"Shiika's actually not bad for a Demon," he said in defense of her.

"Truth be told, I have an odd fondness for her," Spyder admitted. "At least she is old enough to understand me."

I hate Demons, the Goddess said with a shudder in her choral voice. I still say it was a mistake for us to allow her to remain on Sennadar.

"You know, I remember Allia and Camara Tal saying the same thing about Jula," Tarrin said pointedly.

There was a startled silence, then the Goddess laughed, a symphony of silvery bells. Point taken, kitten, she said. We should break this up. Were I not shielding us, Val would be hearing every word we say with us so close to him. I think it's time for us to withdraw and start making plans for what's to come, outside of his earshot. As it is, he knows we're here, and you can bet that he knows that we didn't come just for the view.

"As you say, mother. I will come visit you in Suld presently, my brother," she told him. "What comes requires my direct intervention. When the army marches, I will march at its head."

"I'm looking forward to seeing you," he said in a grim tone. "And Mother, thank you for your confidence in me."

Ayise and the other Elder Gods are going to thrash me over it, but it was long ago decided that in this particular area, my word is absolute. I accepted responsibility for this, and it also allows me to act with absolute authority. Not even my parents can gainsay my decisions. So don't worry about Ayise or Shellar coming along behind me and unmaking my decision for me, kitten.

"Thank you," he said again. He felt much calmer now. He needed to think about what had to be done, and the need to destroy that army would change his plan around a little bit, but everything was still more than workable.

He was glad they were going to help, but he didn't need it. He had been deadly serious when he threatened to destroy the world. He would do it to get Jasana back. He would sacrfice anything to recover his daughter, his precious child, and nothing was going to stop him from his goal of her safe return.

She was all that mattered.

It took him a while for him to open his eyes.

The room was silent, empty, and he could tell that Mist, Jesmind, Allia, and Eron remained in the room. Talon's scent was also present, and he heard his son giggling slightly, along with the inu 's throaty growls. He did open his eyes and turn his head towards that sound, seeing the inu playing with the Were-cat child, nuzzling him on the belly with a foot holding him down while the boy laughed. The inu was tickling him!

"Tarrin!" Jesmind said quickly, standing up from the couch in which she'd been fidgeting.

Tarrin pushed himself to his feet without ceremony, looking down at them. He knew what was coming, and he knew it wasn't going to be easy on any of them.

What was coming was a war, a war of a magnitude not seen since the Blood War. Val's endless hordes of Goblinoids and his force of Demons had to be stopped, no matter what happened with the Firestaff. But their presence was going to interfere with his own plan, and it meant that he was going to have to make certain arrangements with those who made the plans.

Maybe it was good that Val and the armies were at Gora Umadar. That way, the battle wasn't going to threaten any cities or centers of population. That barren tundra was uninhabited by men, not even by the small tribes of barbarians that were common in the empty lands north of Ungardt.

He took Jesmind's paw, then allowed her to embrace him. He put a paw on her shoulder and took in her scent, but inside there was too much turmoil for his love for her to establish itself.

"Did, did you find anything?" she asked, looking pleadingly up into his eyes, a look that said to him that even if it was a lie, she wanted to hear good news.

"I know where she is," he told his mate. "It's going to be… difficult to get her out. But it is possible. I'm going to need help to do it."

"Then you will get it," Allia said quickly and sincerely, clicking her tongue a few times. Talon disengaged from the Were-cat child and stalked over to her, lowering her head.

"You're going to help me a different way, Allia," he said. "The only one I'll need to help me recover her directly is Jesmind."

She looked up at him with shimmering eyes. "What can I do to help?"

"Go with me," he told her. "When the time comes to get Jasana and get away, I'm going to need you. Nobody else can do it but you."

"I'll do anything to get my daughter back," she told him sincerely.

Tarrin was silently glad to hear that. When the time came, her declaration was going to be sorely put to the test.

He put his arms around her and then explained what he'd seen, and revealed some certain exhchanges he'd made with Spyder. "Val is summoning up an army of Demons," he concluded. "We're going to have to put a stop to that. The Goddess has already started assembling an army to face them, and she'll need help from the rest of us, and she'll need all of us when the time comes to start fighting."

"What will I do with Eron?" Mist asked in worry.

"I don't expect you to fight, Mist," he told her. "Your cub is still too young, and I want you to stay with Kimmie. She's going to push herself too far with her magic if someone doesn't stay with her and reign her in, and that may harm the baby. So you have two children again."

"I don't find that idea to be totally repugnant," she said with a slight smile. "I know Kimmie, and she won't disobey me. I'll keep her on a short leash for you."

"Is Triana here yet? How long was I out?"

"Nearly an hour," Allia answered.

Tarrin brooded about that. It certainly didn't seem like an hour. Then again, time seemed to work a little differently within the Weave. It was not as absolute there it was in reality, moving at the same pace everywhere. In some places it moved swiftly, in some places ponderously. He guessed he must have crossed a boundary into an area where time marched quickly, making a substantial chunk of time in reality seem like only a moment to him there.

"If I've been out that long, then Kerri and the others have to be back by now," he said. "And Spyder and Shiika may be here too."

"Shiika? Why would that Demon be coming here?" Jesmind asked.

"Because we're going to need her," Tarrin replied.

"Is it wise to ally with a Demon against its own kind?" Mist asked.

"Shiika is a dependable ally," Allia told her calmly.

"If there's one thing you can absolutely depend on about Shiika," Tarrin elaboratted, "it's that she'll do whatever it takes to keep her position of power and luxury, and do anything it takes from being banished from Sennadar and sent back to the Abyss. Val's army threatens her luxurious lifestyle, and his Demons are a direct threat to her status. She'll fight on our side because we represent a better lifestyle for her if we win." Tarrin snorted. "Shiika probably hates the other Demons even more than we do," he added absently. "Because she's so different from them."

"How so?"

"Shiika doesn't have the same mentality as other Demons," he answered. "If there was ever such a thing as a nice Demon, Shiika is the closest thing you'll ever find to it. She's rather nasty, and she is a Demon, but she lacks that fundamental sense of evil that infects the rest of her kind. She's not a good or kind woman, but she's not like the others either, actually unlike just about any other Demon. If they ever noticed it, they'd probably destroy her."

"So between the two extremes, she falls somewhere in the middle," Mist surmised.

"That's a pretty good way to look at it," he agreed. "She's a dangeous woman and I don't entirely trust her, but I do trust her when her interests happen to coincide with mine. As long as we're working towards the same goal, she can be a loyal and very powerful ally. It's when those goals start drifting apart that you have to start watching her, because she'll step on your head to advance her own cause."