'I am. But I have to stop Zasian. Now, please! Quit fighting me and help us. Please!'
'No!' Micus cried. 'Surrender! Redeem yourself!'
'I can't do that,' Tauran said. 'Not until I've stopped Zasian. When that's done, I will gladly surrender to you.' The angel took a deep breath. 'Now. Garin is gravely injured. When you awaken, heal him. And tell him I'm sorry. It should never have come to this.'
Micus tried to say something else, but he was rapidly losing consciousness. He struggled feebly for a few heartbeats more then began to sag. When he went limp, Tauran held the headlock a moment longer, then released the other angel.
A crowd had gathered around the scene of the fight, and a trio of archons emerged from the palace. Kael stepped between them and the rest of the group, his blade barring their way.
Tauran stood and glared at Kaanyr. 'Where did you get that blade? Garin might die from that foul thing!'
Kaanyr sneered. 'Oh, you're quite welcome. Glad to come to your rescue, noble angel.'
Tauran took a step toward Kaanyr, but Aliisza was between them in a flash. 'Stop!' she shouted. 'What's done is done!'
Tauran hesitated, still glaring.
Kaanyr tightened his grip on his blade, but he didn't strike the angel. He wondered which of them Aliisza thought she was protecting. Him or me? He stared at her, feeling jealousy boil up again. It's time she sees the truth, he decided.
He gave the deva a surly smirk and waved his hand in dismissal. 'You're so weak. I should have killed Garin. It would have been the smart thing to do. You should slay this fool right now'-he pointed at Micus-'and be rid of his pestering. But I abided by your wishes and spared them both.'
Tauran's eyes narrowed, and he clenched both hands into fists. 'I should slay you right now and be done with your foul, corrupt influence.'
Kaanyr turned to Aliisza then. 'Do you see?' he said, pointing at Tauran. 'Do you see what you're getting tangled up with? He will never love you. Not like I do. He can't; he's too bound by honor, too caught up in doing what's right. And you've got the blood of a demon flowing through you. What can possibly come of that but ruin?'
Aliisza stared at the cambion, wide-eyed. She worked her mouth to retort, but nothing came out.
Kaanyr waved his hand, dismissing her, too. 'Fool alu,' he grumbled.
'Enough,' Kael said quietly, placing a hand on Tauran's shoulder. 'We've worn out our welcome here. Those archons didn't want any part of us by themselves, and they retreated inside again. But they will be back with reinforcements. We must go. We have to find Zasian.'
Tauran's jaw flexed, then the anger seemed to go out of him. 'Yes, of course,' he said. 'Thank you for reminding me, Kael.'
Kaanyr shook his head in disgust. 'I guarantee you, they will be trouble again. Your foolish benevolence will come back to haunt you. Mark my words.'
Tauran ignored him. 'We must be gone before Micus awakens,' he said. 'Vhok, can you fly?'
'As a matter of fact,' the half-fiend answered smugly, 'I can.' He took hold of the new cape he had donned and spread it out behind himself. 'Lead on, O wise Captain!'
Tauran gave Kaanyr a sidelong glance, but he did not rise to the bait. 'Let's go, then.' He took to the air.
Beside him, Aliisza still stared. He met her gaze and saw searing anger.
'Bastard,' she spat. 'You'll never change. You'll never get those self-righteous, condescending blinders off your eyes and see the wider world around you. I should have known better than to start believing you could.' She took to the air without a glance back.
Damn straight I won't change, Kaanyr thought, staring after her. I know who I am.
Tauran led them. As they flew, they passed countless wondrous sights, but Kaanyr did not notice them. He struggled to come to grips with the fact that he was losing the alu. He did not want it to matter so much, but it did.
Maybe it's because of whom I'm losing her to, he thought. I just don't get what she sees in him. What can he possibly offer her that I cannot?
The four travelers drew near the edge of the city, and Kaanyr realized the entire community sat beneath a massive, shimmering dome of some transparent substance. Beyond it, a sea of blackness filled with countless stars stretched forever. Where it met the ground, numerous gates punctured it, and Tauran led them to one such portal-a massive pair of valves. As they neared the gate, the angel dropped low and landed.
'We can reach the Eye this way,' the deva said as he walked to the towering doors, which stood open. There were surprisingly few people passing either in or out of the gate. 'It exists in a set of caverns, below the city.'
'Will they let us through?' Aliisza asked. 'Do you think they've heard about what happened yet?'
'I don't know. We'll find out. Be ready, but don't get jumpy. Any of you.' He looked directly at Kaanyr.
The cambion gave a mocking, ingratiating smile and nodded. 'As you command, O Captain.'
The hound archons guarding the great gate wore different clothing from those that had been at the Palace of Myriad Amazements. Instead of livery and weapons, they dressed in simple robes, like the monks of numerous orders on Toril. They eyed the four visitors as Kaanyr and the others approached and one of them moved to greet them.
'Welcome, strangers. Have you come to pay homage to Savras the All-Seeing?'
Kaanyr noted that a symbol of a scrying globe filled with eyes adorned the breast of the creature's robes.
'Yes, and also to seek his wisdom,' Tauran answered. 'May we enter?'
The archon studied them all for a long moment. 'You do not seem likely followers of He of the Third Eye.'
'Our need is great,' Tauran said, 'and our generosity greater,' he added, holding out his mace. 'An offering for the honor of entering.'
The archon's eyes widened. 'Your need must be great, if you are willing to surrender this,' he said. He took the holy weapon and studied it for a moment. 'It is useless to us, angel. You know that. None but your kind may wield it. It holds no value for any but you.'
'Perhaps, but it is all I have to offer, and isn't the point to give more than you can afford?'
The archon smiled. 'Indeed. It is a symbol of all that. Very well. You may enter the Eye. Do you know the way from here?'
'I think we can find it.'
The archon nodded and stepped aside, motioning for them to pass through the gates.
Once they were beyond the portal, they found themselves on the edge of a plateau. The path before them wound toward the bottom, a switchback that disappeared from sight because of the steepness.
Kaanyr noticed Kael was smiling. 'What are you grinning at, fool knight?' he asked.
Kael didn't answer, but Aliisza grabbed Tauran's arm and turned him toward her.
'How could you do that?' she demanded. 'You gave up your sacred mace! An angel never does that!'
'Never by choice,' he said. 'But our need is great.' Then he produced a similar weapon, which he had kept hidden in his tunic. 'But that wasn't my mace.' He smiled. 'It was Micus's.'
Aliisza giggled.
Kaanyr grimaced. 'Very deceptive, deva,' he said. 'My bad influence must be rubbing off on you.'
Tauran gave the cambion a haughty stare. 'Much more than I would like, cambion.'
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The four of them took to the air then, flying down the side of the great plateau upon which Dweomerheart rested. No land stretched beyond its base. Instead, the whole thing floated in the great field of stars. The night sky stretched out both above and below.
