Page 62 of Gryphon in Light

Hallock held his breath, but the Firecat didn’t seem the least upset. :Thank you for that welcome, Uglik. Now, if you would, please put me down. I would greatly appreciate it.:

Hastily, the warrior did as he’d been asked, patting the cat roughly on the head, then snatching his hand away as if he’d been burned. “No mean to offend, Spirit Cat,” he said.

The cat purred. Loudly. And—was it smiling? :No offense taken. Now, because I know that the Elders will monopolize me once they see me, I want you to ask me whatever questions you might have before they realize I am here and I need to join them.:

They looked at each other. Then they all looked at Hallock, who scratched his head and slowly regained his composure. Wait, isn’t there one of these things at the Court at Haven? That was right . . . it was with the Karsite ambassador, Karal. He had never personally seen it, because why would a lowly Second have seen such a thing? But he recalled now that cats like this one were accepted at face value by the Heralds. No reason not to trust it. “All right, the obvious. What do the gods know about this situation we’re supposed to investigate?”

:Not much. Partly, that’s because . . . well, the best way I can describe it is that there’s a sort of roaring, out-of-control fire in the place where you are going. Middle of Lake Evendim, to be precise. And besides damaging things through all of the planes—you know about planes?:

Hallock and the Ghost Cats shook their heads; the Hawkbrothers nodded.

:All right, you Tayledras explain it to the others later. This magical “fire” has been burning ever since Ma’ar fell, but the damage was confined to your plane. It was confined entirely to just one physical place, and to be honest, even the gods were inclined to leave it alone and wait to see if it burned itself out. It should have, eventually.:

“Obviously it didn’t,” pointed out Redlance—who had a habit of pointing out the obvious.

But Serenshey seemed to be a particularly serene creature. Redlance’s intrusion didn’t bother him at all. :Well, why meddle, when there were no mortal instruments nearby to work through, and when it wasn’t actually threatening anything? It was just a dangerous anomaly, until the Mage Storms happened. And then . . . then things changed. It’s begun expanding—slowly, but definitely expanding. It’s now reached the Aetherial and Abyssal Planes.:

Hallock glanced at the Hawkbrothers, who looked utterly appalled. Well, that answered the question of “just how bad can this be?” Very bad, evidently.

The Firecat gave him a little nod, as if he had read his thoughts.

Of course he read my thoughts. And avatars of gods don’t operate by the rules of mental politeness that Heralds do. I guess I had better get used to this.

The Firecat certainly heard that, but was at least polite enough to pretend he hadn’t. :Mostly it is expanding into other planes, rather than on this one. And no one is there at its physical origin point to deal with it or even investigate it. It’s causing disruptions and disjunctions, has gotten to the point where it actually threatens the gods themselves. It’s not just Vykaendys and Kal’enal who are threatened, it’s a lot of other gods as well, but the others all agreed that since it’s nominally within the area where their devotees live, those two should be the ones to approach mortals about the problem.:

“Why not scry it?” asked Uglik. “Shaman could scry—”

The Firecat shook his head. :It’s not possible. Not only is it too “bright” to see into, magically speaking, the entire area is also surrounded by a sort of magical fog or smoke. We can’t even peer through it to look at the purely physical plane in that area. It’s impossible to see what’s going on there, even for gods, and that makes the gods disinclined to approach it. All anyone knows for sure is the closest analogy to what is going on is the worst thunderstorm you have ever seen, multiplied by hundreds of times, and reaching all the way from the ground to the stars.: All of this was stated in a nonchalant tone that completely belied the sheer horror of what the cat was describing.

“How are we supposed to do anything about something like that?” Redlance demanded. “We’re only hu—I mean, mortals!”

:And so was Ma’ar,: the cat pointed out primly. :And you are free to act in any way you like on the mortal plane. The gods are not.:

“Yes, but—” Blackclaw objected.

:It’s complicated,: said the cat. :Right now, you can go where they can’t, and be their eyes and ears. And hands, if need be. But it’s complicated by more than that. Obviously you know not all gods are . . . pleasant.:

And here it comes, Hallock thought, grimly.

:Some of the not-pleasant ones are very likely to take advantage of this.:

“And there it is,” groaned Longsight. “There it is. Are they—”

:No. The Abyssal gods are not yet aware of how badly the Aetherial Plane is being affected, because they can’t see into it. Light can illuminate the darkness, but the darkness cannot peer into, or even bear, the light. But it’s only a matter of time before they find out and try to take advantage.:

“Because they’ve got mortal minions of their own.” Longsight shook his head.

:May I say it is a pleasure to work with people who don’t have to be led on a leash,: remarked the cat. :Exactly, and those minions are likely to try to get to the conflagration ahead of you and interfere with you.:

“If they mortal, steel will cut, and arrows pierce,” said Rina firmly. She grounded her climbing-stick with a thud to emphasize that. “And if they know not we come—” She paused. “Do they know not?”

:They do not know. Another reason for sending you instead of the gods going themselves. The gods would be seen if they descend to the mortal plane and begin acting. You will not be noticed.:

Rina nodded. “We be as the Cat: stealthy, silent, deadly.”

:I can tell you that what you already have planned is, in fact, a good plan. But I can also tell you that the situation is . . . unpredictable, and you must be prepared to change your plans at an instant’s warning. Is that all you needed to know?:

Hallock looked around. The rest all looked satisfied for now. He nodded.