"All of you, I'd like you to meet Ariana," Tarrin announced, motioning towards the seated Aeradalla. "She's agreed to help us."

"An Aeradalla," Thean said with bright eyes. "You and I are going to have a very long talk, madam. I'm dying to hear about where your people have been hiding for the last thousand years."

"I'd be happy to talk with you, Master Thean," Ariana smiled.

"Thean. Were-cats aren't ones for frilly titles and platitudes, madam. It's not us."

"I've come to notice that, Thean," Ariana laughed.

"There's rabbit and deer roasting," Jesmind offered. "You're welcome to it."

"I thought you'd never ask," Singer said quickly, hustling over to the firepit.

Rahnee had been curiously quiet during the initial greetings, and that made Tarrin a bit curious. She didn't look or smell upset-in fact, she looked like she was having a good time now, flirting with Jeri as they ate the offered meal, sitting on the grass around the cheerily crackling fire. He shrugged it off as Kimmie asked him for the fifth time what had happened to make him grow, and he chuckled and put down the bone he'd been gnawing. "Alright, alright. Have you ever heard of a Succubus?"

"I have," Thean replied. "Nasty creatures."

"The winged lady," Jasana piped in. "The winged lady did magic on papa, and it made him grow."

"Well, that's the short of it," Tarrin agreed with a rueful chuckle, scratching the back of his head. "The Succubus drained me, and this was something of a side effect."

"Drained? What does that mean?" Singer asked.

"Succubi are Demons, Singer, and they can drain the life energy out of mortals," Thean told her. "I'm guessing that since Tarrin here is still alive, Were-cats aren't completely vulnerable to that form of magical attack."

"Not completely," Tarrin agreed. "Vulnerable enough to be affected by it, but not so much that it can kill us. She drained me, and I guess a side effect was that it caused my body to age. When that happened, I grew up to the height I would have been at that age."

"That sounds pretty wild," Singer laughed. "When did you meet a Succubus?"

"She was in Dala Yar Arak," he replied. "You'll meet her."

"I will?"

Tarrin nodded. "She's on her way to Suld. Me and her kind of mended our fences. I don't really consider her a friend, but she's not exactly an enemy either. She's bringing Arakite Legions to help defend Suld."

"How can a Demon control Arakite Legions?" Jeri asked.

"When she's the Empress," Tarrin replied calmly. "After I killed the Emperor, she revealed herself and took full control of the Empire."

"You what?" Kimmie gasped, then she laughed. "Denthar's tomes, Tarrin, what have you been doing since we left you in Shoran's Fork?"

"I think a full story is in order here," Thean said with a smile. "You just managed to get me very curious."

"Well, we have time, I suppose," Tarrin shrugged. "I'd rather only go through this once, though, so where are the others?"

"Nikki should be here any time now," Thean said. "I don't know about Shayle."

"They'll just have to suffer," Singer said intently. "I want to hear the story!"

"So do I," Ariana agreed.

"You've heard it," Tarrin told her archly.

"So? It's worth hearing again."

"Alright," Tarrin acceded. "Where do you want me to start?"

"At the beginning, of course," Thean told him. "Where else would a story begin?"

"There are several beginnings to this story, Thean," Tarrin told him patiently. Jasana, who had been wandering from Were-cat to Were-cat boldly, padded over and dropped herself imperiously into his lap.

"Your beginning is the one that matters, lad." Thean laughed. "It doesn't seem right calling you that anymore," he admitted.

"I surely don't feel that young anymore," Tarrin agreed, settling Jasana into his lap and composing himself. "It all started right here. Strange that I'd come back here, that this would be the place that I'd tell this story, but this was where I grew up, this was the place I left behind when Dolanna and Faalken arrived in Aldreth."

And so he told the story. He was relatively thorough about it, not leaving out things he would usually leave out, mainly because of the company. They would understand those parts of it, unlike humans. He didn't delve too deeply into any one part of it, relating the story in a calm, swift manner that related the details yet didn't concentrate on any one part. There were interruptions, however. Jeri broke in when he was describing the intrigue at the Tower. "Why did you bother with that?" he asked. "I would have marched right into the Keeper's office and dragged the truth out of her. Or just left, for that matter."

"I very nearly did that, more than once," Tarrin told him. "But Allia and Keritanima were also there, and I didn't want to put them in any danger. If it would have just been me, I would have been gone long before it got serious."

Thean got involved with it when Tarrin described what happened in Dala Yar Arak, grilling him on the Cambisi and his short interlude with Shiika, and when she drained him. "She should have known that she couldn't kill you, lad," Thean objected.

"No, it certainly seemed to surprise her, Thean," Tarrin replied. "I wondered at first why it didn't, but I think I've figured it out."

"And what's your solution?"

"We regenerate," he shrugged. "That power stems from the Were magical condition, and that magic is drawn from Druidic power. She couldn't kill me because the energy of nature replaced what she took fast enough to prevent it from killing me. Not even a Demon could drain the All."

"That's a logical reason," Thean said after a moment. "Our powers are at least partially Druidic in nature. It's why Were-cats all have Druidic ability."

"At least some of us," Jesmind said shortly.

"You have talent, my dear, it's just never been realized," Thean told her with a smile.

Tarrin then told them about the desert, and about the Selani and the desert creatures. Ariana looked a little uncomfortable when he told them the story of the Cloud Spire, but didn't try to stop him. Then he finished the story quickly. "And here we are," he said in conclusion.

"Here we are," Thean mirrored, taking a drink of the apple wine. "My, this is really good, Tarrin. Where did you get it?"

"My father brews it," Tarrin answered. "It's one of the few casks left."

"Then we should savor it, instead of inhaling it," he said, giving Rahnee a glance.

"You savor your way, I'll savor mine," she replied flippantly, taking another long swallow.

"Hello, the farm!" a voice called from across the meadow. Tarrin looked and saw three horses, all three fidgeting nervously, at the edge of the treeline where the cart track to Aldreth pierced it. The Were-cats were upwind, and so many predatory scents on the wind were upsetting the horses. The men riding them were Garyth, Jak, and Karn.

"Picket your horses where they are and come on, Garyth!" Tarrin shouted. "The horses will get spooked if you bring them any closer!"

They did so, leaving them cautiously grazing on the grass at the edge of the meadow and coming over. Jak and Karn looked a little nervous to be coming into the company of seven Were-cats and a winged creature they had never seen before, but Garyth managed to smile. "Well, some of these faces are familiar," Garyth said grandly, pointing at Rahnee first. "I remember selling you a satchel about two years ago, madam. And I've seen you in the village any number of times, good master," he said, looking at Thean.

"That smith of yours makes some of the most popular tools in the Heartwood, Master Garyth," Thean said politely, nodding towards Karn. "We've been in despair since he closed down his forge."

"Give me a month, and I'll be open again," Karn said in his gravelly voice.