Thomas Reid - The Fractured Sky

"I did nothing of the sort," the angel replied, his tone bristling. "He freely relinquished control without fully investigating the situation."

Aliisza clicked her tongue in disapproval. "You were almost gleeful when you revealed his mistake to him," she said. "Don't deny that you were looking forward to seeing his reaction."

Tauran grimaced and nodded. "Indeed," he said. "There is a certain righteous satisfaction in out-clevering such a cunning adversary. I did let my pride cloud my emotions." He sighed. "But you cannot deny that if I had revealed the lost time to either of you before securing your agreement to aid me, you would have departed at once."

Aliisza smiled. "You don't understand," she said. "It's not that Kaanyr feels the maneuver was unjust. He is just resentful that he fell for it. In his mind, your desperate clinging to such lofty ideals as 'honor,' 'nobility,' and 'law' make you vulnerable to crafty deceptions. He let his guard down because he assumed that you would consider yourself above that sort of underhanded duplicity. If he took a moment to allow himself, he might actually, begrudgingly, admire you for it. But he is too proud to admit it, even to himself most of the time. And"-she glanced the cambion's way once more-'"his pride will drive him to pay you back. I should know. I've been watching him do it with other adversaries for many, many years. That's what brought him here in the first place, you know."

Tauran shrugged. "So be it," he said. "So long as it doesn't prevent me from exposing Cyric and Zasian's actions to the rest of the Court." The angel rose to his feet. "Now," he said, stretching to his full height, "what can you two tell me about Zasian to get us started?" He spoke those last words loudly enough for Kaanyr to hear.

"It's about time you stopped sulking," the cambion said, striding over to join the other three. "Your friend Micus is sure to think to search for us here. We should depart, at once."

"I agree," Tauran said. "But to where? Without some sort of clue, some evidence leading us, there is no point. What can you tell me of the priest?"

Kaanyr gave a long sigh and stared off at nothing, thinking. "I don't know nearly as much about him as I should," he said.

"He posed as a servant of Bane-part of a well-organized cabal hidden among the citizens of Sundabar. They had strategic plans for taking over the city when the time was right, but most of them seemed to be all talk and little action. Among them all, Zasian was the only one who seemed to have any brains. I should have known better than to trust a Banite with common sense."

Tauran folded his arms across his chest. "Anything else?" he asked.

The cambion shook his head. "Not really. He was clever. He was logical. He had a way of arguing things that always made sense. If he was truly a servant of the Prince of Lies, as you say, he hid it well."

"What about you?" the angel asked, turning toward Aliisza. "What can you remember?"

"Very little," the alu replied. "As I said, I tried to avoid him in Sundabar, not knowing his true role in Kaanyr's plot"- and she gave the cambion a brief glare before continuing-"but all he said upon arriving within this temple was that our ways must part. He claimed to have things to do, but there was nothing else."

Tauran nodded, frowning. "That doesn't reveal much about his intentions, I'm afraid. Can either of you perform divinations of any significance?"

Both the half-fiends shook their heads.

"Nor can I," the deva muttered, looking wistful. "It was never my strongest talent, even under normal circumstances, but certainly not now."

"Why not now?" Aliisza asked.

Tauran sighed. "My rebellious attitude has clearly put me out of favor with Tyr," he said, and though he seemed to be trying to make light of it, Aliisza could see a shudder pass through the angel. "Much of my spiritual power has vanished. My divine link to the Just One has been severed." He smiled, but there was a profound sadness in his eyes.

"Your god has abandoned you, your kind has named you outlaw, and yet you still wish to pursue this?" Kaanyr asked. His expression was one of incredulity. "What worth is there in pursuing a path blockaded by the very ones you try to save?"

"I want to save them from themselves," Tauran replied. "I want to remind myself that the cause we all served was a worthwhile one." He looked at the cambion. "I don't think it would be so hard for you to understand. There are things for which you are willing to sacrifice yourself."

"Not the way you would do it."

"Truly?" the angel asked. "Did you not urge Aliisza to flee, to escape into the beyond when we were within your quarters, confronting Micus?"

"I said no such thing," Kaanyr snapped, his gaze flickering back and forth between the deva and Aliisza. "You speak lies."

"You did not say it with your words, Vhok, but I heard it in your heart," Tauran said. "I sensed the struggle within you, the conflict between a need for her to stay and fight on your behalf and a desire to make amends to her, to give her the freedom you had a hand in stealing from her."

Kaanyr's face darkened, and he took several rapid, deep breaths as though he meant to tell the angel off, but the words never came. Finally, with a long exhalation, he muttered, "She's endured enough of my desperate schemes," he said. "I thought maybe it was time to cut her loose."

Aliisza flushed. She stared at Kaanyr, watched him struggle to admit that he had considered such a selfless act, and grinned. She couldn't help it, and she knew if he saw her he would likely misinterpret it and grow incensed, but it spread across her face despite her efforts. He's showing all sorts of new facets, she thought, and grinned even more.

"What?" Kaanyr said when he spotted her. "What's so damned funny, you winged tramp?"

"You," she said, beginning to chuckle. "You, who are always scolding me for letting my human side appear, and you're just as bad. Worse!"

"Well, don't let it go to your head," he grumbled. "And you," he said, turning to Tauran, "stay the Hells out of my thoughts!"

The angel smiled, though it was a bit thin and didn't last long. "We understand one another better than you would like to admit," he said.

Kaanyr walked a few paces away and fumed by himself.

Aliisza glanced at Kael. He tried to adopt a look of stoic disinterest when he caught her glance, but she noted that he had been watching the entire proceeding with great curiosity.

"We still aren't any closer to tracking down the priest," the half-drow said. "We have nothing, other than the fact that he stole away in the storm dragon's form."

Tauran snapped his fingers. "Of course!" he said, half to himself. "Not just in the form of the body, but in the body itself. And I know someone who can find him that way."

"Wait," Aliisza said, concerned. "Everyone in the Court believes you are a rogue and outlaw. How can you approach someone you know? How can you even trust him?"

Tauran shook his head. "Not him, her. Her name is Eirwyn. And I don't know the answer to your question," he said, getting a far-away look in his eyes. "I don't know at all."

"It will be easier than you might think," said a woman's voice.

Micus looked over the collection of soldiers that had gathered in the courtyard. In addition to a half-dozen other astral devas, nearly twenty hound archons milled around, awaiting orders. They were competent warriors, elite troops capable of standing up to the half-fiends running with Tauran.

Micus knew he would need every last one of them.

The angel sighed softly, wishing it were otherwise. He didn't want to be chasing down his friend, certainly not under such circumstances. Not only did it pain him greatly to be forced to apprehend Tauran, but there was so much else that needed to be done in the aftermath of Helm's death.