An angel’s road to hell

23. Of repetitions, limits and a little bit of silver lining

Cassandra Pendragon

1 hour earlier

We hurried over to the hole in the wall and peered down. Smoke, flames and Boseiju’s branches obscured our view but I could still discern a formation of dwarves enter the garden. It was an impressive sight, fire reflected on their armour and their voices carried over the cacophony all around. I couldn’t make out any details but I felt much better when I saw a streak of white light erupt from the second row and annihilate a shadow perched on a branch above. Unlikely knights but the shining armour part they had down to a T. Maybe we had a chance now?

I could collect everyone I cared about and fly them down to the dwarfs. Before I had thought we would have to fight our way to the airships above and, if we would have been able to get there, flee the island. But now, maybe we could stay. If one or two of us remained behind and rallied the remaining royals and their guards we might even be able to coordinate with the dwarfs and clear the garden and palaces before the sun would rise. First I had to make sure my loved ones were safe though.

I closed my eyes for a second. My body still felt shaky and I had a nasty bump on my head were I had hit the wall. The stamina of my 7-year old self was nearly depleted and I didn’t have more than one good fight left in me. Despair froze the edges of my mind as I thought about my family but I wouldn’t succumb. They were still alive, they had to be! And I still had work to do before I could allow myself to break down. First, I needed a safe place to stow Greta until she recovered, but I didn’t know what safe from body-less assassins meant. Could they walk through walls? Or materialise in every shadow? I wouldn’t risk it.

I opened my eyes and headed for the door: “Ahri, can you carry Greta? It shouldn’t be too far either way. Stay close, whatever happens, we stay together. Drop her if need be.” I hated myself at that moment but if we were going to be attacked and had to flee, we couldn’t carry her along. I was sure I couldn’t lift the weight of two people, heck, I wasn’t even sure if I could fly with Ahri clinging to me and I wouldn’t leave Greta here. The shadow from before could return at any moment. Ahri gave me a strange look, uncertainty mixed with guilt.

“There’s no need. I…I will create a strong enough protection to keep the shadows out temporarily if you can give me two minutes. I’m…I’m really good with defensive rituals.” A ritual was just a fancy name given to the process of manipulating energy when several ingredients to boost the strength were included. I would have asked her where she came to have the knowledge, but I could guess. And hat wasn’t the time for an intimate talk about her family.

“Great, hurry, I’ll have a look around outside.” The silence was getting to me. I strained my ears but everything seemed quiet, even the alarm had stopped. Before I left the room I used my wings to form a lattice of criss crossing lines around my body, not much use against a weapon but I’d bet the shadows would think twice about touching me now. I could still untangle one wing or another to strike out so I felt much better prepare as I strode through the door. I could hear Ahri’s soft mumbling from behind, interrupted twice when she burned sage and myrrh, the intensive aroma weft into the corridor and drowned out the smell of ash and fire. I couldn’t see a thing out of the ordinary so I quickly darted into my room, changed into clean trousers with a black shirt and pocketed the emblem again. Aurora’s letter, the coin Mordred had given me and an old plush toy my mom had gotten me for my third birthday joined it. I wasn’t sure how many of the things I didn’t carry with me would survive the night.

I hurried back to Ahri and Greta, but on the way I finally heard a noise. From the courtyard below I could hear a scream, and the thud thud thud of running feet. I stumbled to a halt and peered out of a high window. Icy fear raced along my spine and I flung myself through the glass and outside into the night air without a moment’s hesitation. In a shower of shards and iridescent light I descended onto the scene below.

My parents were running from the royal wing towards the soldier’s barracks, a smothering tide of darkness close behind. My mom pressed Adam close to her chest while my father whipped around from time to time to cast a spell into the oncoming wall of shadows. There had to be at least 10 of them and they were gaining on my parents, fast. As soon as I had smashed the window, I could hear muffled fighting sounds from within the barracks. Mordred had probably found some help. The servant’s wing was dark and silent but as I sailed through the night I could smell the thick scent of blood drifting through the air. My heart clenched, I feared that everyone who wasn’t up and fighting by now would never rise again.

Gravity took hold and I needed more and more of my wings to control my fall. I aimed for the space in between my parents and the oncoming tide of shadows and abandoned my makeshift armour completely. Every wing I didn’t need to change directions I struck out with. I couldn’t see very well as I flashed over the shadows, let alone aim, but I felt confident that if I couldn’t hurt them, I would at the very least stop their momentum and gain my parents some time. I was only partly right.

I did break the charge but I also hit quite a few. My wings couldn’t burn through their essence fast enough and I got stuck. With a yelp I was thrown towards the ground, like a stone on a string. My back felt like it had been split apart but my momentum had been enough to tore my wings loose. With a grunt I pushed as hard as I could with every torrent of energy I had available and barely managed to righten myself. I hadn’t gained enough hight though and tumbled head first into my running parents. We went down in a tangled mess of arm, legs and tails. I felt battered and bruised right about everywhere but I hadn’t hit the ground with full force. I had been the one to crush into them, so they were both beneath me. Please, let Adam be alright!

I could move my limbs and lost no time to scramble back to my feet and form a cage of energy around us. I knew from experience that a physically strong opponent could force his way through, but I liked my chances against these shadows. They were in no condition to attack us anyways. I had eviscerated 4 of them directly and two more had suffered deep gashes along their torsos. They seemed on the verge of collapse, the edges blurred and flickering in and out of the visible spectrum on the spot. The remaining 5 needle a moment to orientate themselves but then they didn’t hesitate and dispersed into the surrounding darkness. I was about to turn around and check on the others when I saw a formless, black string of smoke glide through the holes in my net. Once through it solidified into the shadow of a huge kitsune with 2 tails. That had probably been Jerome, a sparring partner and acquaintance of my Brother’s before the emperor had stolen his soul. Bastard! While I sent two torrents of energy out to finish the downed assailants, I lost no time to bring several of my wings together as fast as I possibly could to burn the goddamn monstrosity in front of me. My back protested and I could feel already stressed muscles and ligaments tear but I was fast enough. With a hiss and flash of silvery light the shadow dispersed into nothingness, before it could move and the smell of ozone was all that was left. My elation was short lived however, as I saw the slithering movement of its 4 companions closing in on us. Every time I tried to move a wing a burning sensation shot along my back and the appendage only quivered. The unsteady cage around us dropped to the ground and the shadows reformed and charged.

My knees trembled and nearly faltered. I felt helpless and didn’t know what to do, my stamina was spent and I was seriously hurt. Again. Damn it all to hell and back, I might as well try to hit one manually. Again. I fumbled for a bunch of energy torrents but before I could bend my aching back a dark-blue bolt of energy followed my father’s command and shot by my left side smashing into the closest shadow. It was lifted off its feet and carried along. Spell and shadow crashed into a wall and the ball of energy grew, swallowing the shadow and turning into a matte black colour. It didn’t reflect the light but seemed to swallow it, a perfect prison. Simultaneously a white flash of light charged down from the same window I had smashed previously and slammed into the remaining three, incinerating one on the spot and blowing the other two away. They tumbled through the air until two white rays of lightning pierced their forms and reduced them to ash that drifted away into the night.

I gave in and collapsed to my knees, my eyes glued to Ahri’s glowing form, erect and steady despite the impact. Radiant white runes covered her cheeks, her wrists and her ankles. She had ripped away the lower part of her shirt and a turning, black spiral covered her navel. Energy coursed through the formation and pulsed through her body. Her eyes were solemn and her palms still shimmered with white light where the lightning had originated. “Thank you,” I smiled. She turned to me and her eyes roamed over my body, lingering on my hunched posture and unmoving wings. She gave me a wary grin: “You gave me more than two minutes.” We were interrupted when my mom threw her arms around me from behind and pressed me into her chest.

“By the great fox, Cassy, Ahri! Thank you so much. You saved us! But… but how did you get back into the palace? And where is your brother?” I could feel Adams small body tucked in somewhere behind me. He squirmed but didn’t cry. He was probably spelled into a trance. “Helena, let the girl breath, she can’t even stand,” my father injected.

“No, I’m fine. Mordred should be behind you, somewhere in the barracks. I’d head towards the battle noise. Go, run and help him! There can’t be too many shadows left. Leave mom and Adam with me, we’ll catch up in a minute.” I couldn’t make my body move but somehow we had to help Mordred. It would be better if I stayed back while Ahri and my dad rushed ahead. I half expected my father to overrule me but with a nod he dashed towards the dark entrance behind him, blue magic at his fingertips. Ahri hesitated for a moment, clearly reluctant to leave me behind in my condition. I was really glad she cared for me so much, but that wasn’t the time, I still had mom and Mordred was fighting at the moment. “Just go, I’ll be fine, I promise.” I added while I pushed on her thighs: “I won’t die before we had a chance to chat. You won’t get out of it this easily.” That made her smile for real and she sprinted after my father, runes ablaze. With the starry sky above and whirls of smoke clinging to her figure I thought she looked beautiful like a goddess and maybe just as powerful. If only she had fiery wings and crystal blue eyes… With an effort I pulled myself back to reality.

My mom still clung to my back. I squirmed lightly to get her to ease off and I managed to get enough room to turn around on my knees. She looked dreadful, her hair in disarray with gashes and burn marks all over her dress. She had a nasty cut on her right arm but seemed unharmed otherwise. Adam was tightly pressed to her side, one of her tails supporting him from below. He was dozing peacefully, snot running down his nose and into the fur on my mother’s tail while he snored. I placed my hand lightly on his head and kissed my mother on the cheek.

“I am glad you are alright. Is Eva…” I mumbled into her ear but I couldn’t finish my sentence, my voice choked off. Her eyes were full of sorrow and regret but remained dry while she nodded.

“They came, minutes after you had left. One second we were talking and the next the protective enchantments around the room lit up. Your father and I jumped to our feet while his guards charged into the room. 2 of these… things appeared and Albert pushed me to the kitchen while the guards distracted them. One was already there and he had… he had torn her to shreds!” Her voice caught for a moment but when she continued it was steady again: “I don’t know how to hurt them, so I bound it with my strongest spell. But wherever my magic touched the thing it dissolved. I had bought us some time though, so we grabbed Adam and ran for the barracks. A squadron of guards was fighting multiple of these monsters in the throne room. I wanted to help but your father pulled me back and we got out through a window.” She took a deep breath and finished: “One of them saw us and they were after us before the last guard dropped. A couple more came form the servant’s wing and the rest you know.” A tear trickled down my cheek but I didn’t have time to grieve for Eva and the dead. Neither did my mom. That would come later.

“Mordred and I were attacked on the training grounds but we pulled through. Henry and Robert didn’t. When we got back to the palace, Greta had blown off part of the wall while defending Ahri. I left my brother and headed there directly. Greta is fine but unconscious, she used too much soul energy and is suffering from backlash. Ahri did cast some form of protection over her before she followed me into the courtyard.” I took a moment to sort through what had happened and continued: “These things are shadows, animated soul energy if you so will. They are hard to kill but I think the only ones left in our palace should be in the barracks. I can stand again, but I can’t fight. What about you?”

“I can still fight but my magic can’t compete with soul based creatures. We will stay outside and wait for our family. Warn them if we see more shadows around. Between your father, brother, Ahri and how ever many guards are still alive, I’m sure they’ll manage. Turn around, let me see your back.” I didn’t protest. She was right, I wasn’t any help to anyone at the moment and Ahri and my dad had proven that they were more than capable to deal with a few shadows. I turned my back to her and concentrated on the distant sounds, reaching me from across the courtyard.

It wasn’t the usual battle noise of steel on steel but rather muffled grunts and the rumbling of spells. While my mother examined my back the noises suddenly culminated in a resounding thunder clap that shook the walls and set the windows ringing. White light interspersed with blue specks flooded through the ground floor of the barracks and blew out the windows. We were thrown to the ground and struggled to not fall onto Adam. When my ears stopped ringing, the barracks were ablaze and six figures strode towards us, out of the flaming inferno.