On in the kitchen heated by a magelight fireplace Cassiathon stirred a bowl of hearty stew. "What am I?" he inquired, without lifting his gaze.
Tania stopped her washing. "You are our child."
"You understand my point. A defective weapon? An interstellar mishap? A creature he showed sympathy towards?"
"Don't even think about it " Tania snapped, her tone cutting. She stepped forward setting her hands on the table. "The evening he brought you here a small being emitting overwhelming destructive energy it was distorting the air, near you he didn't see you with sympathy. He saw you with understanding."
"Recognition?"
"Of a burden " spoke the Angel of Death as he stepped into the room. His formidable figure appeared to diminish to suit the household surroundings. "I have been present since the first soul departed the living realm. I have witnessed the rise and collapse of empires of gods and demons. Throughout all this time I have never interfered. My responsibility is, to the conclusion, not the narrative." He sat down the chair creaking. "Until I encountered you. A child forged from the energies that endanger equilibrium itself: the Abyss's anarchic eternal life and mankind's reckless vain desire to overcome death. You were an anomaly. A rift, in the fabric."
Cassiathon recoiled.
"And " the Angel went on his jet-black eyes steady "removing you would have been easy.. It would have meant a conclusion lacking meaning. A squandering of a possibility.. Your quietness… you didn't cry out with strength. You mourned the absence."
"So I'm a test case, to you as well " Cassiathon murmured, the lingering bitterness surfacing.
"No." The term was definitive. "You are the offspring I never predicted. The single factor my infinite record failed to consider. You are my decision.. I am instructing you so that you might possess a choice yourself when the powers convene at our threshold."
A loud pounding resonated within the mountain fortress a noise not made by flesh. By something firmer hitting rock.
All three stood motionless.
The Angel of Death remained standing his usual scythe materializing in his grasp. "She refused to come on her own. Not, at this time."
"Who?" Tania inquired, heading toward a cabinet and retrieving a rune-carved pistol.
The Angel gazed at Cassiathon. "The messenger, from your past. Remain here."
However Cassiathon was already, in motion trailing him into the hall. He refused to conceal himself. Not this time.
The principal doors, measuring twenty feet in height and crafted from ironwood opened on their own. Beyond them in the twilight stood a lone figure.
She embodied grace, dressed in a crimson suit that appeared to absorb the light. Her hair was as black as a night, without stars her features keen and perceptive. Valentina Rhodes gave a smile that failed to warm her analytical eyes.
"Greetings," she said, her voice like silk over a blade. "I bring tidings from the Court of Vernia and Blaise Vouw, Monarchs of the Reclaimed Abyss." Her gaze slid past the terrifying form of the Angel of Death and landed squarely on Cassiathon. "And an invitation. For the child of the failed Project… and the unexpected heir of a different, grander lineage. We would very much like to talk to our… cousin."