The Fractured Sky (21 page)

The cambion looked up to see Tauran and Kael crouching over him, working frantically to free him. He saw that the four of them were in a small hollow surrounded by short but steep ridges. The moonlight made the still-heavy mist glow, creating a veiled backdrop to their hiding place.

When Tauran managed to slip the brank harness from Kaanyr’s mouth, the cambion let out a soft groan. “Thanks,” he said, and he meant it. “Throw that thing far, far away.”

“Keep your voice down,” Kael said, working to slip one of the leather bags free of Kaanyr’s hand. “Micus and his coterie are not far off.”

The cambion nodded. “I’m surprised you came back for me,” he whispered. “That was a big risk, by all of you.” He shifted his gaze from one face to the next. “Why?”

Tauran cocked his head to one side. “I gave you my word,” he whispered back. “It was the only thing to do.”

Kaanyr thought on that for a moment. It was hard to wrap

his mind around. He shrugged and nodded. “Well then, I thank you for keeping your word. I’m not so used to people doing that.”

Tauran gave him a quick nod in return.

When the other three finally had him unbound, he sat up and stretched aching muscles. “What’s the plan?” he asked, rising to his knees. “Where now?”

Tauran pointed to something out of sight beyond the nearest ridge. “Micus and a patrol are guarding the passage through to the World Tree just over there,” he said. “They are hiding, setting up an ambush. Of course, the camp will get word to them very quickly that we’ve managed to free you, so we have to get through there now, before they’re alerted.”

“How do you propose we slip past them?” the Cambion asked as the four of them crept to the crest of the ridge and peered over. Kaanyr could see nothing but trees and mist.

“The same way we got you out of there,” Aliisza whispered.

“We don’t have much time,” Tauran said. “Once that doorway opens on their end, they’re going to know what we’re trying to do. They will do everything they can to block us from escaping. You and Aliisza are more vulnerable to Micus’s divine magic, so you’re first. Don’t look back, just run.”

Kaanyr opened his mouth to query the angel on a few more points, but a light appeared in the misty gloom a stone’s throw away.

“Lantern archon,” Tauran said, “coming to inform them. Time to go.”

Nodding, Kaanyr saw Aliisza turn and summon one of the red-tinged doorways directly in front of them. A shout arose from the direction of the enemy before Kaanyr even had a chance to step through it.

“They see the other end!” Tauran said. “Go!”

Kaanyr reached for Burnblood and the Scepter Malevolous as he stepped through. He only realized once he was on the other side that he no longer had his enchanted weapons. Lamenting their loss, he took a couple of paces forward and spotted a narrow tunnel directly ahead of him. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder and saw Aliisza come through the doorway right behind him. Beyond her doorway, past the mouth of the tight canyon in which they stood, he could see the glow of lights and could hear more shouting.

“Go!” Aliisza urged him, pushing him forward. “Into the tunnel!”

Kaanyr hated leaving his treasures behind, but he knew it was a fool’s errand to try to retrieve them at that point.

I’ll be back for them, he vowed, then he ducked into the cramped tunnel and fled.

Micus stood in the middle of the clearing, surveying the area. The archons had performed suitable funeral rites upon the bodies of the elves and ghaeles and were almost finished freeing Tekthyrios’s corpse from the jagged tree. The angel watched it all, his heart heavy.

“Explain what happened, Garin,” he said. The other angel standing beside him exhaled. “She came in disguise, appearing as you,” he said. “She acted a bit peculiar, but not so much that I was suspicious, at least not at first. When she insisted that you had caught the other three and were ready to take them all back to the Court, I freed him enough to allow her to escape with him. By the time I realized what was going on, it was too late to stop them. I’m sorry, Micus.”

“No, my friend,” Micus said. “Do not apologize. The fault is mine. I should have expected some trickery from them.” Then he added, half to himself, “Even from Tauran.” The angel scuffed his foot in the dirt. “He has fallen so far in such a short time. I should never assume that any part of our doctrine is still sacred to him. I was the fool.” “What are you going to do now?”

“That is not for me to decide. I must report my failure to the High Council.”

“Your heart is heavy, Micus,” Garin said. “You have experienced setbacks before in your quest to bring goodness to the cosmos, and I’ve never seen you so grim. What is troubling you?”

Micus sighed and weighed his next words carefully. “There is a part of me that regrets all of this, Garin,” he said. “There is a part of me that thinks Tauran might be right, and that he’s the only one who can see the truth of the matter.”

“Truly?” the other angel asked, surprise clear in his voice. “You honestly believe that?”

“It doesn’t change a thing,” Micus said. “I still have my duties. But yes, I suspect we’re all in for much more grief.”

“And that’s why you’re sad?” Garin asked. “Because you dread what is to come?”

“Partially,” Micus answered. “But also because, even if he’s proven right, Tauran is lost to us. He has betrayed everything we stand for. And I grieve for him when he realizes it.”

.^-^

“How are you certain Zasian came this way?” Kaanyr asked. The cambion trudged along behind Tauran, who was leading the group. Aliisza followed Kaanyr, and Kael brought up the rear.

As they hiked, the alu surveyed the surrounding terrain. To her, it seemed like they followed the crest of a great ridge that stretched on indefinitely in each direction, swallowed up in the odd, silvery haze that surrounded them. To either side, the ridge became a gentle slope dropping away. The path they followed passed through largely open ground, spotted in places

with the occasional copse of trees or scrub. No sky showed through, nor any sense of the direction of the sun. Everything seemed isolated, enclosed in the mist.

“There are really only two ways they could have gone,” the angel said over his shoulder. “And this path leads to other places. If we had followed the other direction, we would eventually find ourselves on the tip of this great branch, at a dead end.”

“How can you even be sure he walked?” the cambion retorted. “For all we know, Zasian magically transported himself in an instant. I’ve seen the kind of divine power he wields. I know his methods.”

“For the same reason we can’t just fly to where we want to go,” Tauran replied. “It’s too easy to get lost in the Astral plane if you leave the branches. The World Tree has bizarre properties; geography doesn’t work on it the way you think it should. He didn’t whisk himself away magically.”

“We never even determined who else was with Zasian when he passed from the House,” Kael said as he trudged along behind Aliisza. “Those other sets of bootprints continued right into the passageway we took to escape. I checked.”

“You could see prints on the ground, in the dark, while running,” Aliisza said. It was more of an incredulous statement than a question.

She could hear the half-drow chuckle softly behind her. “I inherited my father’s eyes, too, you know,” he said. “But the ground was very soft there, and it was easy to make out.”

“So who is it?” Aliisza asked.

“That is a question that will have to wait a while,” Tauran said. “Until we catch up to Zasian.”

“The important thing to remember is that he has allies,” Kaanyr said. “Wherever Zasian is going, he could accumulate even more. We must be on watch.”

“A fine point,” Tauran said. “And one that we should…” The angel’s voice trailed off and he slowed to a stop, a look of unease on his face.

The rest of the group caught up to him and peered where he stared into the gloom ahead. Aliisza could not make out much, but the air was filled with a cloud of gray, something slightly darker than the surrounding silver.

“What is that?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Tauran replied, still stating. “But I fear it does not bode well for us.”

“We should not all approach it,” Kael said. “It could be dangerous, or even a trap laid for us.”

“I’ll scout it out,” Kaanyr said.

The offer caught Aliisza by surprise. She stole a look at her companion and noted that his expression seemed genuine. He was frowning as he stared at the smudge of blackness in the distance, but he sensed her stare and turned to look at her.

“What?” he asked. “I can avoid being seen when I wish it. You know that.”

“Yes, of course. But since when have you volunteered to do anything around here?”

Kaanyr’s smirk was fleeting. “Since the three of you came back for me,” he said. At Aliisza’s widening eyes, he added, “I’ve come to figure that perhaps the best way to survive this escapade is to make sure it succeeds. Don’t go thinking I’m getting all soft and caring, fool girl. I just don’t want to spend the rest of my days trapped here.”

Tauran studied the cambion for a moment. “Very well,” he said. “Sneak up a little way and see what you can find out. But at the first sign of something dangerous, you slip away again and return. No exceptions.”

Kaanyr’s smirk returned. “Well, since you put it that

way, I guess I have no choice, do I?” he said. “I’ll be back in a moment. Make yourselves comfortable.” With that, the cambion slipped away, quickly disappearing among the lush growth.

Kael led the three of them down into a partially concealed hollow surrounded by scrub brush and trees. He sat and pulled a bundle free of one of his satchels. He unpacked some dried meat from it and popped a chunk into his mouth. He held the bundle out to Tauran, but the angel just shook his head. Kael next proffered some of the meat to Aliisza. She took a couple of thick strips and nodded in thanks.

Tauran turned away and found an outcropping of rock. He plopped down on it and hunched over, placing his face in his hands. The weariness in his body made him wilt in the alu’s eyes. He sat there unmoving for several moments.

“Rest, my friend,” Kael said, rising to his feet again. “You’ve pushed yourself hard and heed the respite.”

“I’ll be fine,” Tauran mumbled. “Everyone else is tired

too.

“Tauran, I mean it,” Kael said. “The grief wears you down. I know. I’ve been there.”

Aliisza started when she heard that. She looked up at her son’s face. What have you grieved for? she wondered. Me, perhaps? That thought strangely comforted her.

“Please,” Kael said. “You’re no good to us exhausted. I’ll keep watch for a while.”

Tauran sighed. “Very well, but only for a few moments. Wake me when Vhok returns.”

With that, the angel slid down from his rocky seat and stretched himself on the ground, using the stone for a pillow.

“I won’t be far,” Kael said to Aliisza softly. “I’ll stay in sight. You can rest too, if you want.” He turned and

climbed out of the little depression and walked a few paces out from it, where he proceeded to begin circumnavigating in a casual stroll.

Aliisza watched her son for a few moments, but his gaze seemed always outward, away from their hidden haven. He was an enigma to her, and one that piqued her curiosity in new ways every day. For what do you truly grieve? she pondered again.

Aliisza turned her attention to Tautan. The angel lay still, and the alu wondered for a moment if he actually slept, but just when she decided that he must be dozing, he sighed and shifted around. In his new position, Aliisza had a better look at his face, and what she saw wounded her. Lines furrowed his expression, and his eyes seemed clouded and watery. He stared at nothing, sadness radiating from him.

Aliisza got up and moved close to the deva. She knelt down next to him and took hold of his face. He raised it up to look at her, and she leaned forward to kiss him on the forehead.

“Aliisza, I can’t—”

The alu placed her finger upon her lips. “Shh,” she said softly. She guided his head toward her and urged him to place it upon her lap. “Just rest,” she whispered. “Close your eyes.”

She began to stroke the angel’s head, then, twining her fingers in his golden locks. Occasionally she would run her hand down the back of his neck, squeezing gently in a reassuring way.

At first, Tauran lay rigid, his body stiff and his muscles corded. He couldn’t seem to get comfortable. After a time, and with Aliisza’s gentle caresses, he began to relax. He let out a series of small sighs, and his body seemed to melt into hers and into the ground. In another few moments, his breathing had become the slow and even exhalations of one asleep.

I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve sacrificed for this,

Aliisza thought. Or even why you would do it. Nothing can be worth that, can it?

Thoughts of the lessons he had tried to teach her, when she had been his prisoner, crossed Aliisza’s mind. The only way to truly know love is to give in to it, she recalled. You have to be willing to expose yourself, make yourself vulnerable, to reap the rewards.

Whom do you love so much? Tyr? Is a god worth loving like that?

A pang of jealousy hit Aliisza. She wasn’t sure why she would be jealous of Tauran’s love for Tyr, but slowly, as she dug deeper into the emotion, she realized that she wanted the angel’s love for herself.

Why not me? she thought. Am I any less deserving of that kind of devotion and dedication? At least I’m not some lofty, mysterious, obscure being no one understands, she sniffed.

And I would love you back, she silently told the angel. I would give you everything you ever wanted. Let’s just leave this place, find a home somewhere, and love each other.

“What are you doing?” Kaanyr asked, quietly entering the hollow. Kael stood right behind him, peering over the cambion’s shoulder.

Aliisza started at Vhok’s sudden appearance. “Nothing,” she said as Tauran stirred and sat up. The angel looked first at Aliisza, then he followed her gaze to Kaanyr.

The cambion’s stare was emotionless, and at the same time, his eyes glittered dangerously. He looked at Aliisza for a long time.