Cassandra Pendragon
While we descended towards the camp hand in hand, my mind was churning. I had played it down when Ahri had asked me, but truth be told, the idea of having an unknown sibling had shaken me. I wasn’t mad or disappointed, maybe a little since I honestly hadn’t expected any member of my family to be capable of siring a child and abandoning her afterwards, but that was something I could deal with. What was getting to me was the growing ball of happiness in my stomach. I really wanted Reia to become a part of my family and not only because I liked her or because I wanted a younger sibling.
The bottom line was, I felt much more connected to the girl, who had risked her life for us, even though I was the only one who remembered, than I should have. When I thought about teaching her, protecting her… being responsible for her, even though the thought was daunting, I could hardly keep myself from smiling. Rationally, I knew that I was most likely compensating for my sterility, the pitiful look on my mother’s face when I had told her and the feelings of inadequacy that rose up every time I thought about it, stupid as it was, but that didn’t help, not at all. I was still elated when I imagined a child, even one as stubborn and complicated as her, depending on me. Not the most healthy disposition to base decisions upon, but still…
“Stop your brooding, it’s going to be okay. We’re nearly there,” Ahri said and startled me from my thoughts. I hadn’t realised how close we had gotten to the ground and I just barely managed to stifle a yelp when I saw Viyara’s draconic snout only metres away from me. At the very least it was closed, but her ivory fangs, each one about as long as my forearm, still scared the living hell out of me when they suddenly appeared in my vision.
“You’re back… and in one piece as it seems.” She projected without preamble. “Did Ahri already talk to you about Reia?”
“It’s good to see you, too. And I’m fine, I just grew a new tail, my magic changed fundamentally and I relived parts of my past, but I’m alright, thanks for asking.” Admittedly, I might have sounded a tad bitchy, but it had been a long day… again, and Viyara didn’t have the advantage that I wanted to see her naked. “And yes, Ahri did talk to me, but I’d still like to see everything from your point of view, since you pieced it all together. Would you share your memories?”
“Of course… and sorry, I’m really glad you’re okay. It’s just… I’ve been worried… and Erya is driving me nuts.”
“I don’t even want to know what you mean, do I? Never mind, no need to apologise, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Still, before I’m swarmed, could you show me?” She didn’t reply but I felt her memories stir and a moment later, images began passing before my eyes.
I saw how she had stumbled across Reia’s abilities by chance on her and mischief on Reia’s part. I waited with her on Estrella while she had been out to have a look at Mordred and the other kids and I joined her when she had told Ahri afterwards, unwilling to burden me with her theory until she had prove. A spark of anger ignited in my chest when I imagined that she might have kept me in the dark, hypocritical, I knew, since I had planned to do the same thing to my mother, but I couldn’t help it. At least I was going to think twice now, before I repeated that mistake.
I watched the two of them sit down together while Viyara told Ahri everything she had found out and guessed only to be berated that she should have come to me first. I grinned and squeezed Ahri’s hand while the one in my mind cut her sermon short and started asking the dragoness how many of the kitsune carried that particular form of energy and whether or not some had more of it than others. Apparently Reia and my brother were chock full of it, while the rest only had small amounts. Ahri had quickly deduced that the more closely the family had been related to mine, the stronger the magic was within their descendants. Yet another indication that Ignus’ story hadn’t been that far from the truth. They had decided to keep silent until I returned and had distracted Reia and her band of misfits with an apology they had had to deliver to Xorlosh and the preparation they needed to activate the amulets with Viyara’s blood.
Long story short, Reia, Archy and Estrella were right now starting to learn how to use a forge under the rough hands of Xorlosh who, as their punishment, had decided that they’d have to forge the dagger of mithril into amulets on their own and without the help of magic. The amount of curses and groans that had issued from the smithy, seconds after Ahri and Viyara had left, had been proof enough that the kids would learn their lesson. Briefly I wondered which one that might be: thou shall not steal, or thou shall not be caught. Knowing the little vixen a bit, I was willing to bet that it’d turn out to be the latter. And frankly, I somehow agreed, it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission, after all. I just didn’t know if I wanted Reia to believe that.
While we landed, the last images reached me, which weren’t connected to the rest. Instead I saw the darkening afternoon sky from Viyara’s perspective, dwarfs and kitsune frozen in their motions around her, while all of them had stared at a pulsing, second sun that had suddenly appeared above them. An explosion of silvery light had followed, which had tuned everything around her into depthless shadows. She had been forced to avert her eyes, the brightness too much, even for her draconic senses, while most of the dwarfs had dropped into a defensive crouch and the kids had tried to hide. A few moments later, the light had vanished, reduced to a falling star that had raced in their direction before it had blinked out completely.
The dragoness had waited anxiously for it to reappear, her instincts screaming at her that she had just witnessed my transformation. Fear had gnawed at her insides and she had already felt desperate when Ahri had suddenly began to laugh and had shot towards the sky. Only then had she felt reassured that I was still alive and the bubbling knot of emotions in her chest had been cut, leaving a churning mixture of happiness and anger behind. Happiness that nothing had happened to me and anger that I, once again, had scared the living hell out of her. When she had seen me, she had tried to cover her confusion under a brusque manner, which hadn’t been the best idea and the reason why she had greeted me like that.
“No worries,” I said out loud while our minds were starting to drift apart. “And I missed you, too.” I added without really thinking about what I said, but when I saw the toothy smile on her scaly face, I knew I had found the right words.
The next few minutes were the usual chaos I had already gotten used to, with one difference: my mom could neither scold nor ask me questions and consequentially, the whole affair was much more civilised, even though she immediately climbed onto my shoulder. She slung her tails around my neck, rubbed her head against my cheek, her equivalent of an embrace, and began purring. A change for the better, as far as I was concerned, since no one screamed at me and I was mostly forced to shake hands, repeat that I wasn’t hurt and that nothing exceedingly dangerous had happened. For the kitsune, I had to show off my new tail, pirouetting on the spot. Truth be told, I quite enjoyed their attention and the envious looks that crossed the faces of the older ones. If I kept on growing like this, I’d soon have more tails than years under my belt.
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I took a couple of moments to exchange a few words with Erya and my brother, but since we were surrounded by a throng of people, we couldn’t do more than hug briefly and reassure one another that the world was still turning and in one piece, well, the reassuring was mostly done on my part, while the fey seemed like she had something else to say, but wasn’t prepared to do so with everyone around. I also quickly realised that Mephisto wasn’t here, but I didn’t think much of it, he wasn’t keen on spending time with mortals and probably already knew that I had survived, his magic was presumably more than capable of tracking my transformation. When I thought about him, I also remembered the ritual he had been in the middle of, the last time had seen him and panicked slightly. With everything that had been happening to me, I had completely forgotten about the seed and the gem I was carrying. I quickly checked my clothes to make sure I hadn’t accidentally lost them, but they were still there, tightly nestled against my skin. I couldn’t imagine how they had stayed that way, nor how I had managed to return, properly dressed for the first time, but I wasn’t going to complain. I was in the middle of a crowd after all, and something told me I’d even be standing here if I had returned in my undies.
The whole meet-and-greet affair was still not something I was overly comfortable with but at least this time, I knew and liked everyone I was talking to. A luxury I hadn’t had much of, back on Boseiju. It even had its upsides, when I met Reia and her friends for instance, the lot of them smeared with ash and nursing quite a few blisters and overworked muscles. Something I had to keep in mind, physical activity seemed to be a great way to get your message across, even though I would’ve bet that the lot of them had already made use of the forge to stock up on new materials, at least it felt that way when Reia and Estrella hugged me, solid rods of metal pressing into my stomach. Either that, or they had developed abs literally made of steel in a few hours. I was tempted to pull them aside and question them on what they had done and what they might have guessed, but one, I couldn’t very well take off now without a reason, two, I’d have to deal with their ongoing tendencies to get their hands on things that weren’t theirs and three, as much as I wanted to, I’d have to talk to my mom first, I owed her that much at the very least.
After a while the crowd began thinning, the ones I had already spoken to rushing back towards the fires, eager to finish the last preparations for the feast tonight, until only a few remained. Ahri and Viyara hadn’t left my side and my mom was still perched on my shoulder but I was quite surprised to see Aspera and Astra with Erya, Mordred, Morgan and Auguros still lingering close by, their heads put together conspiratorially. Oh my, that didn’t look like they were talking about decorations or the food for tonight.
When they purposefully strode towards me, their faces grim, I looked closer, searching for hints as to what might be going on. The elves appeared… shaken, sadness was clearly showing in their eyes but the harsh determination set around the corners of their mouths also showed a barely contained fury. Morgan, on the other hand, was simply exhausted, she laboriously put one foot in front of the other, her eyes cast down, barely taking notice of what went on around her. Erya and Auguros were nervous, their eyes inadvertently roaming form the elves to Morgan and back again, compassion much more prevalent in their gaze than any other emotion. Crap, I couldn’t be sure, but considering how they behaved and that I already knew the fey court had killed the elf Morgan had fallen for, I was willing to hazard a guess who he might have been. Somehow it always came back to blood ties and families… but then again, hopefully I was wrong.
“Do you have a few moments? There’s… we have something to tell you and I’d much prefer some privacy,” Erya said hesitantly.
“Sure, what about those three,” I asked and indicated the fox on my shoulder, the angel by my side and the dragoness behind me.
“It’d be better if they came as well, we have some decision to make before the feast tonight.” Ominous as her words had been, I was pretty convinced that I had guessed right, the dead elf was somehow related to the two sisters. Since he was gone, they’d have to quickly return home to take care of their family and affairs. Or maybe they had to head off an act of retribution… or initiate one. Either way, I was going to find out in a moment.
I nodded and gestured for Erya to lead the way, falling in step behind her. She marched towards the cliffs, the busy sounds of the camp slowly fading as we got further away. None of them spoke while we walked, Astra and Aspera were wearing their silence like an armour, impenetrable and unyielding, concealing their thoughts behind an iron mask. Mordred was sticking close to Morgan, ready to support her in case she stumbled. Behind his gruff exterior, he truly was a sweetheart. And Auguros… well, he was taking in everything, his eyes never standing still while his head swivelled from left to right and he studied our expressions and seemingly tried to understand what was going through our heads. Truth be told, I didn’t like him. While I could sympathise with what he had told us, something about him just rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was his manipulative disposition or simply that I had come to hate the machinations of everyone who played with the future. It was impossible to trust them, if they considered something they saw important enough, all decency and their promises went out the window.
While I could somehow understand where they were coming from, and by they I mainly meant him and Amazeroth, it didn’t mean I had to like what they did, even though it might be for the greater good. I had always thought that it’d take a special kind of stupidity or arrogance to dare to decide who or what was worth sacrificing to achieve a goal. Yet another reason why I’d be next to useless in a position of power.
When we reached the cliffs and were far enough away from everybody else that even a kitsune’s hearing wouldn’t be of much use, Erya stopped and waited for us, facing the setting sun. The fading light cast growing shadows across her features, her resemblance to the fey I had seen through Mephisto’s scrying spell obvious in the determined line of her jaw and the harsh angles of her face.
Before I had the chance to ask why they had brought me here or even take in the radiant colours of the sunset, Astra spoke up:
“While I wasn’t the one to ask you here, it has happened on our behalf, that is, Aspera’s, Morgan’s and mine. But first of all, allow me to express my deep felt contentment that you’ve returned to us unscathed, Cassandra. You can truly be proud of yourself, I’ve never even heard of a kitsune your age with six tails. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be fully grown after only a good handful of years, it can’t be easy to grow up without a childhood.” If that was supposed to be a compliment or praise, I’d hate to hear her criticism.
“Thanks, but I can’t take credit there. I’ve hardly ever been a child and my development is mostly caused by my past, not by something I’ve done. But I’m truly glad to be still in one piece, as well. Now then, let’s cut to the chase. What’s so important that we couldn’t speak of it in front of people I implicitly trust?”
“It’s not that we don’t trust them,” she replied. “And I didn’t mean to imply that they shouldn’t hear what I’m about to tell you, but by chance or design, you’ve somehow ended up as the person everybody turns to, especially now that your mother’s not able to hold the reins anymore. You see, the elf who has been involved with Morgan and slain by the fey, he…,” it was the first time I saw her mask crack. Glittering tears appeared in the corner of her eyes and she had to visibly fight to get her next words out. “He was our father and the protector of the elven city we come from. More importantly, he was one of the few who has… had the trust of our king.”