motioned for Oshiga to lead the way. 'Unless there's more to your message than that.'
Oshiga nodded as they strolled down the hall. 'There is. Erathaol has been receiving reports for quite some time now. I haven't been privy to all of them-and I don't know the details contained within any-but apparently, these waves of magic are different.' He paused. 'They are having a strange effect on the places they touch. The edges of the House have even felt their impact, where the passage to the World Tree once stood. We are receiving news that the fabric of reality is changing there. Not just the land, but those caught up in it.'
'I see. And what is happening to these poor unfortunates?'
Oshiga sighed. 'A few grow very sick. Many perish.'
He paused, grimacing, as if what he had to add was too distasteful for him to repeat. 'And the rest suffer strange transformations.'
'A plague?' she asked. 'A plague of magic?' Oshiga nodded. 'Yes. These transformations are often gruesome, from what I have heard thus far.'
'Can they be aided?' she asked. 'Healed or restored? Should I venture somewhere where I can be of more help?'
'I do not know,' Oshiga said, spreading his hands apart helplessly. 'I truly cannot counsel you on what this means, or what you might choose to do about it. I just thought you'd want to know.'
Eirwyn frowned. 'Thank you. Perhaps there is something useful for me in the-' A thought whirled through her head. 'You said that planes are vanishing. Correct?'
'Yes.' He tilted his head to one side, giving his counterpart a puzzled look. 'Why?'
'Suppose some of them aren't merely vanishing, but disintegrating? What if this place I have been seeing in my dreams didn't yet exist, until this immense tragedy broke something free, created the crystalline fortress?'
Oshiga caught her meaning. 'If we were trying to ascertain the identity of something that we assumed already existed, but it did not, then the seeking book would have a difficult time revealing useful results. Everything we came up with must exist now, but have some connection with the future and your mysterious site.'
'Precisely,' Eirwyn said, growing excited. 'We've been searching wrong. We need to project this fortress as something that will be, rather than something that is.'
'Unless it has come into being since we last attempted to focus on it.'
'There would be no way to tell,' she admitted. 'We would need to tease the book into 'guessing' for us. Can you do that?'
'I believe I can,' the archon replied.
Together, they hurried to the library chamber to commence their new search.
Much later, after they had worked to produce a new list and had poured over the resulting collection of books, Eirwyn uncovered a telling bit of information. She reread the entry, wanting to make sure. Satisfied that what she had found was both accurate and useful, she showed it to Oshiga.
The trumpet archon nodded. 'Yes,' he said. 'I think that must be it.' He sat back and looked at Eirwyn. 'Now the question is: what must you do about it?'
Eirwyn took a deep breath and said, 'I must go there. I can feel it. Whatever the terrifying dream I have been experiencing is trying to tell me, the answer lies there.'
'Yes,' Oshiga said, rising from his seat. 'I believe you must.' He began to pace. 'But you cannot simply set out blindly. This is no ordinary journey, even for an angel of your extraordinary talents. With the chaos rampant everywhere, it would be folly to journey there unprepared, by yourself.'
Eirwyn fanned her hands. 'Perhaps, but I have little choice. My patron is no more. I cannot call on others to accept this task alongside me.'
'That may be,' Oshiga replied, smiling. 'But I do not think your prospects are so slim. You have demonstrated a remarkable level of perseverance in the face of such adversity. Other patrons will welcome you into the fold, should you wish it.'
Eirwyn felt a rush of nerves course through her. She had kept the debate over accepting patronage from another deep inside herself, not wishing to confront the issue of whether to change her allegiance after Helm's demise. It was too painful to contemplate. She felt like a traitor, betraying everything she had dedicated herself to serving.
'I cannot,' she answered softly. 'Not yet. It's too soon.'
Oshiga tilted his head. 'Is it? I cannot tell you what the right course is in this matter, but perhaps you should ask yourself whether you are truly best serving your cause by permitting your grief to render you impotent, immobile. In this time of need, do you do the just thing, or the selfish thing?'
Eirwyn glared at Oshiga, who sat across from her. How dare you, she thought. You know nothing of the pain and tragedy of losing your deity. But she let the anger subside and stared down at the surface of the table. 'Your insight may be accurate,' she said softly. 'However, it does not change my reluctance. Helm was as selfless in his love for me as any I could imagine, and I fear the disservice I do to him by tarnishing that love.'
Oshiga pursed his lips. 'Even Helm would see you move beyond such a relationship when duty and others had need of you.'
Eirwyn knew he was right, and she felt a little part of herself being wrenched free, torn from her heart. She wanted to weep. 'I know,' she said, 'but I know of no power I wish to swear my allegiance to. I cannot bear to think of it.'
Oshiga smiled. 'I do not think you need to,' he said, his tone filled with compassion. 'You have already done so much in the service of so many. The mountain itself has embraced you, Eirwyn. You are a child of the heavens, a celestial creature heart and soul. Why not draw your spiritual energy from the entirety of the plane? Why not refill your heart with the love of Celestia itself?'
Eirwyn considered his words. It was not unheard of for certain angelic beings to dedicate themselves to the righteousness of ideals, and the lands from which they flowed, rather than to a divine creature. She had forsworn obeying Tyr's law because she believed it was more important to uphold the values under which even he lived.
How would it be any different? she wondered. I have pledged myself to this philosophy. Can the philosophy not grant me strength and power in return?
Slowly, as the realization filled her that she had been living her life dedicated to Celestia all along, Eirwyn began to smile. In that moment of recognition, Eirwyn felt hope and energy wash over her again.
It felt good.
'I thank you,' she said to Oshiga, who smiled.
'I am deeply proud to be of service.' He stood and looked officious. 'Now,' he continued, 'we must prepare you for your journey. It will not be an easy one.'
Later, as the trumpet archon led Eirwyn away from the Seer's domain and back into the skies of the House of the Triad, they did not notice the pair of figures that followed them.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Fuming, Aliisza squeezed through a narrow gap in the tunnel. Gods and devils, Kaanyr, what were you thinking? 'Let's find another route and flank them.' Brilliant if you know the tunnels well, but I'm so turned around now, I've got no idea where we are. And now they're chasing us, and you've gotten too far ahead. Wait for me, you thrice-damned-
She cast a quick glance behind her and spied the bearded devil that was chasing her. He caught up to her and swung his heavy polearm, topped with a thick, serrated chopping blade, at her head.
She ducked and the blade whistled over her.
A sharp ring of steel on stone reverberated just behind her ear. Chips of stone sprayed the back of her neck. Aliisza pushed past the bottleneck in the passage, then she turned to face her pursuer again. He grinned at her, licking his cracked, blackened lips, and thrust his blade through the gap for another attack.
Aliisza grimaced, shook her head in disgust, and lunged away. The stretch of tunnel before her opened up
