss? What is a miss?" Tarrin asked.

"Not appearing where you intended to appear," she answered. "If you happen to Teleport inside a solid object, you won't live to learn from your mistake. That's why it's not done without extreme care or a great deal of desperation."

"Ouch," Sarraya said, and he felt her shudder a bit on his shoulder.

"Can you do that?" Tarrin asked.

She shook her head. "There's a size limit for the Wizard version, and dragons are just a bit past it. Besides, I'd much rather fly. I've never in my life felt a need to get somewhere faster than my wings can carry me."

"I wonder if there's a Druidic version," Tarrin mused.

"I doubt it," Sarraya answered. "Transplanting yourself like that absolutely defines unnatural, Tarrin. You know how the effort goes up when you cross that boundary."

"It's theoretically possible, but not even I would care to experiment," Sapphire agreed. "You'd either succeed, or you'd die trying. I'll leave making that kind of a choice for when I have nothing more to lose."

"I think I agree with you, my friend," Tarrin nodded sagely.

It took them about an hour to get to the edges of the city, where there was much, much less sand. The winds blew predominantly from west to east through the wide valley in which the city was nestled, and the stone buildings of the city formed a barrier that broke up the wind and caused the sand to pile up on the western edges. After they passed the last building, Tarrin and Allia followed Sapphire as she got what she considered to be a safe distance from the outlying edge of the city, out onto bare, windswept rock that was strewn with rounded stones from the size of Tarrin's fist to large boulders, too large for the summer winds to pick up and carry away. She stopped suddenly and turned around, then opened her arms expectantly. Tarrin stepped up and embraced her warmly.

"Now you be careful, little friend," she said. "Did you think to bring my bell?"

"I have it with me," he told her with a smile.

"That's a good boy," she said, looking up at him with a satisfied smile. "If you need me, call me. I'll come."

"I appreciate that, my friend," he said as he let her go. "Have a good journey, and try not to be too hard on your brood when you get home. Remember, they're young."

"That's the problem," she said with a dry smile. "Take care of him, Allia," she called.

"He will be safe with me, honored dragon," Allia replied confidently. "This is my home. I will not allow its dangers to take him unaware."

"That is the only reason I'm letting him out of my sight," she told the Selani calmly. "Step back now, both of you. I need some space."