Ren and Tarl raised their weapons, prepared to fight the approaching monsters, but Shal motioned them back, at the same time uttering four arcane syllables to the Staff of Power. Balls of flame rolled from the end of the staff, and Yarash's creations ignited like so many giant torches. Their miserable existences ended in even more miserable screams, but it was Yarash's scream that would stay forever etched in Shal's memory. Every hair on her body bristled as he shrieked in a combination of rage, horror, and devastation that would have been no more terrible had it come from a mother watching her firstborn put to a slow and painful death.

"Bitch! Bitch, be prepared to die!" the wizard shouted in a voice tainted with panic and frenzy. Magic missiles, spheres of flame, acid-tipped arrows, and lightning bolts burst from Yarash's fingers in rapid succession as he called on all his resources to destroy the intruders. The deformed brush all along the shoreline immediately burst into flames, and a bolt of lightning struck Ren's mare in the chest, killing her on the spot. Cerulean blazed a vivid purple from the profusion of magical energies all around him, but as he remained vulnerable to attack. Shal and Tarl acted at once to dispel what magic they could, while Ren dodged for his life.

As soon as Shal found a spare moment, she leveled the Staff of Power at the huge fish-beast beneath Yarash, then at Yarash himself, and pronounced the arcane words to call forth its full power. Lightning ripped through the air, jagged and blinding. The bloated sea monster exploded as if it were under pressure. Green, acidlike goo sprayed everywhere, and Yarash was blasted into the air. He managed to halt his descent with a hastily summoned spell, but he was still vulnerable to Shal's attack. A bolt of lightning slammed his body back against the pyramid. Electricity crackled all about him as his energies clashed with Shal's, arcing off the metal sides of the pyramid in a violent display of green and purple.

The wizard bellowed in rage and pain and raised his hands skyward to draw new energy from the churning gray clouds above. Shal recognized the gesticulations of a Weather Control spell and fought with all her newfound skills to turn the ferocious winds Yarash was creating back in his direction. Daylight disappeared as tornado fought cyclone for space in the sky and wizard strove against wizard, Shal seemed to thrive on the raw power that surged through her body in the exchange. With Cerulean's mental aid, she fought to maintain the precious concentration needed to hold back the magical winds. At the same time, Shal brandished the Staff of Power once again. Yarash released the winds and leveled his hands toward Shal. With one word, even as Shal spoke the command to activate the staff once more, he let loose a force of energy that ripped the Staff of Power from her hands. In the same instant that the staff's second lightning bolt exploded against Yarash's chest, silhouetting the wizard's bones through his robes and skin in its brilliance, the staff burst like a piece of crystal, sending wood fragments flying in all directions.

"The staff!" Shal shouted, reaching out desperately toward where she had last seen it. Before she could think to try the Wand of Wonder or a magical spell, Yarash vanished, leaving what was left of his tornado to be devoured by Shal's. Within moments, the unnatural winds collided, lost most of their magical force, and drifted off to the north. The quiet that ensued was uncanny. Ren and Tarl still stood nearby, their mouths agape with awe over the display of power they had just witnessed.

Shal remained tense and her muscles taut as spent energy dissipated through her body. Cerulean's color faded rapidly, an inadvertent barometer of the forces dispelling through the air all around them. Time passed unreckoned before Shal finally broke the eerie peace. "He lives yet. He teleported himself to safety."

Shal's words jarred the two men from their stunned silence. Tarl rushed to Shal and wrapped his arms around her. The big woman's muscular body went completely limp, and Tarl could only slow her collapse to the ground.

"I've-I've never seen anything quite like that," Ren said simply. "Will she be okay?" Ren looked to Tarl, and in his eyes he could see the fear that blanketed his friend's face. "Can you help her?"

"I-I don't know." Tarl responded numbly, and he shook his head. "My god, she's powerful!… But even as strong as she is, her body wasn't ready for that kind of expenditure of energy."

He closed his hands around both of hers and uttered a prayer of restoration and rejuvenation. In moments, he could feel a pulse of warmth and renewed strength building in Shal's exhausted body. As with the other times he had healed Shal, he was nearly overwhelmed by the bond that flowed between them. He felt as though he were only a whisper away from sensing all of her emotions, and for the first time, he was certain that she shared the bond. When she opened her eyes and stared directly at him, he knew she did.

"Are you okay?" asked Ren, stooping down beside Shal.

She nodded, and he cuffed her gently on the shoulder. "I don't ever want to be on the other side of a fight with you, woman. I never felt so helpless in all my life. My swords and daggers could've been butter knives for all the good they would've done me against you or Yarash."

Shal sat bolt upright. "We've got to find him! He won't stop making those creatures, those abominations. He's obsessed. It's the generation of those perverse creatures that pollutes the river, and he thrives on their creation. I'm no mind reader, but during the battle, I could feel his presence, his essence. He's crazy-completely chaotic. And his obsession doesn't end with the Stojanow River."

"Can you get us out to the island?" Ren asked. "I know you've probably already used your quota of magic for at least the next week, but-"

"For a month or more, I think," interrupted Shal. "I don't think I can do it."

Tarl reached out and gently helped her to her feet. "Take your time," he said.

Still shaky, Shal slowly walked over and patted Cerulean. "I don't think I'd have come through that without you, big fella. Thanks."

Cerulean stamped one hoof but kept his thoughts to himself until Shal held out the Cloth of Many Pockets.

I'll stay right here, thank you! Cerulean sniffed.

"No, please. I have an idea. I know I don't have the strength to teleport all of us to the island, but I believe I can teleport myself."

"You can't go out there alone!" Ren and Tarl spoke as one.

"Shush." Shal waved her hand at the two. "Cerulean, you have to tell me something. Are you able to go in the cloth because you're magical, or can anybody do it?"

It has nothing to do with me, Mistress, though it does take a certain amount of concentration.

"How's that?"

I could walk right up to that cloth and bump into it. Unless I was planning to go inside, I wouldn't. I have to kind of get myself prepared for it-mentally, I mean. I dislike going in there, so I always pretend I'm going to land so hard in there that I'll rip the pocket, and then I won't have to do it anymore. Do you follow me?

"Yes… and I think it'll work," Shal said aloud.

"What?" the two men exclaimed together.

"I don't have the energy to transport all three of us across the river, but if the two of you can get inside the cloth with Cerulean, I think I can fly myself over."

Cerulean folded his ears down against his head and pawed the ground thoughtfully. Since you put it that way… Tell the two gentlemen to observe me closely. Be sure to explain what I just told you about getting prepared mentally.

Without a sound, Cerulean leaped forward and poured into the cloth, where he immediately proceeded to expound on the virtues of a well-lit environment.