James Galloway - Honor and Blood

"We were with Jenna, Tarrin," Allia reminded him. "It was what happened here on the grounds that we have missed."

"It wasn't all that much, sister," he shrugged.

"I think you are not being honest, dear one," Dolanna said with a light smile.

"I really didn't do much, Dolanna," he objected. "I defended the icon from a few Demons, then I projected out to the wall to help you, then I helped Camara Tal defend against the final assault. That was about it."

"You are being vague, dear one."

"I know I am," he said simply. He didn't want to get sidetracked quite yet, so he wasn't about to go into detail about what happened to him during the battle.

The door opened, and Tarrin's parents came in. Eron was carrying Jenna in his arms, who was in a nightshirt. She looked drawn and exhausted, but she did manage to smile as she was carried into the room. Tarrin rose and greeted his parents with warm hugs and a slap from his mother for not visiting them sooner, and then more room was made. Elke and Eron Kael found seats on the other couch, but Miranda gathered up her knitting and gave Jenna her chair, then pulled a simple wooden stool from one of the bedrooms and set it on the other side of Keritanima's chair and seated herself.

"You look tired, sister," Tarrin noted.

"I feel tired, Tarrin," Jenna grinned wearily. "I've never worn myself out like that before."

"You want me to fix that for you?" Sarraya asked.

Jenna stared a the Faerie for a long moment, then she laughed. "That has to be Sarraya."

"I forgot, you haven't met her yet. Mother, father, Jenna, this is Sarraya. She's the Faerie that helped me get across the desert. She's a good friend of mine."

"Pleased to meet you," Sarraya said, bobbing slightly in the air before landing on Tarrin's shoulder and making herself comfortable. It had been a while since she'd used him for a chair, but it immediately felt right to him.

"I guess we should thank you for helping our son, Sarraya," Eron said mildly. "I know he can be a handful sometimes."

"You have no idea," Sarraya said in an obviously melodramatic turn of voice. "Anyway, like I said, yo want me to pep you up, Jenna?"

"Ah, no, thank you all the same," Jenna said carefully. "I'll be fine after a night's sleep, Sarraya, really. Thanks for the offer, though."

"If you need me, just call," she offered.

"I'll remember that."

"Now if Camara could drag Phandebrass up here, we could start," Tarrin fretted. "It's starting to get late, and we're all tired."

"I saw him crawling around on the ground where the Sorcerers are mending the fence," Sarraya chuckled. "What was he doing?"

"With Phandebrass, you can never tell," Tarrin laughed.

"And you may not want to know," Keritanima added.

"Have you met Phandebrass yet, mother, father?"

"I don't think so," Elke Kael replied. "From the sound of it, I'd have remembered him if I did."

"No doubt," Dar chuckled in agreement.

"He is, rather unique," Allia said mildly. "But he is a solid, dependable man."

"No argument there, but he is a bit eccentric," Tarrin nodded.

"We're all eccentric in our own ways," Eron said sagely. "Some just aren't afraid to show it, that's all."

"Then Phandebrass must be fearless," Miranda giggled.

They spent the time waiting for Camara Tal and Phandebrass by trading short descriptions of the parts of the battle they'd seen. Most of them overlapped, for everyone in the room aside from the Were-cats had been together on the field. They only split into smaller Circles afterwards, and it was there that they traded information. Jenna actually nodded off as Dar described for the fifth time how Keritanima had managed to avoid being Consumed, a subject that seemed to embarass the Wikuni, but it was cut short when the door opened, and Camara Tal led Phandebrass into the room.

Phandebrass hadn't changed his robes yet, and they had some dried blood on them. They also had grass stains, and a few black smudges that looked like ash. "I say, we made it," he prattled as soon as he came into the room. "I hope we didn't miss anything!"

"If we did, it's all your fault," Camara Tal snapped at him.

"Good, we're all here," Tarrin announced. "Find somewhere to sit down, if you can, and we can get to the heart of the matter."

Camara simply stood by the hearth, but Phandebrass retrieved the chair that sat in front of a dressing table in Keritanima's room and set it by Jenna's chair. Tarrin leaned back on the couch and drew in his breath. "I'm sure everyone here either felt it or was told about it," he said immediately.

"That wave of magical power?" Dar asked.

Tarrin nodded. "That was the Firestaff," he said grimly. "It's revealed itself to the world." There was a long silence, broken when the Keeper blew out her breath. "The Goddess told me that everyone around the world felt that, and most of them will realize that it was the Firestaff that did it."

"I could feel what direction it came from," Camara Tal grunted. "That means others did too."

Tarrin nodded. "Exactly. They don't know precisely where it is, but they do know in what general direction it is, so that means that we're going to be racing any Wizard or Priest with a ship."

"So we leave tomorrow," Keritanima announced. "Our information won't do us any good if someone stumbles across the Firestaff by sheer luck."

"I was thinking of tomorrow afternoon," he said. "Me, Kerri, Dar, Allia, and Dolanna are going. No arguments," he said with a slight smile. "I know Miranda and Szath will at least go back to Wikuna, but the question is, who else wants to go?"

That caused a little bit of laughter in the room. "Tarrin, you nit, we're all going!" Keritanima told him with a laugh." Well, everyone but Jenna and your folks, anyway."

"I, I can't go," Sarraya said in a small voice from his shoulder. "I can't be that far away from my colony. I'm sorry, but I need to go home for a while. I hope you're not disappointed, Tarrin. I know I am. I wanted to go on another adventure with you."

"I understand, Sarraya. The Goddess told me that you've been away from home a very long time, and that you need to go home and rest for a while. As long as you're here waiting for us when we come back, I'll be happy. I'm sorry you're not coming, but at least you can rejoin us later."

"That's a promise, Tarrin," she said strongly, patting his neck with her tiny hand.

"If you're not finished, I'm not finished protecting you, Tarrin," Camara Tal told him. "I go."

"I say, you think I'd miss the chance to study the Firestaff up close?" Phandebrass announced.

"I've been with Kerri this long, I'll see it out to the end," Azakar announced.

"Alright," Tarrin said, nodding. It was as he expected; everyone was going to go. "I'm going to offer Jula the chance to go with me. She needs to be trained."

"I want Jula to stay with me," Jenna told him. "You train Kerri, and I'll train Jula. Besides, I think I may need a Were-cat Sorcerer on hand. I may need Jula to help me with Jasana."

Tarrin hadn't considered that. "Good point," he said. "Alright, Jula stays."

"Count me in as well," a voice said from the doorway. They all turned to look and saw Kimmie pad into the room. She was back in her peasant dress, and was all cleaned up. "Master Phandebrass agreed to take me on as a pupil, and I can't very well learn from him if he's with you and I'm still here."

"I say, you'll be a good student, my dear," Phandebrass told her. "I sense a great deal of potential in you."

Kimmie beamed at the Wizard, then gave Jesmind a curiously neutral look. "It's not exactly like I'm inviting myself. Triana decided that she's not letting Tarrin go without another Were-cat along with him to help. We fought over who was the lucky one after you left," she grinned at Tarrin and Jesmind. "I won."