The Fractured Sky

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Aliisza sat bolt upright and reached for her blade. That innate sense of danger pounded, warning the alu to get out. She had her sword drawn and was on her feet before she even remembered where she was.

A quick check around the room told her that Kaanyr was gone and that Tauran and Kael still slept. The absence of her lover troubled Aliisza, but not nearly so much as the impending sense of a threat. She fingered Pharaun's ring and activated its arcane powers, seeking some evidence that her internal warning was justified.

The entire room erupted in a blaze of magical resonance, as if the whole chamber, including the air she was breathing, was highly magical. It made her worse than blind; it dazzled her with its intensity.

Fool, she told herself. You're at the very home of magic. What did you expect?

Dismissing the power of the ring, she concentrated on her other, more natural senses. There was nothing amiss as far as she could tell, other than the cambion's absence.

Then she noticed the food was gone.

She padded softly to the couch where Tauran slept, his breathing slow and deep. Getting one hand near his mouth, Aliisza reached down with the other and nudged him with a finger against his shoulder.

"Mmm? What?" the angel mumbled.

Aliisza clamped her hand over his mouth and put her other finger to her lip. "Shhh," she whispered. "Something's wrong."

Tauran's eyes widened for a moment, then he recognized her and grew still. Finally, he nodded, and Aliisza took her hand away. "What is it?" he asked.

"I don't know," the alu replied "I just get a sense sometimes, and it's telling me that we need to leave."

Tauran sat up and looked around. "Where's Vhok?" he asked in a soft but urgent tone.

Aliisza shrugged. "Nothing to deal with right now," she said. "First, we need to get out of this room."

"Don't wake Kael," Tauran said as the alu stepped toward the knight. "Let me do it."

She glanced back at the angel, then shrugged and nodded.

Tauran moved to one side and leaned over the sleeping half-drow. He whispered something in Kael's ear then shifted back, out of the way. In a single smooth motion, Kael bolted upright. The knight had his sword up in both hands and was staring hard at the door. Aliisza gaped at her son. She had no idea where he had been holding it beforehand.

Kael got his bearings and caught her staring. "I inherited more than just your good looks," he said softly with a grim smile on his face.

I'll say, she thought. Remind me never to wake you up.

She moved to the door and placed her ear against it. She heard footfalls growing louder from the opposite side of the portal, and her sense of threat grew more intense as she stood there. Whatever was spooking her, it was coming through that door, and soon.

She wove a simple spell upon the door, sealing it.

"What do you sense?" Tauran asked, freeing his own mace from the loop on his belt. "What's coming?"

Aliisza shook her head. "I don't know, but I don't really want to wait around to find out."

"Can you whisk us away through one of your magical doors?" Kael asked.

Aliisza shook her head. "I can sense that something would prevent it from working," she replied. "We can't escape, but maybe we can hide."

"Hide? How?" Kael asked, his tone filled with doubt.

Aliisza thought for a moment. "Like this," she said, and she grabbed one end of the couch where she had rested. "Help me," she urged the knight, and when he'd grabbed the other end, they pulled it a little less than a pace away from the edge of the room. "Get against the wall," she ordered, even as she moved there herself. The other two joined her, and she pulled a small block of granite free of a pocket inside her bodice. Chanting, she gestured with the tiny block where she wished to spring her spell.

A wall formed there.

Aliisza had conjured the wall so that it ran parallel to the one against which the three of them pressed themselves, giving it the coloring and texture to match. She left a hole in it near the middle and at the floor, large enough that they could crawl through it but hidden from the other side by the couch.

Aliisza put her fingers to her lips to motion for the other two to remain quiet, then she squatted down next to the hole and cocked her head to one side, listening. Tauran and Kael joined her.

For several agonizing moments, the alu heard nothing. Then, though she wasn't sure, she thought she detected the creak of the door opening. She held her breath.

"They're not here!" The voice was muffled, but the voice uttering those words was unmistakable.

Micus.

"You told me you had detained them!" the angel said.

"We did," came an unfamiliar voice. "They must have slipped out magically. I expected that they would still be asleep, after what we dosed them with. I don't understand."

Aliisza heard footsteps enter the room and begin to pace.

"Do you see them in here?" Micus asked. "Are they hiding from us magically?"

There was a pause, then a third voice spoke up. "No. They are not employing magic to hide within this chamber." The sound of that third voice was odd, mechanical.

"But you can still sense them?" Micus pressed.

"Yes," the mechanical voice replied. "They are somewhere in that direction."

"You know how they did it, Micus," came yet another voice, one that was vaguely familiar to Aliisza, though she could not quite place it. "The alu and her magic doorways. That's how she managed to escape with Vhok right out from under my nose."

Of course! Aliisza realized. That's the angel that had been guarding Kaanyr!

"That's impossible," the second voice insisted. "We have the room warded against that."

"Then they probably used another method to get past your sentries," Micus said. "They must have slipped out of here just before we arrived."

"They must still be inside the building," the second voice said. "I can have my sentries begin searching."

"Yes," Micus said. "Please do so. What a shame. So close…"

The sound of footsteps retreating was followed by the slamming of the door.

Aliisza listened for a moment longer, fearful that it had all been a trick and that Micus knew where they were hiding. Tauran and Kael remained still as well, as if sharing her thoughts.

"I think they're gone," the knight whispered. "Push the couch away."

The three of them very carefully and quietly shifted the couch forward, until there was enough room for them to exit. The alu sighed in relief when she saw that the room was empty.

"We can't stay here," Tauran said, rising to his feet. "They'll be back soon enough."

"How do you know?" Aliisza asked, walking around the couch into the center of the room.

"Because I think they're using zelekhuts," he said, and his expression was grim.

"Using what?" Aliisza asked. Fear was addling her brain. Focus!

"I was afraid of that," Kael said, nodding to Tauran. He turned to Aliisza. "Zelekhuts are inevitables-constructs built to enforce laws. They are very good at hunting down anyone who has broken an agreement or has tried to escape justice. We sometimes use them to track and capture criminals."

"That strange voice you heard," Tauran said, "and what it said about not seeing us hiding by some magical means. That is the mark of a zelekhut."

"Your idea to make a wall was brilliant, Aliisza," Kael added. "It wasn't magical. No illusion, no invisibility or other means of masking us. Just a second wall. It made the room look normal to the zelekhut."

Aliisza shrugged. "It was a snap decision," she said. "I had no idea." She had to fight not to grin at the compliment.

"Regardless, Micus and his zelekhut will be back," Tauran said. "It can track one of us. Probably me. Micus knows me better than either of you two, and he can help the construct get a better sense of what it's hunting."

"Ah," Aliisza said. "It can sense which direction you are, but not how near or far."

"Yes," Tauran said, "but once it starts moving through the building, sensing me from different angles, it won't take long to pinpoint where I am. We must leave."

"How?" Kael asked. "Whoever was trying to curry favor with Micus said he was going to have his sentries looking for us."

"Time for a disguise," Tauran answered, and he shimmered before their eyes, changing form. His wings disappeared, and his clothing transformed from his brilliant white tunic and leggings to a simple brown robe with a deep hood. "Tyr may have denied me many of my powers, but I can still do this." Even his voice sounded different.

Aliisza followed suit, changing herself into a plump, matronly woman in robes similar to Tauran's.

Kael looked back and forth between the two, frowning. "That's all fine for the two of you, but I lack the power to hide myself in that fashion."

"Not to worry," Aliisza said. She reached down and tore a bit of cloth from the corner of her robes, then wove a spell over it. The shred of fabric became another full robe. "There you go," she said, handing it to Kael.

The knight slipped it on over his armor and pulled the hood up. "Much better," he said, "but my sword is a bit too noticeable."

"We'll have to risk it," Tauran said. "Use it like a walking stick, and stay right behind the two of us. All we need is enough time to get out the front entrance, then it won't matter."

The trio moved to the door. Tauran took the lead, cracking it a tiny bit to peer through to the hallway beyond. Aliisza gripped her sword, ready to free it from her robes should they be attacked. Tauran pulled the door a little wider and peeked his head out.

"Come," he said, motioning for the other two to follow him. "Before someone comes and sees which room this is."

The three companions hurried out into the empty hall and Kael pulled the door shut behind him. They moved down the passage in the direction they had come when they arrived.

Aliisza kept fighting the urge to look down, to conceal her face. Despite her disguise, she feared that she would be recognized. She could not explain the irrational fear that coursed through her. You feel out of control, she told herself. You knew the food was tainted and you fell for it anyway. Now you don't trust yourself.

Kael walked slightly behind the other two, trying to press in behind them as much as possible. The soft, rhythmic ringing of his sword as it struck the stone floor was jarring, and Aliisza expected a crowd of hound archons to come zipping around some corner at any moment, running in search of the offending sound.

"Can you muffle that a bit?" she whispered fiercely as they neared the steps. "Pretend you're using it as a walking stick."

Kael said nothing, but the sound diminished.

The trio made their way to the front entrance of the building and Aliisza thought they might actually manage to sneak out undetected. As they drew close to the doors, though, a lantern archon flitted down and swarmed around them.

Aliisza held her breath and pretended to ignore the creature.

"I don't recognize you," the glowing orb said, hovering in front of the three. "When did you arrive? Do you have clearance to depart?"

Tauran said nothing, just kept walking, so Aliisza followed his lead. They got close to the door and she reached out to push it open. Beyond it, freedom called to her.

"Please stop," the archon said. "I need to know who you are."

"Keep going!" Tauran said, and he pressed his hands against the matching door.

As the two of them touched the portal together, an alarm went off, loud enough to make Aliisza cringe.

"Don't stop!" Tauran said, shoving his way through the door. Aliisza and Kael kept pace with him.

Beyond the doors, the porch was relatively empty, and the steps leading down into the plaza beyond beckoned. Folk there had stopped to peer toward the building, trying to see what was causing the ruckus.

"There they are!" Micus shouted from above.

Aliisza turned to look and spotted the angel perched upon the roof directly over the doors, pointing at them.

By the Abyss! she silently swore, yanking her sword free. Will he never leave us alone?

"Zelekhut!" Tauran shouted, pointing.

The alu redirected her gaze where her companion pointed and spotted a strange being rushing toward them.

It looked to Aliisza for all the world like a centaur, but it had been made, not born. Its skin was incomplete, and she could see mechanical things peeking from beneath, where she would have expected muscles and blood to exist. It wore a suit of gold plate barding.

The construct rushed toward them from one side of the building, its hooves striking sparks on the stone as it charged. Aliisza heard the same clattering sound of steel on stone from the opposite direction. She turned that way and spied a second construct galloping to confront them. It spun a pair of spiked chains overhead that extended from its forearms, just above its hands.

Another deva settled to the ground at the base of the broad steps. Aliisza remembered him as the one who had held Kaanyr prisoner back in the House of the Triad. He stood there with his mace ready, blocking their way.

They were surrounded.

The scene confused Kaanyr.

Micus and Garin, the angel who had been his jailor, exited the Palace of Myriad Amazements along with the two strange mechanical centaurs. Why are they coming back out? he wondered. Where are Aliisza and the others?

Although he had managed to coerce himself into aiding his companions merely by thinking of the ramifications of abandoning them, he had hesitated at the steps of the palace. He had no means of sneaking back into the building without being noticed. Knowing he could do little that way, he hid himself among some vendor carts on the near side of the plaza. Waiting and watching was a better use of his skills than madly throwing himself in harm's way.

The cambion was still hiding and contemplating alternatives when Micus and his cohorts reemerged. Although he had anticipated that they might come out with prisoners in tow, he had not expected them to reappear empty-handed.

At least for the moment, Kaanyr thought as he watched the pursuers spread out around the entrance. Micus flew to the roof of the porch, while the two strange mechanical creatures moved to either flank. Garin took up a position at the base of the ramp.

An ambush.

Well, two can play at that game, Kaanyr decided.

He did not wait long. Some sort of horn began to blare from within the building, and three robed and hooded figures appeared and hurried toward the steps.

It was only when Micus reacted that Kaanyr realized the figures were his companions.

Everything happened at once. Micus swooped toward them, shouting. The two constructs rushed forward, closing in from either side. Only Garin remained in place, standing guard at the bottom of the ramp, keeping the fugitives bottled up.

And that was whom Kaanyr struck first.

Stepping out of the shadows between the nearest carts, the cambion slipped behind the angel with his sword in hand. The blade crackled with a bluish black energy, pulsing in anticipation. Kaanyr drew it back and was on the verge of driving it between the deva's wings when a woman nearby screamed.

The angel spun around just as Kaanyr thrust the sword at him. The blade ripped into Garin's wing, slicing a huge hole in it. The crackling energy dancing along the sword burst out from the wound, spreading like a sickly disease.

Garin's eyes went wide with the pain. "You!" he growled, staggering back from Kaanyr. "Damn you, you son of a rutter!"

"Such unbecoming language for one so enlightened as yourself," Kaanyr said with a mocking smile. He stepped forward, taking the fight to the deva. He brought his sword up for another strike. Garin whipped his mace into place and parried the blow. Blood streamed from the angel's wing as they circled.

"You don't like my language?" Garin asked. "Well how about something a little more holy?"

He opened his mouth to speak again, but Kaanyr had been expecting the tactic. Before Garin could utter the holy word, the cambion flipped a wand into view and commanded it to discharge its magic.

A blazing white bolt of lightning sprang from the tip of the wand and connected with the angel. The electrical energy crackled and swarmed over its target. Kaanyr knew the deva shrugged off some of the power of the wand, but the attack was enough to wound him. Garin went rigid for an instant, then fell to the paving stones with a raw scream.

"I'm sorry," Kaanyr said to Garin in a mocking tone as he raised his sword, "but I didn't quite hear what you were trying to say!" Kaanyr thrust the sword at the angel. He drove it deep into the deva's gut and jerked it free again.

Garin gasped and lurched from the blow. Bluish black energy swarmed across his body in a spiderweb effect. His eyes went wide and rolled up in his head. He shuddered once and lay still.

Kaanyr gave the angel a mocking salute with his blade and sprinted past, heading to his companions to aid them in their own fight.

As Kaanyr closed with Aliisza and the others, he saw Kael battling one of the constructs, while Aliisza faced off with the second one. Tauran and Micus stood toe to toe, appearing to argue more than actually battle. Micus's back was to Kaanyr, so he took the opportunity to close in unseen.

The cambion brought his new sword up, ready to plunge it into Micus's back, as he crossed the distance to his target. As he neared striking range, though, Tauran shook his head.

"No, Vhok!" the angel ordered. "Do not kill him!"

Upon hearing the command, Kaanyr snarled, but he lowered his weapon. His momentum carried him forward nonetheless. Micus, aware by then that the cambion was there, turned to confront the new threat. Kaanyr lowered his shoulder and plowed into the angel, driving him across the porch and into a column. Though Micus wasn't caught completely by surprise, the force of the cambion's attack slammed him hard. Micus's head impacted with the stone and stunned him.

It wasn't quite what he had in mind, but Kaanyr felt a sense of satisfaction watching the angel go down. He drew his foot back to kick the angel, but Tauran grabbed him.

"Go help Aliisza!" Tauran said. "Hurry!"

Grumbling at being forced to acquiesce to every order the angel gave him, Kaanyr spun away from his intended target and sought the alu out.

Aliisza still battled the strange mechanical centaur. The construct had the upper hand in the fight. Twin chains extending from its forearms were wrapped around the half-fiend, pinning her wings and arms to her sides. The thing reeled her in, drawing her closer. She frantically tried to shrug off the restraints.

Kaanyr sprang to the alu's side and leveled his wand at the construct. He spoke the command and fired a bolt of lightning at the thing. The blinding flash popped between the wand and the creature, leaving afterimages in the cambion's field of vision. When his sight returned a moment later, Kaanyr could see the construct sprawled upon the ground and Aliisza free of the entwining chains.

"Go!" the cambion shouted, gesturing to the night sky overhead. "Get out of here!"

Aliisza shook her head. "Kael and Tauran still need help!"

"I'll stay. Just fly!"

But the alu wouldn't heed him, and his attention was drawn back to the construct, which had regained its feet. Kaanyr knew the dweomer on his blade would have little impact on the creature, but he hoped its preternatural sharpness would still cut through the thing's armor.

"Together," Aliisza said, swishing her own blade through the air. "Flank him." She moved away from the cambion, trying to swing around to the far side of the mechanical centaur. The creature saw the alu's intentions and tried to back away, but Kaanyr grinned in anticipation and leaped into the fray.

Working together, the two half-fiends pressed the attack, wearing the thing down with well-timed feints and parries. Eventually, they scored some serious wounds. It remained in the fight, though, refusing to yield or flee.

Kaanyr drove in with a series of cuts at the constructs upper torso. The rapid attack served to distract the thing enough for Aliisza to slip inside its defenses and run her blade deep into its chest. With a single, gurgling sigh, it sank down to the ground and went still. Strange fluids and wisps of smoke poured from the various openings in its skin.

Kaanyr turned to see Kael dispatch the other construct with his sword. The monumental strike cleaved the creature's head from its body. It crumpled to the ground seeping liquids and smoke.

The cambion turned, seeking another enemy. He spotted Tauran and Micus sparring again. The two had abandoned their weapons and were punching and wrestling bare-handed. As Kaanyr rushed toward the two, Micus grabbed Tauran's arm and tried to spin him around, but Tauran slipped free. When Micus went after him again, Tauran snapped off a punch with his other fist, catching his foe squarely on the jaw.

The blow staggered Micus, and Tauran stepped toward him and jabbed again. Micus managed to evade the second punch, but by then, Tauran's companions had surrounded him. Micus tried to defend himself from all of them, but when his back was to Kael, the knight swung his blade low and caught the angel with the flat of it against the back of his knees.

Micus dropped to the ground and Tauran pounced. He put Micus in a headlock as the other angel twisted and kicked, trying to prevent it.

"Enough!" Tauran growled, tightening his grip. "This is insanity! Let it go!"

"No," Micus croaked, futilely trying to slip a hand underneath Tauran's arms and work himself free. "I have a duty!"

"Of course you do, Micus," Tauran said, "but I am not your enemy! There are worse forces at work here, and you've lost sight of that!"

"The law is the law," Micus said, his voice growing more constricted by the moment. "I swore to uphold it!"

"As did I," Tauran said gently, though he held the choke-hold tight. "But somewhere along the way, I realized that some laws, even good ones, can result in bad things happening. And then we must be ruled by common sense first and fix those laws."

"Blasphemy! You are not the friend I knew!"

"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."