An Angel’s Road to Hell

Cassandra Pendragon

The sun was burning mercilessly, its white hot glare a palpable weight on my shoulders. If I hadn’t changed so much over the last weeks I’d have been well on my way towards a bright red, boiled lobster like colouration. Luckily I wasn’t stuck with the usual unpleasantries of the southern climates anymore and could even feel a bit of schadenfreude when I glimpsed Asra, his flabby body literally standing in sweat while he was trying to wipe away the veritable waterfall, dripping from his forehead.

He wasn’t the only one, though. Our little paradise had turned into a melting pot of everything Free Land had to offer. Wolf kin and humans lingered in the sparse shade, provided by the burned out ruins, rich traders stood side by side with cursing street urchins, glamorous courtesans gossiped freely with workers and shop owners, they would never have even extended a second glance to under normal circumstances while mercenaries laughed and cussed with seamen they had never met before. Throngs of slaves were huddled together, unable to comprehend how they had gotten here, without chains or whips, while others were sobbing freely in the embrace of long lost relatives, basking in the glow of a reunion they had never thought possible. Laughter and tears, jokes and curses mixed together in a cacophony of sounds and in between the kids and dogs made their way through the crowd, looking for morsels of food or spare coins, even though I couldn’t exactly tell which one they actually preferred. If it hadn’t been for the expecting, almost nervous atmosphere, I’d have been reminded of a festival or a reunion.

The last hour had passed in a blurred, even though I hadn’t done much. Ahri and I might have made a decision but, aside from the little hiccough that my little sister still had the seed, we weren’t going to put on a show with most of Free Land sitting in the front row. The closer noon had drawn, the more people were clogging the winding streets, crushing against the living wall of dwarfs and kitsune, like waves thundering against a rocky shore. For a while they had still managed to hold them back but in the end it had simply been too much, the throngs of beast kin and humans slowly but inexorably pushing closer.

With our guests well on the way I had realised that I might have made a tiny mistake. As large as the former market turned garden was, it was by no means spacious enough to accommodate thousands of people and it surely felt like every single inhabitant of Free Land, as well as their trusted pets and extended families, had made their way here. Heartening, on the one side, but a true pain in the ass on the other. Luckily some of my friends hadn’t been as shortsighted as me and they had somehow managed to prevent the whole thing from turning into a rowdy brawl.

Anyways, while we had postponed every personal errant, a decision that hadn’t exactly ingratiated me to Morgan and Auguros, the both of them were waiting on tenterhooks to have their magic returned, after all, there were a couple of things I had been forced to deal with. One, we had had to inform our family and two, I really had wanted to know if the two girls, I had saved, back when Alassara had been attacked, and Zuma, the creepy zookeeper, had been amongst the crowd. Complicated as it may seem, akin to finding a needle in a haystack, it hadn’t been that much of a problem. When I supplemented my sense with energy they didn’t only become much more acute than usual, somehow I also developed a knack for looking in the right direction or picking up on the essential conversations. To cut a long story short, once I had sent a trickle of energy towards my eyes, it hadn’t taken me long to find the people I had been looking for.

The two girls had seemed confused and frightened, which wasn’t much of a surprise, but they hadn’t appeared… distraught or broken. And Zuma… well, considering how he had spent his money I had been surprised to find him able to unscrew his eyes but he had still been close to keeling over, caught somewhere between exhaustion, intoxication and plain tiredness. For the moment I hadn’t planned on confronting either of them, but I still wanted to catch up, once everything was said and done. Which brings us back to the present.

Ahri and I were standing atop a golden mountain of scales, wings and horns, Viyara’s imposing presence and the tightly packed group of our closest friends, who had brought most of our food and mead reserves, enough of a deterrent to guarantee nobody would venture close by accident. We were clustered around the pond, a living, breathing barrier that protected the supernatural well from the sea of bodies, surging back and forth as far as I could see. A few places weren’t as tightly packed, the remaining Captains and their entourages had claimed a bit of space close by for themselves, but that didn’t mean they were happy, by any stretch of the imagination.

From what little my brothers had hurriedly told me when they had arrived, Serena Brightblaze hadn’t been surprised by their and Alassara’s appearance, not even by their thinly veiled threats. Quite the contrary. Somehow she had seemed… satisfied, as if everything had developed just like she had expected. Another question I wanted answered. If she had been banking on us, disrupting Asra’s plans, there would have been a million and one easier ways to get us on her side, but at least it explained why she had pretended to entertain his ideas, at least for a little while. In a way she had turned her little sister into an emissary I wouldn’t have denied in a thousand years. A repeated occurrence… Maybe that was the reason for her, admittedly, strange and inconsistent behaviour but I still wanted to hear her say it. And maybe complain a little bit.

Nightshade and Nenyo weren’t as exposed, their people freely mingling with the locals while they themselves flitted in and out of the crowd, apparently more than happy to remain unrecognised. A few times someone pointed at them and whispered words started spreading, like ripples on a pond, but they dispersed again quickly enough to not cause a ruckus. Which left Asra. The obese trader had apparently decided to leave his prettier toys at home, exchanging their beautiful faces for quite a few hardened and battle worn mercenaries, clad in steel despite the sweltering heat. Judging from his angry, almost crazed expression he had already grasped the gist of what was going to happen, even though he didn’t know the details, just yet.

So far everything had turned out as I had expected, with a few minor and one major deviation. While we were stared at openly, none of the gazes lingering on us held fear or anger. Curiosity and admiration I saw, as well as a healthy amount of caution, but hatred or even contempt? Not at all. If I had been forced to find a fitting simile, I’d have gone with meeting the new neighbours, who just so happened to have moved in with a tank and a few guns to spare. I had been convinced we’d be confronted by an angry mob, calming them down one of the most problematic aspects of what I actually wanted to do, but it surely seemed like I had been mistaken. If we didn’t blunder royally, it wouldn’t turn into a fight, at least I hoped so. Provided Asra wasn’t going to pull another trick from his sleeve. But then again… Alassara was keeping a close eye on him, Brightblaze and Nightshade and I could just about picture what would happen, should one of them even think about crossing the line. Not to mention the clusters of bad tempered dwarfs and kitsune, who were eager to find an outlet for the accumulated frustrations of an exhausting night filled with work, where they had actually expected a celebration, drowned in booze.

A soft hand ran down my back and Ahri whispered in my ear: “I think they’re all here. Stalling for much longer wouldn’t be a good idea. We’ve never talked about it, but I assume you want to address them personally?” I shrugged.

“Not really, but this was my idea and I’m not going to make anyone else face the music. Unless… are you volunteering?”

“If you want me to I will but you’re only trying to delay, aren’t you?” I nodded.

“Guess so. Well, then, if we’re not forced to slit some throats in the next few minutes, I guess I’ll have done well. Still… want to come with me?” She kissed me tenderly and I could already feel her answer.

“No. I’ll be with you, should you need me, but Cassy… this isn’t only your idea, but also your party. Ever since you’ve taken down the Mask you’re the one who has been on everybody’s mind. Show them who you are. Me holding your hand would just undermine what you’ve got to say.”

“You’re starting to sound like my mother,” I retorted in mock outrage.

“One of us had to grow up,” she replied with a twinkle in her eye, before she kissed me again only to shoo me away a second later. “Go now. Enough stalling. You’ll be just fine.” I really hoped she was right.

With an inaudible sigh I closed my eyes and gradually allowed the infinite currents within my core to spread through my body. My wings materialised in a sparkling display of power and before I knew it, I was hovering several metres in the air, my tails aglow with an iridescent light. A single wingbeat catapulted me into the sky, the sun framing the raging torrents around me in red and gold. When I opened my eyes again, a soft wave of scintillating silver painted the scene below me in fleeting shadows and harsh contrasts while every single head turned in my direction. Silence fell, absolute and heavy, only broken by the crackling of energies as my wings whipped through the sky in a mesmerising display of strength and grace.

“Brothers, sisters,” I began, my voice carrying with an eerie quality, far beyond anything they had ever heard. “Some of you may know me, others don’t but all of you have come here, united by the horrors this city has been forced to endure. All of you have come because you’ve had to watch your home, your families, your friends, your neighbours suffer more in a single day than you’d ever have thought possible. You’ve come because there is no turning back, the atrocities we’ve been a part of have changed us, have changed Free Land and you’ve come because there’s still a glimmer of hope left within you, a hope for a brighter tomorrow far away from pain and despair. A hope you can either bring to fruition or extinguish today.” I spread my arms wide and continued:

“I’ve called you here because I’ve decided to act. Ever since I’ve come to this town and faced the Mask, I’ve been torn. Torn between what is and what could be. Each day I’ve witnessed you sorry lot tear at each other, fight over the merest pittance, and each night I’ve seen you toil and sacrifice, prepared to give, even though you already had nothing left.” That might have been a slight exaggeration, let’s call it artistic freedom. I paused, trying to catch as many gazes as I could. They were listening, some with excitement, others with trepidation.

“No more. No more will the hunger, the greed of a few devour the hopes of many. Today… today is a new beginning. What you see before you isn’t only proof that something new, something living can grow from the ashes of war, as long as we’re prepared to fight and bleed for it, it’s also a gift. A gift we’ve decided to share with all of you. Our magic has brought something to life at the heart of Free Land that will slowly change this city. It might take weeks, even months, but this place will eventually become filled with light and maybe, one day, it’ll be free of its own darkness. The waters you see before you will spread, they’ll keep you hearty and whole and could very well ignite a spark of its magic in your own chests. So much for what has already been done.” I hesitated again and lowered my gaze. They were still completely and utterly silent, not even a suppressed cough reached my ears. I continued quietly:

“As for the future… I’ve said it before, this town will change and I know as much because we, my family and I, will be here, for every single, arduous step of the way. Whether you want us to or not, we’ve earned the right to call this place home. We’ve earned it with every tear we’ve shed and every drop of blood we’ve spilled. Which means from now on, whether you’re a Captain or a slave, rich or poor, you’ll always have someone to turn to, someone to call upon. The fiend, we’ve battled last night, said Free Land no more. I intend to make sure his words are proven to be just as fallible as him. I want to make sure this city can finally live up to its name. So… for better or for worse, you’re stuck with us and the first thing that’s going to change is the abominable fate that has befallen most of you. As of today, none of you are slaves, tied to another’s will and should your freedom ever be challenged, should you ever be threatened with chains or the whip again, know this: I won’t be far away and I’ll always be prepared to fight for your freedom, for the freedom of my home, of my neighbours… of my brothers and sisters.” I cast an inconspicuous glance at Asra from under my bangs. The poor blighter was quickly circling through a plethora of colours, from white to green to red and back again. Served the pompous prick right. I inhaled deeply, my next words carrying as much power as I dared to use.

“You’ve lived and died, rejoiced and suffered at the whims of others. Hear me now. No more. For those of you, who have nothing left to lose, this day will mark a new beginning and for those, who have thought themselves untouchable, above the pain they’ve caused…,” the glow from my eyes intensified, my wings crackled with power and the scent of ozone descended on the silent crowd like a suffocating blanket. My outline vanished behind a surge of inexorable light and a disembodied voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, while the star, that had already devoured the Mask, burned brightly in the sky, once more. “I invite them to step forward and renounce my claims.” I moved slightly, the ever present light drawing closer to the place where Asra stood, shaking and afraid. “And as for you, former Captain, you will either kneel or you’ll learn I’m more than willing to use my power. What shall it be? Your death or your compliance?”

Every eye turned towards him, a precious few filled with pity but most were looking at him with grim satisfaction that he’d finally have to pay his dues. Me… I only pitied the soldiers he had brought along. They were truly in a tight spot but… in for a penny, in for a pound. To my surprise, they were the first to kneel, a hollow thump was followed by even more as the seasoned veterans fell to their knees, leaving Asra alone and abandoned, surrounded by nothing but a silvery glare.

Seconds ticked by and I was truly curious what he’d do. I had expected him to topple over immediately, what little I knew of him painted him as a coward, always prepared to stab me in the back but much too weak to actually face me. I had to give him credit, though, he truly seemed prepared to stand up for what he believed was his. That was until I commanded a minuscule trace of my power to manifest and a blinding flash of light scorched the earth at his feet, leaving behind a smoking, hellishly deep crater. He didn’t hesitate afterwards.

A cold smile spread across my face while his mouth twisted into a frustrated snarl. Despite his wealth, despite his influence, there was nothing for him to do and I had to admit, I quite enjoyed the feeling, when he finally realised that he had been challenging the wrong people. The higher you thought yourself to be, the deeper you were going to fall and judging from the look on his face, he was still scrambling to see the bottom of the pit, he had tumbled into.

“That’s what I thought,” I said softly and gradually descended toward the waiting crowd. “Now, I’m sure you have a million and one questions, but I’ve been told introductions are best made over a tankard of mead and we might just have a few barrels to spare,” I added with a genuine smile.