'As you wish,' the angel said in answer. 'You serve of your own free will. But know this; should you interfere with my efforts at some point in the future, I will also have no compunction against dealing with you.' There was a hint of something dangerous in the deva's tone as he said that.
Aliisza nodded.
'Now then,' Tauran said, 'it's time to explain to you all that has happened since you escaped the garden. Incidentally, because of the nature of the portal you traversed to get here, time has flowed quite differently for you two than for Kael and me. Twelve years have passed since the day you entered the storm dragon's maw.'
Kaanyr's howl of anguish and betrayal made Aliisza clamp her hands over her ears.
CHAPTER TWO
Zasian reared back from the half-dragon sprawled before him. The priest expected the whelp of Clan Morueme to attack him the moment he became lucid, but Myshik only writhed upon the grass in obvious pain.
He burns, Zasian realized. Already, terrible lesions had formed on the bluish skin, ugly and red. Some had begun to fester, becoming yellow pustules. Vhok and Aliisza had had the benefit of the water, he remembered. The foul bile from the dragon's innards did not punish them as severely.
Myshik groaned and tried to wipe away the caustic fluids from the storm dragon's stomach that coated him, but each touch made him twitch and recoil. Zasian merely watched for a moment, wondering what had possessed the creature to follow him and the cambion through the portal. He's either a fool or totally devoted to his cause, the priest decided. Either way, I cannot have him interfering.
Zasian rose up, prepared to lash at Myshik with a rake of his claws. He would rend the draconic hobgoblin into pieces and be done with him. But Myshik saw the movement and sprawled forward onto his stomach as if in supplication.
'Master,' he said, almost plaintively, 'heal me and I am yours to command.'
Zasian halted his impending strike. 'Serve me?' he asked. He had not thought of such a possibility. 'Why would you choose to serve me now, after…' Suddenly, he realized that Myshik did not recognize him as the priest accompanying Vhok. The half-hobgoblin only perceived him as a great storm dragon.
'I am lost in this place, and you are kin,' Myshik said, looking up. 'Why would I not? All I ask is that you reward me for my faithful service, that I may some day return to my clan a hero.' He grimaced in pain.
Zasian wanted to smile. Yes, he thought, I'll reward you. But before I destroy you, perhaps I can make some use of you after all.
'Why are you here?' he demanded, letting the deep, rumbling voice of the storm dragon wash over Myshik. 'How did you come to be inside me?'
'I–I followed someone,' the draconic hobgoblin replied, sounding uncertain. 'The foe of my sire, a greedy fiend.' Myshik paused, grimacing. When the suffering lessened, he continued. 'He and another entered a most peculiar passage, perhaps a portal to this place. Did any others arrive as I did?'
'Why do you seek this fiend?' Zasian asked, letting his borrowed voice continue to boom. 'What interest does he hold for you?'
'It is my uncle's bidding that I slay this fiend. Back where I come from, he and his army encroach upon my clan's territory. If I were to defeat him and return home with proof of the deed, I would be honored among my kind.'
Zasian considered a moment. 'Very well,' he said, 'I will accept your servitude. Our purposes might not be so crossed, it would seem.'
Do you know the efreeti saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Zasian wondered. But he kept his identity to himself.
The priest contemplated how best to heal the creature abasing himself before him. Between the battle within the sultan's palace and the unexpected fight with the angel and his sidekick upon arriving on the plane, Zasian had exhausted the majority of his divine magic. After fleeing from the deva, he had needed the rest of it to treat his own wounds. He had nothing left to give, at least for the moment.
Besides, he thought, I don't want to give too much away about myself. He wouldn't suspect a dragon of such divine power as I have, so why tip my hand? Zasian had an idea.
'Can you travel?' he asked Myshik.
The hobgoblin nodded.
'Then I will bear you to a place where you can bathe in the very energy of the gods. The waters I know of will cleanse you of any taints and poisons, scour away your wounds, and fill you with the power to aid me as only a suitable servant should. In return for this boon, I expect you to hold to this bargain we make here. If you break our agreement, I will hunt you down and destroy you. Is that understood?'
Myshik nodded. 'I so swear it.'
Without further deliberation, Zasian scooped the draconic creature up and hoisted him into the air. Once aloft, he began beating his powerful wings, flying into the howling wind, taking them both toward the heart of the House of the Triad.
'We can't stay out here in this!' Tauran screamed, but Aliisza could barely hear him. The chill, biting wind stole his words away as it lashed the four travelers. Stinging sleet pelted them as they descended through gray, roiling clouds, making the alu squint. When a particularly vicious gust pummeled her, Aliisza went tumbling and nearly lost sight of her companions.
This can't be right, Aliisza thought, struggling to straighten herself. We should have left those storms behind by now.
Nearby, Kaanyr also fought to remain aloft. The howling gale buffeted him, spinning him like desiccated leaves churned up from the forest floor. His cloak whipped around his body, periodically enveloping his head. He yanked it free and pushed onward, seemingly oblivious to the stinging pellets of ice.
Through it all, the cambion never stopped scowling.
It's his own fault, Aliisza thought, flapping her own wings with furious strokes to close the distance between herself and Tauran. She had to stay close enough to avoid losing sight of the deva, but not so close that they might collide because of the storm. He's so bull-headed lately.
The cambion had screamed and ranted at the other three for several long moments after Tauran's shocking revelation. Stunned herself, Aliisza hardly noticed his reaction at the time.
Twelve years? she had thought. How is that possible?
But Tauran had been forthright, and Kaanyr realized that he had been duped, had been played despite all his careful scrutiny of his deal with the angel. He had yanked Burnblood free, but even with all the rage spilling from him, the cambion was unable to strike at any of them. The magical coercion that Tauran had woven into the bargain prevented Vhok from interfering with the objectives or its participants. Aliisza realized only later that her decision to aid in the quest had spared her from Kaanyr's attack.
Not that he hadn't tried, she remembered. In his moment of unreasoning outrage, she had seen the burning hatred in his eyes, watched as the muscles corded in his neck from the strain of wanting to kill her then and there. For whatever reasons, real or imagined, he blamed her for his predicament.
He let himself fall into Tauran's trap, I had nothing to do with it. Well, that's not exactly true, she admitted, feeling a rather uncomfortable emotion.
It surprised the alu that she could experience such a debilitating thing as guilt. In the past, she had always blamed such silly frailties on the human side of her and then promptly buried them, but she found herself reluctant to tamp down her own emotions at that moment. Perhaps the time spent in Tauran's care had affected her more than she might have liked.
Never mind, she told herself. Just keep up!
Tauran was saying something and gesturing downward, but Aliisza could not hear the angel's words. Nonetheless, she nodded and tried to follow, her flight made clumsy in the gale.
Just beyond Tauran, Aliisza could barely make out Kael's form. Her son was also fighting the wind, working to fly where the deva directed. Wings that had sprouted from his boots bore him, and though to the alu's eye they
