The Gossamer Plain by Thomas M. Reid Page B

same time. She could feel power emanating from it. She squinted against the painful, radiant light and took a peek.
    She could barely make out a figure, a creature similar to herself, but unlike anything Aliisza had ever seen before. It looked vaguely like a man, though it seemed much taller than any human the alu had ever laid eyes on. After a moment, the intensity of the glow surrounding it diminished. She could see the rich brown skin of its bare chest, but its legs were hidden beneath loose white leggings, or a kilt of some sort. As she gazed at the things face, she found its features nothing short of beautiful. Two great, feathered wings sprouted from its back. It hovered before her, surveying her with the gentlest expression of sympathy and caring. Aliisza was both repulsed and drawn to it.
    Without warning, a deep rumble shook the void and a gargantuan shadow fell across the creature and Aliisza. The half-fiend let out a startled gasp and spun in place, trying to detect its source. A great stone wall, made of boulders as big as caverns, burst into view nearby, sliding through the void as if it grew from a ground that didn’t exist. It rose up and past them, out of sight, looming over the pair. A second wall joined the first, sliding into place with a reverberation so low Aliisza
    felt it more than heard it. Then a third, and a fourth—four massive stone edifices, surrounding her and her companion. And Aliisza was no longer floating, but lying on her back upon a stone floor that was simply there. She hadn’t seen it arrive, like the walls. It just was.
    The alu stared everywhere. She had the feeling of being inside a massive fortress, solid and forbidding. The walls bore no doors, no windows. No light illuminated the place, as far as she could see, but she could see, and it wasn’t just her dark-attuned eyes. The whole place shone with its own inner light, though it wasn’t warm and glowing, like the being with her. It was power and force, unyielding strength.
    Aliisza looked up. A second figure stood upon a balcony, staring down. Shining plate armor completely encased the warrior, who stood motionless, watching. From the glint of it, Aliisza guessed the armor might be pure mithral. Though she could not see the figure’s eyes, she could feel its gaze upon her, and the sensation was more than a little unsettling.
    “Remain here,” the creature beside her said, then ascended into the air by means of his feathery white wings.
    The alu found his motion elegant and watched him with interest as he flew upward to the balcony near the top of the forbidding tower. The creature landed upon the balcony and bowed deeply to the armored figure. The two seemed to engage in a long conversation, and after a time, the celestial being took to the air and descended once more.
    As he landed, he furled his wings against himself, a frown upon his face. “Well,” he said, almost to himself, “The moment of truth.”
    “Do you understand the question put before you?” a voice asked, reverberating through the limitless tower.
    Aliisza wasn’t sure how she knew it was the armored figure, but she knew. It chilled her, made her tremble where
    she lay upon the floor. It was the voice of a god.
    Aliisza turned toward the angelic figure, though it hurt her eyes to look directly upon him. He looked back at her, his face an expression of earnest seriousness. There had been a question?
    “You must surrender willingly,” the creature said. “I cannot coerce you in any way to abide by the terms. Do you understand this?”
    Aliisza tried to shake her head, but could barely move it. She had no strength. “I don’t—how can—what terms?” she finally managed to whisper. “Who are you?”
    The celestial creature smiled then, and Aliisza found the expression strangely soothing and troubling at the same time. She knew it was genuine, that there was nothing but complete forthrightness in everything he said and did. But there was holy power in