Cassandra Pendragon

Who would have thought? He had most likely known where the two of them would end up hence his strange behaviour when they had still been in the Silent Glade. I was glad I had returned in time to listen in on his revelations, even though that hadn’t been my intention, well, not entirely at least.

When I had made my way back, I had left Mephisto behind, mainly because I had thought that his attitude and snark would make everything worse, I wouldn’t have wanted to deal with him if I had been in the fey’s place, at any rate. Ahri and Viyara hadn’t wanted to come, going on about some things they had intended to take care of, whatever that meant. Consequentially I had been alone when I had flown back towards the clearing, preoccupied with what I was supposed to do, especially how much of who I was and what we were doing I should share with Morgan and Fladrif and whether or not I wanted them to stick around. The second part hadn’t been easy to answer, since I had been more than just a little suspicious of the treant.

As soon as I had approached the clearing, I had been able to pick up parts of the murmured conversation between Erya and him and with a small trickle of energy sent to my ears, I had managed to remain far enough away that they hadn’t spotted me while I had hovered close to the crown of a large tree, well hidden in the canopy.

I had brought up my second sight and since he was neither a forgotten god nor an ancient spider with a mind as hard and unyielding as granite, picking up on his stray thoughts had been ridiculously easy. I had been able to read him like an open book, almost literally. If I had been able to touch him with my wings, I would have even heard his secrets whispering to me but unfortunately, that hadn’t been possible without revealing myself. So I had stayed and listened while he had told Erya a fantastic story about living planets and invading immortals. A story I wouldn’t have believed in a million years if I hadn’t been able to see the truth staring at me from the depths of his mind. At the very least he had been convinced of every word he had told her.

“I don’t know if I should feel flattered or threatened,” I replied while I took a step towards him. “Please, enlighten me, what about this place, or rather us, is so magnificent you’d willingly lose your magic to get here? Is it the lure of a power that might be greater than yours, or plain fear that drove you from your hiding place?”

“You judge me too harshly, lady Cassandra. I wasn’t going to allow Morgan to die at the hands of her mother, a deed that would have sooner or later destroyed the latter as certainly as the sun rises in the morning. Meeting you, your… family and your… mentor? friend? is but the cherry on top. I’m not here to manipulate you, even though it is tempting, I’m here to offer my service, for while the court might have taken my magic, no one but the lord of fate himself can take my sight from me. If you’re willing, I’m prepared to share my insights with you and if you come to think of me as useful, I’ll be more that glad to accept the protection you’d offer any suitable tool.” He sighed and gestured towards the sky. “I can only repeat myself: the storm is coming, and powerful as you are, you’ll still be blown a way like a dead leaf on an autumn wind.”

“You speak like someone who knows all about us. Do you?”

“No. I know next to nothing about you and those who are like you. Looking at your past or the decisions you might make is like staring directly into the sun. It’s so bright that your vision turns dark before you even realise it. But I do know a thing or two about this world, my world and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect it, as I always have. Can you really blame me for that? And Gaya, well, she’s old, ancient even, and she has seen you before, Cassandra, even though you wore a different face. She’s seen plenty of your kind before.”

“You should start form the beginning,” Erya interjected tiredly. “I’m fed up with nebulous insinuations and half spoken facts. What have you seen? And how does my family, how do I tie back into it. I’m not suffering from delusions of grandeur, Cassy isn’t even close to her maturity and none of us can hold a candle to her. What difference could we make in a battle with fully grown demons? Even Mephisto won’t stand a chance unless he gets his core back, I’ve at least learned that much.”

“That’s not true,” it wasn’t Auguros who replied, but me. “That’s a fight I… we can’t win, even together, so in the end it’ll come down to whether or not we find a way around it. Your chances there are just as good as mine, probably better. And… I’m sorry. I’m sorry that your family had to suffer for mistakes that aren’t yours, I never wanted that.” She took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Her whispered: “I know,” reached me while I carefully covered Morgan with a set of clothes I had brought and handed the other one to the exiled treant: “I assume you’ve already seen a way, or rather been told where you might find one? Is that why you’re here?”

“Yes and no. Maybe it would truly be for the best if I told you everything I’ve seen and guessed…”

He turned his back on us and slipped into the same shirt and pants all of us were wearing before he sat down and patted the ground next to him.

“My story will take a while so you might as well get comfortable. You can decide what you want to do with me afterwards, it’s not like I can run anywhere, even if I wanted to.” Hesitantly, we both lowered ourselves to the ground, Morgan between us. Our weight coaxed a cloud of fresh smells from the soft grass, wet earth and different herbs combined into a fragrance that reminded me of a warm summer evening back on Boseiju. While I still took in the tantalising aroma, Auguros continued: “First you have to understand that I can’t truly see the future, as far as I know, nobody can… nobody I’ve ever met at any rate, except for one... I… I’m old and I’m clever, I’ve seen many things others wouldn’t even dream of and I’ve understood more of them than any other being I’ve ever met. I don’t want to blow my own horn but you have to realise that I’m not a seer, nor a charlatan. I’ve simply watched and learned for long enough that I came to view the chaos of the world much differently from others.” He paused and his eyes glazed over, as if he was suddenly far away, even his voice became distant.

“One question I’ve always asked myself is why? Why do things happen? What’s the reason, the first cause… I’ve searched for longer than you are alive Erya and I’ve never found an answer but what I did find was a trail of bread crumbs that ultimately led me to her, to Gaya. I know how utterly ridiculous I must sound, almost like a priest, offering prayers to a deified idea, but she truly is within everything in this world. Well… maybe not everything, I’m pretty sure you and your ilk, Cassandra, are an exception, but aside from beings that defy creation, she’s the breath in our lungs, the life in our chests and the fire in our veins. She truly is a goddess, at least as far as there can be such a thing.” He sighed heavily before his focus returned to us.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

“I spent ages trying to get her attention to ask her the questions that burned my mind, but I could just as well have tried to coax an answer from the mountains or the sea. It was only when the cataclysm ripped our continent apart that I first felt the movement of her thoughts deep inside of her. I was jubilant, elated and I didn’t care one ounce for what had caused the change, I simply wanted to seize the moment. So I delved into her presence like a tree that slowly pushes its roots through rock to get to the nourishing earth. It was… humbling and strange and it changed me forever. I forgot so many things I had thought important, but that actually were nothing more than the fleeting wingbeat of a butterfly, and I realised how little I still knew about the truly meaningful aspects of life and death, of nature and destruction. I became what you see before you now, the first soldier Mother Earth had called to her side, a sharpened mind to guide and influence future generations for back then, she had become aware of one simple fact: beings from a different time had found her and where they tread once, they’ll tread again and she wasn’t safe anymore.” Absentmindedly he plucked a blade of grass from the ground and began twirling it between his fingers.

“So she granted me the thing I craved most: understanding, but unfortunately not in the way I had wished for. She shared her knowledge of what was and how sometimes patterns can emerge in the seemingly random iteration of cause and effect. Which leads us to what you actually want to know: what have I seen, or rather, what have I understood?” He paused and his gaze became vacant again.

“I know that you’ve been here, all those years ago, when our continent shattered, I know who sits in the shadows behind the golden throne, waiting to be released, I know how he got here and why. Ever since the lord of mirrors set foot on this world, Gaya has watched him with eagle eyes and while I’m sure he could have foiled her vision, he never did. Do you want me to go on?”

Erya was on the verge of flaring up, but he calmed her with a gesture. “You’ve got a right to know and I can feel the bond between the two of you. I’m talking about your granddaughter who isn’t unconscious anymore and listens closely. Get up little one, the charade is over.” I flinched and turned towards the girl between us, who indeed was opening her eyes. Damn it, how could I have missed that? I had even touched her when I had blanketed her but I would have sworn she had been out cold. I needed to be much more careful with them. They might have become humans, but they sure as hell still had some tricks up their sleeves.

“How much have you heard,” Erya asked, her voice low, heavy and devoid of any kindness. Morgan swallowed loudly, the impulse to lie visibly fluttering across her mind. Wisely, she didn’t act on it.

“Nearly everything.” It was fascinating to watch the change in her expression, surprise and a touch of guilt turning into sadness once again before they were replaced by anger and defiance.

“And I want to hear the rest of it. In case all of you forgot, I was the one who has payed the steepest price! Don’t you dare exclude me. I’ve got a right to know why my whole life has turned to shit!” She eyed me coyly before she added: “with all due respect, ma’am.” Oh my, another one of those. Stubborn, wilful and angry at a world that just wasn’t fair. Now, where had I seen that before? I couldn’t help it, I had to chuckle. Again we might be playing a game set in motion by someone who continuously proved that he was much cleverer than all of us. Amazeroth allowing anyone to overhear him by accident? Did he not know that this planet was alive? Unlikely. And those two…

Someone who could fill in the gaps in my knowledge but only with the information Amazeroth had allowed him to have and an exiled princess who I, myself, wouldn’t have turned away in a million years but who also happened to be Erya’s grandchild and practically a mirror image of Ahri. Coincidence? Right…

“What’s so funny,” Erya demanded waspishly.

“Nothing, nothing at all. Well, she’s your responsibility. It’s your call, but I don’t mind her staying with us and listening. Although… if you call me ma’am one more time, I’ll throw you off the next cliff,” I added with a scathing glance in Morgan’s direction. “Cassandra is fine, or Cassy, in case that’s too complicated for you.” She nodded hesitantly, unsure if I was joking or not.

“She can stay for all I care, but I don’t appreciate being taken for a fool, you hear me, Morgan? I do understand that you’re hurt and that you need to know why, believe me, but that doesn’t mean your entitled to other people’s secrets.” The former fey appeared much more at ease while Auguros flinched.

“I’ll try to get to the point, then. Like I said, the demon on the other side of the ocean never tried to hide from Gaya. On the contrary, by now I’m almost convinced that he invited her in, so to say. Anyways, here is what I know: when he set foot on this world for the second time, he answered a summoning that shouldn’t have touched him at all. Instead of a powerful spirit from the fey realms, he was the one to answer the call from the ruler of the empire across the waves. He willingly submitted to the chains the ritual bound him with, as far as I know, he even strengthened them with sparks of his own power. To what purpose I cannot say for sure, but I can guess, I’ll tell you my suspicions later. Since then, he has faultlessly served and done what was asked of him… for all intent and purposes, he truly is a slave right now, albeit one that has chosen servitude. He has even guided his master in your direction, lady Cassandra, but I assume you already knew that. Unfortunately his mere presence makes it very difficult to tell what’s going to happen next since every one of his actions I’ve been privy to, was close to the opposite of what I expected and while I assume that I could easily predict Amon’s behaviour, there’s no guarantee that he won’t follow a different path, one chosen by his bound companion.”

“Tell me, what do you think Amazeroth wants to achieve with this charade. You said before that you might guess at his reasons,” I interjected.

“Ah, so Amazeroth is his name. Fitting, doesn’t your chosen people even have a legend about a goddess that shares his connection to mirrors? Amaterasu, wasn’t it?” I nodded, amazed by his knowledge. Our beliefs and lore weren’t widely known, considering we weren’t very religious ourselves.

“As for his reasons,” he continued, “you only accept shackles if they free you of something worse. And since I can’t imagine that there’s a power under this sun who could force him into anything, I assume he’s running from your kind. Running, hiding or lying in wait.” That was pretty much the same conclusion I had arrived at as well, what I hadn’t thought of was the following:

“Which consequentially means, that whatever or whoever he is trying to cheat, will sooner or later come knocking at his door, or should I say against this world.”

“Is that why you expect other demons… others like him, to come here,” I asked.

“You can call them by their name, I know that you think of yourselves as angels and demons but…not precisely. It simply fits. No, I’m convinced they will come because I can see it, literally. Ever since I connected with Gaya I can see, or rather feel, the web of energies that runs across her and I don’t mean the ley-lines every half competent mage can use. I told you before, Gaya isn’t an entity like us, or even you, she exists within everything that walks on her surface. She’s… more energy and purpose than anything else. Now, do you truly imagine that beings such as yourself can appear without fundamentally impacting the structure around them? You can’t, and aside from the disturbances you, your four winged companion and … Amazeroth have brought about, the ripples your ilk will cause in the future are strong enough that they can even be felt here and now, in a time when they haven’t even arrived yet. Whatever you believe of me and what I’ve told you, never, not even for one second, should you doubt this: your… family, they will come, I don’t know when, but whatever we do, they’ll come… and most likely tear this world apart.”