The Crystal Mountain by Thomas M. Reid

Author:Thomas M. Reid
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Good and evil, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, General, Angels, Demonology, Forgotten realms (Imaginary place)
ISBN: 9780786952359
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Published: 2009-07-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Aliisza's hands trembled as she held Pharaun's finger. Her mind raced with a dozen thoughts, from wondering if her idea would really work to trying to guess what Kael and Tauran thought of her revelation. The idea of actually coming face-to-face with the drow mage sent shivers up her spine.

"My father?" Kael asked, his voice slightly timid. "That's his?"

"Yes," Aliisza said, "plucked from the Abyss after his death. I've kept it all this time, wondering if I would ever need to make use of it."

"He has no compunction to enter the Living Vessel," Tauran said. "It has been a long time for him. In some ways an eternity. And whatever has happened to him in those intervening stretches, he might not even recall you or your role in his life; His life itself might be nothing but a faint memory. Rarely is a Living Vessel used in this way."

Aliisza frowned. "But do you agree that it might work?" When the angel nodded, she said, "Then don't make me any more nervous than I already am."

Kael had risen to his feet and was pacing, his sword in his hand. "What makes you think that he will help us?" His tone had grown high-pitched, filled with nervous energy. "Or that he will want to know about me?"

Aliisza smiled. And so it comes full circle, she thought. "As a very wise person once explained it to me, in order to gain the benefit of caring about others, you have to be willing to surrender to the heartbreak that it might not work out as you expect… or hope." She cast a glance over at Tauran, who showed the faintest hint of a smile. "He's your father. At worst, your relationship with him will be nonexistent, just as it is now. At best…"

Kael blew a sigh that puffed his cheeks out. "Very well," he said. "It seems our only chance to escape this place, regardless. Let's do this."

Aliisza smiled and took the finger close to Zasian. She hesitated.

"What are the dangers?" she asked the angel. "What should we expect?"

Tauran shrugged. "None, that I know of," he said, his voice weak and raspy. "Just touch him with it."

"Will Zasian's mind return?" she asked, suddenly wary. "Am I dooming us instead of helping?"

"I cannot answer that," Tauran replied. "In all of this, there is great uncertainty. Nothing like this has ever occurred before." He broke into a coughing fit. When it finally subsided, he added, "But as Kael has pointed out, I see no other alternatives. Even if Zasian returns, you have not appreciably worsened our situation."

Grimacing, Aliisza turned back to the vacuous priest. That's debatable, she thought. Although I wouldn't mind the pleasure of gutting him, given the chance. She held the finger up to his gaze, watching to see if he would, at long last, react to something. He did not.

Do it, she told herself. Touch him.

Drawing a deep breath to bolster her courage, Aliisza tentatively reached out and placed the desiccated finger against Zasian's arm.

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