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."