An angel’s road to hell

59. Of misunderstandings, shortcomings and a little bit of teamwork

Cassandra Pendragon

“Before we go for another round, are you by any chance able to talk?” My voice was hoarse, somewhere along the line I must have screamed more than I had realised. Which was one of the reasons I tried to communicate, I needed a break. The other reason was that he had already started to shove his instincts away and to actually think about what he was doing. He wouldn’t come after me blindly anymore if his circling was any indication at all. He was looking for an advantage.

He stiffened and I thought he was about to attack but instead I felt a tingling of magic in the air. Sound waves manifested seemingly out of nowhere and a cold, grating voice rolled over me like a wave. Pressure mounted in my ears and I had to actively strengthen them to prevent injuries and deal with the onslaught. I might even have gone cross eyed for a moment.

“Why are you opposing me?” Pure malice and distain oozed through his words and battered against my mind but he wasn’t rushing at me and I took that as a win. It took me a moment to unclench my jaw and reply without a tremor in my voice. His words had been powerful. I was tempted to antagonise him and try to get his temper up again but that hadn’t been working out too well for me. For now I thought I might actually go with a serious attempt at conversation.

“You attacked me and mine and I am not going to stand by idly while those I care for are in danger. Which makes me wonder, why did you come for us?” I already had a pretty good idea why he had done it but I shouldn’t know from his point of view and I wasn’t going to willingly offer that tidbit of information.

“You have something that belongs to me. Even now I can feel her in the distance and I want her back. Give me the girl and I might spare you and your slaves.” Slaves? What the… well, I wasn’t going to enlighten him who or what we were but it was probably pointless to deny Viyara’s presence, especially if he had been able to feel her all along. Furthermore he would be able to find us, no matter how far away we got if he could really sense her. Fear clawed at my insides as I frantically thought about what I could do. Killing him would be the easiest solution but I didn’t see that happening, not without a lot of luck. If push came to shove I might try to trick him closer to the water and pray that one of the gargantuan sea creatures would finish the job for me. Or I might try to guess where the dwarven ship was and hope that their weapons were able to do what I couldn’t but both options seemed rather unlikely. Maybe I could bargain?

“I can’t, no, I won’t. If there is nothing else on your mind we will have to continue the way we started.” To emphasise my point I sent just enough energy into my wings to make them crackle and flare with silvery light. It wasn’t enough to tax my already strained meridians but the fireworks were still impressive, or at least I hoped so.

The air around me shook from an icy laughter that emanated from deep within his chest and sent shivers down my spine. He had the cruel predator routine down to a T and I couldn’t help myself, I had to look at his immense fangs again and swallowed dryly, which didn’t escape him. The laughter boomed out even more loudly but his words reached me clearly none the less, another aspect of the magic he used to speak.

“You impress me, hatchling. But this has gone on long enough, as much as I admire your courage. You’re nearly spent and while I freely admit that you managed to hurt me, we both know how this is going to end. I’ll find a way to crush you, or if I don’t, you will still falter long before me. I shall dine on your essence and the one you seek to shelter will be mine either way. Spare yourself, you’re young, there is no need to die for the first dragon who caught your fancy. Surrender her and I promise I won’t seek revenge, you and your slaves could still see another sunrise.”

My thoughts were stumbling over one another while I tried to puzzled out everything he had said. He had called me hatchling, a term not necessarily of endearment but recognition as a legitimate dragon child. The way he had talked about my slaves and that Viyara had caught my fancy convinced me that he actually thought I was a dragon as well, maybe in a shaped form. He was also lying through his fangs. No idea how he had arrived at that conclusion but if he judged me a dragon, he knew I would never willingly surrender what I thought of as mine and if he forced me I’d seek revenge as soon as I’d be strong enough. He couldn’t possibly let me go unless he was dumber than a tree which I doubted. He had already proven that even in an enraged state he still retained a modicum of cunning and he appeared rather calm right now. Maybe he was even faking his exhaustion. Then why talk to me at all? My tails curled up, oh crap, he was distracting me with loud sounds and his creepy voice, the magic he invoked would even cover traces of other spells he might be trying to form. I teleported as far as I could go and then I vanished again and again. In the blink of an eye I had covered over 100 meters and my meridians protested heavily but when I looked back at the spot where I had been, I was really glad I hadn’t hesitated.

A glowing orb, formed of fire and obsidian, maybe 10 meters in diameter, hung in the air, spinning slowly. It hid me from his view temporarily but the whole thing freaked me out. Veins of greenish energy raced across its surface and while I watched, the veins pulsed, once, twice and with a deafening thunderclap the orb exploded and sent a deadly wave of shrapnel through the air. If I had still been in there, I’d have become a bloody mist. Fear flooded through me and I immediately channeled energy into my mind to give me a little more time to think.

If I wanted to face him I’d have to get close enough to cut his spells to shreds before they could activate and I’d have to be quick enough to do that while dodging his tail, wings, claws and fangs.  And that was assuming I could even perceive everything he’d throw at me. With the amount of pain that already coursed between my core and wings I knew I wouldn’t be able to channel enough energy without breaking down to even attempt such a feat. Tricking him back into a battle rage seemed equally unlikely, considering he had managed to pull himself out of the last one and apparently understood that I wasn’t going to succumb to mindless attacks easily. If I tried to flee he’d be forced to decide whom to hunt, me or Viyara. He’d probably go for me at first until he’d realise that he couldn’t catch me. Then he’d turn around and kill everyone he’d find to punish me. If I retracted my wings and tried to play dead, trusting in the explosion and distance to hide me from him, the wave of shrapnel would turn me into a sieve. There was just no way. I could try to save myself but then I’d most likely doom the kids and Ahri would die trying to protect them. Viyara’s fate I didn’t even dare imagine.

Apparently push had come to shove and I was eying the sea below me anxiously. Even from up high I could see the immense waves that roiled over the surface and I thought I saw a gargantuan shadow linger for a moment before it vanished into the depth again but that had most likely been wishful thinking. My chances of luring him down there and finding something dangerous enough to take down a dragon without swallowing me just as well were pretty slim and I really didn’t want to try it. The dwarfs were even more unlikely, I didn’t know which direction I would have to go and I couldn’t warn them. Without preparation I couldn’t imagine how they’d take down a grown, pissed and frustrated dragon. If I could somehow communicate with them… huh, I couldn’t talk to them but the tattoo on my chest had allowed me to take Ahri along while I teleported and had allowed her to warn me when the mage had tried to blow up the flying stone. It had also made it possible for Viyara to reach me telepathically even before I had used a spark of my power to fix her up. And now I could feel Viyara’s presence, admittedly very faintly, the added distance didn’t exactly help, but there was something at the edges of my mind. Maybe I could reach one or both of them and we could figure out a way to save all of our tails.

I waited until the first shards of glass were about to rip through my skin and then I teleported forwards, twice, directly into the centre of the explosion. Chaotic flares of life force and mana were still tearing at one another but they didn’t touch me and the shrapnel was gone. I thought I’d have a moment before the dragon would spot me again so I took a deep breath, shoved my fear and the pain from my meridians away and closed my eyes. But instead of allowing my silvery vision to form, I focused on the very edges of my perception, the slight glow of Viyara and the bright spirit of Ahri I hoped I’d find.

It was actually pretty easy. At first there was a soft tug, surprisingly it led me away from Viyara’s presence and when I tried to follow it, it felt like I passed through a door and warmth flooded through me when I heard Ahri’s voice: “Cassandra? What’s happening, are you hurt?” An involuntary smile spread across my face, I hadn’t even realised how much I had missed her and the emotions she didn’t voice but I could still feel through our connection did more for me than an army of healers could have done. “Love you, too. I’m still in one piece, more or less but it’s a friggin dragon… I’m not doing too well…” panic raced through the link but before she had the chance to interrupt I continued. “Listen, is there anything all of you could do to kill him? Could you prepare a trap or an ambush that has a chance of working?”

I could feel her bottling away her fear: “can you wait a minute? I need to talk to Viyara and possibly some of the kids but if I’m honest...” I knew perfectly well that it wasn’t likely that they’d find a solution.

“I don’t have a minute, I’ll have to move much sooner. Just ask them and try to somehow get in contact with the dwarfs, they might be able to help. Maybe I can somehow keep the link active…” this time she interrupted forcefully.

“You don’t have to. Go, survive, I’ll initiate the contact so you don’t have to spare the concentration. Please, stay safe, my love. I’ll be back in a minute.” She severed the connection. Well there wasn’t much more to be said, enough of our subconscious thoughts had been conveyed.

When I opened my eyes again, practically no time had passed, the turbulent energies around me were dispersing but still danced brightly around my figure and hid me from view. I was still battered and strained but the short connection to Ahri had done wonders for my courage. I had to buy more time for now, so maybe I should just remain here for as long as possible? That was no good, if I wanted to be able to teleport or use my second vision I’d have to spread my wings out of the epicentre and into full view. I wouldn’t be able to see him if he was further away than 33 meters and he would know exactly where I was. Additionally I didn’t think that my protective bubble of volatile forces would remain for much longer and the dragon would surely check here first, if he couldn’t find me after the dust had settled. Time to move.

Downwards struck me as the best direction, it was unlikely that he’d be willing to put himself into a vulnerable position in case I had survived. He’d most likely be circling above so if I wanted to get as far away from him as I possibly could and make sure I wouldn’t appear close to his crushing jaws and ripping talons, downwards was my best choice. I vanished in a shower of sparks that were completely hidden by the lingering flashes of light and materialised with a groan about thirty meters below where the orb had been. My back and head pulsed with pain for a moment but luckily it quickly subsided. I was about 100 meters away from the black dragon who had turned his face away from the explosion but otherwise appeared unharmed. Right then and there I might have been able to get close without him realising but I hesitated, afraid to teleport again and the moment passed.

A pulse of magic reached me from the ancient Black and he immediately angled his body into a steep dive. Streams of black fire ran along his snout and danced over his horns, forming a dark halo around his head. My heart skipped a beat and I had to admit, the sight was fucking terrifying, especially when his chilling roar thundered through the air around me and pushed me even further down. I couldn’t meet his charge if wanted to see another day so I turned tails for the second time and rushed away from him in a gentle arc. I hoped my speed hadn’t suffered and that I could still outrun him, even though my meridians were complaining heavily but my wings at least didn’t feel any different. I had to be careful how much energy I channeled into them but for now I could move them freely enough and I soared through the sky faster than the fastest bird.

I allowed my second vision to overlay reality, turning everything in close range silvery while the rest retained its usual colours. I was looking for traces of magic that might be coming my way. If old fang face wanted to manipulate the elements around me again I would have to know before hand to stand a chance of getting out of the way. Even while I finished the thought, immense fluctuations of mana changed the structure of the world around me and I couldn’t help it, I had to teleport once again, straight ahead this time. This time I had to gasp heavily under the pressure, my back once again felt flayed. To make matters worse, the wily lizard had learned from the last time and I saw a veritable forest of spears, made of dark glass, manifest in the air and shoot towards my former location. At first I was pretty happy how that had turned out but I had been glad too early. When the spears suddenly changed direction and came rushing towards me with a shrill whistling sound, I felt like a soon to be kebab. There was no way between heaven and hell on which I could outrun them and the pulsing waves of agony that crept along my back and down my spine told me how much of a terrible idea another teleport would be. I was struggling to remain upright for crying out loud. To add insult to injury I could see another spell manifest above me and a glimmering net, black and flexible, fell from the sky. I’d be entangled within moments and the spears would easily finish me off if I couldn’t stop them.

With the courage of the damned I slung my wings through the mesh and pulled with everything my inured back would give me. I managed to whirl the falling death trap around and swipe it through the path of the spears but it cost me. I could fell rivulets of hot blood streaming down from the already punished skin between my wings and hot knives seemed to slowly dig through my back. I screamed to somehow stay atop the waves of pain while I watched his two spell constructs collide in a shower of broken glass and fiery sparks. A high pitched note sounded wherever one of the spears broke and a small explosion sent the pieces flying but I was too far away to be seriously threatened. A couple of small grazes appeared on my skin but that was nothing compared to the injuries I had inflicted on myself. Unless I found a way to replenish my body I’d be stuck with my wings and the strength I had left in my limbs. Even the amount of energy I used to amplify my mind and perception with was turning into a river of pain that flowed along my nerves and I had to cancel even that. His next spell was going to hit me.

Before I could panic though, warmth flooded from my chest and Ahri’s voice sounded in my mind: “Cassy? Fuck, what happened to you? Wait, I think I can take some of the strain… and Viyara had an idea.”