“Clearly, High Councilor.”
“We have been assured that you will be given full cooperation.”
Micus bowed again then took his leave from the High Council.
He had many things to plan, and he would need help.
“Are you certain there isn’t an easier way?” Kaanyr asked from beside Aliisza. “This is absurd!” Panting, he struggled to free himself from a bundle of grasses that had wrapped around one leg.
“Certain,” Tauran grunted from the other side of the alu. He pounded the ground with his mace, making the soil jump in rhythm with his blows. “I cannot whisk us there, however much I would like to. My power to do so is a manifestation of Tyr’s benevolence. Since he and I aren’t seeing eye to eye at the moment, he has withdrawn his favor from me. This is the best—and only—path!” He finished with a particularly powerful down-stroke.
Aliisza slashed at another clump of writhing, entwining vines and roots with her sword. Hearing the angel’s explanation in such a casual tone saddened her. He tries to make light of it, she thought, to keep the rest of us focused and moving forward. But he must hurt at such abandonment. Like a parent turning his back on a loving child, she added.
Or her back, the alu reminded herself with a sudden stab of guilt. She turned to look at Kael. Her son was busy cleaving some thrashing bushes that were trying to entangle him. Seems we’re all struggling with the same battles.
Something caught Aliisza’s eye, some movement just beyond where Kaanyr fought alongside her. Behind him, a massive tree leaned forward, limbs splayed out as if to swat at him. Kaanyr, unaware of the danger, continued to cut at the tendrils of growth that entangled him.
“Kaanyr, watch out!” Aliisza shouted. She leaped into the air and flew across the open space between her lover and the animated tree. As she reached the tree, she flipped herself around so that she traveled feet first. She rammed both heels against the trunk in an effort to slow it down.
The blow caused the tree to shiver, but it continued to swing its limbs at her. Aliisza darted and wove around, narrowly soaring clear of its reach before the thing could envelop her with its flailing branches. But she bought Kaanyr time, and he scurried out of its reach.
“Two more!” Kael shouted.
Aliisza hovered in place and looked to where the half-drow pointed. Two more swaying trees waddled toward the group, shuffling their roots through the soil.
What madness is this? she wondered as she settled to the ground near Tauran to help free him from the grasping plant life that ensnared him. Walking trees?
“What in the heavens is going on?” she asked the angel as she helped cut him free.
“The World Tree is angry,” the angel answered as he broke loose from the last of the clinging tendrils. “It doesn’t always like being used as a conveyance, and though it seldom turns on angels, Zasian’s cruel attacks on its denizens must have raised its ire.” He stepped away from the reaching, grasping plants and up onto an outcropping of rock, evading them. “It might even believe we are the cause of its distress. It may sense the fiendish heritage of you, Vhok, and Kael.”
“Well, we need to get out of here,” Aliisza said. “Now the trees are walking! Every moment we remain here, more things start wriggling and trying to catch us.”
Even as she spoke those prophetic words, several thick vines snagged her around the waist and began to pull her down toward a clump of bushes. Growling in exasperation, the alu whipped her sword around and sliced through the creepers. She heaved herself skyward as she tugged on the severed portions, unwrapping them from her body and tossing them to the ground.
Kael, too, had gone airborne. The knight zipped and dashed before the towering, mobile trees, trying to distract them and slow their advance. Tauran, seeing the dire turn the fight was taking, took to the air and began to circle. “Let’s go! Follow me!”
Kaanyr, however, had become snagged in more shrubs, and it seemed that for every clump he cut free with one of his daggers, three more snaked forward to grasp him. Aliisza could see the frustration growing in his every move to escape.
“We have to help him!” she shouted and swooped in to assist.
Tauran followed her, and together they managed to slash enough grass and weeds away from the cambion to free him. Kaanyr immediately rose into the air, levitating to get out of reach. Once hovering, though, he gazed around wistfully, just as trapped as he had been before.
“We’ll have to carry you,” Aliisza said. “Get his other hand, Tauran.”
The cambion frowned, indignant at how he was to be transported, but he reluctantly reached out to grasp their proffered arms, and soon they were wending their way through the forest, leaving the shambling trees and clutching bushes behind. Kael caught up to them a moment later and they settled to the ground.
“Fortunately for us, the trees cannot move very fast,” the knight said. “But who knows how many more of them there are?” He gestured around them. The woods through which they had been traveling remained thick and overgrown, with no end in sight.
“Let’s not stick around to find out,” Kaanyr said, straightening the sleeves of his tunic like a preening bird. “I’d rather not suffer that indignity again.”
Noting that her lover did not actually protest the indignity itself, Aliisza hid her smile. At least he’s learning, she thought. That’s something.
“Come,” Tauran said, heading off in the direction they had been traveling before the attack. “We’re not far, I think.”
“How will we find the path in all this mess?” Kaanyr asked after a time, peering down at the ground as they hiked. “If the crack in the ground leading to Dweomerheart is as narrow as it was before, we’ll miss it for certain.”
“I don’t think it will be a problem,” Tauran said, coming to a stop at the edge of a clearing. “I believe we’re here.”
Aliisza peered over the angel’s shoulder into the clearing and saw a ring of stones standing upright, perhaps thirty paces across. In the center of the ring stood a stone archway, and within the arch a shimmering, yellow curtain of light rippled. The alu could feel the magic radiating from the doorway, even at such a distance. Just for a moment, she let the magic of Pharaun’s ring reveal the emanations to her. The glows that appeared dazzled her and made her blink.
“Powerful magic,” the alu said. “Can you feel it?”
“It spills over from Dweomerheart,” Tauran explained. “This is definitely the way.”
“Let’s go, then,” Kaanyr said, and he took a step forward.
“Wait!” Tauran shouted, reaching for the cambion, but he wasn’t quite fast enough.
The trees along the edge of the clearing writhed and shuffled, shifting around to block Kaanyr’s progress.
“It’s well guarded,” Tauran explained as more of the trees closed in around them, sealing them off from escape in any direction.
“Now you tell me.” Kaanyr sighed as he stepped back toward his companions to avoid getting separated. “What now? Fly over them?”
“I don’t think that will work,” Kael said, looking skyward. The boughs of the trees had folded in around them, closing off every space.
“I could become insubstantial,” Kaanyr said, “turn to smoke, but that won’t help the rest of you.”
“Why don’t I just create a doorway?” Aliisza asked. She started to conjure one, but Tauran gestured for her to hold.
“No,” the angel said, frowning. “I think this is one time we’re going to have to wait it out.”
Kaanyr glared. “Wait for what?” he asked. “To be crushed to death by these abominations?”
Before Tauran could reply, the ground shook beneath their feet. It was gentle at first, but rhythmic, like massive footfalls somewhere out of sight. The steps grew stronger until the four companions gently bounced with each one.
“What comes?” Kael asked, fingering the hilt of his sword nervously. “It must be huge!”
Tauran nodded. “Yes, undoubt
edly, but I think a gentle giant,” he said. His eyes shown brightly in anticipation. “I have heard stories …,” he began, but he did not finish his thought.
Aliisza tried to peer through the boles of the trees crowding around them, hoping to spot what kind of thing could shake the ground so. She spied something big and dark, but the gaps were too narrow to give a clearer picture.
“Let’s just go,” she urged. “Let me make a doorway, Tauran.”
“No,” the angel said. “I am honor-bound to seek its consent before passing through the gate.”
“That didn’t stop Zasian,” Kaanyr grumbled. “We’re losing precious time.”
Aliisza had to agree with the cambion. She saw no sense in tempting fate. But Tauran was adamant, so she continued to try to steal a glimpse of whatever it was.
The thundering, jarring steps grew even stronger, then suddenly stopped.
The tops of the trees parted.
Aliisza, her heart hammering, caught a glimpse of silvery sky for just a moment. Then a massive face moved into view and peered down at them. It was dark and rough, etched into the bark of a tree that rose twice as high as any that imprisoned the companions. The face was oldness incarnate, deeply lined and furrowed into a perpetual frown. Only the eyes seemed to be made of something other than weathered wood.
“Intruders!” the thing spoke, and its voice was low and rumbling. It drew the word out over several of Aliisza’s rapid, gasping breaths.
She could do nothing but watch, all thoughts of fleeing through her magical doorway forgotten for the moment.
“You defile,” it said, its voice rumbling so low that Aliisza felt it in her feet, “the World Tree.”
“Actually, noble treant,” Tauran said, bowing, “we do not tarnish the majesty of your glorious home. We do, however, pursue the ones responsible for the recent blights upon the great branches of the World Tree.”
The titanic tree-creature blinked several times as it pondered the deva’s words. “Long since angels …,” it said.
Aliisza and the others waited expectantly. A dozen thoughts went through her head as the gargantuan treant took a breath.
“… have traveled,” it continued.
“Yes,” Tauran answered, “It has been a long—”
“… this way,” the creature finished.
“Indeed,” Tauran said, smiling at his own impatience. “My brethren do not often have cause to travel the World Tree. Yet I ask you now to grant us safe passage.”
“The World Tree …,” the treant said.
Aliisza knew Tauran had learned from his brashness and was waiting it out.
“… is angry.”
“Yes, precisely,” Tauran said. “Our enemies have awakened it and hurt it. We merely wish to catch those villains who are doing such unspeakable things. Will you help us?”
“Creatures,” the giant tree-creature said, “not angels, are hurting it.”
“I know,” Tauran said. He seemed at a loss. “We are trying to stop them.”
“Creatures,” the treant said, and then one massive arm appeared. It pointed down into the companions’ midst and said, “Like those!”
“No!” Kaanyr said, puffing his chest out. “We’re not all guilty. Did you see how many of those cursed shadow-things I put out of their misery?”
Tauran placed a quieting hand on the cambion’s shoulder. “These are different from the others, noble treant. They are are helping me. Can you see your way to assisting us? We wish to pass through the gateway to the world beyond the stone ring.”
The tree-creature stood very still and said nothing. The four of them waited and watched, until Kaanyr sighed and sat down.
“We’re never getting out of here,” he muttered.
Aliisza began to think it had gone to sleep. “Maybe we should just fly past it,” she suggested softly. “Try to slip through the arch before it notices.”
Tauran shook his head and continued to wait.
Aliisza and Kael had both found seats on the ground before the treant finally began to move again. It vanished from view. A short time later, the regular trees began to part, allowing space between them for the quartet to pass through.
Tauran led the way out into the clearing, toward the ring of stones. The tree-creature stood there, to one side, watching them.
Aliisza paused and gaped at it for several moments, stunned anew by both its height and its mere existence.
“Catch them,” the treant said. “Stop them …”
“W-we will,” Aliisza said, nodding and smiling. The idea of making such a behemoth angry frightened her more than she would care to admit. “We promise,” she added.
“… from hurting the World Tree,” it finished.
Aliisza snapped her mouth shut, feeling foolish.
Tauran led the way to the shimmering curtain of yellow light. He paused right before it and turned back toward the tree-creature.
The gargantuan treant raised two of its mighty arms, which looked in their own right like the trunks of ancient trees. It brought them together in front of itself and clasped them like two hands. Then, ever so ponderously, it bowed.
Tauran returned the gesture with a formal bow of his own, as did Kaanyr and Kael. Aliisza caught herself bending a knee, too.
Something that old just deserves a bit of respect, she would tell herself later. It just does.
Tauran was the first to turn and step through the arch. The other three followed.
Once on the other side of the portal, Aliisza could feel the change immediately. Magic radiated all around her, coursed through everything she beheld. The night sky blazed with a multitude of glamours and enchantments. Architecture that should not have remained upright dazzled her with its beauty and uniqueness. Inhabitants rode upon conveyances both fantastical and mundane, but in nearly every case, they bore the mark of magic.
The alu knew, without even testing it, that magic poured through her being. She sensed how it enhanced her, made her more powerful. Any spell she could recall would burst forth from her in a heightened, more robust state. Everything she might conjure would appear bigger, faster, more potent. More impressive.
They stood in the middle of an urban park. A pleasant stone archway, very similar in appearance to the arch within the clearing they had just left, made up the portal. However, instead of a ring of standing stones guarded by sentient trees and unfathomable tree-creatures, here gravel paths meandering among manicured grasses and shrubs surrounded the focal point of the arch.
Numerous trees, their limbs trimmed and sculpted into interesting shapes, also lined the walks, and at various points beneath their spreading branches, stone benches invited strollers to sit for a bit and rest. Indeed, a handful of casual walkers followed some of the paths, as did a few more who did not walk at all, but instead drifted along upon the air itself, or upon rippling, undulating carpets.
Few of the park visitors paid any attention to the newest arrivals.
“It’s amazing!” Kaanyr breathed, turning his gaze back and forth as he tried to take in all the sights. “So much magic.”
“Indeed,” Tauran said, though the angel seemed far less delighted. “You cannot walk a city block in this mystical place without crossing paths with a potent practitioner, one of their preternatural works, or both. It is, truly, a city of magic.”
“You’re not impressed,” Aliisza said, looking at Tauran with a smile of accusation. “You disapprove of magic?”
Tauran shrugged. “It’s not that,” he said. He seemed to search for the right words. “Let’s just say that I have little use for such a conspicuous display of secular power. It seems pompous and … misguided.”
“To you, perhaps,” Kaanyr said. “But this is not your home. Here, the goddess is magic. Everyone sees her as the embodiment of what they know best.”
“Yes, precisely,” Tauran said, disdain creeping into his tone. “An uncaring, unconscious force, relied upon far too much as a measure of one’s worth. It pa
les in comparison to the power of faith. That comes from within. That’s what makes you who you are. Magic is just a tool, and often a crutch.”
Aliisza sniffed, a bit put off by the angel’s proselytizing. “Not very open-minded of you,” she said. “All tools have their uses. Magic happens to be a very valuable one.”
“Agreed,” Tauran said with a faint smile. “But it should never define who you are.” Then he waved his hand to dismiss the discussion. “It’s irrelevant at the moment. We need to find our way to the Eye.”
“That may be difficult,” Kael said. He had been watching the group’s surroundings more intensely as the other three conversed, and when he spoke, he pointed.
Aliisza could see a contingent of hound archons approaching. Seven blue-white stars arranged in a circle adorned their fancy red livery, marking them as servants of Mystra.
Not again, she thought, and on instinct turned in a different direction.
More of the celestial warriors approached from that way, too. As the alu turned in place, she noted that teams of the archons came at them from every direction, covering all the different paths leading from the arch.
“A welcoming party,” Kaanyr said. “Doesn’t look like there’s much welcome to them, though.” He pulled his borrowed daggers free of his belt.
“Easy,” Kael said, though Aliisza noted that he fingered the hilt of his own blade restlessly. She had her hand upon the hilt of her sword, too. “We’re not in trouble here,” the knight added. “I hope.”
“Put away your weapons, Vhok,” Tauran ordered. “All of you. They are understandably cautious when visitors arrive through a portal from elsewhere. There’s no need to lend credence to their suspicions. I’ve been met by this sort of greeting before, and it has worked out without trouble. Just let me speak with them.”
Kaanyr scowled, but he slipped the daggers back into their sheaths and folded his arms across his chest. “Very well, angel,” he said.
As the archons drew closer and formed a circle around the four, Tauran raised his hand in a peaceful gesture. “Well met, noble soldiers. Who speaks for you?”
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