An Angel’s Road to Hell

Cassandra Pendragon

“I know quite a bit about heat and fire,” she continued, “and most fire magic I work doesn’t need a spell form anymore. When it comes to earth, though, I still need to work through them. I can easily enough convert my own powers into most expressions of earth but they’re… loose and can’t attract the energies around me without a little help. Let’s get back to the two of you. I’m pretty sure you can fuel your spells simply with what you already have within you and that’s the first step. Let’s leave the energies of the world out of it for the moment. Sure, being able to lock down someone else’s magic, a feat you’ll surely be capable of in the future, is handy but not necessary, at least for now. For you, it’s all about how to convert your own stores into an expression, suiting your desires. I assume you’re capable of handling ever esoteric form of energy? Mana, life and soul forces?” I smiled slyly and replied:

“Not exactly. First of, you forgot one, and second… not yet. I can use my mana freely and Ahri can use it to generate or manipulate fire in any way she likes but that’s it. The rest… will come.”

“I forgot one,” she parroted. “Which…”

“Transcendent energy. Don’t ask me what it is, but the ability to generate and shape it makes us what we are. In a way, I think, it’s the… primordial expression of energy. You know, what once was before reality, existence, happened. As far as I’ve come to understand it, the elements around us are all a small part of mana, which in turn is a part of the next… higher form, life energies, which in turn is a small part of the soul. Transcendent energies are all of that and more. They’re like… the very building blocks that constitute our reality.”

“Which means spells cast with transcendent forces can’t be altered or stopped unless you have the same power,” she slowly concluded, paling with every word. “Oh my… no wonder you had me cowering when you allowed your aura to expand. It would have swallowed me whole, if you had wanted it to.” She clapped her hands, forcefully shoving the thought aside. “Doesn’t matter much, I think, the principle remains the same. For you, it’s all about finding a fitting expression that allows you to marshal your mana to fit your desires. Which brings us back to spells. Usually, novices train so much because they need to find a way to make generalised spell forms compatible with their own way of… thinking, I guess. Searching for a… language that just resonates with them. I don’t know if you’ll be able to follow but here’s an example: a master knows that heat is mainly just an expression of movement within a confined space. Instead of creating fire they can simply use their powers to either rip apart the elements, generating heat, or to make them… oscillate. While you need a whole bunch of knowledge to make that happen, a spell form would convert your desire into a fathomable expression, like a spark or a fireball. In the end, it’s nothing but a crutch, allowing you to achieve outcomes you don’t yet fully understand. Once you have gained the knowledge, you don’t need them anymore.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose before she continued:

“Usually spell casting works like this: you access your own reserves and either use them to change the already existing forces around you or you convert them directly. We’ll only focus on the latter, since I don’t think you’ll need the former, anytime soon. Once we have the time, we can get to that. From what you’ve said, you’ll mainly have to learn how to split your mana into the elements and then, how those elements can be applied to achieve a certain outcome. Creating a fire is easy, creating a jewel from sand using heat, not so much. Now, one last thing. While it’s true that the higher expressions of energy are more potent, it’s still possible to achieve the desired outcome with lower forms. The difference mainly matters in terms of how much you need and if you’re opposed. A spell, fuelled by life forces, won’t easily be changed by mana, while a regular spell will mostly wither once it comes in contact with life energies. So… if you want me to, I can try teaching you. Depending on your aptitude and considering we can skip most of the actually complicated parts, like strengthening your own reserves or using your intent to manipulate your surroundings, I don’t think it’s going to take long until you can at least wield the basic elements. A few days, at most. Doesn’t mean you’ll be able to create an elemental or heal an injury, but conjuring water or throwing around a fireball should very well be possible. If you want to, that is.”

“It’d be great if you could teach Cassy,” Ahri interjected, “but I can’t use my mana, just yet. Not like this, anyways. You’ve talked quite a bit about fire… I already know what I need to in that regard but I can’t channel my mana into anything else. It’s still going to take me… more time to get there. For now, I don’t think I can learn, but I know the basics, anyways. In contrast to Cassy, I’ve already spent quite a while studying magic and runes.” I hugged her tightly. I didn’t think she’d mind, at least she didn’t sound like it, but I had always thought we’d be taking each step together. Unfortunately, that might just be an unreasonable waste of time. Once she caught up, I’d be able to teach her what she didn’t know, if there even was anything at all to teach.

“That’s not a half bad idea,” I new voice chimed in. Unbeknownst to us, focused as we had been on our conversation, Mordred had settled down close by and he wasn’t the only one. Reia had apparently taken a liking to the topic as well, at least if her half opened mouth and wide eyes were any indication. “Considering you’re large enough to swallow a sky ship, you might even get out unscathed,” he added with a grin and a gentle slap on Sera’s back.

“And what’s that supposed to mean,” my grandmother asked, eyebrows raised.

“Well, the two of them are known to blow things up, once in a while,” he chuckled. “But I’m sure you’ll be fine. Wouldn’t want to swap places with you, though. When my sister plays around with her abilities, more often than not she just punches through whatever is in her way… and a few things that aren’t. Like any magic around her… or reality.”

“I’m not that bad,” I huffed. “A little overeager, from time to time, maybe.” I craned my neck and studied the group around us, engrossed in their own, quiet chats. The soothing cadences of their mixing voices flowed over me like a homely smell and I added with a smile: “I always try to keep you lot safe, at the very least. Which reminds me, where is our overbearing king of a brother?”

“Returned to his ships with most of his soldiers,” Reia replied. “He said something about clearing his head. The ones he handed over to you are still keeping an eye on the slaves. Better safe than sorry, Corvin said, but they’ll join us once they’re convinced nobody is going to wake up with a dagger in their stomach. Why? Do you miss them.” A cheeky grin spread across her features when she added: “have you already gotten used to having servants, your Highness?”

“Didn’t you volunteer for the position,” I shot back, “or did you expect anything else, when you insisted on accompanying us? That you’re going to carry our luggage should be a given. Especially if you’re going to grow and sprout wings and scales.”

“She won’t, not just yet, anyways,” Sera quickly interjected. “The forms we can take on are bound to… well, our overall ability and without three of four tales she stands no chance of turning into a dragon. For now, I don’t think she’ll be able to change her mass… which you’ve already figured out by yourself, haven’t you,” she added with a proud smile and a glance in Reia’s direction. The vixen in question shrugged and said:

“I wasn’t sure, but it felt like it. I can become a really large bird or a surprisingly small horse, but it always seems like I’m about the same weight. A pity, really. I wasn’t looking forward to becoming a humongous, fire breathing lizard, no offence, it two are more than enough. No… but turning into a normal falcon or even an ant would have been… interesting.” I bet. Considering how adapt she already was at sneaking around, she’d become a veritable invisible man if she managed to shrink herself down to that degree. Not to mention that she’d probably become impossible to find… more impossible than she already was, that is. At least a giant, golden eagle was hard to miss, even high up in the sky.

“It is,” Sera explained, “with due time you’ll even be able to become something much smaller. Like… hmm, I don’t know how much you actually know about parasites, but…”

“Gross,” I interrupted her immediately. “You don’t mean to tell me that you’ve actually made someone sick through your mere presence, do you?” She shrugged.

“Once or twice. But don’t worry, I’m not stupid enough to try it with you, even though it surely would be enlightening to see how you look… from the inside.” I shuddered.

“Phrasing, Sera, phrasing,” Mordred chuckled. “That sounded just… wrong.”

“You had to go there, didn’t you,” Reia complained. “I’m 12 and I didn’t… you know, never mind, the less said, the better.”

“Ah, take it from your brother, the way we’re living you should cherish any chance you get to laugh, even if it’s inappropriate or at the expense of your sister. Especially then, come to think of it.”

“Sure, playing the clown for you, every time I’m not trying to pull your asses from the fire, sounds terrific,” I griped. “Still, before we get back to your favourite game of let’s see who can annoy Cassy the most, there’s… Sera, I’ve told you before, we’ve lived different lives before. No need to interrupt, I’ll gladly tell you anything you want to know, but… I recently regained a couple of memories. Back then I was talking to a bunch of girls, mostly about familiars. I’ve never heard the term, well, that’s not true, entirely, I’ve heard it before, but I’ve never much cared. Do you know what they are?” Her blossoming smile, which had been getting wider while my brother had been taking the Mickey out of me, flickered and vanished and she replied most seriously:

“You didn’t… I mean before this, you didn’t have familiars, did you?” I immediately and resolutely shook my head.

“No, but I think I punished people for trying to bind one. Why? Is it that bad?”

“You have no idea… but I think I’d have liked you in the past. Let’s see… we’ve talked about using your own energies to manipulate the weave, another fancy term for the energies of the world, before. Now, one of the drawbacks is the backlash. It doesn’t matter for most spells, but once you try to, let’s say to conjure a lake, it does, very much so. I’ve used the metaphor of playing tug of war… when you succeed, the pressure vanishes and all that force needs to go somewhere. For dragons, it’s their carbuncle, which is simply tough enough to contain it, but for most mages they need to either deal with an absurd headache or, if they aren’t strong enough, they might even snuff it on the spot. A familiar is a creature shackled to your will. One you can use to act like a buffer between you and the repercussions of you magic. It also works the same way in a fight between magicians, for example. Anyways, while such a safeguard is immeasurably useful for a mage, the practice is simply vile. Like… enslaving someone to use as a punching bag, day in and day out, until one especially potent strike kills them. There aren’t many schools which resort to this special brand of unpleasantry anymore, mostly because it doesn’t really work with non sentient creatures, magical or mundane, and slavery is still prohibited in most parts of our world, but the few who still do are dangerous and cruel.”

“Which might be as good a time as any to tell you that our people still use them,” Lyra mumbled. Aspera, Astra and her had been watching the anarchic water fight, which was close to turning into a fully fledged sea battle, but when we had started talking about, or rather when I had mentioned the term familiar, they had turned to us with an expression of guilt on their faces, not unbecoming of someone caught red handedly. Before I could even ask, though, she hurried on in a rush:

“I… We never participated and for me it’s even one of the reasons why I was transformed. I’m…” she sighed deeply and stared at the tips of her boots, swaying lightly form left to right. “All those years ago, around 1400 hundred as I’ve found out by now, I wasn’t anything overly special. The third daughter of our king, born to a pretty but lowly concubine without much standing. I… I told you before being born was my only mistake. That’s true, for the most part, since my whole family wasn’t overly thrilled at the prospect of having to share with someone who was, in their eyes, nothing more than a mistake, but it might yet have worked out if I had kept my mouth shut and simply played along. I didn’t, though, and the final nail in the coffin… see, back then the royal family used to turn debtors into familiars. A way to pay down whatever they owed, whether they wanted to or not. When one of the servant girls I had used to pay with was handed over to my brother because she had broken an ancient artefact she’d never be able to pay for, I spoke up… openly. My last mistake in that life, since my father took offence and used the opportunity to get rid of me.” I was stunned, unsure whether to stand up and hug her. The way she talked seemed… detached, uncaring, probably not that surprising, since she had had more than enough time to come to terms with her people’s cruelty, but her words still made me shiver. Damn it all to hell and back, from the looks of it, elven royalty hadn’t changed much since then and if the brutal bastard who had turned Zara’s life into a living nightmare was in any way related to the sorry excuse for a king Lyra had just mentioned, my whole bouquet of good intentions to keep my head down, once we got to the Emerald Island, had just gone up in flames. I wouldn’t be able to keep my temper in check for a single day and probably turn myself into even more of a spectacle than I already had. At least if the sparks, igniting in my eyes, were any indication.

Lyra timidly touched my shoulder and asked, her voice shaking for the first time: “are you… are you angry with me? You look like you’re about to strangle me.” With quite an effort I banished the snarl from my face and even manage a wry smile while I stood up and hugged her tightly. Her sweet, earthy smell tickled my nose and I managed to calm down.

“I am angry, but not with you. Not at all. If anything, I’m angry with myself for having allowed you to rot in that blasted gem for longer than I had to.” I addressed the elven sisters over her head. “Why haven’t you told me sooner?” Astra shrugged.

“It didn’t matter and… we’ve gotten to know you pretty well over the last few weeks. We didn’t expect you to take that particular tidbit of information overly well and our people… they aren’t bad, all things considered. We thought telling you might set you on a warpath before you even arrived, which we didn’t judge as a desirable outcome. Cassy… if you go to the Emerald Island with the explicit intention of showing our leaders the errors of their ways, you’ll incite strife and conflict on a large scale, whether you want to or not. Considering our people are already at war or only a small step away from it, we didn’t mean to turn you into yet another enemy. We’ve already got more than enough of those. Shouldn’t you see for yourself before you make up your mind?”

“What do you take me for,” I hissed and disentangled myself from Lyra, while I still kept one tail wrapped around her waist to make sure she knew this wasn’t about her. “I don’t intend to play judge, jury and executioner but if you expect me to tolerate an even worse form of slavery there, after everything that’s happened here, you’re in for one hell of a rude awakening.”