"Welcome to the Eye," he said. "Search for the truth in all things great and small, my friends. Enter and fill your minds with knowledge."
Tauran led the way through the passage from the cave entrance. As they walked, Aliisza noted the width of the path down the center of the tunnel. Compared to the rougher area of the floor on either side, it was smooth as glass and slightly concave, like a trough.
Many, many pairs of feet have passed this way.
The tunnel ran straight and descended slightly. At regular intervals, torches illuminated the way. Ahead, Aliisza could see the passage level off and the torches end. When they reached the flat area, Aliisza slowed a step or two, awed.
The path ended at a large wooden dock. A hound archon stood at its near edge, watching them approach. Numerous small boats had been tied off to the dock. Each boat bore a boatman, another hound archon dressed in the robes of Savras and who stood in the rear of the craft, waiting. Beyond the dock, water stretched out into an immense cavern, easily as large as some of the great chambers and halls of the Underdark. Scattered throughout the vast emptiness, dozens-no, hundreds-of torches twinkled faintly. They filled the cavern like stars, both near the water's surface and high overhead.
Aliisza felt very small.
"What is this place?" Kaanyr asked in a near-whisper. "Where does it all go?"
"It is the Third Eye," Tauran answered. "The embodiment of Savras's knowledge. The whole place is a honeycomb of tunnels, chambers, and sinkholes. It goes deeper, too. Beneath the water."
"Where do we start?" Aliisza asked. She was overwhelmed with the enormity of the task. "How will we know what to look for?"
Tauran advanced to the dock. "I don't know," he said. He stepped up to the greeter. "We have come seeking knowledge," he said.
The hound archon, his muzzle gray with age, nodded. "May you find it, then," he said. "Do you understand the patterns? The dangers?"
Tauran shook his head. "We have never visited before."
"Few come twice. Trust your insight. Do not rely solely on your vision. Let the inner force of your desire for understanding be your guide. More, I cannot say."
Tauran cocked his head to one side, pondering. "It's up to us, our instinct, to know where to go," he said. "In every choice, something is revealed. About ourselves, about others. Is that it?"
The hound archon smiled, but said nothing. He merely bowed again.
The angel turned back to his companions. "We have to go on our gut feelings," he said. "If we envision what we need to learn and open ourselves to the subtleties of our subconscious, the veil may be lifted, and we may find what we seek."
"Sounds like a game that's hard to win," Kaanyr said, frowning. "Lots of opportunities to get lost."
"Some that pass through here do not return," the archon said. "Perhaps they never find what they seek, or perhaps they find… something else. Something unintended. Whatever the outcome, you are the guide, you must steer the course."
"Are you certain this is what we want to do?" Kaanyr asked. "Is it worth the risk of vanishing in this maze?"
As Aliisza stared out over the water at the distant twinkling lights, she found herself agreeing with Kaanyr's caution. I've never been afraid of the dark before, she thought. What's different about this place?
Tauran gazed levelly at the cambion. "I have surrendered everything I hold dear to right this wrong. What do you think?"
"Well, good for you, angel," Kaanyr said. "I've given up quite a bit, too, and may yet give up more. I still want to think about this before we just plunge into the darkness forever."
"I know of no other way to get ahead of Zasian," Tauran said. "So long as we keep following his breadcrumb trail, we play his game. If we succeed at this, we may have the means to stop him. I'm committed to that possibility. And you are, too."
Kaanyr glared at Tauran, but he said nothing more.
Aliisza watched the cambion and imagined his mind working, trying to figure out a way to bypass the angel's control over him. She was still furious with him for his boorish attack earlier, but at that moment, when she so feared passing deeper into those caverns, she actually felt a bit sorry for him. I have a choice; he has to go in there whether he likes it or not. Still, he might actually learn something about himself…
But that's what you're afraid of, isn't it? she asked herself. Seeing too deeply into your own heart.
"Quit fighting it," she said softly to Kaanyr, so no one else could hear. "Trust me; I know of what I speak."
"How could you stand it?" Kaanyr whispered. "How could you put up with his sneering, condescending arrogance?"
So, he begins to understand at last, she thought, trying not to smirk. He finally sees how much he betrayed me. "You'd be surprised," she said, staring pointedly at her lover. "I've had lots of practice."
Kaanyr caught her look and snorted, but she saw his faint smile nonetheless. He inclined his head at her, acknowledging her point. "Let's go," he said, following Tauran.
The angel walked along the dock, studying the different boats. He paused a couple of times, examining a particular craft more closely, but he would move on again after a short time. When he'd traversed the entire row of boats, he shrugged.
"I'm no closer to picking than I was before," he said. "This may take a while."
Aliisza thought for a moment. Then inspiration struck. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.
Tauran frowned. "Which boat feels right."
The alu shook her head. "No," she said, "not like that. Look at me. Now, what do you want to do more than anything?"
Tauran bit his lip. "To catch Zasian."
"How?"
"By knowing what he's planning."
"Exactly," Aliisza said. "Feel that. What is Zasian planning?" She looked at her other two companions. "Fix that in your mind."
The alu followed her own advice. She closed her eyes and imagined the priest, pictured his face. She watched him, studied him, waited for him to act. Then, she imagined which boat would carry her to Zasian, to his next step.
The choice came to her suddenly and clearly.
Aliisza opened her eyes just as Kael said, "It's that one." He was pointing to her own choice.
"Yes," Kaanyr agreed, and Tauran nodded beside him.
"Let's go," the angel said, and they boarded the boat together.
The boatman untied the moorings and pushed the craft away from the dock. The boat moved into the open water and began to pick up speed on its own. The archon stood silently at the stern, occasionally dipping a single paddle into the water to adjust the heading slightly, but he did not row or pole the craft forward.
"Where are we going?" Kaanyr asked. "Or must we choose that, too?"
"I think we do," Kael said.
Aliisza filled her mind with images of Zasian again. She pictured him planning, plotting, scheming. As she did so, subtle hints came to her about the way to follow. The course the boat set seemed to acknowledge her thoughts.
Or maybe Tauran's, or all of us, she thought.
Whatever the circumstances, whenever she glanced at her companions, they all were just as keenly observant of where the craft was taking them, and they all seemed equally as content.
The boat glided along the black water, leaving the docks far behind, until Aliisza could not remember which set of torch lights indicated its location. She peered all around, studying the various points of light. Most seemed to lie along the shores of the subterranean lake, but many more sat up high, perhaps on shelves of cave wall or hanging from the ceiling. She was never certain, for they didn't illuminate much. They simply hovered, distant pinpricks of light against a tapestry of night.