Tarrin paid the Demoness no more mind, his attention focused on the army below. That was a force that Tarrin wasn't sure against which they could hold out. There had to be fifty thousand beings down there, of varying degrees of magical or physical power, and Tarrin knew that their own forces were outnumbered. The only advantage they had was Sorcery, in the place where, in the entire world, Sorcery was at its strongest. The presence of the Goddess' icon in Suld enriched the power she granted to the world, and it was going to be up to him and Jenna to use it to defend the city.
But where was Spyder? She should be there, he was sure of it. If they had her there, the balances would be evened. What errand had the Goddess sent her to accomplish, so important that she stopped teaching them magic to do it? When their learning about Sorcery was the most important thing he could think of. They had three sui'kun in the city. Jenna and Tarrin would fight, but Jasana-well, he wouldn't bring her into things unless there was no other choice. He'd already made that decision. He could use her without putting her in danger by Circling with her, but to do that, she had to be close to him. If he did anything, he would become the main target of anything that could reach him, no matter where he or they were. Since they had creatures over on that side with wings, that meant that if he tried to attack them, no matter where he was, they'd be drawn right to him. And the Goddess had already made it clear that he was very high up on their list of battle objectives. He couldn't do anything that would draw their attention to him. And that meant that any reason he could think of to use Jasana's power would just put them both in danger.
They were done setting up, which was literally little more than a bedroll thrown on the ground for every man or beast that required rest. But why were they setting up so close? Didn't they know that Tarrin had the range to strike at them when they were that close? Or did they do it just in the hopes that Tarrin would make an attempt to strike at them, hoping it would tell them where he was?
That was a stupid assumption. They had to know exactly where he was, because there was nowhere he would be other than the Tower at a time like this.
Ah, wait. That explained a few things. Many of the hideous Demons had looks of consternation on their faces. Obviously, they had just attempted to use their magic to appear inside the city, but found out that it didn't work. Shiika and her brood had managed that part of it very well. Tarrin guessed that they were going to send the Demons in to have some fun and cause chaos in the city, to weaken the defenders so the assault force could just waltz in come morning, which was only about two hours away.
They weren't the only ones with an idea like that. Tarrin turned and looked back towards the Tower, back to the glowing pillar of magical power that rose from its center, the main Conduit. What some called the Heart. That was going to be very useful to him in just a few moments, for he intended to beat the invaders at their own game. The Goddess had told him not to leave the grounds, but Tarrin had learned already that a Weavespinner didn't have to physically be in a place in order to wreak havoc there.
It was the wreaking havoc part that he dreaded. He knew what he was about to do, but unlike Torrian, there was no regret in this. They were all enemies, and there was no mercy for them. There was only a weary acceptance that destruction seemed to be the only thing that he could do well.
"Mother," he called grimly, turning towards the Conduit.
Be very careful, she warned. She obviously knew what she planned to do.
"I'm the backup here, Mother," he told her absently. "It doesn't matter if I tire myself out. In fact, it would better for us if they thought I did. They'd march straight into Jenna."
You underestimate your worth.
"Maybe, but right now, what I can do for her is much more important than what I can do for you," he grunted, absently spinning out a weave that lifted him off the roof, held by gentle feathers of Air. Those flows carried him up and forward, and then they pulled him into the Conduit.
The effect was visible all over the city of Suld, to all the enemies surrounding its walls. The main Conduit suddenly flared with a bright white light, a pillar of magic that rose into the heavens, bathing the city below in the milky radiance of the power that had always been a part of their city, yet had rarely been visible to them. Within the Conduit, Tarrin felt its power coarse over him, caress him, flow through him, infusing him with the unmitigated power of the Goddess. He could feel her closeness, could sense her eyes looking down on him, could feel her almost as if it were her gentle, loving hands that were holding him in the air. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall within the Weave, felt his consciousness separate from himself and hurtle into the light, joining with it and becoming one with it.
He hadn't been in the Heart for a while, but it was as it always was, an endless blackness streaked with the light threads of the Weave, and the countless stars that represented the Sorcerers upon which the Weave depended. And behind them all, seen but unseen, were the eyes of the Goddess herself, smiling down on him in gentle benediction. But he wasn't there to adore her or waste time. He could feel that, whatever it was, that black obelisk, could sense it through the Weave in the amount of magical power it was drawing from wherever Arcane magic drew its power. He sent his awareness out into the Weave, searching through it, using the techniques Spyder taught him, tracing that flow of power from the nether boundary from which it came down to its destination. The enemy army was only fifteen longspans away, but the geography of the Weave did not correspond to the geography of reality, and he found himself travelling a great distance through it before he found a pathway to the sense of intense Arcane magic that he had sensed from the Heart. Once he had reached that place, he breached the Weave with his senses and reached out into the real world, felt around until he felt the unmistakable presence of a Demon and the same sense of presence that he'd felt in the soultrap that had once held Faalken. The soultrap created by Kravon's power.
He found them. He wove together an Illusion of himself, a projection, and then pushed his awareness into it.
He opened his spectral eyes to find a rather startled, thin, rather cadaverous man staring at him in shock. The six-armed, bare-breasted woman creature beside him looked on with only mild interest, but the armed men and scaly blue-skinned Cambisi guarding the platform upon which they stood all rushed forward as one to attack and destroy the intruder. The first one drew his sword as he reached him and swung with all his might-
– -and then crashed harmlessly through the Illusion, to dive headlong off the raised platform and crunch into the grass below in a rattle of armor. Tarrin allowed the Cambion to pass through his projection calmly, not even flinching as its sword went through his Illusory head. "Typical," he snorted absently, then he focused his eyes on the two of them.
"Fools," the six-armed Demoness growled at the Cambisi. "It's an Illusion!" She looked to him, her dark eyes speculative. "It's a pleasure to get a chance to meet the famous Tarrin Kael, at least before I take your soul back with me to the Abyss," she purred. "It's already been promised to me. Isn't that right, Kravon?"
"Of course, my dear," the man Kravon said in a hollow, chillingly dead voice. "One must always give one's allies suitable compensation. Wouldn't you agree, Were-cat?" he asked conversationally.
"Be glad I don't fry you where you stand, but I'd be robbing someone else of that honor," he said coldly, and that made Kravon flinch. "He's already caught up with you, hasn't he?" he asked in a chilling, evil chuckle. "How long did it take to stop the bleeding?"
"It was of no moment," he shrugged. "I can't say the same for some of my sycophants, however. If he'd have chased you with half the enthusiasm he's been hunting down my servants, you'd not have lasted a month."