Cassandra Pendragon
I was seething, plain and simple. The fight we had put an end to was nothing but a drop in the ocean. On our way south we had flown across a land at war with itself. So far only one beast from the realm of nightmares had manifested and by now it was probably well on its way to be made into a sturdy set of leather clothes, but the harbingers of destruction were already galloping across the plains and through the forests. In their wake nature became rabid and by now we were forced to stay at least a couple of hundred body lengths above the tree tops. Otherwise the frenzied plants would have certainly tried to ambush us every few leagues. Add the magic distortions the fey's portals had caused and the smaller skirmishes wherever elves tried to quell the invasion to the mix and the resulting cocktail was hard to stomach. Quite literally.
I had lost count of how many times the scent of blood had hung thickly above the frozen, grey green expanse and the groans that had wafted up from time to time hadn't always sounded like boughs moving in the wind, either. That alone would have been enough to sour my mood, but my sister and her partner in crime were constantly sticking to my tails like glue and tried to persuade me to investigate every single instance that even remotely seemed like danger was lurking near by. Usually I'd have been all for it, but the whole damned realm collapse reminded me of a metaphor I had heard a doctor use, once upon a time: if the kettle is boiling over, the wallpaper is peeling off and the lights are flickering, which problem do you tackle first? None of them, because the friggin house is on fire.
Luckily Sarai had volunteered to stay behind. For one she could easily sort out the bloody aftermath of one of the larger battles between fey and elves, and secondly I was pretty sure that the next few materialisations would be centred around that region. It's an oversimplification for sure, but think of the veil between realms as an actual membrane. Once it's been punctured, it'll become much more fragile and chances were that the realm of nightmares would partly disgorge its poison around that very first tear.
Come to think of it, even a good chunk of Constantine's home world would most likely merge with the Emerald Island as well. The cherries trees that had started sprouting all around the destroyed, blackened castle and Greta's growing presence might also have been an indicator. On the plus side, it meant the spells I had cast were working, which in turn meant that I hopefully had the strength to deal with it. So much for what had happened.
As for the future… I would probably have to start threatening people in earnest and if they didn't comply… Constantine had already found out in the past that I wasn't above murdering the messenger, never mind the source of my troubles. I might be starting to bore you with quotes from old, white haired men, but another one had said: if I have to choose between two evils, I won't choose at all. That wasn't me. Put into words that were more in line with how I felt: If you're already drowning in an ocean of shit, dirtying your hands really won't make much of a difference.
"Constantine," I rumbled, my gaze flickering west, "you and yours will take my sister south. Ahri is already on her way. She's the angel of fire. You'll know her when you see her. Wait for me as soon as she's with you. I'll be back shortly." His response was drowned out by an indignant plethora of variations of: let me come with you, I'm an immortal now. Not that his reply mattered. I wasn't asking. My gaze zeroed in on Reia and I added:
"You will fly south until you reach her and the only one you'll spare a thought for on the way is the phoenix at your side. Go. Now. Don't come back." She swelled like a bullfrog but her wings were already carrying her south and away from the dark clouds, her tails wrapped around an entirely stupefied Lamia. My commands weren't as binding on her anymore, but I still didn't see her breaking them anytime soon. She was a toddler without a voice. It'd take a while.
"Protect them with your life, Constantine. If nothing happens to them, I'll think about your offer again. Don't fly low, the fey might soon become very agitated." Five shadows passed me, their dirty, blue silk robes whistling through the air. They caught up with the flying kitsune and surrounded her like a swarm. The wind changed and for a second I could smell my sister again, clean and cold and innocent, and then they were gone. Time to hunt.
I might not have been able to come near Amon without screwing us all over, but the same didn't hold true for the fey, nor the elven king. Ahri wasn't alone, she had a crowned captive with her, and soon I'd find one for myself. It was time to reunite Erya with her children. At the very least the one I could remember clearly. Lancelot. I could still recall the structure of his magic from when he had cursed Morgan and Auguros and I knew where he was. The coward hadn't even left the Fey Wilds, but his world was crumbling around him. Now he didn't have a choice and I… I could see the very soul of his magic smiling at me from the distance. My wings hummed aggressively and with a single stroke I covered a few hundred leagues.
The air in my throat seemed to liquefy, my tears froze on my lashes and the arms of a biting, hellishly cold storm embraced me. It roared in my ears with the fury of a demon, its breath shredding the last set of dwarven clothes I owned like paper. I found myself in the infamous mountains of the Emerald Island, near the peaks where nothing lived. Nothing mundane, that is.
Close by a deep ravine tore its way through a black and white chessboard of rock and snow, its edges sparkling with the telltale shimmer of powerful spells. From where I was I couldn't get a glimpse of the hidden floor, but with a lazy movement I easily braced the thundering winds and glided towards a small ledge. A lush, green expanse, blurry behind the swirling ice crystals and snowflakes, surrounded a gentle, azure river, its waves sloshing playfully against verdant banks. Fey in all varieties and sizes, from bipedal wolfs that reminded me of Carnen, over bunny eared humanoids, to walking trees that would have given Fangorn a run for his money, milled about between the waters and the outskirts of a forest. The trees only occupied the bottom of the valley but their size alone was enough to convince even a blind mole that they weren't of natural origin. Not to mention the large, colourful fruits I saw hanging on their branches. It was impossible to smell them over the unbridled assault of the storm, but I still felt my mouth watering when I imagined biting into one. Even Constantine's agricultural treasures hadn't looked as enticing.
"I only have a single question: did you actually forget about me or did you bring me along on purpose," Lilith complained close to my neck. Ever since we had started moving the demoness had decided to stick with me for whatever reason. Considering her temperament I had a pretty good idea of her motives, but contemplating her irksome nature wasn't very high up on my todo list. At least she hadn't groped me for a while.
"Pick your poison," I almost shouted, my voice carried away by the raging winds as soon as the syllables formed in my throat. "The result will be the same."
"Lemme guess, you want me to snoop around down there?" I nodded and suppressed the glare from my wings while I marshalled them into a loose cocoon. It wasn't enough to keep the storm outside, but at the very least it provided the illusion of protection.
"Very much so. I can hide decently well by now, but I don't want to put it to the test with a people who are renowned for their arcane senses. You on the other hand… being a detached thought must come with some advantages, doesn't it?"
"Screw you. Do you even care about my actual body?"
"Care? Not really. But I'm still going to help you get it back. Once the world isn't a ticking bomb anymore. Gabriel is gone. There shouldn't be much underneath the waves that can challenge me. I'll have you and Odin out of there quickly enough."
"Is that a promise?" I titled my head and scrutinised the glowing orb by my neck through the swirling snowflakes. Up close I could even recognise the outline of her form behind the glare.
"No. You're an immortal, Lilith. A day, a week, a month… where's the difference? You're not going to die from thirst or hunger, are you?"
"No, but sitting in a dark hole with barely enough space to kneel sucks. Majorly. A mortal would probably have already lost their mind."
"You'd be surprised," I mumbled, thinking back on the oubliettes that had been pretty popular in the Middle Ages. Some poor blighters had even survived for years, alone and forgotten and far away from the light. The lover of Mary Stuart had managed more than a decade before death had finally freed him. "Mortals are stronger than you give them credit for. Will you do it?" She pulsed twice, her equivalent of a shrug.
"Better than freezing my imaginary butt off up here. You do realise that a powerful mage might be able to disperse this form, right? If I'm gone, how will you ever find us?"
"The same way I always do? I'm too stubborn to give up. But admittedly, I should have listened to you sooner. Now's hardly the time, though."
"And whose fault is that? If you had spared a quarter of an hour…"
"How should I've known that the goddamn cultivators were just the tip of the iceberg?"
"Because I fucking told you so? Hey, Cassie, the worlds are merging. It's going to happen really fast now and once the process starts it's only going to accelerate. Does that ring any bells?" I flipped her off.
"Maybe I'd have taken you a tad more seriously if you're main objective hadn't been riling or rather feeling Ahri and me up."
"Not my fault," she chuckled, albeit a little tensely. "You really don't know how beautiful you are, do you? If it bothers you, you could… I don't know, stop prancing around butterball naked. That'd be a start. Or maybe grow a beard? You can change your appearance, can't you?"
"Bite me." I entirely ignored her: with pleasure. "I'm not going to change who I am because you can't get your libido under control. How old are you? 16?"
"Come to think of it, add a few zeroes and it might even be correct. Can't remember precisely anymore, though. Fine, I'm off. If they extinguish this spark you'll owe me." Her orb like body dimmed until she was barely recognisable amidst the swirling snowflakes. A second later her distant, muted voice reached me one last time: "a kiss won't do." Not going to happen. Even if I had been able or wanted to indulge without throwing up, she wouldn't have been my first choice. Probably not even the third or fourth. Damn it, there really was a growing queue wasn't there?
Quiet like a whisper I shimmied closer to the ledge, my eyes lighting up with a spark of power. The scene a couple of hundred metres below me reminded me of a fairytale at first, until I took the time to look more closely. In between magically erected huts, made of living, breathing plants, and merrily burning fires a handful of elves were kneeling rigidly, their bodies bound in a way that reminded me of the more brutal knots used during the Spanish Inquisition. Their wrists were tied to their ankles with a wooden stick strapped to their backs. They couldn't move a finger and the cramping, tearing pain a few minutes in that compromising position caused was probably agonising enough to even suppress their magic without the need for drugs or spells. Never mind freeing themselves, even breathing would have become a murderous chore, especially with the suffocating hoods that had been pulled over their faces. Judging from the weak trickle of blood that shyly streaked down their exposed necks the inside of those wraps wasn't made of silk, either. Cursed, cowardly, godforsaken righteousness. Truly, there was no enemy more cruel than one who believed himself to possess the truth. Opponents were evil and thus hurting them, even when they were already on the ground, wasn't despicable, it was just.
I felt the corners of my mouth rise as an animalistic snarl spread across my face. The adults I wouldn't have minded overly much, to make an omelette you had to crack some eggs and war was always ugly, but more than half of the prisoners were still growing, putting them in their teens, if I was being generous. Which child could ever have committed a sin worthy of torture? If you asked me, they couldn't sin at all, their failures were always the consequence of poor guidance, but even if you wanted to hold them accountable, torture or death really weren't an option. At least in my book and for the last few hours what I wanted had started to matter. One way or the other, those poor souls would be coming with me.
For now I still had to wait, though. I knew where Lancelot was, his aura stood out like a sore thumb, but I wasn't yet wiling to order or fight my way through an entire valley of battle crazed fey. The handful of minutes it'd take Lilith to look around wouldn't make a lick of a difference to the prisoners and knowing what I'd have to expect down there would contribute to their health in the long run. Their wiry, grinning, green skinned warden wouldn't make it through the night, though. While I had been watching he had tightened their bonds twice, smiling sickeningly when his attention had lingered on the younger girls. Before the end I was going to put a knot in his limbs, his neck included.
With a lot of effort and my silent promise that I wouldn't leave them to their misery I forced my gaze away from the glistening blue stream at the centre of the valley and towards the shadowy, verdant forest on its slopes. Aside from the spectacular plants and towering trunks there wasn't much to see, but with a slight push I managed to peek past the evergreen edge. A world filled with abundant, chaotic mana was revealed to me, fuelled by an arcane archway close to the roots of the northern mountain. Swaths of energy constantly swirled around the portal, flooding the entire sanctuary with the intoxicating dance of unleashed power. Seeds turned into sprouts and sprouts into small trees before my eyes, the abundance of mana enough to coax the plants into visible growth.
The animals, on the other hand, were gone, hunted down to the very last specimen by a clutter of predators that appeared blurry, as if veiled, even to me. The corpse of the shadow prowler Reia had killed immediately came to mind, but those things down there were much older. And much more powerful. I counted a dozen, a nice round number that made me suspect they had been brought along as guardians or maybe hunters. Considering they didn't even bother with the fey and patrolled the mouths of the ravine diligently it was less of a suspicion and more of a certainty really. Great, fooling those things wouldn't be easy, but then again I wasn't going to have much scruple cutting them down, one by one. Maybe I could even take one away with me. Then Reia would finally have a pet to care for and she wouldn't be forced to focus all of her attention and dare I say affection on Lamia. Oh… whom was I kidding? That was a fight I wouldn't win.
"Did you just think of me or did you figure out what they're doing down there? Can't imagine another reason for you to look so glum." The demoness had returned and judging from her introduction I wasn't going to like what she had found.