'Indeed,' Zasian said. 'But circumstances were chaotic and dire. The dwarves pressed the fight, and we had only moments to choose. And your sorceress unexpectedly succumbed to injuries beyond our ken to address. A plan is only good until the first bow shot is fired, then battle is a series of adjustments. You know full well that you cannot make any progress in any endeavor without adapting, and that you must trust that some things, or someone, will not behave as you anticipate.'
'To the Nine Hells with that,' Vhok spat, dismissing the priest's words with a wave of his hand. 'Never again,' he vowed. 'No one ever gets Kaanyr Vhok backed into a corner this way again. I trust no one but myself.'
'Including me?' Zasian asked quietly. 'Are you going to condemn me now solely on the virtue that I am not you?'
Vhok stopped pacing and stared at the priest. 'Have you given me cause not to?' he asked, giving the human a baleful stare. 'Or are you in league with Myshik? Clan Morueme?'
'Yes, of course I am,' Zasian responded, a dangerous gleam in his eye. 'I plotted to trap myself within this posh prison from the very start!'
Vhok smirked. 'More clever ways of deflecting blame have been utilized before,' he commented. He folded his arms across his chest and continued to stare at his counterpart. 'What better way to throw me off than to appear as a fellow victim?'
Zasian threw his hands in the air. 'Then your cause is already lost,' he said, rising to his feet. 'If you believe that, then you know that I have lied about everything, even the prediction of Aliisza's capture and confinement within the House of the Triad. And thus,' he added, turning and ascending the stairs, 'this entire journey has been one elaborate charade, a worthless endeavor that I put myself through for no good reason, when I could have easily sent you through the Everfire and left you helpless on this plane, with no guide and no hope of returning, and not bothered with all the rest of the hardship!'
Vhok watched as the priest reached the top of the staircase. His anger, though not abated, began to crystallize and focus on the true source of his woes. He knew it would have been much easier for Zasian to betray him earlier in the game, if that had been the Banite's intention from the start.
'You're right,' he said, spreading his arms in acceptance. 'I cannot explain why you would have willingly suffered through all this if you had intended to send me here and abandon me.'
'I'm glad you're finally seeing sense,' Zasian replied, leaning against the banister at the top of the stairs.
'Indeed,' Vhok said. 'But also understand the larger implications of this betrayal to me. Clan Morueme knows I am here, so they also know my army is leaderless, vulnerable. I am now forced to consider which course of action is more urgent-continuing with my quest, or returning to Sundabar to stave off a powerful enemy. An enemy, I should add,' he said, giving Zasian a meaningful stare, 'that might consider Sundabar itself ripe for the picking.'
Zasian nodded. 'The thought had crossed my mind. But I think your situation in the Silver Marches is secure for the moment. It will take the dragons tendays to organize and muster their forces for such an attack.'
'There are other ways they could wreak havoc,' Vhok countered.
Zasian shrugged. 'Even if they attempted to take control of your Scourged Legion by subterfuge, it would require significant time to draw the whole army together and do anything with it.' He shook his head. 'No, I think we should keep moving forward. Success in this gives you the tools to thwart them more handily.'
Vhok knew the priest was correct. He still worried about being away while the cursed dragons maneuvered.
'And Aliisza is waiting for you,' the priest added. 'If we don't press on, she's trapped there for good.'
Vhok drew in a deep breath and sighed. 'Of course,' he said. 'I knew from the start that nothing else would matter if I fell short in this quest. That still holds true. Reach the Lifespring, gain its power, and all the rest will fall into place.'
'Very good,' Zasian said. 'Then let's work on getting ourselves out of here.' He turned away from the railing and strode toward his room.
'Where are you going?' Vhok asked.
'To pray,' the priest replied. 'I think divine intervention will be necessary to get us out of here.'
And what am I supposed to do in the meantime? Vhok silently asked. He looked at the sealed doorway and pounded it once more with his fist.
Aliisza could not bring herself to look down into the square below. She knew the hustle and bustle of the Sundabarians was not entirely real, but a conjuration from her own mind. Indeed, every aspect of the world around her-from the cobbled streets to the azure sky-was an illusion, part of the game her mind was playing with her. Such was the magical power of the strange prison in which the angels had incarcerated her.
The dead soldier she had witnessed, the plight of his orphaned family weighing heavily on his restless soul- this had been only the first of many tragic tales the alu had witnessed. There had been others, so many others. She had turned away from each of them, dismissing them all.
Theirs are their own burdens to bear, she had thought. You make of the world what you wish, and take what you can. If you are not strong enough to survive its hardships, then you do not deserve its rewards.
Eventually, it had all grown to be too much, and she had been forced to escape it. She had soared into the sky, had found a quiet spot atop the Master's Hall where she could observe from afar.
Only to rest, she had told herself. And see if this silly trick of the mind will tire itself and vanish.
Yet even from her high perch, Aliisza could somehow sense the haunted lives below, each one a tale of sorrow and misfortune wrought by her own destructive pleasures. She could feel where each ghost hovered, experience its own despair and anguish. Because they were, in part, manifestations of her mind, she found herself psychically linked to them.
Stop it! Aliisza screamed into the recesses of her consciousness. I don't want to see this anymore!
And just like that, it was gone. Sundabar vanished, replaced by the celestial courtyard. The folk of the city evaporated, and the alu found herself utterly alone once more.
It was nighttime again. The fragrance of the myriad blooms within the garden wafted past her on gentle breezes. Those same zephyrs stirred the wind chimes hanging in the silver-leaved trees, setting them to faint and gentle songs. The warmth of the sun faded from Aliisza's skin, replaced by the coolness of a hint of dew in the air.
The alu snorted. This isn't real either, she thought.
She understood that she could change her surroundings at will. She had learned that early on. But no matter how hard she tried, no matter what place she conjured from her past, the illusion left her solitary, bereft of companionship.
She had started with Hellgate Keep. Though she recalled every wall, every corridor within that blasted prison with perfect clarity, she could induce no other fiends to fill it. The place simply echoed with her own lonely footsteps. She did not really want to be surrounded by a horde of slavering, power-hungry demons, but somehow, the miles of passages and scores of chambers within its confines didn't seem right without them.
Then she had attempted to bring about a number of locales she associated with Kaanyr. She tried to conjure their sumptuous chambers in the halls of Ammarindar, the interior of the war tent they had used during the siege of Menzoberranzan, even just a simple cloistered room with her lover inside. Each time, the alu was able to recreate the environs perfectly. But no sign of the cambion ever appeared.
If she wanted people, she had to settle for the ones she had hurt.
Emotional blackmail, she often thought in disgust. That's all this is. Well, Tauran, you can't make me feel sorry for pitiful wretches just by denying me any other contact!
Aliisza sighed and looked around the garden. She found herself wishing more and more frequently that the deva would return to her sanctuary. Despite all his faults and shortcomings, she craved him. In her illusory worlds, she didn't even enjoy the luxury of interaction. At least with Tauran, there had been genuine conversation.
The alu moved toward the pool. The angel had shown the half-fiend herself there, her physical body. She longed to see it again, to see the vessel that carried her child within. She longed to see the child itself.
The surface of the water showed only the night sky. The moon rippled within it, but nothing more.
No, Aliisza resolved. I will not sit here and ask. That's what they want. I can stand the solitude. It's just a
