Cassandra Pendragon

“Maybe you should. Who is he, anyways?” She was quite curious but I didn’t mind humouring her. Her observations were surprisingly accurate for a mortal child. Even in comparison to some of the immortals I had met before, her mind was rather sharp and quick. Maybe some of the beast tribes weren’t as bad as I had believed. Still… tails, furry tails. Juck.

“An old sourpuss who spends most of his time staring into a crystal ball without becoming any wiser, if you ask me. Others might tell you that he’s the greatest prophet in the universe and nigh omniscient. But that’s just propaganda, at least I hope it is.” I added more quietly. Seriously, the whole fate, destiny and determinism schtick wasn’t my cup of tea but I couldn’t discredit him fully, he had been right too often in the past. In case he was just guessing, he was the luckiest bastard I had ever met. “He’s also a scheming, cunning pain in the ass, and that’s on his better days.”

“Why would you even want to meet him, if he’s so terrible?”

“First, I can be just as nasty and second, he brought me here, probably to meet you, and I want to know why. You don’t happen to have small horns under your hair, do you? Or tiny wings on your back?”

“Not that I know of, but you can have a look yourself.” She was engaging in some impressive contortions to show me her back and the top of her head simultaneously. “Why? Would that be bad?”

“Not necessarily. Wouldn’t be good, either, but it’d explain why it’s so important that we met. Somewhat, at least. Or maybe I’m just dead wrong and this is his version of a practical joke.”

The girl impressed me more by the second. She had cried in the beginning but the tears had dried up impossibly quickly and now she seemed more curious than anything else. To put her behaviour into perspective: I was carrying her through a dying world. Cities vanished into the crumbling earth without a trace, transcendent energies erased most of the landmass, forests lit up like matchsticks and the sky was torn asunder by arcane storms. Sure, she was as save with me as she could be, but still, I had expected much more snivelling and screams for her parents, maybe closed eyes and a running nose. But there was none of that, well, not anymore.

“Now I’ve got a question. Aren’t you afraid?” She stared at me wide eyed.

“Should I be?”

“Probably. I mean your world is dying, or changing at the very least and you’re pretty much all alone. Doesn’t that frighten you?”

“I’m not alone, you’re with me, aren’t you? And as for the rest… it’s not a very nice world, whatever it’s changing into, it can hardly be any worse.”

“But what about your family, your friends? Honestly, I was expecting you to be a bit more distraught over what happened to them.” Bringing that topic up probably wasn’t the most sensitive thing to do, but I was just as curious about her as she was about me. She squirmed a little and remained silent for a while, long enough that I already feared I had thrown her back into misery, but…

“They weren’t my family. They took me in from an orphanage but they weren’t… they didn’t…” she was struggling with her words. I didn’t know what exactly had happened but I knew enough about mortal depravity to not make her go on. I pressed her against my chest and said:

“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. But you might want to think about where you want to go. I’m headed south since that’s where I know Amazeroth to be, but I can’t promise that we’ll find more of your tribe there. I’m quite sure that some of your people are going to survive but finding them might take a while. You could start over somewhere else, if you wanted to. With your magic you’ll have an easy enough time with any humans, they’ll fall over their feet to win your loyalty. Or they might try to force you, but I’ll make sure that that won’t happen,” I added as an afterthought.

“Can’t I stay with you?” What? I missed a wingbeat and we fell several meters through a cloud of ash. When we emerged again, we were both covered in soot and the acrid smell of burned wood made us gasp for air.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I answered when I had cleared my airways. “First, my life is dangerous and not in the I’m-having-adventures-and-everyone-gets-out-unscathed-afterwards kind of way. And second, you need a home, someone to teach you, to guide you, a place where you can grow undisturbed I can provide neither of those things.”

“I don’t care. I’ve only just met you but I’m feeling safe for the first time in… I can’t even remember. At the orphanage it was the other kids and later… can’t I come with you? I’ll be good and do everything you tell me to, I promise.” Damn it. The last thing I wanted was a child to take care of. Heck, I didn’t even know what that would entail. I’d have to let her down gently but firmly and make sure she understood that there was no way in hell I’d bring her along. It simply wasn’t a good idea, neither for her, nor for me. She’d come to understand that later.

“Maybe, but I’m not alone. I’ll talk to my partner and see what she says. No promises though.” Well done Lucifer, well done. Continue like this and you’ll be working for Amnesty International in no time with a bunch of strays waiting for you back home.

“Thank you,” she squealed and pressed her lips against my cheek. By the father, I was a sucker. If it ever came out that I could be manipulated like this, I’d never hear the end of it. But true to my word I focused on the tattoo on my chest and reached for Aurora’s mind. Maybe she would be the voice of reason and I could just dump the refusal onto her. She wasn’t exactly cheerful.

“Where are you?!” If she had been here for real, she would have blown out my eardrums.

“On some highly magical planet without any technology. I have no idea what it is called but it’s close to the centre. Could you yell at me when I get back? Right now I’ve got a fairly important question: how do you feel about kids?” As soon as I uttered the words I realised what I had said.

Grief and anger pulsed through our connection and I could practically see her wings drooping.

“You ass. You know fully well that we can’t have children. What’s gotten into you?”

“I’m sorry, truly. I didn’t mean to… fuck, I’m an idiot. What I meant was: I’ve met this girl,” and here I went, digging an even deeper hole for myself.

“Are. You. Kidding. Me?” Her words lashed across the link like whip. I seriously had to start thinking about what I was saying.

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“No, not like this. Damn it, Aurora! Don’t make this any harder than it is, please. You know fully well that I wouldn’t even think about anybody else in that way. No, she has lost… well, everything and I pulled her from the fire, so to say. She’s a child and I’m thinking about bringing her back with me. There’s no one left for her and I can’t bring myself to just dump her with the nearest group of survivors. What do you think?” Surprise and a confusing mixture of hope and fear flowed through her. The fear I understood well enough, whatever else, we were still immortals and would one day bury her. I had said goodbye to more friends than I cared to think about but it didn’t get any easier. And if we were to raise her… it wouldn’t be pretty, in the end. Unfortunately the end usually came sooner rather than later when you counted your life in millennia.

Her hope though was worrisome. It had never disturbed me that we were barren, it was a fact and I had never quarrelled with it. I knew that Aurora sometimes longed for a true family but I would never have expected her desire to be great enough, that the mere chance of having someone to raise would ignite a fire, as bright as the one I felt burning within her. Save my soul! She was still sorting through her emotions and thoughts but I already knew what she was going to say, ultimately.

“Damn it,” I cursed. “I guess it’s time to settle down, at least for a while. I was hoping you’d say no. Alright, I should be back in a couple of hours. Let’s see how the two of you will get along. Love you.” I severed the connection before she had time to either berate me or ask any troublesome questions. I’d pay for that later, but the bill was already steep enough that I didn’t mind, much.

“It seems like your in luck,” I said out loud. “She wants to meet you. Now, I don’t know how things will turn out in the end but if you really want to, I’ll take you with me, when I leave. Just to be very clear, though, I’m going far away. To the stars, in fact. Do you still want to come?” Her eyes had gotten larger with every word I spoke. Curiosity and wonder outshone her lingering fear by far as a wide smile spread across her lips.

“Yes, yes, please. I want to see them, every last one of them. Thank you, thank you so much!” What had I expected? That she would shrink back from the prospect of leaving a destroyed planet after she had watched everything she knew burn? Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad for her, an entirely fresh start and by the father, I might not know much about children but I’d make damned sure that she’d have everything she needed. How much trouble could it be? I had destroyed entire civilisation without breaking a sweat. Making her laugh and holding her when she cried should be child’s play. And who knew, maybe I could also learn a thing or two. It had been quite a while since I last had shoulder a responsibility for mortals. Maybe I had just as much to gain as her.

“Don’t thank me. You’ll probably get sick of me soon enough. For now, I want you to close your eyes and hold on tight. I’m going to speed us up a little.” She did as I had told her and the air around us crackled with power before we vanished along a silver streak that raced off towards the horizon.

I had known since he had arrived where Amazeroth was, my senses were precise enough to register another immortal across vast distances. A measly planet wouldn’t stop them. He had materialised shortly after I had stepped through the portal, a few hundred kilometres away from me. If it hadn’t been for Greta, I would already have paid him a visit and now I didn’t have a reason anymore to postpone our meeting.

I conjured a blanket of energy around the child and crossed the remaining distance in the blink of an eye, the colours of the world turning into blurry shadows. When I willed myself to stop, we had arrived on a lonely island in the middle of a stormy sea. Swirls of transcendent energy were racing across the sky, fuelled by a bonfire of power that burned brightly on top of a single tower. It covered most of the landmass, a small patch of sand surrounded it on all sides and the spray of the surf battered against its walls. The lightning storm overhead chased strange silhouettes across its surface and I felt the thrum of powerful magic from the inside.

I lowered Greta to the ground and weaved a tight net of energy around her small body. Aside from an all out assault of another immortal, nothing would get to her and if the spell should break, she’d be transported to Aurora’s side instantaneously. As soon as her feet touched the ground she slowly spun in a circle but kept clinging to my hand, her wide, bright eyes darting from left to right while she took in the scene. The sheen of curiosity turned into a veritable glare, her mouth opened slowly in amazement and I heard her gasp.

“Welcome to my life,” I muttered. “Now, before we go on in, there are some rules I want you to follow. You can think of it as a trial run. I don’t expect you to be in much danger here,” I truly didn’t, if Amazeroth had wanted her dead, she wouldn’t have survived. “But I still expect you to stay by my side, whatever happens. You don’t let go of my hand, unless I tell you to. Understood? Good. Second, I don’t want you to talk about your past, or your fears, or… you know, it would be for the best if you just didn’t talk at all while we are in there. If it’s important, squeeze my hand and think about what you want to say or ask.” She nodded but I was pretty sure she was only half listening, the flashy lights in the sky and the raging winds too much of a distraction for her to focus. Ah well, how bad could it get?

I closed my eyes and allowed my senses to slowly create a silvery world around me, filled with as much detail as I could possible need. Form the mightiest streams of transcendent energy in the sky to the smallest slivers of Greta’s stray thoughts, everything was laid bare. It only took me a moment to locate the entrance to the tower, otherwise I would have simply gone through a wall. A regular door on our right led to an insulated staircase, cut off from the torrents of power that raced through the rest of the building. We could follow it to the very top, where I saw a grinning demon waiting for me. He was leisurely controlling forces that were literally ripping apart the planet but his attention was focussed on us, while he gestured impatiently for me to get a move on.

“Took you long enough,” he greeted me a minute later. “Have you gone blind or did you get lost?”

“Neither, I was getting to know your little present. What the heck, dude? Have you gone mad?” He smiled at that, his eyes drifting towards the little girl at my side.

“No, quite the contrary.” His gaze flickered back to me and he continued: “see, I’m doing what I can. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out as intended. Which is not to say that I particularly care about casualties. You’ve got to crack a few eggs to make an omelet.” What the… had he seriously fallen off his rocker? I had come here because I basically wanted to know if he had meant Greta when had talked about how my life was going to change. Maybe I’d have used the chance to insult him once or twice but now… Either he was sprouting random gibberish or I was in for one hell of a surprise. There were only so many explanations of why he would refer to something I couldn’t place, or rather, hadn’t lived through, yet, and I didn’t like them, not one bit.

“Alright, I’ll play your game. What do you want me to know?” I wasn’t proud or stupid enough to ignore him and there wasn’t much to lose. If I understood his intentions correctly, I could at least provide a commentary and make sure he’d stick to the truth. I could still beat him up afterwards.

“Not bad, I honestly didn’t expect you to be that quick on the uptake. I’ve had this conversation before and you’re the first one to figure it out while I’m still in the room.” He gestured and our surroundings changed, turning into a cozily decorated living room with a crackling fire. Several armchairs and a couch formed a comfortable circle around a table laden with refreshments. It was no illusion, Amazeroth had transformed the room and while I could still feel the fury of the storm outside, it was hard to imagine that we weren’t in an inviting manor.

I steered Greta to the couch and poked her side gently so she would close her mouth which had reached the floor by now. Amazeroth offered a cup of tea to the girl and poured us both a glass of whiskey. Except for the horns he was the epitome of a gentleman form the Victorian age.

“Allow me to start with a question,” he continued the conversation without missing a beat. “What do you think of me?” Clever, and not easily answered.

“You know too much for your own good. Sometimes I imagine you think of yourself as the one idiot in Plato’s cave who managed to have a look around and now he’s all alone with his newfound wisdom. I think you’re either crazy or the most pitiful, overburdened bastard I’ve ever met.”