An angel’s road to hell

10. Of duels, wings and a little bit of smiles

Cassandra Pendragon

Could he do that? Judging from the frozen expressions all around, he probably could. Oh oh…

What should I do? I wasn’t trained in any form of combat yet, let alone fencing or what ever the hell I was supposed to be doing. I didn’t even have a weapon for crying out loud! If I had anything on me I might have been able to finish this whole thing before it started and sort out the mess afterwards. Or was it some form of magical duel? That would have been even worse, I couldn’t channel any energies yet. Slightly panicked I looked around, searching for help. My parents were frozen mid-step, which would have been hilarious under different circumstances, and simply stared at Eddie, completely baffled. Mordred, who had been dancing with a pretty kitsune from the water palace seemed shocked but was already moving closer, trying to reach me.

I heard the buzzing of the crowd: “Murdered….thought it was an accident….never properly investigated….protecting their child….” and realised that the longer I stood motionless, the worse it would seem. I had to do something.

I stooped to pick up the glove but before my reaching fingers got close, a feminine hand had already snatched it away. Looking up I stared into Ahri’s eyes. Her lips formed the words: “Whatever happens”, before she turned around and answered Eddie:

“As her sworn servant and lifelong friend I demand the right to fight in Her Highness’s stead as her champion. Pick your weapon, Edmund of the wind palace!” I had frozen completely and before I could react or intervene in anyway, I heard a deep, vibrating voice. It came from the tree we all stood on, rumbling along its branches, shaking loose leafs and blossoms: “The royal challenge has been issued. The spirits bless the trial.” As soon as the voice subsided, two runes formed on Ahri’s and Edmund’s forehead respectively. They resembled a tree where the canopy mirrored the roots perfectly. They shone in an iridescent greenish light, eliciting gawks from the audience and an inaudible groan from me. I had remembered the passages about duels in my history books and consequentially understood what the royal challenge was. An archaic remnant of a time when martial prowess had been deemed the most important virtue of a ruler. Each royal family was allowed to formally challenge another. The reasons could be varied, from slights to revenge to a perceived inability to rule, but if two legitimate representatives of the royal families agreed to a duel, old magic, woven into Boseiju himself would make sure the challenge proceeded according to the ancient laws. Magic my forefathers had invoked, magic that now separated me from one of the only friends I had. All I could do was watch, as light poured out of Boseiju and formed a large, sparkling sphere around the contestants. Nobody could reach them anymore and my heart missed a beat when they slowly faced each other and bowed from the waist. While they slid into combat positions, one question haunted my mind: How? How was this possible? Only a person of the same status could be challenged, but I was a princess and Eddie had admitted that he wasn’t in direct succession to the throne. How could the magic activate?

White clashed on grey and sparks drove the two agile figures apart. Their silhouettes became blurry while they flashed around the cage, drawing close and separating again like waves on a beach. The warm sensation of blood, running down my palm from where I had dug my nails into my skin forced me to unclench my fists. The fight looked impressive but in reality it was pretty one-sided. Edmund was intoxicated and even sober he wouldn’t be able to keep up with Ahri’s lightning-quick, white rapier. He was bleeding from dozens of shallow cuts and each step sprinkled blood onto the beams of light that kept the combatants locked together. A sizzling noise and the smell of burnt flesh weft up from the cage. Every noble of the kingdom watched Ahri slowly but methodically slice Edmund to pieces. I still couldn’t shake my queasiness, maybe because I didn’t understand how it had come to this, maybe I couldn’t imagine someone committing assisted suicide because he couldn’t hold his liquor. While I was fretting over the situation, Edmund yelled and darted forward, bringing his heavy sabre down over his shoulder. Ahri’s form seemed to vanish as she took a daring step forward into his swing. Pirouetting around the blade of his weapon, she narrowly missed the edge and slid into position behind him. With a quick thrust she severed his tendons mid swing and Eddie collapsed onto his stomach. The following silence was deafening and made their short exchange easy to understand. Even the wind had died down, waiting for the final blow to fall. It was a duel to the death, the sphere wouldn’t vanish as long as they both breathed.

“This is the end. May your soul find peace and another place on the wheel.”

“End? No, this isn’t the end. It’s merely the final act but not the finale yet!” Pain and numbness slurred his speech but his eyes suddenly lit up with a shimmer of insanity. He plunged his left hand into his robe and pulled out a cruelly twisted obsidian dagger. Ahri reacted immediately and tried to sink her blade into his heart but he beat her to the punch. With a mad scream, Edmund drove his dagger deep into his chest. His eyes immediately rolled up into his head, his veins blackened and froth dripped from his mouth. With an inhuman scream dark energy exploded from his body and I could see, no, feel a foreign presence invade his body. Ahri was sent flying but could catch herself before she crashed into a wall. She landed wearily, as far away from the monstrosity as possible. Eddie’s face was contorted and deformed, resembling an abstract silhouette, covered in mirrored glass. He had grown to at least 2.5 metres. Instead of hands, clumped claws, blood dripping along from his ruptured skin, were clutched tightly to his chest. His tails had transformed into fleshy appendages, adorned with a huge stinger each. His skin had taken on a deathly pale hue and smouldering black runes started to appear all over him. My fear skyrocketed when I recognised the demon tongue:

“Vessel of Amazeroth, bound in life, bound in death, burn your soul in the master’s mirror. Give your immortal spirit to his power and channel the might of the mirror king. Until you are burned to ashes, his domain shall be yours to command. The stage is set and the great puppeteer awaits his due.” I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but the gist was clear, considering what had happened 30 seconds ago. Edmund had sacrificed his soul to channel part of a demon’s power. Blood started dripping down my palms again, leaving silvery marks on the wood. Ahri was as good as dead because of me! What should I do? What could I do?

With a sickening crunch, Amazeroth’s shadow pulled the dagger from his chest. Not a single drop of blood spilled forth, only a black hole remained on the left side of his chest. The cuts and bruises all over his body had disappeared with his transformation and he slowly stood up and flexed his limbs. “Ahh, freedom and the smell of blood and carnage.” His gaze roamed over the cage made of light, along Boseiju’s branch towards the palace and over the crowd gawking at the spectacle. “You should run”, was all he said before his eyes finally settled on Ahri. “And you will die.” The dagger in his hand transformed into a black lance with a mirrored tip.

Without another sound he turned into a streak of reflective light, vanishing from view. The next moment a huge sound wave battered us onlookers back and I saw Ahri through squinted eyes. Miraculously she had somehow managed to parry the blow but the force alone had pushed her down on one knee. “Not bad” the shadow sneered. With a fluid movement he dropped his weapon, kneed her on the nose, spun around and kicked her back while she was toppling over. Blood gushing from her destroyed face, Ahri tumbled helplessly through the air, heading straight for one of the translucent barriers. Her rapier skittered off in the opposite direction. “Oh no, not yet. You still have so much left to give.” What had once been Edmund of the wind palace stormed after my injured friend and plunged his claws deep into her stomach, stopping her momentum and hammering her to the ground. With a wet, rasping cough she tried to move and get up on her knees but a cruel slap nearly broke her neck and threw her back down. The shadow took a deliberate step forward, placing his foot on the wound in her stomach. He bore down with all his weight and a bloodcurdling scream ripped from Ahri’s throat.

When he had hit her for the first time, I had passed from fear to anger. When he had started to mutilate her, my anger had been replaced by helplessness, tears streaking down my face unhindered. I was too far away, cut off. I couldn’t reach her, couldn’t help her. She was going to die alone while I stood only a handful of meters away, utterly useless. And then she screamed, a terrible, high pitched roar that contained the pain of a whole world. It dragged on and on, burrowing deep into my soul, brushing away my self doubt and panic. It ignited a spark of pure, fiery wrath deep within me. Someone I cherished was in danger and I would save her or die trying. It was as simple as that. I didn’t want to hide behind my tears anymore. I wouldn’t be ruled by my fears and let others suffer for it. No more! I wanted to fight for others the way Ahri was fighting for me. That was the kind of person I wanted to be.

While everyone was starting to panic and rush away from the mad demon in the cage, I calmed down, relaxed my cramping muscles and moved forward. I felt a quick stab of pain from my lower back and in between my shoulder blades, but I didn’t care. With a though I was in front of the translucent barrier. A tiny speck of light that separated me from my friend. No more. I unfurled my wings, instinctively knowing how to use them, tugged at space and was inside the cage without so much as displacing air along my passage. I inhaled deeply, savouring the smell of blood and battle that permeated the air within the cage. The fires within burned brighter. In front of me, a measly shadow of a demon was squeezing the life out of one of the bravest persons I knew. No more.

Ahri Arete

I had made my peace with how my life was going to end. Sure, I had a few regrets… Never telling Cassy about my home and how much she reminded me of my little sister. Never having had the courage to write a letter to little Emilia, telling her how much I missed her. Never coming clean about my past, using a friendly, elderly kitsune-couple to cover it up. Things I always had thought I’d have the time to rectify later, when it’d be more convenient.

Later, a dangerous thing.

While my rips cracked and my blood gushed out of me, while my scream ripped my throat apart and the pain slowly drove me into oblivion I regretted all those things I had wanted to do later. My darkening gaze searched for Cassy, if I couldn’t have Emilia with me, I wanted her face to be the last thing I would see. I found her immediately, she was much closer than I had expected.

Somehow she was inside the light barrier, standing behind the abomination that was killing me. But it wasn’t the child I had watched and sheltered.

Her heritage had come to the fore. Hard, cold eyes, shining like a winter-moon stared daggers into the demon’s back. Her usually playful features were drawn into an icy mask, promising retribution, nothing cute or childish remained in her demeanour. Behind her back, four tails, slightly glowing in the evening light, swirled through the air. All around her, torrents of silvery blue energy filled the air, twirling and dancing they roamed around behind her back. Wherever they touched the barrier, it vanished with a slight sizzling sound. Before my lids became to heavy and darkness finally claimed me, those burning eyes had locked on mine and I had seen her mouth the words: “Whatever happens.”

Cassandra Pendragon

When Ahri’s eyes had clouded over and her head had dropped back on the ground, something inside me cracked. I knew the feeling, I had felt it before when I had been two years old. Every fibre of my being was screaming for retribution, punishment for those who deserved it. Let them burn! Let them taste their twisted desires and choke on their perverted needs! Energy was coiling through my core, trying to escape my grasp. But I wasn’t two anymore, I knew I wasn’t ready, and my control didn’t waver. I sealed the stormy sea of power deep within, I didn’t need it. I could fly!

33 torrents of energy streamed from my back, aligned in a neat V, the point just above my highest tail. I could feel each and every one of them in an underwater sort of way. I also felt the burning connection to my core, channeling energies into my wings. I felt the possibility, no, the need to flood my wings with energy, release some of the pent up fire within me, but I knew I shouldn’t. My soul would succumb to the raging flames and everything that made me me would be gone. But I was fairly confident that I didn’t need to anyhow to squash this bug.

Without a sound I slung 7 tentacles around the foot he used to press the life out of Ahri and heaved. I couldn’t throw him around the arena like he had tossed Ahri around but I pulled him off of her and made him spin on the spot. An angry snarl contorted his reflective features and smoke rose from the runes I had touched on his leg. They seemed to be smouldering, blue and silver flames eating at the edges and turning the runes into a dull, worn-out black, like ash. His right leg, were I had grabbed him, couldn’t support his weight and I heard him exhale sharply while he tried to put some weight on it. I could hurt him, that I also seemed to damage the connection to his demonic lord was just a bonus. I smiled serenely at the towering but already limping figure in front of me. “You were right. The end is now!” I unfurled my wings to the fullest, filling the arena with dancing lights and slowly took off of the ground. My smile deepened wickedly when I had risen to his eye level: “let’s see how much you have got to give.” He charged me head on.

I was faster, could burn the magic powering him and was able to slide through space, but the first clash showed me how much weaker I actually was. I formed a curtain of energy in front of me to block his advance. He trampled through, blowing my wings away like feathers on the wind, and crashed into me, arms reaching. He intended to envelop me in a deadly embrace, using brute force to break my body. I could feel my wings scattering, brushed away on impact, but I also saw small sparks igniting on the runes I had touched. His hair was gone and deep marks showed where his skin had touched the torrents of energy. I tried to change places, getting out of the way, but I couldn’t “feel” the space around my wings, let alone cut a path through it. Before I could come up with another idea, his arms went around my neck and his shoulder slammed into my chest. I was hurled to the ground, my breath rushed from my lungs and all I could see was a parched, distorted face directly in front of my nose and a sizzling energy cage behind. The taste of blood filled my mouth and I could feel a rib puncturing my left lung. His weight settling on top of me intensified the pain, elevating it to excruciating levels. My smile didn’t waver. This would make his demise all the sweeter. Before his grip could tighten, I slid my wings through the lock around my neck and around his arms, shrouding them in a silvery-blue halo. I didn’t try to pry his arms apart, nor did I try to throw him off of me. No, I simply held tight and gazed into his mirrored eyes, waiting for a spark of emotion to appear, a hint of despair.

His hands tightened, severing the blood flow to my brain. I couldn’t remain conscious for long, but still I smiled at him. I felt my neck creak under the pressure and another rib break under his weight. But still I smiled. His knee slammed into my thigh, dislocating the joint and nearly severing my tendons. But still I smiled into his mirrored face. And then, when my larynx raptured from his overwhelming grip, I saw a flicker of pain in his eyes. Within a moment it grew into disbelieve and finally changed to despair. His fingers lost their strength and he tumbled backwards. Where his arms should have been, two raging infernos of bluish-silvery flames distorted the air. All over his body embers of the same colour broke out of his runes, turning them into rivers of blue and silver light. He struggled to remain upright but the flames forced him to his knees. I couldn’t get up either, my body was torn and shredded and I couldn’t feel my right leg, but still I smiled at him while the fires of heaven consumed his soul.

Before the flames finally reached his eyes, I could have sworn I had seen a proud smile tug at the corners of his charring mouth.

With my last strength, I rolled around until my reaching fingers got hold of a dirty white tail. I pulled myself closer until I could reach Ahri’s legs and started searching for a pulse frantically. She was alive, her heart beat lightly but steadily and her stomach wound, painful as it was, wouldn’t kill her right now. My gaze flickered to the emblem on her forehand and I could barely see the last traces of it vanishing into thin air. She would live and she was whole. I didn’t resist the darkness any longer. But before my senses fled I could hear Boseiju’s leafy voice: “the trial has been violated…”