Cassandra Pendragon
"Whomever you're stalking has quite a bit of knowledge, I'll give them that," the demoness explained, once again wrapped in my tresses, as paltry of a protection against the enraged elements as they were. "When realms merge, a good chunk of their innate energy actually gets lost, or rather converted into an anchor that keeps the target, your world in this case, in one piece. The portal down there is actually a giant pump that drains the unbound mana of the Fey Wilds. On one hand it's highly efficient, as you can see. It's been operating for barely a few hours and the valley is hardly recognisable anymore. On the other, the drained parts will mostly likely shatter on transition and take with them no small part of Gaya. The longer that thing down there functions, the worse it's going to become."
"Lemme guess, I can't just blow it up, can I," I groaned.
"Not unless you want the energy it's connected to to explode as well. You've seen atomic fission or even fusion up close, haven't you?" Yeah, as recently as a few hours ago when I had fought Gabriel. "Think of the entire Fey Wilds as the fuel, primed and ready. Ignite the fuse and the fireworks will be spectacular… maybe even nova spectacular. No, you… fuck it, we need to shut that thing down carefully. And fast." I tilted my head to the side and she added: "hours. At this rate it's going to make the Fey Wilds brittle enough to crumble and implode before midnight. And don't ask me how to pull the plug. I understand what it does, but I haven't got the foggiest how the portal functions. Add that to the list of questions you can ask your new slaves. It's about damned time you got yourself some servants, anyways."
"Not going to happen," I replied distractedly while I listened to the howling winds and tried to figure out when I had told her about Lancelot, because I really hadn't. Then again, with her experience it shouldn't have been difficult to guess, or she was simply assuming I'd have to subjugate the fey to prevent a catastrophe, whatever my original intentions might have been. Not that it mattered, but figuring out how one of the few immortals on Gaya actually ticked did. Matter, that is. "What's guarding the portal?"
"The beasts you've seen yourself, haven't you? Aside from the fey and their pets there are two rune formations. One on the forest floor around the portal, the other etched into the archway itself. Nothing you'd even notice. Two fey are constantly keeping an eye on the thing, though, making sure it doesn't explode. You won't be able to sneak past them. Those two, at least, have to go, one way or the other."
"And the beasts?" She shrugged, which felt like a warm breath among the biting cold wind.
"Seriously? Don't suppress your aura and every animal on this island will cower. Creatures controlled by instinct don't hunt immortals, unless they've been explicitly bread to do it. It's the ones with developed frontal lobes you have to worry about. Could we get going now? There's no hidden, half transcendent monster down there that's suddenly going to challenge you. Just waltz in, order them to bow and whatever else you have in mind and make them shut down the ticking time bomb. Why are you even hesitating?"
"Old habits die hard, especially when they've been nurtured by blood. Fine. Anything else I should know?"
"Much, but nothing that's relevant now. I won't go with you. Chances are you'd pull this construct apart without even realising." I nodded and cut a small hole into the closest rock, just large enough for her to hide in. I didn't quite know why I even bothered, but leaving her to the storm seemed wrong.
"Stay here," I murmured as she glided from my shoulder into her sanctuary. "It wont take long."
"I know. I've seen your true…," I stilled in surprise but she waved me off: "later, but you really should take those fifteen minutes and listen to me."
"I will. At the very least I want to know how a quick excursion could end up with you being chained down at the bottom of the ocean with another angel in tow. Didn't you realise Gabriel was on Gaya when you first arrived?" She snorted.
"I'm not that good. There aren't many of us who could find her when she wants to hide behind her inventions. Mephisto didn't. Neither did you or Ahri. Amazeroth, though, he knows. He has known for a long time." Of course he did. In a way he had sealed her here all those aeons ago, hadn't he? As for me… I didn't care that much about the past anymore and Gabriel's future was mine to protect. "Can I ask you something else," the demoness suddenly mumbled shyly. I cocked an eyebrow. "That tree you've all been yapping about… has it bloomed?" With a frown I replied:
"It has. The spells I cast after I fought Gabriel… I didn't mean to, but yes, completely. Why?"
"And let me guess, you won't be able to hold back your final evolution for more than a year," she sighed, her form flickering.
"I… no, but how can you know? Only Ahri and Viyara know."
"You've told me… will tell me, in a way. See what I'm getting at? Once that artefact is gone we really have to talk. Without your nosy family butting in." Her words caused a gentle stir in the back of my mind, but neither Ahri nor Viyara complained explicitly.
"We will. Follow me into the ravine once the chaos has abated." I spread my wings and allowed the stream of energy from my core to flow freely, which made me light up like the lighthouse of Alexandria. Over the crackling of aeons torn asunder and the elements gone mad her parting words just a barely reached me: "I'll be watching." It might have sounded ominous, but honestly, what else was she going to do? Take a nap?
I didn't bother with a reply nor a fanciful disguise, I didn't even spare the concentration to suppress my aura. To the fey at the bottom of the ravine it must have seemed like a star had fallen from the sky and was slowly descending into their sanctuary, accompanied by a thunderstorm of light. The raging storm was subdued, its howling voice drowned out by the screams of reality tethering on the brink of collapse. Silver and blue flooded the valley and cast the pitiful mortals, fleeing from my gaze, in a harsh relief of quivering shadows and unyielding brightness.
When I passed the edge of the steep slope I felt the protective formations tickle my skin, like the gentle caress of a feather, and then the magic broke. An avalanche of frozen air and liquified light descended from the mountains and in the wake of my passage ice once again claimed the ravine. Muffled, hysteric screams reached me as the verdant floor turned into a cauldron of desperation and defiance. The visible swaths of power, still flowing through the portal, moved, and a discordant, bone wrenching sound rose to meet winter's icy fingers, encroaching upon their little bubble of warmth and life. Fight or flight, there really was no other option.
A stream of scintillating energy, laced with every colour of the rainbow, fuelled by the existential dread of a people at war, condensed and roared towards me. In their panic the fey had channeled everything at their disposal into an unguided strike that would have levelled mountains and evaporated the sea, but to me it felt like a warm breeze dancing across my skin. I fanned out my tails and spread my wings, the raging torrent of power dissipating harmlessly around me.
I didn't raise my voice but my words still reached every last living creature in the valley below: "cease your futile struggles. Your battles have come to an end." The chaotic scene froze and the weaker fey even keeled over outright, blood slowly dripping from their ears and eyes. "My name is Cassandra Pendragon, princess of the kitsune and a true angel. Your home is lost. You're fighting for secrets that will become buried in the sands of time before the next full moon and your ill advised schemes have only served to make it worse. You have one minute to decide. One. Release your prisoners, deactivate the portal and I'll leave in peace. Resist and I'll make you comply, resist and you'll have to face the wrath of an immortal."
Silence settled in, even the screams of the storm abated, as if the whole world was holding its breath, and then I saw the telltale shimmer of a commencing spell. Deep within the forest someone had decided to try my patience. And when I say someone I mean their fearless leader, safe and hidden behind the formations that guarded the portal. The corners of my mouth twitched and I pointed, my slender fingers drawn into a claw. "Reveal," I ordered and the world complied.
The trees rustled, the swamp of arcane might within the forest came to a rolling boil and the canopy moved out of the way with the sound of breaking timbers to reveal the rune covered archway and three fey, cowering around it. Two were unremarkable, as far as a mixture of a plant and a human could be unremarkable, while the third was clad in shimmering white armour, a long, deadly spear in his hand. Lancelot, I thought, while I called my own weapon into my hand.
"Rise," I commanded and the biting cold winds that had invaded the valley turned into an ominous whisper, which filled the entire forest. Like a cat hunting a mouse the frozen currents of light and air circled before they gripped onto the self declared prince of the fey and carried him into the sky. I watched his eyes widen in fear, I saw his fingers desperately tighten around the heft of his spear and his erstwhile arrogant smirk turned into a mask of terror as the treetops fell away around him and his attempts to disperse my magic failed, time and again. "Lancelot of the Silent Glade," I purred, "first son of Erya, oldest of the triumvirate, Lord of winter and brother to Gawain and Guinevere. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've been thinking about this moment for a very long time." The unyielding current stopped no more than an arm's length away from me and there he hung, his pink tongue wetting his lips nervously, his silky, white hair disheveled.
"Have we met," he finally asked with an awkward attempt at a smile. His piercing blue eyes darted to the ground periodically, but no help was coming forth. We were alone in the sky and he started to smell like a frightened squirrel. "If I've ever angered you…" I chuckled coldly.
"Oh, you have, but that's not why I'm here. Tell me, did you know that you've sealed the fate of your own home with that ingenious artefact of yours? Without my intervention you'd have condemned every last fey in the Silent Glade to an ignoble end. Even with my help their chances are slim and the longer your machine sucks the Fey Wilds dry, the worse it's going to become." At the word help his eyes lit up, but I was decently sure that our definitions weren't quite the same.
"What do you want," he still asked in an almost friendly tone of voice.
"Them," I stated and pointed again, this time at his prisoners. With a snap that could be heard above the wrath of winter, eager to reclaim his lands, their shackles broke, the monstrous hoods disintegrated in a shower of silver and a warm, welcoming breeze carried them aloft. "Him," I continued, my other hand reaching out towards the former warden, who was hiding behind a rose bush. Cruelty and cowardice. How often they went hand in hand.
With a surprised yelp he was pulled from his hole, his eyes twitching, his green lips quivering. Too late. "You can do better," I whispered and his young, curious soul trembled. Then his arms shattered, followed by his legs. His mouth opened in a frenzied scream when his limbs were pulled into a knot, but before it could ever leave his raptured throat his neck snapped with a sound like breaking hawsers. A second later a twisted, disfigured corpse dropped to the ground.
"And you," I finished, my burning gaze falling upon the proud, pale fey prince with the weight of a mountain. "I've watched this play too many times and I'm not going to wait for its pathetic conclusion. Protector of the Silent Glade, this night will see peace between the elves and your people, one way or the other. It only remains to be seen whether it's going to be with you or over your dead body, but again, the choice is yours." He frowned, but the expected tantrum didn't come. Instead he looked thoughtful. With carefree nonchalance he ignored the raging elements around him and stowed his spear on his back.
"You called me son of Erya before anything else. Am I right to assume that you know my mother? Is she still alive? Are you here on her behalf?" I couldn't help but chuckle again.
"I do know her, but she'd try to skin me alive if she knew what I was doing here. Unfortunately your queenly mother has become a knight. My knight and it falls to me to decide what I'm going to do with her offspring. You… tell me, Lancelot, when has it all gone to shit? When did you decide to hide behind a cruel mask? Or do you honestly believe that your secrets are worth all this?" I gesticulated, indicating the gradually freezing valley, which was oh so far away from their home.
"Our secrets," he echoed incredulously. "This has nothing to do with secrecy and all with safety. Take me away, I can't stop you, but don't presume to understand who I am because my mother told you some stories about a simpler, happier time." Inadvertently I hissed, the fangs of a fox breaking through my jaws. My wings hummed with suppressed anger and I made a small, silencing motion. He gagged, his hands clutched to his throat, but no sound was coming forth.
"Boy, you can hide from yourself, but don't try to hide from me. I can see you for what you are and if I was anyone of my siblings, you would have payed for your arrogance with your life right now." I spread my arms and the storm finally faltered as a shower of cherry petals fell from the sky. The sweet smell of life and growth drowned out the scent of ice and on a pinkish white, living cloud the elves were carried to my side. Around the portal and all throughout the frosted forest cherry trees bursted from the ground, their branches heavy with petals upon petals. The ominous, green-black glimmer of the archway flickered and turned silvery blue before it vanished with a sound like ripping silk. In its stead a young, pretty dryad sashayed through the empty gateway, her purple, ancient eyes narrowed as she scrutinised the strange amalgamation of seasons running rampant around her.
I snapped my fingers, my transformed wing burned with a warm, red light and a faint, soft sigh reached me as the elves' wounds closed. "Do you know the origin of your name," I asked quietly. He wasn't able to reply, but it was a rhetorical question, either way. "In the very beginning it meant shining, bright or white. Kind of fitting, isn't it? The white knight in shining armour, who has come to vanquish the darkness. Too bad reality often falls behind expectations, but you're still young. Allow me to teach you a very valuable lesson. There is no safety in war. Not even in victory. Blood gives birth to blood and for as long as you choose to fight on a world that will soon become your home, for as long as you water its soil with the life of your people, you'll never be safe. Peace… peace is your only choice and while I'm not sure if it can still be made, I know that it can be bought. You'll become the pledge of your people, just like the eleven king will become theirs. This war will end today."
With a curt nodded I allowed him to speak, but he remained silent, eyeing me warily. There was a hint of fear in his gaze and something else I couldn't quite place. Excitement, maybe, or curiosity. Either way he was thinking, long and hard.