Cassandra PendragonAhri and me stood side by side close to the wall. Greta was a little in front of us, her eyes closed, swirling swaths of energy coursed through the air around her. Specks of green, golden and red light illuminated the night and my fur stood on edge as the air became saturated with power. With a commanding gesture Greta threw her hand out and the light coalesced into a steady stream which she hurled against the wall. There was no sound, only a magnificent display of colours when her spell crushed into the enchantments. For a moment the night turned into day as every sigil on the wall lit up and crumbled away under the onslaught of Greta’s magic. As quickly as it had begun it came to an end, the glyphs still glowed, but not because of their own power. They had been utterly destroyed, the stone had been melted and lava glimmered in the night. Greta breathed heavily and turned to us: “go, may all the ancestors guide you!”We sprinted forwards and as soon as we reached

Cassandra PendragonI abandoned all attempts at secrecy, slammed a bunch of my wings through the enchantments on one of the windows and followed it up with a heavy book I threw right after. Without the support of the crumbled magic the tome smashed right through and with the clear sound of breaking crystal and a shower of sparkling shards I flung myself through the hole and into the night.Within the tower I had been protected from the raging elements outside but now I had to withstand the full fury of a storm. Winds, smelling of decay and rotten cherries pummelled my body and drove me off course, blossoms and leafs obscured my vision and I could feel small twigs and stones graze my skin. The noise was terrific and I couldn’t hear a thing except for the eerie howling of the wind, laced with distorted voices. Without the protection of the tower I could feel them attacking my mind, whittling away at my sanity but I shrugged it off. Dangerous as it might be, I didn’t fear the magic, I wa

Cassandra PendragonThe return trip went decidedly smoother which allowed me to survey the scene from above for the first time. Greta’s weight slowed me down but it wasn’t enough to seriously impair my speed or agility. Harsh winds circled around Boseiju and tore leafs, blossoms and smaller branches away. The air was full of debris and I knew a constant, maddening howl assaulted anyone who wasn’t protected even though I couldn’t hear it at that moment, thanks to Greta’s shield. I saw the dwarfs and my friends slowly climb down the stairs, the kitsune from the different palaces yapping at their heels but a steadfast rearguard held them off efficiently. The large platform, from where I had taken off a couple of seconds ago, was already flooded with zombies and only the smallest patch around the stairs was still held by the dwarfs. I could see a small group of 5 in the middle who shrugged out of their armour and into a strange looking suit with several lengths of material hanging from th

Cassandra PendragonI was taken aback by the toll she had to pay for her spell. I felt great and was glad she had healed me but I couldn’t begin to imagine how a simple piece of magic could extract such a price. Still somewhat groggy I realigned my sprawling limbs and climb to my feet. I had to use the table for support but once I was up I felt pretty steady.“Thanks, I’m okay now. But what happened to you? I’ve never seen you in such a state before. Did something go wrong?” She wanted to reply but a dry cough drowned out her answer. She choked and swayed, all I could do was pat her back gently and keep her steady while she fought against the fit. It went on and on, long enough for me to seriously start worrying if she was going to die on me right then and there. Luckily it didn’t get that far and after a minute or two the coughs subsided. Bloody traces of spit marred the corners of her mouth and she was struggling to remain upright. With a perceivable effort she wiped her face, her l

Cassandra Pendragon“It all began about 100 years ago,” he continued his explanation. “An old friend of mine, Airu, a star whale, was killed. I could feel his death from afar and I simply couldn’t believe it. Star whales are peaceful creatures but also powerful, they are tough and unbelievably hard to kill. I couldn’t understand why anyone would even bother to try.” He sighed heavily and resumed his story in a much quieter voice:“One of my brothers, Michael, came to me with an explanation. An advanced society that had begun to conquer space stumble across Airu by sheer chance, he said. Their curiosity and greed got the better of them, fascinated as they were with a living being larger than their biggest space ships and they tried to capture him. In the ensuing fight my friend was killed. Michael claimed that he had long since expected something like that to happen. Their society was supposed to be a twisted thing where might ruled and progress was the only thing of value. He whispere