Cassandra Pendragon
"I don't want to tell my story," Miriel explained, her wings still tightly wrapped around her daughter. Her old name had come back to her as soon as she had touched her child. "I can't remember… it'd be better for you to form your own opinion." The sun had set and even though the moon hadn't risen, yet, the stars were slowly conquering the darkening sky above our merrily dancing campfire. Between a dragoness and two phoenixes it hadn't posed much of a problem to light a warming flame and the flickering heat had turned our hiding spot of unkempt grass and rough boulders into a cozy cave.
Miriel raised her delicate, jade like hand and a tongue of flames shot into the young night. When it petered out, a small, glittering, crimson gem remained behind on her palm. "One of my tears," she added and pulled her daughter even closer to protect her from the chilling wind. "It's all I know. It's what I've left for myself. Once you've seen…" she shrugged and kissed the top of Lamia's head. The girl only smiled happily in response. "As long as you don't expect me to leave her again, I'll help in any way I can. It's the least I can do."
"She's an entirely different person," Viyara commented silently. "Do you think…"
"Her words are genuine," I stated. "She means what she says."
"A single memory can cause all of this?"
"And so much more. If it's the right one, a single moment can alter the course of your life." A blurry scene of a hurt, golden dragoness crashing down onto a badly mangled sky ship fluttered through my mind. "A single moment and both our lives changed, fundamentally so, didn't they?"
The dragoness hummed deep in her throat and I extended my hand across the crackling fire. Without hesitation the phoenix dropped her tear into my palm. When the scorching hot jewel touched my skin I felt the latent magic in its crystalline depths, but I didn't reach for it, yet.
"I'm sure your recollections will be invaluable to the Ice Jade Sect. Would you mind if I shared them with their master?" She shrugged.
"Not at all. I'd even like you to. Shall we head back inside, then?"
"No need. Lin's already on her way." A quick remark to stifle later confusion: what I was doing was actually pretty rude. I had simply started calling everyone around here by their given names, even though it would have been customary to stick to surnames. Usually the surname was even placed in front of the given name, but while I did remember the custom, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Especially since Mei and Lin shared a family name: Bai. Following proper etiquette, I'd have to call them Bai Mei, or Bai Mei Lin respectively, but as you can see, I had even abbreviated the latter's given names. Mainly because I hadn't expected anyone to complain to my face.
"I'll have a quick look myself beforehand, though," I continued as I scrutinised the tiny gem.
"The memories cover days," Miriel cautioned me. "The magic allows you to access them quickly enough, but you'll still have to understand what you're seeing."
"It won't take long. I can cheat," I chuckled. My eyes vanished behind a veil of silver before my power ran down my cheeks like tears of liquid light and I allowed a part of my perception to enter the crystallised memory. The world hiccoughed and my vision splintered. I could still see the phoenixes staring at me, I could still feel Viyara's breath against my neck and Reia's cool, silky skin under my tails, but as the flickering shadows our fire casted upon the boulders stilled and a tinge of grey wove itself through the muted colours of the night, a different scene gradually unfolded before my eyes.
A barren, flat, greyish plain sprawled from horizon to horizon under a roiling, inky sky. Lightning cleaved through the darkness as if the heavens themselves were being flayed alive, but a cacophony of pain challenged the wrath of nature. Thunder roared and gusts of wind catapulted dust demons into the air. Outbursts of magic and the clash of steel made the ground tremble, powerful spells tore the earth asunder and amidst it all people fought and died, their crimson blood surging through the chaos like a precious, steaming river.
There was no rhyme or reason to the fight. Small groups of soldiers hacked away at each other, limbs and broken weapons littering the ground at their feet. Elegant, robed masters clashed in the sky, their skills much more pronounced, but their fight no less bloody. Mythical beasts dove through the clouds, either fleeing from or chasing after each other. Here and there their deadly game came to an end and with a sickening sound like snapping hawsers a white, winged lion was torn to pieces. A hot, heavy rain wetted the battlefield and several combatants slipped. Heads rolled, spears were driven into exposed flesh, axes severed limbs from bodies and dreadful spells devoured entire families in the blink of an eye. Death was smiling upon the world today.
On a mesa at the very centre, untouched by the whirlwind of madness and blood, two humans stood rigidly. The howling wind made the long beard of one and the even longer, crimson hair of the other dance, but not a single shadow from the fight overhead ever fell upon their pristine robes. Red and blue they towered above the carnage like cruel, uncaring gods. "Is that what you wanted, brother," the woman in blue finally said, her voice carrying with an eerie strength.
"Great men are forged in fire. It is my privilege to light the flames. Our future will be decided today and, for good or ill, the die has already been cast. One of us will fall today. You should never have touched my people."
"People? Humans aren't people. Even if they are… what about family? Does blood not matter to you anymore, Hu Yichen?" A jolt of pain made me flinch when I bit my tongue. Hu Yichen was Constantine's new name. Was the red robed elder one of his ancestors?
"Blood always matters, especially when it has been spilled." Her voice became quieter and colder as she continued. I knew that particular inflection very well. The inflection of someone whose true nature was being swallowed by a tide of anger much too strong to be denied. "And yours, sister, will wet the earth today." The ground trembled when a force, much stronger than the paltry battle all around, took hold and even though the memory didn't fade, I pushed forward relentlessly. Miriel had claimed the recollection covered days, but I didn't intend to watch the grim reaper swing his scythe for hours. I had seen more than enough bloodshed already and my future surely held even more. A strange sensation spread through my mind when I accelerated through the bloody battle until I neared the very end of the memory.
A battered and bruised husk of the red robed man stood in front of the sad remains of his erstwhile proud army. He had lost an arm and the burn marks on his face had altered his appearance until it had become almost unrecognisable, but the satisfaction that oozed from every unwounded inch of his skin made him look much taller than he had before. "It's over," he tried to shout, but his voice was cracking. "You've done…" He fell. The last of his strength left his ravaged body and the desperate cries of his soldiers surged towards the uncaring heaven.
A single spark ignited on his chest and a moment later a roaring bonfire had engulfed his failing body. From the ashes the crimson shadow of a magnificent bird soared into the sky. Awe silenced the exclamations of terror and fear, the heavens became streaked with gold and crimson and for the tiniest fraction of a moment, far to quick for the eye to follow, a rift opened in the sky. A rift through which I saw the dome constructions and ancient belfries of the Vatican before the winged, burning silhouette escaped to Earth and the tear closed as if it had never been there.
My thoughts were racing and I felt a drop of sweat run down my cheek when my vision returned to the campfire and the stars above. The pretty faces staring at me nervously didn't do much to alleviate my anxiety and I quickly cleared my throat to get rid of the lump I felt choking my voice. My gaze darted to the two phoenixes, but it took me two tries to get the words out properly: "do you… do you always return to Earth when you die?" Miriel answered with a pinched smile:
"That's what I wanted to find out. I can only tell you that I was cast through space and regained my senses on Earth. I thought the Gate might be the reason… that's why I fought tooth and nail to get it under my control."
"That memory," I continued hesitantly while I buried my face in Reia's fragrant tresses, "how old is it? And where were you? How can you have a recollection of a battle you didn't take part in?"
She shrugged. "It's old. You should ask around. From the names alone you can be sure the fight took place somewhere in the Immortal Lands and as destructive as it was… Constantine is headed for the capital, isn't he? If this sect doesn't t have the answer, I'm sure the imperial archives will. As for why I have it… beats me. I can tell you that it is stored in one of my actual tears, but I don't know how it got there in the first place. Maybe I was there and…" I raised and shook my head.
"You weren't. At least I don't think so. The recollection wasn't centred. If I had tried, I'd even have been able to move around. I wasn't bound to a specific point of view. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure if it really is a memory. It could also have been a… right, you've been to Earth, a recording, similar to a camera. But why do you have it? Why Earth…"
"Maybe you're overthinking," Viyara said quietly. "Maybe it's just a coincidence?" I snorted, which earned me an immediate pinch from my sister as she shivered.
"Sure… do you actually believe that?" She hung her head:
"Not really. I can hope, though."
"Mom," we all jerked when Lamia's quiet, timid voice sounded from the protective embrace of her mother's wings, "I think I know." The crackling embers and Viyara's breath were suddenly overly loud in my ears as I focused on the girl. She couldn't meet my gaze, but her eyes darted constantly from her mom to Reia and back again until she finally stared at her own, still bare feet.
"It was," she began, but immediately choked up. Before she could utter another word she started to tremble and tears streamed down her cheeks like a salty river. I felt a tug on my tails and Reia disappeared from my side. A moment later she kneeled in front of the girl, her wings manifested and the distraught phoenix vanished behind a curtain of immortal ice and her mother's flames. I found myself smiling again, a surprisingly regular occurrence in the last few hours.
Soft murmurs wafted from the cocoon of magic, but I didn't even try to listen in. Instead I leaned into Viyara and raised my head to the sky where the stars were shining brightly. "Ten years in hell for a day in heaven," I mumbled softly as I sank deeper into her warmth.
"I guess your sister is going to make sure she won't ever have to return to the darkness," the dragoness replied just as quietly. "It's her past, isn't it?" I could only shrug.
"No way to know for sure without eavesdropping and I'm not going to do that. But I think so. Maybe she's seen something when she was pulled over… you've just witnessed how powerful memories can be. They can heal… but they can also hurt. Still, if Lamia wants to move forward, she'll have to face her pain sooner or later. Now might just be the perfect time. At least she's not alone." A tremor raced through me when Viyara sighed deeply.
"I don't want to… but can we actually afford to wait until she's calmed down?" Her genuine anxiety made me chuckle.
"Even if we can't, we still will. We've already spent almost a day here. An hour or two won't make much of a difference. Let her have as much time as she needs." With a nimble movement I extricate myself from her and got to my feet, hands extended to pull her up as well. "Come with me. They don't need an audience." With a crooked smile she allowed me to pull her up.
"And where do we go," she asked.
"The creek. Lin's on her way to check on Baihe and Mei and I'd rather not have them come over now. Besides, watching them fool around in the water has made me envious. If I have to wait, I'll just take a dip myself."
"Is that really a good idea," she asked with a smile in her voice while we manoeuvred around the larger boulders arm in arm. "Skinny dipping in front of Lin might backfire." I pinched her waist.
"Are you my chaperone now? Don't you think that's rather hypocritical?"
"So what? You still need one, don't you?"
"Not really. If you ask me, it's the others who could do with one, but apparently my opinion doesn't matter much. Which reminds me, how are you doing with your vampire? Everything alright?"
"Even if it wasn't, it don't think I'd want to tell you."
"That's not fair," I pouted and even blew up my cheeks. Much more seriously I added: "you do know you can talk to me, don't you? I don't mean to brag, but I've been in a relationship for the past few aeons. If there's…"
"And it ended with Ahri driving a sword through your back the last time around," she interrupted. "I'm not sure if I want your advice when it comes to relationships. Most of us don't come back from being killed after all." The brook cut through the dark grass right in front of us like a shining band of silver and I slowed down a notch when I heard Mei's voice.
"Your choice." I hesitated for a moment before I blurted out in a rush: "look, I know I can't take their place, but you've lost your mothers. If you ever feel out of your depths…" She stopped dead in her tracks. I stumbled, but managed to regain my a balance with a quick jerk of my tails. When I turned around the glow from her eyes had dimmed and her face was hidden in deep shadows. "What," I added nonchalantly. "You're always trying to set me straight. Can't I return the favour? Wait… there is something, isn't there? What's wrong?" The air became warmer and it took me a moment to realise that the dragoness' body was heating up like a furnace. "Come on," I goaded her, "you know I can just look. And now I'm curious."
"You… it's not… damn it, that's about the last thing I wanted," she groaned and turned away from me to bury her face in her hands.
"Is it embarrassing," I chuckled and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"No… not really… fine. And maybe you can actually help. Do you know how many full blooded dragons are staying in Free Land right now?" I counted with my fingers:
"You, Quenda, Narros, my grandmother… me, if you're being very generous. So… four or five?"
"Close," she snorted and turned around while she took my hand. "There are a wee but more, though. 47 to be precise, and that's without counting you or your grandma. Almost every true dragon has arrived by now. Only a few of the larger families have left someone behind to guard their hoards. I…" she fell silent, lost in her own thoughts. I squeezed her fingers.
"The naming ceremony," I continued quietly in her stead. "Are you worried?
"No," she sighed, "I'm lost. I just don't know what to do."