He realized through a mind that only just seemed to be coming back into focus that he was within the Chamber of the Heart, half a world away from where he was supposed to be.

Dimly, more and more of the memory of that came back to him. He had travelled to Gora Umadar to recover his daughter. He remembered that, remembered the crossing of Ungardt, the journey through the cave where he had made the magic belts, then across the mountains running on the top of the snow. He remembered the quick and nervous crossing of the tundra, and then they were there. He went through it in his mind, remembering the journey to the pyramid, the six-armed Demoness-her name was Shaz'baket-and facing Val. He remembered how calm he'd been, how strangely calm. He was facing a god, and he was calm.

He was calm because he had a plan.

The plan. Of course. Now he could think about it freely, since he obviously wasn't there anymore. He had to get Val mad, distract him, then somehow survive that moment when the Goddess' had to withdraw from him to bring the army. Then he had to hold off Val long enough to-

– -of course. That must have happened. He had no memory of it, but one moment he had the Firestaff in his paws, and the next, here he was, laying in yet another bed waking up from an unconscious state. That could only mean that he did do it, and if he was still here, then-

"Yes, kitten," the choral voice of the Goddess announced, in quite an amused tone. "The Soultrap worked."

He opened his eyes, and saw her looking down at him with an expression of great love and fierce pride. She was sitting on the bed beside him, her gentle hands stroking the hair back from his face. "You used the Firestaff and became a god, my son," she said gently. "And then you destroyed both Val and yourself. The Soultrap worked, and it claimed your soul before it was destroyed."

"But you said that my soul would die with me," he whispered in a voice that seemed strangely raspy, and was still just a little weak. "I remember that."

"And still you went through with it, despite knowing that," she said with a loving smile. "It shows how very brave you are, my sweet kitten. Even facing total destruction, you were willing to do what you thought you had to do. I'm very proud of you."

"I, I didn't do it for you, Mother," he admitted. "Are Jesmind and Jasana alright?"

"They will be when they see you," she told him. "It's been three days, kitten. Jesmind took your death very hard, and Jasana's been absolutely inconsolable. She blames herself for everything that happened, and she thought that it was her fault you died."

"It wasn't her fault."

"She won't believe that until you say it to her," she told him. "How do you feel?"

"Strange," he admitted.

"That's to be expected," she said, patting him on the shoulder. "This isn't you."

"Excuse me?"

She laughed. "Well, it is, but it isn't," she elaborated. "Remember how it feels to lose a limb and grow a new one? How it tingles for a bit?"

He nodded.

"Isn't that how your whole body feels right now?"

He nodded again, then he started and gaped at her.

She grinned. "There wasn't enough left of either you or Val to thread through a needle, kitten. I had to work with what I had, and the only thing that was left of you was the hair you gave Kimmie. That hair grew the rest of your body. With a little help," she winked.

"You mean I'm in a different body?"

"No, it's you, kitten," she told him. "It may not be the same body you had before you died, but it was made from the body you did have. That makes it your body."

"I have no idea what that means," he said seriously.

She laughed in delight, patting his cheek. "Just trust me, kitten," she told him. "In just a few minutes, the tingling will be gone, and you'll be just as you were when you cut off your braid. And everything works. Fixing you didn't damage your magical powers. They're the same as they were when you cut off the braid. In fact, they're probably even stronger now."

"I don't feel any different."

"It has nothing to do with your body, kitten, it has to do with your mind. You showed us all why you're the Mi'Shara, my kitten. I told you long ago that they never truly understood what it means. Do you know what it means, Tarrin? What it truly means?"

"No."

"The loosest version is the said as the Man Who Once Was. Most thought it meant that it was the man who was once a man, a creature not human but who had once been. The translation in its true state is The man who was once a man, but becomes more than a man."

"That's too many words."

"Yes, it has to do with the delicate subtleties of the Urzani language," she told him. "That term is from ancient Urzani, a short expression with a greater meaning. Did you know that? That it's ancient Urzani?"

He shook his head.

"I'll have Spyder teach it to you," she said absently. "It's a very subtle thing, kitten, but its meaning is quite different from how it sounds. It's a peculiarity of the language, and deals a great deal in metaphor. Ancient Urzani always was a poetic language," she said distantly. "What it means is the man who reaches past the boundaries of man. The Urzani felt that whenever one crossed a significant boundary in his life, like achieving a major goal, or learning a great skill, he ceased being what he was and became something different than what he was before. That's true, when you think about it, but the Urzani had a surprisingly firm grip on things like that. So, you had to understand the subtle intricacies of the ancient Urzani mind to truly understand that term."

She reached out and lightly tapped in on the nose, much like he did with Jasana. "It means that of all the mortals in this world, you have the rarest of all gifts, kitten. You can reach beyond the restrictions of mortal kind and touch on powers never meant for ones such as you."

"I don't understand."

"It's not that hard to understand, kitten. There are some mortals, just a handful that have ever lived in the entire history of this world, that have had the ability to transcend mortal restrictions. You have within you the potential to do almost anything, to achieve magical feats that no other mortal could ever hope to duplicate. Spyder is one of them. You are another."

"I, I think I see," he said. "That's why I can use all four orders of magic, and every time I've needed to be able to do something, I just seem to be able to do it."

"Not quite," she told him. "Your ability to use the orders of magic is because you're a Were-cat, not because you are a Mi'Shara. When the need is greatest, kitten, you have always been able to reach deep inside yourself and touch on magical powers that no other mortal can bring to bear. That is how you survived against Val, kitten. He threw his power at you, but you found within yourself the power to withstand his attack."

"But I wouldn't have lasted long."

"No, you wouldn't have," she agreed. "You are a mortal, kitten, where Val was a god. Even though the power you brought to bear was more than any mortal could ever bring, it was still restricted by the endurance of your frail mortal body. But it lasted you long enough, and for a moment, you proved to be the match of a god. Val underestimated you, kitten. He couldn't look past the base fact that you are a mortal, and that turned out to be his fatal mistake. What he overlooked was that you are the Mi'Shara. He was beaten by his own arrogance. Then again, I think he had a little help in that," she winked.

"I learned that lesson the hard way," he said bluntly. "I thought for once, it would be nice if that cannonball was dropped on someone else's foot."

The Goddess laughed, patting his cheek fondly. "And he definitely underestimated that mind of yours, my kitten. You saw what nobody else could see. You saw that though we are gods, we are still creatures of emotion. And not even our godly might can change that. You played your hand well, my son, and I am so proud of you I want to shout it from every rooftop in the world. You went face to face with a god, and you won."