A crowd of folk, humans by the look of them, had gathered. Many just stood watching helplessly as others tried to douse the flames with buckets of water. Tauran moved among the fire brigade and frantically gestured with his hands. At first, Kaanyr thought the angel was telling them to get away from the conflagration. He quickly realized his mistake when a cascade of water tumbled from nowhere upon the flames. Though the divinely summoned water diminished the fire, it was not enough. Already, smoke poured off a nearby barn.
Gods and devils, the cambion silently swore. Forget the fire! Get these cretins out of here!
Aliisza reached Tauran and Kaanyr could see her grab him by the shoulder. The alu had shifted her form slightly, looking completely human, though she had not changed her features. She spun the angel around and pointed into the sky at the drifting crag that approached. Kaanyr reached them just as Tauran's eyes grew wide in disbelief. Kaanyr glanced at the huge bulwark again and saw that it was on a trajectory to pass right over them, on a course to strike the far side of the mass of earth upon which they stood.
It missed us, he thought, relieved.
'We must get these folk to safety!' the angel shouted. 'Hurry!'
Kaanyr looked at Tauran, confused. 'It won't strike here!' he replied, pointing downward, at his feet. 'It's going over there,' he said, pointing into the distance. 'The hamlet is safe.'
Tauran shook his head. 'It doesn't matter. Once they collide, this whole island will be rocked to its core. It might begin to shift sideways, or worse yet, shatter and crumble apart beneath our feet. We have to get them off!' He gestured at the folk around them.
'That's a fool's errand, and you know it!' Kaanyr said, shaking his head. 'Let's just be about our business. Surely catching Zasian is more important than dealing with these lackeys.'
The villagers, their attention drawn away from the fire and toward the looming threat of the great mass of rock, began to panic. A few screamed while others raced around, running everywhere at once. A couple jostled Kaanyr as they fled.
Tauran pursed his lips. 'No,' he said firmly, 'we must help them. I can't force you to assist me, but-'
'I already convinced him that Zasian could be behind this!' Kael interjected, shouting to be heard over the roar of the flames and the screams of the villagers. 'He might have created it as a distraction for something else!'
Tauran nodded as if warming to the idea. 'Yes, perhaps,' he said. 'We may need to investigate this fire, question these folk. You are bound, Vhok. Help them!'
Kaanyr narrowed his eyes in fury. 'What the Hells do you want from me?' he yelled at the angel. 'I'm no good to you dead!'
'Gather the folk in the meadow outside of town,' Tauran said to Kael. 'Keep them there until I return. I'm going for more help.' With that, he took to the air and hovered there a moment. 'Citizens!' he shouted, his voice magically amplified and echoing across the village above the sound of the wind and flames. 'Stay calm! My companions and I will aid you, but you must do as we ask. Follow their directions, and I will return soon!' He looked down at Kaanyr and gave the cambion a pointed look. 'Do it,' he said. Then he whirled, beat his wings furiously, and soared off into the storm-tossed sky.
'Cursed angels!' Kaanyr shouted after the rapidly diminishing figure. 'So blasted arrogant!'
'Just get them-' Kael said, but a deafening rumble cut his words off. The ground pitched beneath their feet, knocking them both down.
The two islands collided.
Kaanyr felt the shock waves as tons of rock ground together. The earth buckled and shifted. The force of the collision sent trees flying. Soil shot into the air and then, caught in the wind, began swirling and darkening the sky like some terrible black rain.
'By the Blind One!' Kael bellowed, scrambling to gather himself. 'Watch it!' He leaped toward Kaanyr, grabbing the cambion and yanking him to one side.
Where Vhok had been sprawled a moment before, the remains of a chimney attached to the longhouse came crashing down, sending shards of stone and dirt everywhere. The bits of debris stung Kaanyr's face and eyes. The longhouse, already mostly an inferno, collapsed a heartbeat later. The implosion sent a shower of sparks up and outward, pelting those nearby with embers and spreading thick, black smoke everywhere. The screams of burned folk rose in pitch and intensity.
Kaanyr looked at Kael for a moment, torn between his disdain and a grudging appreciation for the half-drow's effort to rescue him. But the holy warrior was already on his feet, moving off to shout instructions to the people and heal the wounded.
'Kaanyr!' It was Aliisza shouting from across open ground. The cambion looked in her direction and saw her near a collapsed dwelling. She was kneeling as though she had been peering into the interior of the structure. When she caught his eye, the alu motioned frantically for him to come to her.
Vhok scrambled to his feet and moved toward Aliisza even as the ground rumbled and shuddered again beneath him. Already, the cambion could sense a change. It was tilting. Tauran had been right; the collision was slowly upending the whole island.
'What?' he demanded, reaching the half-fiend. He squatted next to her. 'What is it?' he asked, staring where she peered.
'I think there's someone trapped in there,' Aliisza said, pointing. 'I thought I heard a scream just as it began to fall.'
'Probably already dead,' Kaanyr said, rising. He reached down to take Aliisza by the arm. 'Nothing more to do here,' he added. 'Come.'
'Wait!' Aliisza said, resisting his tug. 'I can hear crying. I think it's a baby.'
Damnation, Kaanyr silently groused. Everywhere she turns, she thinks she sees a child that needs her. That fool angel has addled her brain. 'Are you sure?' he asked doubtfully. 'I don't hear anything.'
'Just help me,' Aliisza insisted, grabbing hold of a timber that jutted from the wreckage of the home. She tried to hoist it up, but it didn't budge.
Sighing, Kaanyr took hold of the timber. Together, they lifted. The pile of ruined dwelling shifted slightly, but they couldn't move anything. 'No use,' Kaanyr gasped as he eased the piece of lumber back down. 'Too heavy.'
'Hold on,' Aliisza said, reaching into a hidden pocket within her armor. She pulled something out. Before Kaanyr could see it, she brushed it against him and muttered an arcane phrase. He felt a surge of raw power course through him and knew she had enhanced his strength. She quickly did the same to herself. 'Try again,' she said.
Shrugging, Kaanyr grabbed hold of the timber and heaved. Aliisza joined him. Together, they forced the length of wood upward, shifting the pile of destroyed home with it.
As the hoisted lumber reached its apex, Kaanyr could see a hollow space near the center. A girl of perhaps fourteen summers lay sprawled there, a bloody gash across one cheek. A smaller child, little more than a baby, squirmed beside her. It appeared unharmed.
'Can you hold it?' Aliisza asked. 'Keep it off me!'
Before Kaanyr could even answer, she released the timber and darted into the remains of the dwelling.
The cambion grunted at the increased burden and felt his muscles quiver with the strain of it. 'Hurry!' he grunted at the alu, who was kneeling down next to the injured girl. 'Quickly, Aliisza!'
'I'm trying!' she replied. 'She's stuck under something.'
Vhok shifted his feet and tried to get a better grip on the timber. He managed to get his shoulder under it and brace it, but he knew he could not remain there long. It was simply too heavy.
Just like her, the cambion fumed. Never one to let the facts get in the way of her bull-headed intentions. At least that hasn't changed.
Kaanyr could sense the land continue to tilt, and with it, the weight of the debris shifted and grew heavier, overwhelming him. His arms, already shaking with exertion, began to burn. 'Now, Aliisza! I'm losing it!'
'I can almost…' she said, her voice muffled, but Kaanyr couldn't hear the rest. His legs quivered like jelly, and despite his ferocious will, the timber, and everything above it, began to collapse atop her. 'Aliisza!' he grunted. 'Get out!'
But the alu did not emerge from beneath the dwelling, and with a snarl of frustration and dismay, Kaanyr lost his grip on the wood.
