lding.  Goblinoid bodies were suddenly squashed under that invisible mass, reduced to gory red stains and blots on the flattened ground, their weapons and armor pulverized by the blow.  The very few that had survived that attack, who were literally tied up in the lines of his people, were quickly cut down by the defenders.  To their credit, they only gawked a moment before a quick-minded lieutenant commanding the Arakites barked a series of orders that caused them to reform into a moving formation, then began advancing back towards the wall step by step.  Tarrin looked up, and then sent a multitude of tiny darts of magical power away from him, streaming glowing smoke as they streaked away, and they sought out and brought down every Harpy within a longspan of his projection.  They streaked up into the sky and unerringly found Harpies, attacking those closest first, but each remaining one losing its bead on a Harpy once it was dead, only to turn in its flight and go after another.  Tarrin recharged and released the spell again and again, sending out more than enough of the magical missles to find and kill virtually all the Harpies in the sky.  Once that was done, he knew that the Aeradalla would stop fighting the Harpies and start shooting any enemy that moved on the ground below, adding to their confusion and terror.
	Tarrin wasn't the only one to use powerful magic.  Jenna had gotten up on the wall, and she was weaving a spell of her own, one so large and complicated that it took her nearly three minutes to finish it.  When she was done, she raised her hands up towards the sky and released it, a sky which suddenly began to spin up clouds from nothingness.  Jenna was manipulating the weather, the most powerful thing a Sorcerer could accomplish, and as the battle continued to rage, a dark, black, seething mass of clouds formed over the city.  The sky grew darker and darker, incredibly dark, and rumbles of thunder began to run through the clouds above.  When it was primed and ready, Jenna brought down her hands in a snapping motion, and an absolute avalanche of lightning, so much that it turned the sky bright, blinding white, lashed out from the clouds and came down into the human reserves still stationed across the fallow fields from the city wall.  The lightning blasted through their ranks, exploding when it hit the ground, electrocuting the metal-clad men lined up in their neat rows--at least where the Elemental had yet to reach, anyway--and set fire to the grass in a heartbeat, leaving behind scorched earth and a large number of dead bodies.  The blast of thunder that rocked across the city was loud enough to shatter windows all over the city, so loud that it was felt more than it was heard.
	The wonderful thing about using the weather to attack was that the main energy needed to weave the spell was the part of creating the conditions.  Jenna didn't have to fuel the storm to keep it going, only having to guide the quite natural processes that caused lightning, then direct it as it flashed from the clouds above.  She had reached as far as she could reach with the lightning, enough to get a good part of the enemy reserves, but the rest were too far away for the lightning to reach, not without increasing the size of the storm.  And Tarrin knew that she couldn't do that.  She had made it as large as she could make it without inviting T'Kya's wrath.  She kept raining lightning down wherever she saw a large concentration of enemies, moving the lightning closer and closer to the city to stem the flow of reinforcements.  The Goblinoids that were trying to get into the city stopped rushing towards the walls, some of them diving to the ground, some of them turning around and fleeing back towards their army's reserves, some running in circles or in random directions.
	Tarrin wove together a massive, intricate weave of Fire and Divine power, charging it with a great amount of magical power, then he released it.  The Elemental spirit which answered his calls flowed into the magical construction he had created for it, and then it manifested before him as a gigantic scorpion of fire, fifteen spans long and with a tail ten spans on its own, dropping to the ground below.  Tarrin instructed it to attack and kill any Goblinoids it could find, not to harm the humans, Wikuni, Were-kin, Centaurs, and Selani engaging the Goblinoids, and to render aid to their allies if it saw them in danger of being cut down by the Goblinoids.  It assured him it understood the situation, and then waded into the fight with its fiery claws and stinging tail flashing out to strike at their enemies.  Tarrin had dropped the Fire Elemental right in the breach, just behind the rubble of the wall, where it could assault the Goblinoids from behind even as the Arakites and Ungardt pushed them back into the Fire Elemental.  Now he could concentrate somewhere else and allow his Fire Elemental to act on its own, adding more power to their efforts.
	There was still stiff resistance, despite the power of the spells he and Jenna used.  He absently incinerated a ki'zadun  Wizard, who was using magic to send sheets of reddish fire up at the wall, fire from which the Wikuni musketeers recoiled savagely.  Fire would ignite their gunpowder and kill them, and the Wizard seemed to understand that.  When the fire stopped, the fifty or so odd Wikuni, all of them mismatched in appeareance but wearing those same red and blue uniforms, all knelt at the command of their officer and then fired their muskets down at a group of Goblinoids that had just climbed over the rubble of the wall.  They pulled back to reload, and were replaced by a troop of Sulasian archers, who rained arrows down on the Goblinoids trying to crawl over the rubble of the wall until the musketeers were ready to fire again.  The few that did manage to get over rubble alive were either blasted by Jenna's lightning, or found themselves facing a merciless Fire Elemental.  They shrieked in panic and agony as Jenna's lightning pounded among them, and then the creatures, stunned by the thunderclap, were rent to pieces by the solid fire claws of the Elemental, or were speared by its tail, or were simply trampled under, where the intense heat the Elemental radiated set fire to their clothes, fur, and hair.  Even a glancing blow from the Elemental left charred wounds in its wake, making the creature absolutely deadly to its enemies.
	Tarrin saw that Goblinoids were still trying to climb up the walls.  He saw a contingent of Arakites and Wikuni pushing ladders away from the walls with long poles, and in another area, they were fighting at close range with a large number of agile Dargu that had managed to get onto the wall.  Tarrin realized that he'd wear himself out trying to kill them all, when he could simply do what Jenna did before him.  Now that most of the enemy Wizards were dead, they wouldn't be able to stop them a second time.  He drew in all the power he could, and then wove together the seven flows to form a Ward, charging it so it would last about an hour.  Given the short duration, it allowed him to make its physical dimensions impressive, and he set it so that it ran about ten spans away from the outside edge of the wall, extending about a half a longspan from one side to the other.  Wards had to be enclosed, continuous, so instead of a globe or sphere, he formed it as a rectangular box that was twenty spans wide, which brought the outside half of the wall into its area of protection.  That made it as good as a wall, one that reached the whole area in which the Goblinoids were trying to climb the walls or enter through the opening Jenna had formed.
	It took more than what he could hold at one time, forcing him to weave the Ward in stages, and it took him nearly two minutes to complete.  But when he released it, the time and effort were more than worth it, for the Goblinoids on the walls, trying to climb up the walls, trying to climb up the rubble of the wall, they all simply dropped stone dead wherever they were.  Those Goblinoids racing forward crumpled to the ground the instant they crossed that invisible boundary, slain by the power of the Ward.
	The storm over their heads began to drift east, carried by the sea breeze, out over the reserves of the ki'zadun, but as it moved, it left Jenna's control.  The sudden deluge of rain and lightning did probably cause them some problems, however, for it made it hard for them to see that their Goblinoids were dying off at an alarming rate.  Tarrin looked down through his projection, seeing that without the influx of reinforcements, the Goblinoids in the city that were still alive were being cut down quickly, overwhelmed by the superior skills of their human, Selani, Wikuni, and Fae-da'Nar enemies.  Even if they committed their human elements, this battle was won.
	So why did they continue to press the attack?
	It made no sense!  They'd lost their Demons, their Priests, most of their Wizards, the Fae-da'Kii, and now they were going to lose their Goblinoids.  Why continue to attack?  What reason did they have?  It was madness!  Were they so single-minded that they would throw their entire army away?  Were they so afraid to go back and face Val without a victory that they were all willing to die here and now?  Tarrin looked out over the reserves, seeing a dome of dryness that held Kravon and that six-armed, snake-bodied Demoness, the one commanding the battle for her side.  What was she doing?  Was she a total incompetent?
	The bodies kept piling up around the walls, and the forces within were starting to run out of Goblinoids to fight.  They had slaughtered a huge amount of them before, and what were left either died outside the walls or were cut down by the defenders within.  Many of them stood in place, catching their breath, as a few small pockets of fanatical Goblinoids were surrounded and crushed by the defenders, but they were few and far between.
	Tarrin turned to look at the Demoness as the storm passed.  They had nothing but their human reserves left, about five thousand troops, and that wasn't a match for the force they would have to challenge.  But still she didn't order a recall.  Instead, she looked down at the emaciated Wizard and said something.  Kravon nodded, and then called someone up to him.  A small man scurried forward, holding a strange black metal device.  What was that thing?
	Kravon held it in his hands, and Tarrin could see that he was saying something.  No, he was chanting.  He was using magic!  Tarrin sent his awareness over towards them, and as it got closer, he could sense the power of that black metal rod.  It was some kind of magical artifact, and it was powerful!
	That had to be their trump card!
	Tarrin immediately reached into the Weave and tried to block its magic, but he found himself facing a black wall of impenetrable strength.  He couldn't affect that strange thing!  He felt at the power, and realized that it was the residual power of a god's might.  A god had made that thing, and he couldn't affect it!
	Kravon finished, and held up the metal rod.  It seemed to pulsate, and then a strange blackness issued forth from it, like some kind of black cloud.  It rolled forward, towards Suld, growing larger and thinner as it moved, becoming like a fog bank but easily seen through.  Tarrin watched it coming, worked out a spell of Air that would repulse it, and then wove and released it.  A sudden gust of strong wind blew out over the wall, rushing towards that black cloud--
	--and then passed through it without doing anything.
	It was a magical effect!  And he could already sense that he could do nothing to prevent it.  The black cloud rolled over the more distant bodies, those slain by cannon shrapnel, muskets, and arrows.  And to his horror, those dead bodies began to move.  They began clamoring to their feet, even as the black cloud rolled forward.
	In horror, he realized why they had thrown away their army.  To use that metal rod and cause them all to rise again as undead.
	He spun around in the air and looked around.  The defenders were absolutely surrounded by the bodies of their enemies!  When that black cloud reached them, they'd be overwhelmed!
	He realized immediately what they had to do.  Pull back to where no fighting had taken place and reset their lines.
	Using Sorcery to augment his voice, he shouted down to them quickly.  "Everybody fall back!  Fall back to the Fountain of the Swans!  Damn you all, fall back right now!"
	Some of them didn't speak Sulasian, mainly Wikuni, but when the ones on the walls looked out over the battlefield, saw the undead bodies rising up, even as the human reserves roared war cries and began to charge, they understood.  "Jenna, Keeper, get everyone back to the fountain, and do it now!  We have about two minutes to retreat, or we're going to be surrounded by undead!"
	In a near panic, Tarrin mulled over and rejected any number of ideas to try to stop or slow down the black cloud, from an anti-magic Ward to trying to kill Kravon before it reached the wall, but it was moving too fast.  He didn't have time to do anything, and besides, they'd need him to help get everyone pulled out.  They weren't going to be able to retreat fast enough, and the people on the walls were going to have to literally fight their way out.  He wove together a large weave of Air and used it as a giant hand, scooping up the Wikuni, Sulasians, and Arakites on the walls and depositing them on the ground quickly and gently as officers began barking commands for them to retreat.  Jenna, clever Jenna, used Sorcery to obliterate as many bodies as she could as the defenders began to run into the city, clearing before the roiling black mist that crept towards them, with the shouts of the ki'zadun reserves behind it.  Tarrin did the same, using vast sheets of fire to incinerate the bodies on the walls, both enemy and friend, making it hot enough to burn them beyond mobility.  Tarrin could see that Jenna was starting to get very tired, and he couldn't deny that Sorcery was starting to become harder and harder to use himself.
	With a gut-based fear, Tarrin pulled his projection away from that evil black mist, afraid to get inside it as it drifted over the walls, reawakening the dead it touched.  In a move of sheer desperation, Tarrin wove together a Ward that would only allow living beings to pass through it and set it so it rested only a span above the ground.  It wasn't very large, only covering a few square blocks, but he set it in the greatest concentration of friendly forces.  It would prevent the undead from standing up, making them crawl outside the area of effect, and that would slow them down long enough for the defenders to pull back safely.  That weave also began telling him how tired he was getting, and after one look at Jenna, who was panting and sweating, he realized that they'd also done things the way they had to wear out the Sorcerers before unleashing this new, very nasty part of their plan.
	It was a disorganized, ugly, and very dangerous retreat.  The black mist swept over the field, terrifying the defenders until they realized that it wasn't lethal, but it caused the bodies of the dead to begin to move.  Not just the Goblinoids, either.  All the Goblinoids and the humans, even the dead defenders, were awakened by that black mist and began to rise up.  The bodies of those who had fought against the ki'zadun were now rising up to do battle for their cause.  The bodies of the Wikuni, Selani, Vendari, Centaurs, Fae-da'Kii, and the very, very few Were-kin who had managed to be killed did not awaken.  That, at least, was something.  The newly formed undead found they couldn't stand up, so they crawled towards the living, many of whom were screaming in fear and fleeing back towards the city in a near rout.  Tarrin couldn't blame them, for he found the scene horrifying enough on his own.  To someone without exposure to magical phenomenon, it would be a terrifying, demoralizing sight.  Men hacked at arms that reached out for them, some going down after being stabbed in the legs by the undead, who were then torn to pieces as their screams and cries of agony spurred the remaining men to retreat that much faster.  In a matter of only a few minutes, the defenders withdrew from the main battle areas, away from the newly formed army of undead bodies that were rising up all around them, shuffling forward in a slow, ungainly advance, but they were chaotic, disorganized, and many of them were running away in terror.
	And then Darvon was there.  Atop a massive black charger, the aged Lord General of the Knights began shouting orders, waving his sword around.   The defenders of the city rallied around the Lord General, formed into organized lines, and then withdrew step by step, using the Arakites and their large shields on the flanks of their formation to protect them from the reaching hands of the dead.  They pulled back along the grand avenue leading in from the east gate, towards the Fountain of the Swans, which was about half a longspan along the avenue.  Jenna and the Sorcerers that had been moving around the battle, helping where and when they could, joined the formation as it retreated cautiously and methodically.  Darvon had stopped a panicked rout and turned it into a careful retreat, which would save many men from being the victim of their own fear.  Tarrin brought his projection down to the ground as the army retreated towards the fountain, interposing his projection between the defenders and the slowly advancing undead, and he was starting to feel weary.  Maintaining the projection had turned out to be more tiring than he had anticipated, but he had enough for one more spell.  After that, he would have to release the Illusion and return to his own body.  He mentally summoned back his Fire Elemental and told it to attack the undead--it would last about five hours with the magical energy he had bestowed upon it when weaving its shell--and then started weaving one more spell.  It was quick and easy, a one-flow weave of pure Fire, and he unleashed it as a vast explosion of fire that erupted from in front of his projection and billowed out into the multitudes of the walking dead.  They didn't dodge it or run away, and after it was over, the ones that had not been burned beyond the ability to move still shambled forward as their bodies burned like oil-soaked logs.  The burnings ones that walked forward kept coming, even after all the flesh was burned from the bones, but some of them collapsed when the fire ate into the skulls, or burned their necks in half.
	"Fire doesn't work, Tarrin!" Jenna called.  "You have to take off their heads!"  She moved out beyond the retreating lines and began to weave, and Tarrin knew what she was doing before she was done.  She slashed her arm across her chest in a backhanded motion, and a slicing scythe of pure Air released at the motion, slashing across the entirety of the avenue before her.  She aimed it at a relatively middle level that would take the heads off those of average height, and it was brutally effective.  The weave slashed into the buildings on each side of the avenue, collapsing them as it cut them neatly in half, and it sliced through the undead shambling forward without impediment.  Many of them were hit in the neck, but the taller ones were cut off at the upper chest and shoulders, and the shorter ones had only portions of their heads cut off by Jenna's spell.  Regardless of where it hit, Jenna's weave stopped every undead body on the avenue, causing them to crumple bonelessly to the ground in one vast, seemingly coordinated motion.
	Tarrin felt his projection begin to lose its integrity.  He gave Jenna a single look that she understood, and was forced to abandon his Illusion and return his consciousness to his body.  He did manage to hear a sudden tumultuous shout rise up from the defenders for Jenna before he withdrew his consciousness.
	Tarrin opened his eyes and felt his weariness.  He hovered within the Conduit, which was again glowing brightly due to his presence, and he managed to get his feet on the ground and step out of it.  His exhaustion hit him much harder when he left its power-rich confines, separated from energy that sought to infuse him even without him trying.  He put his paws on his knees and tried to catch his breath, feeling sweat drip down out of his hair, over his nose.  Tarrin didn't sweat anymore unless he was engaged in heavy exertion, since he wasn't affected by heat.  And he was pretty certain that even the sweating wasn't really necessary, probably only a side effect or leftover reaction of his body to heavy work.  Jesmind was standing near the Conduit with Jasana, and to his surprise, Triana had joined them.  His bond-mother looked drawn and pale, and he realized that summoning that Elemental had pushed her powers to the limit.  It had taken everything she had to do it.
	"Are you alright, beloved?" Jesmind asked in concern, and he could tell she was just itching to rush over to him.  But he had given her an explicit warning not to come any closer to the Conduit than where she was now.  Not for Jesmind, but to keep Jasana away from the Conduit.  Given her strength, he didn't want her anywhere near the Conduit.  That Conduit had been what had awakened his power of High Sorcery, and it had nearly killed him.  Jasana was even stronger than him, and he doubted that she could control that much power flooding into her.  And he was too tired to do it for her.
	"I'm starting to wear out," he panted.  "That damn Kravon, they had a plan all along!"
	"What happened?" Triana asked in a shallow voice.
	Tarrin quickly explained what happened, and it was enough to make Triana frown.  "That was damn clever," she said with a grudging respect.  "Wear us all out, then make us fight the same enemy twice in a row, but this time they're not as easy to kill."
	"Shiika said that marilith was smart.  I guess I underestimated her," Tarrin admitted.  "Darvon rallied the troops into an orderly retreat.  They're going to reset at the Fountain of the Swans and face the undead there."  He blew out his breath.  "But I'm wiped out.  I don't think I could weave a spell to light a candle at the moment, and I know Jenna's almost as tired as I am.  The Sorcerers are going to have to do without me until I can rest."
	"What happened to the mouse?" Jesmind asked.  "I saw them carrying her in at the end of the passageway just before you came out of that, whatever it is."
	"The same thing that happened to Jula," he replied.  "They had to bring her off the field.  Where is Jula?"
	"In our apartment, or so Miranda said," Jesmind replied.  "Miranda's with her now."
	"Mother, I know it's alot, but could you find whoever's in charge of the men here on the grounds and convince him that they need to send some reinforcements to Darvon?" he asked.  "And make sure they send some fresh Sorcerers, and maybe some Priests."
	"Camara Tal is commanding the forces on the grounds," Triana said.  "She'll do it if I tell her to do it."
	"They're going to need some extra help, Mother," he told her.  "They're about to engage a horde of undead about four times their number."
	"Alright, I'll go track her down and tell her, if Darvon hasn't gotten the message to her already."
	"Thank you," he said gratefully.  She nodded and padded off, and Tarrin went over to his mate and daughter.  Jesmind put his arm around her shoulder and supported him as Jasana put her paws on his leg, looking up at him with concern.  The little girl looked terrified; she'd been unnaturally quiet and nervous since the Goddess hijacked her, and she realized that what was going on was deadly serious.  He reached down and picked her up, holding her close and stroking her back, trying to get her to calm down.  "I'm fine, kitten, just a little tired, that's all," he assured her when she looked fearfully into his eyes.
	"Come on, my mate.  Let's go find you a bench or something," Jesmind said.  "Somewhere quiet."
	Tarrin didn't want to go someplace quiet, he wanted to go where he could keep track of what was going on.  Jesmind glared at him, and then a short, heated argument ensued.  Jesmind cut the argument short by simply pulling him off his feet and turning down a side passage that led to the kitchens, taking advantage of his weakened state to physically force him to go where she wanted him to go.  Tarrin was too tired to fight her, and that meant that she won the argument.  If she knew she was capable of getting her way, she would do it, and when he had no way to fight back, he was at her mercy.
	"Tarrin, tell your Elemental how to kill the undead!" Jenna's voice reached him.  "It's just flailing around out there!"
	"Alright," he said, mentally instructing his Elemental on how to go about killing the undead soldiers.  He also told it to accept commands from Jenna also for the time being, that he was off the field and unable to direct it as well as she could.  It replied its acknowledgement to him.  "Jenna, the Elemental will obey you," he said aloud.  "If you need it to do something, tell it, and it'll do it."
	"Alright.  We've reached the fountain and are in the middle of reorganizing, but the undead haven't reached us yet.  Your Elemental is doing a good job of slowing them down.  Maybe now it can kill some of them."
	"Alright.  Tell Darvon I asked Camara Tal to send you some reinforcments and some fresh Sorcerers.  They should be getting there soon."
	"Darvon already sent a runner asking for them," Jenna chuckled.  "But if you did the same, then they'll get here alot faster than Darvon expects.  The runner just went out a minute ago."
	"Who are you talking to?" Jesmind asked.
	"Aunt Jenna," Jasana replied.  "Can't you hear her?"
	Tarrin gave his daughter a suspicious look, then looked to his mate.  "Jenna," he affirmed.  "She's using magic to talk to me."
	"Aunt Jenna said Papa's, uh, el-ee-mint-ul--"
	"Elemental," Tarrin corrected absently.
	"That, that it's slowing down the bad people, but Papa had to tell it what to do to kill them."  That was what he said.  Jasana could hear whispers?  Then again, that shouldn't have been a suprise.  She was so powerful, and already so close to the Weave.  "Papa told it to listen to Aunt Jenna, too."
	They reached one of the smaller dining rooms not far from the kitchen, and Jesmind entered it and sat Tarrin down at the closest chair.  Just sitting down made him feel alot better, and he felt his strength begin to return to him slowly but steadily.  Jesmind grabbed a servant running down the hall and told her to bring them back some food and drink, and do it right now if she wanted to remain healthy.  Jasana put herself firmly on his lap, looking up at him in concern, holding onto the end of his tail and wringing it in a rather painful manner.
	"Cub, that's my tail, not a washrag," he chided her, leaning back when Jesmind put her paws on his shoulders and began to rub them, trying to get him to relax.  But it was hard to relax, knowing what was marching down the streets of Suld.  He was glad that the civilians had been evacuated from the eastern sections of the city, that they were all packed into the buildings between the Tower and the harbor, out of the likely paths of the advancing armies.  That, at least, was not a worry.  Jenna may have to do some serious damage to the city in order to attack the undead advancing on them, and that way she'd only be destroying buildings, not the people who lived and worked in them.  He wanted to be out there with them, out defending the city, protecting the people, but he could not.  Even if he were strong enough to do it, the Goddess had told him specifically that he could not leave the grounds, and he was not about to  disobey her.  He could leave using a projection, but that had turned out to be a very expensive means of lending his support.  Had he been there in person, he'd still be able to throw magic.  The extra effort of weaving through the Weave had tired him out prematurely.
	Jesmind's powerful fingers seemed to find the greatest knot, and he felt his muscles relax under her expert ministration.  He rested the back of his head against her belly as her paws did what he could not, to relax and allow his body a chance to rest without expending nearly as much energy in nervous tension as it recovered by sitting down.
	It was at times like this that he really appreciated his mate.
	She patted him on the shoulders, leaning forward so she could look down at him and smile without her breasts getting in the way.  "Is that better, beloved?"
	"You spoil me, my mate," he told her with a lazy smile.  He lifted his head off of her stomach and gave Jasana a reassuring look, and the smell of food heralded the arrival of the servant, carrying a large tray laden with what smelled like cold beef and tankards of water.  The middle aged woman, dressed in Tower livery, set the tray down without a word, then bowed hastily and scurried away as quickly as she could.
	"Cold," Jesmind snorted as she sat down beside him and picked up a slice of beef.
	"I doubt the cooks have much time for cooking," Tarrin told her.  "There's a battle going on outside right now, love.  They're probably out on the grounds repairing the fortifications the Demons tore down getting inside.  And doing it very fast, if I know Camara."
	"That Amazon reminds me so much of mother," Jesmind chuckled.
	"I think that's why they're such good friends," Tarrin agreed, taking a bite out of a cold piece of roasted beef.  It was a bit dry, probably from having sit out in the open, but it was good enough for right now.  He had to stay calm, eat and rest, so he could use his magic again if it was necessary.  Tarrin handed a piece of beef to Jasana, who took it from him and immediately bit into it.  But she made a face, almost spitting it back out.  "It's dry," she complained.
	"It's all you're going to get for a while, cub, so eat it," Jesmind told her, taking a bit of beef herself.
	They ate the beef, not particularly enjoying it, and were washing it down with water when the scent of Kimmie reached them.  They all looked to the door as she filed in quickly.  Her shirt was torn almost in half, leaving her left breast bare, but she hadn't bothered to find something to replace it.  She had alot of blood on her clothes, but had no visible injuries outside of missing all the hair she'd had below her shoulders.  Someone had hacked off her ponytail, and it had yet to grow