An Angel’s Road to Hell

Cassandra Pendragon

Unbelievable. Of all the races… if I had been able to close my eyes and wish upon a star, the ursine, as I had come to know them, would have been pretty high up on the list of people I wanted to meet again. Now, I don’t mean to bore you but it’s as good a time as any to add a little context and explain why I was so interested in that particular race.

Life is… complex, sometimes irrational, always surprising, but evolution is actually a thing, which means adaption often produces similar traits in similar circumstances. Basically, when it’s got fangs and claws, you can’t expect it to eat veggies. Straightforward enough but it has some surprisingly far reaching consequences, especially when it comes to beast kin. Culture, heritage, education, they play a dominant role in what and who we are, my own people, for example, were superficially much closer to city dwelling humans than they were to Ahri’s tribe, who still lived in a small, much more archaic community. Still, at the heart of the matter there were so many similarities between us, our magic, our looks, our age, that the values we had developed were almost identical. The same held true for elves, dwarfs, giants, dragons… you name it.

I’m not saying nature trumps nurture but we don’t exist in a bubble and nature influences nurture. A simple example: dragons, on whichever world you came in contact with them, were pretty much always the same. Hardly surprising, an apex predator remained an apex predator, which means most of their culture was centred around personal growth and commitments. The naming ceremony I planned to attend for Viyara was unique in its own way but a rite of passage that added value and weight to one’s promises wasn’t.

To cut a long story short, the ursine were strong enough to be gentle. They always had been. The first time I had come in contact with them, or rather, the first time I remembered, had been on a core world, a world even closer to the river of souls than Gaya was. The magical traditions there had been superb, energy a more than abundant commodity, which had elevated the people to a point where some of them even considered themselves immortals, only because they had been cultivating their strength for a few measly millennia, but I digress. For me it had been mostly fun and games, a world where I had been able to… mingle more freely. Plus, the expression most of the ancient masters had made, whenever they had realised that their accumulated power amounted to naught when it came to actual immortality had always been hilarious. Just imagine a mortal, who had lived for thousands of years, who had been able to alter the world with a simple gesture, coming face to face with an angel who could disperse their essence, their might, with nothing but a whispered command. Like I said, fun times.

For one reason or the other they had never managed to leave their planet, probably because there had been no reason to. Resources hadn’t been limited or even scarce, even sub realms had existed in abundance, so why bother? Anyways, during my travels I had stumbled across a tribe of ursine, living peacefully and hidden in the mountains. Some of them had been older, which meant more powerful as they had had more time to amass their stores of energy, than even the strongest human but still they hadn’t intervened, they had never tried to conquer or even trade. They had simply lived and helped out, whenever a wary or hurt traveler had come across them.

Aeons later, when I had met the first ursine on a space station, several hundred thousands of parsecs away, he had been… almost the same. Gargantuan, gentle and without a care in the world. Being able to punch through the shields of a fully functioning cruiser barehanded had its advantages. To close the circle, Xorlosh and I myself had been pretty insistent that heroism and mercy need a colossal amount of firepower to back them up, otherwise it’s mere stupidity, and the ursine had always had those in abundance. Which means I had come to know them as laidback, forgiving and kind and I was prepared to bet that the ones around here wouldn’t turn out it be even a iota different.

Only the remark about their Great Mother ordering them to stay away from humans had rubbed me the wrong way. That was… strange. In all honesty, I wouldn’t have expected them to even care. An arcane colossus with their strength simply shouldn’t be threatened by short lived species. And ursine… they tended to become old, in a way where even I would have called their elders… decently mature. The oldest one I remembered had seen the better part of several millennia, when last I had met her, and the old girl might have still been up and kicking.

Now, to finally get back on track, Emilia’s story had made me curious in ways only Ahri could understand. Aurora had never been as involved with the mortal races as I had been, but she had known a few ursine herself and from the look on Ahri’s face, she was thinking along the same lines as me. Unfortunately, as curious as we were, now wasn’t the time to indulge… unless:

“I want to meet them,” Reia blurted out as soon as Emilia had closed her mouth. With pleading eyes she turned to me and immediately added: “they can’t be too bad, can they?” I sighed.

“Probably not… not from what we’ve heard, but… have you considered what it might mean that the people of Free Land steer clear of the jungle? And then there’s also the bit about their “Great Mother”… I wouldn’t be so sure if I was you, especially since each and everyone of them could probably swallow you whole.” I turned to the Brightblaze sisters and asked: “is it still like that? Do the people still avoid the jungle?”

“Whenever they can,” Serena replied. “We always need wood, but it’s only cut near the very edge and nobody goes hunting, as far as I know. Now that you mention it, I’ve always wondered why, but after a while you simply accept it.” Come to think of it, I had also asked myself, when we had first arrived, why the people remained cooped up here, even though they had a veritable paradise just outside their doors.

“Hunters don’t return,” Alassara explained quietly. “It has always been like this. I’ve never particularly cared, we need different… sustenance, after all, but even in the very beginning, the few groups who tried to explore the jungle never came back and after a while nobody wanted to try anymore. I just can’t bring myself to see a connection, though. If the… what did they call themselves? Baramunes? Killed the hunters, why would one of them save a sick child?”

“Because she was a sick child,” I mumbled. “He said so himself. That’s how it’s supposed to be. Doesn’t mean he wouldn’t turn a group of armed men into a bloody smear on the ground.” I whistled softly. “How I’d love to go…,” from the corner of my eye I saw Reia fidgeting and immediately added: “no. Not without me. And that’s not up for discussion. When… if you enter that jungle it will be with Ahri and me or not at all.”

“That might take ages,” she complained, “and you said so yourself. They don’t hurt children. Why would they? Also… I could have a look around as a squirrel or a pigeon, they’ll never even know.”

“And neither will you, because you’re not going to try.” I was quite proud of myself that I still sounded calm, but this was a point I had to drive home. I didn’t know anything at all about the bear kin on this world, I hadn’t even heard of them before today, but if they were in anyway similar to the ones I knew, trying to meet them was only marginally better than walking into a dragon’s den only because the dragon in question was said to be benign. Might be true, but it could still eat you as an appetiser in case you rubbed it the wrong way. “I mean it, Reia. I forbid you to enter the jungle without Ahri or me.” As stilted as it might have sounded, the thrum of eternity in my voice made her realise just how serious I was. Not to mention that it was a direct order she wouldn’t be able to disobey. Yeah, sure, hypocrite and all that, but I wouldn’t allow her to get hurt when I wasn’t around to make sure she’d come out the other side in one piece.

“Spoilsport,” she uttered under her breath but still inclined her head. “Fine. So we’re just going to ignore the neighbours?”

“What else is there,” Alassara asked. “They’ve probably been around for ages, they’re not going to suddenly disappear or become involved. I wouldn’t poke the bear, quite literally. Once everything’s settled down we can still decide whether or no to go looking for them. Honestly, I don’t see the appeal, though. Live and let live… we’ve got more than enough problems already.”

“Quite so,” I agreed, “which brings us back to what we actually have to do. Even as we speak most of the town is gathering in the Garden and with a little luck there’ll be a structure that will allow us to pull in the same direction, come midnight. After this afternoon’s spectacle I’m decently sure the slaves, at the very least, won’t pose any more problems, but… I’m also convinced the attempted attack won’t be the last, unless we put an end to the backyard machinations that have ailed this place for far too long.”

“And how do you intend to achieve as much,” Serena asked doubtfully. “You might have the power but the problem with conspiracies is… that they’re hidden. You won’t know where to strike until you’ve got a knife in your back, already.”

“True, if you assume innocence until proven guilty. I’m a firm believer, no, I actually know that that’s the way to go, but I’m also fed up with feeling threatened in my own goddamned home. Tonight, Ahri and I are going to visit each and everyone of them in their houses, while they’re surrounded by their families, the things they hold dear, and we’ll make sure they understand a simple fact.” My eyes glowed and my crown slithered into existence. “They aren’t safe, they aren’t hidden. We know their names, we know their faces and they will comply, they will participate like everybody else or, by the gods, we will erase them from existence.”

“How do you know,” Emilia, whispered, her eyes wide and glued to harsh light dancing around me. “How do you know whom to threaten?”

“That’s where we need your help, yours and that of a wily merchant by the name of Rachmahn al’Khassim.” She seemed lost but a spark of recognition ignited in her sister’s gaze.

“The father and son you talked to,” she mumbled reverently. “It was them, wasn’t it? I can’t believe it, no, I actually can.”

“It sure sounds like you know him,” I commented. “Care to share?” She tilted her head and frowned.

“There isn’t much I can tell you that’s more than rumours and speculation but I’ve indeed heard the name before. Asra,” a deadly chill crept into her voice when she spat out the name, “mentioned him a few times, mostly when he was seriously pissed. Let me think… as far as I remember Rachmahn… isolated him. Whenever he tried to get his dirty hands on something outside of Free Land he was already too late. Either the people knew of him and didn’t even give him the time of day or the goods he was after had already been sold. To me it was just a chance to see him squirm and I’ve never bothered with finding out more. I mean, I’m not a merchant and it was simply a delightful sight to see him fail, over and over again.” She shrugged helplessly. “Sure, it would have been interesting to know, we might even have worked together, but I had… still have my own problems. My people… you’ve met them. Cosying up to someone of a different faith, a different culture, wouldn’t have gone over smoothly. I never thought it’d be worth it. Maybe I’ve been wrong.”

“No, I don’t think so,” I replied slowly. “He wouldn’t have worked with you, either way. Too many restrictions, too many convictions… at least I can now understand why he’s been so confident. He’s living here but his… business surely covers a few more islands. I’d just like to know where he’s keeping a small fleet of airships. A day isn’t too long… are there any islands close by with cities large enough to hide… oh, let’s say a dozen ships?”

“A dozen…,” Alassara stammered. “What did he promise you?”

“5 ships, equipment for 100 people and a list of anyone in Free Land who stills has some power left. The latter I’d love to go over with the two of you. In case he missed something or at least to make sure he isn’t sending me after his own enemies. I’m pretty sure he isn’t that stupid, but better safe than sorry.”

“I don’t think you have to worry, much,” Serena explained. “As much as I despised him, I still learned a thing or two from Asra. The word of a merchant is his bond, anything else would be bad for business. Us Captains never cared much about our reputation but for a merchant it’s tantamount to keep it intact, especially if he’s trying to deal with several different parties. It’s not about trust, per se, but… Pacta sunt servanda, Asra often said. It means…”

“Treaties have to be honoured,” I translated, my eyes going wide. Latin, it had taken me far too long to realise but why the hells was Latin a thing on Gaya? It wasn’t only the idiom she had used, even most spell forms, at least the ones I had heard others scream, had been Latin. How? Why? Most importantly… did it matter?

“What’s wrong,” Ahri asked quietly. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“That’s… not too far from the truth. Think. Pacta sunt servanda… why do you know what it means?”

“Because… oh. Shit. But… how, why?” She was echoing my own thoughts to the T and probably meant it as a rhetorical question, but I still answered.

“Beats me. Also… why haven’t we realised earlier?”

“Realised what,” Reia interjected exasperatedly. “Do you know how irritating it is to listen to you two when I don’t even know what you’re talking about?”

“Sorry,” I sighed. “It’s the language, it’s not from here. Incidentally… it’s the same one my name originates from. Not Cassandra, but Lucifer. It’s from a different world, a different time maybe. Why is it used around here?”

“That’s probably our fault,” my mother explained, while she silently walked up to our table again and shooed her dejected looking companion away. She smirked slightly at my dumbfounded expression but quickly continued when she saw sparks, manifesting along my tails. “I… no one has told you yet, but our family… when Sera appeared, the Broken Wheel revealed a bit of our past. An infuriatingly incomplete bit, but still… look, does the name Ancalagon ring a bell?” I nodded, my surprise turning into disbelieve and anxiety.

“We’re…,” she fell silent but I immediately felt her mind push against mine. Apparently she wasn’t willing to voice her thoughts out loud and once I had seen the memory she shared with Ahri and me I could understand why.

I slumped back in my chair, my head spinning. Holy hells! All thoughts of merchants, politics and the future forgotten, I tried to make some sense of a simple fact: the creature I was still carrying around with me in my core was the daughter of our progenitor. Pendragon indeed… and I couldn’t even refute the claims, it just made too much damned sense. No wonder dragons and kitsune were using Latin spell forms… Ancalagon’s child had probably taught them, all those years ago.