s.  She was Faalken's oldest friend, and his loss had struck her the hardest.  But Dolanna being Dolanna, she was putting her grief aside to deal with the business at hand.  She saw Tarrin, Camara Tal, and Dar, and she immediately came over to them.  When she spoke, her voice was tightly controlled.  "Tarrin, I see you are well.  Sarraya, Dar, go fetch Phandebrass and Allia.  We need to talk."
	"What about?" Camara Tal asked.
	"About what we will do in Dala Yar Arak," she replied.
	Tarrin shifted back to his natural form as they waited for Phandebrass.  Sarraya sat sedately on his shoulder, playing with his hair, as Allia leaned up against his side.  It was times like this he missed Keritanima.  Especially now since Faalken was dead, he wanted his friends near him, around him, where he could see them and protect them.  He wasn't going to lose another friend.  He just wasn't.  And he couldn't protect them if they weren't near to him.
	Phandebrass arrived with his drakes with Dar a few moments later.  He was carrying four small medallions hanging on golden chains, medallions of a strange crystal shaped in a triangle.  Instead of having the chain run through a corner, it ran through the center of a base, making the triangle point down instead of up.  "I say, Dolanna, I'm finished with them," he said immediately.
	"Finished with what?" Allia asked.
	"Our way to find the Book of Ages, my dear," he replied with a smile.  "Dolanna asked me to make these.  It was bloody hard enough to do in just three days, but they work."  He held up one of the amulets.  "I enchanted these so they point to any object smaller than a large dog that's more than two thousand years old," he announced.  "I figured that the Book of Ages may be a full sized codex, but it still can't be larger than a mastiff, and two thousand years was the oldest I was willing to risk.  I say, I don't know how old the book really is, but I'm certain it's older than two thousand."
	"How do these work?" Camara Tal asked, taking one from the mage and holding it up.
	"It's easy, Camara," he replied.  "Just hold it up.  It'll point to the nearest ancient object to its current location, but they only have a range of about five longspans.  They'll glow with light, and the brighter the light, the closer you are to the item.  The beauty of their design is that if they're touched to an object they point to, they won't point to it again. That way, we can prevent ourselves from locking in on the same item over and over.  But what one amulet rules out isn't ruled out by the others, so an amulet has to be used systematically."
	Camara Tal held up the medallion in her hands, and it alit from within with a very soft reddish glow, and turned and pointed straight down and to her side.  She looked down, and saw the dragon-sculpted hilt of the magical sword.  "I guess it works," she said. "It's pointing at the sword."
	"Now touch the medallion to the sword, and do it again," Phandebrass instructed.  She did so, and when she held it up again, it didn't do anything.
	"Clever," Sarraya said appreciatively.
	"Thank you, my dear," Phandebrass smiled at the Faerie.  "Just be lucky I had a spell that did something close to the same thing.  I used to use it to locate relics when I used to search old ruins for knowledge.  Ever since Dolanna told me what we're looking for, I've been altering the spell to hunt down the book."
	"We?" Camara Tal asked pointedly.  "You're with the circus, wizard."
	"True, true, but I can't deny that what you're doing is much more important," he replied.  "I've already told Renoit, and packed up my lab.  When you leave, I'm going with you.  You may need my magic and my library.  After all, I don't think any of you other than dear Dolanna is much of a scholar."
	"You don't have to do that, Phandebrass," Dolanna said gently.  "You have helped us enough, and you cannot deny that what we are doing is very dangerous.  It may be safer for you with Renoit."
	"My dear, I'm not foolish enough to turn my back on this," he grinned.  "This is a marvelous chance to learn, and not only will I learn, I can put my magic to a very good use.  I know what's going on, my dear, much more than what you've told me.  I'm not a fool.  I know the legends, and I know what's at stake.  And I must say, I do, that I'd much rather see Tarrin get his hands on the prize than some other people I know.  Most people don't have the temperament for that kind of a promotion."
	"It is not my place to invite you, Phandebrass," Dolanna said.  "This is something to which we must all agree."
	"I don't mind," Dar said.  "Phandebrass has proved he can help.  We may need his help again later."
	"He has proven his right to stand with us," Allia agreed.
	"If you try to cut off my hair again, I'll thrash you, wizard," Camara Tal warned.
	"When did that happen?" Dar asked.
	"A few rides ago.  And he wasn't trying to cut off the hair on my head."
	"It was for an experiment," Phandebrass said dismissively.  "I was comparing the magical potential of different types of hair from different races.  It was done in the name of learning."
	"Sticking your hand up my skirt is a fast way to learn about the afterlife," Camara Tal said in an ugly tone, shaking a fist at the thin wizard.
	Allia looked at the Amazon, then broke out into nearly girlish giggling behind a hiding hand.  Sarraya didn't try to be diginified about it, she simply broke out laughing.  "Well, that makes up my mind," Sarraya chuckled.  "Phandebrass is just too amusing to leave behind."
	"Tarrin?" Dolanna asked pointedly, looking at him.
	Tarrin glanced at the mage.  He was thin, and though his narrow face looked somewhat youthful, his white hair and the spectacles he was fond of wearing made him look so much older.  It was hard to figure out just how old he was.  Phandebrass had been there against the Doomwalker, had used his magic in Tarrin's support, had tried to help them defeat it.  He had even turned himself into steel and leaped to Tarrin's defense, putting himself in the direct path of danger on Tarrin's behalf.  Just as it had with Sarraya and Camara Tal, that one battle seemed to make up Tarrin's mind about those people he didn't call friend, helped convince him that they were worth his trust.  If Phandebrass was willing to face death with him in such a direct and dangerous manner, he deserved Tarrin's respect.
	"He can come," Tarrin said finally, looking at the mage.
	Phandebrass gave him a broad smile.  "I say, you won't regret it, my boy," he promised.
	"I already do," Camara Tal grumbled.
	"Oh come on, Camara, if you minded, you'd wear something underneath that skirt," Sarraya teased.
	"Looking isn't touching, sprite," Camara Tal shot back.  "And I do wear something under my skirt."
	"Not when I looked," Sarraya pressed with a huge grin.
	"How would you like a mouthful of steel?" Camara Tal threatened.
	"Anything but that!  Please, Camara Tal, accept my most humble apologies," Sarraya replied with complete insincerity.
	"What were you doing looking underneath Camara Tal's skirt?" Dar asked curiously.  "I mean, at least Phandebrass is a man.  He'd have alot more reason than you to look under a woman's skirt."
	Sarraya suddenly became quiet.  Tarrin looked down at her, and saw she was blushing, her blue skin taking on a purplish hue.
	Dolanna cleared her throat.  "We digress, my friends," she said brusquely.  "We have four of these amulets, so we will use them as well as we can by dividing the city into quadrants.  We will start at the center of the city.  Tarrin, Sarraya, Allia, and Dar, you will fan out from there, each going in one direction.  You will search your designated sector as quickly and thoroughly as you can.  Remember that we are not the only people looking for the book.  We must find it first."
	"Why them?" Camara Tal asked.
	"They have skills uniquely suited to breaking into people's houses and searching them without raising an alarm, priestess," Dolanna replied.
	"Tarrin, the bug, and Allia I can understand, but why Dar?"
	"Dar speaks Arakite and looks Arakite, which gives him a distinct advantage.  Besides, his affinity for Illusion will allow him to evade detection in someone's home, much better than any of us could."
	"I've never done anything like that before, Dolanna," Dar said uncertainly.  "I hope I can do it."
	"It's not all that hard, Dar," Tarrin assured him.  "The biggest thing will be locked doors.  I think Phandebrass should lend you and Allia a drake.  They know how to get into windows and unlock doors from the inside."
	"I say, that's a capital idea," Phandebrass agreed.  "I can tell them what to do, and tell them to obey you two.  They could be a big help for you, they could."
	"I can deal with a locked door, brother," Allia told him.
	"I'm sure you can, sister, but this way you won't have to climb up walls," he replied.  "Sarraya can fly, and if there aren't many buildings I can't find a way into.  We have easy ways to get into places, and remember, Dolanna told us we have to do this fast.  We just have to hope that they leave their windows open."
	"In this heat, I seriously doubt that," Camara Tal said. "This isn't much off our own climate, and I think I can count the number of times I've closed my windows at night on one hand.  It's the only way to get the cool night air into the house."
	"We don't close them in Arkisia," Dar said, "but we usually have bars on the windows to discourage thieves.  Odds are, it'll be the same in the richer buildings in Dala Yar Arak."
	"Probably, but I'm small enough to get into any barred window, and Tarrin can just shapeshift once he climbs up," Sarraya said.  "And the drakes should be small enough to squeeze between bars.  At least this way, each of us has a way to get into a house with barred windows."
	"Good point, my dear," Phandebrass nodded.  "I say, that just about covers all the bases, it does.  We just need to get lucky."
	"I doubt we'll be that lucky, mage," Camara Tal grunted.  "Where is the circus going to set up in the city?  We may have to move away from it if it's too far from the center of the city.  Remember, this is the biggest city in the world."
	"It sets up just outside of the Imperial Palace," Phandebrass replied.  "At least that's where we've set up the last two years.  It's pretty close to the center of the city.  It's in the northern section of the city."
	"Who gets which direction?" Allia asked.
	"That's going to depend on demographics," Dolanna replied, looking at Phandebrass.  "You have been to the city.  Which parts of the city hold the larger, richer buildings?"
	"I say, definitely the northern reaches of the city, definitely," he said immediately.  "Most of the rich Arakites live close to the Imperial Palace.  Status and all that."
	"Naturally.  Then that will be Sarraya's sector.  She can fly and she can render herself invisible at will, so that will give her the most access to the largest and most heavily guarded buildings.  But Sarraya, avoid the Imperial Palace.  There is no doubt that it is magically defended.  Leave it alone."
	"Good sense," Camara Tal nodded in agreement.
	"I'll do that, but that medallion's a bit too big for me," Sarraya said with distaste, looking at the crystal.  It was half as large as she was.  "I don't think I could even pick it up, let alone fly with it."
	"I say, I can shrink it down for you, my dear," Phandebrass assured her.  "I know a spell to do that."
	"Which has the next largest buildings of the remaining three directions?" Dolanna asked the mage.
	He rubbed his chin.  "I'd have to say the west," he replied.  "A good many well-off merchants live in that section of the city, they do."
	"Then that will be Tarrin's section," Dolanna announced.  "He is better suited for entering buildings that are guarded than Allia or Dar.  But I warn you, dear one, no unnecessary fatalities.  Do not get the people nervous.  It could make it harder for us to function."
	"I'll try," he replied.  "No promises."
	"Try very hard, dear one," Dolanna said.  "We do not have time to take any unnecessary risks."  She looked to Phandebrass.  "Any suggestion as to how the other two sections should be divided?"
	"The southern section is the rough side of town, it is," he replied after a moment.  "Mainly docks, and some of the nastier slums.  I say, Dar is too young to try to navigate that.  Allia would be much better suited for dealing with that kind of crowd, she would.  The eastern section of the city is also poor, but it's not as rough as the south."
	"Sounds like it won't be fun," Dar grunted.
	"Dala Yar Arak is a huge city, but the misery that lives there is ten times the human population," Phandebrass said seriously.  "For every silk-clad merchant you see, there will be a hundred beggars, homeless scavengers, and runaway slaves.  Dala Yar Arak is a city set on the shoulders of pain, and built on the backs of slaves.  I never liked going there, and I doubt it's improved much since last year.  For a city that professes to be so civilized, it's the most barbaric cesspool I've ever seen."  He motioned absently with a hand.  "Every part of the city has its share of poor neighborhoods and squatters.  You'll find starving children huddled in the gateways of the richest palaces, because there are just so many of them they don't have anywhere else to go.  You all should be ready to see that kind of thing.  I know it left me shaken the first time I came here."
	Allia frowned, Dar looked uncertain, and Camara Tal grunted under her breath.  Tarrin couldn't accept what Phandebrass was saying.  How could people be so cruel to each other?  He just couldn't believe it.  Especially to children.  He may not trust humans, but children were children, no matter what race they were.  They were innocents, they needed protection.  The very thought of someone starving a child filled him with a sudden seething fury that he found hard to control.
	Allia reached up and grabbed his clenched fist, placing her slender four-fingered hand atop it, then pulled it back down to his side slowly.  She gave him a knowing look, understanding his anger.  She knew him so well, there was nothing he could hide from her.  She could see the outrage in his eyes, but there was no reassurance within her own.
	"We are not here to overthrow Arak, my friends," Dolanna said seriously.  "We are here for only one reason.  And when we find the Book of Ages, we will leave.  Remember, it is not our place to pass judgement on the culture the Arakites have created for themselves.  We are visitors, nothing more.  Now, I believe that Renoit would be appreciative if we helped the circus prepare to disembark.  And Phandebrass needs to prepare Sarraya's medallion.  So, everyone, do what you can to help, and then get some rest.  We will have little time for it once we are in Dala Yar Arak."
	They broke up at that point, but Tarrin chased down Dolanna before she could get too far away.  He put a paw on her shoulder and stopped her, then turned her around to face him.  She looked up at him with those pretty eyes, but he could see the pain she was hiding behind them.  "What is it, dear one?" she asked with a slight smile.  A feigned smile.
	"Why no questions about how I feel?" he asked.
	"I spoke with Allia.  She told me everything I needed to know."
	"How do you feel, Dolanna?" he asked pointedly.  "I've known you and Faalken longer than any of the others.  You were the ones that started all this mess with me.  I know you knew him much longer than I did.  So, for once, you tell me how you feel."
	Wordlessly, she leaned against him and put her arms up against his chest, putting her cheek against him.  He enfolded her in his large arms, swallowing up the small woman.  She was so small, so frail looking.  She barely came up to his chest.  But she was a woman he thought at times was absolutely invincible, a powerful Sorceress with an exceptional wisdom that had helped him grow and mature, had guided them in ways that no other could.  It was strange, nearly bizarre, to see her upset.  She had comforted him many times when he was upset, uncertain, afraid.  It was only fair to return some of her kindness.
	"Me too, Dolanna.  Me too," he said quietly.

	This was it.
	Tarrin stood at the bow of Dancer a short time before dawn, as light just began to stain the horizon to herald the approach of the sun, staring out at what had to be the strangest sight he had ever seen.
	To the few sailors and lookouts on duty, it was probably murky, indistinct, but his night-sighted eyes revealed the terrible splendor of Dala Yar Arak, the largest city in the world.
	To say it dominated the land was an understatement.  It was the land, much like Dayis had expanded to cover all of its islands, stretching from the left to the right, horizon to horizon.  Nothing but buildings, buildings, and more buildings, as far as he could see.  The peninsula upon which the city was situated rose up gently from the sea, showing more than the warehouses and larger buildings surrounding the docks.  The city was dominated by curious squared, flat-roofed houses and other buildings, and from them rose the larger, grander constructions.  There were many odd bulbous towers, towers with large radish-shaped domes atop them.  Every large building had at least one or two of those shaped towers attached to them somewhere.  And anywhere he looked, there were more of them, more flat-topped houses and buildings, more and more and more as the steely light of pre-dawn prepared to give way to the sun.  They were still too far away from him to make out much detail, but it was obvious from the torches and lights he could see that there was quite a bit of activity around the waterfront.  He didn't know if it was revelers or workers, but the movements of those lights, and their occasional extinguishing, said people were tending them, or putting them out as the light increased.
	Dala Yar Arak.  The largest city in the world, and a place that Phandebrass and a few others had said wasn't a very nice place.  This was the destination that started them off so many months ago.  This was where the Goddess told him to go, and just getting here was not in any way, shape, or form the end of it.  It was the largest city in the world, and he was there to find a single book.  A book that other people were also trying to find.
	Seeing it brought mixed emotions within him.  He was relieved to finally be here, but he was anxious about the momentous task that awaited them.  Seeing the city made him a little afraid, but it also filled him with a terrible resolve, a nearly holy fervor to find the Book of Ages.  He had changed so much since they left Suld.  He wasn't the same person anymore.  He had hardened, turned feral, become something that he used to fear.  But not anymore.  He had left with Faalken, and now the Knight was buried on foreign ground, buried in Saranam, killed on his behalf.  The loss of Faalken had taught him a few hard lessons.  That he was not there to be nice.  That he would not let another friend die.  That this was not a game.
	He would find that book.  And if had to kill half the people in Dala Yar Arak to get his paws on it, then so be it.  Killing half the population would be a far lesser evil than letting someone else discover the location of the Firestaff, because if that happened, the people he did care about would be in danger.
	Tarrin didn't give a damn about the world.  All he cared about was the few people in the world he loved.  He would find the Book of Ages, and then find the Firestaff, if for any other reason than to protect his mother and father and sister, to protect Keritanima and Allia, to protect Dolanna, Dar, Miranda, Zak, and the Vendari.  To protect Camara Tal, Sarraya, and Phandebrass.  To protect Triana and Jesmind, to protect Mist and his unborn son.  He would find it to honor the loss of Faalken, to give closure to the mission for which the Knight paid with his life.
	He would find it for Janette, the sweet little girl to whom he owed so much.  He wouldn't allow her future to be cut short.  He didn't care what it took, or who he had to kill, he would find that book.  Even if he had to pry it out of the dead hands of the Emperor of Arak himself.
	Allia's scent touched him over the wind, and he looked back in time to see her come up to him.  He put his arm around her, feeling a pang that Keritanima wasn't nestled up under his other arm, sharing a silent moment at the bow, staring at the city ahead.
	"That's it," she finally said in Selani.
	"That's it," he agreed.  "Are you ready?"
	"I am ready, deshida.  It has been a very long time coming.  Are you ready?"
	"I am now," he said grimly, looking out over the alien skyline of the capital of the Empire of Yar Arak.  He looked out over the city, and he could see was the lovely little face of Janette in the blur of the buildings, looking out at him with that serious little smile that made her look so cute.
	Whatever it took.
	"I am now," he said again, clenching a paw into a fist.

	The peaceful city of Dala Yar Arak was just waking to start another day, as merchants rose to open shops, servants went about the morning chores in the service of their masters, and the predators of the night began to give up the streets to the people who lived under the sun.  It was the start of a standard day, nothing of great consequence that would make that day more memorable than any other.  But they were oblivious to the fact that their city was now under siege.  The first day of a siege, in a war that would threaten to tear the Empire apart.
 
Chapter 22

	"Come on, come on, come on, this is not what we do here, yes!" Renoit boomed from the steering deck.
	It was just past dawn.  Dancer had docked only twenty minutes before, and the forty-two performers, workers, and guards were assembling on deck, preparing for the parading march to where they would pitch their large circus tent and perform during the Festival of the Sun.  Tarrin sat sedately in Allia's hooded cowl the entire time, staying in cat form so as not to give away who he was to any of the dock workers or spectators looking on.  He didn't blend in with her sand-colored clothing, but he was deep enough into her hood to keep from being seen.  Allia looked much different in her desert clothing than she did in the trousers and vests she had favored on the ship.  The clothing was baggy and loose, hiding her form, and within the folds of that clothing the Selani hid her weapons.  She looked every bit as intimidating now as he remembered the very first day he saw her, which was in the Tower.  She had been wearing her desert clothes then as well, and he remembered how impressive she had looked.
	Tarrin found that by putting his back paws against the bottom of the hood, he could lean over her shoulder and see what was going on without spilling out of his pouch.  He had to contend with her mane of silver-white hair, because she had unbound it as she commonly did when at home, letting it come out of her hood and protect her face from the sting of blowing sand.  He found out that the Selani favored hoods over the turbans the Saranites and Arakites favored because they kept loose sand from getting under the shirts.  Allia's hood had a string sewn into it that she could pull taut, to keep the hood over her head in strong wind.  She also had a long, wide scarf wrapped around her neck, which was pulled up to protect the face and reinforce the hood when a Selani had to put her face into the wind.  Over that, she would wear a crysathi, a borrowed word from the Arakite crystach, which meant glass.  It was a curious crystal visor made by the Selani, something akin to the spectacles that Phandebrass and Sevren wore, but Allia's crysathi was a large single piece of shaped quartz crystal that fit over the eyes and protected them from the blowing sand.  He had never seen them before, because Allia's crysathi had been broken during her journey to the Tower, and she didn't have a spare.  Allia had made the crysathi she had on the night before using Sorcery, and a large chunk of quartz crystal Phandebrass gave to her.
	"I feel very out of place," Allia muttered.
	"Remember, you're just a showpiece, sister," Tarrin told her in the unspoken manner of the Cat.  "I seriously doubt Renoit is going to make you perform.  We have more important things to do."
	"Which I can only do at night," she grunted.  "That is not what concerns me, brother.  It is being surrounded by Arakites that will bother me.  We do not get along with them."
	"I've heard," he replied.
	Tarrin watched with Allia as they got organized.  The dancers would be first, followed by the roving acrobats.  The three jugglers lined up behind them, and strongmen came up behind them.  Those performers that couldn't perform while on the move were behind the strongmen, just in front of the men carrying the tent, ropes, and poles.  Renoit himself would be a the very front.  They were all wearing bright, colorful costumes, attire that would draw every eye to them, even over the colorful robes that Arakites favored.  Most had empty hands, but one juggler carried balls, the second carried pins, and Deward had his favorite juggling knives in hand.  They chattered at one another excitedly, preening themselves to make sure they looked the best they could, adjusting necklines or feathers in hair for maximum effect.  All of the dancers, he noticed, were wearing makeup, and they had on costumes more suited for a whorehouse than a dancing troupe.  Eye candy, Renoit had called it.  Lure in the customers with scanty costumes during the parade, a tease to bring their money into the circus' coffers.
	From what he understood, the parade was a very important thing for the circus.  It did more than let the performers warm up a little and get rid of their sea legs.  Dolanna had said that it also allowed the people to get a look at the circus, to see them parade through town and whet their appetites with what they performed while on the move.  Eye candy.  Get their attention with dancing and tumbling, get them to come to the circus and pay to see the same thing, and a little bit more besides.  All of them certainly seemed to be looking forward to the ritual, from the excitement in their voices and the impatience on their faces.
	Camara Tal came up on deck, and she looked very angry.  She had nothing on but a robe, which had been hastily tied at the waist and left most of her bosom bare.  "Renoit!" she thundered, in a voice so loud they probably heard it on the other side of the city.  "Get in front of me right now, you fat sneak, or I'll nail you to the mast!"
	"Whatever is your problem, Mistress Tal?" Renoit asked smoothly as he approached.
	"You are!" she snapped.  "If you don't give me back my clothes right now, you'll find yourself living out a life so horrible that beggars will give you money!"
	"A costume, I left one for you, Mistress Tal."
	"That wasn't a costume, that was a handkerchief!" she blasted at the round circus master, her face turning an ugly red.  "I am not here to play for you, mainlander!  If you don't give me back my proper clothes, I'll fix it so you won't have a need to wear yours!"
	He had no idea what she meant by that, but it certainly turned Renoit pale.  He gaped at her for a second, then hurriedly turned and chattered out a quick command in Shacan to one of his aides.  Tarrin knew just enough Shacan to realize that he sent the younger man off to get Camara Tal's clothes.
	"Strange that a woman who shows so much skin isn't willing to show a little more," Allia mused in Selani to Tarrin.
	"I think it's the principle of the matter, sister," he replied.  "From the way it sounds, Renoit didn't give her a choice."
	Allia chuckled quietly.  "Is it just me, or does Camara Tal seem to go around in a perpetual state of annoyance?"
	"It's not you, Allia," Tarrin answered.
	"I think she needs to get bedded.  That would take that edge right off of her."
	"Probably, but she's not receptive.  From what I've managed to piece together, an Amazon wouldn't bed a non-Amazon.  They think it thins their bloodline."
	"It probably does.  She's larger than most human men.  Amazons are a very burly strain of human."
	"True."
	Phandebrass came up with Dolanna and Dar, and Tarrin had to stifle a silent laugh.  The mage was wearing a white robe, upon which was embroidered numberous mystical symbols, suns, stars, crescent moons, and other strange icons.  The long, pointy hat he wore on his head, a narrow cone of red, clashed with his grayish-white hair, and made him look sallow and unhealthy.  Phandebrass' age was something of a mystery to Tarrin, a man with the hair of an old man yet with a youthful face, but the hat made him look more silly than old.  The hat as well was decorated with what Tarrin guessed were mystical symbols.  Dar and Dolanna wore simple robes much akin to what they wore in the Tower, simple garb of a pleasing blue.  The blue didn't look good with Dar's dark coloring, but the young man's charismatic handsomeness overcame that.  Dolanna, on the other hand, looked absolutely radiant in her blue robe, with a white sash tied around her slim waist, and it reminded him how beautiful the slim, slight Sorceress really was.
	"That will never do," Sarraya said disdainfully as she flitted up to the two Sorcerers, looking at Dar with a critical eye.  She motioned at him, and his blue robe suddenly turned a very soft shade of brown, a color that much better blended with his dark skin and black hair.  Dar looked down at himself curiously, holding out his robe to inspect its new color.  "Much better," the sprite said with a grin, then she flitted over to Allia and landed on the shoulder that Tarrin wasn't occupying.  "You should be wearing a little bow, Tarrin," the Faerie jibed at him with a grin and a sly wink.
	"How would you like to wear a necklace of your own guts, Sarraya?" Tarrin retorted with an ugly look.
	"Touchy touchy," she teased with a laugh.  "Where are the mage's little dragons?  I figured they'd be part of this demonstration."
	"They're probably around," Tarrin replied.
	"I hope the fat man knows where we're going," Sarraya said.
	"An official-looking person came on board right after we lowered the plank," Allia told her.  "I think he told Renoit where we are going."
	"It's good to know someone knows where we're going," Sarraya smiled.
	Renoit clapped his hands up on the steering deck to get everyone