Cassandra Pendragon
In silence they stared, a white, velvety veil descending between us as the snow kept falling. Until a distant rumbling, like thunder in a bottle, shook the night and my ears twitched, turning towards the dying mountain behind us. "It's not over yet," I mumbled with a hint of trepidation in my voice as the first snow clouds rose from its collapsing flanks. We had to move. Now.
"Come here, questions can wait," I hissed my voice easily drowning out the bone wrenching groans of the mountain as I extended my wings and pushed my lingering doubts aside. We were in deep shit. If I left with them chances were I wouldn't be able to return to the portal and without me… the goddamn worm couldn't move since his useless avatar had been torn to shreds and he had reverted to his original form, his body mirroring the wounds he had sustained. I had to act.
Caught between elation, fear and incredulity the couple only gaped, their eyes roaming over my wings and tails to my blazing eyes. The next second a deep, rattling tremor shook the even plane as bottomless fissures appeared in the immaculate, white expanse. My hair was blown back and snowflakes danced around us like a swarm, the starry sky vanishing behind an explosion of rock and ice. A roar, much more intimidating than even Sera's mighty call, cleaved through the night and I felt my ears droop as I slowly turned around.
The mountain was breaking apart, the weakened base torn asunder by its own weight. Rocks and shards of ice, some larger than a village, were propelled into the night like bullets from a gun, turning its immediate surroundings into a tortured battlefield riddled with craters. The noise followed only a heartbeat later. Another groan, almost as if Ancalagon himself had awakened, shook the night and the ground began to move and flow like water, throwing the kitsune on her back while the worm coiled himself around her once again with a pained hiss, the ice field rising around them like a wave battering against the shore. In stunned silence I watched as the horizon was devoured by snow and flying rocks, a testament to the death of something meant to stand guard over our world for aeons. Silvery blood dripped into my eyes from a first gash as I fanned out my wings, effectively turning myself into a hovering shield for the desperate mortals. More wounds were sure to follow and so was the pain. So much for running away.
The stars winked out, consumed by the oncoming tide, thunder roared in my ears and excruciating irons, cold enough to feel white hot, borrowed deep into me as my body was torn apart between the indescribable forces of nature and my own, unyielding strength. But I didn't move. With a single, defiant scream my power surged, billowing around me like a fluttering veil of stardust and memories, pushing back the ravenous maelstrom… if only for a second. In the blink of an eye I saw the jagged spears of ice and stone embedded in my chest, I tasted the ethereal allure of my blood, framing me in silver and I felt the anger of a world thundering against me. But then darkness came, cold and cruel and powerful, ready to devour everything in its path unless I managed to resist.
The tormented elements howled in my ears, each impact shook me to my core as rocks and icicles, large enough to turn a sky ship into dust, battered against my limbs. My tails were broken, my skin flayed, but as soon as the wounds appeared they closed again, the infinite stream within me more than enough to battle the unleashed madness. I didn't know what was happening to Aglaia and Indigorath, nor did I particularly care as white hot agony engulfed me and my body was ripped apart only to be healed over and over again. The gruesome cycle turned into a suffocating shackle that kept my mind racing around a single thought: Don't. Give. In.
Seconds, minutes, years passed as the cold and the dark tried to break me, to freeze my flesh and grind my bones to dust but for every injury, every jolt of exquisite agony, I took something in return. Slowly but inexorably the chaos abated. Where once I had been whipped a thousand times in the blink of an eye, a single strike now shook me with every heartbeat. Where once I had been surrounded by an infinite chasm of white and grey I now saw stars and the moon blinking down at me uncaringly, their splendour still hazy and blurred but very much alive.
Finally a last, defiant wave crashed into me, as if death herself was unable to believe that a tiny kitsune had stolen her prey right from within her salivating maw. Foundlings, the size of manors, threatened to push me down, to finally remove the one obstacle that had helped their elusive prey escape and then… nothing. Gently and silently the snow kept falling, covering the destroyed valley in a blanket of soft, immaculate white. My ragged breath echoed loudly in my ears as it caught in my throat and my wounds closed for the last time. The biting cold breeze made me shiver, my clothes long destroyed under the onslaught, and when I finally turned my gaze away from the rubble the imposing mountain had turned into I saw a field of destruction, sprinkled with silvery blood and smouldering debris. Two pairs of eyes stared at me in wonder and gratitude, mirroring the vast expanse of the velvety, starry sky. At least they were still alive.
I chuckled hoarsely as I pulled trousers and a fresh shirt from my stamp. "That could have been worse," I mumbled as I retracted my wings and fell to the ground. Even the fissure was still there, crackling ominously at the very same spot where I had first appeared. If it hadn't been for the towering embankments around us and the ravenously screaming avalanche, continuing on into the distance, the ordeal might as well never have happened. "Still in one piece," I asked as I finally took in their rather desolate appearance.
I had managed to protect them from the worst but a few shards of ice and rock had still gone through, my wings could cover only so much space, and they were bleeding profusely from a myriad of cuts and holes. In some places the offending projectiles were even still embedded in their flesh but from the looks of it their heads hadn't been hit and everything else… well, a few scars weren't too bad. I had one myself on my neck, after all. I just hoped they could heal their injuries themselves. My options were still very limited and I didn't plan on turning them into another part of my growing family, a result I wouldn't be able to circumvent if I had to use my own power to make them whole. God forbid, the worm still gave me the creeps.
A wry grin spread across my face as I took a few, tentative steps, my bare feet not even leaving a dent on the white winter blanket. "Look," I began haltingly as I stowed my spear, unsure of what exactly I was going to say. Don't mind me, stopping an avalanche with my body and turning a star into light and memories just comes with the territory. I'm an immortal, nice to meet, probably wouldn't cut it. But a timid, half whispered sentence immediately shook me from my reverie:
"Cassandra," Aglaia breathed. "You're Cassandra Pendragon, aren't you? But… shouldn't you be a toddler?" I nervously licked my lips. Goddamn time travel. What was I even supposed to say? Nah, I'm the other kitsune with starlike eyes, silvery tails and raven black hair? "It is you," she exclaimed and jumped to her feet with much more energy than anyone who had just escaped certain death, twice I might add, should possess. She even extended her hand, her fingers hovering half a centimetre away from my cheek. I eyed her curiously before I impulsively took another half step and allowed her cool, soft skin to brush against my face.
"In the flesh," I mumbled, "even though I can't possibly fathom how you could recognise me. Have we… met?" Her laughter, clear and uninhibited like a mountain brook under the cold winter moon, took me by surprise but before I could utter a single word she willingly explained:
"In a way. You were screaming and wailing and obviously not in love with being presented to the public. Even though… that was three years ago and I could have held you in my hand. But before we get into any of that…," she unceremoniously kicked the bleeding worm at her side and dropped to her knees, the white, thick furs she wore fluttering in the breeze. Indigorath mirrored the movement to the best of his snakelike abilities even though he couldn't suppress a pained grunt. "Thank you. For the both of us. I don't have the faintest idea how you can even be here, never mind protecting… it doesn't matter. Just thank you. I won't forget it."
"Neither will I," the purple worm added sincerely, his voice a hoarse cough, "but I still have to ask the questions she doesn't dare pose. How? Why?" Embarrassed I grabbed the kitsune by her shoulders and pulled her back to her feet, gesticulating for the worm to get up as well.
"How? Time travel. Why? Because you're in love and I couldn't watch that creature kill her in front of you," I replied slowly, my mind racing. I was in the past. I stood on a destroyed glacier, a good four years before I had ever arrived in Free Land. The options, the consequences were daunting and enticing in equal measure, but before I could allow myself to start dreaming there was one thing I had to know: "I'm more than willing to explain, in parts at least, but I've got a question of my own. This might sound stupendously stupid but please humour me. Have you ever heard of a gun? A bullet? The elemental attraction of black powder?" Aglaia frowned thoughtfully but Indigorath immediately stated:
"Never of the former but I do know of the elemental attraction some alchemical substances possess, even though I don't know what black powder is." I had been right. Four years. It had taken him four years to develop the sophisticated weapons I had seen but the spark, the idea had been born here… or rather it had been handed to him on a silver platter. Courtesy of yours truly.
I nodded while I felt a mischievous flame ignite in my eyes. "Really? Well, then I guess I'll have to dig out a cave where you can rest until you've recovered. In the meantime… there's a lot we should talk about." I frowned at the fissure but my energies hadn't diminished and the portal was still anchored safely. Chances were it'd stay that way until I'd return. Damn it, maybe I really should have teleported away with them. That'd have saved me quite a bit of pain and a perfectly serviceable set of clothes. Which I probably wouldn't be able to replace since the dwarfs were already leaving and Krack, the quartermaster, didn't like sharing in the first place.
"We have some time," I added. "Can you tend to your wounds?"
Aglaia nodded. "I'm no master but I can heal decently enough." Interesting. She hadn't said cast healing magic. Maybe she had learned more at the hidden sect than I had given her credit for.
"That's the first bit of good news I've heard today," I said. "Go ahead, then. From where I'm standing his wounds are more severe than yours but you should still make sure that you don't collapse, considering you're the healer. I'll try to create a place where we can spend the night without turning blue. Everything else can wait. I assume your provisions are hidden somewhere under there," I added and pointed at the erstwhile mountain turned rubble. A dejected shrug was my only response. "Fabulous," I groaned. "Then I guess I'll have to hunt for you as well."
Without any real conviction I tried to listen but the comforting echo of Ahri's thoughts was muted. I'd have had to push hard to reach her and I wasn't convinced of said idea's merit. Besides, as keen as my senses were, if there was anything to hunt at all, I'd easily find my prey with or without Ahri's help. But first things first.
Up until now I hadn't taken the time to truly look around but we were indeed on a glacier that filled a broad valley, nestled between seven insurmountable peaks. The one at the very end had been destroyed, sending an avalanche of unequaled proportions thundering along the only possible path. Rocks, foundlings, hills of snow and upturned earth surrounded us but the patch of ice I had protected still glistened with a cold, blue fire under the stars. With a thought I incinerated the silvery drops of blood splattered all around me and dug my wings deep into the face of the glacier, slowly cutting a tunnel and a small cave with an air shaft from the impenetrable ice.
It didn't take me long, a handful of minutes at most, but I already used the time to bolster my senses and allow them to spread through the entire valley. There wasn't much left. Not many creatures lived in the eternal ice to begin with and the few who might have been close had turned into a bloody smear by now, buried hundreds of feet below the surface. No, a suitable meal could only be found on the slopes of the mountains where large, snow white birds had constructed their eyries. The majestic beasts reminded me of huge eagles except for their black beaks and their shimmering, artic blue talons which practically screamed elemental affinity. Not that it mattered.
I clicked my tongue as I tore the last block of ice from the newly created tunnel and ordered: "get in. I'll be back in a few minutes. Get a fire started and treat your injuries while I try to find something edible. You'll need it to replenish your energy." Before they could do more than blink, their gazes travelling from the cut out, imposing blocks of ice to my tiny frame, I vanished into a shower of sparks only to appear several leagues away, just below one of the towering summits. The restrictions on my teleportation had weakened ever since I had faced the demons of my past.
Up here the winds were howling like the guardians of hell in the thin, crystal clear air. Tasteless and frozen, almost like an ice cold liquid, it slithered down my throat when I breathed in, my scent as well as that of my prey long since carried away by the raging storm. But I neither needed my ears nor my nose to find the nest. I could feel it, only a handful of steps above me on a frozen ledge. Two parents and a clutch of five eggs. Ample for Aglaia and the worm would be able to cope without food for a few days. At least I hoped so. If not… I'd have to carry his heavy ass to a more hospitable island. A prospect that filled me with more dread than the avalanche ever had.
A handful of heartbeats later I materialised at the entrance again, our supper sadly dangling from my arm. The eggs I had stored in my stamp. The pair hadn't even managed to cover the distance of the tunnel yet and I could still see as well as hear them slithering and limping along in the darkness, the echoes of their low groans amplified by the icy structure. With a few quick steps I caught up to them, the smell of the Purple Worm's blood rich and heavy in the dry air.
I used my wings to lift the kitsune unceremoniously off the ground and push the worm along through the cold and dark, supporting his squishy coils wherever his muscles seemed to fail. "Thank you," he muttered again, leaning heavily against my wings.
"Don't mention it. Some kind of guardian angel I'd be if I left halfway through. Still, I can't stay for long. The night at most."
"That'd turn out to be around three to four months," he chuckled wheezingly. "The sun won't rise until spring." "Oh. Right. So, it's the middle of winter right now? Why on earth would you choose to travel during winter?"
"Not much of a choice," the kitsune chimed in, her eyes glued to the scintillating cocoon surrounding her. "Caerulea, a friend of ours with whom I stayed for the last few months, she's gone to sleep. Her race…"
"I know what she is and also of some of the peculiarities dragons are prone to," I interrupted her. "No need to beat around the bush. In other words the wyrm went to sleep and tossed you out on your tails? Some kind of teacher she is. Just as well. Without her lapse of judgement we wouldn't have met and that would have been one hell of an opportunity gone to waste."