truth.'
She tried to give her consort a defiant stare, but his expression never wavered. 'Very well,' she said at last, closing her eyes in defeat. 'I'll tell you what I can. Just let me rest a bit, first. What happened to Micus?' she asked, changing the subject.
'Gone,' Kaanyr replied, 'but not for long, I fear.'
'Good,' Aliisza said, thankful for even a brief chance to rest. 'Just give me a moment.'
'We may not have a moment,' the cambion said.
When Aliisza opened her eyes again and looked up at him, Kaanyr was staring at something in the other direction, down the beach. She stood and peered that way, too.
In the distance, a small band of beings moved toward them. Aliisza squinted and saw the muscle-bound ebony creatures spread broad, leathery wings and take flight. Wicked black horns sprouted from their heads, and they waved vicious weapons overhead as they closed the distance. Whatever they were, they were spoiling for a fight.
The hulking beasts followed a somewhat smaller but no less fearsome leader, also black and winged, although its body shimmered as it flew, the effect of shiny black scales. A tail fluttered behind it.
Aliisza swallowed hard, recognizing the source of the foul ambience of the place at last. 'Devils,' she murmured. 'Not good.'
'Hey!' Zasian said from behind Aliisza. 'Look!'
She turned, expecting to see that Zasian had spotted the same group of interlopers, but the priest pointed in the opposite direction.
The black waves of the sea had pushed the form of the great human figure Aliisza had seen before up onto the beach. The figure was indeed a man, though larger than any giant Aliisza might have imagined. The top of his head, resting on the gray sand, appeared so gargantuan that she imagined it rising fully three times her own height. A bedraggled, graying beard covered his wizened face, and his once-fine clothes marked him as noble.
Or a god, Aliisza thought, suddenly terrified, for she recognized that face from her vision within the Eye of Savras.
Azuth.
Is he slain too? she wondered. Can such possibly be? What is happening to the universe?
Aliisza turned away. Somehow, looking upon the face of a god, even one that might be dead, hurt. 'We need to go,' she said, trying to rise. 'Now.'
'I agree,' Kaanyr said, standing beside her and still looking at the gargantuan deity, 'but where?'
'Anywhere. Let's just get off the beach.'
'How are we going to move the others?' Kaanyr asked. 'We'll never outrun those fiends trying to carry them, and there's no way you can muster that magic trick again. You're exhausted as it is.'
'I'll just have to,' she said.
'No,' Kaanyr said, grabbing her shoulder. 'Don't.'
'What choice do we have?' she demanded. A part of her beamed at his concern.
Kaanyr looked at her helplessly and shrugged.
'Very well, then,' Aliisza said. She grimaced as she prepared to conjure the magic once more. She dreaded the pain and suffering. For a moment, she wasn't certain she could muster the willpower to subject herself to it again, but all it took was a glance down at Tauran and Kael's still forms to convince her. She drew a deep breath and braced herself.
A howl from a ridge of rock higher up the beach interrupted her.
A second horde of creatures swarmed into view.
Dozens of muscular, pasty-skinned humanoids took flight on matted feathered wings. Aliisza could see three red eyes blazing on each of their faces, and rows of sharp teeth filled their gaping mouths. Each thick arm ended in a deadly barbed claw that reached and grasped ahead as the creatures swooped toward the oncoming black- skinned fiends.
A crimson-skinned humanoid with a howling, feral-eyed hyena head led the newcomers. A snake protruded from the side of the monster's neck. The creature held a massive axe aloft as it screamed a war cry and commanded its charges to attack. He spoke in a language Aliisza understood all too well.
'Demons,' she breathed. 'Where in the blazes are we?'
The white-skinned things outnumbered the ebony fiends two to one, and they flew at the other creatures, who appeared just as eager to join the fray. In a matter of moments, the sky above the six castaways swarmed with white and black bodies clashing, screaming as they fought and died.
The crimson demon rushed to attack its own counterpart, the scaly-skinned devil. They slammed into one another with a vicious clang of weapon on weapon and became embroiled in a fierce battle of their own, whirling and slicing at one another as the war between their subordinates raged in the background.
For the moment at least, neither collection of fiends paid any attention to the six castaways sitting on the beach below.
'It's the Blood Rift,' Kaanyr murmured, staring at the fight in awe. 'How did we end up here?'
'What difference does it make?' Aliisza said, scrambling to her feet. 'Once the fight's over, whoever wins is going to turn on us. We must leave!'
As if to punctuate her point, one of the ebony devils darted out of the swarming maelstrom and swooped close to where Zasian and the unconscious bodies of Kael, Tauran, and the planetar lay. The priest shrieked and cowered. The devil pulled up and hovered, staring down at the still form of Tauran. Recognition gleamed in his eyes, and he gave a shout of triumph as he drew his trident back for a killing thrust.
At that moment, two of the white demons swooped in and bowled the devil over. He went tumbling through the air and flopped into the shallow water along the shore several paces away. The two white demons jumped on him and shredded him with their claws. Black blood and chunks of flesh spurted and flew everywhere as they rent the devil. When their prey was nothing but a pulpy mess, the two demons took to the air again and went back into the battle, seeking new opponents.
'Come on!' Aliisza said, conjuring a magical doorway. She hardly noticed that the outline glowed a deep blue instead of the familiar red. It matched the emanation shining from her own body. 'Push them through!' She bent down to hoist the planetar up and carry the celestial through her portal. 'We have to get out of here!'
Kaanyr shook his head as Aliisza instead staggered, overwhelmed by the gut-wrenching sickness that slammed into her. 'It's no use,' he said, pointing. 'The fight's over.'
Aliisza coughed and nearly vomited, but she managed to peer in the direction Kaanyr showed her. The demons were all but finished with the devils. The last few black-skinned creatures were down, overwhelmed by the pasty, hairless fiends. To one side, the crimson hyena-headed thing slammed its axe into the shoulder of its foe, taking the devil's arm off. Another stroke removed its head. When its enemy fell dead, the demon turned and sped straight toward the six stranded observers.
'Then you'd better hope,' Aliisza said, crumpling to the ground and gasping for breath, 'that they're interested in negotiating.'
Kaanyr cocked his head to one side. 'That's not a half-bad idea,' he said.
The crimson demon settled to the sand in front of Kaanyr. His white-skinned followers gathered around them and formed a circle to prevent anyone from escaping.
Beside Aliisza, Zasian curled up into a tiny ball and cowered.
'You are far from home, lord,' the crimson demon said. 'And you consort with wretched angels.' The demon pointed at Tauran's form. 'I shall enjoy flensing you for your treachery.'
'Do that, and your own lord will gut you like a pig and roast your innards. I come with important news.'
'Come?' the demon asked, looking at Kaanyr warily. 'Why here?'
'We are lost, trying to return to the Abyss. Help us, and you shall be rewarded.'
'Lies,' the crimson thing said, smiling. He looked to his underlings. 'Let us feast upon their tender flesh!'
'I have been to the angels' plane,' Kaanyr said, backing up a step as the demons closed in. 'I have spied on them. They are fools, and I know where they are weakest.'
'Kaanyr!' Aliisza growled under her breath. 'Don't!'
'Hush, fool alu,' Kaanyr whispered back. 'I know what I'm doing!'
'Tell me,' the demon leader said, 'and I will let you live.'
