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.Kael sensed the anger in their demeanors, and it shocked him to see the stoic solars, always inscrutable, exhibiting such passion.They are frightened, he realized.What could scare a solar? he wondered, growing more uneasy with each passing moment.A particularly deep and rumbling disturbance shook the chamber.The champion of Torm had to take a step to steady himself as the floor pitched.He saw the much more graceful angels spread their wings to compensate for the undulating foundations.The rumble subsided, and with it, the solars' berating of Tauran.See? Kael wanted to shout.That's what scares you.You know he speaks the truth."I sense some malevolent manipulation behind this"—Tauran paused, waving one hand vaguely around himself—"this furious dispute between them.Whatever their disagreement—and I do not profess to understand the ways of the gods—but whatever their disagreement, it strikes me as unduly vehement and bitter.This is not the behavior of the immortals I have served.Furthermore, our disparaging treatment of Helm's loyal servants is not in keeping with what I know in my heart to be just and fair.The same holds true, I suspect, for you.It is not who we are, Councilors." The deva scanned the room once, locking gazes with each member of the Council, before he proceeded."I witnessed events today that have convinced me that Cyric has a hand in Tyr and Helm's disagreement.I think Vhok and Aliisza were unwittingly caught up in the Liar's machinations, and they can help me find out if I'm right.""No!" shouted one of the solars."The impertinence!" yelled another.Kael could not remember a time when he had witnessed the powerful creatures in such emotional disarray.They clearly found the entire prospect of their own god stumbling in his judgment too much to bear.For the first time, he feared what they might do to Tauran to counteract their own uncertainty."Blasphemy!" Micus shouted."He is unfit for his station! He has fallen in league with fiends and aims to assist them in a foul plot!"Kael took a single step toward Micus, his face a snarl of hatred.He's been your friend forever! the half-drow thought.How dare you smear his name, you bastard! You don't deserve his friendship.Micus saw the movement and gestured."As you can see,"he said, raising his voice to be heard, "even his pupil has been tainted.It pains me to see, but what should we expect from the offspring of such dubious stock? Tauran has failed in that effort, too."There was more outrage among the Council, but Kael could barely hear it.He was too busy fighting to get past Tauran to reach Micus.He didn't remember drawing his weapon, but somehow the sword was in his hands.Tauran held Kael by one arm, straining to keep the half-drow from striking the other angel."Control yourself!" he shouted."You do us no favors by unleashing your wrath!"Micus stood a few paces back, on the balls of his feet, as though prepared to combat the champion of Torm should he manage to break free from Tauran's grasp.His expression was one of grim regret.The chamber continued its uproar.Kael finally relinquished and stared at the floor, shamed.Tauran was right; his own actions were just as much of a betrayal as anything Micus had concocted."Forgive me, Tauran," he murmured.The deva made a faint gesture of dismissal.We'll speak of it later, was the message.The High Councilor called for quiet once more, but it took him shouting, "Silence!" in a thunderous, commanding tone before all became calm again."In light of the evidence," the High Councilor said in a tone that suggested he would brook no further outbursts, "coupled with my own grave concerns about the intentions of these fiends in our midst, you are hereby ordered to your quarters until further notice, while an inquiry is launched into your behavior.That applies to both of you," he added, pointing to Kael.The half-drow bowed his head, remorse filling him, both at his own improper actions in the face of the Council and at their knee-jerk reactions."And what of Aliisza and Vhok?" Tauran asked, his tone neutral."What is to become of them?"Kael could hardly imagine the effort it took his mentor to remain so calm in the face of such betrayal."They are intruders, High Councilor," Micus argued."Both of them.Aliisza violated the terms of her stay with us when she fled in her son's body, and her efforts to assist Vhok's intrusion condemns her equally.""Indeed," the solar said."For now they will be required to remain under guard, until this inquiry can sort everything out.I put you in charge of their care, Micus.Make certain that they do not—"Kael was knocked from his feet as the hemispherical chamber lurched violently to one side.He stumbled to his knees and slid across the rapidly tilting floor.He heard the concerned shouts of the angels, deva and solar alike, all around him.The half-drow righted himself and took to the air, using the magic of his winged boots.The chamber shook again, and a great, deafening peal of cracking stone pulsed through it.Kael clamped his hands over his ears and peered around, seeking the source of the noise.The majority of the white, glowing dome had shattered overhead.A multitude of jagged shards of the strange, glassy material rained down upon the occupants.Lashing wind howled through the opening and whipped the myriad fragments around in a deadly storm.Kael flinched away and hid his face.He prayed to Torm that his armor would shield him from the worst of the flying debris.The half-drow felt the shards pelt him, crashing againstthe metal outfit.The sound was horrendous, a cacophony of tinkling and breaking, like poorly made chimes.The swirling material stung every bit of exposed flesh.Suddenly, the storm was over.The wind still howled, but the maelstrom of broken, jagged debris had vanished.Kael risked a look around and saw everyone else in the chamber doing the same.Tauran and Micus were both bloodied in many places, their white garments stained red.They eyed each other and the members of the Council.The solars had been left unscathed, and the High Councilor held his hand aloft in a finished gesture.He put a stop to it, Kael decided.Banished the shards with his divine power.The roar of another deep-throated rumble coursed through the chamber from beyond its mined walls, and the world shook again.Kael stared upward through the gaping hole in the ceiling and gasped.The view was surreal, something from a nightmare.The very sky had fractured.Some of it was night, studded with stars, while in other places the red glow of sunset or the wispy white of clouds shone through.Every bit of it drifted and tumbled, like individual windows peering into other worlds or pieces of a broken and scattering image, a stained glass window burst from its frame.Another rumble shook the world, and the hemisphere ripped in half.The solars vanished, winked out like fireflies on a summer night.Micus disappeared too, leaving only Tauran and Kael hovering in the middle of the destruction.As the chamber separated and began to fall away to either side of him, Kael felt the storm's full force
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