
	"They probably had a plan for it," Thean speculated.  "Made most of their army stay inside, had a system of rotating them in and out so it looked like it was the same men entering or leaving a building, when it was actually different men.  The question is, why would they do it?"
	"Simple, Thean.  They were hiding their numbers from the Rangers, in case they ever tried a direct assault on the city," Sathon told him.
	"That brings it up," Tarrin grunted.  "Arren, you have a spy in your ranks."
	"A spy?  How do you know?"
	"The Dals and the ki'zadun knew every element of the plan," he replied.  "They knew when and where to look for Ariana.  They set fire to a building to make it look like I did it, and they had archers, siege engines, just about everything all loaded up and waiting for us.  They knew we were coming, and they knew what we were going to do.  Every part of it.  It was like one of them was sitting around that table when we made the plan."
	"That, is serious," Arren said grimly, leaning back and setting his fork down.  "Do you have any idea who it is?"
	"No idea, but it has to be someone that heard the entire plan.  An officer or other high-ranking official in your army."
	"It would have had to have been one of my senior officers," Arren fretted.  "They're the only ones that knew the plan outside those of us who were at the table."
	"Or someone on one of those officers' staffs," Thean added.  "If that's who it is, odds are he heard the plan from the officer he works for.  I know how humans love to gossip."
	"Sorry to ruin your dinner this way, but I felt you should know," Tarrin told him.
	"Well, I can enjoy the dinner now, and then worry later," he said with a faint smile.  "I'll find him, Tarrin.  Don't you worry about that."
	"Good."
	"Now then, what is that over there?  It looks delicious."
	Very little was discussed after that.  They all enjoyed the banquet of foods that Tarrin had conjured from many different cultures.  After they finished off the main meal, Tarrin Conjured uta for all of them, and was pleased that they all thought that it was one of the most delicious things they had ever tasted.  Jesmind especially seemed to go crazy over it, swiping half the uta off Tarrin's plate and wolfing it down.  When she eyed the honey-smothered pasty on her daughter's plate, Jasana growled at her and pulled her plate away from her mother defensively.
	"Ahh," Arren said in contentment.  "What I wouldn't give right now for some of your father's apple wine," he told Tarrin.
	"There's still some of it left," he told him.  "They didn't find all of it we had stored at the farm."
	"Really?  You'll have to send me some."
	Without much thought, Tarrin Conjured one of the casks of apple wine, making it appear on the ground just beside the table.  "There it is," he said.
	Arren laughed.  "That's a handy little ability there, Tarrin," he said as he and Thean picked up the cask and set it on a stand that Sathon Conjured for them.  Sathon produced a tap, and the cask was tapped and wine was poured for them.  Jasana sniffed suspiciously at the wine that was set before her, then sipped at it.
	"It's good.  It tastes fruity," Jasana announced, then she drained the glass.  "Can I have more?"
	"Of course, cub," Jesmind told her, pouring her another cup.
	"Isn't that a bit much for such a youngling?" Arren asked delicately.
	"Alcohol doesn't affect us, Arren," Kimmie smiled.  "Our metablism burns it out long before it can make us drunk.  It's perfectly safe for her to drink it."
	"Ah," Arren sounded.  "I didn't know that."
	"I'm surprised you didn't say something about a child drinking wine.  Where I come from, it's considered taboo."
	"You must be from Tor, then," he smiled.  "It's perfectly acceptable here, so long as the parent doesn't let the child get drunk.  That's bad form."
	"Torians are a bit high-collared," Kimmie said with a chuckle.  "I had any number of moral apoplexies after I was turned.  Were-cat ways are about as different from Torian ways as you can get."
	"You aren't a natural Were-cat?" Arren asked.
	She shook her head, taking a sip of wine.  "Me and Tarrin are the only two of us who were turned.  Were-cats are usually extremely careful about biting people."
	"One of their few disciplines," Sathon teased with a smile, looking at Thean.
	"I learn more and more every day," Arren said, sipping his wine.
	"Well, I should get some rest.  I have to rejoin the others on the way to Suld.  It'll take some serious effort to catch up with them now.  Now that they aren't forced to wait for horses, they're moving at a fair clip."
	"How are you going to do that?" Arren asked curiously.
	"He's going to enchant a horse," Tarrin replied, "so that it can run faster than any other horse, and hold the pace for days on end.  He should catch up with the others in a few days."
	"Very good, Tarrin.  I see you were paying attention when I taught you," Sathon smiled.
	"I'm not a total bonehead, Sathon," Tarrin told him mildly.
	"Could have fooled me," Jesmind jibed, elbowing him in the ribs.  He looked at her, then saw her mischevious smile.  Jesmind was feeling a bit frisky.  All the sweets in that uta was probably getting to her.  "I think it's time to put Tarrin to bed.  He isn't fully recovered yet, and he needs to rest."  She looked around.  "That means that all of you take what you want off the table and go," she declared.  "I won't have your talking disturbing him."
	"She's the soul of courtesy, isn't she?" Kimmie remarked to Thean.
	"The absolute soul of it, cub," Thean said with a straight face.  "Let's clear the table of anything snackish and remove ourselves before she starts losing her graceful veneer."
	They all stood up.  Tarrin took Arren's hand in his paw and shook it.  "I won't see you again for a while, Arren," he announced.  "I'll be leaving tomorrow with the other Were-cats for Suld.  I hope things go well for you."
	"With all the help we're going to get, I think things will be just fine," Arren smiled.  "Torrian will be rebuilt, better than ever before.  Just wait and see."
	"I will see it," he told him.  "When all this is over, I'm coming home.  Aldreth is where I belong.  I'll have to pass through Torrian to get home, you know."
	"I'll be happy for that.  We can visit each other and keep up on things."
	"We will at that.  Good luck, Arren."
	"May Karas grant you fair skies and good roads for your journey," he replied.
	"Tomorrow at sunrise, come back over here and pick up what I'm going to leave for you," he told him.
	"What is it?"
	"You'll see," Tarrin smiled.  "Just make sure you bring some strong men you can trust.  That's all I'm going to say."
	"Well, alright," Arren said.  "But don't go out of your way on my account."
	"I won't," Tarrin told him.  He noticed Jesmind's expectant glare.  "It looks like my taskmistress over there is getting impatient that I'm not laying down," he grinned, jerking a thumb at his mate.  "I'd better go before she drags me off by the ear."
	"Good luck to you," Arren said, shaking his paw one more time, then turning to pick up the cask of apple wine.
	"Good journey, Tarrin.  I'll see you in Suld," Sathon nodded.
	"You too," Tarrin replied, then turned to where Thean and Kimmie were putting on their cloaks.  "Remember, you two, be back here before dawn," Tarrin called.  "I'll leave you behind if you're late!"
	"We'll be here, Tarrin," Thean assured him as he took the cask of wine from Arren to let him put on his cloak.  "We have tents behind yours.  So we'll be in shouting distance."
	They all padded out into the rain, leaving Tarrin and Jesmind standing at the table while Jasana drank the rest of the apple wine they'd given her.  "This stuff makes my ears feel funny," she told them.
	"It'll pass in a moment, cub," Jesmind said calmly.
	"It's a good kind of funny, though," she added quickly.
	"I know.  Well, my mate, let's put you to bed.  Finish that up and come to bed, Jasana."
	"Umm," she sounded, taking another drink.
	"I forgot about the leftovers," Jesmind growled as an afterthought.  "We can't leave that laying around.  It'll attract scavengers."
	"I'll take care of them," Tarrin said, absently banishing the contents of the table, leaving it clear of everything except Jasana's mug of wine.
	"Now I know you ahve to be tired," Jesmind told him, taking his paw and dragging him towards their tent.  "You know, it's too bad Jasana isn't staying with Kimmie tonight," she purred in his ear as he started following her as she backed towards the tent, stepping out into the rain.
	"Like that's going to stop you," Tarrin teased.  "You'll just wait for her to go to sleep, like last time."
	"It's the challenge of not waking her up that makes it exciting," Jesmind grinned.
	"Aren't I supposed to be needing rest?"
	"I won't wear you out too much.  After all, if you're strong enough to do magic, you're strong enough to bed me, aren't you?"
	"My, you're just a little hypocrit today," he teased as she pulled him into the tent and immediately reached for his shirt tail.
	She laughed.  "I think that dessert is making me all hot and bothered," she told him.
	"You certainly ate enough of it," he told her as Jasana came into the tent.  "I thought Jasana was going to bite you there for a moment."
	"I'm the one that was supposed to take it off her plate," Jasana complained as she started to undress.
	"You're just too slow, cub," Jesmind teased her.  "Now off with your clothes and into bed."
	"Yes, mama," she said obediently.  Or about as obediently as Jasana ever got.
	"You too, my mate," Jesmind ordered, pulling her shirt off.  "I'm ready for bed, and you need your rest.  And you know how I hate it when I don't have you to cuddle with when I'm sleepy."
	That was true enough, he'd come to discover.  Jesmind loved cuddling, even when she wasn't feeling frisky.  She also woke up any time he left the bed, for any reason, no matter how carefully he tried to get out of bed without waking her.  Almost as if him not being there disturbed her enough to wake her up.  As soon as his scent began to get distant from her, it woke her up.
	He laid down in the soft bedroll as Jesmind tucked in Jasana, then said his goodnights to his daughter as Jesmind cuddled up to him in their bedroll.  They would leave tomorrow, and it would be something that the others would probably never forget.  He looked forward to the idea of flying again; it was such a wonderful thing.  But there would be no dawdling this time.  They had to get to Suld, and that meant a straight line to the city.  Two days or so, he figured.  He'd be sleeping in the Tower in two nights.  He'd be back with his sisters, back with his natural parents and sister, back with the rest of his family in two days.  That was something that made him feel very content.  He wasn't expectant or anxious at all, now that the end of his long journey away from Allia and Keritanima was nearly over.  He'd see them in two days, along with everyone else he considered family.  They were all there, waiting for him, and he couldn't wait to see them.  His old family would meet his new family, and together, they would all share the bonds that cemented them together.  He just hoped that Jesmind and Jasana would fit in with the rest of his rather unusual family.  But things would work out.  He had a good feeling about it.
	Jesmind started nibbling at his neck, deciding to start playing with him before Jasana was completely asleep.  She certainly was affectionate tonight.  He reminded himself not to feed her so much uta the next time.  Or at least only feed her lots of it when he wanted her to be very bouncy.
 
Chapter 29

	The rain came to an end sometime during the night, leaving the dark pre-dawn to which Tarrin emerged misty, a bit unseasonably cold, and overcast.  Water still clung to the grass, made the outside of their tent wet to the touch.  The cloudy skies made it very dark, just enough light penetrating the clouds to allow him to see in shades of slightly murky gray as he looked out over the empty field.  The lights of the fires of the soldiers were behind them, a good longspan distant, too far to grant light to their small encampment.  He looked to the other tent erected there, a tent that Kimmie and Thean were sharing, and he could hear and see from the faint spot of light inside that they were up and getting ready.  They had lit a candle or some other small light in there, and it cast shadows against the side of the tent.
	They were leaving today.  He already knew what he was going to do, and how he wanted to go about doing it, so that wasn't something concerning him.  He was just worried how the others were going to take it.  He wasn't sure about that, outside of Jasana's youthful excitement about the prospect of flying through the air.  That, and his mate's already voiced reluctance to it.
	Jesmind.  It was curious.  He thought about that as he waited for her to finish dressing Jasana, waited for Thean and Kimmie to get ready.  It was strange that the daughter of Triana, who was one of the strongest Druids alive, was so...against magic.  It wasn't the idea of flying that bothered her, it was the idea of doing it on the back of a matgical creature.  She hated him using his Druidic powers, considering it to be cheating.  She had hated the Tower, and seemed to have a pretty universal disdain for magic and all things magical.  She had a pretty formidable barrier to overcome, now that he thought of it.  Her mother was a magician, her daughter was a magician, and her current mate was a magician.  She was surrounded by magic, and yet she seemed to have an aversion to it.  He wondered why.  He could understand her distrust of Sorcerers, because of what they did to her.  But why not be accustomed to, even like, Druidic magic?
	That, he realized, was a question to ask Triana.  She was Jesmind's mother, after all, and she knew Jesmind alot better than he did.  She would know the answer to that question.
	Jasana announced her presence by grabbing the end of his tail and holding fast to it, as she tended to do.  He wasn't quite sure why she did that.  She did it to both him and Jesmind, almost like telling them where she was, or that she was there.  Having that little paw on his tail was an eerie sensation, because he didn't really like people grabbing his tail.  But he'd come to learn to like it after being around her.  It told him that his daughter was with him, and that always made him happy.  "Morning, cub," he told her without turning around.  "Did you sleep well?"
	"Umm," she hummed in answer, though her spirit wasn't quite awake yet.  Jasana was not an early riser.  "Except you and mama woke me up," she accused.
	Tarrin didn't answer that.  "Blame your mother," he finally told her.
	"I did," she replied.  "She promised not to be so loud next time."
	"Well, that's good," he said delicately.  Jasana wasn't a human girl.  Her mother had already explained all sorts of things to her that a human girl wouldn't learn for a long time.  Sex among the Were-cats didn't hold the same social stigma that it did among humans.  That was why Jesmind had been willing to engage him with Jasana in the same tent.  He'd usually have been resistant, but trying to fend off a frisky Jesmind was about as easy as turning a mountain inside out with a shovel and a pick.  A pair of Were-cats wouldn't just mate in a public city street, nor would they in a social gathering; they did have some human moral traits.  But mating in the presence of an intimate family member wasn't considered such a big deal, so long as they were discreet about it.  Jesmind usually was discreet...except when she got--he steered his thoughts away from that.
	It just showed him again how little he really knew his mate.  He didn't know what her favorite foods were, or what kind of literature she liked, or even why she didn't seem to like magic.  Jesmind had always been something of a fixture in his life, but she had always been...mysterious.  He had gotten used to thinking of her as a mystery, and to his own discredit, hadn't bothered to try to solve her.  He knew some things about her.  That she was willful, stubborn, independent, direct, and bold.  But she was also an exquisitely tender, loving, compassionate, caring person with those around which she felt comfortable.  He understood her outward personality, could predict or deflect impending explosions of temper, and could calm her down when needful, but he still hadn't come to learn about the woman hiding within the Were-cat.  It was her inner personality, the true tides of emotion that drove her, that he did not yet know or understand.  Since they'd been together, he'd had his mind so occupied by other things, he had simply accepted her presence without taxing himself by her too much.  That was his own mistake, and he was ready to admit it.  She was more than just Jesmind, or the woman he slept with.  She was his mate, and that implied certain responsibilities he had towards her, much more than if she were nothing but a single night's tryst.
	She stepped out of the tent and stood beside him, putting a paw on his shoulder.  He reached up absently and patted her paw, then put his arm around her waist.  That seemed to surprise her, tensing up for just a moment before leaning in against him.  "Morning," he told her in pleasant tones, gripping her waist gently.  "Sleep well?"
	"You should know," she replied with a glance and mischevious little smile.
	"Keep that happy mood, mate," he told her.  "We're going to be doing some unusual travelling today."
	"Don't remind me," she grunted.
	"It won't be so bad.  I think you may actually like it."
	"I hope so," she said.
	"Trust me.  It's a, wonderful feeling, looking down on the land below," he said in a dreamy kind of way.  "You feel so free, Jesmind.  Like the entire world is open to you."
	"I feel that way already," she shrugged.
	"I guess I'm not as lucky as you, then."
	"Can we go now, papa?  Can we can we can we can we?" Jasana asked, seeming to wake up and get to be her usual bubbly, energetic self.
	"As soon as a couple of certain someones stop playing around and get their tails out here!" Tarrin said in a loud voice.
	"I'm coming, don't get your tail in a knot!" Kimmie shouted back in reply, coming out of the tent while still in the act of putting her shirt on.  Thean came out just behind her, shouldering the pack that he carried with him everywhere.  Thean was a very transitory Were-cat male, having no permanent den or territory.  He spent his life on the road, travelling from city to city and place to place.  He had few possessions, and those that he did have were carried with him in that battered old backpack.  Thean was much different from some Were-cat males, like Laren, who had a very well established territory and rarely left it.
	"Did she wear you out, you old gray rascal?" Jesmind asked with a smile, looking at the gray-furred male as the pair joined them.
	"Oh, yes, she did," Thean grinned at her.  "We stayed up til nearly midnight debating the role of Arcane magic in the downfall of the Torian empire, and its effects in modern politics.  Kimmie has some very insightful ideas.  It was a very productive night."  He looked at the smaller female.  "I don't often get the chance to talk about magic with an actual Wizard.  Since Kimmie also happens to be one of us, it makes it easier, since she understands what I'm asking after."
	"You knew I studied magic, Thean.  All you had to do was come find me and talk."
	"I know, but our paths never seemed to cross, Kimmie," Thean sighed.  "It's not easy for two Were-cats to meet when both of them are always moving around."
	"True," she agreed.  "Alright, we're packed and ready, Tarrin.  What now?"
	"Now it's my turn," he said.  "Are we ready to go, Jesmind?"
	Jesmind pointed at a large pack laying near her feet, which contained the totality of the scant possessions that they had brought along.  Tarrin Conjured everything else they needed.
	"Alright then," he said, letting go of her and stepping away from them.  But then he stopped, and turned and looked back at them.  "Jasana," he called.  "Come here, cub."
	Jasana looked up at him in curiosity, then wandered over as Jesmind scowled deeply in his direction.  Almost as if she realized what he was about to do.
	Jasana padded over to him and looked up at him with an intent expression.  He dropped down into a squat and looked down at his cub so she didn't have to crane her neck so severely to look up at him.  He reached down and brushed her strawberry blond hair from her face as the wind began to pull at it, and she reached out and took hold of his paw in both of hers.  She too seemed to sense that he was about to tell her something important.  He looked down into those luminous eyes, so large on her small face, and fell in love with his little daughter all over again.
	"Are you going to show me how to do magic, papa?" she asked with eager eyes.
	He smiled.  "That's right, cub.  What I've seen the last couple of days has shown me that if I don't, you're going to start doing it whether I teach you or not.  So it's better to show you what you're doing now, instead of having you try to flounder around and make mistakes that might get someone hurt."  He tapped her on her nose, which always made her giggle.  "Now then, the first thing you need to do is learn not to be afraid of it," he told her.  "There's alot of things you're going to be able to do, and some of them may seem scary right now."
	"Like the dark place."
	"Like the dark place," he agreed.  "Well, what you have to remember is that the shining lady is everywhere in the magic.  She's in the magic, and she's also in the dark place.  She's everywhere, and if you trust her and listen to her, she's going to help make sure that you don't make a mistake that could get you hurt.  Alright?"
	"Umm."
	"Now, I'm not going to just show you what to do and set you loose, cub.  It doesn't work that way.  All I want you to do right now is watch.  Watch and feel what I'm doing.  Feel how I do things, but don't feel around at how the magic acts towards me.  My magic is alot different from yours right now, and it's not going to act the same way towards you that it does towards me."
	"I saw that already."
	"Good.  I'm not ready to start teaching you how to throw spells quite yet, because you need to learn alot more about the magic and how it works before I let you, alright?"
	She looked a bit disappointed.  "Yes, papa," she sighed.
	"Alright then.  Now, watch.  Watch, listen, and feel.  And stay out of it, cub.  Don't reach out to me while I'm doing this.  You'll distract me."
	"Yes, papa."
	Tarrin stood up and turned his back to his daughter, who grabbed hold of his leg and looked up at him.
	Pushing her presence out of his mind, he reached out and made a connection to the Weave.  It resisted, as it always did, but the strength of his will and his power overwhelmed its objections.  The link formed between them, and that allowed the power of High Sorcery to flow into him.  His paws limned over in Magelight as the power infused him, built up inside him, and he opened himself up completely to it to allow himself to draw in what he needed quickly.  Once he had gathered up what he considered to be a suitable amount of magical power to perform the task at hand, he tapered off the influx and then began his work.
	He had two things to do.  The first he directed back behind him, weaving the flows into the large tent that had served him for the days he was here.  He wove together a weave of Earth and Divine energies, and sent it down into the ground.  He had thought about doing this last night, and it seemed relatively simple.  The weave flowed through the earth, spreading out for longspans in every direction, and every time it touched gold, it triggered a response that caused it to surround the gold, infuse it with magical power, and then draw it back to the center of the weave's energy.  That happened to be the tent.  It would have taken a long time, if there had not been a surprising amount of gold in the immediate vicinity.  He never knew that the northwestern corner of Sulasia was so rich in gold, but the Skydancer mountains, which were famous for heavy deposits of metals of all kinds, were probably the reason for that.  Tarrin drained the entire surrounding land of every scrap of gold it possessed, causing it to draw up from the earth inside the tent, where it couldn't be seen.  When he was done, the tent was ankle-deep to him--which made it shin-deep for a human--in small gold nuggets of every imaginable shape, enough money for Arren to rebuild Torrian and have plenty left over.
	Then he turned his attention back to the outside, to in front of him, and began the process to summon the Elemental.  A chaotic jumble of flows of Air and Divine power, with token flows of the other seven Spheres to grant the weave the power of High Sorcery.  Tarrin charged the weave with a tremendous amount of extra energy, for that would be the magical power the Elemental would use to perform its tasks once it arrived, and he wanted to make sure that it had everything it needed to do what it would need to do.  He didn't want it disrupting on them while they were all high in the air.  The weave snapped taut when Tarrin pulled at it, suddenly pulling it into its proper alignment, and then he released it to do its work.
	This time, now that he had done it before, he could distinctly feel what it was doing.  He felt a section of the weave penetrate into something, something beyond his description, and then it held open that breach between where he was and wherever the other side of the breach was.  He sensed about that breach, feeling that whatever it was on the other side was decidedly alien, something beyond his world.  He felt the weave shudder slightly, and he realized that the animating force that lived on the other side of that breach had been summoned forth.  It flowed in from the otherworld and filled the shell of the weave he had constructed before him, an invisible mass of coherent air with defined limits but no set physical form.  The weave suddenly shimmered, and then the control of it was pulled away from him as the animating force of the Elemental settled into the mortal form Tarrin had created for it with his Sorcery.  He felt a tenuous link form between him and the Elemental, a mental connection that was just light enough to prevent the Cat from trying to reject it, for it was not an invasive form of communion, as Circling was.  It was simply a sort of window open between them, a window that allowed it to hear certain thoughts that he wanted it to hear.
	"Greetings," Tarrin called audibly.  "My name is Tarrin.  I'm sorry to draw you out like this, but we need your help.  Would you be so kind as to manifest for the ones who can't see you?" he asked politely.  He'd learned from the Fire Elemental that treating an Elemental with respect and consideration made it a much more pleasant travelling companion.  They weren't very smart, but they were sentient creatures, and they had pride.
	Thean and Kimmie gasped when an amorphous mass of what looked like misty vapor appeared in front of Tarrin and Jasana.  It was massive, nearly forty spans across, but its boundaries shifted randomly like a cloud being pushed by a stiff wind.  Tarrin looked at Jesmind, but her expression had turned decidedly stony.
	"By the Mother's milk!" Thean exclaimed.  "What is that, Tarrin?"
	"This," he said, looking back at Thean, "is an Elemental.  An Air Elemental, to be precise."
	"It's...big," Kimmie said, looking at it nervously.
	"It won't hurt you, Kimmie.  The Elemental understands our need, and it's agreed to help us.  It wouldn't be here if it wasn't here of its own will."
	"Will?  It's sentient?" Thean asked.
	"Very," Tarrin replied.  "What you see before you is a shell of magic that I created for it, so it could enter our world and animate the shell.  The way it works is that the magic of the weave goes to where the Elementals live and more or less calls out, looking for an Elemental willing to serve.  This one responded.  And next time I summon an Air Elemental, it will be this Elemental.  Once summoned, an Elemental will always respond to the same Sorcerer who first summoned it.  So it behooves us to treat them properly," he smiled.  "If I mistreat the Elemental, it's going to be rightly mad at me the next time I summon it to help me."
	"Very wise," Thean chuckled.  "What if it dies?"
	"Nothing on Sennadar can hurt it, Thean," Tarrin said mildly.  "The worst it can do is disrupt the magical matrix the Elemental animates.  If the Elemental is attacked and destroyed, it only destroys the shell I've created.  The animating force will go back to where it came from unharmed.  That's why Sorcerers often summoned Elementals to fight for them back in the old days," he reasoned.  "Elementals don't have any compunction about attacking at a Sorcerer's command, because they know that they can't really be hurt.  If could really get hurt, I'd never ask it to do something like that."
	The Elemental, which could understand everything they all said, seemed to warm considerably to Tarrin at that remark.  It was their first meeting, after all, and the Elemental wanted to get a good sense of the Sorcerer it had opted to serve.
	"Anyway, we're wasting time.  The Elemental is going to carry us to Suld."
	"How is it going to carry us?" Jesmind asked curiously, looking up at it.
	"For it, it'll be easy," Tarrin told her.  "It's going to carry us inside it.  We'll simply float along as it flies to Suld."
	"Won't we suffocate?" Kimmie asked.
	"It's made of air, Kimmie," Tarrin chided her.  "We won't suffocate."
	"Oh.  Alright then, Tarrin, what do we do?" Kimmie asked.
	"All of you, come over here," Tarrin waved with a paw.  He reached down and picked up Jasana, who was staring up at the Elemental with wonder in her eyes, and the others came up beside him, all three holding a pack.  "Alright now, we're ready," he told the Elemental.  "For all our sakes, please be gentle.  None of us has done this before."
	That seemed to amuse the Elemental, whom, he realized, had a capricious nature much like Sarraya.
	Jesmind grabbed hold of his free paw, and he squeezed it reassuringly as the misty nature of the Elemental dissolved back into invisibility, and then Tarrin felt it move.  The air suddenly swirled around them, like wind, an