Cassandra PendragonI felt powerful. My wings burned behind me and the half lit cabin was illuminated as if under a midday sun. Every movement of my wings distorted the air and I could feel them slicing through space itself, phasing in and out of reality according to my whims. It was exhilarating. If only I had been able to access my core before. So much of what had happened could have been prevented. Uninvited memories rose up as I saw the faces of the dead before me again and smelled the burning garden and the decayed stench of the curse. From one second to the next I was reduced from an angel to a quivering mess of tears once again as the shadows of the past day held me prisoner. I couldn’t escape and fell to the floor, withering in imagined pain. I was insensible to my surroundings while the fit lasted but I had to endure every moment of it wide awake. I saw the grotesque sacrifices below the ritual chamber, I had to walk among the cursed kitsune and Greta’s burned out eyes appear

Cassandra Pendragon“If I may,” Astra interrupted him, “we think it more prudent to finish with the introductions beforehand. It would make any decisions much easier if we were to know our allies and their background. While we know the others we haven’t had the pleasure yet to meet the young princess Cassandra.”“Again with the stilted speech,” Xorlosh grumbled, quietly enough that we could choose to ignore him.“Aspera and I are sisters, born on the Green Island far to the north, a good century ago,” Astra continued without batting an eyelid at the dwarf’s theatrics. “We lived in the kingdom of the five families for the last 20 years, together with a small community of elves that were never interest in the rather political lifestyle back home. Allow us to express our deep felt condolences for what you have lost, all of you. We share your grief, for we as well called the island our home and lost dear friends in the fires of war.” They both stood up and bowed deeply from the waist, fir

Cassandra PendragonFor the next half hour we managed to retreat into our own little world without any worries of what might be and had breakfast in bed. We talked about insignificant things like the armour Aspera had worn and if its style might be suitable for either of us and we laughed a lot when we imagined Xorlosh wearing it instead. Not until we had finished with the meal and were comfortably sipping on mildly spiced tea did we get around to talk about more serious topics. While I was smiling contently and snuggled deeper into the cushions, Ahri suddenly touched my arm gently and spoke in a much heavier tone than before:“Now that we have a quiet moment, I’d like to tell you my story and what I know about the Arete family and my past. Would you like to hear it?” I sat up straight.“Of course. But why do you sound like you’re on edge?” She gave me a coy smile.“You’ll know soon enough. Well, here it goes…” she spoke passionately, at first, about the small colony of kitsune far to

Cassandra PendragonWe stayed in bed a little longer, simply enjoying each other’s company but we couldn’t shut out the world forever, no matter how much I wished for it. Just when I had finished telling Ahri about my conversation with Lucifer my mom knocked on our door:“Good morning, are you two awake? Can I come in?”“Sure,” I replied while I simultaneously snuggle deeper into the blankets, I hadn’t gotten around to putting my clothes back on, yet. My mom rushed into the room like a whirlwind, most of her energy and spirit obviously restored. She closed the door behind her and scrutinised the bed, Ahri fully dressed on her side and me hugging the blankets closely, our tails tightly entwined. I was already preparing for one of the more embarrassing moments of my life, but my mom didn’t say a word. With a slight smirk she waltzed over to the table and dragged a chair around to the bed. “Don’t get up, just stay comfy. Is the tea still warm, by any chance?” I shook my head. “No matter

Cassandra PendragonIt was a much closer call than I would have liked to admit. Honestly, it was more due to Ahri’s perfect reactions than my agility that we didn’t crash into one another. Unfortunately only one of us was spared any form of collision. As I approached her from above, my spear angled to the side as not to hit her by accident, I saw a small smile flutter across her face and she immediately dropped one of her wooden swords and fell back on the deck. She fanned her 4 wings out behind her and raised an arm and a sword to welcome me. I could easily evade the pointy stick, and her reaching hand. I released more energy into my wings and quickly changed directions, angling my body parallel to the deck with the intention of slinging some of my wings around her body and slamming her into the planks. She had read me like a book and my wings were intercepted by hers, resulting in an unholy mess of red fire and blue energy. Even though I was stronger and faster, with her legs firml