f it.  His wings thrashed, tried to strike at the shadow, until he realized that the weapon was not of enough divine power to do the icon true harm.  He calmed down, focused himself, gathered his divine power through his icon and prepared to destroy the shadow.
	The Demon Lord looked back for an instant, and that instant was all Tarrin needed.  He charged forward with his sword held lightly in his paw, then took it up in both paws as he neared his monstrous foe.  The Demon Lord looked back to him, then raised his bone-bladed arms and prepared to meet Tarrins charge weapon to weapon.  Just as the Demon Lord lunged, stabbing at him with both of its bladed arms, Tarrin vaulted into the air, higher, and higher, almost as if he were flying.  He ascended over the Demon Lords chest, over his shoulders, until he was over its ugly head, looking down at him with his eyes blazing with the power of his sword, even as the Demon Lord continued lunging forward, carried by his own momentum.
	With the lightest of touches, Tarrins foot came down on the back of the Demon Lords neck.  The touch of it made his flesh creep, as he came into contact with pure, unadulterated evil.  But that touch was only fleeting, as the Were-cat used the titanic body of the Demon Lord as nothing more than a stepping stone.  He pushed off from the Demon Lord, his braid and tail whipping behind him in the wind as he hurtled towards the One, who had been distracted by his shadow for that one brief moment that Tarrin had needed.
	The One looked back at the last instant, as Tarrin streaked down towards him with his sword pulsating with a hungry light.  His eyes widened, and he brought up his shield, far faster than Tarrin expected.  The sword struck the shield with a resounding CLANG, and a blinding flash of light erupted from that contact, as the power of the sword attacked the power of the One directly, a battle of powers that Tarrin could almost sense, the power of one god in direct conflict with another, but contained within the restraints of two mortal objects.
	The power of the contact knocked Tarrin backwards.  He slid across the ground on a foot and one knee, sparks flying around his sword and his right arm.  The One was knocked back as well, sliding back to his sword, which he reached down and picked up quickly, even as Tarrins shadow charged on silent, dark steps towards the Ones back.  The Demon Lord turned and raced back towards them, his blades glistening in the light emanating from Tarrins sword and the Ones shield.
	So, thats the way the Demon Lord was going to play it.  His intention was completely clear.  That was fine by Tarrin.
	The Demon Lord bore down on Tarrin as the One turned to face the shadow, trading targets by some unspoken communication.  That was wise, given the shadows ability to inflict pain on the Demon Lord, and siphon away his energy to make itself stronger.  Tarrin turned the blade of his sword down even as he rose back on his feet, then drove it into the stone before him, sinking half the blade into the rock.  The blade flashed with fire, and then the hilt began to glow with warm, soft white light.  Tarrin spoke a single word of Arcane magic, and his staff, which rested with the pack a distance away from them, appeared in his paw.  He took it into the center grip, set his feet, and met the charge of the Demon Lord squarely.
	Bone blades whistled through the air, striking with immense force, but they found in the ordinary-looking staff an obstacle through which they could not slice.  He turned aside both lightning-fast thrusts of those bladed spurs, then lunged directly forward and within the reach of the arms that grew from the Demon Lords chest, arms ending with hands that had wickedly long claws on the fingertips.  Those hands reached out from him, but he slid between them with the ease of a water skimmer sliding across the surface of a pond, then spun away from a strong downward stab from one of those bone blades.  The Demon Lord bulled forwards, looking to smother under his much smaller advesary.
	Mingen Doritae! Tarrin shouted.  The tip of his staff began to glow with a bluish light, and when he struck that glowing tip against the stone, it caused a shockwave of seismic force.  The Demon Lord staggered backwards as the One vaulted into the air to avoid it, but his attempt to get into the air was met with another squeal of pain as the shadow simply manifested itself above the icons feathered wings, dropped onto his back, and pierced the tip of the blade into the back of the Ones head.  It again did no lasting damage, about as much damage as a mundane weapon could do to Tarrin, but there was no doubt that it had enough of a magical effect to cause considerable pain.  Botthra Kotha Jhezeth! Tarrin called, causing a pinpoint of light to form over his free paw, which suddenly expanded into a ball of blue fire.  He hurled that ball of fire directly at the Demon Lord, who himself chanted in the language of Arcane magic, the words of the spell that counteracted magic.
	Vosha Kemuninae Gara he began, and his staff began to pulse with a crackle of electrical energy. Vordatathrasza Wokka Jekadi!  He thrust the end of the staff at the Demon Lord, whose counterspell had destroyed his ball of Icefire, and a raging blast of lightning issued forth from the end of the staff.
	Vishu! the Demon Lord snapped, holding out the two hands growing from his chest, forming a brilliant, scillinting shield of magical light.  The lightning struck the scillinting shield and was absorbed into it, causing a storm of arcing lightning to dance across its surface before dissipating.  The Demon Lords eyes went to Tarrin, and then to his sword, driven into the stone just behind the Were-cat, and back to him.  There was no doubt that the Demon Lord was now considering how to claim that prize for himselfall he had to do was get past the Were-cat to get it.  And the Were-cat had correctly deduced that the best way to do battle with the Demon Lord was through magic, not weapons.  He was a Demon Lord, but he was still vulnerable to the power of Wizard magic, as were all creatures, great and small.  The Demon Lord had a strong resistance to the effect of the magic, but that resistance only went so far when the spells were being cast by one such as Tarrin, one with a powerful affinity for magic and its use.  Tarrins advantage nullified the Demon Lords defense, causing them to stand on even ground, and forcing the Demon Lord to use magic to protect himself from Tarrins spells.
	Tarrin chanted loudly and precisely in the language of Arcane magic, intoning the spell that would allow him to cast the next spell without using a material component.  That done, he dropped his staff and began chanting once again, this time making several gestures with both paws.  The Demon Lords eyes widened when he heard the words, when he realized what spell that the Were-cat was going to cast, which caused him to charge forward to stop the Were-cat from completing that spell.  They were the words from the Meteor Strike spell, a spell that could wreak devastation down on the battlefield, a spell so powerful that even the Demon Lord and the One would be subject to its might.
	Tarrin continued his chanting surely and without hesitation, even as he watched the Demon Lord charge at him, staring down Death Himself in the face.  The bone blades flashed in the ruddy light, getting closer and closer, but the sight of them did not break Tarrins concentration.  The Demon Lord fixed Tarrin with a hideous grin when he counted the steps even in mid run and realized he would reach the Were-cat before the spell was completed, he would interrupt the spell and prevent its use.
	And yet the Were-cat stubbornly continued to cast it.
	Just before the blades reached him, Tarrin broke the spell and shouted a single word, an arcane word of such power that the word itself was the spell.  It was a Power Word, the word of blind, and Tarrin shouted it at the top of his lungs.  All those who heard the uttering of the Power Word were struck by it and affected by its might.  The Demon Lord staggered in his run as the spell struck him and caused nothing but darkness to cover his eyes, and the One too staggered backwards with his shield arm over his face, trying to use his divine power to clear the effect of the spell, and then reverting to chanting in the language of the gods to cast a spell that cured the effects of blindness and blinding spells.  Tarrin stepped aside easily as the Demon Lord ambled past, his tail hooking his staff, flipping it up into his paw, and then he reared back and smashed the staff into the Demon Lords ankle.  The leg shuddered and hooked into the other leg, and the Demon Lord, with a howl of surprise, slammed into the stone and skidded several spans on his side.
	Tarrin quickly chanted the spell that allowed him to cast the next spell without a material component, before the Demon Lord and the One cleared the effects of the Power Word.  He made a single motion to his shadow, who then disengaged and rushed past him, then started running down the side of the volcano, quickly becoming hard to see in the growing haze and ruddy red light that infused the air.  It raced out of sight, and in moments, the Demon Lord was beyond the shadows ability to block its power.
	Foolish move, the Demon Lord taunted.  Now you are mine.
	No, now my shadow gets to eat your army, one Demon at a time, Tarrin retorted as the monstrous Demon Lord regained his hoofed feet.  They cant sense him, and theyll never see him coming.  One by one, your army will fall, until hes eaten all of them.
	I have already warned them of your shadow.
	Warned? Tarrin said, then he laughed scornfully as the One turned to face him, clearing himself of Tarrins spell.  Care to do a headcount, Demon?  Youve already lost a few.  He spread his feet and raised his staff in the center grip.  As long as I hold you here, he will chew your army up, until hes killed enough to make you being here pointless.  After all, after you recover from destroying the One, you wont have enough Demons left to finish taking over this world, will you?
	You will not last long enough for it to matter.
	Even if you kill me, you cant stop my shadow.  It knows which Demons to avoid until its strong enough to kill them, and you cant protect all of them forever.  It will remain here, slowly eating away your army, until theres nothing left.  You may destroy me, kill the One, and destroy all life on this world, but my shadow will make sure that you will never own this world.  Every Demon it consumes makes it stronger, and after its killed enough, it will be strong enough to destroy even you.  In the end, you will have accomplished nothing but your own humbling return to the Abyss with only the souls of the mortals of this world.  The true prize, the power of this plane, will be denied to you.  Ive already made sure of it.  So go ahead, strike me down, he said, throwing his staff down spitefully.  You have already lost.  All thats left for you now is venting your rage.
	You fail to see the second option, he almost purred.  I send enough Demons back to the Abyss to deny your shadow the chance to get that strong, and then I hunt it down and destroy it.  Then I simply summon my army back.
	And you lose time.  And times an issue, isnt it? he asked, carefully gauging the distance to the One, who was now listening to this exchange with rapt attention.  And if Im dead, the One has no reason to keep you here, does he?  It would look a little odd to him if you refused to return to the Abyss after Im gone.
	The Demon Lords eyes narrowed suspiciously.
	Tarrin gestured, and his sword simply appeared in his paw.  After all, the only reason youre here is to protect the One from me, and from my power.  Without the threat of me, he has no reason to keep you here.  Your entire plan for this world hinges on the threat I pose to the One.  Everything that keeps you here is right here in my paw, he said, holding his sword out for them to see.  Without this, you have no reason to be here.
	Tarrin took the swords blade in his left paw, and fixed the Demon Lord with a cold, brutal stare.  Alright then, Demon, start explaining.
	Tarrin took the blade in a firm grip, raised the sword to a level with his chest, and then struck it over his knee.
	The sweet chiming tang echoed across the volcanos plateau, as two sets of eyes stared in muted shock as Tarrin took his precious sword, containing all of his power that was his as a god, and broke it.
	The blackened blade chimed like a bell as it snapped in two, and both pieces of it flared with sudden intense light, brighter than the sun, light that attracted every eye for longspans in every direction, light that lingered for a long, mute moment, as even the sound of the wind died away and left nothing but a bright, warm light that cast its brilliance over the combatants, the Demons, and the ruins that had once been Pyros.  That light then began to wane, and then slowly faded away to darkness.  There was no great explosion of force, no earthquake, no titanic release of endless power.  There was only light, and that light waned like the setting of the sun, until there was nothing left.
	The two pieces of Tarrins sword were dark and dull and no longer had any sense of the power that they had contained.
	He cast them aside absently, and stood there, naked as the day he was born, defiantly glaring into the eyes of the Demon Lord.  The two pieces of Tarrins sword, the hilt and base of the blade, and the remainder of the blade, clattered across the rock of the volcano and then came to a halt, now nothing more than pieces of metal.  The power that it contained was gone, faded away to nothing with the light that had illuminated the ruins of Pyros.
	Alright, Demon.  Start talking, and youd better talk very fast.
	NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the Demon Lord raged in absolute fury, his eyes blasting forth with an unholy blaze of red light, light that wisped from his eye sockets as he understood what the Were-cat had done.  With one act, with the breaking of that sword, he had forced the Demon Lords hand, and who could not now complete his plan to his satisfaction.  If he sent his Demons away to protect them from Tarrins shadow, he wouldnt have the force on hand to defeat the One, and would have no viable reason to bring them back.  If he attacked the One here and now, he would lose many of those Demons, and that shadow would still be out there to whittle away what force remained.  Either way, the utter certainty of his conquest of this world was no longer guaranteed.  He might still win whichever way he tried to play it, but now the outcome was not a given.
	The Demon Lord knew at that moment that Tarrin Kael may die here and now, but it no longer mattered in the grand scheme of things.
	He had won.
	Damn you, half-breed!  I will rip the soul from your body and torment it for all eternity! his thought thundered across the ruins, a pale shadow of the true fury and outrage that burned in the Demon Lords being.  He summoned his power, all of it, his hatred and fury fueling his desire to annihilate the Were-cat so thoroughly that nothing would remain.  Tarrin put a single foot behind himself, as if to brace himself, and crouched down, his eyes narrow and his tail twitching as he watched the aura of power surround the Demon Lord.  The hate was a tangible thing surrounding the hideous beast before him, pure hatred, pure malevolence, and it was all focused on him.  It raised those bone-bladed arms, preparing to unleash its final blow as its power focused and prepared, and Tarrin quickly called out but four words in the language of Arcane magic.
	Kormarathan orichamalsi bete sinthoriacaritoridae!
	A blast of power raged from the Demon Lord, more power than Tarrin or the One combined could unleash, even if both were completely whole, an unimaginable release of pure power, Demonic in nature, but no less potent than that which could be unleashed by a god.  It was as much power as the mortal world could bear without tearing the very fabric of reality, and its passage through the space between them caused that fabric to warp, to threaten to tear.  It rampaged in a direct line towards the naked and exposed Were-cat, who had nothing to protect himself against that unimaginable attack.
	The Were-cat made a single gesture with his left paw, then knelt and presented his forearm to that unadulterated blast.  The air before him shimmered, wavered, then that wavering took on color and form, becoming silvery in appearance, and then bright, and then it was nothing but a reflection of what was before it.
	It was the Ones shield.
	Though Tarrin and that shield could never withstand that kind of power, the Ones shield had its own special ability, and that was the ability to reflect magic and power.  The One had used it against him, and now he would use it against them.
	Within the raging torrent of the Demon Lords power, Tarrin knelt behind the shield, braced by the ground, teeth gritted and tail sticking straight out as he struggled to hold the shield the way he was supposed to, the words of Azakar drifting through his mind.
	Shield use is a game of angles, Tarrin.  If you present a good angle to the attack, it glances off your shield and overextends your opponent, which lets you strike back before he can recover.  A bad angle will push you out of position and give your opponent a free shot at you..
	Tarrin kept his body rigid, presenting that good angle towards the attack of the Demon Lord, which sent it right back at him.
	The Demon Lord didnt understand what had happened at first, because it couldnt see because of its own attack.  It only knew that Tarrin had not been vaporized by his attack, because he could still sense him.
His eyes widened when he saw what was coming, when he realized that somehow, some way, the Were-cat had somehow turned that attack back on him, but it came so fast that he had no time to react.
	The Demon Lords form vanished within an avalanche of power, a portion of his own attack sent back at him.  There was an audible roar, a roar of pain, and then the Demon Lord was picked up off his hooves and sent catapulting through the air, soaring out over the steep side of the volcano, somersaulting through the air limply as he tumbled towards the hellish landscape hundreds of spans below.
	He had been right.  Tarrin could not hurt the Demon Lord, not with the power he possessedbut the Demon Lord could hurt himself.
	Far below, the Demon Lord landed with a thundering crash into the rock-choked ruins of Pyros.  He tumbled limply as he continued down the gentle slope at the base of the volcano, shattering half-buried buildings in his rolling crash, until he came to a stop up against the remains of a large warehouse.  His eyes were closed, and he did not move.  He was not dead, but being subjected to his own attack had done serious damage to him.
	The One stood there, eyes goggled, mouth agape, staring in mute shock at the shield that was now in his opponents grasp, a shield that, so long as he held it, insured that the One would not try a similar attack.  HHHow? he stammered weakly.  He was so surprised that he didnt even think to attack when the Were-cat threw aside the shield and squared off against him with nothing but his bare paws.
	Magic, he said as his eyes slowly drained of color, and the wispy nimbus of Magelight surrounded his paws.  Tarrin no longer had the sword, no longer had that link back to Sennadarbut he no longer needed them.
	The power to reach back into Sennadar had never been a part of the sword in the first place, it had been his all along, because of what he was.  The sword merely served as a focus, as an amplifier that allowed him to use that ability more clearly.  But now that he understood, now that he knew the truth, he no longer needed its help to do something that he had been born to do.
	YYou would still fight? the One asked incredulously.  I see the truth of the Demon now, outworlder.  You have shown me my error in calling him here.  I am no longer your enemy.  We should unite and destroy him together.
	There are no second chances, Tarrin said as his entire body slowly limned over with Magelight, as Tarrin reached back, reached through to the Weave, and called to its power.  And I was never one to be merciful.  I came here to kill you, and thats exactly what Im going to do. The Demon Lord was nothing but an obstacle in my path.  You are and always were my primary objective.  Ill deal with him after I destroy you.
	The One gasped, staring at him, then the eyes behind that visor hardened.  He made a gesture towards Tarrin, and his shield floated up off the ground and rushed towards him.  Very well, fool, he spat.  I was willing to join you against him, but if you wish to die here by my hand, so be it.  Without your sword you are nothing but a mortal trickster.
	Youre right, Im mortal, Tarrin said as his entire body shimmered with power, so much power that even the One took notice.  The Magelight around him coalesced even as it pulled him off the ground, shimmering into the concave star which marked a suikun at the height of his power.  United in a common interest with the Goddess, he was now her direct instrument, and the power of Sorcery poured into him across the dimensions, faster than it ever had when he had the sword, with utter clarity and motion, because he finally understood.  But Im also something else, One.  Something you should fear.
	I fear no mortal! he screamed, raising his sword.
	I am a MiShara, Tarrin hissed.  Now find out what that means for yourself!
	The rushing sound of huge wings preceded a blast of wind, just as a monstrous gold dragon soared into view as it flew around the cone of the volcano, flying into view.  Fireflash, NOW! Tarrin screamed, and the drake-turned-dragon roared a mighty cry of understanding, and flew directly over the plateau.  Tarrin reached up with both paws and unleashed a portion of his power straight up, aiming at the dragon itself.  The One did not understand what he was doing, because he had no experierence with the magic that Tarrin was using.
	That outreach of power rose up, climbed into the sky, aimed directly at the dragon.  But the dragon was not its target.  It pierced the monstrous animal through the head, but did no harm, passing through its body to make contact with its intended target.
	Dolanna.
	The power struck her, and like a nail struck into a board by a hammer, it instantly stopped her in the air, capturing her within its light.  The straps holding her to Fireflash snapped like threads, and the enlarged drake dove to keep clear of her, to make sure his spines and tail did not strike her as he continued on.
	The power struck Dolanna, it ensnared her, and in a moment of clarity, a moment of unity, it joined her to him within the confines of a Circle.
	Tarrins power joined with Dolannas, merged with it, even as her mind was touched by him, and his was touched in return.  The Cat did not object to this intimate union with a mind not of its own type, accepting the connection to the petite Sharadi completely and without reservation, because it had been specifically conditioned by means of the divine power Tarrin had once possessed to make this exception, and only this exception, forcing the Cat to submit to the will of the Human and accept the touch of his oldest and one of his dearest friends, whose mind was human but whose blood sang the song of the Cat, making her seem just familiar enough for the Cat to accept her.
	The earth literally shook as the influx of power that Tarrin had been drawing suddenly increased by an exponential degree.  Tarrin and Dolanna were now more powerful than both of them combined, forming a whole greater than the sum of its parts, as Dolannas power and her mind amplified the already impressive powers of the Were-cat to staggering degrees.  When Tarrin was Circled with his daughters, he sometimes felt that there was nothing that they could not accomplish.  That feeling was no less when he was joined to his human friend.  Tarrin felt Dolannas mind take up a connection to him, and thoughts passed as easily between them as either of them could breathe.  In an instant, everything within Tarrins mind was open to her, and she looked into them and understood what was about to happen, and what role she would play within it.
	With the Demon Lord temporarily knocked out of the fight, Tarrin seized this chance to finish it.
	The One gaped at the unified power before him, feeling it in the core of his beingand fearing it.
	It is OVER, One! both Tarrin and Dolanna shouted in voices amplified by their power to such a degree that the very air vibrated with the power of it, their minds joined into one entity that spoke with two voices.  Both Were-cat and human raised their arms to point their hands and paws at the One, who cried out in terror and raised his shield to fend off the oncoming attack.  Blinding magical power lashed out from them, from both the ground and the air, but those waves of magical power were not aimed at the One.  They went over his head, streaking off into the air.
	This confused the One, lowering his shield as he looked at both of them, who looked at him as if were already dead.  He was about to retaliate with his own power, but then something darkened the ground beneath him.  He turned to look, and then his eyes widened even as he screamed in shock and terror.
	Fireflash, his fangs glowing with magical power, infused with magical might by Tarrin and Dolanna, had circled the mountain, and was now diving at the Ones icon with that maw wide open.  He glanced back, and saw that Tarrin and Dolanna had their hands levelled at him, power building and ready to be released, creating a pinsir attack from both directions.  Even with his shield, the One could not stop them both.
	He had but an instant to act, and he managed to speak a word that would recall him to the altar of his church.  It was a Priest spell, one of the stronger ones, and one that would indeed have workedhad the One not forgotten in his moment of panic that he was standing on the ground where that cathedral had once stood.  The spell triggered and worked exactly as it was designed to work. The Ones form vanished from view, just as the spell was designed.
	And it reappeared not thirty spans to his left, causing him to appear at the point where the foot of his altar had once stood, just as the spell was designed.
	The One looked around quickly to reorient himself, but he looked up just in time to look directly down Fireflashs throat, even as the drakes mouth filled with greenish gas.  He was one of the first people in the history of either Sennadar or Pyrosia to see the tiny flicker of flame appear in the back of the enlarged drakes mouth that ignited the gas, and then the massive flex of muscle in the lungs that compressed the gas sacs with amazing force, creating a blasting wave of pressurized gas to travel up the neck, out of the throat, through the mouth to be ignited by that biochemical flame, and then erupt from the maw as a hellish inferno of concentrated fire.  That fire touched the glowing fangs of the drakes maw, which caused the fire to change color from red to silver, as the power of the spell of the Sorcerers interacted with the fire of the drakes breath weapon to produce a magical attack that could do harm to the Ones icon.
	From the other direction, Tarrins power reached a crescendo, and he unleashed it against the One with everything he had.  The totality of his combined power with Dolanna raged outward, and it was combined with all of Tarrins magical aptitude in Wizardry.  Everything that Tarrin was as a magician, all of his power, every bit of it was focused into a singular expression of utmost potential that far exceeded the boundaries of mortal magic. Tarrin was a MiShara, a being blessed with the capacity, when the need was great enough, to exceed the limitations of his mortal form and utilize magic of such magnitude that usually only a god or other upper being was capable of wielding it.  Tarrin drew on that part of himself, focusing all of his power into a single assault of raw, naked, unrefined magical power, an attack that drew on and used more magic than any mortal was ever meant to wield.  An incandescent bolt of pure magic was unleashed upon the Ones unprotected back, as he stood and looked down the throat of Death Himself.
	The Ones scream managed to overwhelm the blasting WHOOSH of the magically infused fire roaring from Fireflashs maw, but only for the briefest of moments.  The armored, winged body of the One was engulfed in silver flame, vanishing from view behind a hellstorm of mercury-colored fire, his scream drowned out by the thundering roar of the breath weapon.  The incandescent blast of magic unleashed by Tarrin and Dolanna plunged into the silver fire of the breath weapon, assaulting the One from behind, as the two attacks merged into a singular blast of unmitigated power that threatened to unravel the very fabric of reality.   Combined, the three of them managed to unleash a power so great that not even a god could stand against it.
	Fireflashs jaws locked as he expelled the entire contents of his gas sacs onto the Ones icon, turning his head as he passed by to keep it on him, unleashing such hellish fury upon him that the hardened lava beneath the icons feet literally exploded from the intense, overwhelming heat and magical onslaught that infused it.  From the other side, the magical blast from Tarrin and Dolanna maintained its ferocity, becoming a vortex of magical power that caught up the silver fire from Fireflash within it, a vortex that attacked the icon of the One with such power that he could not stop the inevitable.
	Within that spiralling, combined cascading torrent of silver fire and pure magic, the Ones icon shuddered convusively, and then the wings simply melted away.  The form was frozen in place, locked in a posture of agonized shrieking as the fire and magic attacked the stone of the icon, burned it, melted it away, destroyed it.  The form of the Ones icon wavered within that vortex of lethal silver fire and pure magic, then its borders became indistinct even as it began to shrink, getting sm