Cassandra Pendragon

“My, my, what a waste of…” I couldn’t hear the rest of Mephisto’s sentence, Viyara’s pain filled roar and the crackling of Horus’ whip were much closer and also a tiny bit more important for the moment than his ramblings.

To catch me, Viyara had had to drop low and throw herself off course, completely opening her up to strikes from the hawk headed god. He hadn’t wasted his opportunity. His whip had elongated and was now tightly slung around her hind legs, gold against gold. For now her scales seemed to hold but acrid smoke rose from her hide while the golden flames slowly dug into her body. The smell of burned hair nearly made me choke as Horus threw all of his strength against the whip, sending Viyara crashing through the air. She wouldn’t be able to regain her balance in time and as soon as she had slammed into the ground, the fallen god would be all over her like a swarm of locust. But what could I do? I was stuck in Viyara’s paw without a way to reach him in time.

I was hesitant to try my teleportation again, the lingering ache from the last time still coursing through my veins, another ride on the rollercoaster might just knock me out as soon as I arrived. If only I could get close to him some other way…

“Throw me,” I sent mentally. Despite her panic she still manage to sound incredulous.

“What?”

“I don’t know if my teleportation is going to work again. Throw me at him, now!”

“But…”

“By the Great Fox, just do it! He’s going to kill you, damn it!” I still felt her scepticism, she wasn’t exactly trying to hide it, but she did as I had asked. The muscles and tendons around me tightened until my bones creaked but I didn’t have the chance to protest. With a mighty heave she catapulted me towards Horus and somehow I forgot all about my complaints.

Flying was great, I loved it. Being thrown, not so much. I had trouble controlling my trajectory, Viyara’s strength had provided me with more inertia than I could easily handle, the smallest correction threatened to screw up my balance. It was easier to allow my wings to float behind me like a massive, silvery tail, swinging from left to right to at least somewhat influence my direction.

Like a glowing bullet I flashed through the air, the wind of my passage whistling in my ears. We had gotten lower than I had expected and I could hear the mighty crash and Viyara’s renewed howl behind me as I raced towards the ancient creature. He had gotten closer, ready to impale my friend on his burning sword, while his other hand still held the whip tight, its hungry flames eagerly gnawing at the dragoness’ defences. I even imagined that I could see a satisfied spark in his haughty eyes but that wouldn’t last for long. I braced myself and before he had fully realised what was happening, I was already in range.

I flung my wings forward, the slithering torrents of energy danced around me for the fracture of a second before they covered Horus in a tight web of crackling power. There was no coming back from that. A moment later, my wings parted to allow a shower of fine ash to float down and disperse in the angry winds of war. Unfortunately it wasn’t him, as I found out a moment later.

While he wasn’t protected anymore, Shassa’s spell had crumbled without my power to fuel it, he still had somehow managed to escape my clutches, leaving behind his armour and weapon which had disintegrated in his stead. I didn’t have the chance to lament my bad luck, though, as a searing wave of agony drove the air from my lungs and ignited my left side with streams of fire. The bastard could teleport as well! He had vanished just before I had encircled him and was now above me, my blood dripping from his still raised fist.

Like a wrecking ball his attack had crashed into my ribs, breaking the newly healed bones like twigs. I screamed while the force of his punch drove me towards the ground, blinding lights flashing before my eyes. I struggled and fought to righten myself, to take control of my fall with my wings or teleport out of the way but disorientated and hurt as I was, I couldn’t. Cold dread crept through me followed by hot surges of panic as I waited for another strike, this time probably taking off my head or cleaving me cleanly in two, but it didn’t come.

The next thing I knew, was the dry popping sound of my shoulder dislocating, when I hit the ground. Swallowing down the rising bile I tried to move around and spread my wings to push myself off the floor but for the moment I had trouble remembering my name, never mind mustering the concentration to control my energies. All I managed to do was roll onto my back and press my hand against the soaking wet hole in my side. I opened my eyes, fully expecting to see a descending copis ready to tear through my body but instead a shower of hot blood gushed over my face, its coppery taste finally tipped me over the edge and I heaved up a mixture of disgusting fluids. I was barely able to turn my head to the side and prevent the smelly concoction from covering me completely.

For a second or two I had to rely on my hearing, my eyes pressed tightly shut while I gasped and retched. It was a damned nuisance to puzzle out any sort of sense from the cacophony of sounds around me, the clamouring of weapons and heavy armour, grunts, screams, the howling of the beasts, angry hisses and the humming of magic all flowed together to form an indistinguishable mess, but fear of a violent and imminent death provided me with more than enough motivation.

As far as I could tell, Viyara was climbing back to her feet while the dwarfs were moving in around me, forming a wall of metal and flesh that protected me while I tried to regain my bearings. Judging from the silky whisper of fiery wings, Ahri had finally taken to the air, probably trying to get enough room to manoeuvre around Isis and keep her occupied. I could hear my mom’s faint murmurs as she worked on some spell or the other, hopefully saving herself from the horde of shadow beasts that was still surrounding her, but knowing her, I expected something much more volatile. What my brother and the elves had done, I found out when I finally managed to brush the mixture of tears and blood from my eyes.

They had followed my example and turned Mordred into a living projectile. With their combined magic, Astra and Aspera had flung him towards Horus, his sword extended and a vicious snarl on his face. He had crashed into the god immediately after I had been struck, driving the enchanted steel of his weapon completely through the armoured body. Smoking, golden blood was still gushing from the wound as Horus desperately tried to wing away but Mordred held on to his sword grimly.

Dark energies were swirling around his hands and arms before they vanished into the sword, crackling sparks of power eagerly eating into the impaled body. A scream of terror ripped from Horus’ throat, being eaten alive by a hungry blade was too much to ignore, even for an ancient consciousness based on magic and faith. They tumble through the air, all thoughts of flight forgotten, while Mordred stubbornly clung to his blade, his litany of curses never stopping, and Horus desperately tried to get rid of him and his deadly weapon.

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Meanwhile Mephisto had pinned down the spider and was somehow using her energy to bath Isis in showers of purple, angry light that wreathed around her figure and snuffed out the pulses of energy emitted from the statuette and the Ankh in her hand. Burning runes were dancing around his body and his eyes glowed with a sheen of hellfire that was becoming stronger by the second.

“Can you hear me, lass? Easy now, let me have a look at your wound.” Strong hands gently closed around my upper arm and turned me around. Xorlosh was kneeling next to me, his bushy eyebrows drawn together in worry as his gaze travelled over my torn side and the white nubs of bone that blinked through the blood. I tried to smile weakly, the wound appeared far less terrifying after my short session as a battery and I could already feel my energy targeting the destroyed tissue. It’d take a moment but I’d heal, at least if I didn’t sustain another injury.

“Thanks for coming,” I mumbled. “I’m so…,” I didn’t get to finish my sentence. Mordred and Horus had finally crashed and by sheer luck, my brother happened to be the one on top. Consequently he nailed the struggling god to the ground, the tip of his sword sinking into the stones with the sound of nails on a chalkboard. A thundering scream exploded from the wounded monster, a visible shockwave that raced through the hall and bowled over everything in its way. The stocky built of the dwarfs and Viyara’s bulk allowed them to weather the worst of the storm but Ahri’s and my wings were caught and before I knew what was happening, I was again tumbling head over tails through the air.

Blurring colours and the whistling wind were all I knew before I smashed into something soft and warm. I heard a strangled groan and felt several cracks behind me as I was suddenly stopped, sliding down the side of a pillar. By happenstance or design Ahri had gotten behind me, had slung her arms around me and had cushioned me from the impact. Now we were one tangled mess of tails and wings and when I raised my head from her chest and turned around to look at her, my blood froze in my veins.

She was deathly pale, crimson streaks running down from her nose and one corner of her mouth. Her eyes were open but glazed over, either from pain or because she had a concussion, or something even worse, I couldn’t tell but since she had slammed into the pillar with her back first and absorbed both of our falls, something worse seemed the most likely.

“No,” I growled, “not like this.” I didn’t care if I shouldn’t or couldn’t heal her in my current state, or what was happening around us, I wouldn’t let her go. When her wings wavered and threatened to disappear, I slung mine around us and willed the door to open, for her to take whatever she needed. I’d give it all, willingly, just as long as she’d come back to me.

At first, there was no reaction and while I felt her breath become more shallow, icy fear gnawed at my insides. Was she already too far gone?

Desperately I leaned forward and carefully placed my palm against her cheek, hoping for some form of recognition, a change in her dull gaze, but there was nothing, I only felt the slowing pulse of her heart against my skin and the fleeting warmth of her blood as it trickled over my hand.

I gently brushed her lips with mine and whispered into her ear:

“Please, don’t leave me. I need you…” tears stung in my eyes and I buried my face in the nape of her neck, where I could still smell the faintest hint of pine trees. If she wasn’t going to leave this tomb, neither would I. Distantly I wondered how Shassa could have seen me becoming a monster without Ahri, I had just realised that there wouldn’t be a future for me without her, but it had probably been just another lie.

The thought of the spider cut through me like a scythe through grass, leaving behind a bubbling pit of anger but it was swallowed by despair just as soon as it ignited. I gazed into Ahri’s emerald eyes but they were almost empty, windows to an abandoned house. What would be the point? To save your family and your friends, a stubborn part of me answered, but it was a small and quiet voice. I finally understood how Archy had felt when he had volunteered to be killed. Sometimes, life just wasn’t worth living anymore. But you still have to keep fighting, the voice replied. True enough, I truly believed that, but I just couldn’t. I was hurt, exhausted and forced to watch the most important person in my life die. I didn’t have the strength anymore. If only I had left the statuettes in the dragon’s hoard. The dragon’s hoard… the artefacts!

Nearly all of them had been lost when we had been forced to flee from Galathon but before any of it, I had taken an emerald that should still be in my stamp. A treacherous spark of hope fluttered through my stomach, back then Mephisto had told me that the spells inscribed on the emerald would work on a person’s life force and maybe, just maybe, they could save my love.

Like a praying child, I closed my eyes and wished, hoped for the green gem to appear. It did, with a small displacement of air the jewel dropped into my waiting hand. Delicate lines crisscrossed its surface, illuminated from below with the flickering power stored in its depths but I didn’t see its beauty. All I saw was a chance, a chance to change what I could not live with.

I knew that most artefacts were bound to a chant, a password so to say, that would trigger whatever spells had been placed upon it. Of course I had no clue how to activate the artefact, I had never bothered to ask anyone, but I thought I had a way around that. Back when I had arrived in this hall, I had strengthened my voice with my energy to intimidate Shassa and I had been able to see how hard it had been for her to resist the pressure. My commands had real power if I bolstered them and maybe I could simply order the damn thing to work.

My fingers clumsy with adrenaline, I placed the shimmering gem right above Ahri’s heart and pushed enough energy into my voice and through my body that it felt like something solid was trying to crawl out of my throat when I whispered: “heal!”

A second shockwave raced through the hall. Even though my words had been quiet and directed at the girl in front of me, the strength behind them was enough to explode outwards, carrying with it a faint echo of my burning desire to see her whole again. While we remained unfazed, save in the eye of the storm, the rest of the hall was once again subjected to an outburst of power, but this time it was filled with transcendent forces, carrying with them my fear, my hope and my slowly growing rage, the receding desperation had allowed to reignited in my chest.

My wings swelled with light, cutting us off completely from the outside world while the emerald disintegrated, leaving behind nothing but a pool of five vibrant, green embers that slowly sunk through Ahri’s skin. I held my breath, hoping, waiting, praying for her to come back. Please… Tears welled up and I couldn’t prevent them from falling on her freely, the thought that I might really have lost her was too much to bear. “Please,” I sniffled, “please…” She squeezed my butt and took in a gulping breath.

“You’re not going to get rid off me so easily.” Her voice was weak and still a little slurry but I didn’t care. A burst of laughter broke through my tears and I threw my arms around her, smiling. “I love you,” was all I said before I kissed her for what felt like the first time. A surge of emotions, stronger than I had felt before, raced through me, the sparks of hope exploding into a wildfire of happiness. Thank you, whoever had been listening, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

“Don’t you ever do that again,” I mumbled after a long moment without breaking contact. “Next time, I’ll be the one to take the fall. You’re much too pretty to crash into walls.” I felt her tails circling around my waist, her steady and strong heartbeat beneath my fingertips and her smile against my lips.

“And you’re not?” She pulled me closer and for a few seconds the world seemed right again. But… “Cassy, we need to see what’s going on. Can you dim your wings or move them?”