An Angel’s Road to Hell

Ancalagon III.

Ascension… a dream and a curse, like most ideas which managed to develop a life of their own. Just like our lives could engender legends and factually immortalise us and our deeds, an idea could survive, evolve, until it became more… a belief, a conviction, sometimes even faith. And while that usually wasn’t a problem, the minuscule spark of immortality, we still carried within us, unbeknownst to most, turned the whole endeavour into something akin to plunging head first into a dying star. Should our far distant relatives ever find out that we were still alive, the millennia my grandfather, my father and I had spent fighting would have been for naught. We would burn, consumed in transcendent flames that would ravage this part of the galaxy only to ensure our destruction. Immortals… immortals and their gods damned pride. If only…

“My decision is final,” the words seem to come from everywhere at once while my magic took hold of the cave and shook small rivers of dust from the holes and crevices. “One day, you will understand. The trust, no, the beliefs of our people, as flattering as they might be, are dangerous. More dangerous than you could ever imagine. You’ve been born on this world, Kayla, you’ve never seen what lurks beyond the stars. It’s not worth it. And don’t think, even for a second, that the power we would gain could protect us. Nothing can, except ignorance. Our cousins were right. Don’t you remember what the matriarch of the Arete’s told you? No amount of power, whether it stems from a single planet or a whole universe, could protect us from them. They’re… unfathomable, petty and their memories cover all of time and space. I can’t… we can’t risk them ever finding us.”

“But,” my daughter tried to intervene, her golden scales glowing with barely suppressed anger.

“No,” I thundered, my outburst shaking the whole mountain range. If it haven’t been for a hastily erected barrier, the ancient, unyielding walls surrounding us would have crumbled to dust. Much more calmly I continued: “I’ve met him. The being my aunt became a part of. Trust me, little one, that’s a game we cannot win. Nobody can. If we continue like this, our essence will ascend, we will become a part of this world, our magic merging with its nature, and the immortals will know. There will be nothing left to mourn for, not even memories, only ashes will remain. I won’t let that happen. I’m old… far older than you can imagine. I’ve lived a good life, I’ve loved and I’ve hated and I was blessed enough to see my daughter grow into the magnificent creature you are. It has been plenty and I don’t begrudge the universe its share, if it’ll keep you and the rest of our family safe. It is my time and I will let go. It’s up to you, now, to make sure we have a chance to live.”

She stared at me, anger and sorrow warring behind her eyes until she finally breathed: “I can’t, I simply can’t… I still need you.” I sighed. She didn’t, but the pain was real, never the less. I felt it, as well. I didn’t want to leave her, but there was no other way. Just like Aurora had promised our cousins, Lucifer had guaranteed our safety. If we managed to remain hidden. They would forget, he had said, and they wouldn’t look for us, but should we ever give them a reason to…

For uncounted years we had lived like nomads, never staying for long, always running, but we couldn’t, not anymore. We needed a place where we belonged or we’d wither and vanish, just like a plant without its roots. It was a part of who we were. We needed to belong, to have a home. Freedom only mattered when you could forge your own chains, otherwise it became meaningless, worthless… irrelevant. Just like we would. And for that to never happen… we needed to become less. Less powerful, less imposing… less likely to change our home through our mere presence.

It had taken barely 1000 years and the dragons of this world already hailed us as their masters, their magic, paired with their unwavering conviction, almost enough to make us ascend, to make us become gods, a beacon for angels and demons alike. It had to stop but the hunger of the magic I was going to use to conceal us, to make us appear like our cousins and hide the burning spark of corrupted transcendence within us, would devour me whole. I was neither immortal nor god but I still meant to change the world and that came at a price. In this case everything I had. My life… and probably my soul. Well, that wasn’t true. I still had her. My child. Our future. The last direct descendant of Ancalagon, the dragon born from stolen immortality, whose daughter, my aunt, became a minuscule part of the very creature who had threatened heaven and hell for us to live. She had given up everything… everything and more. How could I hesitate to do the same?

I exhaled deeply, golden light flowed from beneath my ebony scales and from one moment to the next I had turned into a humanoid fox with pitch black fur, the only race of beast kin which hadn’t already sprung forth from our magic and the only one that wouldn’t be associated with us. Turning into a pure blooded human never even crossed my mind. Not after I had spent the better part of my life running from omnipotent creatures who looked just like them, when they didn’t show their wings or crowns. At least I had never heard of an immortal who had come from the beast races. Somehow they all ended up rather similar. An otherworldly expression of what mortals could never become. Beauty and power cast into a perfect, human shape. Maybe it was because humans made up most of the races and peoples, maybe it was for another reason entirely, but there had never been a winged slime or a crowned dragon, for all I knew.

I took a step towards her and wrapped her up in my arms, even while the last embers of her magic still danced across her newly formed body. “I’ll miss you, too,” I said quietly, the tremors, running along her limbs, mirrored in my quivering voice. “No matter how long we live, in the end the few years we’re allowed to spend with our family are gone like leaves in the wind. Cherish each moment, Kayla, live each day to its fullest. That’s all the advice you’re ever going to need. I know you’ll make me proud. Now, enough of the tears. Show me a smile and bid me goodbye. For all we know, this might very well not be the last time we’re going to meet. We live long lives and the universe is full of wonders. Who knows… maybe we’ll see each other again. In this life or the next. And if not… know this: I always have and I always will love you. You’re not alone, Kayla Pendragon. Should you ever doubt it, look up at the stars. You will see me there.”

I closed my eyes and breathed in her scent, her whispered “I love you, too” the last sound to ever reach me before my body became insubstantial and the world was swallowed by darkness.

Cassandra Pendragon

“Would you look at that,” I mumbled to myself, unable to suppress a smirk while red, hot blood was still dripping sadly from the mutilated corpse in front of me. Asra hadn’t made it far, all things considered. Barely two hours after I had humiliated him and shattered his hold on his slaves, he had been gutted like a fish. Well, maybe less professionally but what the two girls had lacked in skill they had made up for with enthusiasm. It was just a damn shame that they hadn’t run. If nobody had seen them, this would have been just another unfortunate accident, one most of Free Land would have found amusing, but as it stood, I was faced with a rather pretty dilemma. Making up a half decent excuse while Asra’s mercenaries were breathing down my neck, clamouring for revenge. Usually I would have told them to stick their complaints where the sun don’t shine and maybe added a threat or two for good measure to make sure they wouldn’t try and extract a pound of flesh themselves but considering I was trying to get the whole town to listen to reason instead of strength, that probably wouldn’t fly. Well, it most likely would, most people still couldn’t meet my eye, after all, but I’d have an even greater mess on my hands, come tomorrow.

Groaning like an old woman I straightened and allowed my glowing gaze to roam freely over the two culprits, or vigilantes, depending on your point of few. Unsurprisingly, those were the same two girls he had brought along to the harbour, the same two who had been forced to suffer his dishonouring, dehumanising advances for years on end and now they had taken their dues, had quite literally cut them out of his still breathing body. They even seemed satisfied, detached, as if whatever was going to happen now couldn’t hurt them, towering above their kill proudly, like bloodied deities of vengeance, gracing the world with their presence for a single night. Another irony. Whatever we could possibly do to them would pale in comparison to what they had called their life and they knew it. Not that I would allow any more harm to befall them, but judging from the prowling pack around me, they couldn’t know that. It mostly looked and sounded like they’d be hanged within the hour. Hanged and abused for a deed I couldn’t find fault with.

“No,” I finally stated, the first word I had spoken in several minutes. Silence settled over the restless crowd, the ones who had come to satisfy their curiosity eager to hear the announcement of the next spectacle they could drool over while the ones who had still some sort of misplaced loyalty left for the former Captain were waiting on tenterhooks to have their thirst for misguided retribution satisfied. My smirk widened when I thought about how utterly disappointed they’d be.

“I’ve said it before… whoever dares to yank another chain in this city to serve their own interests will answer to me.” The setting sun peeked through the narrow alley behind me and painted my silhouette in burning red. “I wasn’t here to make my words come true but I can still ensure that those who believed me won’t suffer for their actions. Let me make it simple.” I spun around, my back turned on the two girls while my wings whispered into existence and my tails fanned out. “To get to them, you’ll have to go through me. They didn’t commit murder, they butchered an animal and as far as I’m concerned, that’s not a crime.” Most shuffled on their feet self consciously but some didn’t appreciate my words. The disembodied reply was proof enough:

“So… instead of seven Captains we now cower before a single vixen? Doesn’t seem like much of a change to me.” My lopsided smirk turned into an honest smile.

“Take it whichever way you want to. I don’t really care. If you think stopping you from raping and killing those two is the same as casting them in chains and abusing them for years on ended, only because it’s possible, be my guest. Just… don’t expect me to listen. Or rather… pray that I won’t. Otherwise you might find yourself in a very uncomfortable situation. But you know as much, already, don’t you? Did you really think I couldn’t smell you, I couldn’t see you hiding?” I pointed at a well dressed, middle aged woman, probably a merchant. “Why don’t you step up and tell them exactly what you mean? I’m sure their answer will be as polite as mine.”

She gasped in shock and fear as almost every eye landed on her, most of them filled with much less compassion than they had shown, when they had first seen the two girls and their kill. As satisfying as it was to see a spark of decency ignite here and there, the stubborn crone had already tipped me over the edge. I had been tired and frustrated before, now I was angry.

“What’s it going to be,” I asked mockingly. “Not prepared to run your mouth without the safety of anonymity? That’s pretty pathetic… but then again, I shouldn’t be surprised.” An idea had suddenly struck me and while it definitely posed a risk, the rewards might just be worth it. “Fine,” I continued, my eyes darting back and forth among the 50 or so people who had come to gawk. “Each one of you who thinks they should be punished, raise your hand. If it’s more than half, I’ll take the two of them with me and leave… for good. I won’t bother bleeding for a city which doesn’t even have the will to fight when it’s necessary. And what they did was necessary. For them, as well as for all of those who would have been unlucky enough to meet the bastard somewhere down the line. Come on then, this has always been about power, hasn’t it, who wields it and what to do with it. I’m returning it to you. Make me leave, if that’s what you truly want.”

“Cassy…,” Ahri made herself known in my thoughts but I silenced her quickly. Unbelievably as it was, I actually knew what I was doing. I hadn’t stared at them for nothing. If I wasn’t as sorely mistaken as the short sighted idiot who had proclaimed the world was flat for the first time, they wouldn’t turn on me. The infuriating hag, though, might be less lucky.

Indeed, the last words had barely left my mouth when movement spread through the assembled people. Their heads turned towards the woman in a single wave of angry glares and some took a step in her direction, the willingness to settle the matter less… communicatively palpable in every line of their rigid bodies. I took a step backwards and whispered: “leave, now. Come find me in a few hours, I’ll be in the garden. Don’t let anyone see you until then.” They heeded my advice, judging from the quiet rustling of soft boots on cobbled stones behind me. To ensure they’d have a few seconds, I sent a trickle of energy towards my wings and rose into the air on a shimmering wave of light, entirely obscuring the view of what was going on behind the scintillating curtain.

“Well,” I continued amicable, the cruel fire in my eyes putting the lie to my jovial tone, “it truly seems like your friends have spoken. That’s a pity… now, run. Should I ever see you again, once the sun has set, I’ll personally fly you to the cliffs and throw you over. And make no mistake, my memory is good and I now have your scent. You have until night fall, afterwards I’ll be on your trail like a bloodhound… unless you’re gone from this town.” She tuned white like a parchment, her legs trembling but she remained rooted in place. Until I glided closer, my wings raised like a forest of glowing spears. She broke, she broke and she ran, leaving behind a wet, disgusting trail.

“Courage really is a lost virtue,” I scoffed while I landed, my wings still obscuring the alley. The girls would be gone, I fervently hoped. Telepathically I added:

“Didn’t I tell you? We might even be liked around here.”

“I…you… sometimes, you’re just as infuriating as the woman you’ve just exiled,” my angel complained, although without much fire. “Not bad,” she admitted grudgingly. “It’s just a pity that there are only 50 of them around you.” I chuckled merrily.

“Oh, right you are, but they’re the most inquisitive and curious of the bunch, otherwise they wouldn’t have been here. Trust me, what has happened and what they’ve decided to do will become known before the night has run its course. I’m even convinced that we’ll soon have quite a few approach us, maybe even today. Those who can sympathise with what Asra’s slaves had to go through won’t fear us anymore. They’ll come, I’m sure of it.” She hesitated before she said:

“Are you willing to bet on that?”

“Whatever or however much you like, darling. But don’t pout if… when you’re going to lose.”

“I won’t. Winner gets to decide the other’s clothing for a month. All of it. In public… and private.” Shit, unless I’d make her walk around naked, which I wouldn’t, she hadn’t much to fear. Me, on the other hand…

“Fine,” I sent before my feet could get any colder. “Until sunrise.”

“Oh no, you said today. Midnight, sweetheart. And the two you’ve just rescued don’t count. I’ll play fair, though, and refrain from walking around behind you all the time, wings unfurled. But I can’t promise I won’t set my hair ablaze, once in a while. You know how emotional I can be.”