"If I had told you before all this started that Tyr would slay Helm, would you have found that easy to believe?"
Kael stared at the ground. He shrugged. "No," he admitted. "It would have seemed preposterous. I suppose I just can't imagine how they're going to pull it off."
"That's not important," Tauran said, laying a hand on his companion's shoulder. "Whatever Cyric's intentions are, no good can come of it. And if we can warn Azuth-either directly or through his most trusted advisors-we may never find out what the Liar planned. But if we don't get past all this bureaucracy and actually stop him, Zasian will succeed."
Kael nodded. "Maybe we're going about this all wrong," he said. He turned toward Vhok. "Half-fiend, come here."
Vhok turned and frowned. "You do not give me orders, whelp," he growled.
Tauran started to intervene, but Kael held his hand for the angel to wait. "I know, but we need your expertise."
Vhok grimaced, but he rejoined the two of them. "What?"
Kael smiled. "We need to figure out how to break in there"-he pointed to the dome-"and we figure you're just the clever fellow to come up with a plan."
Tauran tilted his head, looking appreciatively at Kael. Very good, he thought. Draw him in, get him interested again.
Vhok stared at the imposing edifice for a few moments. "Very well," he said. "What do we know about it?"
Tauran shook his head and interrupted. "Not here," he cautioned. "Let's get off the avenue and talk about this somewhere private."
The trio turned and headed away from the Hall of Petitions. They found a private spot within a stone garden and sat down together beneath a series of crystalline columns to discuss things.
"This is where that arcane magic you like to look down your nose at might just come in handy," Vhok said to Tauran as they began to plan.
This isn't going to work, Kael projected. They must have safeguards in place for tricks like this.
Kaanyr would have smiled if he had a mouth, but he had rendered his body insubstantial and nearly invisible through the use of some of his favorite magic. In gaseous form he glided along the roof of the lowest floor of the Hall of Petitions. He angled toward a wall surrounding the next level of the edifice. Behind him, Tauran and Kael moved in similar fashion.
You'd be surprised, the cambion said. Everyone expects the flashy magic-the teleportation, the invisibility-but no one ever thinks to watch for a near-transparent cloud of gas. Just stay low, against the surfaces, and you'll be fine.
Kaanyr's plan had also called for them to link mentally to one another. He needed a few simple items from a vendor in the streets to pull it off. He was proud of its simplicity.
Well, this may get us to the rotunda, but getting inside will be another matter, Kael said. There's bound to be a whole host of protective spells there to keep us out.
We'll deal with that when the time comes, Tauran interjected. We only need to make them see the threat. Even if they catch us, at least we'll have gotten their attention and can explain the dire situation to them.
A thought had been plaguing Kaanyr, one that he had stubbornly shoved to the back of his mind. He didn't want to think about it, but he could no longer ignore it. How do we know Zasian hasn't already succeeded? he asked.
I think we'd have noticed if something had happened, Tauran replied. His thought conveyed wry amusement. You don't steal the Lord of Spells's staff without a bit of noticeable backlash.
Kaanyr had to admit that would be true. Still, he argued, Zasian and Kashada might already be up there, getting ready.
Perhaps, Tauran said. But even if that is so, we are not too late-yet.
Recognizing the angel's sense of urgency, Kaanyr focused on getting the three of them to the dome as quickly as their magic would allow. He led them up and over the wall, where they encountered a colonnaded porch. From there, they climbed to another level and drifted past windows and balconies until they reached a great plaza that surrounded the dome.
The cambion spied sentries everywhere they moved, both archons and angels, dressed in the livery of Azuth and keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings. He led his two companions between the guards, through places where they would best blend in with the architecture. They traveled along corners, glided up columns, and at one point they even seeped through a series of cracks in the stonework, passing right between a hound archon's feet.
Kaanyr thought of Aliisza. He wondered again why she had not returned to the docks to meet them. He remembered the grizzled guide at the docks and his suggestion that some never returned from their journey.
Is that what happened? he wondered. Are you trapped there forever? The thought made him remarkably sad. He felt a brief surge of renewed anger at the angel for leaving her behind.
In his own way, Kaanyr knew he loved her. She could be insufferable at times, strong-headed and too cunning by half. But they had shared much together, and he missed her.
If you could see me now, the cambion thought wryly, helping these two like this, you'd smirk and tell me I was letting my human side get the best of me. He shrugged. Maybe I am.
The real conundrum in Vhok's mind was, he didn't know if he was doing it because Tauran had compelled him or because Aliisza would have insisted on it if she were there. Kaanyr sighed and swore yet again that, when they were finished dealing with Zasian and when the angel released him from his servitude, he would return to the Eye of Savras and find her.
What now? Kael asked, drawing Kaanyr our of his thoughts. We're almost to the rotunda.
Kaanyr had led them all the way to a narrow railing that encircled the great dome. Narrow windows pierced the surface of the dome at regular intervals there, too small for most creatures to fit through.
Through the gaps, Kaanyr instructed. And we'll see what we see.
He moved to slip through one of the windows and felt a trigger of magic. He had disturbed some arcane barrier.
Uh-oh, he projected. I think I tripped an alarm.
I can sense it, too, Tauran answered. Too late to worry about now. Is something barring you?
Kaanyr tested the window and discovered that it was not blocked. He told Tauran and Kael as much and glided through the gap.
The cambion emerged into a large, curving hallway that clearly surrounded an inner chamber within the dome. Deep azure carpet covered marble floors, and graceful sweeping arches ran from the floor to the ceiling along the outer wall in between each window. Farther down to Kaanyr's left, a set of double doors led into the interior of the dome. In the opposite direction, he could see a pair of archons and a green-skinned, bald-headed planetar approaching. They moved rapidly, clearly in a hurry.
I think they're coming to investigate us, Kaanyr projected. Whatever we're going to do, we'd better do it fast. They won't overlook us now that they're wary.
You two keep going, Tauran instructed. I will confront them. I will try to stall them so you can get inside and warn someone, but whatever happens to me, don't stop.
That's not wise, Kaanyr said. You're an angel, more reputable than either of us in these parts. You should be the one to keep going. They'll listen to you inside. Let me hold them off. A cambion trying to sneak into Azuth's inner sanctum may seem like suicide, but it will also be a reasonable explanation for why we're sneaking in and not knocking on the front door. They won't think to look for accomplices quite as fast.
He's right, Kael agreed. Speak the truth, and they will listen to you. But we don't belong here.
I can't let you do that, Tauran said. I am the one respon-
To the Hells with that, Kaanyr decided. He's not coming up with some coercive reason to make me obey. Before Tauran could finish, the cambion banished his spell of gaseousness and materialized in front of the oncoming celestials.