"I saw him crawling around on the ground where the Sorcerers are mending the fence," Sarraya chuckled. "What was he doing?"
"With Phandebrass, you can never tell," Tarrin laughed.
"And you may not want to know," Keritanima added.
"Have you met Phandebrass yet, mother, father?"
"I don't think so," Elke Kael replied. "From the sound of it, I'd have remembered him if I did."
"No doubt," Dar chuckled in agreement.
"He is, rather unique," Allia said mildly. "But he is a solid, dependable man."
"No argument there, but he is a bit eccentric," Tarrin nodded.
"We're all eccentric in our own ways," Eron said sagely. "Some just aren't afraid to show it, that's all."
"Then Phandebrass must be fearless," Miranda giggled.
They spent the time waiting for Camara Tal and Phandebrass by trading short descriptions of the parts of the battle they'd seen. Most of them overlapped, for everyone in the room aside from the Were-cats had been together on the field. They only split into smaller Circles afterwards, and it was there that they traded information. Jenna actually nodded off as Dar described for the fifth time how Keritanima had managed to avoid being Consumed, a subject that seemed to embarass the Wikuni, but it was cut short when the door opened, and Camara Tal led Phandebrass into the room.
Phandebrass hadn't changed his robes yet, and they had some dried blood on them. They also had grass stains, and a few black smudges that looked like ash. "I say, we made it," he prattled as soon as he came into the room. "I hope we didn't miss anything!"
"If we did, it's all your fault," Camara Tal snapped at him.
"Good, we're all here," Tarrin announced. "Find somewhere to sit down, if you can, and we can get to the heart of the matter."
Camara simply stood by the hearth, but Phandebrass retrieved the chair that sat in front of a dressing table in Keritanima's room and set it by Jenna's chair. Tarrin leaned back on the couch and drew in his breath. "I'm sure everyone here either felt it or was told about it," he said immediately.
"That wave of magical power?" Dar asked.
Tarrin nodded. "That was the Firestaff," he said grimly. "It's revealed itself to the world." There was a long silence, broken when the Keeper blew out her breath. "The Goddess told me that everyone around the world felt that, and most of them will realize that it was the Firestaff that did it."
"I could feel what direction it came from," Camara Tal grunted. "That means others did too."
Tarrin nodded. "Exactly. They don't know precisely where it is, but they do know in what general direction it is, so that means that we're going to be racing any Wizard or Priest with a ship."
"So we leave tomorrow," Keritanima announced. "Our information won't do us any good if someone stumbles across the Firestaff by sheer luck."
"I was thinking of tomorrow afternoon," he said. "Me, Kerri, Dar, Allia, and Dolanna are going. No arguments," he said with a slight smile. "I know Miranda and Szath will at least go back to Wikuna, but the question is, who else wants to go?"
That caused a little bit of laughter in the room. "Tarrin, you nit, we're all going!" Keritanima told him with a laugh." Well, everyone but Jenna and your folks, anyway."
"I, I can't go," Sarraya said in a small voice from his shoulder. "I can't be that far away from my colony. I'm sorry, but I need to go home for a while. I hope you're not disappointed, Tarrin. I know I am. I wanted to go on another adventure with you."
"I understand, Sarraya. The Goddess told me that you've been away from home a very long time, and that you need to go home and rest for a while. As long as you're here waiting for us when we come back, I'll be happy. I'm sorry you're not coming, but at least you can rejoin us later."
"That's a promise, Tarrin," she said strongly, patting his neck with her tiny hand.
"If you're not finished, I'm not finished protecting you, Tarrin," Camara Tal told him. "I go."
"I say, you think I'd miss the chance to study the Firestaff up close?" Phandebrass announced.
"I've been with Kerri this long, I'll see it out to the end," Azakar announced.
"Alright," Tarrin said, nodding. It was as he expected; everyone was going to go. "I'm going to offer Jula the chance to go with me. She needs to be trained."
"I want Jula to stay with me," Jenna told him. "You train Kerri, and I'll train Jula. Besides, I think I may need a Were-cat Sorcerer on hand. I may need Jula to help me with Jasana."
Tarrin hadn't considered that. "Good point," he said. "Alright, Jula stays."
"Count me in as well," a voice said from the doorway. They all turned to look and saw Kimmie pad into the room. She was back in her peasant dress, and was all cleaned up. "Master Phandebrass agreed to take me on as a pupil, and I can't very well learn from him if he's with you and I'm still here."
"I say, you'll be a good student, my dear," Phandebrass told her. "I sense a great deal of potential in you."
Kimmie beamed at the Wizard, then gave Jesmind a curiously neutral look. "It's not exactly like I'm inviting myself. Triana decided that she's not letting Tarrin go without another Were-cat along with him to help. We fought over who was the lucky one after you left," she grinned at Tarrin and Jesmind. "I won."
"You fought over it?"
"Well, not real fighting," Kimmie explained. "I just proved to Triana that I had the most personal interest in going, since Master Phandebrass was probably going too. She said I go. Rahnee was very disappointed," she grinned. "I get the feeling she was looking forward to the idea of getting to spend all that time with you separated from Jesmind."
That seemed to hit a nerve in his mate, and she narrowed her eyes at the sedate female Were-cat, and very nearly growled in her throat.
"Well then, it sounds like everyone but Sarraya is going," Keritanima announced.
"Don't rub it in!" the Faerie growled at her. "Just make sure you have good stories to tell when you come back."
"This may not be the right time, but since your parents are here, Jenna, I guess I should tell them now," the Keeper finally spoke up. "Eron, Elke, I've appointed Jenna to the Council. She'll be taking Amelyn's place as the Mind seat." The Keeper smiled at the young woman. "She's the youngest katzh-dashi to ever hold a Council seat. You should be proud."
Eron and Elke did not look proud. They actually looked rather unhappy about it. "We were going to return to Aldreth, Keeper," Eron explained.
"I can't go with you, father," Jenna sighed. "My place is here now. If you and mother want to go back to Aldreth, then by all means, go. Don't hold yourself here because of me. I'll be fine, I promise. I have Jesmind to be my guardian, and I have my niece Jasana to keep me company. Don't I, Jasana?" she said to her.
"Umm," Jasana agreed.
"Don't you trust Jesmind to keep an eye on me, mother?" Jenna asked innocently.
"Are you staying here, Jesmind?" Elke asked directly.
It hung there for a long moment. "Yes," she finally said, which made Tarrin literally sigh in relief. "I don't want to stay, I want to go back to Aldreth myself, but Jasana needs to be near Jenna. If Jenna is staying, then I have to keep Jasana here too."
Eron and Elke exchanged looks. "We'll talk about this later, Jenna. In private," Eron told her. "You can stay, but we have to decide if we're going to stay with you, or go back home."
"That's fine, father," Jenna assured him.
"I'm a little tired now, but I'll arrange for our ships," Miranda spoke, standing up. "I'll get a squadron ready to move. If the seas are going to be crowded, I think a little show of force will get us back to Wikuna safely."