Cassandra Pendragon

A personal feud made so much more sense. The amount of resources and knowledge needed to subdue them, the drive to actually go through with it, despite the costs and the magic necessary which had to have been much more powerful than anything I had seen here before. It also meant that I wouldn’t get them back without a fight. Not that I had truly believed in a peaceful outcome, but I had hoped. Now, even with a naive amount of wishful thinking, I couldn’t see it. Or maybe, I was just dead wrong. Unfortunately, it fitted together just a tad too well.

Ahri reached for my hand under the table and when I looked into her eyes, I realised she had come to the same conclusion, fear and a spark of regret shining in their fathomless depths. I took a deep breath and shoved away the knot of worry, struggling back to reality.

“It sounds like you have seen him before,” I said to Tom. “Could you describe him?”

“Let me see, he’s slender and not overly tall, maybe half a head shorter than me and he walks… strangely, as if he’s missing the support of his tails to keep his balance. His eyes appear almost black under his mask but I can’t say for sure if that’s their true colour. He’s got long, light hair, almost white, that flows down his back to cover the scars where his ears were. Mostly he wears wide, comfortable robes in dark colours and he’s got a cane, the head carved into the face of a fox, screaming in pain. And his voice… it’s sonorous and soothing, convincing in a way that makes you believe everything he tells you, even if he should claim the sky to be green. But I imagine, especially for you lot, his smell would be the most obvious. He reeks of magic, like a brewing thunderstorm and sparks sometimes dance along his fingers when he’s angry or agitated.” Tom paused and absently rubbed his fingers along one of his scars.

“He’s cruel, cruel and cold. From time to time I think he even relishes in the suffering of others, in the chance to make them feel as much pain and despair as he has been subjected to. When he first came here, about twenty five years ago, he cut a bloody path through the guilds and the underside of the city, uniting the thieves and beggars, the murderers and smugglers under his banner. He made an example of everyone who resisted, flaying them alive and leaving them in one of the markets to draw their last breaths for the whole world to see. I… I lost my brother back then. Within a year, everyone who wasn’t directly bound to one of the seven captains was forced to bow to him and he hasn’t relinquished the throne ever since. There’s a devil beneath that mask, no doubt about it.” He downed his glass, as if to flush down a bad taste and seemed lost in his memories for the moment.

“If the Mask is one of us,” I asked, turning toward Mephisto, “can’t we find him the same way you spied on Erya’s family?” The demon slowly shook his head.

“Unfortunately, no. Otherwise I could have used your blood from the beginning to form a connection with your brother. But there isn’t much of your origins left in you, definitely not enough to use your blood in a spell, even if I were able to find a way to circumvent its transcendent properties.”

“Are you sure?” Instead of answering he handed me a small knife.

“Cut yourself. Just enough to draw a drop of blood.” I did and to my surprise, the liquid that welled form the small incision didn’t look like blood anymore. It resembled nothing more than liquid silver, brighter than mercury and even more dense.

“Using that, the only connection I could form would be with her,” he nodded in Ahri’s direction, “and luckily we still know where she is.”

“What about Viyara, then? There’s a spark of my magic in her. Can’t we use that?”

“Not yet. It would be akin to finding a needle in a hay stack. Your power is still growing within her and it’s far from reaching its maturity. If she was standing in front of me, I might be able to detect your presence underneath her inborn magic but as it is…” he spread his hands, indicating he didn’t see a way.

“Crap, so we’re truly stuck with looking the old fashioned way… unless, if the Mask is as powerful as Tom described, can’t we just go looking for the strongest hotspots of magic around here?” He smiled at that.

“Sure, which would lead us exactly to wherever we are at that exact moment. I don’t think you fully appreciate the difference between us and them. You’ll understand as soon as you’re going to learn a few scrying spells of your own. Right now, whatever this so called Mask is doing, even with the auras of your friends at his side, we won’t be able to see them through the glare. Imagine the flame of a candle in front of the sun. Would you be able to see its light? But…” he paused for a moment, deep in thought.

“Your mother might be another matter. She’s practically a transcendent being in her own right…” he shrugged before he added: “I’ll have to look into it, once we have concluded our business here. But if we can find a way to get to him mundanely, we might not need to.” As he spoke his last words he focused on Tom, his intent stare shaking the human from his memories. “How about it, is there a way we can meet him?”

“Maybe, but, as you might have imagined, I have a few conditions before I’m going to help you.”

Mephisto smiled nastily. “Are you sure about that? You have been listening, haven’t you? What makes you think that we won’t just take what we need by force?”

“Nothing, except… none of you seem the type. I’ve seen plenty of evil in my days, people who would deny me out of spite, but you’re not one of them. And what I want won’t endanger your friends, your family or yourselves. All I ask is that you won’t allow this town to drown in madness, once you’ve decapitated the snake that slithers under its skin. The death of the Mask will leave a vacuum that will be filled with blood and death until the next tyrant takes the throne. I want you to prevent that from happening, that’s all.”

“How? How could we possibly manage that? You’re asking for a miracle,” I interjected.

“No… I’m asking for your backing. I’ve never wanted the reins, but may the gods help me, I’ll take them if I have the chance to change the cesspool we’re living in into something else. And with your help, I think I can do just that. I don’t know exactly what you are, but I imagine that should be well within the range of your possibilities. Or are you not as powerful as you make yourselves out to be?” Mephisto laughed, a cold, detached sound that didn’t suit the body he was currently in.

“Power, that’s what you want. Power in exchange for helping us free innocents from the clutches of a man, you yourself fear. You’re right, we’re not evil, but I’m beginning to think you might just be.” He raise a hand to prevent me from interrupting and continued. “Don’t get me wrong, your intentions might be noble, but those are the ones that lead straight to hell. Believe me, I know, I’ve lived there…”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“And so have I. He’s quite right, Tom, but I don’t think you have to worry about it overly much. You’re not going to see the dusk, after all,” a new voice sounded form the door, smooth and full like glittering silk. We whirled around, but in truth, we already knew whom we would see.

There he was, a polished mask of ebony on his face, his body clad in a long, flowing, black robe. Ozone tickled my nose and I felt the remains of spent magic on him, like faint traces in the sand after a strong breeze had brushed them away. White hot fury immediately spread through me like a wild fire and I was halfway across the room, my wings a glaring curtain of light behind me before he muttered his next words:

“I wouldn’t do that, if you’re intent on seeing your family again. Strike me down or touch me with your magic and they’ll suffer more than you can imagine, more than they already have.”

Blood pumped in my ears, and if it hadn’t been for Ahri’s intervention, I wouldn’t have managed to stop myself. She slung her arms around my middle and tripped me. We went down in a shower or sparks and light, our wings an entangled mass on the floor. From somewhere far away I heard human screams, quick footsteps and the curses of Gardan but I couldn’t bring myself to look away from the smug kitsune in front of me, standing there like nothing in the world could touch him. Something within me cracked, a wall that had kept my past hidden from my present broke when I imagined what he might have done to my friends, to my family. They had already suffered? Gruesome images of torture and despair flooded my mind, guilt and fear a suffocating pressure but suddenly, the white hot fire in my veins petered out, extinguished by a rising tide of power. Energy pulsed from my core and with nothing more than a twist of my wings I threw Ahri off of me. She tumbled through the air and crashed into our table, leaving a trial of crimson blood behind. Wood splintered and the smell of burning cloth tickled my nostrils but I didn’t turn around.

A flash of glaring light and I was on my feet again, my eyes fixed on the masked fox. “What did you just say to me?” I barely recognised my own voice, it was laced with cold indifference and a thrum of power that went far beyond anything I had experienced before. Magic swirled around me and my words reverberate through the room, heralding destruction as the windows burst and the wooden floor beneath me broke apart with every syllable. “What. Did. You. Just. Say?”

Behind me, I heard Mephisto hiss: “stay down. Don’t even get close to her. That’s not the girl you know anymore. Holy hells, I think that idiot just awakened the Lightbringer from his slumber.”

My mind felt empty, the emotions that had held me in their grip only seconds before were gone, drowned in a sea of power, its tide crashing against the confines of my body. With every breath, I drifted further and further away, until all that was left was a desire to punish, to make that puny mortal see the errors of his way, to make him squirm before me like the insignificant bug he was. He wanted to blackmail me? To stand before me and utter demands? To threaten those I cared for? To hurt them? Such hubris…

I took a step forward, smiling contently while wave after wave of burning light ripped from my wings, setting the building ablaze. Somewhere deep down I still felt my connection to Ahri, the promises of several lifetimes protecting her and those she chose to keep safe, but everything else turned into ash around me, everything but the Mask.

His desperately tried to cast one spell or the other but with a lazy wave of my hand, I ripped his magic apart, his efforts nothing more than a child, trying to stop the sun from rising. Another step and I was at his side, my wings keeping him upright as my power dug into his frail body, tearing his defences to shreds.

“Who do you think you are,” I whispered. “A sorcerer? A schemer? A misunderstood hero? A king? To me, you’re nothing more than an insufferable child, tormenting those that aren’t strong enough to stand up to you and the reckoning is nigh. Now, let’s see…” I hoisted him up into the air, my wings piercing through his skin like meat hooks and the warm shower of blood that sprinkled my face made me smile even more. I relished the feeling when his bones broke, his muscles ignited like dried tinder and my smile widened when the scream of a tortured soul ripped from his throat. “Silence,” I commanded. “We haven’t even started, yet.”

Light broke forth from his eyes, his mouth and the wounds I had opened while I began to slowly dissect his mind, searching for his pitiful safeguards that he had thought would have allowed him to come here and extort us. A couple of spells and a few sentries that were supposed to alert his people should anything happen to him, so they could carry out his revenge against my family. Laughable.

With a thought, we vanished into a shower of sparks only to reappear above the burning building like a wandering star, hidden behind a veil of light, the bustling city below us. I drew in a deep breath and bolstered my voice with a fraction of the power that was coursing through me: “Flee, flee and hide,” I thundered. “Run, run as fast as your feet will carry you, for I am coming for you all. Everyone who has raised his hand against those I cherish will know despair before the end. Watch, watch what happens to those who think they are above retribution. Now, you may scream,” I added quietly, almost caressingly, while the crowd below us fell into a panic, their only thought to comply with my demand as fast as possible.

I tightened my grip on the different layers of the Mask’s existence and gingerly pulled them apart, little by little. I paid attention to where he had stored my friends, but aside from that, all I really wanted was to make him relive every moment of pain he had caused before he was swallowed by oblivion. There would be no rebirth, no new cycle for him, his very essence would cease to be, right then and there. While he howled, more like an animal than a man, his magic, his life, his soul turned into light, a miniature sun I held in my grasp. Stardust floated towards the ground, all that remained of his mortal form while a well of power slowly rotated in the air in front of me. I extended my hand and with a flick of my wrist, light bursted forth, a rippling wave that spread over the whole town and rejuvenated the sick and the ailing, a final amend to sooth the suffering he had caused.

When the energy was almost spent, I drew the final sparks into myself, savouring the taste of his last moments as they dispersed among the raging storm of power in my veins. The memories of what he had done a fleeting shadow in my mind, but it was enough for me to feel my way through the net of energy across the city until I connected with the artefacts and guards that had been tasked with keeping my family subdued and turn them into leverage. No more.

Silvery blue streams crackled across the sky and raced towards a hidden cellar where my friends laid in stupor, ugly, twisted collars, covered in runes, around their necks. Their anguish, their despair was like a beacon I could follow once I knew where to look and with another bright flash of light, I materialised between the guards.

“I told you to run,” I whispered before my wings flared out, taking their life the very instant they tore through their hearts. Smouldering husks fell to the floor but I wasn’t paying attention anymore. What I saw sent a spike of hatred and regret through me, breaking through the ice cold purpose that had taken hold of me. Regret that I hadn’t prolonged the Mask’s suffering for a few more aeons. They were all there, even my mother, stuffed into a cage, the runes on it glowing gently in the light of my wings. Spikes had been pushed through their bodies, meticulously severing their meridians and traces of dried blood marred their bodies, covering the cuts and bruises I could just barely see on their skin. The smell was horrendous, blood and excrements mixed with the sweet odour of infected flesh. They were almost gone, the nearly extinguished flames that still burned inside of them nothing more than a candle in a breeze, flickering madly.

The scene shook me from my trance and while the icy clarity slowly retreated from my thoughts, hot tears began falling from my eyes. But I couldn’t allow myself to succumb to the mounting dread in my veins, not yet. I had to save them, I had to make sure it hadn’t been in vain.