An Angel’s Road to Hell

Cassandra Pendragon

Dumbfounded, spitting mad and cautious. Five words to describe a sight rarely seen on this world: two dragons who had just gotten their scaly asses handed to them by a creature so much smaller that she wouldn’t even serve as a proper breakfast. Maybe I should have had a shirt made with the line small but mighty written across my chest. On the other hand, their expressions, when they finally managed to wing their way back up to us, were truly priceless.

“Do you want to try again,” I asked innocently and with a cute smile when Quenda reached us, a few body lengths ahead of her brother. “I’m sure it’s going to go differently, this time around.”

For a split second I thought she’d take me up on my offer. Her barrel like chest expanded, an ominous glow appeared at the back of her throat, her tail coiled up with tension and I was already marshalling my energy, this time to literally beat some sense into her, when she raised her head to the clouds above and… laughed.

“By Gaya’s glowing blood, I’ve had enough,” she huffed, her voice projected by the same spell Sera had used. Apparently she wasn’t all to eager to link her mind to mine again. “The golden puss bucket didn’t exaggerate. I assume you’re Cassandra?”

“I…,” was at a loss of words. Sure, aggression, defiance, maybe even a small tantrum I had expected but her jovial tone had caught me entirely off guard.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” her brother chimed in, still breathing laboriously from his climb. “No wonder Ignus wasn’t very keen on describing you. Did you do the same to him?”

“No,” Viyara replied in my stead when I still acted like a fish on dry land after a moment or two. “He got away without a scratch. Back then she was tired and younger. Plus he’s related to me. Now she’s antsy and in a hurry.”

“Younger,” the silver dragoness inquired. “It’s not even been a month.”

“I don’t age like you do,” I answered almost reflexively. “Wait. That’s hardly the point. You already knew of me? What, in the name of all the gods, have you been doing just now?”

“Pulling your strings,” Narros chuckled with a sound like breaking rocks. “New island, new rules. Gotta know the pecking order. And I was curious if you really are as bad as Ignus claimed.”

“Satisfied,” I growled while my wings hissed threateningly behind me. Proving yourself time and again could get tiresome really fast. Maybe I had to get that shirt made after all.

“Not quite,” his sister replied, curiosity and mirth sparkling in her deep, silvery eyes. When she turned to Sera I felt my jaws drop again. Surely they wouldn’t be stupid enough to… “we’re still wondering who the hells you are. Considering your size it seems more prudent to ask, though.”

The monstrous dragoness blew a cloud of smoke from her nostrils and revealed her fangs in a rather entertained than offended manner. “I’m Cassandra’s grandmother and,” her body was enveloped by a golden hue and a second later my eerie twin hovered at my side, “also a kitsune.” If they had been flabbergasted before, they were now quickly approaching the seldomly achieved state of having their brains shut down. They even spluttered, which would have been funny if their coughs hadn’t been accompanied by sparks and tiny, at least in comparison to their size, fireballs, shooting from their nostrils.

When Sera struck up a conversation, I shook my head and drifted back to Viyara’s side. “Told you,” I said smugly to Kana, albeit in a low voice, “they aren’t that bad.”

“Right,” she stammered, “if you’re an angel or a friggin shapeshifter. Honestly, what kind of family have you been born into?”

“A pretty crazy one,” Viyara mumbled in my stead, her eyes still glued to the two dragons who were carefully circling around my granny. “And you haven’t even met them all,” she added. “Just wait until you find out whom she keeps in her pocket.” Her words, of course, prompted Kana to ogle me questioningly.

“She knows about my immortal family, they’ve done her pretty dirty in the past.” With a thought I produced Mephisto’s emblem from my stamp. I hadn’t touched the thing in quite a while and it had gotten heavier. Heavier and hotter, as if the fires of hell were roaring in its depth. A theatrical description for sure, but considering what was going on within the silver pendant, it was surprisingly accurate. “Kana, meet Mephisto. A demon and a friend. Not the one who cursed you all those years ago, mind you. Which reminds me… Atlas. Once our hibernating prince returns to the world of the living we might be able to figure out what happened to your tormentor. I’m sure you’d love to have a word with him.” She stared at the emblem forlornly, an echo of her plight rising begin her purple eyes.

“Not particularly. Not alone, at least. Been there, done that. Never again.”

I touched her arm and stated quietly: “you won’t be alone, not this time. My family has quite a lot to answer for. You aren’t the only one who has suffered at their hands. Why do you think I look like this? They killed me, not even a century ago, and if I hadn’t been really lucky, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.” A few images of my last stand appeared in my mind, accompanied by a surge of anger I barely managed to control. If it hadn’t been for a new voice, suddenly whispering into my thoughts, I might not have.

“I’m so sorry,” Ahri breathed, her presence enveloping me like a comforting blanket. “I truly am.”

“It wasn’t your fault, not more than mine, at least,” I mumbled, my fury extinguished as soon as I felt her pain, her remorse. “It wasn’t on you and I really don’t blame you. How often do I have to tell you?”

“Until I believe you,” she replied. “Maybe in a century or two?”

“At least we have the time to work on our little problems… speaking of which, how are you doing? Did anything happen I need to know about?” A series of hazy images fluttered through her mind, none clear enough to make out any details.

“We haven’t been found out, if that’s what you mean. Still, you might want to hurry. A gateway has been opened last night and the first skirmishes have been fought. If nothing changes there’ll soon be a full blown war raging across the island. From what little I’ve heard, the elves and fey are reasonably well matched. It’s going to get bloody, really soon.”

“Figures. Is there even a chance to stop the madness?”

“Not with the current king. I haven’t met the man but what I’ve seen through Zara’s eyes hasn’t been heartening. He’s a… a stubborn, prideful, tired, old man and he’s grieving for one of his few friends. Aspera and Astra didn’t exaggerate. Their father truly was someone important. There’s hope, though. Especially the younger generations, those born after the Cataclysm, they don’t see the appeal of throwing away their life when there’s very little to gain. The lands of the fey aren’t hospitable to other species. I haven’t been around long enough to say for sure, though. Traditions are important to these people, they make the elders on Boseiju look like the epitome of progress and they won’t stand against their leaders without ample reason.”

“Lovely. Can’t wait to meet them. Have you already thought about what story we’re going to tell once I get there? I’m not so sure the truth is actually a good idea.”

“Not really. I’ll talk to Zara once she returns. She’s trying to keep out of the way as well as she can but her disguise comes with a bunch of disadvantages. Political stuff, mostly. Right now she’s attending her own funeral. That must be unsettling.”

“Could also be rather fun… maybe. I wouldn’t mind having a peek to see who’s actually jubilating and who’s crying, once I’ve kicked the curb…” I immediately felt her mood darken when she pictured the scene and hurried to add: “if your ward is out and about, what are you up to?” She hesitated for a moment but decided to let it go.

“Sightseeing, in a way. I’m strolling around the city, trying to talk with a few people. It’s not that easy, though. They’re either treating me like a cute pet or a leper. It’s pretty infuriating.”

“I bet. Is it because you’re a beast kin?”

“Rather because I’m not an elf. I imagine it’d be even worse, if I were completely human. I haven’t even seen anyone without pointy ears ever since I got here. They aren’t big on cultural exchange. Who knows, getting their faces kicked in by a bunch of fey who look like trees or even monsters might yet do them some good.”

“In my experience it’ll only make it worse. Still, as long as your teeth are still in place I don’t care that much. You don’t plan on joining any frays, do you?”

“Darling, I’m an angel. I might not be able to challenge an entire empire on my own, just yet, but, as sweet as it is, you really need to stop treating me like a fragile doll.” Not exactly an answer…

“I didn’t rush after you immediately, did I? From where I’m standing that’s already a tremendous improvement.” She laughed but immediately sobered up again as I felt her cheeks reddening.

“Damn, now they think I’m nuts. Gotta go. I’m standing in the middle of a shop and the keeper is already staring at me suspiciously. So are a few of the patrons.”

“Same here, except it’s four dragons and a reincarnated soul… one last question. Kana… do you remember her?” I felt her going through my memories before she replied:

“No. I’ve never met her, I think. You might have mentioned her, though, the name surely rings a bell. How many of your protégés are out there?”

“Beats me, but most should have turned into dust by now. Well, the seven girls from Earth excluded, but I don’t see us running into them any time soon.”

“A pity, I liked what I saw. Love you and hurry up. I miss you.”

“I’ll try my best. Love you, too. Call for me, if anything happens, will you?”

“Same goes for you.” I clearly felt her reluctance but with a sigh she served our connection.

“Everything alright,” Viyara immediately asked.

“More or less. There’s been a fight but Ahri would have told me if it had been bad. I guess she’s feeling a bit lonely.” So was I. Now more than ever.

“After a single day?”

“I wouldn’t be doing much better if you lot didn’t force me to stay on my feet the whole time. Speaking of which…” I threw a glance at the two dragons chatting with a nine tailed kitsune in the middle of the sky. “Shouldn’t you be more interested in what they’re doing?”

“She’s scared,” Aurelia explained with a grin. I cocked an eyebrow and despite Viyara’s complaints the vampire pressed on mercilessly: “like a girl who’s been gone for weeks with her friends and now comes home to find mom and dad waiting for her in the living room.”

“You can’t be serious,” I exclaimed but when the dragoness only lowered her gaze I added: “why? Didn’t you say you don’t care about your scaly relatives anymore?”

“It’s not that simple,” Viyara justified. “I… look, they’re… Ignus has told them who I am, presumably even what I am, otherwise he’d never have bothered to mention you to them. And now I just don’t know how…”

“Are you feeling pressured? For real? Oh boy. Who cares what they think. If they rub you the wrong way we’ll just send them packing. Or plummeting, that’s been entertaining.”

“Sometimes I just wish you weren’t so goddamned…”

“Wise,” I interrupted her smugly.

“Thick.” That stung. She paused and collected her thoughts before she explained: “look, Lilith is probably going to return with some of your family in tow, is she not?” If they had managed to survive, but I wasn’t going to say that out loud. “How are you going to feel when they suddenly turn up on your doorstep?”

“Probably depends on what they’ve got to say, but aggrieved, enraged or frustrated are most likely decent bets.” She rolled her eyes, a pretty impressive gesture, considering their size and smouldering glow. To be perfectly clear, I did understand where she was coming from but I just couldn’t find it in me to take her very seriously.

“Why do I even try? I… what are you doing,” she hissed when I smacked her head.

“Showing that I care?” I bolstered my voice with a fraction of my energy and shouted: “are you done chatting up my grandmother? Our young dragoness is feeling neglected and I’m sure we all would like to know what your plans are. Why don’t we return to Free Land together? Circling the entire time can’t be comfortable. We can address the most pressing matters on the way.” Mentally I added: “just talk to them. In a few minutes you’ll feel at ease, trust me. If that doesn’t work, try imagining them without their scales…. or wings. You have already seen them fall, haven’t you?”

She grumbled something inaudibly but still managed to put on a jovial mask before Quenda and Narros turned around gradually and came to face us, while Sera transformed behind them.

“Sure. Do we have to transform before we reach the city,” the male dragon inquired.

“I think the people have already gotten used to dragons,” Sera replied. “At least they didn’t scream too much when last I transformed.”

“That’s something,” his sister chuckled. “In comparison we must seem like the friendly neighbourhood bats.” Wasn’t it your friendly neighbourhood spider? Oh well, they probably hadn’t heard of neither Spider- nor Batman. I also had to admit, aside from the pretty rocky start, the two of them didn’t seem difficult or aggressive. Then again, if I had been in the company of people who either towered over me by the margin of a hill… maybe several or could drop me from the sky with nothing but a thought, I’d have put my best foot forward as well. Either that or I’d have thrown a tantrum for the ages. One of the two.

Quenda beat her wings once and soared over to Viyara’s side, a broad smile, at least I hoped it was a smile, displaying her impressive fangs. She gently nudged the side of the smaller dragoness and said, almost gently: “no need to pout. Age before beauty. On a more serious note, once you meet more of our kin, always treat the eldest, or rather largest, with the most care. They usually aren’t as easy going as the disguised vixen over there and while we don’t have a strict hierarchy it’s usually better for your health to pretend they’re the most intimidating creature you’ve ever met. As well as the most handsome, richest, wisest… you get the picture.”

“I’ve heard that,” Sera complained. “And while I’m not going to eat you, I’ll still break your wings if you continue to call me either old or ugly.” I almost facepalmed when the dragoness shot back:

“It’s true, though, isn’t it? You look almost like a less imposing version of her,” she jerked her head in my direction, “and you’re the oldest creature among us.”

“She’s not,” Kana piped up for the first time, her voice surprisingly steady. “Cassandra has been ancient when Sera hasn’t even been born, yet. You really don’t know what she is, do you?”

“Why don’t you enlighten us, little one,” Narros replied curiously, his eyes sparkling.