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Dari dragged herself up the steps. The climb was arduous at any time, but doing it now with a heavy heart made it even worse. As she wove her way back up, she propped herself against the wall from time to time. For some reason it made her feel better. It was like the solid stone was giving her more than physical support. But the ordeal of the cavern and the trek back up was emotionally draining. From time to time she swore she could still hear voices from the walls. Sometimes they were intelligible, and at others they seemed almost singsong, like ancient chants. She made a note to have the healers give her a thorough exam when she made it to the palace. Assuming, that is, that she could finish the journey.

To help relieve the boredom and the sadness, she began mentally reciting the various things she had needed to know when the duty of protectoress had befallen her. The way down was called the path of Ten Thousand steps. She knew even as a child it was an exaggeration. She had counted them more than once. They numbered exactly three thousand. The chamber wherein lay the heart was called the Goddess Atrium. The irony in that never struck her until after she had completed her schooling. Her anatomy lessons had been an eye opener.

The heart, deep down in the ground, had been beating there long before anyone had memory of it. The stairs had been built by early acolytes who came down to worship it. The legends say that they had gained wisdom, which was passed from generation to generation. As each generation gained more knowledge, they passed it along as well, until the advent of writing. Now the archive was filled to overflowing. As time went on, those who held the goddess dear worked hard on total purity. That was why her species had come about. Not only did they have grace and beauty, they also developed magic. It was not a great and showy power, but a subtle one. Dari herself could search the cosmos with her mind, or enthrall a male with her charms. But for some reason, she had never been able to touch the mind of the Goddess.  Now she knew that she had never been expected to. She didn't know if she was relieved or upset by that knowledge.

And what of the spell-singer? He was her king, her lover, her husband (albeit shared), and the father of her cubs. There were over two hundred children now left as orphans, though she was quick to correct herself. They were without a father. There were plenty of mothers to go around, so they would not be lacking in care. But his actions in willingly entering the pool was the supreme sacrifice. She had dared to approach the pool only once, as a child. She was amazed that the cavern was not a thousand times hotter than it was. She had pulled out a bit of her own fur and gingerly dropped it in. Her hand felt hot but was not scorched. The fur however caught fire and took off airborne towards the ceiling. It hung there and glowed in little embers before winking out. She knew from that point on never to go too close to it again. This foolish human would be nothing but charred remains. But perhaps his spirit would now be free, and that is what the Goddess needed. Dari would never know.

It was back to climbing. Two thousand, four hundred and thirty five, two thousand, four hundred and thirty six... She remember her grandmother, Silef. She was a wonderfully wise female. Dari had cried so hard the day she decided it was time to depart this world. It had helped only marginally that she could still reach her in her spirit form. It was hard to hug a point of light. She wondered if she was one of the hundreds of thousands of gneechees that had descended into the pool with Jon-Tom. If so, then was she gone forever? More tears sprang from her eyes and rolled down her lovely cheek.

Something happened that caused her to lose her footing. She nearly fell back down the stairs. A platform was only a short ways down, but she had no desire to retrace any of her steps. She held her belly, suddenly feeling queasy. A voice came out of nowhere. She looked around, half expecting it to have come from the walls again. She heard it once more. This time she knew where it was coming from. It was inside her own head. "Grandmother?"

"Yes daughter of my daughter. Why do you fret so? The one for whom you pine has fulfilled that which the prophets said had to be done, but could not be done. Have you forgotten your lessons after all of these long years?" Dari put her mind to dredging up the fables and lessons from so long ago. She couldn't remember them now, when she needed them most. Given another day or other circumstances, she might have been able to do so. "Grandmother Silef. I am ashamed to admit it, but I do not remember. Will you help?" The voice in her head spoke softly.

"At the end, when all is done, to save the planet, to save the sun, the fates will flee into the night, away from one whose terrible might, can wrest away their awful power,  turn their sweetest plans to sour, and rise again with she sublime, and reset back the hands of time." Dari repeated the chant. She did remember it. It was set down by the eldest, thousands of years ago.

"Yes grandmother, I see. You believe this to be the one who now lies in the pool?" Dari got a vision of her grandmother inside her head, giving a face to the voice. "I do. You should be honored. You have cubs from the greatest being to ever walk this world. If he had preferred alchemy, this entire world would be made of gold. But his heart was too pure for such things. It was there that his alchemy lie, for in his chest beat a heart of purest gold. Now it beats with the Goddess. The world is strong again."

Dari put her hand against the wall. That was the feeling she had been getting. Happiness; satisfaction, completeness. Her grandmother was still talking inside her head. "You feel it now child? It is not for me to explain it to you, but you can feel it for yourself. What happened, happened for a reason. We may wonder at it, but we must accept it. But I will tell you this. The future is often unreadable. I know that you know this. But this wizard has at least given you a much longer one, one which you can forge in any fashion you desire. I would suggest you stop worrying and go up there and start living it. You have spent too much time waiting as it is. To do otherwise would be to waste the gift he has granted all of you. "

The voice dimmed and went silent. A point of light hovered in front of her face for a moment. It dipped, did a pirouette and launched itself up the stairs and was gone. Dari held onto the wall for a moment, relishing the feeling she got from her contact with it. After a while, she pulled away, not realizing how absorbed she had been in tapping into the emotions emanating from it. She felt like a voyeur. There was a wet spot between her legs. She hastened up the stairs with renewed vigor. When she reached the top, she slammed down the hatch and threw the rug across it. She heard another voice, this time thanks to her ears.

"Where have you been?" She turned, nearly tripping over herself in the process. "Talea! What are you doing here?" Then the lioness did a double take. It was Talea all right, Talea the human. "Uh Talea," Dari said in an even tone, "how did you change back to yourself?" The redheaded human lady, nay girl, was tapping her feet. "I'll tell you as soon as you tell me what you have been doing and where my husband is." Dari slid to the floor. "He's dead."

Talea dropped down beside her. "What makes you say that?" The queen began crying again. She spilled forth what had happened, detail by detail, including her mental conversation with her long dead grandmother. Talea took it all in, patiently, before commenting. "Look Dari, I don't mean to demean you and your abilities, but you're wrong. My husband; your husband; he is still alive. I know that this may be hard for you to understand, but reach down inside yourself." Dari was confused. Talea demonstrated. She put her hand to her chest and gathered her soul. "Now you do the same. The queen did as she was told. Nothing happened. "Be patient," said Talea calmly. Dari relaxed. All at once a light formed around her paw. "Good!" cried Talea. "Now feel within it. Look for Jon-Tom somewhere inside those things which he has left with you."

The queen tried her hardest. There, deep down, hidden behind a thousand other memories, was a glimmer. The more she concentrated on it, the clearer it became. She assumed it was just another memory, but what she found astounded her. It was a link. She could dimly hear his thoughts and feel his emotions. She tried to clarify them and was washed over with such a force of feelings that she nearly lost her mind. Talea snapped her out of her trance. "Look Dari, I've been there already. You really don't want to latch on too strongly. What's going on right now is on a higher level than either of us, I think even ALL of us could handle. Take your best experience with him and magnify it ten thousand times. That's what it's like. You might as well stare at the sun and burn your eyes out."

Dari was still coming to grips with too much information. "So is he dead, or alive?" Talea shook her head. "I don't know what to call it. I would say that he is more alive now than he has ever been, but at the same time, not in a way we would recognize. I would have to guess that his body is gone. But he did everything possible to keep his spirit intact, by placing a piece of it into everyone he has ever loved. I think he did it again the last night that he spent with each of us. It seems there was more he could pump into us besides baby making material!" She ended with a chuckle. Dari was not easily convinced nor amused.

"Yes, I feel him. But what good does that do us? I had plans on him sticking around and helping to raise his family." Talea smacked her; hard. "We wouldn't have a family to raise if it wasn't for him. Quit being selfish. Whatever he did, he did to protect the ones he loves. And that happens to be a lot of people." Dari rubbed her shoulder. She wasn't used to being treated that way. But the human was right. She was being selfish. And why not? After centuries of being alone, she desperately wanted a family, a husband, a life. And now she had only two out of three. She went to say something, but found she had a more pressing question.

"How did you change back?" Talea smiled. "I just told you; Jon-Tom pumped a lot more into us before he left than we realized. I'm guessing with his magic growing out of control, it was the best way to top it off. He duplicated the transformation spell and gave everyone a copy." She stood and twirled, becoming a lioness again. "Can you imagine Dari? Even the healers can change. I haven't told everyone yet, but the word is being passed from one to another. Once the cubs are adults, we can go back to being who we were!"

Dari stood, brushing herself off. "How does it work?" Talea twirled again and was a duplicate of Roseroar before spinning again, back to a lioness. "Just think about what you want. The spell latches onto to your immediate desire. Try being a wolf!" That was an odd suggestion, thought Dari. "Why a wolf. I mean I've wondered in the past..." Talea turned her towards the mirror. "See, it works just like that!" Dari was staring at the most lovely she wolf any male could imagine. She reached up and felt her face, while the reflection did the same. "This really is me!" Talea fell down laughing. "Yes Dari, it's you. I would say it's an improvement, but I happen to favor being a lioness right now. At least you know now, not only how it works, but that it works. Congratulations!"

There was a great commotion erupting within the palace grounds. Those females who had returned to their own homes out on the plains and in the highlands were coming back. There was much excitement and confusion. The queen called them together in a large courtyard. The ground was filled with cubs who were happily playing, oblivious to the consternation upsetting their mothers. Seelini remarked on it. "Children pick up emotions from their mothers, but this lot acts as if it's the best playtime in the world." Her own child was happily burbling at her breast. Dari noted it as well. "I think that we must trust what has happened as that which was meant to be. We have come to no harm before this, and I believe that we will weather it to the greater good of us all. That does not mean we have to like it, merely that we accept it." That had been said before. It was good advice, even if it was a bitter pill to swallow.

Talea stood up and motioned to the others. "In case you have not already found this out, you now have the capability of transforming back to your original form. I trust that each of you will remain in your present forms until our children have grown enough to understand and accept this mutability. I for one do not wish to expose my girls to any more than I have to before I think they are ready." Several ladies stirred and stood. One by one they changed, patting themselves down to prove the transformation was real. Just as quickly they changed back. If the cubs noticed, it made no impression on them. They were grappling and tumbling with each other, yanking tails and chewing on each others ears.

Dari and Talea got up and left the group, heading back to their shared chambers. One of the healers followed. As the door closed behind them, the lynx turned and locked it. Talea looked at her questioningly. "Seelini, what is it?" The lynx bowed to them both, but spoke to her mistress. "Most wonderful queen, the king has taken too many liberties. I do not know if I should praise him or stamp my feet in anger." Dari looked her square in the eyes. "Do not belittle my husband lightly. He has given you great things, including your child. What would you have to complain about now?" The lynx took in a deep breath. "I shall show you." In an instant, she turned into a jaguar. The queen was not impressed. "I can do the same." And she did, looking even more beautiful than her subject could manage. Talea tapped her on the shoulder. Dari looked backwards, and then back to Seelini, at whom Talea was staring. All at once it struck her. Her cub had changed to, to follow his/her mother's lead. Where once had been a little lynx now sat cradled a little jaguar.

Dari was impressed. "Your child can be any creature of this world, and be either gender it chooses, and you have the audacity to complain? Seelini, I have great respect for your abilities, but honestly, I thought that I was being selfish. Quit worrying about it and enjoy it. Or are you jealous of your child's abilities? It seems to me that you should start writing down the beginning history of a new line, one which you and your sisters have given birth to. I would write great things about your lover; their father, and I would write it down in detail. Unless I am gravely mistaken, we have entered a new age. What passes on from these days forward will be nothing less than wondrous. It behooves us to record it for posterity!" The lynx looked befuddled, but changed back, bowed, and left. Dari looked at Talea. "Do you think that sneaky husband of ours did the same to our children? Talea restrained her mirth. "Yes, Dari, I'll just bet he did."

Of course, none of the lionesses were breast feeding at this stage,  for the cubs were growing up fast. But Talea grabbed up the girls and changed to human. In her arms were two little beautiful red-haired human girls. She switched to a mongoose, and sure enough, there were two little mongoose pups. She returned to her lioness form. The cubs changed with her. "Damn. He managed to do a lot more than I had realized. He said to trust him, but this is incredible! I wonder which form is their natural one?" Dari sighed. "I wish I knew. I was concerned with preserving my species to further the service of the Goddess, but now I find that it is no longer needed. Now I have cubs that can be anything. I am beginning to Seelini's point. What kind of future are our children going to have?"

Talea walked up, smiled, and punched her in the shoulder again. "I would say that they now have infinite possibilities. Especially the lynx cubs.  It seems to me that they have the highest potential for being the ultimate healers when they grow up. I have a feeling that Jon-Tom put his ability inside them too. Can you imagine a healer without herbs and potions? Just a touch and by magic, the illness or disease is gone? Need a mate to conceive a child? None of your species around? Suddenly you have a choice between a male or a female partner. The possibilities are endless. When Seelini thinks it through, she'll probably faint!" Dari was rubbing her smarting shoulder. This human had no qualms about performing physical violence in the defense of her husband and his ways. The queen liked her, but if she hit her one more time...

As time went on, life seemed to settle down a little around the highlands. At other times it became a kaleidoscope of species. Many of the females were trying out their incredible powers. Species that had been dead for centuries, or even longer, suddenly sprouted up. Cubs joined in, delighted by their new-found abilities. The plains were filled with a myriad of forms, terrorizing the local lizard populations. Every cat was a natural-born hunter, but some forms proved more skilled at it than others. There were often contests of skill, to see which forms performed better than others. Dari tolerated this for a while, but finally put a stop to it. "Look ladies, I understand your joy in practicing your transformations, but you must quit hunting. The larder is beyond full and the lizard population is dropping way too fast. Enough is enough!"

The next day she was out surveying the plains, assessing if any permanent damage had been done we she spotted a couple of poachers. She was furious! When she gave an order, it was meant to be obeyed. And while her husband, Jon-Tom, was technically still king, she ruled in his absence. She took off after the two, but they seemed to stay just ahead of her. She reverted to a more sleek form, a cheetah, and still gained not an inch. She tried a new tactic and became an eagle. She launched into the air and followed them. But all she was able to do was see more clearly who they were before they disappeared into some brush. The problem was, each transformation was unique to the individual. She had no idea which ladies these were, but she would find out.

The next day she made a declaration demanding the names of those responsible. She even included a description of the culprits. They were both nearly identical in appearance, being the size of a tiger, only larger, but black with spotted stripes. They could run as fast as the wind, and disappear from sight in an instant. Talea choked back a laugh. "Dari that is about as nebulous a description as you could give. Any of these ladies could have turned into whatever you're trying to describe. What kind of feline looks like that anyway?" There was a ferocious roar from the doorway of the throne room that vibrated their very bones. "I would say that sounds a lot like me."