An angel’s road to hell

64. Of orcs, conjectures and a little bit of morales

Cassandra Pendragon

I eyed the drunk bag of muscles and bones curiously. I didn’t have a clue how Viyara’s family had been organised so I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I had to admit, a cantankerous orc was a little much. I had never seen an orc before, except for illustrations in some of the books I had been forced to read but they hadn’t done him justice. Neither the eerie glow of his eyes nor the absurd length of his tusks had been captured and if I hadn’t spent the last hours dancing with a dragon I would have been intimidated but in comparison he appeared rather… cute. Especially with the slightly confused look on his face and the absurd amount of jewellery he was wearing I just couldn’t take him seriously. The cleaver was another matter. Size and proportions were suited to a draconic kitchen and the dark spots on the blade were probably not only rust. I brought it close to my face and sniffed it cautiously, yep, definitely blood.

I would have loved to drag out the moment a little longer, I quite enjoyed the cook’s expressions while he tried to puzzle out what was going on and Viyara was obviously embarrassed, shuffling on her feet with a faint trace of red in her cheeks. I couldn’t image what had set her off but she looked adorable, like a child who brought home a friend for the first time and doesn’t know how it’s going to go. Huh, that actually made a lot of sense and would explain her behaviour. I wanted to enjoy the normality a little longer without mad wizards or power crazed dragons ruining my day but unfortunately one of those oversized megalomaniacs was already well on his way and I had to hurry.

“Hello, my name is Cassandra and I mean no harm, neither to you nor to your lady. Quite the contrary, actually, I need your help dearly. If I return your weapon, will you listen?” I didn’t wait for a reply and extended my wings that still held on to his cleaver. The orc sat up and squinted at me through half closed eyes before he took it.

“Well, if the lady Viyara doesn’t mind. I can always make you into a steak later on, can’t I? You’re not one of the Black’s lackeys, are you?” He turned to the girl by my side waiting for her opinion on the matter. She sighed deeply and her blush returned in full force.

“Barzuk, Cassandra is the reason I am standing here. She’s a friend, please, try to behave. I owe her.”

“No, you don’t,” Viyara was already gathering her breath to protest but I chose to ignore her. “We are, however, in a shitty position. I don’t know how much you already pieced together, Barzuk, was it? Viyara escaped Galathon and found me and my friends along the way. We wanted to lure him here to finish him off but when we arrived, three air ships were already in the crater. I broke the flying stone of one but the others are undoubtedly searching for us right now and an angry dragon is bound to arrive soon. If we want to see another sunrise, we’ll have to figure something out. Viyara, you said that there might be some enchantments or artefacts that could help us. Now that we’re here, care to elaborate?” I deliberately turned my back on the orc and focused on the dragon girl. Her demeanour had changed, she wasn’t blushing anymore and her eyes were roaming along the golden ornaments and over the jewels. Tears started to fall and she didn’t appear to have heard me, staring straight ahead with dull eyes. I felt a tremor run through her fingers, still intertwined with mine and her torso shook with silent sobs. Damn it, she was breaking down. The last day was catching up with her and now that she was back in an almost empty home, she had finally realised that her family was truly gone.

I suppressed a curse and slung my tails around her to propel her into my arms. I hugged her tightly and whispered into her ear: “I’m so sorry. It’s okay. You’re not alone, I’m here.” I reached for her mind, a dark and grey cloud seemed to obscure it, her thoughts moving sluggishly underneath. Inexperienced and clumsy as I was I tried to console her, to just be there and share in her grief, to allow her to not face it alone. I knew how she felt. I stroked her back gently and kept whispering into her ear until she shivered and started to cry openly. Heavy sobs shook her body and she nearly crushed me when she pressed herself into me.

I didn’t know how long we stood there until a coarse hand landed on my shoulder. Barzuk had gotten up and made his way over to us. He didn’t say a word but he had placed a hand on both of our shoulders and his eyes shone with compassion and a shared loss. “See,” I mumbled into Viyara’s ear, “even the drunk orc is here for you.” A choked chuckle sounded from somewhere below my chin and I felt a fresh breeze blow through her mind. The oppressive fog was changing into a storm front, with towering black clouds, ready to unleash a thunderstorm. Anger was at least better than desperation.

I caressed her head one last time and pushed her to arm’s length, my hands on her shoulders and my tails still slung around her middle. She looked at me through swollen lids and even though her cheeks were wet and blotched, her eyes shone again with a bright inner fire.

“There,” I brushed away a tear that still clung to her chin, “we’ll get through this, together.”

“Promise?” She asked tremulously.

“Promise.” I had to swallow dryly. I had already decided to stay with her until the end, however it was going to turn out but another binding promise? And quite loosely worded as well… another circle formed around my core but this time I had the impression of golden runes on a silver canvas when the energy settled into me. Astoundingly I could see a change in Viyara as well. A faint silvery light shone through her skin, just above her heart and the mark on her forehead that had appeared briefly when she had absorbed my energy sparkled with power. This time however, it didn’t sink back into her skin. 33 strands of liquid silver spread across her skin, 16 to left,16 to the right and one in the centre, slightly below the others. Each one was thin and nearly invisible, unless it reflected a ray of light. They were maybe 2 centimetres in length and seemed to move on their own but that could also have been my imagination.

“Are you alright? I’m sorry, that has never happened before. I don’t…” I stammered. Barzuk squeezed my shoulder to shut me up. Viyara was smiling.

“I’m fine, I feel…good, actually.” She closed her eyes and appeared to listen. “I think… I think my carbuncle just grew. For the love of magic, I have to change, I want to see my draconic form.” Her misery forgotten she excitedly hopped back a couple of meters without waiting for a reply. Golden light and silvery sparks covered her form and when they vanished a golden dragon loomed over me again. She hadn’t changed much, the only difference were her horns which had turned into silver, they were literally made of metal and bluish sparks of energy ran along them. Barzuk whistled appreciatively.

Her voice took me by surprise when it flowed through my mind even though we weren’t touching.

“I can still feel your presence, much more clearly than before. You don’t have to worry, I became attuned to your magic when you healed me. I’m not going to burn up because of a little more.”

“Can you read my thoughts now as well?” She huffed and a cloud of smoke laced with silvery blue sparks escaped her. I had a hunch her breath would be quite powerful.

“No, even though I would love to. There is so much I want to know but to answer your question: if you had been able to see your face you wouldn’t have asked. You’re still scowling.” I relaxed a little, I really had been worried for her. Everything I knew told me that mortals and transcendent energy didn’t mix well and she had clearly taken in more than just a spark. I liked her and I didn’t want to watch her suffer because of something I did in ignorance. Once again I resolved to get Mephisto out of his hibernation as soon as possible. How hard could it be?

“I assume you two are talking? It’s great to see you ladies bond, warms my green heart and all,” Barzuk had to pause for another hiccough, “but don’t we have a massacre to plan?” We both stared at him.

“What? Isn’t the gist of it that a lot of people have to die? Sorry to burst your bubble but when you kill more than, say 20, it’s a massacre. Not that I see why it matters but if it makes you feel better we’ll just call it a slaughter…” he was decidedly to cheerful at the prospect but I wouldn’t argue with him. In essence he was right but I had never much cared about definitions or morale theory for that matter. I didn’t enjoy killing but I had been forced to end lives as soon as I had been able to think. Was it wrong? Probably. Did I think I had been justified every time I had taken a life? Definitely. The same principle applied here: you couldn’t massacre or slaughter someone who had come to threaten your life, your freedom or your friends. You removed an obstacle with as much force as necessary. But like I had said, I wasn’t going to argue.

“Call it whatever you want, but the pirates aren’t the problem. I’m pretty sure the man behind them is somehow connected to Galathon and unbelievably dangerous but he isn’t here. It’s the dragon we have to worry about. The pirates can’t even enter here, can they?” It was Viyara who replied. Somehow she included Barzuk, using her mind as a junction so that we could all communicate mentally. I didn’t hear the orc directly but I heard an echo of his thoughts.

“Normally I’d say they can’t, but the chains they used to bind me show that they came prepared. They may very well have an artefact with them that allows them to enter, especially if they serve someone as dangerous as you fear.” She was right! It was actually even more than likely.

“Uhh,” Barzuk interjected. It was funny to hear his thoughts overlayed with Viyara’s sweet mental voice. “Could you explain who you are talking about? A little information could be handy if we have to face his cronies.” Right, they both knew nothing about the emperor or the marks Ahri had seen years ago. Since we were communicating at the speed of thought, now was probably the best time to bring them up to speed and get a second and third opinion on my conclusions.

“Right, I don’t know if you have seen a kitsune before but we aren’t form around here. Up until a few days ago we had a home, not that far away to the north…” I told them my story and only obscured the things concerning Ahri’s and my origins. I continued with what Etosh had told us about his fiancée and the marks Ahri had found on the very same pirates when she had travelled towards the five kingdoms. I ended with a quick summary of how I imagined we had come to this point.

“I don’t know what happened here, but I think it’s safe to assume Galathon didn’t touch the hoard because he has some deal with the emperor. Maybe he needed help to handle your father, maybe it was something completely unrelated but the emperor’s lackeys outside have come to take his dues. The captain’s words when he spoke to you just emphasise their connection. I think they want the hoard and it’s a safe bet that they have some way of getting inside. Which means we have to first get rid of them and their equipment and then we have to fend off Galathon.”

“Are you sure the pirates are vassals? Did you find anything on their ship?” Viyara’s wanted to know.

“I didn’t have much time to look around but I saw a crown on the captains neck before I severed it. I don’t think everyone is enslaved but they get their orders from the emperor, of that I have no doubt. But even if they don’t it won’t change much. They are working with Galathon and we have to assume they will help him without questions. If they are working for the emperor it only means they’ll have much better artefacts and enchantments with them, like the harpoons and chains they used on you. The question is, what can we do about it?” I felt a series of thoughts flash between Barzuk and Viyara but before I could ask Viyara spoke up.

“There are some thing we can try but first let me explain where we are. A dragon’s lair is his fortress, his pride. They work on it for as long as they live but, like most magic, enchantments perish along with the caster. My father knew that and spent much of his time to create something that would last far longer than him. He… there is simply no nice way of putting it, he enslaved a spirit queen and bound her to a gem. Most of the magic is of his design but it’s connected to a jewel, the crown of his hoard. If we can convince the spirit within to help we’ll be able to…” her words trailed off but I had gotten the idea. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the kind of spells a protective dragon would have cast over millennia but they had to come in handy.

“Two questions. Why isn’t the spirit contacting us or activating some of the enchantments on her own and are there any more living beings here?” This time it was Barzuk who replied.

“No, everyone was on the surface when… I got lucky, I had just returned to my kitchen to prepare deserts when the entrances closed. I thought everyone was gone so I raided the good stuff and waited for someone to burst open the doors. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the young lady again… anyway, we are alone except for the fey and she is completely cut off from our world. When my master died, the gem’s safeguards activated and sealed her in. It’s going to take the blood of lady Viyara to open it again. The magic should also renew the subjugation spell on the fey, binding her to the lady.”

“I don’t want that,” Viyara interjected. “I’ll offer her her freedom if she promises to help us one more time. I never really thought much about Erya while I lived here but now that I had to face slavery myself…” a visible shudder ran along her serpentine body and golden reflections danced across the wall. “I won’t keep her here if she wants to leave.” I was impressed. For a dragon to give up something that might be considered hers was remarkable. Barzuk didn’t share my point of view:

“What? Why? You’ll need her if you want to protect your hoard. Your the last living member of your father’s family. You have a duty to your heritage!” Viyara’s reply was calm but we could both feel her temper rising.

“I don’t need you to remind me of my duties. They are dead, their hearts digested by a monster that’s coming here. My duty is to make sure he never leaves and nothing else! Afterwards I’m done, done with the endless quarrels and the envy that comes with this place. You’re very welcome to join me but I don’t intend to spend a minute longer amongst the ashes of my family than I have to. Maybe one day I’m going to build my own hoard but it’s going to be far away from here.”

Now it was Barzuk’s turn to impress me. He smashed his fist across his chest in a warrior’s salute before his thoughts reached us:

“Your will, master. Forgive this old orc, you are right. We’ll do everything we can to put the spirits of the fallen to rest, that’s what has to be done. But allow me to say, you shouldn’t discard what your father left behind lightly. He built his legacy to endure and it would be a shame to throw it away on a whim.” Viyara answered much more gently than before:

“I won’t. I’m not going to leave empty handed but this place just… it reminds of how it has been, of what has been taken from us. I don’t want to live with that.”

I understood her perfectly. I wouldn’t have been able to continue living on Boseiju either, even if he had survived.