Guarding us, he realized. The cambion pressed the door closed again and frowned in thought. They aren’t powerful enough to stop me from leaving, but it would only take them a moment to summon others. Very clever.
Kaanyr scanned the room again, checking on his companions. Each of them was still in a calm, deep sleep. His gaze fell upon Tauran.
He didn’t specifically tell me I couldn’t go, Kaanyr thought, trying to justify the act of leaving and avoid the trap of the magical coercion. And sneaking out in order to gather information might be crucial to our plan to stop Zasian, he added, smiling to himself in the dimness of the room. Yes, he decided, a perfect justification. We can all play the game, angel.
Satisfied that he had mentally created a loophole that would allow him to slip away, Kaanyr considered how best to execute his plan. He disliked the thought of leaving the others behind, particularly Aliisza. His gaze swept over her. She seemed so at peace where she slept, he almost wanted to go to her, wake her, and get her to come with him. But the feeling of betrayal still lingered, and when he recalled its source, he started to get angry all over again.
He may be one of the four you love, the cambion silently fumed, but don’t expect me to like it. He’s a thrice-damned angel, for Hells’ sake! You should know better. No, better to be alone right now, he decided. I’ll have a better chance if I go by myself, anyway.
He wondered how sensitive the lantern archons would be to his presence if he chose to turn immaterial. Passing through the crack in the door in gaseous form would be a simple matter, but if the glowing spherical creatures had the ability to detect such magical tricks, he would be in trouble.
Noticing me and stopping me are two different things, the cambion decided.
Reaching into the folds of his tunic, Kaanyr produced one of the tiny glass vials wrapped in gauzy fabric that he used for his chosen spell and snapped it with his fingers. He murmured the arcane words to complete the incantation and felt himself transform, becoming an insubstantial cloud. He took a moment to adjust his senses then proceeded.
Settling to the floor, Kaanyr glided to the door. He inched his way forward until he was partially past the barrier, then he watched the archons. They never changed their random flitting or reacted to him in any way. Satisfied that he went unnoticed, the cambion curled his form around the edge of the doorframe and sneaked away, keeping his shape long and thin and following the corner made by the floor and the wall.
Kaanyr traveled to the end of the hall and then around several corners until he reached the stairs. At one point, he passed a pair of hound archons walking the other way. He held still as they strode by, still compacting himself into the horizontal corner between floor and wall. They didn’t seem to notice him, though, and once they were gone he continued on his way.
Ascending the stairs, Kaanyr followed the path he and his companions had taken upon arriving at the Palace of Myriad Amazements and finally reached the great front doors. He was on the verge of sliding beneath the nearest pair when an inner voice warned him to halt. He froze next to the portal and waited, trying to discern the cause of his apprehension. It took the cambion a moment to zero in on the danger, but with the heightened magical senses he had been experiencing since arriving in Dweomerheart, he finally located it.
A magical field surrounded the door, a trigger that he could only faintly detect. No, that’s not right, he realized. It surrounds the entire building.
Kaanyr probed it with his mind, sending out magical feelers to see if he could learn more. After a few moments testing the field, he determined that it was no barrier against him, nor was it going to discharge some magical attack against him. It would, however, sound an alarm throughout the palace if he tried to cross it.
Vhok decided to wait and see if he could determine how others bypassed the signal without setting it off. He remained in the corner next to one of the doors, hoping someone would pass through before his magic was consumed and he reverted to his corporeal self.
The cambion did not have to wait long. A pair of humans, one male and one female, exited one of the many hallways and headed to a set of the doors. Careful to remain unobtrusive, Kaanyr glided near them and waited while they approached the portal. As they drew near the ward, a lantern archon materialized. The archon flitted and danced around the two, seeming to examine them. It appeared satisfied and moved toward the ward. Kaanyr heard the creature speak a single word, and he could tell that a portion of the trigger was suppressed. The two humans passed through without incident.
Kaanyr didn’t waste any time. The moment he understood that there was a gap in the alarm, he drifted past it, sliding along the floor just behind the pair of humans. They quickly outpaced him, and he feared that with his slow rate of motion, he would be caught within range when the barrier reactivated.
But the cambion’s fears were not realized, and he found himself free of the palace.
Kaanyr drifted along for a few moments more, seeking a concealed location where he could return to his normal physical form. After entering a small alley between the palace and another nearby building, he shifted back into his solid body.
First things first, he thought, peering out into the street. I need weapons.
Initially, Kaanyr remained out of sight as much as possible, using the shadows to best advantage while moving from point to point. But the farther away he got from the Palace of Myriad Amazements, the less concerned he became about being apprehended. In addition, the folk strolling the streets were of so many varied species that he realized he would blend in far better acting casual, as if he belonged.
After a few discreet inquiries, Kaanyr found his way to an open bazaar brimming with merchants. From a variety of stalls, tents, and wagons the vendors offered every sort of magical trinket, spell component, and artifact imaginable. Dealers held their wares in front of him, cajoling him to sample them or buy, but the cambion had a specific destination in mind. He pushed past the merchants without even acknowledging them and headed for a large and colorful tent near the center of the bazaar.
Guards stationed at regular intervals around the perimeter of the pavilion watched the goings-on impassively. The cambion saw mostly humans, though he noted a couple of lion-headed leonals serving, too. The other merchants left plenty of space around the tent, giving it and the sentinels a wide berth.
Kaanyr walked to the entrance of the pavilion and was on the verge of ducking inside when one of the two guards blocked his way. “No one goes inside without an invitation,” said the warrior, a big burly human in black-tinged plate armor.
The cambion stared at the man through narrowed eyes then held up his hand for a moment to signal that the fellow should wait. He pulled off his left boot, reached down inside it, and pulled out a small bundle. Slipping his boot back on, Kaanyr opened the pouch and spilled a quantity of uncut diamonds into the palm of his other hand.
“Does this count?” he asked, showing the gemstones to the guard.
The warrior stared at the stones for several heartbeats then said, “Wait here.” He ducked inside the tent.
As Kaanyr waited, he slipped the diamonds back into the pouch and hid it in an inner pocket of his clothing. Then he studied the crowds in the rest of the bazaar.
When the warrior returned, a creature followed him. The being stood twice as tall as the cambion, with skin of a deep azure color. His body was long and lithe, with high, pointed ears and a prominent if slender chin. Two small fangs jutted from the fellow’s mouth, but his voluminous black and orange robes, cut from the finest fabrics and embroidered with an elaborate pattern of precious metals and stones, belied any feral nature. Kaanyr had only heard of the mercane by reputation, but if they were half as good at buying and selling as most people believed, the cambion could get what he sought.
“I understand you wish to conduct business,” the creature said in a high, reedy voice. He spoke in quite refined Abyssal. “You have some commodities you wish to show me?”
Kaan
yr nodded and produced the pouch again. He dumped the diamonds out into his palm once more.
The mercane reached out with one spidery hand and took hold of the largest stone between his thumb and forefinger. Kaanyr noted with the slightest revulsion that the mercane’s fingers bent with an extra joint. “Ah, decent quality,” the mercane said, producing a strange ocular and peering through it at the stone he had selected. “Quite fine, actually. Few flaws, good color. Yes, I think we can do business.” He placed the stone back in Kaanyr’s palm. “Follow me.” He turned and glided gracefully inside, his robes hardly swaying around his legs.
Kaanyr put the stones back into their pouch and followed the creature into the tent. A number of hanging tapestries partitioned the interior of the pavilion, so Kaanyr could not see the entirety of the place all at once, but everywhere the mercane walked, Kaanyr spotted trunks, barrels, boxes, and crates. Oil lamps illuminated each area individually, and in some of the alcoves, buyers and sellers haggled over wares. A few of the dealers were mercane as well, each dressed in finery to rival Kaanyr’s host, but each one’s tastes in colors and cut varied significantly.
The mercane led Kaanyr to an unoccupied spot near the center of the tent and glided toward a plush chair with numerous cushions that had been pulled up to a low table. As he sat, the mercane offered Kaanyr a similar seat on the opposite side of the table.
“Wine?” the mercane asked, gesturing to a crystal service set on the table. “Perhaps a sweetmeat?”
Still sated from the meal back at the palace, Kaanyr declined. He knew that the mercane considered it customary to engage in pleasantries for a few moments before getting down to business, but he had no time.
“I thank you for your hospitality, and your willingness to do business,” Kaanyr said, “but time is of the essence. I need weapons. Can you accommodate me?”
The mercane sniffed, obviously put off by the cambion’s brusque manner, but he nodded. “Indeed,” he answered. “What sort of weapons?”
“I need an enchanted blade,” Kaanyr said. “Something with a bit of bite to it. A good sword.”
The mercane sat back and steepled his long fingers together in front of his mouth. “I see,” he said. “And your funds? You wish to spend all of what you showed me?”
Kaanyr hesitated. He had other pouches hidden on his person, but those diamonds were a significant part of his fortune. And he wanted more than just a sword. “Perhaps,” he said, refusing to commit. “Depending.”
“On …?” the mercane asked. “I have the finest quality enchanted swords of every style imaginable in the entire city. I’m sure you can find something you like.”
“I’m sure I can, too,” Kaanyr said, “but I’m also looking for something a bit more arcane to round out my purchase. I dabble a bit in the dweomers myself, so I have some specific ideas in mind.”
“Oh? And what would those be?”
“Well, I prefer wands,” Kaanyr said. “Though potions will do in a pinch.”
“And what kind of wands would you like?” the mercane asked.
“Something with some power,” Kaanyr answered. “Flashy, potent. That’s what I like. Oh, and I need a reliable means of flying. It’s become an issue of late.”
“I think I can accommodate you,” the mercane said, smiling.
Kaanyr found the grin a bit predatory, and he fought the urge to shudder.
Later, after concluding his business—and after cursing himself for spending so much—Kaanyr worked his way back to the Palace of Myriad Amazements. He was still thinking how best to sneak back inside when he spotted Micus.
The angel walked on the far side of the street with another angel alongside, one that Kaanyr recognized as his jailor. Garin, he thought. I think that was his name. The sight of those two made him draw up short and want to vanish into the crowd.
They strode with purpose between a pair of utterly strange creatures. The creatures reminded the cambion of centaurs, though they were certainly not of flesh and blood. In some places, he could see alabaster skin, but in between, gears, pistons, and tubes of brass and steel shone through. The creatures wore golden armor, and they walked with the same sense of urgency that Micus and the other angel displayed.
Kaanyr followed them from a distance, but he already knew where they were headed. When they reached the steps of the Palace of Myriad Amazements, the cambion knew it was time to clear out. He turned to flee, to leave Dweomerheart by whatever means he could find, and then his mind betrayed him.
If you don’t do something to warn Tauran and the others, you’re putting the entire mission at risk.
That was all it took to force Kaanyr to try to help.
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?”
The Fractured Sky Page 21
