Cassandra Pendragon
"Because it's sacrilege," she breathed as a single, burning tear rolled down her cheek.
"So I was right," I mused. I hadn't been sure. "You don't remember Lamia, but you can feel who she is with every fibre of your being. Explain yourself."
"And what would that change," she asked softly without meeting my gaze. "Except for reopening old wounds? Do you get some perverted sense of satisfaction from seeing me suffer? I can't get close to her, whether I want to or not."
"Is that so? Pray tell, why? I simply don't understand." She drew a deep, shaky breath.
"Like you said, our memories, our past always burn so we can rise from the flames. But there are also ways around it. I might not remember, but I do know what happened, I do know why I… ran away from my child." For a moment she seemed like an entirely different person. Graceful, wise and… hurt. But the fleeting impression soon vanished when she brushed away the tear and steeled her resolve. "Unfortunately it's also the only bargaining chip I have left. I…"
"Am making yet another mistake," Viyara growled, while a tongue of flames danced across her lips. "It's not your day, phoenix. If Cassandra had been alone, you might have been able to bargain with her, but I'm not that lenient. Neither your crocodile tears nor your pain move me." The scent of molten gold returned full force despite the wind and suddenly she towered above the surprised woman, her silhouette veiled by a storm of magic that transcended the abilities of a dragon. "Bargaining? You're not bargaining, you're begging." She extended a long, slender finger and just barley touched the stunned phoenix' forehead. "Now we'll see…"
"Viyara, that's enough," I intervened tiredly and flicked my wrist. The nimbus of power around her immediately dissipated. "Don't disgrace yourself. We're not cornered and I won't watch you violate her mind, if there's another way." I got to my feet and turned my back on them. "Lamia, Reia," I shouted, "come over here for a minute, would you?" Judging from Reia's disgruntled groans she wasn't exactly thrilled, but the two girls still waddled over, drenched to the bone. They even asked their new friends to remain behind.
"What," my sister wanted to know as soon as she arrived. Without a second thought she reached for one of my tails to wipe her face. Luckily she had taken another bath in the creek after Baihe had put her through her paces.
"Next time, use your own," I mumbled, but I didn't push her away. Truth be told I couldn't even suppress a smile when she reemerged from the silver flood. It just felt delightfully normal.
"Sure… as soon as I have as many as you. What's the matter? And why are those two looking like they've just trapped their tails in a door?" She finally extracted herself from me, but when I saw how tightly her clothes clung to her, I pulled her back into me with a sideway glance at the disciples, still lingering beyond the edge of the main hall premises. On second thought, it might also have been Lamia's inconspicuous stares that had made me uncomfortable. When she wasn't stealing glances at her mother with a mixture of nervousness and anxiety, she could barely tear her eyes away from the young vixen.
"Viyara is miffed because I didn't let her use her magic on the phoenix and the phoenix is rattled because it's even an option."
"And what's that got to do with us?" I felt her sigh when she rose to the tip of her toes and whispered in my ear: "I don't mind being here, but you know you're just hurting Lamia, don't you?"
"Am I," replied equally quietly. "Why don't we ask them directly?" When I looked up from her mane of ebony hair Viyara was still staring daggers at me. I granted her a pinched smile before me eyes settled on the older phoenix. Calling her Madame Feng just didn't seem right. "Now you have a choice to make. Walk away or don't. Nobody will stop you… but the door will close. In case you don't, the five of us will talk for as long as it's going to take and I promise," my wings appeared behind me, "your girl will be safe. No matter the circumstances." Silence settled in and for the first time mother and daughter allowed themselves to look at the other. It would have been a surprisingly sweet moment, considering the circumstances, if it hadn't been for the nagging dragoness in my ear:
"Are you bloody moonstruck," she erupted telepathically. "What are…"
"Viyara… I know you trust me, but for once could you also trust in my judgement? I'm a bumbling idiot when it comes to politics or consequences, but I understand people. I truly do. I'm old, Viyara, so unbelievably old, and there aren't many things I believe in anymore, but I do believe in the love a mother holds for her child. Some things even a transcendent curse can't eradicate."
"Are you telling me that love is the one thing even immortals can't control," she snorted derisively. "Maybe you've missed your true calling. Cassandra the fairy godmother…"
"Make fun of me all you want, we'll see in a moment who's right. But no, chemical reactions, thoughts, desires, dreams and awe… you, of all people, should know that our mere existence comes pretty close to controlling or at least imitating love. And you've misunderstood me. Lamia's mother… she's the daughter I've been talking about. To Sarai, the phoenixes… I think, in a way, they are her children." I tugged on her consciousness and pulled her deeper into the infinite quagmire of my mind. Far deeper than she usually went.
"My sister changed." I took the dragoness by the hand as the darkness of space, devoid of light and life, swallowed us. "I can't explain it, you need to see… that was her." Suddenly light tore the darkness asunder and worlds, stars, galaxies appeared around us, breathing life into a dead universe. Then they were devoured. One by one they went up in hungry, white hot flames. They were ground and burned to dust and ashes, but from the ashes they became anew. Specks of dust turned into planets that circle around freshly lit flames and their warmth, their essence reignited the cycle of life. It was beautiful, but also cruel because no one would remember.
"That's what she stands for, what she embodies… or should I say stood for? She told us Viyara, she changed. She combined her core with the soul, with the essence of a phoenix and slowly…" I snapped my fingers and darkness swallowed us once again. An agonisingly beautiful woman, featureless, but filled with flickering flames, was the only thing we could see. On a silent command she hovered closer until the flames turned into a myriad of phoenixes. A defiant, but bright call tore through the void and one of the magnificent birds began to change. Slowly a different colour, a new melody wove itself through the ethereal scene and the woman imploded into the image of burning stars. The cycle began anew, but this time a tiny fragment, a minuscule part remained behind after each firestorm.
While Viyara blinked against the soft rays of dusk again, I added: "I believe ever since she actually became one with the elder phoenix, the shackles of her chosen kin are cracking. By now I'm sure. There's more to her story than we thought. Watch. All they need is a little… push."
A tiny spark, a white hot flame ignited in the air between the two estranged women. It was gone as fast as it had appeared, but judging from Reia's expression she had seen it all too clearly. Curiosity got the better of me and I sent a trickle of power to my eyes. When the world had turned silver the intricate magic we had perceived as a flame unraveled and I could clearly see memories reignite in their minds. Like a wildfire the magic surged through them and in its wake the dreams of a lost life were born anew. The consequences also immediately presented themselves. For Lamia not much changed, she hadn't forgotten to begin with, but her mother fell with a strangle cried, engulfed by a whirlwind of arcane fire.
Without a second thought I vanished from the spot and materialised behind the falling phoenix. Long before she touched the ground I caught her in my arms, the white hot, searing heat nothing, but a warm breeze again my skin. Unfortunately my robes were a bit more delicate. "And another one," I thought glumly as my sleeves turned into charred ashes and the flames tore through the front of my dress. "Heal," I whispered and gently lowered her into the soft grass while the ravenous flames petered out.
I couldn't quite stop my eyes from wandering when the naked, beautiful woman groaned softly and raised her hands to her head. I followed her movement and watched a trickle of liquid fire drip from underneath her palm. Her breath turned ragged and a salty, heavy smell, like burning copper, filed my lungs. Then her body shook as the first, strangled sobs escaped her. "What have I done," she choked out desperately. When her whole body tensed I took a quick step back, just in time.
A flurry of movement followed by a sound like ripping silk made me flinch. Crimson, burning wings sprouted from her back and with one enormous leap she flung herself at her stupefied daughter. "Lamia," was the last word I heard before she buried the smaller girl under her. A satisfied, genuine smile tugged on the corners of my mouth as I moved to Viyara's side. With a sigh I wrapped my arm around her neck and used my tails to pull my sister closer.
"Told you," I chuckled warmly. "Every once in a while…," I didn't finish my sentence, but the two of them still understood me perfectly.
"Is she… did she change entirely," Reia asked quietly, even though her voice was trembling with joy as she watched her friend return her mother's embrace hesitantly.
"No," I replied and shook my head. "It's just a gift, a small one. Unless I'm mistaken, every phoenix will, from now on, recognise their loved ones. Even if they're from a previous life. I think they'll even remember why they loved them." I spread out my wings to remove the sad, smoking remains of my robe before the glowing torrents vanished. With a thought I instead conjured the dress from my bracelet. It was a touch less conspicuous than my birthday suit, at least.
"How could you guess," Viyara whispered. Her indignation had entirely evaporated. Admittedly, the two stammering divine beasts were pretty adorable.
"Fenya… the elder phoenix. How often do you think she's suffered through something similar? How often did she know and grieve for what she had lost? I did guess, but, unless she had been a psychopath, I was decently sure that her pain would influence my sister. Do you want to hear something entirely irrelevant? You're just watching one of the rarest occurrences in the universe. An immortal who's trying to do better."
"I'm trying all the time," Reia quipped and raised her hand to show me a gleaming, bluish white feather made of ice crystals with a rough, improvised, pointy tip. Her silly smile, though, never wavered and her gaze never left the two crying girls. "The next time the jade lizard grapples me..."
"Not quite what I meant," I chuckled. With a quick flick of one of my tails I catapulted the makeshift dagger into the air and caught it with my free hand to hold it against the setting sun. The intricate pattern came alive with golden light and casted a dancing shadow upon my cheeks. "Impressive." I brushed against the edge and immediately felt my skin split open. "Ouch. Your feathers are sharp. More a weapon then a toy. Unless you want to actually harm someone, I wouldn't use them. An angel's wings are the closest expression we have of our core. I assume you can still feel the feather? Can you still control it?" She caught my eye and winked.
"Maybe." A soft flutter made me look up from her face. The feather had split along the spine and was trying to fly by itself, brushing against the tips of my fingers. I whistled through my teeth.
"That's one hell of a cheat. I guess you've already experimented? How sharp are they? Can they reattach? How much strength can you exert?"
"Almost none," she admitted. "Every time I move one it feels like I'm trying to run under water. But they're deadly sharp. The edge went through anything I tried."
"And you still meant to slice at Baihe? Seriously?"
"Not really," she huffed. "I just wanted to show you. And maybe scratch her scales… or her pride. I can't even use the most basic spells anymore. Neither can I transform into animals. I have to have an ace up my sleeve, don't I?"
"I couldn't agree more. But your transcendent abilities are not to be toyed with. Never. Is that clear?" She rolled her eyes, but nodded without hesitation. Less sternly I added: "You've already got four tales. With your next evolution you'll be able to use your energy freely within your body. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to control your feathers without restrictions, once that happens. That's a pretty nifty ability. I… one of our brothers, Michael. He fought…fights the same way."
I felt Reia's hands dive nervously into my fur and Viyara sidle closer, her pointed ears twitching. "You want to know what his wings look like, right," I asked. While I was watching mother and daughter rise to their knees, their arms still wrapped around the others neck, I didn't particularly mind talking about Michael. When their low, choked voices mingled into a beautiful melody of remorse and forgiveness I continued: "a bit like yours, Reia, but much thicker, more massive. They're made from steel, at least it looks that way, but I've never encounter a more sturdy substance. He could clash with me… I can leave marks on his wings, but I've never managed to shatter them."
"Doesn't… doesn't that make him invincible," Viyara mumbled. "If even your wings can't hurt him, what else is there?"
"A shield is only useful when you can catch a blow," I remarked darkly, "but I've never said it'd be easy. But honestly, that's nothing to worry about for now. If our luck is actually bad enough to lead him and the heavenly host near us now, it'll be the end. Plain and simple. And, unless you develop much faster than I expect you to, Reia, neither one of you will ever face an immortal on their own. You've seen my memories just now, Viyara. You know what I mean." Silence settled in between us when our attention returned to the two girls, but it wasn't awkward. Even someone as proud as the crystalline dragoness wasn't delusional enough to dream of challenging my kin.
The last rays of a serene dusk painted the mountains violet and the sky indigo. In the North a black bank of clouds rolled towards the hidden valley and the cold, foreboding wind carried the smell of snow and ice. The forest groaned far below us and the much closer pattering of sandalled feet told me that the disciples had finally decided to abandon their post. Lamia and her mom were still wrapped around the other like two trees, one crowned in red, the other in white, that had grown together for decades, but they were at least slowly getting to their feet, their eyes filled with cathartic tears.
A soft laugh escaped me when the younger girl stumbled, her knees buckling as the weight of the last years finally lessened. Her mom immediately moved to catch her and our eyes met. She didn't speak, but her tremulous smile and her shy nod was all the affirmation I needed. They'd be fine, one way or the other. Maybe Viyara had been right. Maybe our life was truly turning around.