An Angel’s Road to Hell

Cassandra Pendragon

Thinking back I probably should have expected something out of the ordinary when Greta had asked whether or not I intended to break mortal boundaries with the two barmaids. The implication had been as clear as day but I hadn’t caught on. Not until I had kneeled down in front of Vanya and had carefully placed my hand on her middle had the penny dropped.

“By all the saints at the backside door of purgatory,” I cursed, “what have I done?”

“That’s a new one,” Greta remarked dryly. “From earth? Anyways, that wasn’t you. Cores develop naturally within most mages, once they cross the threshold. Dragons are even born with a carbuncle, aren’t they? It’s pretty much the same here. If the saturation of power, be it mana or something more complex, becomes too high, the energy, more often than not, coalesces into a physical organ. That’s what you see. It collects the energy and allows the body to function properly. It can be accessed like your own, to cast spells or simply flood your body, but it can also be destroyed, which mostly results in an explosion. Not that it really matters. Once someone impales you, your life expectancy usually takes a nosedive anyways.” To put her remarks into perspective: on the right side of Vanya’s chest, mirroring the placement of her heart, a glowing, slowly revolving orb of mana and life energy had appeared, a small, maybe fist sized lump of pure power. On first glance, it might not have seemed as important as the translucent, purple wings on her back, flickering in and out of existence, but since I had planned to create the latter and had never before heard of the former I was inclined to disagree.

“Doesn’t that mean everyone can turn into an immortal, given enough time,” Ahri inquired nervously while I was still absorbed in studying the peculiar organ Vanya had sprouted.

“No… but I assume there are similarities. If there was a mortal who could generate transcendent forces and managed to form a core out of them, they would probably become an immortal. But even Helena can’t create that kind of energy, nor can Viyara. They have a spark but it doesn’t grow, it only… infects. If I were forced to guess, though, I’d wager that’s what happened to you, aeons ago. Your core was formed during your first life and since it houses forces, not meant for the mortal world, it… evolved, it started living on its own. But, of course, I don’t know for sure.”

“You said it happens most of the time,” I interjected. “What did you mean?”

“Well, for most it’s quite the pain in the ass to collect enough power to even be able to form a core. It’s something that happens after years, nay, centuries, of meditation and enlarging your own astral body or whatever else you try to use. But it’s just one way, the most natural, I might add, to allow your body to contain more energy. It can also be bound to your blood, for example. Which, again, is something you should be familiar with or do you think it’s a coincidence that Ahri’s blood is crimson and yours silver? Anyways, changes are needed to accommodate this amount of power and channeling it all into a single, pretty sturdy object has another advantage. I’m talking about the backlash of higher magics, of course. A core absorbs it. If you decided to go down another path you’d have to make sure your body can withstand the reaction of more advanced magic by some other means. Familiars, for example…”

“Don’t elves also develop cores,” I asked, pondering why they would stoop low enough to implement a much less elegant solution when there was a neat alternative. Greta laughed croakily, a sound that didn’t quite fit her new body but which immediately reminded me of my old mentor.

“I think you’re underestimating how much power a core actually needs to form. True, there might be the occasional, ancient elf, who has managed, but one, I’m pretty sure they’d guard the secret to their last breath and two…” she sighed. “Those four,” she indicated Morgan, Auguros, Will and Vanya with a jerk of her head, “can probably give most fully grown dragons a run for their money, when it comes to magic. They won’t be their match in a confrontation, considering how young they are, but when it comes to sheer arcane strength… Cassy, you didn’t create mages, you’ve made monsters. I know it doesn’t mean much to you, but those four aren’t normal, by any stretch of the imagination. If I hadn’t changed into what I am now, they would have had me shitting my pants and I lived with the two of you for years. Admittedly, I never allowed you to play with my magic, even though you offered, but still, even as a kitsune, I was no slouch. To put it into perspective… some schools train their disciples in forming cores as soon as they can walk. It doesn’t even take long to form a first spark, a few years, maybe. To get something usable, which would probably be pea sized, would take a decade. To rival the normal output of a mage, they’d need almost a century. To form something comparable to what you gifted your friends with would take… millennia, at the least. Or someone powerful and capable enough to simply ignore the whole conundrum. What you did… you flooded them with enough power to rival a… I can’t even come up with a proper comparison. If they had tried on their own, they wouldn’t have survived and they would never have found a source powerful enough to even scratch the surface of what you did. Only because you didn’t destroy the town or the planet in the process, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the forces couldn’t have, if they had been wielded by anyone else. I… for all our sakes, you should really stop underestimating what you are.”

“So all their magic is condensed into that little thing,” Viyara asked.

“No, only the amount that would have poisoned them otherwise, whatever Cassandra left them with, in other words. If she had only connected their minds to their magic nothing would have happened. Their cores contain whatever their natural reservoirs can’t hold.”

“How strong are they,” Aurelia wanted to know. Greta shrugged.

“Compared to what or whom? You and that dragoness of yours? Quite weak but not negligibly so. Compared to a human sorcerer? They’re titans. Compared to an elf, I wouldn’t call them titans but… maybe demigods?” While everybody else seemed either impressed or positively gleeful I was starting to feel anxious. How badly had I fucked this up? I mean, power crazed fantasies aside, it couldn’t be healthy to suddenly wake up with the ability to raze a town with nothing but a wish. Neither for the town nor for the person in question. Damn it all, I had thought I’d be done, but apparently there was a whole plethora of problems still waiting for me. Convincing Greta to teach them, for example, and if she wasn’t willing, finding someone else to do it.

“Don’t pout,” the dryad reprimanded me. “What did you expect, anyways?” Her gaze drifted towards Erya, who was still asleep in Ahri’s arms. “You acknowledging her has changed her. Don’t you think actively using your powers might have a more pronounced effect?”

“I might not have thought about it as much as I should have,” I admitted. “But what’s done is done. Do we have to worry about them using their magic? Is it likely that they’ll blow themselves up, or their surroundings?”

“Again, no. You should already know. Accessing your core is a conscious act, it doesn’t happen by accident. I imagine they’ll need a while before they can do it, anyways. For you, it’s been different. You’ve already used yours for aeons before you woke up in your current body. They don’t have that particular advantage. It might as well turn out to be a tedious process. Like learning how to walk.”

“Except, if they stumble, they won’t scratch their knees but fry the neighbourhood, won’t they?”

“Better to not let them stumble, then, isn’t it? Don’t fret, I’ve taught a real immortal, haven’t I? I’m not overly worried when it comes to a cheap imitation. I’ll make sure to whip them into shape,” she added with a nasty smile.

“The poor souls,” I chuckled ruefully. “Thanks. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Not that it matters. Without me you’d be a crispy corpse on Boseiju. Now that you’ve made sure they’re all hearty and whole, your mom included, would you mind taking a look around upstairs? They aren’t calming down and, for the life of me, I can’t figure out what’s going on.” When I flinched she quickly continued: “they’re not fighting, but something has them agitated like a beehive with a honey badger at the door. Some idiot even tried to force his way down here. He’s still breathing, I’m not a monster, but he won’t be getting up for a few hours. So… unless you want to keep staring at a bunch of unconscious people, I’d suggest you get moving. I’ll call you, should they wake up. Your mom will probably be the first. Except for her body nothing much changed within her. Just leave her with me, I’ll look after the lot of them.”

“Since when have you become so suspiciously charitable,” Ahri inquired, her raised eyebrows conveying her disbelief perfectly.

“Since I’ve apparently turned into a guardian deity for our people. And so help me, I’m going to do a much better job than the idiotic tree we’ve been forced to burn to ashes. I mean, royal challenges… come on, how archaic can it get?’’ For once, we were in perfect agreement. “Also… Helena has been my friend for much longer than the two of you are alive. She means quite a lot to me, as well. As for the rest… as long as they don’t sully themselves we shouldn’t have a problem.” I grinned lopsidedly and replied:

“I thought you’d be grateful for some fertiliser.”

“Very funny, almost hilarious. If we’re back to trading slow witted quips, it’s time for you to go. Or is there something of importance I’ve forgotten?”

“Florentina and Cecilia, the two barmaids,” I explained, while I gently lowered my mom to the ground and shuffled over to where the two girls rested... had passed out. “Give me a moment. I’m not going to repeat what I’ve done but connecting… there, that should be good enough, for now. Fine. Come on, girls. We’ve got a crowd to entertain and probably some arses to kick.”

“Don’t jinx it,” Ahri stated gloomily. “What about Reia? Can she come?” Before the vixen in question could do as much as protest I quickly said:

“For now. She’ll stay with us until Sera returns. Then you’ll be in the tender care of your draconic grandmother. You’ll stay close to either Ahri or me, though, is that understood?”

“Yes ma’am,” she iterated my own words with a cheeky grin.

The flickering light from the pond vanished entirely when we entered the staircase. A few glowing patches along the smooth bark provided just enough illumination to see where we were going and highlight the black, yawning tunnel that led towards the maze of roots down below. With a regretful sigh I suppressed my impulse to investigate and instead climbed the smooth stairs.

The smell of ozone and burned plants mixed with the scent of living cherry wood and the faint traces of sweat, wafting down the stairs. Reia’s fingers tightened around mine and I heard her swallow dryly when the serene dripping of water, Greta’s mumbling and the regular breathing of our friends was overshadowed by the yet distant sounds of curses, screams and trampling feet. With every step we took it felt like we were leaving a safe haven, even though I had already done my utmost to introduce a wee bit of chaos, and returning to the usual mayhem I had already come to associate with our new hometown. I wasn’t exactly worried, my confidence in my own abilities, not to mention my family, had taken a massive boost ever since I had sent Amon packing in person, but I was… weary or maybe tired. I just didn’t want to become involved personally anymore with every little problem that might arise. It was high time to delegate but even thinking about implementing structures that could actually work gave me a crushing headache. I mean, a guard as a failsafe mechanism? Please… I hadn’t been able to come up with anything better on the spot, but if I didn’t want to make everything worse I’d have to put some serious thought into it. At least I wasn’t alone. I couldn’t quite count on Aurelia, with her memories all jumbled up, but Ahri and Greta were bound to have some interesting recollections. Maybe we could open a bottle of wine and actually put together a plan that might have a chance to succeed. Preferably before the scheduled gathering tonight, otherwise it’d become a rather moot point.

My musings were cut short when we rounded the last corner and the bright sunlight suddenly warmed my face, accompanied by a veritable flood of noise. I squeezed Reia’s hand and whispered: “don’t let go of me until we know what’s going on.” She nodded but her eyes were fixed on the scene in front of us, or rather the swollen face of a boy who lingered close to the exit, a sullen, frightened look on his face while his gaze darted fearfully to a well dressed man at his side from time to time. A single step closer, an unconscious man laid spread eagle, his hair standing on edge. Probably the one who had tried to force his way into the tree unsuccessfully.

“That’s the one I beat to a pulp yesterday,” she explained quietly and jerked her head towards the boy. “Do you think they’re here because of me?” Most likely, otherwise they wouldn’t have been waiting for us in the immediate vicinity of a half fried idiot while a storm was brewing close by.

“Only one way to find out. I’m more worried about what we can’t see, though,” I explained while we took the last few stairs. “Listen, behind them you can already hear the ruckus the slaves are causing and I’m decently confident our new found friends aren’t the reason.” Actually I was sure since I already heard Liz’s and Lyra’s voices, both of them arguing agitatedly. If it had been about the nervous father and his wayward offspring, provided I wasn’t wrong in assuming they were related, the girls wouldn’t be screaming their hearts out somewhere to the side.

Once we had passed through the opening I had to blink in the blinding light until the hazy silhouettes around me became clear. Aurelia, Viyara, Reia, Ahri and I were standing on a polished patch of wood the tuber like roots had formed around the entrance. The patch itself was clear of people, the unfortunate imbecile, who had tried to reach the tree, had collapsed as soon as he had touched the gleaming branches and served as a warning to anyone who was toying with the idea of trying their luck. A single step behind the invisible boundary father and son were staring at us with an embarrassing mixture of adoration, fear and uncertainty etched onto their faces while a wriggling, moving sea of bodies sprawled off into the distance, held back by four beautiful women, who were doing their best to prevent the roused tide from crashing against our home.

Our elves’ magic was still enough to keep them at bay, for now. The glittering barrier they had erected hadn’t even been tried, just yet, the scintillating curtain of energy paired with the grim figures of several dwarfs, brimming with weapons, and a handful of pirates under Clovis’ command, only waiting for anyone to get close enough to demonstrate their willingness to settle matters physically, enough to hold them back, but I could practically feel the tension in the air.

On first glance I couldn’t understand what had them riled up like this but when I channeled a trace of power towards my eyes my gaze immediately snapped to a dark, hunched over figure in the back, half submerged in the tide of angry humans. For a moment I couldn’t quite place the girl’s face but when her eyes met mine, a flame of madness flickering in their depths, I suddenly remembered. She had been the pirate Amon had possessed and tried to turn. She was the girl I had saved from his clutches but had never spared a single thought for afterwards.