, getting out of their way.  He meant to fly over the army and attack it from behind, but he spied ShazBaket atop a small hill south of the valley, and instead changed course to intercept her, to kill her before she could cook up something else.  He traversed that distance quickly, landed at the base of the hill and immediately started charging up it, his red eyes glowing so brightly they actually stained the rest of his face and the top of his muzzle with reddish light.    But he skidded to a stop when she presented a new weapon, an ornate two-handed sword with runes that were etched into the blade, runes that glowed with a blue light, and even from that distance he could sense the power of that weapon.  It was an Artifact of some kind, probably a lost relic from another world and another time, but this artifacts primary power dealt with one thing and one thing only, a power he could almost feel trying to press against him.
	That sword killed dragons.
	I see youve lost little of your ability to surprise, ShazBaket remarked with strange calm, and as you can see, neither have I.  Want to try yourself against this, Tarrin Kael?
	Tarrins dragon body dissolved into flame, and then it burst forth in all directions and evaporated, leaving behind the armored form of Tarrins natural shape.  He dropped to the ground lightly, holding his burning sword low in one hand, his wings flared out behind him.  Bring it on, he hissed, his eyes exploding from within with that unholy greenish aura, which illuminated the entire visor from within.
	ShazBakets face took on a surprised look, but that surprise faded into resentment as Tarrins armored feet left the ground, and he lanced forward with his sword in both paws, the blade trailing angry red fire as he charged at the Demoness.  She twisted around herself quickly, coiling her body to receive his charge, presenting her five weapons and waiting for him to reach her.  Her look turned to surprise when Tarrins wings splintered into uncountable numbers of whip-like tendrils that flared out behind him like a giant fan, promising swift and lethal retaliation if she tried to teleport out of his path and appear anywhere near him, forcing her to either meet his charge or flee.
	She met his charge, much to his surprise.  Her runed two handed sword locked with his burning weapon confidently, and three swords and an axe also clashed with that fiery blade as ShazBaket stood against his high-velocity assault, her snake body sliding across the muddy ground as four weapons pushed against one.  Tarrins helmeted head pressed down, until the dragon-snout protrusion over his head was over the Demoness bangs, as his entire visor glowed from within with the green aura of his fury and glared down upon her with vengeful spite.  That face vanished instantly, however, when the numerous whips that had once been Tarrins wings lashed forth from behind him, trying to carve her into tiny pieces, coming at her with so many different weapons that she had absolutely no way to defend herself.
	He stumbled forward when her opposing force vanished, as she teleported away, and his wings reformed into their normal state even as he turned towards the sound of her voice.  Veshak! she shouted, thrusting one of her arms at him.  The ornate steel cuff on her wrist suddenly glowed with bright white light, and a jagged bolt of lightning lashed out at him.  Tarrin thrust his sword out flat first and braced the blade against his other paw just as the lightning reached him.  It struck the fire of his blade and magic attacked magic, as the fire of the sword, the magic of his divine nature, turned that magical spell aside, causing the bolt to split into two and arc to either side of him.
	Voshen sumdachera krethandi! Tarrin retaliated, making a single gesture with his free paw, then causing a handful of sparkling dust to appear in his paw by summoning it from the elsewhere.  He threw that dust into the air, and it glittered in the light of the sun as it started peeking through breaks in the clouds.  One of those sunbeams illuminated Tarrin for a moment, just as the dust was released, creating a dancing whirlwind of sparkling magic to surround his armored body.  The whirlwind became a sphere, whose boundaries were visible for the briefest of moments before winking out, a sphere that completely covered Tarrins armored form.
	If you want to fight, bitch, lets fight, he growled in a cold, ominously calm tone, raising his burning sword and pointing its tip at her.
	ShazBaket gave him an eerie, malicious smile.  Oh, no, Were-cat, I wont fall into that trap.  I know fully well you can use your divine power inside that shell.
	Thats too bad, because now the only way to kill me is to come inside.  Come in and play, bitch, Tarrin hissed, taking his sword in both paws and holding it low before him, snapping out his wings in an instinctive need to display threat.
	He charged forward with a mindless scream of utter hate before she could decide, and slammed into the Demoness with his sword already slashing.  ShazBaket parried a savage series of brutally powerful chops, as the Were-cat hacked wildly at his foe, his form losing its usual fighting edge as he seemed to fighting to keep in control of himself.  He left himself open with every blow, but the raw power behind them pushed the Demoness out of position and prevented her from retaliating.  The weapons that intercepted his sword were slammed back, jarred aside, as she strove to match the inhuman strength the Were-cat was unleashing into every blow, using both paws on his sword to swing as hard as he possibly could.  She caught his sword as he delivered a vicous overhanded chop between a sword and axe and pinioned it to the side, then tried to stab him in the exposed flank.  Her serrated sword bounced off his armor, but the axe she slammed into his lower back managed to drive through, cleaving a rend in the back of his armor.  The half-moon blade that pulled away threw an arcing trail of blood along its path.  The Were-cat did not even flinch, totally ignoring the injury she had inflicted as he used his size and strength to push her off his weapon, throwing her to the side, and she had to slither low and almost dive aside as he tried to chop her humanoid torso right off her snake body.  He put so much into it that he spun around with the weapon, and she lunged in as she saw his exposed back, only pausing to ensure that he wasnt going to try to strike at her with his wings.  But when he finished coming around, she realized too late that that glint she saw in the sunlight was the shinguard of his armor, and that his armor-shod foot was whistling through the air and screaming right towards her head.  She slithered backwards just as it almost ripped her jaw off, then parried aside the flaming sword as it came around after his foot.  She lunged forward and began a complicated series of slashes and thrusts with her four one-handed weapons, forcing the Were-cat into a defensive posture, then knocked his sword high with her two-handed weapon and again buried her axe in his side, again drawing blood as it pulled free of the rend in his armor, but a dozen angry spikes of solid fire erupted from the inner slope of his wing as she pulled back her axe.  She managed to slide aside of most of them, but one of them managed to impale itself through the upper slope of her breasta flesh wound, minor, but having him impale her in a sensitive area like that made it sting like all fury.  Those spikes became whips, and they suddenly flailed at her like an angry displacer beast.  She used her weapons and her mobility coolly and efficiently, presenting edges to those whips to cut them as they tried to lash at her, but her weapons could not shear through the solid fire.  The edges did seem to draw blood in some way, for the Were-cat hissed and retracted those whips quickly after they had met her blades.  He tried to take her head off with a wide slash, but she ducked under it, then ducked again when he tried with a backswing, but she ducked right into his foot.  It slammed into her cheek and snapped her head aside, but she had the presence of mind to hook that foot with the blade of her axe and yank, dragging him off his feet, then sweep up and over him.  She quickly reversed her two handed sword and tried to impale him, pin him to the ground, but the Were-cats long and flexible leg whipped up and struck her in the wrists, preventing her from delivering that blow.  Her three swords slashed several deep furrows in the armor of his legs and hips but did not penetrate, but a sudden lancing pain on her back, just below where the scales of her snake body began, which made her cry out and backpedal furiously, giving the Were-cat enough room to get up.  She caught a flash of blue, and then felt the pain again in her shoulder, then whirled and found herself looking at an exceedingly tiny little female with blue skin and chitinous, multicolored wings, holding what looked like a rapier, but really looked like a sharpened steel knitting needlestained with her black blood.
	About time we got rid of this pain in our butts, Tarrin! the Faerie, Sarraya, said impudently, grinning at the Demoness.  She looked past ShazBaket meaningfully, which made the Demoness reflexively teleport ten spans behind herself and a little to the right.
	A good thing too, for another figure appeared, that of a small gold winged lizard.  It unleashed a blast of some kind of greenish gas right where her head would have been, but then flew through its own attack and landed on the Were-cats shoulder, hissing threatening in her direction.
	The Faerie held up her rapier and waved it in circles, then pointed it at the Demoness.  Lets get er! she said with exuberance, and she streaked forward with an angry buzzing of her wings.
	The Were-cat rushed forward as the gold drake jumped from his shoulder and flew out wide, and the Faerie flew out wide to the opposite side.  The two little ones were nothing but an annoyance, but if they could distract her at the right time, it would give the Were-cat the opportunity to take her head offor seperate her human half from her snake half, so she afforded both of them enough attention to prevent that.  She parried a savage series of heavy blows from the Were-cat, then smacked the Faerie away with an elbow, unable to bring her axe to bear against her at that angle, then took a slash at the agile drake as it tried to get in her face and deliver its breath weapon at point blank range.  She parried another blow, then cried out in surprise when her entire field of vision was covered in fire!  The little drake had breathed fire from a distance and directed it right at her head!  The fire could do her no harm, but it made her lose sight of that dangerous Were-cat for an instantand that would be long enough for him to kill her!
	She teleported again, this time twenty spans to the left, oriented so she would be facing him, and found herself looking eye to eye with a Water Elemental!
	She just barely managed to parry aside two strikes at her with jagged lances of ice that were attached to the creatures amorphous form, then sheared two swords and the two-handed weapon through its liquid body.  The weapons could do no harm, but the magic imbued into them could.  The slashes caused anomolies along the creatures watery skin, jagged furrows that marked the injury those weapons had done to the integrity of its form.  She tried to stab it through with her two-handed sword, but its amorphous body simply split in two and caused the weapon to pass through the void harmlessly.  The Demoness backed away from the Water Elemental as the Were-cat reached her once more, and she found herself furiously working to keep his burning sword and the icy spears of the Elemental away from her, even as she kept her mind on the locations of both the Faerie and the drake.  The Water Elemental was very careful not to get too close to the Were-cat, that telepathic communion they shared allowing him to guide its movements to keep it from crossing into the anti-magic shell and being disrupted.  ShazBakets only area of protection from them both was literally breast to breastplate with the Were-cat, keeping herself completely inside his anti-magic shellso long as she exploited that shell, she was protected from the Elemental.  Tarrin and the Demoness fought face to face for a long moment, inside the sweep of his burning sword and her runed sword, but not inside the reach of her swords and axe, or his arms and legs.  The Were-cat fell back on his old style of parrying with the heavy metal of his forearm greaves, using them as shields against her swords, trying to back up to get both room to use his burning sword and to push her out of his shell and allow the Elemental to attack, but she kept as close to him as possible, used his own shell to protect herself against his Elemental.
	She enacted one of her base magical powers while outside of the anti-magic shell, as the Were-cat backed off quickly to give his Elemental a chance to strike at her, creating a huge cloud of lethal, poisonous gas to form around her body.  The cloud vanished as soon as it touched the anti-magic shell, but it did force the Faerie to retreat with a squeak of surprise, coughing and gagging uncontrollably as she breathed in some of the fumes before managing to get out of it.  To her surprise, though, the drake charged right through it, over the Were-cats head, and right into her face!  She cried out in pain with sharp little teeth and sharp little claws savaged her, drawing black blood, almost ripping out one eye, forcing her to teleport away one more time because she had lost sight of the Were-cat.  She was right over the Faerie, who was on the ground on her hands and knees, coughing and vomiting, and she could not resist this opportunity.  She raised her axe and prepared to cut that annoying bug in half, right between her wings
	but the ground literally swallowed the sprite!  Her form sank into the earth so quickly it made her flinch, and she quickly realized that the Earth Elemental had also reached the battle, for it had pulled the Faerie into the ground to save her from death!  The Water Elemental charged at her again, but this time she had enough separation and the presence of mind to respond.  She enacted another of her base powers, disrupting the matrix of magical energy of the Water Elementals form.
	The attack worked.  It unravelled the magic holding the body together and holding the spirit of the creature in the material plane.  With a wet splash of all the water of its form falling to the soggy earth, the Water Elemental was dispelled, and was taken out of the battle.
	She paid for it.  She howled in pain when a crossbow quarrel buried itself to the vanes in her left shoulder, fired from almost directly above.  She looked up and saw that damned Aeradalla already halfway done reloading her deadly crossbow, a foot on the brace and pulling in a weird jerk that almost made her somersault in the air, and before she was righted she already had the next quarrel down in the crossbow.
	ShazBaket turned her heard curiously, and Tarrin himself thought he heard, just on the edges of his consciousness, a voice that dripped with a dark evil so powerful that it made Tarrins soul shiver to listen to it.  Enough.  I have seen all I need to see.  Return.
	ShazBaket immediately vanished, reappearing some thousand spans away, still within his sight but too far away to get to her before she could vanish once again.  Consider yourself lucky, Were-cat, she sneered through her telepathic gift, one of her hands on her injured shoulder.  My Master calls to me, and I obey.  Had I been allowed to finish our fight, youd be laying dead on the ground.
	Paint your picture however it makes you happiest to avoid the truth, witch, he countered.  The simple fact is, if I get my paws on you Ill rip you in half, and you know it.  Even without my divine power, you are no match for me, and you know it.  You just dont want to fight me, because you know youll lose.  Run away, little girl, run back to your master and tell him how miserably you failed.
	Oh, I havent failed, she purred in his mind.  In fact, I have succeeded in my mission, succeeded more than you will ever know.  The Dura mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, and we both know it.  I was here for an entirely different reason, Were-cat, and I have performed my task.  Well see one another one more time, Tarrin Kael.  Know that that will be the last day that you see.
	And then she vanished once more, and Tarrin sensed that she was far and away from him.
	She had fled.
	Tarrin lowered his sword, causing the helmet to pull back and vanish, freeing his ears and his braid.  His eyes still glowed green, but that glow faded awayand he smiled.
	Of course.  She was here to assess his condition, to force him to use his divine power.  That was what this entire battle was about.  She had brought a vastly superior army, had brought Demons, then had deployed them and used them specifically to try to make Tarrin use his power.  Everything, even that little personal confrontation at the end, it was all just to make him reveal his powerand it had failed.  Faced with one of his most hated foes, one that could incite rage in him just with her presence, he had not resorted to his divine power and blasted her to the moon with it. He had tried to fight her weapon to weaponand he would bet his braid that they had assumed that since he hadnt used that power, that meant that he couldnt.  Tarrin was never one to hold back when he was angry.  He was infamous for his displays of destructive force when in a fury.
	Tarrin smiled, because he had managed to get through this without showing that power.  ShazBaket was right, this battle hadnt been about the Durabut they had still won.  Tarrin could have annihilated the entire army at any time using his divine power, but he did not.  He held back, let the Dura fight this battle, let them see the Demons and fight them and know that they could win, and that confidence would serve them well in future conflicts.
	Ariana landed lightly beside him.  Is your Elemental
	Shes fine, he said as the Earth Elemental rose from the ground, cradling Sarraya in its clublike hands.  She was still coughing, and her complexion looked a little peakid, but she gave him a weak smile.  She cant be hurt in this world in any way. The Demoness just dispelled her and sent her back to her home.  Sarraya gave him a thumb up, then she flopped back down into the Elementals hand.  Fireflash landed on his shoulder and looked down at the Faerie, then nuzzled Tarrins neck and cheek affectionately.  Tarrin banished his anti-magic shell with but a thought, ending it, then chanted a soft spell, a Priest spell, and felt that strange surge and wild rush flow through him as power was called from the immortal soul within and channelled into the physical world.  The spell was a simple one, one any acolyte was taught, a spell that purged venoms and toxins from the system of the recipient.  His finger began to glow with a soft, gentle light, and he touched it to Sarrayas stomach lightly.  Her peakid complexion faded almost immediately, and she took a deep, cleansing breath.  Your arrival was timely.
	I saw what was going on.  I was just waiting for a clean shot, she said with a smile, shouldering her crossbow.
	Tarrin looked towards the valley, where the battle still raged between the Dura and the forces of the One, who sought to try to salvage this disaster and use their superior numbers to win.  I guess wed better go clean that up, Tarrin grunted.
	You like my sword, Tarrin? Sarraya asked, recovering from her poisoning completely.  She stood up in the Elementals hand and showed it to him.  A Dwarf made it for me!  Isnt it nice?
	You enjoyed stabbing her in the butt, didnt you? Tarrin asked her, which made Sarraya howl with  laughter.
	You bet I did! she agreed.
	Ariana, take Sarraya back to the Iron Mountain.  She needs to rest a little while, and then shell be fine.  Fireflash, go with her.  You did what you needed to do, little one.  Im proud of you, but Id like you to get somewhere safe now.  You can return home, my friend, he told the Earth Elemental.  I wont need your service anymore, but if youd like to stay, youre more than welcome to do so.
	It told him quite austerely that it would be happy to remain.
	Alright then, he said, causing his armor to again become liquid, moldable.  It retreated away from him like water, flowing back down to his wrists, until they were again the black metal bracers everyone was used to seeing.  Lets go finish this.
	Fireflash jumped from his shoulder as the Were-cat launched into the air, his body dissolving into flame.  That flame grew, expanded, twisted and stretched until it was in the shape of a massive, mighty dragon. The flames flared brightly for a moment, and then blew away, leaving behind flesh and blood and bone.  The ominous, red-eyed, night-scaled shadow dragon became visible behind that evaporating flame, all of its wounds gone, whole and well as its powerful wings thrust it through the air.  It gave out that keening, high-pitched cry, a cry that generated fear in those who heard it as it soared low to the ground, wings blasting powerful gusts of air as they carried it towards the raging battle being fought in the mouth of the valley between the forces of the One and the forces of the Dura.
	That battle that would end in just a few moments, just as soon as he got there and eradicated the reserves, killed any human that wasnt so close to the front lines that he couldnt risk using his deadly strength-draining breath weapon.
	This battle was over, and the Dura had won.
	This battle was over, and Tarrin had won.

Chapter 16

	The Dura celebrated their victory well into the night.  The drinking and laughing and dancing and music emanted from every nook and cranny of the Iron Mountain, shaking it to its roots with the unbridled celebration.  Dwarves fought hard, worked hard, and those who were visiting their mountain fortress discovered that they played just as hard.  The victory party swept just about everyone up into it, and the raucous celebration extended well into the night.
	Of course, everyone celebrated in their own way.  Phandebrass spent that celebration studying Dwarves at play, and almost got himself brained by asking so many questions.  Sarraya spent it with an absolute orgy of pranking, taking advantage of inebriated Dwarves to vent her need to be obnoxious after days of having to be quite serious.  Ulger and Kang spent that celebration quietly sitting at Azakars bedside, who had been healed by Miranda, and was now sleeping to recover his strength.  Dolanna too spent her celebration quietly watching over Haley, who slept off his own healing.
	Tarrin spent that celebration sleeping.
	After checking in on Azakar and Haley, Tarrin extricated himself from the Dwarves, having particular trouble getting away from Darax, and retreated to his rooms, where he ensured Mist that he was well, greeted the children, then went straight to his room and went to sleep.  And he would not wake up.  Miranda was summoned after Mist and Kimmie tried to wake him but failed, but the Wikuni simply patted them on the shoulders and told them that it was nothing serious.  He had just expended a tremendous amount of energy, and hadnt slept for two days, and he simply needed to rest.
	The celebration extended into the next morning, and then slowly began to wind downmainly because a majority of the Dwarves had drank themselves into unconsciousness.  That heralded a quiet period in the mountain, as the Dwarves slept off their excesses, then a slow return to normalcy as the Dura picked themselves up off the floors and started cleaning up.  
	Camara Tal came to Tarrins rooms at sunset the day after the battle and found an odd sight, at least to her.  Kimmie was sitting at a table reading one of her spellbooks, sipping from a mug that Mist had filled from a teapotand just seeing two people in Tarrins room was odd, for it was usually all but a crossroads of comings and goings of Tarrins friends and family.  Camara Tal had never looked in on Tarrins rooms and only seen just Mist and Kimmie.  Mist, Camara Tal called.  Where is everyone?
	She pointed to the door to their bedroom wordlessly.  Curious, Camara Tal brushed her long black hair from her face, stepped around the table and to the door, then opened it.
	Inside, she found a sight that only someone who was close to the Were-cats wouldnt find strange.  Tarrin was asleep, laying on his side and stretched out on a bed that had obviously been magically stretched for him and Mist.  Zyri and Jal were laying on the bed with him. Jal awake down by Tarrins feet, gently yet carefully playing with the shaggy fetlock on Tarrins ankle, while Zyri slept underneath the Were-cats massive paw, draped protectively over the young girl who was using his other arm as a pillow, the paw of which dangled over the bed.  Tarrins wings were still out, and one was laying over his side like a blanket.  Forge and Ember were curled up with each other and sleeping on the floor immediately under Tarrins arm, and Fireflash dozed atop the wing draped over Tarrins side.
	Camara smiled in spite of herself.  When he was asleep, when he allowed his features to soften, Tarrin Kael was one strikingly handsome fellow, Were-cat or not.  When he was asleep, he looked very much like what he was, a young man who had so many burdens placed upon him that sleep was his only refuge from his worries.  When he was asleep, he didnt look anything like what most people imagined him to be, for he looked quite gentle, and cute in an obnoxious, fuzzy, cat-like kind of way.
	Well, I see the kids are taking advantage, she chuckled.  Jal looked up at her, and he blushed a little before waving.  Has he woke up at all?
	Mist came up beside her, shaking her head.  I think the battle really wore him out.
	I hope you didnt mind staying behind to babysit, the Amazon said.
	Someone needed to stay here, and I didnt mind, she assured her.  I was here to protect our cubs.  Neither of us wanted them left alone.
	Our cubs? Camara asked, then she laughed quietly, so as not to wake Tarrin.  I hope you can tolerate having two humans running around, Mist.
	Theyre growing on me, Camara, Mist admitted.  They need someone in their lives right now, and I wont mind being one of the things they need.  Ill have to learn how humans bring up cubs, though.  I wont raise them in our culture and then set them loose in the human world.  Its not seemly.
	Im sure Tarrin knows all about that.
	Im counting on that, she agreed.  Sometimes I forget he wasnt born Were.
	I think we all do.  Theyre going to love Tarrins house, she chuckled.
	Im worried more about how well they get along with the other parts of the family.  I still havent quite figured out how were going to introduce them to Sapphire.
	Camara Tal put her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound of her laughter.  Nemes breastplate, I forgot about that.  Well, Im sure as long as you go slow, theyll adapt.  After all, they got used to us.
	Children adapt faster than adults, Kimmie noted from the table.  Did you come for your lesson, Camara?
	Yah, but it seems its cancelled today, she grunted, looking at Tarrin.  Hes in no condition to learn right now.
	What have you been teaching him?
	Priest magic, she answered.  All of it, including those spells he cant cast.  He specifically asked for those.
	Why does he want to learn it?  Has he told you?
	Hes told me what he wanted me to hear, yeah, she grunted.  He said its so he can recognize anything that this One might cast and have an edge.  I think he has another reason, though.
	What?
	Im not sure yet, she answered.
	Hes been studying every spell in his spellbook too, Kimmie related to them.
	Yah, and that has something to do with what hes learning from me, Camara Tal said with a frown.  Sometimes during our lessons, he starts spouting that gibberish you Wizards use to cast spells.
	Mist snorted.  Hes trying to learn the languages, fool females, she said gratingly.  He told me that a while ago.  Hes trying to understand the languages of those two magicks.
	Is he nuts? Camara Tal exclaimed in a harsh whisper.  No mortal can comprehend the language of the gods!
	And if he thinks he can make any sense out of the language of magic, Im afraid I didnt teach him half as well as I thought I did, Kimmie said with pursed lips.  The language makes absolutely no sense at all.  Wizards have literally driven themselves insane trying to comprehend it.
	Be that as it may, hes still trying, Mist told them.
	Why? both asked.
	He thinks that the closer he is to understanding the languages, the more power and control hell have over the magic.  I didnt really understand his explanation, it was way over my head.  My mate is much smarter than me, she admitted honestly.
	Actually, thats not a bad approach, Kimmie speculated after a moment of thought.  In a way, hes right.  If you can understand the langauge of magic, maybe that would give you more definite control of the power.  After all, the words shape the magic.  The more control you have over the words, the more control you have over the magic.
	I dont understand, but then again, Ive never much been interested in it, Mist said.
	Language is a metaphor, Miranda said from behind them.  They turned to look at her as she stepped into Tarrin and Mists apartment.  Its a metaphor for the way one thinks.  In a way, its a metaphor for who a people are.  The language of the gods, and the language of magic, theyre just metaphors for what the magic is, and who the gods are.  Understand the metaphor, and you understand the meaning behind it.
	But what difference does that make? Mist asked.
	Knowledge is power, my friend, Miranda told her.  Probably the greatest power that we puny mortals could ever wield.
	Metaphor.  I hear that word over and over.  Tarrin once told me that his wings were just a metaphor.  That, in a way, they didnt really exist.
	They are.  Theyre an expression of something beyond this world trapped within the confines of th