Cassandra Pendragon

"How should I know," the fox mumbled around another mouthful of fruit. "Not like I'm in the loop anymore, am I?" The tunnel was getting warmer by the second as Yueji's temperament and with it her temperature climbed to new heights by the second. I could even understand her, but right now I had a much more pressing question than listening to them discuss the finer points of their inter species relations.

Silver light swallowed the corridor when my wings manifested for good and the dragoness' scathing reply withered in her throat. "They didn't let you go, did they," I asked the fox. "Did you flee?"

"We're not in the habit of keeping enemies alive… or rather sane," he replied, his ears lying flat and his whiskers quivering. "Of course I ran, genius. I neither want to become a drooling pet, nor riddled with holes. Even though it might be a wee bit late for the latter." Shit. The open door was looking more ominous by the second.

"How did you escape," I hissed, while I set myself up in front of the dark, gaping hole, my wings and tails spread wide. Half my concentration was still focused on the fox, but the remainder was constantly probing beyond the impregnable shadows… with mixed results. I still couldn't see, nor could I hear anything aside from the bellowing breaths of the dragoness and the silky whispers, when the fox's fur chafed over the floor, but there was a sense, a hint of something alien that made me feel like I was staring into the deepest parts of the ocean. Blue was all one was ever going to see, but, as certainly as the sun rose in the east, monsters were lurking somewhere in the hidden depths. "I don't see a single fox running successfully from an entire skulk."

"No need to panic," he whimpered, "and could you put a leash on your aura? Thank you. Getting here wasn't easy and I'm sure my people have long since given up. Not all of my wounds were caused by my family. Behind that door you'll find a deadly maze. An unchecked influx of power deforms and changes nature and for over a decade magic has run rampant in the lower levels of the caves. I can't even count the times anymore an oversized ant has tried to turn me into fertiliser for their mushrooms colonies in the past hours." He scratched his ears like a dog. "On that note… I suppose I owe you another thank you. The lot of you. You've saved my life. Can't have been an easy decision. I know my people aren't exactly contestants for the world's nicest neighbours." I ignored the last part and gingerly extended one of my wings through the door. The air felt heavy… static and the arcane pressure spiked just a few steps behind the runes and sigils the doorway had been carved with.

"Bottom line, there's a deadly dungeon waiting for us and at its end we'll find a gate that leads to a magical realm, ruled by a homicidal vixen, where Yueji's family is held prisoner for their blood. Does that sound about right," I summed up, while I was already on the verge of moving forward. "Anything I'm missing?"

"Well… there might be a few guards around the gate by now," he admitted, "in case I'm stupid enough to return, but I think you've got the gist of it."

"Peachy," I growled and cast a glance over my shoulder towards Lin and her dragoness. "Last chance, if you want to turn around, do it now. I highly doubt you'll be able to make your way back up alone, once we've gone deeper." From the corner of my eye I saw the fox's tails drooping.

"Seriously," he whined. "I thought we were going to run the other way as fast as we can."

"You're welcome to," Lin replied after she had exchanged a few thoughts with Yueji. "I'm sure you can find the way." She dusted her robe off vigorously and walked up to me. "Spirits are welcome here. Once outside, our people will take care of you, but we're going." Her eyes darted to mine and she added: "someone has to make sure you don't get your priorities mixed up and I've promised… that's a lie, Yueji has promised Viyara to keep an eye on you."

"The two of you? On me? Seriously?" She shrugged.

"She only needs someone to remind her who she is, once in a while. Viyara's words, not mine. I'm not quite sure what she meant, but maybe something along the lines of acting a bit more cautious, if you have two weak mortals with you? Does that ring a bell?"

"How much time did you even have to talk about me," I groaned, but there was no fire in my words. Truth be told, I might have been an immortal, but I still had to deal with very mortal emotions, courtesy of my past. And venturing into the unknown darkness wasn't very high on anyone's to do list. I had long since harboured the suspicion, that heroes always gathered followers around them for that reason. The thought of giving up became much too embarrassing to go through with it. A bit like asking your friend to accompany you to the gym on a set date.

"Telepathy is a marvel, isn't it," Lin chuckled, albeit a bit forcedly, "and she seemed positively eager to share bits and pieces of your past."

"I can imagine… doesn't explain why you wanted to come with me from the very beginning."

"Would you believe me, if I told you I wanted to get closer to you?" When I cocked an eyebrow she rolled her eyes and added: "I admit, I've put my foot in my mouth before, but I don't mean it in a romantic way. Look… we've all grown up listening to fairytales, haven't we?" I nodded, even though I was quite sure that the ones she and I knew were quite different. "I've already formed a nascent soul and my perception is extraordinary. Still… every time I look past your beauty I only see light. Call me naive, but to me getting to know an immortal, who shines brighter than the sun, is worth a little risk."

"Daedalus and Icarus," I replied absentmindedly. The energies on the other side of the door were constantly in flux and try as I might, I just couldn't figure out a pattern. "If we ever get the chance, that's a fairytale I should probably tell you." She shrugged.

"I'll gladly listen… but I'm not going to turn around. Who knows, maybe you'll even be grateful to have us around before the end."

"Most likely…. but on the way there I'm probably going to curse your very existence quite a few times. Fine… what about you, Blackie?" To my surprise the fox didn't even complain, nor did he correct me and divulge his name:

"This humble one will leave as soon as possible, if given the chance. I'm grateful, but I won't be of much help. As you can see, I'm a five tailed fox. I'd just get in the way… if it's not too much to ask, could you give me something to prove that I've met you? I don't want to waltz out of here and straight into the next fight." Lin sought my gaze and when I nodded she handed him another token, similar to mine, but his was devoid of any magic.

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"Take it," she said. "Tell the first human you meet to look after you. They'll feed you and provide a safe place to recover." Just as she was about to drop the carved piece of jade into his outstretched paw, Yueji's tail thundered down between them like a lightning strike. The entire tunnel shook and with a groan like a dying giant cracks spread through the rocky floor. It didn't matter much to me, my wings anchored me in place, but Lin and the fox had to take a few quick steps to keep their balance.

"No," the dragoness growled, her voice easily drowning out the harsh complaints of the mountain. With a serpentine movement she slithered between Lin and the spirt and from one second to the next only the fox's paling face was visible amongst her sparkling coils. "He'll come with us. They can't be trusted. Even a weak fox is more than capable of turning the entire sect against you within a week. Don't underestimate him only because he looks like a walking corpse right now. Even you would fall prey to his charm, if he genuinely tried." I wasn't so sure where his prowess was concerned, but she was still right. A little insurance would go a long way.

"I can make sure he won't," I stated and allowed a trace of my power to enter my gaze and voice as I focused on his midnight blue eyes. "You will hide in the upper levels of the cave. You won't interact with anyone until you feel the presence of a true dragoness. You will approach her in secret and tell her everything." With a twist of my awareness I skimmed through the untouched collection of memory crystals I was still carrying around and looked for something I already knew I was never going to listen to. "Theoretical limitations of energy capacity in organic compounds" was a strong contender, but after a short moment I decided on "static operationalisation of quantum states - a theoretical framework for spells". Even the title gave me a migraine.

A trickle of energy flowed from my core and returned the information where it belonged: oblivion. Seriously, we could feel magic. Why ever had Mephisto thought I might be interested in puzzling out why it worked? I wanted to know how it worked. "Here," I added as I manifested the dull gem. "Yueji, let him go. He'll need his hands." She complied without hesitation. I didn't need to explain what I had done. The two of them had felt it, even though my commands hadn't been directed at them. My words were as irrefutable as death and for anyone talented the pressure was palpable.

The traces of my power were still clouding the fox's thoughts, so he barely managed to catch the jewel when I tossed it over. "I'm not going to force you," I continued much more amicably, "but I'd like you to record a map of your home. You're already being hunted like a traitor… you don't stand much to lose, do you?" He gazed at the greyish gem forlornly. A few seconds passed in silence, even the impulsive dragoness kept her snout shut, until he closed his claw like fingers around the crystal decisively.

"Right you are," he whispered and a minuscule spark of magic shot from his eyes. The gem ignited with warm, blue flames and he looked up with a crooked smile. "Believe it or not, if I thought I could do more than act as a tour guide, I'd go with you." His eyes darted upwards to meet the gaze of the dragoness. She still held him in a loose grip, but her muscles tightened when she tilted her head. "I wish you the best of luck," he added sincerely. "I hope you can free your family. We might be cruel, but not all of us are cold… as far as I'm concerned, your entire line has done nothing, but protect us for thousands of years. You don't deserve this…" he exhaled deeply and a much stronger spark manifested in the air in front of Yueji.

"It's… a part of me," he explained. "A memory… a powerful one. Something you might find interesting and something you might find useful. Do with it as you will." His body turned into flickering shadows and vanished. From afar, muted and frail, his parting words reached us, just as the gem hit the rocky floor with a bell like sound: "I will wait for your return…"

"Forget the charm of fox spirits," Yueji breathed into the silence, the light from her gaze slowly travelling up my body, "what kind of coercion was that? I've never felt anything comparable before."

"And if you're lucky, you never will again," I replied. "Just like you can suppress a weaker practitioner… cultivator, mortal races, even matter itself, obeys me. Watch." I pointed at a section of the wall, where the molten and refrozen rock had formed an abstract mural. "Shatter." Not a trace of magic slipped from my grasp, but the bizarre formation still crumbled into dust. I shrugged and was already on the verge of adding an explanation when the tunnel groaned again under the full weight of the dragoness's imposing head. She had pressed her jaws to the ground in a feeble attempt to imitate a human kowtow, while the fox's magic still hovered in front of her like a bizarre lightbulb. Despite myself I couldn't quite suppress a chuckle:

"Really? After everything I've done around here, that's what makes you grovel?" Then it clicked. Neither of them had been around, or even awake for that matter, when I had used my voice before. With a gentle touch I made her raise her head, my wings trailing behind me and towards the door like a luminous, eternal gown. I lowered myself into a crouch and whispered: "enough already. Nothing's changed and I quite prefer your obstinate, distrustful self. If you want to do me a favour, treat me just like you did before… maybe without the keeping everything a secret part."

"I… gods above, what are you even doing here? How can something like you even exist?" She couldn't quite get herself to meet my eye again, but she tried. Valiantly.

"The longer I live, the more I believe that it really shouldn't. Immortals don't belong in the mortal world. At least I've always thought so…" a warm, small handed landed gently on my shoulder when Lin interrupted me:

"Maybe, but can I still be grateful to have met you?" I placed my hand on top of hers and squeezed her fingers lightly.

"Sure you can, but maybe you should wait until we're back above ground, safe and sound." I straightened and turned to face the looming darkness behind the door. "Time to go, unless…," with a jerk of my head I indicated the sparkling sphere of power in front of Yueji, "aren't you curious what he's left behind? In case your worried," my eyes flashed silver, "don't be. It's not a curse… it's a skill and a normal memory." One of my wings shot over my shoulder and I quickly pocketed the memory crystal the fox had created for us. If I wasn't mistaken, he had mapped out a good chunk of the spirit lands for us.

"A skill," Yueji echoed confusedly. Right. Most dragons weren't blessed with a talent for the more supple applications of magic and, despite their telepathy, mind magic wasn't their forte, either.

"It's just a name," I explained. "You could also call it a part of his spirit. If you've learned something and are proficient enough to navigate your own mind freely, you can compress the knowledge into a single memory. Like a shortcut. Anyone who receives it, if they have the ability, can learn what you've left behind. Only downside, that kind of effort can't be copied. Whatever you pass on, you'll lose. He's gifted you a part of his past… I just can't tell which one without touching the memory and that would spoil it for you." She eyed the glowing ball of light curiously.

"Are you telling me that this… spell will allow me to learn one of his abilities?"

"Not quite. I'm telling you that you'll master the ability as soon as you absorb the magic. You'll also receive whatever memory he's hinted at. If I was forced to guess, I'd put my money on where your family is being imprisoned and maybe how they're guarded. He seemed genuinely remorseful when he mentioned their fate." The tip of her tail twitched and thundered against a wall, pulverising the delicate patterns the molten rock had hardened into.

"Remorseful," she parroted incredulously, "a fox? It's obvious kitsune and fox spirits aren't related by blood."

"All that glitters is not gold," I replied with a shrug. "Same goes the other way around. Maybe he's more like his sister than you thought."

"His sister?" This time it was Lin who repeated my words. Ahh… how often I had been there.

"Didn't you see," I asked through another chuckle. "Pitch black fur, but the tips of his tails were silver? Doesn't that sound like the perfect mirror image of a vixen you've described to me?"

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