The High Councilor called for quiet once more, but it took him shouting, 'Silence!' in a thunderous, commanding tone before all became calm again.
'In light of the evidence,' the High Councilor said in a tone that suggested he would brook no further outbursts, 'coupled with my own grave concerns about the intentions of these fiends in our midst, you are hereby ordered to your quarters until further notice, while an inquiry is launched into your behavior. That applies to both of you,' he added, pointing to Kael.
The half-drow bowed his head, remorse filling him, both at his own improper actions in the face of the Council and at their knee-jerk reactions.
'And what of Aliisza and Vhok?' Tauran asked, his tone neutral. 'What is to become of them?'
Kael could hardly imagine the effort it took his mentor to remain so calm in the face of such betrayal.
'They are intruders, High Councilor,' Micus argued. 'Both of them. Aliisza violated the terms of her stay with us when she fled in her son's body, and her efforts to assist Vhok's intrusion condemns her equally.'
'Indeed,' the solar said. 'For now they will be required to remain under guard, until this inquiry can sort everything out. I put you in charge of their care, Micus. Make certain that they do not-'
Kael was knocked from his feet as the hemispherical chamber lurched violently to one side. He stumbled to his knees and slid across the rapidly tilting floor. He heard the concerned shouts of the angels, deva and solar alike, all around him. The half-drow righted himself and took to the air, using the magic of his winged boots.
The chamber shook again, and a great, deafening peal of cracking stone pulsed through it. Kael clamped his hands over his ears and peered around, seeking the source of the noise. The majority of the white, glowing dome had shattered overhead. A multitude of jagged shards of the strange, glassy material rained down upon the occupants. Lashing wind howled through the opening and whipped the myriad fragments around in a deadly storm.
Kael flinched away and hid his face. He prayed to Torm that his armor would shield him from the worst of the flying debris. The half-drow felt the shards pelt him, crashing against the metal outfit. The sound was horrendous, a cacophony of tinkling and breaking, like poorly made chimes. The swirling material stung every bit of exposed flesh.
Suddenly, the storm was over. The wind still howled, but the maelstrom of broken, jagged debris had vanished. Kael risked a look around and saw everyone else in the chamber doing the same. Tauran and Micus were both bloodied in many places, their white garments stained red. They eyed each other and the members of the Council. The solars had been left unscathed, and the High Councilor held his hand aloft in a finished gesture.
He put a stop to it, Kael decided. Banished the shards with his divine power.
The roar of another deep-throated rumble coursed through the chamber from beyond its ruined walls, and the world shook again. Kael stared upward through the gaping hole in the ceiling and gasped.
The view was surreal, something from a nightmare.
The very sky had fractured. Some of it was night, studded with stars, while in other places the red glow of sunset or the wispy white of clouds shone through. Every bit of it drifted and tumbled, like individual windows peering into other worlds or pieces of a broken and scattering image, a stained glass window burst from its frame.
Another rumble shook the world, and the hemisphere ripped in half.
The solars vanished, winked out like fireflies on a summer night. Micus disappeared too, leaving only Tauran and Kael hovering in the middle of the destruction.
As the chamber separated and began to fall away to either side of him, Kael felt the storm's full force. It lashed against him from every direction, sending him spinning. His boots were useless. He flailed, terrified that he would be dashed against some remnant of the world, crushed between massive blocks of whirling, spinning stone and earth. It was the end of all things, he was certain.
Tauran grabbed hold of Kael. The half-drow flinched, then was thankful for the anchor point. The angel drew him close and wrapped his wings around the armored warrior in a protective embrace. 'Hold still!' he shouted over the incessant roar of the wind, and Kael did so, trying to become small within the feathered barrier. He felt his ears pop as something around him shifted, and he squeezed his eyes shut.
There was blessed quiet.
The half-drow felt the two of them settle onto something hard, and Tauran stepped away, leaving Kael standing on his own. He opened his eyes and peered around.
The two of them stood within the columned temple of the storm dragon, where he and Tauran had discovered Aliisza, Vhok, and Zasian.
Kael realized he was holding his breath, and he let it out with a gushing sigh. The sound of water dripping blended with the faint roar of the storms raging beyond the walls of the temple.
'What happened?' he asked, turning to stare out at the cloud tops. They roiled as always, crackling with flashes of lightning.
'It's Helm,' Tauran said, and the tone of his voice scared Kael like nothing else before.
He spun to confront his mentor.
The angel's face wore such a look of despair and sorrow that it nearly made Kael drop to the floor and weep. 'What?' he whispered, terrified of the answer. 'What happened to him?'
Tauran drew a deep, shuddering breath before answering. 'He's fallen in battle. Tyr has slain him.'
Myshik feared being left within that sphere. He would suppose later that it was only a brief time, but while he was within, it lasted an eternity. Kashada had vanished, leaving him in solitude, and all he could think of was being trapped, with nothing but light on every side. He remembered the woman's craze-filled eyes and shuddered.
Tekthyrios! he called. She has fled! Return me to the surface!
The storm dragon did not answer, and Myshik fought his rising panic. The idea that he had been duped by the great wyrm was unbearable. Tekthyrios!
Easy, small one, the dragon finally answered. She is here, with me, but still uncertain of herself. Let me calm her, and then I will bring you back up. A little patience!
Myshik did not respond. He stared around the extent of the sphere. Without shadows, the half-dragon found it hard to maintain a sense of the size of the place, but in his barely contained panic, he was certain it was growing smaller. He was on the verge of screaming at the storm dragon again when he began to rise through the air, up into the highest point of the sphere and beyond. That same sensation of the stone and earth sliding through him was much more welcome the second time.
At last he stood on the surface, within the small grotto. Tekthyrios sat there next to a beautiful, mysterious creature. Myshik supposed it was Kashada, though she was nothing like he had seen of her within the sphere.
A tall, lithe woman stared at him from behind a hood and veil made of equal parts black cloth and shadows. Her eyes, once so feverish with dementia, studied him with keen interest. As black as midnight, they bored into his very core. For a long moment, Myshik noticed nothing else, but finally he managed to tear his gaze away from hers and see the rest of her.
She was swathed in tight-fitting black clothes, reminiscent of an assassin's garb. They, like the hood and veil, danced with shadows. The ensemble made Myshik's eyes hurt, and when he glanced away, she seemed to vanish several times. Forcing himself to keep her firmly in view, the hobgoblin studied the rest of her newfound gear. A belt kept several sheathed daggers handy at her waist, and he noted two more protruding from the tops of her soft black boots. She stood on the balls of her feet, light and delicate, ready to spring in any direction.
'Myshik,' Tekthyrios said from beside the mysterious woman. 'This is Kashada.'
Without waiting for the half-dragon to say anything, Kashada bowed with a deep flourish. 'My thanks for your part in my rescue,' she said. Her voice was soft, throaty, little more than a sultry whisper. 'That… place'-and she seemed to shudder, though Myshik wasn't certain he saw it clearly-'was unbearable.'
'I only spent a moment there, and I can imagine,' the hobgoblin replied. Then he turned to Tekthyrios. 'Now that we have rescued your prize, what are your intentions?'
Tekthyrios laughed, a deep rumble that reverberated through the grotto. 'She is but the first of many, my eager little half-dragon,' he said, fanning his wings. 'There are much bigger prizes awaiting us. But we must bide our time for a bit, wait for the sign to come.'
Myshik cocked his head to one side. 'What sign?' he asked.
A sudden roar filled the sky above, and all three flinched from it. The draconic hobgoblin risked a glance
