believe her dismissal.
She's not telling me everything. I'm not sure she knows what's going on herself. Just one more outlandish thing to add to the list. Either the multiverse is going mad, or I am.
'He's dying,' Aliisza said, her voice cracking. 'We must do something.'
'Do?' he asked. 'Neither of us is a healer. That wound… Don't take the sword out.' He regretted his words immediately. If only I could get her to do something foolish, he thought.
His hatred of Kael seethed to the surface again, and Kaanyr imagined killing the fallen knight of Torm. He struggled against the compulsion placed upon him by Tauran, but the angel's magic stayed his hand.
'Zasian can heal him,' Aliisza said. 'Find him.'
Zasian! Kaanyr had almost forgotten about the priest, with the commotion of the huge astral kraken and then Micus's strange appearance.
An outlet for Kaanyr's anger had presented itself.
'Oh, I'll find him,' the cambion snarled and reached for his sword. 'I'll gut him!'
'Wait!'
Kaanyr ignored her and stalked off, hunting for the man who had become his mission, his sworn enemy. It wouldn't be hard to find the priest; the gleam emanating from his body was still the only source of light in the ruined chamber, other than the odd silvery illumination from beyond the rotunda's walls.
Aliisza reached Kaanyr's side, grabbed his arm, and tried to slow him down. 'You cannot do this! It isn't him anymore!'
Kaanyr jerked free of her grasp. 'Your mind is addled, fool girl,' he said. 'Between the bilge you spew about gods slaying one another and all the time you spent suffering from the angels' tender mercies, I'm not surprised Zasian has you so befuddled. But I still see him for what he is-the last barrier between me and freedom.'
They found the priest. He knelt on the stone floor on one side of the chamber, hunched over the unmoving form of another figure. It took Kaanyr only a glance to discern that the unconscious one was the green-skinned planetar that had given Kael and him such fits outside, in the corridor.
Before everything went to pieces, he thought. Before Aliisza fouled it all up by bringing Micus here.
Zasian saw Kaanyr approach. He flinched as the cambion raised his sword, ready to do the man in. 'Wait!' he pleaded. 'I didn't do anything! He's still alive!'
'The Hells you didn't!' Kaanyr shouted. 'You damnable priest, you double-crossed me so many different ways, it makes me dizzy to think on them. Now you will pay for it!'
Kaanyr drew back his arm, preparing to deliver the death strike.
Aliisza grabbed Kaanyr's arm and held it. 'Don't,' she said, her voice low and angry.
'If he dies, the bubble will pop,' Zasian said, cowering. 'I'm doing my best. Please don't kill me!'
Kaanyr wanted to yank his arm free, wanted so desperately to vent his frustration and anger upon the pathetic, cowering priest who had been the source of so much trouble. But something made him hold.
'He's right,' Aliisza said. 'He's the only thing keeping us all alive at the moment. All of us. Harm him, and you put Kael and Tauran in jeopardy. If you can't believe that he's lost his memories, than at least accept that.'
Kaanyr could see the glimmer of smugness in her eyes. He understood what she was trying to do, and he tried to block it out, but the thought was already there. Her words took hold of him, stayed his hand against destroying the priest. If what Zasian said was even remotely possible-if the priest's efforts at keeping the planetar alive were the only thing between everyone within the remains of the rotunda and oblivion-then dispatching the priest meant putting Tauran and Kael at risk. Tauran's magic denied him once more.
The cambion narrowed his eyes in fury at Aliisza's treachery. He wanted to smack the alu and drive her from him, but he merely yanked his arm down in disgust. 'You're just not content unless I'm squirming in misery, are you?' he said, turning away. 'What a fine mess you made of this. Just when Tauran, Kael, and I were on the verge of finally defeating this wretch, you burst in with Micus to muck it all up. And now, when I can finish this once and for all and be rid of angels and half-drow and priests of Cyric forever, you weave me into a snare impossible to untangle! I'm beginning to think you loathe me, wench.'
'It's the only way to get through to you, you bull-headed idiot!' Aliisza retorted. 'You're so damned eager to let blood, you never think. I'm beginning to wonder why I try so hard.'
Kaanyr's eyes bulged. 'Try? Is that what you call it? So far, everything you've tried has caused me untold trouble. And if I so annoy you, just leave! Quit making my life so complicated and just go!'
Aliisza stared at the cambion with a mixture of fury and sorrow and said nothing for several moments. She pursed her lips and glared at him. He thought she was on the verge of crying.
Wonderful, he thought. She's going to become a weeping mess again. 'What?' he asked, his voice softer. 'What are you trying to prove?'
The alu drew in a long breath and took hold of both of Kaanyr's arms. 'First,' she said, trying to keep her voice steady, 'I never meant to betray you. You must understand that.'
'Then why in all the Hells did you bring Micus?'
'Because a battle here was just what Zasian wanted. He needed the distraction so that Kashada could steal Azuth's staff. That's the vision I saw in the Eye of Savras.'
Her voice sounded so earnest, Kaanyr wanted to believe her. He suddenly felt guilty. 'Why didn't you come back sooner?' he asked. 'Tauran wouldn't wait, and I-'
'I don't know. Just know that I hurried to you as fast as I could to try to stop you.' She looked down, then, sounding defeated. 'I wasn't fast enough.'
Kaanyr began to understand. 'But you believed it strongly enough to work with Micus to stop us?' he asked. 'You were willing to surrender to our enemies just to keep us from realizing your vision?'
Aliisza nodded. 'Yes,' she said. 'I didn't want to, but it was the only way to reach you in time, to stop you. I have hated myself for it every moment since then.' She gave a forlorn laugh. 'And despite my betrayal, it all happened anyway.' She turned and gestured at their surroundings. 'Everything is destroyed. We're lost, adrift who- knows-where. And he'-she pointed at Zasian-'has the only means of keeping us alive right now.'
The sight of the man still boiled Kaanyr's blood, but he saw the wisdom in his consort's words.
'So save your vengeance for when the rest of us are safely somewhere else,' Aliisza said.
Kaanyr sighed. 'So be it,' he said, making up his mind to see the whole thing through. 'If what you say is true, then all we need to do is get Tauran awake and on his feet. Once he is recovered, we resolve this.' He glared at Zasian. 'I don't trust you. Whatever games you play, I will be watching you.' He turned and strode away, slamming his blade back in its sheath.
Garin surveyed the woods from his perch upon a branch high above the forest floor. He listened for the sound of upheaval, but for the moment, all was quiet.
He grew tense with expectation.
Smoke wafted through the trees below him, thick black stuff that stung the angel's eyes and made it difficult to see more than a few paces. Much of it came from the remains of the trees that had already burned, guttering embers that lay strewn all along the coarse, loamy ground. Some, however, spewed from the odd chasms and fumaroles that kept splitting the earth.
Below Garin, several hound archons waited, watching. They sniffed and coughed occasionally, but they were dedicated to their duties and would not leave their posts. One turned in his direction and gave an all-clear signal. The angel acknowledged the gesture then swung his gaze out across the treetops in search of other devas. He spied a few, watching as he did from the crowns of their own trees. Their expressions were every bit as wary and dire as his.
This cannot go on much longer, Garin thought. Tyr must regain some control over the region soon.
A howl came from nearby, a haunting sound nothing like the call of one of his faithful archon servants. Garin whipped his head and stared through the smoke, trying to spot the source. Below him, the hound archons stirred, raising their weapons.
Something came crashing through the trees, stampeding along the forest floor. Garin could feel it vibrating all the way up to where he sat.
'Get ready,' he called down. 'Hold the line.'
