An angel’s road to hell

76. Of gods, fate and a little bit of self-determination

Cassandra Pendragon

“Repository?” I asked. “Was he preparing for the world to end?”

“Not quite, he was just convinced that a dragon should have a sample of every mythical creature that inhabits his lands. You know, like a collection of blue prints of sorts. He said that species die out constantly, some when their environment changed, some are hunted to extinction. As a guardian it’s a dragon’s duty to remember them and, if need be, revive them.”

“Than why are you ashamed of what he did? To me that sounds like a good idea, maybe a little arrogant but who am I to judge?”

“Because he, well, he thought the young were best suited for what he wanted as their bodies were still growing. To make things worse… did you know that the body changes once you die? It starts to decompose and even seconds can make a huge difference in how your organs and everything else behaves. So he… he froze them while they were still alive!” She was pawing at the cover of gold coins she stood on nervously. “Can you imagine what they went through? And the worst: most magical beasts are at least moderately intelligent. He always said the end justifies the means  but…” her thoughts trailed off. There wasn’t much to add either way. Cruel didn’t even begin to cover it. Abstractly speaking I understood where Shafeer had been coming from. It wasn’t too far away from what Mephisto had said about compassion and it mostly boiled down to: Kill one to save the many. But where was the line? Quantifying life like a commodity didn’t fly with me and the thought of what Viyara’s father had actually done in his pursuit of the greater good made my tails curl up. I seriously hoped I was never going to rationalise my actions that way.

I patted the scales below me and told Viyara: “I’m not gonna lie, that’s fucked up. But it wasn’t your fault. You don’t have to feel ashamed for the sins of your parents and neither should you feel obliged to atone for them. Maybe set things right when ever you can. Which brings me to why I went looking for you. We found a still living creature in one of the casings and a set of figurines that just give me the creeps. Could you come along and have a look? At the figurines I mean, but if you heard anything about a flying snake with three sets of feathery wings it’d be great as well.”

“Hmm…not really. At least I don’t think so.” She replied and took off towards where I hade come from before freezing from one second to the next.

“Wait, what did you just say? You found one still alive? In one of the crystals? Please tell me that’s some sick joke.”

“Afraid not. It’s a small snake, like I said. Azure scales and three sets of wings with feathers, withe at the tip and slowly turning into blue the closer to the body they are. Does that tell you anything?” Slowly she started moving again but most of her concentration remained on me. “Mephisto doesn't know what it could be but I thought you might have heard something… turn right, there. Do you see the huge sundial? The figurines I have been talking about are just behind.”

She carefully navigated through the assembled artefacts without so much as touching one with her long tail. I felt her concentration waver when she focused on her memories and after a moment she answered: “no, not from the top of my head. Maybe if I see it? What did you do anyways? Set it free?”

“Unfortunately we can’t, it’ll die if we just break the diamond apart. I stored it for now. Back home I was gifted a dimensional stamp that dilates time, the little creature won’t feel like a second will have passed once we get it out. And Mephisto said that the gem around it would protect it from any possible harm. I just thought you might know what we’re dealing with. Ah, over there, by the large crystalline tome. Maybe by now he found something in your dad’s diary. That’s something else’s we found, by the way. Would you change into your human form? It’s crammed enough as it is without a gargantuan snake peering over our shoulders.”

I took off before I finished talking and glided the last couple of meters back to Mephisto’s side. He had hardly acknowledged us, engrossed as he was in the tome that laid open before him. Once I landed and Viyara stepped up, again clad in the flesh of a pretty girl he even raised a hand to stop us from asking questions. A couple of seconds later he carefully closed the book and focused on us, a strange gleam in his eyes. I wasn’t really sure that I wanted to know what he had found, his expression was strange. Somewhere between disgust and appreciation but appreciation was definitely the dominant emotion. He collected his thoughts and sighed:

“I have some good news and some bad news but before I start to explain, Viyara do you have any idea, what those,” he gestured towards the figurines, “are? I think I found a description in your father’s journal but I’d like to confirm what I’ve read. Have you ever heard one of your family mentioning the figurines? Or maybe a story about the sealed remnants of dead gods?”

What the…

“Uh, as a matter of fact, I do.” She eyed the figurines sceptically. “But I can’t imagine that those things are, what the story was about. Would you like me to retell what I can remember? And afterwards I’d very much like to get my father’s diary. I’ve never read it and I want to know what he deemed important enough to write down.”

“Please do. Maybe we’ll know what we’re dealing with afterwards, or at least rule out an option. Of course you can have it, it’s yours after all but I have to warn you, some things might come as quite the surprise form what I can tell after a cursory glance.”

“I still want to know. It’s my family we are talking about. Alright, the story was one my father told me.” She moved some items out of the way, made herself comfortable and began: “long ago, aeons before the cataclysm when the world was still young, a great civilisation lived here. They built sprawling cities filled with high towers, verdant gardens and the bustling of live. They constructed roads, far above the ground and wide enough for even dragons to walk upon comfortably. Their ships sailed the seas and they explored every corner of the world. No one knows what sort of people they were, humans or others, but relics of their achievements can still be found up to this very day. Their magic was strong and not only allowed them to build an empire that span from sun up to sun down but they produced magnificent artefacts and works of beauty, instruments, sculptures, jewellery and the like. But their most astounding invention was doubtlessly a telepathic network that connected every citizen of the empire. It allowed them to pool their magic in times of war or work together to cast their most complex and powerful spells. Without rivals they bloomed prosperously for hundreds of years but, as is most often the case, their doom began within their own society.

You see, religion was, or at least that’s what my father told me, an integral part of their culture. They believed in the concept of order and chaos as opposing forces that had structured the cosmos since before the beginning of time. During each epoch new incarnations would be born, fighting for control over the dominant civilisations of the respective time, guiding them to chaos or order. But their age was different. Enlightened as they thought themselves to be they broke free of the eternal struggle and instead followed one of their own, their first king and the coming of one of their new gods. Ra, the infinite sun and forefather of each of their rulers ever since.” Viyara rearranged a handful of gems she had absentmindedly been playing with before she went on:

“Basically during his time as king, or pharaoh as they called their regents, Ra united most of the empire and set the cornerstone for its laws and religion. He pushed the boundaries of magic and science and brought peace to the lands. When he felt like his country was safe and he was no longer needed, he left the mortal realm in search for greater secrets. His four children were supposed to take his place: Horus, his first born, should lead in his stead, Isis, his only daughter should guide the people spiritually as high priestess, Sobek, his youngest would strive to explore more and more of the world and push the boundaries of their empire ever further. And lastly Seth would inherit his magic and try to unravel the mysteries of the world in his place. For a time the siblings worked together seamlessly but after a while Seth became dissatisfied, as the prime sorcerer and arguably the most powerful of the lot it should be him who sat on the throne, not his brother. He watched and schemed for years until the time was ripe and with an army of the undead that he had cultivated from every battlefield and tomb within the empire he marched onto the capital to dethrone Horus.

As always, mortals paid the price. Soldiers, farmers, architects and scholars, they all died by the thousands when the winds of war ravaged the lands and the gods marched into battle. In the end, Horus and his siblings won and Seth was forced to flee. Unwilling to let their enemy go, they gave chase and left the empire, which had suffered dearly, in the hands of Horus’ mortal son.

So much for their believes but the truly fascinating part is, that the combined subconsciousness of an entire people made it real. They believed in their gods and over centuries their magic made it happen. It were small things at first, their rulers were blessed with a prolonged life, prayers would sometimes be answered with a flash of light. You get the picture. Over the years those manifestations became more frequent and powerful until, one day, their gods truly walked the earth. And that was their downfall. As an expression of the subconsciousness of the people the gods themselves shared their hatred and flaws and thought it their privilege, no, their duty to change what ailed the empire. Long story short, another war broke out, this time a very real one and in the end, marshalling all their available forces and magical might the empire managed to seal the calamities they themselves had summoned. But the effort had been too great and drained nearly all of them of every bit of magic they had had. Their people perished and their cities turned to dust, abandoned and grounded down by the passage of time. Only trinkets and little artefacts remained of what had once been the greatest civilisation this world has ever seen. Oh, and of course, the relics they had used to banish their gods. They remained untouched until they’d be free and would gain a chance to rebuild what they had lost.” She fell silent and her focus turned back on the figurines.

“But like I said, I can’t believe we’re actually looking at them. Remember the size of Erya’s ruby? There is a relation between mass and how much energy an object can hold. Those little things, powerful as they might be, would never be able to contain something created by millions of souls. They are just too small.” Her story had been fascinating. Gods could be created? That would explain why Mephisto had talked about them so derisively. Provided what Viyara had told us was more than just fiction. Honestly I quite liked the idea. Gods and fate were closely linked as they gave an objective purpose to everything hat happened and thus freed people of the responsibility for their actions. If we failed it wouldn’t matter as it was all part of a plan that would ultimately benefit us. I didn’t believe that. If I fucked up I’d be responsible for the fall out and if I did well, it’d be due to my own efforts. That gods came to be as a result of our believes suited me just fine. We all chose our destiny and gods were just an expression of what we truly wanted. That, I could live with. Mephisto interrupted my musings:

“Thank you, you answered quite a few questions I had and I think I can explain what they are. Those figurines are keys to realms inhabited by conscious energy. How they came to be I cannot say, your explanation is just as good as any guess I could offer and resembles the hints hidden in the book. Your father found them on an uninhabited island far to the east in the ruins of what must once have been a magnificent temple. Maybe the story he told you is a narration of what he found out within, maybe he invented it to give you something to think about, we’ll never know. Whatever their origin, he studied them extensively and wrote down some of his observations. Each statue is linked to another realm, each one of them chock full of energy. When he tried to siphon off a little for his own experiments he was attacked. As soon as he used a key to form a connection with a realm, the consciousness on the other side struggle to take control of him and break free. He managed to disentangle himself, barely, and vowed never to touch them again. With a little more research he found out that the forces within the realms cancel one another out and he surmised that the same should hold true for the keys, hence the rather peculiar arrangement. Once he brought them here and locked them down he stayed true to his word. The biggest problem for us is: I don’t know what will happen if the keys are destroyed. The realms could either be sealed for good or they could open. Unfortunately your father didn’t know either, or, if he did, he didn’t write it down. Which leaves us with the eternal question of what to do next…” that was actually pretty simple.

“We take them with us and I won’t ever pull them out of my stamp again. Problem solved, at least until I die and with a little luck that will still take some time. Maybe we even have a chance to unravel the mystery or visit the ruined temple in the future but for now we have a pretty convenient solution. Realms and energy might not be subjected to time dilation but the keys surely are.”

“Hmm… we’d have to wrap them up first, preferably in a way that keeps the formation intact.” Mephisto replied. “I can’t apply runes to the figurines directly, I fear that might trigger the seal. But there are more than enough items around that we can use. I think you’re right. For now that’s the best we can do but I wouldn’t let them simmer inside your stamp. We should try to find a better solution as soon as possible. Is that all right with you, Viyara? Everything around us is yours, after all.”

“Why don’t we collect what we want to take along right here on the sun dial? When we see it together we’ll be able to tell if we can carry all of it. I have seen some things that might come in handy and I must take my father’s diary. Why don’t we meet back here in 15 minutes? Or do you need more time?”

“No, that’s perfectly fine.” Mephisto answered for the both of us. “I already saw most of the dais and have a decent idea of what we should take, I think. Cassandra can carry the items for me and maybe she even finds something on the way that catches her fancy. Alright then, no time to lose. Cassandra be a dear and fetch me that chest full of jewels over there. We’ll empty it out and put the figurines inside. I’ll add some runes of binding and we can be off in a trice. Chop, chop, off you pop.” Viyara smiled at me and I rolled my eyes in response while I already walked over to the chest. Behind me I heard the sound of Viyara stalking off and turning back into a dragon before I heaved the chest into my arms. The thing was damned heavy.

The next 15 minutes went by in a blur, Mephisto hadn’t been joking when he had said that he knew what he wanted. Luckily my stamina wasn’t as bad as it had used to be.