"Well, alright," she huffed. "But get back at a decent hour, or I'm coming after you!"

"I'll try, but no guarantees, love," he said, scooping up the doll and putting it back in the belt pouch, then and sending the belt pouch into the elsewhere for extra safety. "From the sound of it, she has something big to teach me tonight. Now then, you behave yourself, cub," he told Jasana, picking her up and giving her a kiss. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"What, no kiss for me?" Jesmind protested.

"You have legs, woman," he teased her, pointing to the floor in front of him. "Come here."

"Well, if you're going to order me around, how can I refuse?" she said with a sly wink, coming over and giving him a long, passionate, toe-curling kiss goodbye. That kiss nearly convinced him that Spyder's lessons may not be as important as he thought, but luckily sanity returned to him before he went too far down that path of thought.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," he repeated.

"You'd better. I think I just made a mistake, kissing you that way," she said uncertainly.

"Live with the anticipation," he grinned, then backed away and scooted out the door before she could reply.

As quick and quiet as a ghost, Tarrin slipped through the Tower, down the stairs, along the passageways, seen by no one and little more than a moving shadow or slight brush of wind on the back of the neck as he slipped past sentry after sentry. He didn't want anyone to see him, track him, try to find out where he was going. And when a Were-cat didn't want to be seen, very few humans would even be capable of seeing him. Tarrin managed to get out of the Tower without being seen or heard by so much as a mouse, then padded quickly and quietly through the maze, hurrying to get to the courtyard. Tarrin realized that Spyder had moved in there because they were done using the place for now. It still held the books and scrolls they'd swiped from the Cathedral of Karas-minus the Book of Ages and the book and scroll with the information pointing to the Firestaff, naturally-and was now only visited infrequently. But at least one of them went to the courtyard at least once a day, to bask in the sense of safety and peace, or look on the statue-the icon-of the Goddess.

When he arrived, Jenna was already there. She had a large book in her lap, and was using Sorcery to directly make words appear in flawless, dry-inked script. Jenna had started writing down what Spyder had shared with her, as Spyder had instructed. She was cheating, but then again, given how much information Spyder had probably shared with her, cheating was going to be the only way to finish the book any time this century.

"Good, you're here, brother," Jenna smiled at him, closing the book and setting it aside. "I guess we can get started now."

"What took you so long?" Spyder snapped at him from where she was standing on the lip of the fountain.

"You try to extricate yourself from a curious child and an exuberant mate, run all the way down the Tower without being seen, then run the maze and see how long it takes you," he replied.

She sighed dramatically. "Have you learned nothing?" she accused. "Why did you not simply go off the balcony? You could have brought yourself here within three minutes!"

Tarrin flushed slightly. "Well, I didn't exactly think of using Sorcery," he admitted. "I tend to not use it unless I have to."

"Well, that is a healthy attitude," she agreed. "But we are pressed for time. You should have come as quickly as you could."

"Sorry," he snorted. "What's got you so peevish tonight, Spyder?"

She glared at him, then suddenly laughed. "I guess I'm too old for such things," she said with a warm, beautiful smile. "I'm worried about what's to come. I know what is coming, probably better than anyone else here."

"Do you know where they are right now?" Jenna asked impulsively.

"Darsa," she replied. "They have just reached Darsa. They spent an entire day setting up to attack the city, only to find that the torches on the walls and the movement they saw were nothing but a diversion. The host commander is raging that she wasted an entire day of marching to prepare for an assault on an abandoned city. They are burning Darsa to the ground as we speak."

"How do you know that when you're here?"

You can do more than speak through the Weave, young pupil," she told him with a knowing smile. "With enough practice, you can look through the Weave to any place you can find. Finding physical locations through the Weave is a technique that develops over time, as you come to learn the pathways of the strands and how they relate to the physical world." She glanced behind her, at the icon of the Goddess. "I have been observing the approach of the ki'zadun very carefully. They will be here in nine days."

"Do, do you know where the Selani and Fae-da'Nar are?" Tarrin asked.

"The Selani will be here with the humans tomorrow," she answered immediately. "The Were-kin and Centaurs will be here in three days."

"Well, that's a relief," he sighed. "They'll actually get here faster than they thought," he chuckled.

"They have been running eighteen to twenty hours a day," she smiled. "But we digress. Take a seat by your sister, Were-cat. Tonight I have much to teach you."

"What are we going to learn?" he asked, sitting down by Jenna, who looked quite eager.

"Spells," she replied calmly. "As many as I can teach you. Spells of all kinds. Attack, defense, utility, protection, Wards, manipulation, entertainment, even spells with no real purpose other than to irritate the victim. You both have learned the secret of Weavespinner power. Now you will learn Weavespinner magic. Spells not even imagined by those uneducated simpletons in the Tower. Tonight, my pupils, you learn the true power and versatility of Sorcery."

Tarrin's heart did a little dance in his chest. Finally, he was going to learn! This was what he'd been waiting for!

"We have little time. Let us begin," she said, stepping down from the fountain. "Let's see," she said, shifting into informal Sha'Kar. "Let's start with some attacking spells. Given what's coming towards us, I think both of you should be thoroughly educated in the various ways a sui'kun can kill. Then we'll go through defensive spells, then Wards. Then I'll teach you some spells that control weather, since it can be very useful in a battle. After that, some advanced Illusions, even a form of Illusion that can kill the victim. Some Phantasmic spells too, spells of Illusion that have physical effects on the real world. Some Transmutation, some advanced elemental magic, and some useful spells for a variety of situtations. Oh, and of course, a wide range of spells that Weavespinners that can use on themselves," she said with a smile. "Since only Weavespinners can use Sorcery on themselves, we have a wide variety of spells that take advantage of that fact. Most of them are defensive in nature, but some are very useful."

"Like what?" Jenna asked immediately.

"Oh, a spell that makes your skin impervious, for one," she replied. "So long as the spell is operating, your skin can't be cut. Weapons like clubs can still hurt you, but a sword can't slash you, and arrows can't punch into you."

Tarrin remembered a spell that Phandebrass had used long ago, a spell that made his body transform into steel. Tarrin wondered if there was a way to do that with Sorcery. He asked as much to Spyder, who shook her head. "That is Transmutation," she said. "Even sui'kun can't use Transmutation on themselves. Or should not, I should say."

"Why not?" Tarrin asked.

"When you change the body, you change your power of Sorcery. Remember, Sorcery is as much an aspect of the body as it is the mind. When your body changed after you crossed over, you lost your powers until your mind adjusted to the change in the body. Transmutation has the same effect. Never Transmute yourself, or you'll lose your powers. And that loss of power may be permanent. You may be stuck forever in the form you Transmuted into."