The Diamond Gates towered over Tyrael as he stepped through the angelic portal and into the High Heavens. Up ahead, sentries rushed to report his appearance and confront him. Though he accepted his mortality now, he was saddened that this was how his arrivals would be greeted in the future.
With a mighty groan the massive gates opened and disgorged a squadron of angelic soldiers.
"Lord Tyrael!" The lead angel called out at his approach. Each angel held a spear, their tendril-like wings splayed out behind them. Hoods concealed their lack of facial features. Tyrael had millennia of knowledge and experience in telling angels apart, otherwise he imagined he would have the same trouble as any mortal.
"Ah, Linarel. It is good to see you are well." Tyrael said.
Linarel stood up straighter at the mention of his name. "The same to you, Lord Tyrael. What brings you to the Gates?"
Ah, so the younger angels are not as distrusting of me. Tyrael thought.
"I see no reason to beat about the bush." Tyrael said. When the assembled angels did not respond, he continued.
"I wish to assemble the Angiris Council."
The squadron looked to Linarel.
"Lord Imperius is not in the Silver City at the moment." Linarel said.
"If Auriel and Itherael will have me, we will simply have the Council without him." Tyrael said, trying to keep his disdain out of his voice. Imperius and he had once been brothers in arms. How long ago that seemed now.
Linarel looked at Tyrael for a moment before speaking. "I can admit you into the Silver City, but I cannot let you walk freely. I am sorry."
"There is no need for apologies, Linarel. It was not your decision." Tyrael said.
"Thank you, my lord. I will escort you to the council chambers. That is all I can do." Linarel said and shouted at the sentries on the ramparts.
Tyrael waited patiently as the Diamond Gates opened and Linarel and his squadron escorted him into the Silver City.
Caldeum was a beautiful city, but it was so by mortal standards. The Silver City was to Caldeum as a precious jewel was to an interesting rock found on a beach. Wide thoroughfares glittered in the light that shone down from above, winding between spires tall enough to breach the clouds and glass-domed gardens brimming with flowers. The Diamond Gates admitted one to the central section of the City; surrounding it would be the domains of the various Archangels. Tyrael was silently thankful that their path would cross neither the Courts of Justice nor the Halls of Valor.
As Tyrael walked with Linarel he observed many angels standing apart from the small procession, only very few making any effort to approach and greet him.
"I feel I should ask for forgiveness for my many kindred." Linarel said after one particularly large group of angels that kept their distance.
"Is it Imperius that has soured them against me?" Tyrael asked.
"It saddens me greatly that not only should one Archangel think that of another, but also that he would be correct." Linarel said. His wings flowed uneasily as he spoke.
"Imperius has begun speaking of the eradication of Sanctuary, that humanity should be destroyed." Linarel said. They followed the curve of the thoroughfare and the Silver Spire emerged between two great spires, commanding the centre of the Silver City. At its peak was the Crystal Arch, and it is also where the Angiris Council holds its sessions.
"He did much the same over a millennia ago." Tyrael said.
"That may be so," Linarel said, "But now he is not saying it in the chambers of the Council but to the Angelic Host at large, journeying to each Domain to speak his cause. And he is calling you dangerous, Lord Tyrael, for sympathising and working with the humans."
"You do not share his views, Linarel?" Tyrael said, though his mind was focused on the council session he hoped to carry out.
"Imperius has not been himself after Diablo attacked the Silver City, and his current actions display that more than ever before. They do not promote the order and harmony of the High Heavens." Linarel said.
"Quite." Tyrael responded.
At the foot of the grand stairway into the Silver Spire, Linarel gave Tyrael over to the guards there. They were less talkative, and Tyrael simply waited while the Calling Bell for the Angiris Council was tolled. An enormous bell of clear crystal, it could be heard throughout all of the Silver City. Malthael himself had cut it millennia ago.
Though the wait felt like hours to Tyrael, time was a nebulous concept in the Silver City where night did not fall, and angels did not age. Eventually Tyrael spotted a group of angels descending on wings from the Gardens of Hope. In their midst was Auriel, with the Cord of Hope, Al'maiesh, suspended in the air around her. All the angels present beheld the arriving Archangel with awe, a feeling Tyrael knew he had evoked before his self-imposed transformation.
"Hail, Auriel, it has been too long since our last meeting." Tyrael called out.
"Truly it is so." Auriel responded, bowing before Tyrael. He did the same.
"How have the High Heavens fared over the last few months?" Tyrael asked.
"Many angels have come to dwell in the Gardens of Hope in recent times. The Pools of Wisdom are still, and the Courts sit without a lord. The light of the Crystal Arch appears dimmer than it did even during the darkest days of the Sin War." Auriel said while looking over the spectacle of the Silver City visible from the Spire's stairway.
"I wish it was not so, but my heart takes me away from the Silver City and ignoring one's own heart is folly." Tyrael said in response.
"Such is the challenge of mortality, I suppose," Auriel said with a sigh, "But you alone are not to blame, Tyrael. The Council is split, and I fear it will never again be mended."
"I fear you are only too right in that, Lady Auriel." Tyrael said.
As they spoke, a procession arrived from the great Library of Fate, Itherael at the forefront, discussing some matter with his fellow angels. It seemed to Tyrael that the Archangel of Fate had not brought Talus'ar with him. Perhaps he did not feel that the Scroll of Fate would be necessary for a session of the Council.
"Tyrael." Itherael said and walked past him and Auriel, entering the Spire.
"Itherael." Tyrael said, acknowledging him in turn.
"I fear it has been nearly as long since I last saw Itherael as when I last saw you, Tyrael. Itherael spends his time in his Library of late." Auriel said. Just as Tyrael and Imperius had been brothers in arms, Auriel and Itherael had been the most inseparable of the Council.
"Is he seeking some answer to the changes to his domain?" Tyrael asked.
"I know not, he says little, as he always did. Though I hear reports that Talus'ar has not been seen on his person for a long time as well." Auriel said.
Even the Angiris Council is on the verge of breaking. Truly these are the End Times. Tyrael thought to himself.
"And what of Imperius? I hear he is not in the Silver City." Tyrael said.
Auriel was silent for a moment before she spoke. "Our brother journeys the Heavens, rallying the Angelic Host for a war he believes is coming. Without our council, I might add."
"I fear that his loss to Diablo has darkened his mind, Tyrael," Auriel said and turned towards him, "But he has declined any invitation I have given him. I hope he attends the Council today."
"What I intend to bring before the Council today concerns Imperius, and as such I fear we cannot convene without his presence." Tyrael said.
"Very well. I will send for him." Auriel said. She beckoned over one of the many angels stood about the square surrounding the Silver Spire. Tyrael wondered why his sister had chosen exactly that angel. It looked like any other, golden tendril wings and a featureless black space beneath their hood. A blood-red sash hung diagonally across their chest and they held a spear in their hands. Like many spears made in the Silver City, the design echoed that of Solarion, Imperius' weapon.
"Reltharel, seek out your lord. Imperius is needed in the Council whether he wishes or not." Auriel said. Her wings were raised, her tone harsh. To Tyrael it sounded more like Auriel was speaking to a daemon than to a fellow angel.
If Reltharel noticed the change in tone, he gave no notice. "As you wish, Lady Auriel." With a gust of wind, he was gone, flying into the blue sky like a streak of gold.
"It is rare for you to take such a tone with any creature, sister, let alone with a fellow angel." Tyrael said.
Auriel looked back to him and with her pose slowly relaxed, her wings returning to their usual state. "Forgive me, Tyrael. The red sash Reltharel wears so openly is a signifier of his allegiance here in the High Heavens. Our unity, once so celebrated, is strained. If we do not act soon, or Imperius ceases his foolishness, we will be as divided as the daemons we so abhor."
Imperius, the Angiris Council and Tyrael. The Three Prime Orders. Tyrael thought to himself with a grim chuckle.
As Auriel and he walked up the stairway into the Silver Spire, he hoped he would not drive that wedge deeper.
The council chamber was as it had always been; a circular speaking floor decorated with more crystal and precious gems than existed in all of Caldeum. 5 perfect circles represented the 5 Archangels, unchanged since the dawn of time.
Even though the Council is forever changed. Tyrael thought. The crack in the floor from when he made his transformation was still there.
"None of us ever considered mending it." Auriel said. She stood at his side on one of the podiums that overlooked the central speaking floor.
"Just like it was never a question to maintain the symbology of the council chamber." Auriel said.
"The tragedies of the past make it ever more important to remember, so that we might avoid it in the future." Itherael continued.
"A very hopeful view." Tyrael said with a smile.
Auriel smiled back, as much as an angel could, and like a fresh spring breeze she crossed the distance to the adjacent podium. Itherael had arrived far before either of them, standing in silence across the way.
"Herald!" Auriel cried. Normally it would be Imperius or Tyrael's duty to perform the minutia of the Council, but times had changed.
"Any sign of our brother?"
An angel in flowing robes and a magnificent white-gold horn curled around his chest stepped from a small alcove on the floor below. "There is no sign of Lord Imperius, Lady Auriel. Nor any messengers carrying news."
"Very well," Auriel said and turned to Tyrael, "If you will tell, what is the issue that requires Imperius' presence?"
Tyrael had long thought of this moment, how it should be presented. When it was now before him, those long speeches now seemed ill-fitting.
Instead, Tyrael looked across the way of the council chamber at his former brother and sister, looking them in the eye as a mortal might. "Imperius has acted against the interests and safety of both the High Heavens and Sanctuary. He must face justice, so that he does not interfere further."
Auriel and Itherael were silent, waiting for Tyrael to speak further.
"Less than a week ago on Sanctuary, Imperius murdered the Nephalem." Tyrael said.
"The Nephalem saved the High Heavens from total disaster and averted fate itself." Itherael said, a trace of anger in his voice.
'"She did," Tyrael said, "The Heavens owe a great debt to this woman for her service both in that terrible assault and against Malthael and his Reapers."
"That only came to pass because you removed the Black Soulstone from its place of safety." A voice said.
All present turned to look when Imperius strode through a doorway to one of the podiums and leaned on the parapet. He too wore a crimson sash across his chest like Reltharel had.
"Malthael was deranged, and a danger to the order and balance on the world." Tyrael said.
"He was our brother!" Imperius shouted.
So were you! Tyrael thought furiously, fighting back tears.
"Malthael's plan was insanity. It would have destroyed an entire world of innocents, and if it had succeeded, the next time a being like Prime Diablo were to appear before the Diamond Gates, who among of us would be capable of stopping it." Tyrael said.
Imperius bristled at that but said nothing.
Auriel clapped and took a step backwards. "All are assembled. Call the Council to session."
The herald blew a long, clean note through the horn that echoed to the exterior of the Spire. Throughout the Silver City, angels would congregate towards the Spire to learn of what the Angiris Council was debating and deciding. Now Tyrael could only hope it would decide in his favour.
"The fact remains that the High Heavens, and each and every one of us standing in this chamber, were saved by a mortal that Malthael's plan would have killed."
"And who is now dead, because of Imperius' actions." Tyrael said after the note had faded.
"Do you have proof of these accusations?" Itherael said.
Before his transformation, none would have asked such questions of him, but then, before that time, no Archangel had levelled such accusations at another.
"I was present when it happened. Imperius drew his blade at me first before the Nephalem arrived." Tyrael said. Itherael simply nodded and took a step back in the shadows of his podium.
"Brother, you must still be under her spell. Please-" Imperius started.
"Do not!" Tyrael shouted, gripping the parapet in front of him, "Use that word. We are brothers no longer. And you can let go of your delusions about my allegiances too. I stand for the High Heavens, as well as Sanctuary, as I always have." His knuckles were pale from his grip on the stonework.
The chamber was silent for a moment as Tyrael and Imperius stared at each other.
"Imperius, what were your reasons for these actions?" Auriel said in a level tone.
"Humanity carry a daemonic heritage and are vulnerable to their corruption." Imperius said, though his gaze remained on Tyrael. "Diablo was only able to assault the Diamond Gates with the aid of a mortal."
"The Nephalem was mortal, and thus had these weaknesses in turn. I could not risk her turning to their side." Imperius said.
"That was a possibility, but at every stage she has acted against the daemons and their minions. Adria, the very witch that brought Diablo back from the depths of the Black Soulstone, was killed by the Nephalem. I journeyed with her so I could prevent daemonic influence." Tyrael said. Which was part of the truth.
"Humanity carries angelic and daemonic power in equal measure and lie outside the bounds of fate. While it is true that corruption is a possibility, none among us can tell the future." Itherael said, hands folded behind his back.
"Throughout their history, many among the mortals have fought against the servants of the Nine Hells with as much tenacity as any angel, even before Baal's machinations destroyed the Worldstone." Auriel said. Tyrael could feel her gaze upon him as she talked.
"Yet Baal AND Mephisto were freed when Diablo used a human host." Imperius stated, his wings bristling behind him.
"A human host that acted with the intention of sealing Diablo away to save the subjects of his kingdom." Tyrael said, remembering a shattered man in a monastery and his tales of the Dark Wanderer.
"So, they are fools as well as weaklings." Imperius said.
"Weaklings that have saved all of us and would have done so again if the situation arose." Tyrael said.
"I made sure it will not." Imperius said with a growl.
"Imperius, when humanity arose, this Council decided to allow it self-rule. When the Worldstone was shattered and the powers of the Nephalem began returning, if you harboured these reservations then, you should have called the Council so we could have debated if the ancient pact from the Sin War should have been held."
"But you did not. You acted of your own volition, both in violation of the pact and against a clear ally of the Silver City." Auriel said.
"I did it to protect the Silver City." Imperius said.
"The Silver City would have been better served with the Nephalem's continued assistance." Auriel said.
The council chamber was silent.
"Imperius, we cannot allow you to continue meddling in the affairs of Sanctuary. I understand your worries, but you have caused too much damage." Auriel said.
"You presume to command me?" Imperius said.
"You cannot ignore the decisions of the Council." Auriel said.
Imperius waved dismissively at the assembled members. "I see only two other members of the Council, and a mortal."
"It is nevertheless the Council's decision." Itherael said.
Imperius was silent for a moment. "I will not be caged in the Silver City like some guard dog."
What followed reminded Tyrael eerily of his own outburst, but he knew it would not be to Sanctuary's benefit.
With a burst of light, Imperius surged from his podium and landed in the centre of the chamber. Tyrael half-expected him to ram Solarion into the floor.
"Clearly I alone act for the safety of the High Heavens. But if this 'Council'," Imperius spat the word like a curse, "wishes to hinder me and waste my time, then I refuse to respect it and its decisions."
Tyrael put a hand on the hilt of his sword and Al'maiesh slid into Auriel's hands. Itherael stood stock still and merely watched.
"You would draw weapons against your brother?" Imperius said and looked at the assembled Archangels. He sounded more intrigued than saddened.
"You must not be yourself, Imperius, please-" Auriel said.
Imperius did not respond, instead surging back and away, slamming open the doors to the chamber. Tyrael and Auriel surged after him but he had not gone far.
Imperius stood on the top of the stairway, facing the multitude of angels awaiting the Angiris Council outside the Silver Spire.
"Kindred! Fellow defenders of the Silver City!" Imperius roared. The assembled angels got closer and a few cheered back.
"The Nine Hells are on the move again, conspiring to bring back their vile lords and strike at the Silver City." He continued. His voice easily carried across the whole square.
Tyrael strode up behind him. "Imperius, what is the meaning of this?"
Imperius ignored him, walking past him to cover him from sight with his armoured frame. "But the Angiris Council would have us hold off from conflict and await the daemons here, in the Silver City." The crowds looked to him but were silent.
The clouds above the square parted and Solarion plummeted into Imperius' grip. It had been made whole. "Or should we fall upon them with the wrath of the Heavens and end this war?"
The square erupted into cheers.
"Come with me, my Golden Legion!" Imperius finished and took to the air.
"Imperius, what do you mean to end the War!?" Tyrael shouted. Across the square and indeed in the horizon, angels were flying into the sky.
Imperius halted and turned towards Tyrael. "I do not speak to traitors." With a flick of his wings, Imperius joined the legion of angels departing the City.
"Why did it have to end like this, Imperius?" Auriel whispered.
"Thank you, Auriel. I am in your debt." Tyrael said and bowed.
"Rise, Tyrael. Our order and unity are our bastion against the Prime Evils and their minions." Auriel said and looked at the angels leaving the square. "I feared that any other course of action would see us lose both you and Imperius. I saved as much as I could."
Tyrael's heart ached looking on one of his oldest friends in such a state, but he did not have the luxury of time. When all this was over, he might.
"If I am needed, you need only call for me, Auriel." Tyrael said.
"I know, Tyrael, I know. Now get going. I believe you have pressing matters elsewhere, as do I. Imperius will not sit idle after this, and I cannot believe our common enemies will either."
Auriel had never looked so alone as she did seeing Tyrael off on his return to Sanctuary.