An angel’s road to hell

60. Of hints, connections and a little bit of morality

Cassandra Pendragon

While Ahri was talking a strange sensation travelled from the tips of my tails to my heart. The dull aches and fiery pain that had become more and more unbearable during my battle flowed along my limbs and seemingly left my body through the tattoo. I didn’t feel completely refreshed but I was much better off than a moment before. Ahri on the other hand was struggling.

Through our connection I felt a shadow of the agony she was in. Her voice wavered and slipped away from me but I clenched down on our connection and tried to pull her close again, if I had the chance I’d also take back the pain she was shouldering for me.

“Oh no, you don’t. Cassie… I’ll survive… let me help, if I can’t be there I’ll at least carry part of the burden…. Don’t be so damned stubborn!” I could feel her sincerity through our link and while she was suffering, I was sure she wasn’t actually in any real danger, at least not yet. The same couldn’t be said for me. Cursing colourfully I let go and allowed the tendrils of fire to fully spread through her body.

“Atta girl, that wasn’t too hard now, was it?” She all but whispered in my mind.

“You damned vixen, you have no idea! I can feel what’s happening to you, I can practically see you on the ground, panting! Don’t ever make me hurt you again, please.” The last sentence was more of a sob than an actual request but I could hardly concentrate. Admittedly, I had been in a tough spot but watching her deal with transcendent backlash I had cause nearly broke me. I felt her muscles cramping and hairline cracks appear all along her bones. I almost heard her heartbeat speed up when the skin around her wings cracked and blood started to flow. She wasn’t even able to channel her own energy yet but still she had taken on my burden willingly and now she was paying the price.

“Only if you never need me to, again.” Her mind was hazy with pain but her voice remained unwavering. I really loved that girl. “That’s the spirit. Don’t worry too much, Archy can look after me in a moment, I’ll be fine. But I don’t know if I have the strength to reach you again once the link breaks and I can’t say how much longer I can keep it open, so listen closely. Galathon, the dragon you have been fighting is ancient, well over 2000 years old. There isn’t much we can do to hurt him but there is maybe another way. Reia found a couple of maps and they were enough for Viyara to figure out where we are. We are still close to her father’s island, he was an ancient Gold, you should be able to reach it within a few hours. His hoard should still be there, whatever the reason Galathon hasn’t taken the time to plunder her home as far as we know. With the artefacts and enchantments hidden there you might actually stand a chance but you won’t know how to use them or even where to look. Which is why Viyara has already taken off, she is on her way to the island now, with a little help from the others Archy has patched her up nicely. She said you should be able to find her or rather your spark of energy within her. She’ll be waiting for you. But you two will need some time. You have to make sure Galathon isn’t hot on your heels when you arrive, 1 or 2 hours should be enough but you somehow have to get that head start.” I could feel her fighting to stay with me and her mind seemed to lose focus but with an effort she spoke again:

“Two more things: Viyara will need about 4 hours from now on to reach the island. Assuming your not too far away and that your faster than her I’d say you could get there in 2, maybe 3 but I don’t know for sure and I also don’t know how fast Galathon is. Head southwest and then just follow Viyara’s presence, you’ll get there. I won’t be able to help you out again, so please be careful and don’t use your abilities lightly, you’re pretty much stuck with whatever you have left. Also, Viyara has pointed us towards a little known island only a couple of hours away. If we work together me and the kids will keep the ship in one piece until we arrive. You can find us there when you return. I love you Cassandra, fly fast, stay safe.” Her voice trailed off and before I could respond darkness swallowed her mind and the connection slammed shut.

I hung in the air, frozen for a moment. I felt guilty for the pain I had caused Ahri, hopeful that there was a way for all of us to get out of this, anxious at the prospect of how I would delay Galathon and deal with him once we arrived on the island, weary that everything hinged on a girl I had met for maybe 60 seconds…. That was enough, I had things to do and a dragon to kill.

My back was still sore and my meridians felt somehow… rusty but I’d manage. My eyes started to glow brightly, I flared out my wings and tails, my attention snapped back on the hovering Black. He had seen the change in me and I could practically smell his confusion, I had gone from a hovering corpse to only slightly battered within an instant after all. The oversized bat had to be wondering if he had misjudged me severely and I could see his tail quiver while he drew his front legs closer to his chest. His eyes narrowed but no further spells came my way, instead his voice echoed out across the sky from a spell construct close to him:

“At least have the courtesy to show me your true form. You’re a Crystalline, I take it? Vain creatures, from what I’ve heard but I would never have imagined to meet a dragon who would hide behind a humanoid mask, even if she wasn’t from this world.” Shit, he was hinting at so much that I was sorely tempted to answer him simply to get a little more information out of him, but I could still see the remains of the conclusion of our last chat tumble towards the sea in a shower of dark glass. There was no way I’d risk him blindsiding me again. The only way I’d engage in a conversation again was if I knew for sure he would be interested enough in what I had to say to not attack me in the middle of a sentence. Maybe…

“I am no dragon, not even close,” I had to use a little energy to make my voice carry over the distance. “But I don’t see how it concerns you anyways. Dragon or no, before this day is over I’m going to make you bleed, again.” I saw a handful of strange expressions cross his skull like features but he was too far away and they changed to quickly for me to try to puzzle them out. I also didn’t have much experience reading scaly faces the size of a barn but I was fairly confident that one of them had been surprise and another rage, nobody likes taunts. One might question the wisdom of angering the flying, fire breathing, magic wielding and gargantuan lizard when I wanted to talk but I was certain he’d attack me the moment he thought I was even slightly weaker than I appeared. Also, in comparison to stuffing my wings down his throat and into his eyes, insults seemed rather tame, they wouldn’t make him lose his cool. All in all I thought a big mouth would get me farther than meek politeness.

“Don’t pretend, your wounds might have healed but I can still see the strain in your movements, even from here. I can smell your sweat and hear your heart pumping at a fast pace.” I really hoped he was bluffing even though he was spot on. “You surprised me again, but nothing has changed, except if you’re not a dragon we might still come to an understanding. Admittedly, you’re more than a nuisance and I’d prefer to not have to chase you to the ends of the earth. So here is what’s going to happen. I’m going to leave now and take what’s mine. If you let me be, I’ll spare your friends. If you come close I’ll fight you all of the way if I have to and then I’ll burn everything you hold dear while you cling to my hide. The ashes of your life will make a nice background to finish our battle.” Without a further word he turned around and winged away.

“Wait!” I screamed but he ignored me and pulled away with slow and rhythmic strokes of his obsidian wings. Damn it! My tails twitched in agitation but there was nothing else I could do, I shot after him. I could have run away, I didn’t expect him to bother with us anymore once he got his claws on Viyara. I could have sacrificed her and hurried back to the ship, saving us at the cost of one child I hardly knew. I was sure that there were many philosophical theories that would tell me how that was a good bargain and that there would be no guilt in abandoning her, heck I had read a couple of those books myself. But honestly, I would recommend that everyone of those scholars should visit a dying child’s death bed and imagine he would be able to help at the risk of endangering himself or others. I would like to see how many of them would be able to look into the kid’s eyes and walk away, head held high. If there was one, I wouldn’t like to meet him. Additionally, I was pretty sure I was only playing with my life and not Ahri’s or the kitsune children’s.

The dragon’s threat had told me that he didn’t know Viyara had already left the others, he expected her to be still on board. I didn’t think he’d be able to track them down, even if we couldn’t get rid of him. Worst case scenario: we’d lose and I’d find out what he had planned for Viyara first hand. A risk I was willing to take to still enjoy my reflection in a mirror. Huh, maybe I had become a little vain.

My job was simple: keep Galathon busy for as long as I could manage, preferably for at least two hours and then rush towards Viyara as fast as my wings would carry me. The rather problematic part was staying alive during the first two hours but with the boost I had gotten from Ahri I might just make it. I had been toying with the idea of getting close to him to disrupt his spells before but I hadn’t been in a state to try it. Now I had a chance. I wanted to get behind his neck, close enough to the head that he wouldn’t be able to bite me or reach me with his claws and close enough to his torso that I could still reach any spell construct that might form there. I intended to channel as much energy as I could into my mind and limbs. I would use my wings to anchor myself like I had done before and pierce his spells with the rest of them. If I could then absorb them, I’d be in a good spot, if not I’d spend my energy in a trice and be mush pretty quickly. The only thing I would have to look out for once I got there would be his tail, which I would have to dodge constantly. His claws and fangs shouldn’t be able to reach me.

Without a further sound I shot through the sky as fast as I could, my tails tightly pressed against my legs and my arms stretched out in front of me. With every wing stroke the black bat in front of me grew until I could once again admire his sheer size. His wings began to fill my vision and the winds they stirred up were nearly enough to blow me off course. His tail swished from left to right in front of me, thicker than the oldest cherry tree back home. In his wake the smell of decay and rot that had been present before became overwhelming, forcing me to gag slightly. The thought crossed my mind that I might have had a serious death wish but a moderate hero complex seemed to fit better.

The arrogant asshole hadn’t even bothered to turn around when I had screamed and now he was going to pay for it. When I could practically touch the tip of his tail and already felt the tingles of a neatly woven net of magic around him I conjured my second vision and teleported right through. As soon as I materialised halfway up his spine I slammed a couple of wings into his scales and immediately blinked away again. With a bone shattering roar his head whipped around. I had counted on his reaction and appeared where a moment before his crushing teeth would have been. Now I saw his craned neck and the backside of his horn crowned head. I still had my momentum so he didn’t crash into me while I latched 12 wings around three of the spikes that grew along his neck and pulled myself closer. I wanted more space to manoeuvre once I was in position so I had chosen to anchor myself in three spots, allowing for a little more room, to dance up and down his neck.

“Bloody insec…” his words cut off when I whirled my unoccupied wings around and pierced his spell. Voraciously I devoured every last thread of energy I could get my hands on and the formation that had allowed him to speak blinked out in a shower of silvery sparks. Invigorated I slung 6 wings around his neck and secured my hold while I simultaneously started to apply pressure and energy to my wings. He instantly bucked, his wings worked furiously to throw me off, his neck slithered from left to right to break my hold and I could see swaths of energy circulating in his chest while he prepared a spell. A dragon’s heart was on the left side of his chest close to the carbuncle and that was where all his magic originated. Through my silvery vision his spell appeared like an advancing storm front, slowly getting larger and more threatening the more time passed. Unfortunately I couldn’t reach the spell, it was simply too far away as long as he didn’t expel it from his carbuncle. I would have to catch it as soon as he was going to send it forth. But until then I had my hands full with staying alive.

He wasn’t trying to throw me off anymore, he was trying to squash me. All attempts to keep in the air forgotten he craned his neck and used his wings and tail to batter the spot I was standing in. We fell through the sky, picking up speed while we hurtled towards the sea. Without my second vision I would have died in an instant, blind to most of his attacks, but I could see the very beginning of his movements and I had enough space to dodge the battering ram of a tail. The wings, unfortunately, were much too large and I had to take the hits, pressing my body close to his spikes and crouching low to dampen their impact. I used another 10 of my wings to form a tight net above me, two of his spikes served as supports to help me catch his punches before they could crush me against his scaly hide.

He cut himself on his own horns and my wings over and over again, dark blood had formed a fine mist around me and the rich smell paired with the fragrance of decay nearly suffocated me. With each attack I had to block, my wings were pushed down further and further along his spikes. Soon I wouldn’t have enough room left underneath my makeshift cover to dodge his tail and that would be the end of it. He finished his spell long before we got to that point though.

The fur on my tails suddenly stood on edge as if I had been shocked and I saw 3 torrents of blackish green energy rush from his carbuncle and towards me, probably well on their way to form a spell construct around my body but I wasn’t going to allow it. Eagerly I sent my last unoccupied wings to slither through the streams of energy and absorb it all before it could invoke completely. I felt the magic resisting but with a little push his spell vanished without a trace while my own reserves filled to the brim. With a triumphant cry I drew the wings around his neck tight and channeled enough energy into them to cut through his scales easily. He reacted instantly and formed a canopy with his wings along his neck to box me in. The next instant his tail started battering his neck liberally with blatant disregard for his own injuries. His only goal was to break my hold. Folds of obsidian covered me, their surface felt like glass where it brushed against my skin and prevented me from moving. As much as I wanted to stay where I was, if I wanted to keep breathing I wouldn’t. A final blaze of energy ran through my wings. I cut into his neck deeply and removed the spikes I was anchored to before I teleported away, straight up into the sky.