Aliisza gasped. 'Demons,' she said. 'Does that mean-?' Kaanyr. It's just what you would do, isn't it?
'Yes,' Kael replied. 'Tauran and I agree. If Kaanyr is with them, he will try to reach the Lifespring.'
'It would be the final insult hurled at us,' Tauran said. 'Invade the blessed House, find and bathe in the Lifespring. The one thing he sought in all this and was ultimately denied.'
'He shouldn't be allowed anywhere near it,' Aliisza said.
'No, he shouldn't,' Tauran agreed. 'Even on principle alone, I would deny him that which he desires most. But beyond that, with the power of the Lifespring at his disposal, he could become a dangerous force for the abyssal lords.'
Aliisza bit her lip. The pain of his betrayal was still fresh. She wanted to hide away, wanted to avoid seeing the cambion again. But too much was a stake.
'We must stop him,' she said.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
'Are you sure?' Garin asked, offering a sincere yet hopeful smile. 'We could really use you with us.'
Nilsa, whose haunted expression bespoke her struggle to come to grips with Tyr's abdication, added, 'It's going to get rough today.'
Eirwyn nodded and offered her own apologetic smile. 'Yes,' she said. 'Though I know the importance of getting every possible soldier on the battlefield, I sense that I am needed elsewhere.'
As if to reinforce the grimness of the moment, a band of high clouds drifted across the sun, bringing a hint of gloom. They stood on a small, high plaza, near the very top of the tallest buildings of the Court, where the breezes were fresher and unimpeded. The wind ruffled the angel's hair and carried the barest hint of an odor of smoke upon it.
Most of the angels or the Court and Trueheart had already headed toward the front, preparing for the impending onslaught of demons headed toward the House. The great hall of Tyr stood nearly empty below the trio.
'What have we come to?' Garin said softly. 'The end of an age? Is this how even the gods pass?'
'Don't say that,' Nilsa admonished, her sorrowful look deepening. 'Tyr has chosen to walk among his people as a warrior once more. When this unpleasant business is finished, and he has cleared his head of whatever troubles him, all will be set right.'
'I hope, for both your sakes, that it is so,' Eirwyn said. She reached out and clasped both Garin and Nilsa on the shoulder. 'I understand the pain you are feeling. I pray that your sadness, unlike mine when Helm fell, is brief and supplanted by joy again very soon.' She paused and cast her gaze down at the stones between their feet. The next part was harder to say. 'I want both of you to know that I bear neither of you any ill will. You have been loyal servants of Tyr, and now Torm, and none can fault you for fulfilling your duties.'
'Thank you,' Garin said, and he sounded genuinely relieved. 'I'm sorry it came to all this.'
Nilsa didn't say anything, but she came toward Eirwyn and hugged her tightly.
When Eirwyn pulled back at last, she said, 'We all still fight the fight of law and goodness. I am with you in spirit. But I must do this. I sense its importance.'
Nilsa looked doubtful, but Garin gave one knowing nod in return. 'Very well, then,' he said, 'You do what you must. We will miss you.'
'May the blessings of Ty-of Torm be with you,' Eirwyn said. 'Drive them from our holy lands.'
'We will,' Garin said. He and Nilsa turned to go. They leaped into the air together and swooped out over the railing, leaving Eirwyn standing upon the balcony of the Court by herself. Her eyes followed them as they soared down and away from her, until they were nothing more than tiny specks upon the horizon.
Eirwyn fought a brief pang of guilt for not going with them to Deepbark Hollow to face the invading demons. The angels and archons there were in for a terrible fight. They would need every last able body they could muster.
You have other matters to attend to, she reminded herself. They will prevail without you.
Eirwyn fanned her wings and leaped into the sky, soaring aloft into the gray afternoon. Despite its emptiness, she felt a pall on the House, a grim foreboding of what was to come. She wondered whether Tyr still dwelt within, if the melancholy she felt emanated from the former god, radiating his sorrow.
He still commands an impressive presence, Eirwyn realized. He knows much blood will be spilled before the day is through. He laments how many celestial creatures will die today.
Many more demons will perish, she thought. The House of the Triad will stand against all evil.
With that resolute thought firmly in her mind, Eirwyn winged her way in the opposite direction of Garin and Nilsa, heading toward another part of the plane, on the far side of the great mountain of Celestia. The fresh wind blew at her back, and she quickly left the gleaming white of the Court behind her.
She couldn't say with certainty what led her in the direction she had chosen, only a divine sense, a calling that her presence was needed. That was the way of things with her divinations. She could not always explain why she felt what she did, only that the urges were invariably accurate. She felt a familiar comfort in it all.
As she flew beneath the darkening clouds, she tried to gauge where she ought to seek. She followed her instincts, altering direction more than once as she felt herself getting off course. Before long, she realized where she was headed.
The Lifespring.
That was odd. She would not expect anyone to be there, not on that day. Everyone would be at the front, fighting to hold back the tide of demons who were trying to break through the weak point of the plane. Then a glimmer of an idea occurred to her.
I wonder… Tauran, I feel your hand in this once more.
Suspicious that she was on a collision course with old friends and enemies alike, she surged ahead with renewed determination.
When Eirwyn reached the great floating mountain hovering among the clouds, the beach appeared deserted. The golden waters churned within the great basin, tossed about by the brisk winds that blew across them. She was tempted for a moment to take a quick dip, to allow the healing touch of the magical forces there to soothe her weary body and mind, but she resisted. A sense of urgency buzzed in the back of her mind. Whatever had drawn her here, it demanded her immediate attention.
She descended to a point along the narrow beach near where the flowing waters spilled over the side and disappeared into endless white below. She settled onto the sand there and looked around, trying to find some sign of what she was meant to do. Nothing caught her attention.
Eirwyn frowned. If Tauran has need of me here…
She could not shake the feeling that she was not alone.
'Eirwyn!' a voice called from high above.
… he would be in his favorite spot, Eirwyn finished, grinning.
The angel turned and craned her neck, seeking Tauran. She spotted him easily, standing near the apex of the highest, sharpest pinnacle of rock, where the waters flowed out of the mountain to splash into the pool below.
Tauran waved to her and motioned to her to join him. She could see that others were there as well.
Eirwyn took flight again and headed to the top. When she settled upon the stone outcropping of rock, she found Kael, Aliisza, and the drow wizard with Tauran.
Tauran stood before her, and she was struck by how weary he appeared. His hair, always so golden in the sun, had become a muted brassy shade and didn't retain its luster of before. His face was gaunt. His eyes had sunken a bit into his skull.
She embraced Tauran and held him tightly for a long moment. She could feel the tension in him, but she refused to let go until some of it drained away, and then she was practically holding him upright.
'The road has been long, my friend,' she whispered to him. 'But I still feel the strength of righteousness within you. And I am here to share your burden, as 1 know you would share mine.'
Tauran clenched her more tightly, then released her and stepped back. A small glimmer of gratitude shone in his eyes. 'Thank you,' he said, his voice thick.
