Cassandra Pendragon

Energy rushed through my brain, my perception increased and from one instant to the next, the vampires’ speed, Layla’s flight, even the forces the caster was harvesting, it all slowed down to a crawl. I couldn’t move my limbs as fast as I would have liked, my wings though, were another matter. They reacted to my thoughts, a manifestation of my will that wasn’t confined by the laws of reality and with every beat of my heart, blood gushed from my side in a silvery stream, but my wings burned even more brightly for it.

Fear was forged into fury as my conviction hardened, the cold that spread from my wound tempering the rising tide. I wouldn’t die here, not like this. I had already survived too much to fall prey to a bunch of blood crazed, undead tin cans. This wouldn’t be my end, but theirs. Without looking back, I cleaved the air behind me, pure, undiluted energy a thrumming thunderstorm that filled the room with glaring light. I didn’t expect to hit, I had already seen how fast they could be, but I only needed to buy myself a few moments.

While Layla began to transform in midair, her fragile fingers elongating into deadly claws, her pristine features mutating into the epitome of hunger with glistening fangs, I clamped down on the the swirling magic in the room. My will brushed away the pitiful attempts of the caster to control and reshape, to alter the flow of energy. The growing whirlwind of power around him petered out and even the rippling surface of the portal became still as I froze the swirling forces in place.

A circle of ice formed around me, quickly spreading in every direction. For now, we would be fighting with weapons, claws and wings. And a bit of magic, since mine wasn’t impeded in the slightest.

Layla’s warning still rang in my ears and before she hit the disoriented mage, who was still trying to figure out why his spells wouldn’t work, I wrapped my wings around the vampire behind me. My vision allowed me to see his expression, even though he was at my back, and a grim smile formed on my face, when I saw the fire in his eyes flicker derisively. He intended to vanish back into the shadows and strike at me from another angle, but that didn’t play out quite as he expected.

Haughty confidence gave way to surprise which turned into panic, the magic around him unwilling to heed his commands. I felt him struggle, I felt him access his own life force to fuel his spell in another way, but by then, it was already to late. Silvery light erupted from his armour, when I skewered him. A hollowed, otherworldly scream tore through the room while his plate mail began to glow and deform, wisps of smoke curling through the gaps. Another push, another pulse of bluish fire and he turned into a silvery torch, his ashes drifting to the ground peacefully.

My wound closed on its own accord as the energy I had stolen from him coursed through me and I whirled around. The second one had to die before their friends could make their way back here. But apparently, I wasn’t needed. His failing spell and the split second of stunned amazement had frozen the caster in place, long enough for Layla to crash into his chest. But that wasn’t the sweet, intimidated girl I had met before. She looked like she had just clawed her way out of a nightmare. A hellish fire burned in her eyes and her fangs were as long as one of my fingers. When she slammed into him, her scythe like claws ripped through his armour and into his sides, anchoring her in place. With a gleeful, savage scream, she slammed her head into his helmet with complete disregard for her own injuries. His head was thrown backwards and even from where I stood, I could hear the bones in his neck break. Layla’s forehead had turned into a bloody crater, but she didn’t mind.

When she saw the small, exposed line of skin between his armour and his helmet, she struck like a snake. Her fangs ravaged the unprotected flesh and blood squirted forth like a macabre, crimson fountain. She didn’t care for the hot shower, though, and opened her mouth even wider, like a beast unhinging its jaws. With a wet, gurgling sound, they both went down, while she dug into her meal with reckless abandon. A shudder ran up my spine when he stopped struggling, his limbs flailing weakly. That sure as hell was an ugly way to go.

Slurping sounds that made bile rise in my throat came from beneath the golden blanket of her hair, covering them as if they were lovers instead of predator and prey. It took me several moments to drag my eyes away from the gruesomely intimate sight and then some to find my voice again.

“That’s enough,” I croaked. “The others will be here any second now. Leave him be, he’s dead.” The only reaction I got was a hiss, as she quickly whipped her head around and bared her fangs at me, blood dripping from her mouth while she defended her food.

“I said, that’s enough.” This time, my voice was laden with power, an eerie, rising cadence that distorted the air between us and cracked the coat of ice that had spread through the room.

“Mine,” she snarled, small bubbles of blood bursting in the corner of her mouth. “Mine,” she howled again as her instincts fought against my command. If she hadn’t been kneeling on a mutilated carcass, it might even have been funny to watch her claws twitch and her expression change as she fought to resist. And I had to admit, she held on longer than I would have thought possible, but finally she groaned in frustration and rolled away. That could have been much…

“Then I’ll have you in his stead,” she said, her voice less bestial and closer to the alluring, velvety smoothness I had heard from Tom, as she got to her feet and glided towards me, her fangs retracting and her claws turning into filigree fingers. The fire in her eyes changed as well, from a dominating, cruel sheen to something much more soft and welcoming but no less dangerous. Even her scent was different now, a caressing sweetness with a darker note, that reminded me of pine trees, beneath the metallic tang of blood. It matched the gentle pulses of energy she was trying to send in my direction.

“You’re much more appetising, anyways.” I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. The transformation from savage animal to enticing temptress had been impressive enough, but a young girl, covered in gore, trying to play with my desires, trying to seduce me with pheromones and magic? It was simply ridiculous. Instincts without knowledge could do that to you…

Still grinning, I picked her up with my wings and slammed her into a wall. “Snap out of it. Or I’ll have to beat you senseless. Your choice but you don’t have much time. Their friends are coming.”

The effect wasn’t as instantaneous as I had hoped. She almost immediately fell back into a savage rage, thrashing and screaming as if she was possessed. With a thought I sent even more of my power to my throat and thundered:

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Layla! Stop, now! I won’t leave you behind, but I’m telling you, if you don’t calm down, I’ll have to hurt you. And trust me, I can still hurt you, badly enough to break you out of your trance.”

There was no reaction as she continued to fight to get out of my grip, droplets of blood, that still clung to her skin after her indulgence, flew everywhere while she wailed in anger. I tightened my wings around her, taking care to not cut into her, and bashed her head against the wall again with a satisfying thud. To my chagrin, she didn’t snap out of it, if anything her rage even intensified and we were running out of time. The group that had made its way down to the cells was rushing back and if I strained my hearing, I could already hear the quiet drums of their boots as they sprinted back. We were going to have more company any second now and I couldn’t deal with a raging, underaged monster. Somehow I had to put her down, preferably without damaging her severely.

“Sleep,” I roared, pushing everything I had into my voice. Which, in hindsight, might have been a mistake. One I would come to regret soon enough.

The last time I had tried a stunt like that, my power had still been confined to my body, but now… the frozen swaths of energy in the air surged outwards, bent to a single purpose. An explosion of light followed, as the mana in the room heeded my call, wave after wave pouring forth, battering against every sentient mind it came in contact with. It wasn’t just mana, though. In my mind’s eye, the storm of power glittered in the kaleidoscope of colours that represented the different elements, but there were also tiny stars of silver and blue among them, a visual component of my own energy.

The walls cracked, the enchantments that had strengthened them gone in a second as their magic was ripped apart and blown away to further fuel my desire. The portal shuddered and the runes dulled, their energy drained. Layla’s eyes rolled up into her head and she slumped into my grasp, soundly asleep. But that wasn’t the end. Like an unshackled beast, the magic thundered on, tearing away from me in growing circles, eager to subjugate everything it touched.

Faint impacts came from the corridor as the remaining vampires fell to the ground, the building shook, its foundations devoid of any supernatural enhancements, and when the waves finally reached beyond the structure, they didn’t peter out. Like an infection they spread, converting every last bit of mana in their way and there was plenty. The spell wouldn’t break down, it would strengthen, the further it got. And from the looks of it, it would tear down every enchantment in its wake, leaving behind nothing that was made of mana. I shivered. I couldn’t allow that.

The gods only knew how many people were dependent on one spell or the other to survive. I wouldn’t be responsible for powerless healers and failing artefacts, I wasn’t willing to cause misery and death in mines with arcane safeguards and I sure as all hells wouldn’t watch while sleep suddenly claimed parents who tried to protect or save their child. I wasn’t that callous.

I understood perfectly well what would happen to me if I tried to reign in magic I had already unleashed, I had done it before after all, but I had made my bed and now I had to lie in it. No one else was going to pay for my mistakes. Just once, I’d have liked to deal with something normal….

With almost no understanding of what I was actually trying to do and even less of an idea on how to accomplish it, I did the only thing that came to mind. I ground my teeth, ignored the dread that threatened to overcome me when I imagined how I’d feel in a second and exerted my will: “return,” I screamed.

In a way, it was surprisingly easy. The tiny motes of my energy, that pushed the potency of the spell to heights unreachable for mortals, were almost eager to do my bidding. As soon as my intent swamped the existing structure, the waves slowed down and reversed without any resistance. The result wasn’t as satisfying, though.

At first, it felt almost pleasant. Energy danced across my skin and turned me into a pillar of silvery light, an energising rush that blew away my exhaustion. My muscles tingled, the lingering aches disappeared and for a moment, I thought I had been worried for nothing. But it didn’t stop.

More and more power flooded through me, my own essence allowing it to brush away my immunities as if they weren’t even there. I felt full, bloated and still the stream kept coming.

While the transcendent sparks returned to my core, the mana they had swept up and bonded to, invaded my astral body, igniting every nerve along the way. Pressure mounted and from one moment to the next, it felt like I was being ripped apart but still, there was no end in sight.

Light danced before my eyes and I dropped to my knees as dark, stained blood suddenly erupted from my skin. A growing, irresistible flame surged through me, incinerating the last impurities in my body, burning away everything that wasn’t strong enough to withstand. I wanted to scream but I choked on the vile, ash like substance. With every rattling cough, I sprayed chunks of it across the room. Wherever they came in contact with the floor, smoke began to rise and the stone slowly corroded.

I thought I was going to pass out as the sensation became closer to having swallowed an ember that grew and grew until it filled me with ravaging flames. But alas, it shouldn’t be. I remained painfully aware of every passing second while the fires ate away at my shell, forging and tempering. There were only two outcomes. Either I’d burn up completely, too much of myself lost to the ravaging tide, or I would survive, the last traces of my mortal body gone.

I didn’t die. But somewhere along the way, either when my astral body stretched farther and farther to accommodate every last speck of energy, or when my heart finally skipped a beat, unable to sustain its rhythm through the ordeal, a soothing darkness claimed me. I didn’t lose consciousness completely, but the pain, the change, had been too much. I became a passenger in my own body, removed from its plight, but still present enough to watch with interest.

I turned into a bonfire of magic, transcendent and astral forces wreaking havoc around and within me. Slowly, gradually, the flames were consumed, were pulled back into my veins until, finally, the last sparks vanished and a soothing numbness claimed me, just as darkness spread through the room. I had done it, the spell was broken. I closed my eyes and let it all go.

When I came to, the first thing I felt was the smooth, cold surface of glass pressing against my bare skin. And the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes, was utter blackness, not a single light source had survived, except for the silvery sheen of my skin, which was by no means strong enough to illuminate the darkness. Just as well, I didn’t feel like getting up any time soon, anyways. Either Layla had made it through, or she hadn’t, there wasn’t much I could do to change that. Instead I focused my concentration inward, searching for anything that might feel different.

To my surprise, it didn’t seem like it. My tails and wings were still there, the thrum from my core reverberated through me and energy filled my veins, maybe a bit more than before, but that was hard to tell. But first and foremost, I felt whole again. Gone was the cumbersome reduction of my senses, gone was the distracting malady in my bones, I was cured.

And then, there was a voice. Ahri’s voice to be exact. I couldn’t tell how long she had been clamouring in my thoughts but now, that I was slowly getting back my bearings, I could hardly ignore the colourful stream of curses and genuine fear that crashed against my mind anymore.

“I’m awake, I’m fine. Would you…”

“Cassy, thank the gods! What happened to you? What did you do? I was worried sick! Do you have any idea…”

“You know, there’s no point in asking question when you’re not willing to wait for an answer,” I interrupted her, a tad tartly. “I used some of my magic and fucked it up, nothing new there. But I think it’s under control. At least the spell is gone, but I might have destroyed my way back in the process. We’ll have to see.”

“Never mind that, now! Listen, whatever you did, I could feel it from here and Mephisto is still complaining about his headache. Cassy, that’s the problem! It was powerful enough to attract attention you don’t…” I didn’t listen anymore. In front of me, a red, pulsing spark had manifested. It flickered once and quickly grew into a glowing crown of ebony horns.