That was going to stop. Jesmind was going to learn a very, very hard lesson this day.

"I need to put a muzzle on Sapphire before she gets out of control," Tarrin said grimly.

"She's already out of control," Jenna warned him. "But nobody dares cross her, not even me. I know I'm no match for her, and right now she'll kill anyone she thinks is standing in her way."

"Come on," he said, starting down the hallway, holding Jenna's hand and half-dragging her behind him. It was no trouble for him to find Sapphire, for her impression on the Weave was very unique. He could sense her from a league away. Right now she was on the upper levels, not far from where Jesmind's apartment was, on the floors where the higher-ranking Sorcerers resided. "Mother told me how it was done. It could be anyone," he said grimly.

"How was it done?" Jenna asked.

"You don't know?" he asked in surprise, looking back at her.

"I've been busy trying to keep that maniacal dragon from knocking down my Tower!" she said indignantly.

"That's what she's doing?" he asked. "Hunting down the other females?"

"Yes," Jenna replied. "After what happened to Mist, the others starting hiding. Triana has them gathered up, and she's protecting from the dragon's seeking magic with her Druidic power. That's why Sapphire's trying to track them down. How did they do it?"

"They used my blood, from stores Mother said they have in the Tower," he told her. "That means it could be anyone, Jenna. Anyone that knows about that blood could have done it, not just the females."

" What?" she gasped. "They kept it?"

"Didn't you know about it?"

"Well, yes, but I didn't think they'd keep something that dangerous laying around! Myriam said they'd saved it, but I never paid it much mind to it."

"Well, someone did," he said, starting up one of the main spiral staircases.

"Who would want to do this to you, Tarrin? If it wasn't one of the females, that is."

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," he growled.

It didn't take him long to track down Sapphire. She was storming down a passageway towards the landing on which he had just stepped, in her human form. She was furious, that was apparent from the look on her face, a kind of stark, determined, cold fury, but it was the lightning dancing around her body in numerous arcs, snapping along her form and occasionally striking out to touch the walls of the passageway, leaving burn marks on the polished wood panelling, that made it abundantly clear just how furious she really was. Her blue eyes widened when she saw him, and the lightning slowed to a stop as she stopped in her tracks and looked at him. Then she rushed forwards without much dignity and when she reached him, she slowed to a stately stop and grabbed his paws in her hands. "My little one!" she said with sincere relief. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Sapphire," he said calmly. "I heard what you did to Mist. You have to stop this."

"No," she seethed. "One of them turned you against your wishes, when you made it abundantly clear how much you cherished the opportunity to choose for yourself. I will find her, and I will punish her," she declared, her eyes blazing with outrage.

"It may not have been one of the females," he told her immediatley, then he told her what the Goddess told him. "Anyone that knows about that blood could have done it, my friend. It's still most likely it was one of the females, but we can't put this on their heads until we've narrowed the field a bit."

Sapphire looked a little dubious, but her hard look didn't waver. "No one else has the motivation to do it," she declared.

"I was turned against my will by humans once," he reminded her. "Someone may have decided to take matters into his own hands again. Running around hunting down the females isn't going to solve anything, Sapphire. And I think it's only fair that I get to punish him-or her-when they're found. It was done to me, after all. I appreciate the concern, my friend, and it pleases me that you think so much of me. But for now, please, you have to calm down. I could use your mind much more than your temper right now. Someone as old and wise as you should be able to find the guilty one very quickly." He knew that was abject flattery, but when one was trying to talk a dragon out of a furor, one did it with exceptional care.

Sapphire's eyes were still blazing. He could see that he wasn't getting through to her. He reached out and put his paws on her shoulders, holding her firmly yet gently in his grip. "Calm down," he said with steely resolve. "I'm not going to let you hurt any of the other females, Sapphire. If I have to, I'll stop you. I really don't want to do that, but if I have to, I will."

She looked at him, then the fury in her eyes wavered. Then she actually laughed. "You must be serious to make such an outrageous statement," she said without any hint of teasing or insult. She was merely stating fact. Tarrin doubted that he could stop her. Not even he was a match for a dragon. At least not one as old and powerful as Sapphire.

"You know me, old friend. I can find a way," he said dryly. "Accomplishing the impossible is what I do for a living."

"It would bring the Tower down on us," she said with a slight smile.

"So? As long as it stops you, what difference does that make?"

She laughed again, a fond laugh, and patted his forearms with her hands. "I see you are once again yourself, my little one. Only the Tarrin I remember would say such a thing."

"Maybe," he conceded. "Are you going to keep frothing at the mouth?"

She seemed a bit offended by his choice of terms, but that flickered through her expression quickly. "I am calm now, at least calm enough," she said in a bristling manner. "I will never forgive who did this to you, but I won't continue hunting the females. Not if it's not given that one of them did it."

"We don't know yet. Give me a little time to go deal with the females, and meet me in my room in about an hour. You and me and Jenna are going to go find out who did this."

"You can find them?"

"I know what to look for," he told her calmly.

"I'll go with you."

"No, you won't," he said sternly. "I'm not taking the fox into the chicken coop, my friend. Not until you calm down."

"I'll do as you ask, this time. But don't get comfortable with it," she warned. "I'm not in the habit of acceding to the demands of bipeds."

"I'm not used to browbeating a dragon. We can both admit we're not comfortable with the situation, and hopefully it'll never happen again."

She looked at him, then laughed helplessly.

"Keep her out of trouble, Jenna," Tarrin told his sister. "And don't let her follow me."

" Me?" Jenna said incredulously.

"You're my sister, so that makes you related to clan," he told her evenly. "Sapphire may get pecky with you, but she won't hurt you, if only because killing you would annoy me."

"I'm so glad," she said weakly, putting a hand to her stomach.

Sapphire gave Tarrin an amused smile, then fixed Jenna with a steady predatory kind of gaze that made the young Keeper flinch.

He was confident that Jenna could keep Sapphire out of any major trouble for an hour. Sapphire would probably play with her a little, see how brave the girl was, but he could tell that she would do as he asked this time. When they met again in an hour, he could explain everything to her in detaill, and they could combine their rather formidable resources to track down his assailant. Until then, he wanted to get to the females while his temper was somewhat muted by what the Goddess told him. If he left it, it was going to fester, and he'd be in a much more furious mindset when he finally dealt with them.

Finding Triana and the females was significantly more challenging than finding Sapphire. Triana was actively protecting the females from location with her magic, and Druidic magic was exceptionally powerful, especially when wielded by one with as much power and experience as Triana. He couldn't rely on the easy ways, sensing their location through the Weave, tracking scents, even using the trick of sweep-location with pulses of Mind. He had to get a little creative to puzzle out where Triana was hiding the other females. He knew how Triana thought, and that meant that the magical defense she had erected would be both powerful and very thorough. Triana would think of just about any way they could be located and protect themselves from it. She knew who was looking for her, and more to the point, what , so it meant that she would take no chances. Not even the rather clever idea of looking for the protective shield itself would work, because Triana would be very careful to hide it.