Cassius watched as the metallic monstrosity that housed Pascal descended toward him. He never let his composure waver, but panic attempted to force him to flee even though he didn’t have a chance of escape.
His back was to the wall--or in this case a better metaphor would be that he was standing on the edge--but Cassius was a Cliffsider, and Cliffsiders were born and bred to live on the edge. Cassius couldn’t count how many times he had been pressed to the brink with nowhere to go.
But he had always had Xolan by his side, now he was on his own.
He sought out the girl that had brought him to this point. She stood far off near the exit to this cavern, looking toward him with an expression of horror as she witnessed his destruction at the hands of Pascal.
Good, she had survived the battle and would be able to escape safely.
Even from here he could make out those striking, gray eyes. From the moment he met her and looked into those eyes, he could see danger lurking within them. Every alarm bell went off in his head.
A morbid aura surrounded her that he wasn’t sure whether he should keep close to his side or drive away at any cost. In the end, Xolan chose for him, with his final wish being that the girl have nothing to do with this world.
However, the girl had plans of her own that made it impossible for Cassius to keep Xolan’s promise. He tried his best to drive her away from this world, but she ignored every obstacle and plunged headlong into anyway.
Now, as a result of Cassius trying to uphold his promise, they found themselves in this perilous situation.
Mistech was once again proving to be a thorn in his side. He had buried them into the earth beneath his heel and still they struggled to take him down.
He couldn’t let them. He had come too far. Nikiphero still needed him. They had gained a legitimate hold Uptown, but it was tenuous.
Any subtle shift of the wind would send them tumbling over that edge Uptown continuously tried to force them over. And Cassius knew that despite the promise Rem showed as a future leader of Nikiphero, he wouldn’t be enough to stop this demise.
No, Cassius wouldn’t roll over and die. It wasn’t in his nature. He had fought tooth and nail in the streets and alleys of Cliffside since the day he was born. That had ingrained within him an iron resolve to survive no matter what he came up against. A foolish girl in over her head and a hunk of metal animated by strange magic wouldn’t bring all of that to an end.
So, as Pascal came within range of the explosives that Cassius had his men gather and plant around the place, he flipped the switch that would detonate them all.
The roar that filled the cavern was abruptly cut off as his eardrums burst from the noise. Dust and smoke cut off the view of Kayden, and the ground shook and buckled.
Pascal seemed to be oblivious to the danger he was in. His only focus was still for Cassius.
Cassius ducked as one of Pascal’s arms swung over his head, and they began to slide into the abyss. Rocks and debris fell past Cassius and into the darkness.
Cassius climbed to his feet and tried to make a break for stable ground.
Pascal began to slide toward the edge as well, and he finally seemed to become aware of what was going on and try to scramble to safety as well. But it was a futile attempt on both of their parts.
A boulder crashed down from above, breaking off the last remnants of the side of the cliff, and they fell into the void. As the darkness swallowed them and Pascal let out a beastial cry of fear, Cassius thought of the friend he had considered as a brother.
They had met when they were both twelve and Nikiphero was nothing more than an obscure fighting club. Xolan had already been going there for some time and was an assistant trainer for the younger kids. Cassius had gotten caught out by gang of kids that terrorized the neighborhood and been beaten ruthlessly. He had found his way to Nikiphero in order to train so he could get revenge.
Cassius could tell immediately that Xolan was like him. In fact, all of the kids there bore the signs of abuse and anger. But, Xolan was different in the way that he seemed to always wear a smile. That drew Cassius toward him.
He quickly discovered that even though Xolan might wear a smile, that didn’t mean he was weak. He packed a punch that could send even adults onto their rears.
The two of them immediately took a liking toward each other, and Xolan began to train Cassius ruthlessly. Cassius progressed quickly, but he could never quite reach Xolan’s level. But, Cassius discovered he had a perhaps much more valuable skill, leadership.
Even though Xolan was the much more skilled fighter and had been around much longer than Cassius, the other kids soon began following Cassius’s directions, including Xolan himself.
Xolan didn’t resent Cassius taking charge in the slightest, in fact he seemed to welcome it. Cassius quickly found himself in charge with Xolan as his right hand.
It didn’t take long for Cassius to begin the process of expanding their influence beyond the club. They picked up more followers and cleared out the gangs which had once abused them. Each successive victory brought an overwhelming sense of camaraderie and control to these once powerless boys.
Soon the Nikiphero gang reigned supreme over their small corner of Cliffside. Cassius could have stopped there. They had found a measure of respect and peace that they had all lacked their entire lives. This is what they had fought for.
But Cassius began to itch all over. He couldn’t sit still. Something was spurring him onward. Xolan felt the same, but neither of them could put a name to what they felt, and so they just tried to ignore it and enjoy the thing they had built.
It wasn’t until a few months later that they finally discovered what it was, and what would define the future of Nikiphero forever.
Most of Nikiphero’s operations at that time--which they had taken over from one of the other gangs--was to supply a popular club called Night Glow with smuggled alcohol and illegal substances. Much of Nikiphero’s time was spent hanging around this club and associating with the clientele. Because of Night Glow’s reputation, much of the clientele consisted of Uptowners who were looking for a good time.
Cassius and Xolan were still naive despite all that they had gone through. They might understand the violence and corruption of the streets, but they didn’t understand these strange, pretentious yet seemingly harmless kids from the world that hanged over theirs.
The Uptowners were wealthy and the girls extremely attractive. Of course, Cassius and Xolan would gravitate toward them.
It was an endless party which Cassius and Xolan found themselves pulled into. They kept the fun going, and as a result more Uptowners and more money flowed through Night Glow.
It was one of the most blissful moments of Cassius’s life. He was happy in a way that only a complete fool could be, and it was headed toward disaster.
Before that fateful night which would finalize Cassius’s fate, Cassius and Xolan had been invited Uptown by one of their regular clients. His name was Rufus and he was throwing a party for some of his friends on a yacht. He needed Cassius and Xolan to supply the party with drugs, and the two of them happily obliged. It wasn’t often that two Cliffsiders got to experience something like this.
It was a surreal experience. None of it felt real in a way that went beyond the drugs Cassius had taken--he hadn’t yet learned how to separate business from pleasure. Here he was, flying over the world when he had only ever existed below it. He felt like a king, and the city was so beautiful. In that moment he could understand why Uptown looked down on Cliffside. Uptown was better in every way. He felt disgusted by the idea of Cliffside and as a result he felt disgust of himself for being a part of it.
Then Xolan came up beside him. “Doesn’t it make the world seem so small?”
Cassius nodded.
Xolan leaned on the railing and looked down at the city, his eyes filled with the wistisim that Cassius felt.
“Maybe one day we can leave Cliffside behind. When we have enough money. Maybe we can buy a yacht of our own and fly all over the world.”
For some reason Xolan’s words made Cassius feel extremely sad. He didn’t understand it at the time, but he soon would.
The time came a few days later.
They were in the club and it was nighttime, but it always was Cliffside. The doors burst open and police swarmed into the place. Word of Night Glow and Nikiphero had spread Uptown and finally reached the wrong ears.
Guards were stationed around Night Glow to watch for such things, but they had grown lax in Nikiphero’s wealth and seeming security. Nobody saw the police coming. All of the exits were covered. No one could escape.
That is when Cassius discovered what truly separated Cliffside and Uptown.
The Uptowners were quickly released back to their families with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Nikiphero was a different story.
Another naive mistake Cassius had made was to allow all of his men to be stationed at the same place. Therefore, they were all captured in the raid.
They were beaten and abused to an extent that Cassius had never experienced, not even by other gangs. He had to watch as his friends and faithful followers were tortured and killed, forced to admit there wrongdoings, even though Cassius didn’t believe they had done anything wrong. It was all only a matter of survival to them.
But to Uptown, it wasn’t so much as what they had done as to who they had done it to. Their children. Their beloved children. They had corrupted and polluted them. That was the great offense Nikiphero had made against them, and as such he and all those associated with him were beyond contempt. They were plague bearing rats which necessitated extermination.
But, Cassius knew there was another offense he had committed. This one greater than the other. And this one unspoken.
He had made the assumption that he was somehow equal to them. That he could somehow rise out of his squalor and become something else.
That is why they beat and abused him, then threw him in a cage to be forgotten. They wanted to remind him of his place.
Cassius was a Cliffsider, through and through. That is why he had felt so sad about Xolan’s words about leaving Cliffside behind, because as much as he hated Uptown for what they had done to him, they were right. He was a Cliffsider, and it was time that he stop running away from it.
As those Uptowners who he believed to be his friends returned to their lives and forgot about him and Night Glow, most probably moving on to other night clubs, Cassius felt his resolve hardening. For the first time in a long time, he no longer felt itchy or antsy. He sat calmly within his cell and awaited the day of his release.
Nikiphero fell apart. Those that survived the police’s interrogations and made it to the prison with Cassius, joined other gangs and wanted nothing to do with him. Everyone except Xolan.
Cassius wasn’t sure if Xolan was dead or alive until they finally were reunited in the prison. And to Cassius’s great surprise and relief, Xolan didn’t blame him for anything that had happened. Like Cassius, Xolan realized who was truly to blame, Uptown.
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From then on, the two of them began to plan the future of Nikiphero. Nikiphero may have been reduced to two members but it was far from dead.
Prison hardened them and prepared them for what they would have to do. Cassius could never be grateful for his time there, but he knew it was a necessary step in his growth.
Cassius would have died if it wasn’t for Xolan by his side. It went beyond fending off fellow prisoners that attacked them, Xolan gave him hope. He helped Cassius realize that they could regain everything they had lost and more. It would have to be a lot more if Cassius wanted to prove he wasn’t worthless like Uptown wanted to make him believe.
One day Cassius would take everything from them. That is when his desire evolved from simple survival. Everything he had done up to that point had been about that single objective, but now he knew that wasn’t enough. He needed to do more than survive. He needed to thrive. That is the only way he would get back at Uptown.
And he got so close. He built Nikiphero back from the ground up, and then he succeeded even that, going beyond his and Xolan’s wildest dreams.
He learned from his mistakes and kept Nikiphero in the shadows. Never encroaching on Uptown's business--even serving them on occasions to create the illusion that he was a necessary evil.
So long as it remained like that, Uptown left him and his organization alone. After all, why should they concern themselves with the business of rats when those rats kept to their own.
This was all according to his design. He didn’t care if they despised and looked down upon him. One day they would all see what he could do.
From this space Uptown left him, he was able to flourish in the shadows, and slowly he sent tethers out to infect Uptown. This time when he showed himself to them, they wouldn’t arrest, toture, and--worst of all--belittle him, they would welcome him. And that was because he would beat them at their own game.
C&X Holding Co. That was the end game. They would never recognize a street gang but they would flock to a legitimate business that had all of the right paperwork filled out. If you can’t beat them then join them and take over from the inside.
That was the final lesson he learned about what made Uptown tick. They might put on this facade of intellectual and cultural superiority to Cliffside, but they lacked something crucial which in Cassius’s mind made Cliffside far more superior, and that was loyalty and a cause worth fighting for.
All Uptown had was their obsession with technological and mercantile superiority. They were ripe for exploitation. All it would take was for the right benefactor to come around. As long as someone funded their projects, they would look the other way in regards as to where their money came from.
Even their biases toward Cliffside weren’t strong enough to keep them from accepting his patronage, especially when he made it more digestible by putting a more friendly face then his own in front of C&X, say a royal from an ancient and powerful kingdom, exactly the type of person they expected to see in front of such an enterprise. Mitros might hold it as a badge of honor that they had no royalty, but they were just as easily cowed and distracted by the fancy titles as anywhere else.
It had taken years to get to this point, but in the end, Uptown had offered itself up with hardly a fight. Of course, there was slight resistance, but it was quickly if not exactly easily quenched, and that was because they would go where the money was. And the money was in his pocket.
So, in his triumph, what was he doing here, risking it all in order to save some foolish girl that had gotten in way over her head?
As Cassius tumbled down into the abyss with the arrogant Pascal, he couldn’t help but admit that he still had more to learn about himself.
He thought his last lesson had come and gone, but he recognized that like Pascal, it was no mistake that he was in this current predicament. Pascal’s arrogance was in assuming that he could take on Uptown through force and power alone, Cassius’s arrogance had been in assuming his drive to conquer Uptown would be enough to sustain him when what really always sustained him was Xolan’s constant presence by his side.
When Xolan had grown more distant over the years, and spent more and more time Uptown rather than Cliffside, Cassius had respected his wishes. He could understand Xolan’s desire to finally find some peace after all their years of fighting in the streets of Cliffside to get to where they were.
And to be honest, there wasn’t as much for Xolan to do any more. He was never a leader like Cassius was. He was a bodyguard. But Cassius and Xolan had gotten to the level where they could surround themselves with other bodyguards.
Xolan’s talents were no longer necessary. Cassius took center stage.
So he allowed Xolan to pull away and grow distant. He didn’t even know that Cassius had a daughter until the mess with making Nikiphero legitimate happened and Xolan had to go on the run.
Xolan had been furious and Cassius didn’t understand why. In his mind it would all be taken care of soon enough, Xolan just had to keep his head down for a time, but then Xolan had revealed that he had been forced to abandon his daughter.
That is when several things had become clear. First, Cassius and Xolan had grown far more distant than he had realized. And second, it hurt that his friend thought it necessary to keep such a thing hidden from him.
But he suppressed those feelings and kept pushing onwards. His vision was so close to being fulfilled. He couldn’t afford to feel human emotions that would slow him down.
He promised Xolan he would clear his name and return him to his daughter. It felt like a final goodbye. Once this was all over, they would both go their own way. Never before had he felt so alone.
Then she appeared at Xolan and Rem’s fight. This Uptown girl who knew nothing of their ways had somehow managed to make her way through Cliffside and track her father down all on her own.
She hid behind her hair like a scared little girl, but Cassius recognized the curious and inquisitive glint in those alluring eyes of hers.
And sure enough, she had proved herself to be far more capable than appearance led to believe. She could hold her own in a fight--no surprise given whose daughter she was--but she had also proven instrumental in fending off the surprise attack from Nikiphero.
Of course, Cassius hadn’t been in any true danger, there were still several resources he could have utilized to get them out of that pinch, but he didn’t want to use any of those unless absolutely necessary. They weren’t the type of things to expend on a whim.
And he hadn’t needed to because of the surprising display by Kayden when she overcharged a wand and used it as a grenade. It was surprising that she had one, but even more so that she had enough control over her aura that she was able to cause it to explode at the right time, and not too soon when it was still in her hands and not too late where it wouldn’t have incapacitated the Mistech forces.
Out of curiosity, he had her brought to him so that he could understand more about this strange out of place creature that had found her way into his home. He wanted to understand this piece of Xolan that his friend had kept hidden. Maybe if he could understand it, he could repair his bond with Xolan, but Xolan had been quick to correct that notion.
Cassius had promised him that he would not interfere with his daughter. It may not have been a blood oath, but a promise among friends who were more like brothers was just as binding, if not more so. It seemed the two of them truly were going their own ways.
Then Xolan died.
It hurt more than anything Cassius had experienced. It hurt in a way Cassius didn’t realize he was capable of feeling. Even when his mother died of sickness when he was still a child, and his father abandoned him, Cassius had never felt the deep gut wrenching feeling that churned within him.
Just as Cassius was about to accomplish what he and Xolan had set off to do all those years ago, Uptown would commit this last offense toward him. For that was who murdered his brother. But soon, soon he would have his vengeance against them all.
But Kayden would not allow things to rest. She kept pushing and demanding things of Cassius despite all the things he had done to try to drive her away.
He had even gone so far as to have her imprisoned until things calmed down. Then when she continued to make noise, he had the guards beat her within an inch of her life. Admittedly, they had taken it much further than he had intended and they were punished harshly as a result. Still, she would not be stopped.
It infuriated him and he tried further to scare her away by physically overpowering and humiliating her. Anything to ensure that his final promise to Xolan remained intact. She would obey and become the woman that her father wished her to be. That was the true source of his rage toward her. She was forcing him to break a promise that meant everything to him. It was the last thing that connected him to Xolan.
He should have realized all this would only prove to harden her resolve. Hadn’t the same thing happened to him through similar circumstances?
Then she had done the most reckless thing she could and ruined her last chance of ever returning to Ernestine Academy. It had been near impossible to get her this second chance even with his newfound considerable influence. There wouldn’t be a third.
When he attempted to have her tracked down and to find some other means to bring about the future Xolan desired for her, she had vanished into thin air after having withdrawn a considerable amount of money from her trust.
Cassius experienced a level of panic that rivaled even the stress of bringing Nikiphero into the light of Uptown after all his years of careful preparation. How could this girl elicit such a response from him?
That was when the lesson was finally driven home. It wasn’t enough to have Nikiphero and C&X. His ambition wasn’t enough to sustain him alone. He needed Xolan by his side. But Xolan was gone forever.
And here was this girl who seemed set on getting herself killed. She reminded him of himself.
That is when he realized his promise to Xolan was impossible to keep. He would do everything in his power to help this girl get what she wanted, no matter what it cost. He hated himself for it, but he couldn't help but feel a contentment that had been missing from his life for some time.
Finally the roiling and churning feeling in his stomach came to rest, but it was immediately replaced with worry and anxiety over where she could be. In response, he scoured the earth for her. But she was nowhere to be found.
His men had tracked her movements to purchasing a ticket down to Cliffside, but from there it was impossible to find her.
Then the most unexpected person had come along to lead him to her. Darris, Captain Freehold himself had somehow become entangled in this girl's life. Cassius would have laughed at the absurdity of it, but the circumstances were too dire.
Kayden had decided to take on the remnant of Mistech on her own--the people she believed had been the cause of her father’s death. How she had arrived at this conclusion, Cassius did not know. The stupid girl had nothing to go on other than her own assumptions.
Didn’t she realize that if Mistech had been behind it, Cassius would have already crushed them?
But now she was descending into Pascal’s den and she was sure to get herself killed.
Pascal had always been an uncertain element within Mistech. He had never been their leader, but he held significant influence over them with his expertise in mechanical augmentations. With all of their leadership gone, the remainder of Mistech had fallen upon his shoulders.
Cassius had been spying on his operations for some time. That is how he knew of Pascal’s meddling with an artifact from the Sendolian Empire. He had the elf prepare a countermeasure should they ever need to move against him, but that didn’t seem important at the time. Pascal didn’t seem to have any intention of moving against Nikiphero with what remained of Mistech. He seemed to just want to be left alone in his cave as he always had been.
But Kayden had to go and poke the hornet's nest, and this was the result.
Cassius had no idea as to the extent of Pascal’s meddling with the artifact, and it had almost cost him everything. This girl had almost cost him everything. His arrogance in thinking he could drive her away had cost him everything.
Well, he and this girl were bound together for good now. She had ensured that by surprising him once again by making a blood oath when she didn’t even understand what that entailed.
He felt that cord now, strong and vibrant. Not every oath held the amount of strength this one did. There were only two which could claim to be stronger. Rem’s, because he was Cassius’s sycophant, and Qorvil’s, the original contract which had given him access to a blood dagger.
It shouldn’t have been possible for Kayden to form such a contract. One couldn’t be formed unless both parties agreed beforehand, but Cassius supposed he had already agreed in his heart if not aloud.
Kayden couldn’t have known that she couldn’t have formed a contract without his consent. It just so happened that she already had it. They would both see if she came to regret it, but even if she did, Cassius was determined to see it through to the end.
And that meant he needed to survive his current predicament.
He didn’t have much time. Who knew how far this drop continued.
He had numerous devices he had collected over the years that could get him out of this situation. Unfortunately none of them were with him. It wasn’t exactly foreseeable that he would collapse part of the cavern down into the abyss, but Cassius always had an ace in the hole.
He pulled a necklace out from his shirt. It was a simple chain that held an opaque, green crystal. He tapped on it.
Nothing happened.
He tapped on it again.
Nothing.
“Winceworst!” Cassius screamed into the wind blowing past his face as he shook the crystal.
A sleepy voice answered him clearly as if the wind wasn’t even there. “What?”
“I wish to make a contract!”
The crystal began to glow and a wispy, green form took the shape of a little toad with gold eyes. They blinked up at Cassius, then took a look around.
“We’re falling,” Winceworst said.
“Thanks for the obvious!”
“No need to get so snappy.” Winceworst plopped onto his side with one arm propping up his head, exposing a white underbelly. “Well it doesn’t take much of a guess what you need from me, but this will require more than our usual rate.”
“This is no time to negotiate!”
Winceworst yawned and wiggled his toes.
“Fine! How much do you want!?”
“Five.”
“Five!? Don’t be ridiculous! You’ll get two and be happy!”
“Five. Transplanar travel isn’t a simple spell.”
“Transplanar travel! All I need is a simple flight spell!”
“Oh? I assumed it was your wish to return to the material plane. My mistake. If it is only flight you want, then our usual rate is fine.”
“What do you mean return to the material plane!? We’re on the material plane!”
“No,” Winceworst said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “You are in the shadow plane. How does one find themself hurtling through the shadow plane without even realizing it?”
The abyss. It must have been deeper than anyone believed and connected to the plane of shadows. That was an interesting thing to discover but Cassius didn’t have time to mull it over. He needed to get out of here before it reached the bottom.
“Five! You have yourself a deal!” Cassius materialized his dagger and cut his palm.
The toad’s tongue shot out and lapped up some of the blood. The pact was formed.
Winceworst rose from his rested position on the crystal and hung in the air in an upright position. He stretched out his arms and legs and began weaving runes in the air. They glowed green as he traced them out around him. The world flashed and Cassius found himself standing on a cliff and staring out over the vast Gelgine Wilderness.
Cassius turned to see Uptown above him and Cliffside below.
He sighed. Of course the treacherous little mage had teleported him so far away. He began the long and lonely trek back toward Mitros.