Her touch retreated from him, the door between his mind and her power closed, and he understood why they had needed him. Only a sui'kun could do what she just did. He and Jenna were the only ones she could have used to take direct action the way she had.

The draining effect it had on him was stunning. Swimming in a haze of bone-numbing weariness, Tarrin felt his own power slip, until the only thing holding him up was the power of the Conduit itself. She had used him as her vessel, her hand in the real world, but much of the power that had been unleashed in the material world had come from him . It would have killed anyone not a sui'kun instantly. His heart racing, his breathing shallow and as rapid as the drumming of a running rabbit's feet, Tarrin somehow managed to get himself out of the Conduit, where he crashed limply to the roof of the Tower. He had no idea how long he lay there, concentrating only on sucking in as much air as he possibly could, wondering if he was going to die laying there on that rooftop of utter exhaustion. He felt like the Goddess had ripped out a piece of his soul, and he could barely find the energy to breathe, let alone move. His heart began to falter slightly in its rapid beating, and the power of his regeneration began to falter as well as it too was drained, trying to draw up power from the All to enact recovery, but lacking the strength to do even that.

Then tiny hands were on him, and from their touch came an angry, invigorating strength. Tarrin gasped as a blast of warmth flowed through him, delivered by the tiny hands of Sarraya, flinched, then scrambled up to his paws and knees, fumbling with the sword that was still in his paw, miraculously retained through it all. Though it was a welcome sensation, it came in a vast wave, as if Sarraya were trying to make him explode with the excess energy she was sending into him.

"Enough!" he gasped, feeling his heartbeat start to slow, felt heat and vigor spread out into his arms and legs, felt strength return to muscles that had been completely depleted of energy. "I'm alright!"

"That was quite a show," Sarraya said without humor. "Can you move?"

"I can move, but I'm tapped," he grunted. "I couldn't weave a candle lit right now."

"Come on, let's get down there and do what we can," she said. "Whatever you did turned the tide, but they still need help."

Sarraya picked him up with a Druidic spell and carried him over the ledge. Tiny points of bright light littered the grounds below, glowing weapons that had suddenly turned the Demons from wild attackers to desperate defenders. Knights, Legionaires, and Marines pressed them from every side with those killing weapons, striking back blows that had been rained upon them, and any Demon that tried to disengage from the press was vaporized by an incandescent, ragged bolt of raw energy unleashed from a nearby Circle, Circles that were tapping into the vast energy that the Goddess had gathered for their use. Sarraya literally let him free-fall for several seconds, as the ground raced towards him, the fighting figures grew bigger and bigger, but he had no fear. He trusted his tiny companion utterly, and he knew she would slow him down before he hit the ground. A black-skinned cambisi, a male with blackened, bloody armor, was backing up from a Knight and two big cat Wikuni Marines, his armor actually affording him a protection that many Demons did not enjoy against the newly dangerous weapons wielded by their enemies. The half-breed Demon was backing up directly under where Tarrin was falling, putting his back to the white stone wall of the Tower for protection, completely oblivious to the doom that was descending on him from above. Tarrin gripped his sword in both paws and coiled it back over his head, arching his back and tucking in his feet in a position that Sarraya would instantly recognize and understand. He wanted her to slow him down, but not too much.

Luck probably was with the three pressing the Demon, for a black-furred panther Wikuni looked up and saw Tarrin dropping like a missle of death, sword readied to strike, and he jumped back quickly. The other two saw his act and did the same, not wanting to give the Demon a hole to exploit, and that got them out of the way. He felt Sarraya's power pull on him mere longspans above the ground, and the sudden deceleration worked with him as his entire body uncoiled like a released spring, whipping the sword over his head with such force that it literally cut the air, making a ripping sound as it went. The sudden deceleration gave the sword even more power as momentum pulled it down as the rest of him suddenly went slower than the sword, and only his inhuman strength kept the sword from ripping out of his paws.

The sword's edge hit the Demon right in the center of its burgonet helmet, and the alien metal split like paper. The power of the blow sent the black-bladed weapon right down the centerline of the Demon's body, and the sword, with the awesome power of the falling strike behind it, literally cleaved the Demon into two perfect halves. The sword, with so much force that the metal armor offered no resistance, went on to bury itself to the hilt into the ground under the Demon, as tendons and bones in Tarrin's paws snapped from the strain of trying to stop the weapon after it had done its job. Black blood exploded from that perfect line sliced right down its middle, between its eyes, right down the middle of its nose, and then two halves slid against one another with the slick blood helping them along, and then crumpled to the ground limply.

Pausing a second to let his regeneration repair the damage to his paws, he pulled his sword out of the ground, cleaned of the acidic Demon blood by the earth it had cleaved along with the Demon, and stood up with glowing green eyes and a flat, implacable expression. The only recognition he gave the Demon he had just bisected was to wipe some of the burning, smoking black blood off of his face. He felt it burning at him like acid, but then Sarraya was there, using a Druidic spell to strip the black blood off of him and the three defenders before it could eat into their flesh.

Raising the undamaged sword blade- nothing seemed capable of harming his prized black-bladed sword!-he gave the two Wikuni and the Knight a calm look, a look of utter, complete, and icy resolve. This was not a time to rage. This was a time to let his cold human fury do its work, focusing him on what had to be done and not worrying about things that would distract him. They gaped at him for a moment, then the Knight laughed ruefully. "That's one way to do it," he remarked.

"We're not done yet," he said. "Come with me."

"As you command," the panther Wikuni said instantly.

Ianelle, report, he Whispered. That didn't require any real energy to use.

Whatever you did, it's working, she answered as Tarrin and the three behind him ran towards the North Tower, where a pocket of Knights and Legionaires were surrounding a trio of strange stocky Demons with slimy, shiny skin, webbed feet, and frog-like heads filled with huge teeth. We're starting to kill them off as fast as they're appearing.

Are they Teleporting in?

They can't do that. Their powers don't work on the grounds. They're appearing around the fence and running in.

Take the power the Goddess gave us and build a Circle big enough to surround the grounds with a barrier, he ordered. If we can stop them from pouring in, we can kill the ones already here. The humans and Wikuni are getting the upper hand now, they won't need your help except with the cambisi.

And they were. As they ran towards them, the Knights and Legionaires managed to spear one of the trio of Demons, which staggered and fell out of sight, as the remaining two turned their backs to one another and flailed wildly with their webbed, clawed hands. Without their invulnerability, the Demons were suddenly unarmed and soft targets, with only teeth, claws, and occasionally strength or size to use to fight back. Only the armed, armored cambisi would present a real threat, for they were all expert swordsmen and enjoyed the benefits of their armor.