te they used had to be close to Dragg, so they could get out in a hurry.
	No, Mist announced abruptly.
	What, Mist? he asked.
	The tablet said that the Sorcerers Teleported the Dwarves to Suld.  If they were Teleported here, then they were Teleported to the gate.
	Youre rightI forgot about that, Tarrin fretted.
	Instead of months of fruitless searching, I think its time for a little direct intervention, Jenna announced.
	Ask Spyder? Tarrin asked her.
	No.  Youre very close to the Weave, brother.  Look for an echo.
	Tarrin balked.  You want me to find a five thousand year old echo in the Weave?  Jenna, do you know how hard thats going to be?
	Not hard at all, she answered evenly.  The Weave responds to you in ways it doesnt respond to anyone else.  The Weave will know what you want, and bring it to you.  Its done it many times before.  I think its your relationship with Mother that does that, she winked.
	Still, thats not going to be easy, he warned.
	I think it will be very easy, she answered.  Mother hasnt given us any information, so I dont think shes allowed to.  But if you look for it in the Weave, she can cheat a little bit and give us what we need without doing it directly.
	I knew she was a clever girl, but thats devious, the Goddess voice sang deep in his mind, full of amusement.  That was worthy of Keritanima.
	Tarrin snorted, but it was to avoid laughing.  Alright, Ill give it a try.  But its no guarantee.
	Well see, Jenna smiled.
	After withdrawing to a quiet, dark room, Tarrin sat on the floor cross-legged, arms crossed, head bowed, tail curled around his legs, wings partially folded behind him, and began.  Searching the Weave for echos was not easy, for they were random, and sometimes were very hard to find.  The Weave was vast, and the echos in it were uncountable, so to find one specific echo among the endless hordes of them was a task that would require a little divine assistance.  Alright, Mother, he sang into the Weave.  If were going to cheat, lets do it before the other gods notice.
	The response was laughter that sounded like a cascade of silvery bells.  Ill make a god out of you yet, kitten.
	I certainly hope not, he answered.
	The image came to him immediately.  The gate was in a deep, treacherous valley, at the end of a box canyon whose open mouth fed into a narrow, jagged pass.  The gate itself was a large archway filled with glowing blue smoke.  Tarrin wondered why there were no Dwarves in this memory, but then he realized that this was a current image.  The Goddess was showing him the gate as it was now, not as it had been.
	The gate was open.
	Tarrin puzzled at that until he remembered that the gods only sealed the gates coming in to Sennadar.  The gates that went out still worked.  This gate was a one-way gate to another world.  Sennadar was a closed world in that it was almost impossible to get in, but getting out was much easier.
	Which lent itself to an immediate problem in his mind.  If he and Phandebrass went through that gate in search of the Dwarves and the lost children of the Goddess, how would they get home?
	The answer was the Astral.  There was one gate leading into Sennadar remaining, and that was in the Astral.  With Spyders help and a magic spell to get them into the Astral, they could get home.  He was certain he could secure that help, because it seemed that both the Goddess and Clangeddin wanted their lost children to come home.  If there were any left, anyway.  And if there were not, if they had all died, at least knowing what had happened to them would bring a sense of closure.
	Stall Phandebrass, the Goddess warned.
	What?
	You can find this gate in a matter of days, but you cant leave until Allia has her baby, she told him.  Shed kill you if you didnt get back in time for the birth, and you need to make certain preparations before leaving, to make sure you can get everyone home.
	So, I am being volunteered for this, he teased.
	Was there any doubt? She answered winsomely.  Besides, I know the idea of exploring a new world appeals to you, and youd have jumped all over any chance to find the Dwarves.  Youd have done it anyway.
	True, he admitted.
	I hope you dont mind, kitten, but I truly want to know what happened to my children who left this world.  I cant sense them or contact them where they went.  Its a worry that has eaten at my heart for five thousand years.  And because I cant sense anything, I want my strongest and most able child to be the one to go after them, someone who can handle nearly any danger, someone I can depend on.
	Ill find them, Mother.  Them and the Dwarves.  And when I do, Ill bring them home.
	Oh, I love you, my kitten, she said warmly, sincerely.  Youre the best of my children.  And I know that when you say you will do something, I can put my mind at ease, for it will get done.
	Spyder will be jealous, he teased.
	Spyder would agree with me, she retorted lightly.  Now go figure out how youre going to distract Phandebrass for six months.
	Yes, Mother, he chuckled.
 
Chapter 24

	The Goddess was right about one thing, and that was Tarrin was strangely excited about the idea of traveling to another world.
	Phandebrass wasnt the only one caught up in the idea of it.  There was something exciting about the idea of going to a place where nothing could be taken for granted.  The rules and laws of Sennadar wouldnt exist in that other world, where even the most basic concepts might be different.  It might be a world where the sky was green, or the grass purple, or where giant slugs could talk, or just about anything.
	That was an exaggeration, of course.  The Goddess told him not long after he accepted her mission that most worlds were much like Sennadar in climate and geology.  Odds were, the world on the other side of the gate was a place similar to Sennadar in that it would have trees and grass and animals and maybe have intelligent beings, but that wasnt guaranteed.  Plane-hopping, as many of the people who came in through the gate at Haven did, was a dangerous undertaking.  One could gate into a world that had poison for atmosphere, or was like the Elemental Plane of Fire, or a place where everyone was gigantic and they looked on little people as food.
	Then again, there was always the power factor.  Tarrin was, quite literally, one of the most powerful beings on the planet.  His magical powers were beyond that of virtually everyone else, even his daughter Jasana, because he was a MiShara.  Jasana may be a stronger Sorcerer, but Tarrin could exceed his mortal limitations if the need was great enough and hurl enough power at Jasana to overwhelm her.  As a mortal, Tarrin had withstood the power of a god and had proved to be his equal, if only for a moment.  Only Spyder had the magical capability to challenge him, but since they were friends, such a confrontation would probably never occur.  If that wasnt enough, he was also a living, mortal god, and could draw on the power of divine might if necessary.  If it were truly needful, he could transform into a being that could fully use that power in the mortal plane, turning him into a power with which even the gods could not contend while in the mortal plane.  And even without those things, his status as a Were-cat and the fact that he was one of the most highly trained warriors on the face of Sennadar made him just as deadly even when he didnt use magic.  Only a handful of the greatest warriors on Sennadar could challenge Tarrin, but again, since most of those legendary warriors were part of his inner circle of friends, such confrontations were most unlikely to occur.
	Tarrin was the pinnacle of mortals on Sennadar.  This gave him a great deal of security and sense of safety, but it also left a void inside him.  Tarrin needed to be challenged, needed a goal that could not be easily attained in order for him to feel like he was accomplishing something.  That was why he took up study of Duthak, and agreed to be the Guardian in Spyders place.  They were difficult tasks that required time to accomplish.  Tarrin enjoyed being challenged, rising himself up to face it, but there was little left in Sennadar outside of the gods who could seriously do that anymore.  And since a confrontation like that could do considerable damage to the regional geography, it was unlikely to ever happen.
	Traveling to another world, well, that would certainly be challenging.  Not knowing anything or anyone, where everything was new, was different, was excitingly unknownwell, that made it worth trying.  It would be a challenge, if only because it would present things he would not know.
	But he had to wait.  Allia was pregnant, and he wanted to be there for the birth of her child.  He also had quite a bit to do before he could leave.  He had to organize what he was going to take, make sure that Jasana was going to be handled, make sure that Spyder was alright with his leaving for a while, and decide who was going to go with him.  Phandebrass was certainly going to go.  He was so excited about the idea of it that he was already packing a trunk.
	But there would be no group of old friends this time.  Keritanima had a kingdom to run and a son to raise.  Allia too was pregnant, and couldnt leave.  Dar had a wife and two children of his own.  Dolanna was busy in Sharadar, and Azakar was currently exploring the unmapped interior of Wikuna at Keritanimas request, a mapping expedition, and he had Ulger, Darvon, Kargon, and several other Knights with him, as well as General Kang of the Arakite Legions and a contingent of Vendari.  That was a fearsome enough fighting force to protect the cartographers and scientists that were along to survey the land.  Camara Tal had a daughter to raise, and Sarraya was busy on a mission for the Hierarchs.  Mist and Kimmie had their children, and Jesmind wouldnt live long enough to reach the gate.  All of his close friends had lives of their own now, and couldnt drop everything to chase off with him on another crazy mission.  The idea of going on this trip alone with Phandebrass was a bit unnerving to him.  He was afraid hed kill the addled Wizard long before they found anything.  He wanted some other company along with him, but after everything that had happened during their quest for the Firestaff, he didnt want to impose on any of them.  Theyd done enough traveling, had their lives disrupted enough.
	He had some other preparations to make as well.  The Goddess also hinted that perhaps he might want to approach this trip like a human would, and think about what he would need.  If he were human, what would he want to take with him?  Well, first and foremost, a horse.  Hed need transportation.  Hed want a good supply of food and water, at least a months worth, which would give him enough time to assess the local wildlife and find suitable hunting sources, or track down sentient populations and trade for food.  He would want to take some gold, silver, and platinum with him for money, just in case they recognized it as money, since it was small, light, and easy to carry.
	He was sitting in his library, going over his list, when Mist came down.  Mist didnt come into his library very often.  She considered it his personal space, and she respected it as such.  Im about to start cooking, she called as she came down.  Any preferences?
	Whatevers handy, he answered, writing tent on the list.
	What you up to?
	Making a list of things Ill have to take, he answered.
	Make sure you put enough down for three, she told him.
	I only have two people right now.
	Three.
	He looked at her.  And who is the third one?
	Me, she declared.  Erons young, but he knows almost everything I have to teach.  He already knows how to hunt, and he knows all the rules.  Im presenting him to the Hierarchs next month.  After that, hes on his own.
	Hes only seven, Mist, he argued.
	I was released when I was six, she snorted.  Tens not the magic age.  Hes big enough to handle himself, and he knows what to do.  Hes ready.
	Are you sure you want to go? he asked.  We might be gone a while.  If we get sick of each other, well be stuck together until we get home, and theres no telling when that will be.
	We have a few good years yet, she said dismissively.  I dont think its going to take that long.
	You dont?
	No.  All we do when we get there is find people and ask them where the Dwarves are.  If they know, then we just follow their directions.  If they dont, then we know theres none left.
	Well, thats a simplistic way of looking at it, but itll more or less work, he admitted.  But we have to find the Urzani and human Sorcerers too.  Its not just about the Dwarves.
	Same deal, she shrugged.  Venison, elk, beef, or mutton?
	Elk?  Whered you get an elk?
	He wandered down from the foothills.  He wont be wandering back.
	Lets go with that then.
	What else?
	Surprise me.
	Urzani.  He said it in passing, but that was the case, and he pondered on it as Mist went back upstairs.  They were Urzani back during the Blood War.  It was that titanic event which caused the Urzani race to split, to become the ShaKar, Wikuni, and Selani.  But back during the war, during the time when they would have taken the Dwarves through the gate, they were Urzani.
	A strange thought.  If Tarrin brought them back, if any were still alive, then Spyder wouldnt be the only Urzani left anymore.
	He wondered if shed like that.

	The Phandebrass problem was an easily handled one, as far as Tarrin was concerned, for Phandebrass knew Tarrin well enough to know exactly when to stop pushing.  He did pester Tarrin nearly every day through an amulet about when they would find the gate that they would use, but Tarrin bluntly told him that Tarrin would find it when he was ready, and when he did, he would not tell him.  They were leaving in six months, not until Allia had her baby, and by the Goddess, hed better shut up and accept that fact, and think about how he might want to prepare for the journey instead of wildly flying around with a half-packed trunk trying to get them on the road.  Phandebrass realized rather quickly that Tarrin wasnt about to budge, and since only him and Mist were going outside of Phandebrass himself, that gave him no opportunity to try to get someone else to talk him into leaving early.  Phandebrass knew that Mist would not go against Tarrins wishes, would actively defend his decision, and her concept of defending was a physical one.  Rather than get his face clawed up, Phandebrass quietly let the matter drop, and started counting the days towards when they would leave.
	It wasnt that Phandebrass was being cold about Allias pregnancy.  When he talked about it, he was just as sincerely happy and excited about it as anyone else.  It was just that, Phandebrass being Phandebrass, he forgot about it when he got caught up in the fervor of leaving Sennadar and starting on the journey to find the Dwarves and Sorcerers who had left Sennadar.  He was one of the smartest men alive, but he was so hopelessly scatterbrained sometimes that it made him seem much less intelligent than he actually was.
	Tarrin had some other things to do himself.  He wouldnt go against the wishes of Clangeddin, and he dutifully prepared his Gnomlin Traveling Spellbook.  Phandebrass was almost hatefully jealous when he found out that Tarrin had one.  Those items were dreadfully rare, and they were the one thing that most Wizards dreamed about possessing, a book that fit in the palm of ones hand that held every spell they could ever scribe.  Tarrin deflected Phandebrass by telling him that if he wanted one, he should make one.  He was a good enuogh Wizard, and it would give him something to do waiting to leave.
	It was a clever little device.  Shrunk, it fit easily in Tarrins paw.  Expanded, it was the size of the Book of Ages, and was nearly as thick.  But, unlike the Book of Ages, it didnt have an unlimited number of pages magically compressed.  It had exactly one thousand, on pages as thin as a razors edge but as stong as steel, a strange leather-like paper that accepted ink easily and didnt smudge.  Tarrin had one hundred and twelve spells in his own books, but Loremaster Arka had put thirty spells in it himself, all of which Tarrin had never seen before, leaving him with one hundred forty-two.  Kimmie borrowed the book to study it, and when he got it back, he found that shed put all her spells in it too, which made the total three hundred and nine.  He wondered why shed put her spells in it, and when he asked, she just winked and said that someday hed be able to cast them, so why not just scribe them now?
	Scribing the Gnomlin Traveling Spellbook took one month of total time.  After that, Tarrin left the house and scouted the five gate locations to find the right gate to use, which took three days.  He started with the gate near Aldreth first, then went west to check the one in the Valley of the Gods.  That, it turned out, was the gate.  It was exactly as he remembered seeing it through the vision, set against a cliff at the end of a box canyon which split off a narrow, jagged pass that had a fast-moving river flowing through its bottom.  It was raining when he found it, the floor of the bare canyon little more than mud, and he realized that they wouldnt be riding up here after he scouted the pass.  It was too treacherous for anything but an agile mountain goat, most of the passs navigable roads falling into the river at the bottom of the gorge long ago.  The box canyon was large enough for a small group of horses, so that meant that theyd be Teleporting to that spot in order to begin their journey.
	That made for an uncomfortable day in the rain and the mud as Tarrin grounded himself to the siteor, at least surrounded by it.  He wasnt about to put his feet down in that mud, so he sat in midair and used a Ward to keep out the rain.  It was so messy that Fireflash didnt even bother going out to explore, staying in his basket the entire time.  There wasnt much to see or do, and looking at rain, mud, and rain-slicked walls of jagged grayish rock got boring after a while, and though the swirling interior of the gate was rather pretty, it too got old.  He pondered what it would be like to go through that gate for a while, what it might feel like, if it was anything like Teleportation, then gave it up and joined to the Weave, then projected out to Wikuna to visit with Keritanima for a while.
	He had to spend the night there, which annoyed him.  He was having trouble grounding to the site, and he wasnt entirely sure why, though he suspected the proximity of the gate might have something to do with it.  He warned Mist he couldnt make it home for the night and resolidified the Ward, then used Sorcery to dry out the mud so he could put his feet on the ground.  He was more than capable of staying in midair for as long as he wanted, even sleeping in that hovering position, supported by the divine energy which emanated from his wings, but he had a personal hang-up with that idea.  He was always worried that hed drift off while sleeping and wake up over the middle of an ocean somewhere, or floating in the sky halfway to the moons.  He decided to do things in a halfway normal manner, Conjuring the things he needed for a camp, but doing it all by hand once he got the raw materials.  He set up a tent, dug a firepit and got a fire going, and though he had no horses, he set up a picket area for them anyway, because it would have to be done.  He had to Conjure his dinner, which he cooked over the open fire, and when he was done, he curled up in his tent and went to sleep, imagining what it would be like with Phandebrass in the next tent and Mist curled up with him.  Then he wondered how he was going to keep Mist from killing Phandebrass during the journey.  It would only be a matter of time until he did something dumb and got Mist mad at him.
	Hed figure something out.  He always did.
	By morning, he was grounded to the site, so he could leave.  He returned home and found himself besieged by Mists curiosity.  Shed been rooting through a chest in his room and had stumbled across the belt that Tarrin had made for Jesmind when they were traveling to Gora Umadar to save Jasana, the belt which cloaked them in Illusion and let them walk on top of water.  Did you make this, Tarrin? she asked immediately when they arrived.  Jenna said you did.
	That was a long time ago, he said, his eyes distant as he remembered the chamber with the hot springs and the big subterranean lobster that Jesmind kept wanting to eat.
	Make me one.
	Tarrin blinked.  You can have that one, Mist, he told her.  Jesmind doesnt use it anymore.
	No, I want my own, not one you made for her, she said bluntly.  And I want it to do something different.
	What? he asked curiously.
	I want it to hide me behind an Illusion of a human, not in that cloak of camoflage, she said.  Where were going might not like Were-cats.  You can hold the human shape a very long time, but I cant.  Ill need some way to hide other than staying in cat form all the time.
	She made perfect sense.  He nodded and put the belt on the table.  Ill have it for you by the end of the month, he promised.
	So, Tarrin withdrew from friends and family for a while in order to make Mists belt.  He remembered exactly how he had made the belt hed given Jesmind, so worrying about the process of it wasnt the problem as much as working out exactly what it was going to do.  Just like the belts, he had to know exactly what it was going to do, and he had to carefully design it so the belts functions didnt interfere with one another.  So, he needed to decide what the belt would do.
	The Illusion would be the cornerstone of the belt, he decided.  That was its primary function, and would be the main spell.  But it would also do other things, he decided, things he felt would protect Mist or be useful to her.  The water-walking power of the original belts would indeed be a useful ability, so he decided to keep it in the belts operation.  Tarrin was a fire-based being, so giving her some kind of protection against fire was also going to be very important, so he decided that she should have that as well.  That way he could unleash his power with her in the immediate vicinity without fear of hurting her.  She also needed some kind of weapon outside her claws, but Mist didnt use weapons.  The Cats Claws, he decided, would be perfect for someone like Mist, but he wasnt about to give her his, so he decided to create a new set.
	And for that, he needed Jenna.  Jenna made the first ones, so he needed to know exactly what she did, and exactly how to do it.  So he had a long visit with his sister, and over the course of three days, she explained how she had made them.  It turned out that the Goddess had had a heavy hand in the creation of the Cats Claws, and hed need her help to create the second set. That wasnt a problem, for she agreed to help him make another pair.
	The belt came first.  After reattaching the charm to his amulet to allow him to work without needing sleep, he worked out exactly how he was going to do this, how the weaving would be laid down.  The belt would have four abilities, two of which could not be operating at the same time.  It would hide her behind an Illusion of her as a human, which would be faithful to her actual appearance, mainly because he made her take the human shape and memorized how she looked as a human.  It would also hide her inside the cloak of Illusory camoflage as a measure of self defense if she needed it, but she couldnt do use that and the human Illusion at the same time.  It was one of the other.  The belt would also give her the ability to walk on water like the original, and it would have interlaced in it a weave that would render Mist utterly immune to fire, a protection as powerful as that of a Weavespinner, a weave lifted off the amulet that Shal Tals amulet had to protect her from accidental Hellhound fire breath.  Once he had its functions set, he spent three days designing the way the weaves would be placed.  And once he had that ready, he began.
	It took him two days of continuous work to complete the belt, but the charm made it much faster than it would have been had he had to sleep.  Like any work with magical devices, he first had to prepare the Created belt for accepting the magic, again working around that curious sterility present within a Created object.  After that was done, he then laid the weaves into it, strand by strand, holding the entire construction stable as he added them in, before completing the work and sealing the weaving to make it permanent using the binding weave that was used at the very end.  The charm made him much less exhausted this time because he didnt have to sleep or feel the need to sleep.  But when he was done, he had his belt, and it worked exactly as he meant it to work.  It would hide Mist behind an Illusion of her human self or cloak her in Illusory invisibility, it would allow her to walk on water, and it protected her utterly from fire.  Faithful to the creation of the original belt, this belt had that power of non-detection inside it, hiding Mist from magical detection.  The original belt had been made to help him and Jesmind get to Gora Umadar without being attacked and to hide them from Demons searching for them.  This belt wasnt meant for that, but Tarrin saw no reason to remove some of its original design.
	The new set of Cats Claws were considerably more difficult, and required the direct help of the Goddess.  They would be perfect replicas of his, which was necessary because the formula for creating them was already known, and trying to change it would cost him months of research time.  Once he began on them, he could not do anything else, and it required sixteen days of constant work to complete them.  Where it had taken Jenna over a month and the help of Ianelle, Tarrin did it in sixteen with the help of his charm.  The Goddess had to do some parts of it, mainly the layered behavior of the claws when they were extended, and she also had to provide the Adamantite bracers.  Tarrin couldnt Create Adamantite, as it was an other-worldly metal, and was as such beyond even Tarrins Druidic power to create.
	But, after sixteen days of constant work, he placed the binding weave on the bracers and assensed them, and found that they were faithful, perfect replicas of his own Cats Claws.  These didnt belong to Mist, they belonged to him.  But he would let her use them for a while.
	Overall, the creation of the belt, the new Cats Claws, and the time it took to prepare to make them took nearly two months.  By then, Allias belly was starting to show her pregnancy, and everyone was starting to get excited about the coming reunion.  By some stroke of luck, the baby would be born during the early winter lull in the sandstorms, the quiet season, not long before Gathering.  Allias tribe wasnt very happy about having to go to Mala Myrr, but Allia was absolutely adamant, and her tribe wouldnt allow her to bear the child in that ruin alone.  FaraNae had quietly told the Goddess that shed make sure that the tribes flocks would have foraging and water for the journey and while they were at Mala Myrr, something she wouldnt have done for anyone else, which made Tarrin feel much better.
	They were halfway there, and Tarrin felt that they were nearly ready.

	News of this mission certainly didnt remain in the inner circle for very long.  Tarrins friends and family had friends of their own, and it wasnt a secret, so they told their friends, and their friends told their friends, until quite a few people knew what was going to happen.  This dissemination of information brought with it quite a few changes, and a few very welcome changes.
	The first was Dolanna.  She arrived at the Tower in Suld not long after Tarrin made the belt and new Cats Claws, then, after a brief talk with Jenna, showed up at his house with a resolute look on her face.  I have heard you intend to search for lost brothers and sisters who might have left Sennadar, she said immediately.
	Yah, he said absently as he finished levelling the leg of a table that he and Mist were building, as Eron, Tara, and Rina watched.  Basic carpentry was something that both of them felt the cubs should know.
	I will go with you.
	Tarrin gave her a look.  Youve thought this through?
	Come now, dear one, she said with a smile.  Since when do I not think things through?
	He chuckled.  Point taken, he said.  If you want to come, Dolanna, Id be overjoyed to have you.  It just wouldnt feel right without you being there.
	Why did you not ask me?
	Because you have a life of your own now, he answered evenly.  I put you all through enough already.  Ill never impose on you again.
	Oh, dear one, you were never an imposition, she said with a light laugh, touching his arm fondly.  And I have found myself with far too little to do of late.  An excursion into truly unknown territory appeals to me greatly.
	Ooh, can I go? Rina asked breathlessly.
	No, Tarrin and Mist answered in unison.  This is no journey for a cub, Tarrin added sternly.
	Aww! she pouted.
	Where is Kimmie? Dolanna asked.
	Working with Anayi on something magic, Tara answered.  She doesnt want us to bother her, so she stuck us with father and Aunt Mist.
	Your mother does not see you as a bother, young one, Dolanna told her.  She is simply making sure you stay safe, that is all.  Magic of any kind is very dangerous.
	And so, Dolanna joined the small list of intrepid explorers who would leave Sennadar and search for the lost Dwarves and Sorcerers.  Dolannas addition changed little as far as Tarrin, Mist, and Phandebrass were concerned, but it also spawned its own events.
	One such event occurred when he traveled to Suld to have a dinner with Tomas and Janine and Janette with his parents and Jenna.  After a quiet, enjoyable meal, Tarrin happened to chance meeting Haley on the street as he walked Janette back to the Tower.  That wasnt that unusual, for he was only about a block from Haleys inn, which was no nearly the size of the entire block and had run every inn, tavern, and festhall within ten blocks of it out of business. Tarrin, I hear