You're welcome, she replied with a laugh. Oh, just a word of warning, kitten. Now you know what's important, so now you know what to protect.

"I know. Not a word. Not even a hint."

That's a good kitten, she affirmed with a light chuckle.

"Mother, can I, can I read the book?" he asked hesitantly.

It's your book, Tarrin, she replied. You know the danger involved with bringing it from the elsewhere. If you are willing to risk that danger, then you can read the book any time you want.

"Should I read it?"

That's your decision, Tarrin. I'm not going to try to woo you either way. It's entirely up to you.

"Well, if you were in my place, what would you do?"

Nice try, she said in a teasing tone. I'm not that shallow, kitten.

Had he been in humanoid form, he would have blushed. "I just want to know if it's the right thing to do."

That's something for you to decide.

And then he felt her withdraw from him. It was obviously something she didn't intend to argue about. Her sudden withdraw felt a little rude, but then again, she was never really that far away. He could feel her in the Weave, feel her presence surrounding him. She was only a heartbeat away from him.

"I take it you just had a good conversation?" Sarraya asked.

"Something like that. I just learned what I'm really doing out here."

"Oh? What?"

"Being a messenger," he grunted, looking around. "We'll talk about it when we're alone."

"We're alone now."

" Alone," he emphasized.

"Oh. Right. Let's carry on, then."

He tried to put that little revelation out of his mind. He had a job to do. He had to take a look at that object up there. He was convinced that it wasn't the Firestaff now, because of the little conversation he had with the Goddess, but the curiosity of the object remained. And it was strong enough for him to continue. He knew that it wasn't what he was seeking, but now his desire to see that object extended from personal curiosity more than a suspicion that he could cut this entire thing short by cheating.

Or maybe he was wrong, and it really was the Firestaff. Either way, the only way to find out was to find the object and take a look at it.

Leaving the fountain behind, he moved on, towards the tier. He still had quite a ways to go, and he wanted to be there and back to where he would start hunting for Ariana by morning.

The idea of stalking and the hunt overwhelmed his desire to think about what the Goddess said in moments, and he was back to skulking about in the shadows, darting from open area to open area in humanoid form, only to shift to cat form to get across those vulnerable areas. He navigated the tier quickly, and a vault up got him to the next tier, which was a border tier. He could see a much higher wall rising up at the end of the tier, meaning he'd have to climb the next one. This tier was exactly like the last, with walled manors separated by paved streets, large enough to make straight streets that would take him right to the wall. It looked to be the same as the others, a quick trot to the wall.

But halfway into an intersection of streets disabused him of that notion. He was padding out in cat form, when something big suddenly impacted him from above. His first instinct was flight, but whatever it was had claws in him, and a maw was biting at the back of his neck. There was no pain involved, but it happened so fast that he reacted like the animal he resembled. He rolled over on his back and shook off the attacker, then scrambled to his feet and arched his back, hissing threateningly at his opponent. The speed and surprise of the attack had made him feel more foolish that afraid. To be taken by surprise like that! He hoped Triana would never find out about this.

It rolled over itself and got to its feet, chirping animatedly. He got a good look at it and caught its scent, and it confused him slightly. It was a Drake! A rather large one, a good span longer than Chopstick or Turnkey, with iridescent green scales, reptillian wings, and a long tail. It sat on its haunches and looked at him curiously, as if it had never seen anything like him before, then its serpentine tongue flicked out of its mouth and it chirped again.

It was playing!

Tarrin lowered his back and sat down himself regarding the curious reptile. Chopstick and Turnkey had started out on his bad side, but he'd warmed up to them. They would even sleep together, in a nice warm little bundle on his bed. This one was a stranger drake, but drakes were animals, so they had broad generalities in their personalities. Drakes were generally intelligent creatures, curious and inquisitive, but they were very playful and affectionate. Phandebrass had done a good job raising his two drakes, and from the looks of this one, it was also well cared for.

It looked right at where Sarraya hovered invisibly, and he heard the Faerie snort. "Don't even think about it!" she said challengingly. "You alright, Tarrin?"

"Fine. It was just playing. It's someone's pet."

"What's it doing out in this cold?" Sarraya asked. "It won't stay active very long."

"Then it must have just gotten loose," Tarrin replied.

As if an affirmation of that, a voice suddenly called out. It was a child's voice, and it spoke a language Tarrin didn't understand. Tarrin darted to the shadow of a wall as a gate opened some distance down one of the streets, and a youthful Aeradalla exited from a manor's grounds. It was a male, looked to be only ten or so, and what immediately caught his attention was that the child's wings were bound together with leather rope, right at the main joint. Why do something like that? It must have been some kind of cultural custom. The child called out again, and the drake alighted from its seat in the intersection and flew to the child. The child caught it in his arms and laughed, then nuzzled at the reptile and carried it back into the walled manor.

"Cute kid. He must be spunky," Sarraya mused.

"Why do you say that?"

"They had his wings tied. We do it to certain children who don't have the sense to stay on the ground when it's needful," she replied. "Since he can't reach the bindings, he can't take them off without help."

"I was wondering why they did that," he told her, then they turned and moved on.

"Flight can make you too giddy to keep your senses," Sarraya added.

"Doesn't seem to wear off for some."

That earned him a smack on the ear.

The rest of the journey to the wall passed without incident, and he hesitated a moment when he reached the base of it, waiting while Sarraya looked at the ledge above to ensure nobody would see him climb over it. When she returned with news that the way was open, he shifted into humanoid form and quickly started up the wall. It had been cut by tools, and enough of those toolmarks remained to give his claws purchase on the stone. He ascended the wall quickly, slipping over the top and quickly returning to cat form, then dashing off into the shadows. It was there that he paused to catch his breath. The air was so thin, the activity had worn him out, and he struggled to regain his breath.

"Getting tired?" Sarraya asked.

"It's the air," he panted.

"I know. I've been having to land every few minutes to catch my breath myself. Let's just take a few to recover, alright?"

"No argument here," he agreed.

They lounged against the wall until Tarrin felt ready to move again, and they were off. The open space on this tier was more than the space occupied by buildings, huge manors separated by large gardens with many fountains. The tier was more green than paved, filled with grass, flowers, small trees, and many other types of plants. The paved streets wound through those idyllic gardens in a roundabout fashion, giving the place the illusion that it was on the ground rather than two longspans above a desert. Since his view was obstructed, he relied on Sarraya to guide him to the next wall, which was one of the small ones.