An angel’s road to hell

26. Of duties, plans and a little bit of trickery (2)

Cassandra Pendragon

It turned out that waiting wasn’t the best thing I could have done. My imagination ran wild and the longer I waited the worse it became. I worried about my family, my friends, if my conjecture had been correct. I knew it was pointless, second guessing was never helpful, but I couldn’t make myself stop. Pictures of my loved ones slain, rotten or branded and bound to the emperor haunted my mind. My gaze roamed over the fires below and I wondered how many had died. Would our home survive, even if we did? So much had changed in so little time. I couldn’t remember who had said it but a quote I had read came to mind: there is only one thing I know about war: one side loses, one side wins and nothing remains the same. The flames of hatred and greed, once ignited, change the world we walk on.

As I watched a large cherry tree collapse, its trunk and roots burned and charred, and send a shower of sparks into the air, I felt the meaning. Whatever was going to happen tonight, our kingdom would change. We would either be gone or we would have lost our innocence, death and destruction warping our peaceful and rather naive society. I stroked Adam’s head, feeling his warmth and soft strands of hair. What was he going to say when he woke up without his mother? Would he be okay? He surely wouldn’t but maybe he would be able to heal. Grieve welled up inside me and my vision swam for a moment. It just wasn’t fair. There was no point in rushing down that rabbit hole, but I couldn’t stop myself from raging against the injustice of it all. Why did we all have to suffer because of one depraved, old man who clung to life longer than he should have? Was it fate, coincidence or something else? So many things had had to come together, the Arete family on this planet and Amazeroth who had tagged along after them, the rebirth of an angel and finally my brother who had had to be the one to stumble upon the portal. It could have been anyone, a trader or explorer would have even been much more likely, but no, it had had to be him. Like the guiding hands of the Nornir a storm had set the stage and blown together all the pieces for this tragedy. If Mordred hadn’t crashed, nothing would have happened. It wasn’t his fault, but I still felt resentful, especially since guilt gnawed at me as well. If I hadn’t been here, the emperor would never have invested so much to gain control of our kingdom. Maybe I should just leave when all this was over? Crap, that sure as hell wasn’t something I wanted to contemplate, ever, but especially not now. With an effort I broke out of the vicious circle that had taken hold of my mind and focused back on reality.

More time had passed than I thought, the noises from the garden had calmed down and the stars above me had changed their positions. I scrutinised the palace and the dark branch behind, leading towards Boseiju’s trunk. At first, everything seemed quiet, but after a moment I could discern shadowy figures moving along the branch. They were completely silent, the only sign of their presence was the absence of light where it should normally have illuminated the branch. I couldn’t count their numbers, I didn’t see enough details, but from the size and amount of patches of blackness that roved along the branch, I estimated them to be much more numerous than the ones who had attacked us in the first place. It was time.

I hung around for a little longer, my intention was to wait until the shadows had either entered the palace or were on the grounds. Then I would use the crystal and glide down to the dwarfs. Anxiously I peered through the canopy, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to fly directly into a swarm of shadows. Fires were still raging through the garden, but I couldn’t see any more fights. The dwarfs had separated, some staying with the wounded, some guarding the entrances and some heading directly for the stairs to Boseiju. I couldn’t wait any longer.

I sent a thought into the crystal: ‘they are coming. I’m off,’ and unfurled my wings. I could feel them flutter behind me and for a moment I was tempted to pass over the shadows and wreak as much havoc as I possibly could. I would have done if I had been alone. But I had to protect Adam, I wasn’t going to risk his life to satisfy my anger. I pulled him closer and leapt backwards, away from the branch. Gravity tore at my body and we tumbled downwards through clouds of ash and smoke. Tears obscured my sight and the lower we fell, the more the temperature rose. The air was thick and heavy, smelling of burned wood with a hint of charred flesh. I had to fight the urge to vomit and pressed Adam more tightly into my chest. When we dropped out of the lowest branches, I pushed against the air currents and took control of our fall. I swerved to the right and headed for the troupe of dwarfs that was moving towards the stairs.

As I passed under the branch of the first family, my instincts kicked in and I barrel rolled to the right, narrowly dodging a round projectile that came flying down from the first palace. I couldn’t make out what it was but it sped past me and smashed into the hastily raised shields of the dwarfs below. I could hear the sound of the impact, followed by their raised voices but the wind blew away their words before I could decipher them.

When I was less than 20 meters above them, I used all of my wings to break our momentum. We still tumbled through the air for another 10 meters before I managed to slow our descent enough to land safely. With a thud I came down in front of the tallest dwarf, judging by the way the others had turned towards him as soon as they had spotted me, I thought he was the leader. He was around 145 cm tall, with a width that rivalled his height. With armour I’d put him at over 100 kgs. He had long, auburn hair and an impressive moustache of the same colour. He didn’t wear a helmet but the rest of his body was hidden below a layer of plated mithril, smeared with soot. The Metal was covered in runes which shimmered slightly. He held a massive crossbow in his hands, the bolt pointed at my heart unwaveringly.

“Oi, lads, look out, the birds are flying low tonight! And what kind of bird would drop down on me and me boys? Wings, pretty face, glowing eyes, delicate body and four tails to boot. You wouldn’t happen to be the third palace’s princess, would you, lass?” His eyes roamed over my features and I could see him smile but he never dropped his aim. I hadn’t had much contact with the dwarfs until now, but I knew their leader was named Xorlosh and supposedly he was a hot head who had been forced to leave his home because he had tried and succeeded to charm the daughter of a major noble in the dwarven kingdom. But this was probably not the best time to bring up that tidbit of information. I bowed as graciously as I could with a toddler in my arms and said:

“My name is Cassandra Pendragon, first daughter and third child of the palace of the moon. In the name of every kitsune on this island, thank you. Thank you for everything you and your people have done. But I’m afraid I have to ask for even more. The palaces above are on the brink of annihilation and we need help if we want to see the sun rise again.” My gaze roamed around the garden and over the bodies, laid out near the edge. Some were short and squat and I added: “I know I have no right to ask anything of you, especially after all you have already sacrificed, but we need you direly. Will you help us?”

“What a stilted speech. You gotta work on your people skills, lass.” He lowered his crossbow. “But don’t you fret, me ‘n the lads never quit before a job is done. Why don’t you tell me what has happened and why heads are being thrown me way?” I was slightly confused until Xorlosh gestured and one of his comrades handed the projectile that I had narrowly dodged to the front. It was Helios’ head, mutilated beyond recognition except for his flowing locks and the diadem, smashed into his skull. I had to close my eyes for a moment as nausea welled up again but I managed. With a deep breath I started talking. I disclosed everything I knew, except for Amazeroth’s involvement and my demonic mentor. It didn’t change a thing and I didn’t want it to be public knowledge that I walked around with a demon in my pocket.

After I had finished, Xorlosh grinned widely: “did you hear that lads? It’s not only a fucking soul slaver but an ancient one from a different country and an emperor, too! Tonight we have a chance to write history!” The dwarfs clashed their weapons against their shields and the pure sound resonated through the garden. Were they crazy? Before I had a chance to think about a reply he continued: “there are ‘couple o’ things you should know and tell your father. I don’t know how, but the baddy got ‘em human merchants on his side. They have been givin’ me and the boys a run for our money but I reckon we got ‘em all. One ‘s over there with the injured, nicely packed and trimmed. We can have a talk with him later on. But there’s something else you gotta know. ‘Em merchants have been out for prisoners. They took quite a lot of children with ‘em before the lads could run ‘em off. Don’t panic, I stuck three of me boys to ‘em, they will know where they are headed, but for now we have to wrap this party up. Can you contact your da? Would be nice to know what’s going on up there.” That children had been kidnapped had had me reeling, but Xorlosh was right. If we were still around tomorrow, we would get them back. For now, we had to make sure we would have the chance. I nodded but instead of using the crystal I handed it over to Xorlosh. “Maybe it would be for the best if the two of you talked directly for a moment. I’ll use the time to check on the injured and maybe estimate how many we have lost.”

A dwarf behind Xorlosh with a massive black drum strapped to his front raised his hand like a school boy and said with a slight blush: “if I may, your highness, we lost 19 dwarfs and counted 246 dead kitsune. 64 fox people are still alive over there and the merchants took at least 27 children. All the shadows down here have been returned to their maker and we slew 97 of these bastard merchants, the rest have fled before our wrath.” I nearly broke down then and there. 246 dead, 27 missing and the demons only knew how many corpses waited for me back up on Boseiju. Our home had been burned, our people had been culled cruelly to a degree that even if everything went perfectly from now on, I still wasn’t sure if we would be able to rebuild with so few of us left. My only hope was that the emperor would want new servants after he had sacrificed his old ones. It stood to reason that a large number of royal kitsune were branded and not dead. As my gaze returned to Helios’ severed head, I realised what a feeble kind of hope I was clinging to. I wanted to cry, to scream or to hurt somebody, nothing of which would do me any good right now so I bottled my emotions once again. I was really starting to dread the first time I would have to sleep after tonight. Never the less I answered steadily and calmly:

“Once again thank you for your steadfast support. Your dead will never be forgotten. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I am grateful we have you all by our side.” I bowed again and added: “the dwarfs of the mines have proven that their worth and valour far surpasses even the boldest legends.” I turned to Xorlosh: “please, contact my father, tell him what happened down here. I’ll talk to my people. The ones who are still able will want to fight and I have to care for the others.” He took a step towards me and a heavy hand landed on my shoulder: “lass, let it out. Take a walk and cry all you want, bring down some of these burning trees if you feel like it. And when you talk to your people, don’t ever let them know how hurt you are. They need you, whole and hearty, not the stooped girl I see before me now. That’s the burden of leadership, while others give up, you laugh and joke until the very end so that your people may cling to hope far longer than it would be reasonable. You did well until now, get your head on straight before you fuck up.”

Huh, maybe he wasn’t crazy but rather wise. Funny how close these two things were from time to time. I nodded, turned away without a further word and headed for a burned out part of the garden.

When I was alone and far enough away from everyone else, I let lose. I lashed out with my wings while tears started running down my face. I broke charred wood and smashed the blackened earth. I cried and screamed, I saw the faces of everyone whose death I had been forced to witness in the flames and trees, I heard the ripping sound again with which Robert’s head had been torn from his body, my imagination made me live through the battle in our throne room where so many of our guards had breathed their last. And through it all I saw a blurry face, I imagined it with a crown formed of skulls on its head, laughing at me, mocking my inability to protect what I cared for. I hurled myself at the emperor and smashed everything to dust wherever his visage would appear. I raged against him and against a cruel fate until I slowly felt the turmoil within me subside, replaced by a deadly calmness.

I had been there before, it wasn’t the first time I had seemingly been down and beaten, of this I was as sure as I could be. And it wouldn’t be the last time, hell, I was an angel! I would rip the emperor to shreds and make him rue the day when he decided to tangle with my family! If he so desperately wished to meet me, I would happily oblige. I was going to eradicate even the last trace of his presence from my home, I would save the children and then I would go looking for him. And when I found him, I wasn’t going to bother with elaborate plans. I would burn his soul into oblivion, the same way he had tried to burn the garden. His deeds wouldn’t go unpunished, of that I’d make sure.

All around me the trees had been reduced to splinters, the earth had been torn open and the fires were out. I didn’t know exactly what I had done, but I felt better. I even managed a teary smile while I cleaned off my sweaty, soot covered face. I straightened my shoulders, took a deep breath and headed for the remaining kitsune. I had people to take care of and an ancient tree to take by storm.