Tarrin was a bit surprised. "No, she never told me, and neither did anyone else," he said honestly. He suddenly felt a little foolish. He'd seen the one Eron wore many times, but it had never crossed his mind as to where and how he got it. He'd been human then and had no memory, and it didn't seem odd to him at the time that Eron had one. Everyone seemed to have one, even him. But he had no excuse for not sensing the amulets after he regained his memory and his Were stature. In all the confusion and worry about what happened to him and his need to get out of the Tower quickly, he guessed he had never had the mind to realize what he was feeling from Eron's amulet. Then again, with all the background magic in the Tower, sometimes it was hard to sense things unless he was actively concentrating on it, or it was very, very close to him.
Accepting it as merely one of the many things that went on without his knowledge, Tarrin recalled his pack from the elsewhere, taking it off and setting it on the ground, then kneeling before it and rooting through it absently. He'd almost forgotten about what was inside it, and he had the feeling that it would be vitally useful. If Val was going to summon Demons, magical juggernauts and powerhouses of destruction, then it was only fair that their side call up similarly dreadful assets to challenge them.
Val had his Demons. Tarrin had dragons.
He pulled a small crystal bell, plain and unadorned, but the crystalline object almost pulsed with magic under his fingers. It was an object that Sapphire had made to allow him to contact her if he had an emergency. Well, this was an emergency.
Holding it by its top, he used a claw to sound the bell. It made a sweet, clear ring, a ring that reverberated in the air and seemed to increase in both its volume and the choral harmonics it emanated steadily. Then it suddenly stopped.
"What is that, Papa?" Eron asked, slinking forward to look at the small object.
"A means to call a friend," he answered, feeling the Wizard magic in the bell flare into life, feel it reaching across a vast distance, searching for something… searching… and then it found it.
"What is it, my little one?" Sapphire's voice called through the bell, replacing its crystal chime.
"Sapphire, I need your help," he said immediately. "In fact, we may need the help of every dragon you can find."
"What is so serious as to need that?" she asked.
"Val has raised an army of Goblinoids and Demons, my friend," he told her. "An army large enough to conquer everything on this side of the Desert of Swirling Sands." He blew out his breath. "And they've kidnapped Jasana."
"WHAT?" she demanded hotly.
"Demons working for Val attacked the Tower and took Jasana," he told her. "They've done it to force me to give them the Firestaff."
"We will see about that!" her voice was hot, almost infuriated. There was a long pause. "It is an attack on clan, Cyrus! Clan comes first! Tarrin, where are you now?"
"We're in the Tower. Our Goddess is organizing a massing of forces to face Val's army, but I'll be leaving soon to recover my daughter before the fighting makes it impossible for me to get to her."
"Where in the Tower?"
That question took him a little aback. "We're in a guest apartment," he replied. "Jesmind's was destroyed in the attack."
"What level? Which side?"
A little confused, he looked at the others. He honestly didn't know the answers to those questions. "Where are we?" he asked them.
"Ninth level, north side," Allia answered.
He repeated that to Sapphire dutifully. "Alright. Put the bell down, my little one, and back away from it. I'm coming right now."
Not sure what was going to happen, Tarrin put the bell on the floor and backed away from it. Mist grabbed Eron by the tail and dragged the curious cub away as they did the same, giving the little crystal bell a very wide berth. Jesmind looked at him in confusion, but he could only shrug and look at the bell. He had no idea what was going to happen either.
There was no sense of magical buildup, no hint or sign that it was coming. One second, she wasn't there, the next she was, standing over the little bell in her human form in a lovely violet brocade gown, a look of tightly controlled fury burning on her face. She looked around, then her eyes locked on the Were-cats. Eron scrambled behind Mist, seeking protection behind her legs, looking up at the angry dragon in fear and curiosity both.
"I thought you said you never felt a need to go faster than your wings could carry you," Tarrin noted.
"This is not the time for play!" she said in a brusque manner. "Where are Jenna and Triana? They swore to me that this place was safe! I will take them to task about their failure in a very severe manner!"
"This isn't the time to be throwing accusations, Sapphire," he said grimly. "They used Demons, and they had a very good plan. Even if Jenna knew that they were coming, I doubt she could have stopped them."
"Demons do not plan," she said in a frosty tone.
" Marilith do," he countered. "A marilith led the attack."
That brought Sapphire up short. "Perhaps," she admitted.
"Me and this particular marlith have something of a history," Tarrin said grimly, flexing his claws, the image of that six-armed Demoness cutting Eron's throat forever burned into his mind. "A history I mean to end at my earliest convenience."
"Where is Triana?"
"She was in Ungardt," he told her. "She's making her way back here as we speak. She was checking on Kerri and the others to make sure they were safe. The Demons made sure to attack when Triana was gone, but that turned out to be a good thing. Another group of Demons attacked them in Ungardt, trying to kidnap Jula. But Triana was there to help drive them off before they could get her."
Sapphire frowned, and then she looked at Mist and Eron. "I see you are safe," she told them. "Is Kimmie safe?"
"She's safe," Mist replied calmly. "She was with Phandebrass when the attack happened, and they had went out to do battle with the Demons on the grounds. They joined up with Allia out there, so I was told. Her and this strange new pet of hers," she said, looking at the inu standing beside Allia, seemingly unconcerned about this strange new visitor.
"Those Demons were but a diversion," Allia growled. "The six-armed one had snuck into the Tower using magic to disguise herself and assaulted Jasana in their apartment."
"She had Jegojah's sword," he told Allia in an emotionless tone. "I thought they buried it with him.":
"They did, but everyone knew where he was put to rest," Allia answered. "I do not think the Priests of Karas could have stopped the Demon from taking it from his crypt, even if they knew she was there."
"Where was he buried?" Sapphire asked.
"In the Cathedral of Karas," Allia answered. "They did not know who his patron god was, so the Priests decided to bury him on the hallowed ground of Karas. It was the least they could do for him. Jegojah has already become something of a legend in Suld, because of what he did during the battle. Someone told someone that leaked it out to the world that Jegojah was a Revenant, and quite a story has developed around him. He has become a hero."
Sapphire blew out her breath. "We waste time here," she said. "Take me to Jenna, little one. I mean to scold her, then we will see about destroying this army and getting your daughter back."
For some reason, hearing her say that made him feel immensely better. Sapphire was a dragon, and she had immense, awesome power. Dragons were the most powerful beings on Sennadar. Just one of them was enough to give an army of humans nightmares. If Sapphire brought her clan and they fought against Val, then Val's army was going to have a very formidable enemy to face. "I can't tell you how relieved I am that you're going to help us, my friend," he told her sincerely.