An angel’s road to hell

57. Of connections, grief and a little distraction

Cassandra Pendragon

My energy danced along the edges of my wing, sparkling brightly. I strained and fought and with a final shove I pushed a tiny mote of silvery light into her. Her carbuncle sealed instantly, silver and gold mixing in an iridescent fountain of magic while she absorbed what I had offered. Blinding flashes of lightning crackled along her skin and I felt a growing pressure in the air like static electricity. I didn’t want her to damage the ship even more, so I wrapped her tightly in my wings, pulled my tail away from the girl that still clung to it and soared into the sky. I kept her close and through the silvery veil I could see more and more energy circulating through her while the first physical changes manifested.

Her hair became shot through with streaks of blue and silver, her skin kept its lustre but a distinct silvery sheen blinked from behind the gaps in the cocoon I had covered her with and a glowing mark appeared on her forehead, shining like a star in the night sky. It was only visible for the shortest amount of time before it melted back into her skin but I had seen it clearly, a stylised version of my wings, 16 to the left, 16 to the right and one below arranged in a tight V. Her eyes flew open, the dark slits within the puddle of gold had become silver as well and power radiated out. She opened her mouth and exhaled deeply, a silvery fog with sparks of gold left her mouth and was blown away by the wind. Her gaze fixed on me and the same sweet voice I had heard before sounded in my mind, faint but much more lively: “thank you.” She closed her eyes again and I felt her relax into my wings, her tension simply vanished and I was sure the corners of her mouth curled into a small smile. Her fragile state and delicate appearance made we want to protect her, I felt a connection with the girl, born from the magic that now connected us or from something else I couldn’t say. Hesitantly but carefully I heaved her up into my arms and studied her face closely for the first time.

Large eyes with slanted eyebrows dominated her features and pointy ears poked through her long, wavy hair that now showed three different, interchanging colours. She had a small mouth but her smile allowed the point of a canine to slightly poke out. Her nose was slim and rather narrow, maybe even a little pointy but I thought it looked cute on her. When I slung my arms around her and her soft skin touched mine for the fist time, the mark on her forehead appeared again for the fracture of a second and I felt a tickle in the depth of my mind. A name, Viyara, suddenly fluttered through my thoughts. I could feel her, just within reach if I strained myself a little but her thoughts were empty, her consciousness sleeping except for a shaky feeling of hope that warmed my heart. I pulled her closer and slowly descended towards the ship and the gawking army of shorties.

The deck had filled, Ahri was back on her feet, smiling at me while I headed for her and Reia and her group of pioneers had returned with a couple of bags, a pink crystal and some parchments. Most of the kids were chewing on something while they watched me and I could see one or the other head over to the bags and grab a couple of dried fruits or meat. Water hadn’t been an issue since there were several huge barrels on deck, regularly filled when it rained. I landed as gently as possible to not wake my breathing burden and kissed Ahri’s cheek.

“Are you still hurt?” I asked while I carefully lowered Viyara to the ground. She clung to my hand stubbornly and I had to use a little force to pry her fingers open. She mumble in her sleep and groped around for something to hold on to. With a sigh I straightened and brushed one of my tails along her arm until she grabbed it tightly and snuggled into the soft fur. Ahri was watching us with a faint smirk but when I looked up again she quickly kissed me and tried to hide her amusement.

“Just a little shaken but I’m not injured anymore. What about you? Did you just tame a dragon?” I smiled at her.

“I wanted to surprise you with a tale of my heroics but if you already talked to the kids I’d have to stick to the truth and that’s not very exciting. I have no clue what happened, she appeared, was hurt and I tried to help her, maybe not in the most traditional way possible. She was cursed, I’d say, and I cleansed her but I also damaged her carbuncle. To fix it I fed her some of my energy and she changed, a little.”

“Right, not exciting at all, just another Monday. So while I was out, you cleared the ship, broke the curse on a dragon and forced a spark of transcendence into a mortal creature. Anything else I should know?”

“Well, we might also be well on our way to lose the flying stone and I have not the foggiest in which direction we might head to find land but that’s about it.” She groaned.

“I have an idea, though. Most of the children know a little magic and if they work together they might keep the stone I’m one piece or maybe even repair it. If our sleeping beauty wakes up she should also be able to help, dragon and all that.” Ahri cocked an eyebrow and looked at Viyara’s hands still stuck on my tail.

“Our sleeping beauty?” I snorted in response.

“Right, as if you would leave her if I wasn’t around. She’s not dangerous, Ahri, she’s hurt and scared, something I can completely sympathise with.”

“I know, that’s one of the reasons I love you.” She kissed me again, this time tenderly but with passion.

“I’ll look after her, you go talk to the kids and check out what they found. Maybe you could send the healer along, Archy, wasn’t it?” I nodded.

“I’ll talk to him but I think he’s ready to collapse, he kept Viyara, that’s her name,” I pointed at the girl in answer to Ahri’s questioning look, “alive and healed you. I don’t think he’s got much left but I’ll certainly ask. Do you think you can keep them busy for a moment? I’d like to try and wake Mephisto, we could really use his help.”

“Sure, but talk to them first, answer some questions and tell them about Viyara, calm them a little.”

“Come with me? Most of them don’t know you yet, or have you already talked to the whole gang?” She shook her head. “Fine, just give me a second.” She scooped Viyara into her arms and angled her in a way that allowed the girl to keep her hands on my tail. I had to smile, Ahri had always taken care of people around her but that amount of consideration warmed me to my core. I slung another tail around Ahri’s waist while we made our way over to the group. The eyes of most of the older boys were glued to the naked girl in Ahri’s arms but the rest of them were waiting for us curiously, I could even see Archy struggling with his little sister to keep her from rushing towards us. They appeared much more steady and calm, the fright the dragon had caused all but forgotten with a few scraps of food. Children truly were resilient. I took a moment to count them and said:

“Everyone alright?” A couple of nods and shrugs were all I got until Reia opened her mouth:

“We found some food and a bunch of maps. The crystal was stored with the maps so we brought it along as well. Nothing happened, we didn’t get hurt but no one wanted to stay on the lowest floor either. It smells of blood and the corpses are creepy so we all came back up together.”

“That’s fine, you didn’t happen to stumble across some clothes along the way?” Reia gave me a nod.

“There were some in the captain’s cabin, I can go fetch them if you want.”

“Sure, thanks.” She turned around on the sport and vanished through the door. Before the sound of her feet on the stairs could fade away she was back already, a frilly shirt and black trousers in her hand. Ahri and I took a moment to stuff Viyara into the shirt, covering at least her most essential parts and allowing the boys to focus, somewhat. When Archy’s sister saw that Viyara still  held on to my tail tightly she squealed and tore herself lose from her brother to charge me. I laughed and picked the bundle of energy up to place her on my hip. She grabbed one of my tails immediately and contently played with my fur. Somehow I had a feeling that both girls would stay with me for quite some time. The thought filled me with warmth and gave me enough courage to start speaking again.

“Now that we have a moment, I think it’s time to tell you why I’m here and what happened back home. This is Ahri and she has been with me through all of it…” I told them what they had to know. I didn’t go into detail but I didn’t hide the truth either. The next 15 minutes where maybe the hardest of my life, assuring them that their families couldn’t possibly have survived. There is a special form of pain when you’re forced to snuff out the hope of people you care for or in my case were responsible for. It hurt when the first tears welled up and I had to focus to not join them when they started to cry, it didn’t take long until they were clinging to one another. Siblings stuck together and Ahri and I quickly collected the ones without living relatives and gathered them close. We tried to comfort them as well as we could but it was only a pale imitation of what they actually were due, the loving touch of parents and the security of a home waiting for them. It felt dreadfully inadequate to hug them or pat their backs but it was the best I could do.

Some of them surprised me, though. A couple of the older ones, especially Reia and Archy were teary eyed but much more collected than I would have thought. It felt like they had already known and I was simply the messenger of news they had expected. It made me shiver to see their youth end before my eyes and once again my resolve surged to not allow what had happened to go unpunished. The emperor would pay and if I didn’t like his story, so would Amazeroth I vowed and my core reacted. Brighter than the other two a third band of energy weaved itself through me and bound me to my words. A bitter smile appeared on my face. As if I had needed another reason.

Sometime while I had still been talking Viyara had stirred awake but she hadn’t opened her eyes. Instead she had remained perfectly still, listening to my voice and absently stroking my tail. Her movements were small enough that I wouldn’t have realised she was with us again if I hadn’t felt her mind sluggishly stirring at the edges of my perception. Muffled images trickled through our link and I felt her anxiety grow but I tried to ignore it. We would have time to talk, soon. Also, I couldn’t possibly imagine what  I could say to her, given that I was still trying to comfort the other kids. I really didn’t learn.

I was in the middle of another group hug when I felt everyone around me stiffen and pure dread radiated through my connection to Viyara. I was at a loss and I tentatively focused on the scared dragon while I tried to capture Ahri’s gaze. She was white as a sheet and when she caught me staring she silently pointed her finger upwards. Two things happened simultaneously: images of a devil incarnate clad in black scales flooded my mind and a hellish roar pierced the sky. Somewhere above us a black, winged menace had spotted its prey. The next moment a torrent of emotions crushed into me, jumbled and incoherent but I understood enough that I could make an educated guess at who was circling through the sky. We were so screwed.

I didn’t have a plan but I knew that if we waited until he’d reach us, we would have to mourn yet another bunch of killed kitsune and I wasn’t willing to accept that. With a little force I extracted myself from the kids and took a hurried step backwards, my physical connection to Viyara broke but I could still feel her presence. Ahri looked at me, terrified but determined. Her wings flared out.

“I’m coming with you.” I had to suppress a curse.

“No, you’re not. One of us has to stay, get the kids working on the ship and figure out a direction while the other distracts that… thing. And frankly, I like my odds much better than yours.” She puffed out her chest, ready to argue but surprisingly Viyara opened her eyes, they were a fascinating mixture of silver and gold, and raised a hand to touch Ahri’s cheek. I didn’t know what went on between them but after a moment Ahri’s attention returned to me and she slumped a little. “Stay safe and come back to me,” she all but whispered. I leaned forward and gently kissed her cheek. After a short hesitation I also hugged the little dragon girl and shot off into the sky. I was pissed enough to actually look forward to a little tussle with a dragon but my excitement only held for as long as it took me to channel energy into my eyes. With a small twitch the hovering monstrosity became sharp.

He, I assumed it was a he from what I had felt form Viyara, was longer than our ship and his wings blocked out the sun when I approached from below. His scales were thick and sturdy but they didn’t shimmer or reflect the sunlight, instead they had a sort of matte glow which made them appear nearly indestructible. His body was immense, with a long and sinewy neck and a snake-like tail. His arms and legs were drawn against his torso but I could still see the magnificent strength that ran through each limb. The bat-like wings weren’t translucent and seemed much more rigid and durable than I would have expected. His head was hideous. Two long horns curled down from his forehead on either side and framed a sunken face that clearly showed the lines of the skull. His eyes were dots of an even darker colouration, almost as if I’d go blind if I focused on them. His thin lips were curled back in a sneer to reveal an impressive jaw filled with razor-sharp teeth, their ivory sheen bright against his black scales. He could swallow me whole and would still have room to spare. What had I been thinking?

Well, I had come to distract him so I might as well get down to business. Swallowing my fear and silencing the small voice in my head that told me I was about to commit the worst and last mistake of my life I went and wiped the smirk of his ugly face. My vision turned silvery and I appeared in front of his maw, my wings spread wide. Without taking the time to second guess myself I slammed the better part of them into his eyes and down his nostrils while I simultaneously tried to clamp his maw shut with the rest. His grin vanished immediately, that was the good news. The bad news was that I was nowhere near strong enough to keep my hold on his snout. With a terrifying roar that rattled my bones and set my ears ringing he simply shrugged off the wings I had used to muzzle him and flung a stream of pitch black flames my way. I was much too close to dodge and my wings were either stuck or flailing around his maw uselessly. I took the brunt of his breath and while the magic didn’t harm me it still felt like a condensed hurricane had slammed into my chest. A condense hurricane that smelled of rot and decay I might add. I tumbled through the air helplessly before I managed to stabilise my fall and pull myself into a gentle arc to face him again.

Blood, dark enough to nearly appear black streamed from his eyes and nostrils and I couldn’t suppress a grin as I watched him thrash about, blinded and in pain. I even tried to laugh but the movement brought tears to my eyes as soon as I strained my chest. His attack had hurt me more than I had thought. All mirth forgotten I focused back on my foe, this had been only the beginning.