Halcyon steps out onto the sloping stone floor of the cavern, and suddenly everything becomes exact.
She herself isn’t especially beautiful; her face is too severe, the lines of her cheekbones too chiseled for true beauty. Nevertheless, her presence fills the cavern with the icy precision of an angry judge in a Sigilian courtroom. Anyone watching Halcyon suddenly feels an unnamed fear of doing something wrong, of accidentally doing something that would displease her. None of the Defenders are so inexperienced that they would actually give in to such an urge, but the fear crawls about nevertheless. There are consequences for displeasing me, Halcyon’s presence seems to suggest, and they are too terrible to withstand. Better to obey.
Halcyon gazes up and takes in the tower, sees the people looking over the battlements at the top, and her lips thin. One hand deliberately drops to the hilt of her dangerous-looking sword, and she tilts her chin. “I speak with the authority of Heaven. You are harboring a felon who is attempting to flee from justice. By the decree of the Gods themselves, I order you to bring him forth.” Her voice doesn’t echo despite the arching ceiling; instead, it falls flat upon the ears, like a cold slab of iron slammed down upon the anvil.
“I told you she’s a lying self-righteous bitch. No one likes her. Don’t trust her.” White-faced at the timbre of her voice, Teliez stumbles back out of sight behind Tao and Stone Bear. Stone Bear casually slides to the side. Teliez tries to concentrate and harbor his energies, but he’s clearly having difficulty. Halcyon, on the other hand, looks as fresh as the summer wind. Not a hair is out of place, her clothes fall perfectly in wrinkleless lines, and she doesn’t have a single blood stain on her white tunic.
“Oh boy,” thinks Velendo. “Here we go.”
“I do not wish to ask again. It is a sin to harbor the guilty. Cast him from you that the faces of Our Lords may judge him, and that he may be truly judged for his crimes.”
Mara and Malachite are both desperately trying to detect evil from Halcyon, but they get nothing. “She’s lawful,” thinks Mara, “not that that’s any big surprise. I’ll keep trying to break through.” The force of Mara’s will is intense, and she slowly tries to part the mists hiding Halcyon’s soul from her scrutiny.
Agar whispers over the mindlink, “And I’ll let you know when she lies. She hasn’t yet – although she sounds like a fanatic.”
“She’s a demigoddess, right?” thinks Nolin sarcastically. “She probably worships herself. No wonder she’s a fanatic. When she prays, she’s talking to herself.” Aloud, he greets her personably and with humble deference. “Good afternoon, my lady. We’re honored to have such a prestigious and powerful visitor.”
Opalescent light radiates from Halcyon’s body. “I have no interest in your opinion. My fugitive, please.” One perfect eyebrow arches, and her voice is inexorable. A thin layer of ice crystals creep across Nolin’s celestial battlecloak, only to be quickly melted by his own body heat.
Malachite leans forwards over the crenelations and folds his arms across his chest. “Of course, we have no interest in circumventing the law. However, I must ask you what law you claim him under. I wish to be sure that your claim on him is just. What is his crime, and what is his punishment to be?”
They dare deny and question her? Halcyon draws in a breath through Her aquiline nose. These might be important people in the mortal scheme of things, She reminds Herself as She opens Her senses. I can sense the divine about them. There is Aeos, Calphas, Galanna, a breath of my own father Vindus… Her shining eyes open a fraction of an inch wider. And an angel of the Wallbuilder? And a voice of Galanna? And the chosen of Calphas! Halcyon almost takes Her own name in vain; it would be a difficult inconvenience to explain if She was forced to execute them in the pursuit of her duties. Too many questions afterwards. It would also prejudice Her claim on Imbindarla’s throne. Nevertheless, thinks Halcyon, the whelp is guilty and needs to die, just as Yuute did two days before.
Ahh, Yuute. Halcyon turns the memory over in Her mind like a lover, caressing it, recalling Her thrill in righteously dismembering the child of Yorrine even as He fell eternally to the center of the world. No jagged edges, of course; only clean, sharp lines, square chunks of flesh. The inherent taint of His disease could not affect Her, and Her divine mandate was well served by doing Her duty. With Imbindarla’s death setting divine precedent, She now had a free hand. Now the one who had first thrown down Yuute stood before her as a guard of Teliez the Worm! She would have to obey the traditional protocols, would have to give Teliez another opportunity to submit instead of just taking Him by force as she would prefer. Propriety is propriety, and rules are rules. Surely, these mortals will recognize this. Patience is a virtue, Halcyon reminds herself, and spreads her arms.
“Teliez has broken divine law. He seeks to seize power that is not His, that He has no right to claim. Doing so is a crime, one that disrupts the natural and lawful order of the multiverse. This must not be allowed to occur, and so any who attempt it must be punished.”
“And what is the punishment?”
“Death.” In Nolin’s imagination, Her voice sounds hungry.
“And who decreed this law?”
“That is of no matter. It IS, and that is all you should concern yourself with. Obey the law and turn him over, or face the appropriate punishments yourself.”
Agar looks up, distracted by his ongoing truth spell. “She made up the law herself,” he clarifies.
"Ha!" yells Nolin. "I knew it."
“What?” Malachite looks angry at the idea. “She can do that?”
“Apparently.” The halfling shrugs. “But it’s still a divine decree.”
Malachite frowns. “That would be true if Imbindarla said something, too, but that doesn’t make it right.”
Mara raises her voice. “Halcyon, It seems to me that you’re after the wrong person. What about the Ivory King?”
Halcyon’s voice is suddenly gentle, as if speaking to a child. “His punishment will come in turn. Each in order, according to their crime, as it is written in my grandfather’s Book of Law. As with Yuute and now Teliez, all who dare flaunt divine procedure of ascendance will pay for their temerity. I am merely the humble instrument that carries out the divine decree.”
“I’ll bet.” Velendo blinks. “You killed Yuute?”
“He is serving his just punishment for his crimes.”
Agar looks up again at Velendo. “She killed him,” he confirms.
Slowly, a suspicion spreads across the faces of several Defenders. “Tell me,” asks Nolin slowly, “do you seek the position of Imbindarla yourself? Is this why you are systematically hunting down rivals for Her power and portfolio?”
Halcyon looks calm and peaceful. “My job is merely to stop people from claiming the power prematurely. When all is settled, the Gods themselves will decide who shall wear that mantle.”
Agar’s face abruptly contracts and he begins to shake. “A vision,” he croaks. “Hundreds of thousands of undead, all standing in precise battle lines, perfectly organized.” Proty squirms in agitation on his shoulder. “She damn well hopes that she’ll be the logical choice after she kills everyone else. I don’t like this one bit.”
Malachite shoots a look at Mara. “Is she evil?” he asks insistently.
Mara, still concentrating fiercely, growls in frustration. “I can’t break through that divination fog, Imbindarla’s breath of whatever it’s called. I’m trying, and I think I’m almost there.”
“It is time to live up to your divine obligations,” announces Halcyon with finality. “It is against the law to disobey my edict. The penalty for disobedience is death. Hand over Teliez immediately. If you attempt to thwart me in my duty, your divine powers will be summarily stripped from you as soon as the Gods are made aware of your sin of defiance. I’m sure no one wishes for that to happen.” Her voice is insistent, and the chill in the cavern increases ten-fold. “Your time is up. Hand him over. Now.”
Stone Bear’s spirit sight first visualizes the icy lines of Halcyon’s soul, then he glances over at Teliez’s crawling spirit. The choice is easy to make, and he casually moves across the tower. Almost no one thinks his movement is odd except for Galthia; the monk notices him, perceives a certain similarity of opinion, and does nothing.
Tao, however, whispers to Teliez. “I’m going to have to get you out of here. Stay close to me.”
“What are you going to do? You’ve got to help me!” wheedles Teliez.
“I’m going to if I have to,” answers a clearly annoyed Tao. “You may be the son of a God, but you’re a pain in the ass for dragging us into this.”
“Hey, you owe me!” insists Teliez in a desperate whisper. “I spent two months without food and water lost in a desert when you unceremoniously kicked me through a gate four years ago.” Tao glares at him, and he tries to manage a smile that suggests he’s only kidding. He doesn’t wholly succeed. “I mean, please?”
“There’s no rush on this,” Nolin is saying as he tries to buy time. He glances from a praying Velendo over to Mara’s beautiful face, marred by the sweat dripping down it. Suddenly he sees her expression clear like the sun emerging from clouds.
“She’s evil,” says Mara with wonder in her voice. “She has it concealed behind layers of Law and self-righteousness, but she’s so evil. What she does, she does for her own gain.”
Malachite smiles coldly and leans over the battlement. “You may not have him,” he announces. “He is under our protection.”
Velendo agrees. “Teliez may not be perfect, but he has asked us for sanctuary, and it has been granted. If you want him, you will have to take him from us.”
“So be it. As you willingly break the law, so you shall be punished. You shall meet the Gods directly, weighted down with the burden of your sin, and They shall determine your ultimate fate. Unless, of course, you turn Him over to Me.” Halcyon spreads her arms and is surrounded by a roiling pillar of cold light. She begins to count. "Ten. Nine. Eight."
Tao snorts. “Some of us have already met the Gods, bitch. I don’t think we’re the ones at fault here.” Swords rasp from sheathes. “Bring it on.”
"Seven. Six."
Beside Tao, Stone Bear steps next to Teliez, who is struggling with another wave of negative energy that skitters across his skin. “Sorry, pal,” says Stone Bear. “But it’s time to do what’s right.” And the shaman grabs Teliez and moves to throw him over the edge of tower’s battlements.
“Help!” shouts the surprised Teliez. He braces himself on the edge of the iron crenelations, and Stone Bear is unable to toss him cleanly over the edge onto Halcyon’s feet. The shaman reels back in pain, pus-filled blisters forming on both hands where he touched the teenaged demigod. “Help!”
"Five. Four."
“Damn it,” curses Stone Bear. “You don’t belong with normal men! You annoyed one of your fellow spirits, go and face her like a man. Get over there.” He tries again, but Teliez makes a break around him and runs for Tao. The divine agent rolls her eyes in disbelief.
“Lesser of two evils,” she tells Stone Bear, but the shaman starts for Teliez anyways. Tao thrusts both hands forward and rips a hole in the universe. She strains with her soul and opens a gate directly into her Goddess’ sanctuary in the Beastlands. “Get through there!” Tao snaps at Teliez.
"What, there? You're going to throw me out?! But... but I came to you for help! You offered me asylum! You can't just..."
Velendo spins, furious. "Teliaz! You showed up out of nowhere and involved us in a dispute between divine beings! Now there's a demi-god out there that's about to kill us because of you. We want to help you but we're not sure how, so SHUT UP AND LET US THINK!"
Teliez still balks at the grassland suddenly before him. “I don’t want to go to…”
"Three. Two."
“Move!” Tao orders. Once again she unceremoniously boots Teliez and the outgrabe through a gate, this time across the very planes of existence and out of the immediate reach of Halcyon. Teliez’s wail is cut off suddenly. “Ungrateful little bastard.” She lets the gate lapse and turns to Stone Bear with a questioning look.
“I think you made the wrong choice,” the shaman warns. “Look.” He points to the other side of the tower where a furious Halcyon is rising on the air itself, shining greatsword drawn from its sheath and a look of glee in Her eyes.
”One,” intones Halcyon. “Aiding and abetting? Indeed, you've made the wrong choice.” Her smile is cold and glittering. “And now he is temporarily out of my reach. The hunt continues. Who wishes to be punished first?”
“Oh, bite me,” intones Nolin without a trace of the previous deference. “You want to kill us? Take a number. We’ve got more important people to worry about than you.”
The battle is joined.
Standing in the air out of easy reach, Halcyon hefts Obedience, her greatsword of conformity. It draws her attention to Tao, the most chaotic and disordered opponent, and the blade flashes out like a scythe to chop off the woman’s head. Tao manages to interpose one of her swords, but the force of the blow rocks the divine agent of Galanna backwards across the rooftop. Beside her, Velendo raises his prayers to the heavens, calling a solar of Calphas to come and aid him in his time of need.
The solar's wings beat the air like a hurricane. "WHY HAVE YOU SUMMONED ME?"
Velendo looks up, swallowing down the feeling of incipient panic. "Here is our situation. That being..." Velendo nods toward Halcyon "...is the demi-god daughter of Vindus. We believe that she seeks the portfolio of Imbindarla for herself and has begun systematically eliminating her rivals. One of these rivals came here and requested asylum from us. She arrived soon after and demanded his release.
"I do not believe this is a matter for mortals to decide on their own. I have called you to be witness, to act as arbiter should negotiations occur, and to be a combatant if you think that appropriate or necessary. If you deem this matter unworthy of your attention you are of course free to leave, and I will still perform some task or service of your choosing."
"DID YOU GRANT ASYLUM TO HIM?"
"Yes."
"WHERE IS HE NOW? IS HE SAFE?"
"I don't know. We gated him to Beastlands, as we doubted our ability to protect him ourselves."
The Solar turns angrily on Halcyon, who has momentarily pulled back. "DAUGHTER OF VINDUS, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO INTERFERE WITH THE HOLY MISSION OF MY CHARGE. THIS FALLS WITHIN HIS BAILIWICK, AND I WILL BROOK NO INTERFERENCE."
Halcyon looks unimpressed. "Out of my way, Son of Heaven. I have my own mandate, and it does not concern you. You have no jurisdiction here, and by the rights of the compact you are declared an enemy if you choose to interfere. It is your own choice."
The angel settles down on the rooftop, dwarfing all of the other Defenders. "I HAVE BEEN CALLED, AND I HAVE ANSWERED. I SO CHOOSE."
Halcyon's eyes narrow. "So be it."
Spells fly, blades crash, fists hammer, and the angel of the Wallbuilder is a glory to behold. Halcyon is a difficult target for even the solar to badly injure; spells splash off her without harm, and her armor is near-invincible. The radiant knights are able to injure her by drawing on their divine strength, but her blade bites deeply everywhere she strikes. Gore litters the rooftop, but none of it adheres to Halcyon. Despite her injuries that would have killed a mortal, her tunic is pristine. The same can't be said about the solar's blood-splashed wings.
Stone Bear has a different target than the others. He watches Halcyon’s movements with his mind’s eye, watches the pattern of her blade and the way her spirit moves. He focuses his inner strength and readies himself. This is the way to break her spirit and her power, suggests his ancestor spirit of war. Now! Both of Stone Bear’s hands snake forwards in an unexpected grab. One hand locks the sword hilt of Obedience while his other fist snaps into the side of the blade.
He strikes once, and Halcyon laughs in derision. “This blade is forged from pure law,” she boasts without heat. “When it slays you, you will write another line in the tome of obedience.” Stone Bear strikes a second time, and the blade snaps cleanly in two.
Stone Bear smiles, but the look on Halcyon’s face is indescribable.
Halcyon rises farther into the air and raises her shield. Her voice rises, intoning and altering certain laws that make up the fabric of time itself. As she does so, the world unreels; time slides backwards, and wounds heal as reality reverses itself. Even the solar of Calphas is unsummoned. Thirty seconds unwind before time snaps back into place, people replaying their actions for a second time.
“I think you made the wrong choice,” Stone Bear warns for a second time. “Look.” He points to the other side of the tower where a furious Halcyon is rising on the air itself, shining greatsword drawn from its sheath. There is a look of profound fury in her eyes, and a promise of vengeance. This time, however, she doesn't launch an attack.
“Your punishment shall come,” Halcyon promises. “I so decree it. When my quarries are caught and my obligations discharged, I shall return to teach you a lesson in obedience.” And with a rainbow flash she disappears.
Silence.
“Well, that’s an anticlimax,” comments Nolin. “I was sure she was going to attack us.” He's interrupted by the sound of crashing masonry, and a solar appears out of nowhere.
"WHERE IS SHE?" asks the angel in anger. "I WOULD BANDY WORDS WITH THE DAUGHTER OF VINDUS."
"Holy one!" exclaims Velendo as he hits the floor on his knobby knees. "To what do I owe this honor?"
“You don’t remember?” Galthia looks incredulous. “Halcyon attacked us. Several people were horribly hurt. You summoned this angel. Then Stone Bear shattered her sword, she raised her shield, and she somehow she turned time backwards.” Other than the solar and Galthia, only Mara and Stone Bear also remember the fight well enough to help recount the details to everyone. The group asks the angel to bring word of Halcyon's perfidy back to the Gods, and it agrees to do so. There is a distant fanfare of silvery trumpets, a greeting between Cruciel and the solar, and then the angel is gone.
In the quiet that follows, Stone Bear turns to the radiant knights. “You know, Teliez is evil. I can see it clearly. He is the child of Murder.”
Malachite nods. “He’s evil all right, but he’s also incompetent. We’re working under the assumption that someone has to assume the mantle of the Goddess of Undeath. For the moment, I’d rather it be someone incompetent that we have some control over. Teliez has some humanity; I hope that will stay with him if he happens to ascend.” Malachite frowns. “Halcyon’s peversion of law was the greater evil. There will be time for Teliez. First the Ivory King; we’re very close.”
Elder squirms inside Stone Bear. It is a place of death. I will guide you truly.
Nolin looks at Tao. “You think Teliez is safe from Halcyon on the Beastlands?”
Tao shrugs her muscular shoulders. “Not my problem. It’s the best I could offer.”
Again, silence.
“Come on,” sighs Nolin. “My stomach is growling. Let’s go finish dinner.”
To be continued…
