"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.