An Angel’s Road to Hell

Cassandra Pendragon

Silence reigned between us for a while. I was trying to puzzle out whether or not Lin had been right and if I was starting to see zebras instead of horses everywhere, while the blue haired sect master was more than content to simply watch the ever changing patterns on the lake. It truly was beautiful down here in an alien sort of way that reminded me of the more primitive space colonies I had visited over the years. Most habitats also began with water and a few edible plants under a glowing sky far away from home.

With a regretful sigh I turned towards the tunnel that'd lead us deeper under the mountain. If there was a chance, I'd probably have elder Mo for dessert, but the main course was a bit more important and already in danger of spoiling. "If we ever find the time, will you show me around properly," I asked as I slowly made my way past the overgrown shoreline. After a few steps the ground up stones turned into soil and the sound of my footfalls vanished.

"Sure. Does that mean you'll return to us?"

"You'll probably see more of me than you might want to in the future. Places to be, people to visit. I'm running off now, but it doesn't mean that I'll ignore a decrepit, decadent woman hunting for my kin. Depending on how this expedition goes I might not even have to put up with the inconveniences of living in a different realm." She only replied when we had almost reached the mouth of the tunnel:

"You've never been very clear on what you actually mean when it comes to why you're here. I… look, of course you don't have to tell me, but it sounds like our entire world is in peril. Is it true? Can we somehow help?" I shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but either way you're helping already. You're right as well. The structure of our world is crumbling and my actions over the last days have only made it worse. If we can't find a way to fix it, a surge of power unlike anything you've ever seen before will tear your home asunder. What you call a gate is actually just a small part of a much bigger whole."

"Are you going to close it?" She sounded anxious. After having spent most of her life with a spirit as a companion the sheer thought of slamming the door to Yueji's home shut had to feel like sacrilege. Unfortunately I couldn't alleviate her worries.

"Only if I have to, but I don't even know what's waiting for me down there, never mind what I'm going to do about it. I can tell you that you won't lose your dragon, though. You've already traveled between realms. You'll always be able to go back."

"I know, but I wasn't asking for myself. Losing our connection to the spirit realm will be a devastating blow to our sect and…"

"Still better than scraping your disciples off the ground… if there'll even be anyone left to do the scraping. Look, neither of us can predict the future. There's hardly a point in worrying before you know what's going on. For now, let's focus on getting into the deepest parts of the cave. It's already plenty, considering you haven't managed to enter for nigh a decade."

"Somehow I don't think that'll pose too much of a challenge," she chuckled, albeit a bit forcedly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…" she paused and both of us froze mid step. It had been faint and distant, but I had definitely heard the screeching of ancient hinges and the dull hum of a massive, opening door. The sound hadn't come from behind, though.

"Didn't you say nobody was left down here," I asked after listening intently for a few moments.

"A door can be opened from either side," she replied with a slight tremor in her voice. "I'd have felt it, if anyone of us had used a token to disable the enchantments. The one I carry is the original, the others are simple copies. I… it can't have been one of ours." So much for a guided tour. Without thinking I grabbed her hand and fell into a jog.

"Which means it's an intruder, either another cultivator or something from the other side. Which way?" We had passed the mouth of the tunnel and entered a large, natural passage illuminated by the same glowing crystals. The smell of life and nature had become much stronger as if we were nearing a blooming meadow in spring and the temperature had risen by a few degrees. Every twenty steps or so the walls gave way to another, rocky opening, but I didn't take the time to explore past the flickering shadows, even though an enticing breath of cold, charged air caressed my face every time I turned towards the various entrances.

"Just follow the main corridor. Most of the passages you see lead to small caves we use for cultivation. I'll make sure they're empty while we move past." I nodded, but I still wanted to make sure myself. With a twist of my awareness I sent a trickle of power towards my eyes and allowed the world to be swallowed by a storm of silver.

The patterns that emerged were much too intricate to comprehend with a single glance, but I only looked for the telltale shimmer of something alive… and there was none. At least until much further down the tunnel where a solid wall of light blocked even my perception. I couldn't tell what we'd find behind the glaring curtain, but the upper parts of the cave were deserted. Which begged the question how far the sound we had heard had actually traveled. It had to have originated from behind the second barrier, but I could hardly imagine how it could have reached us. Echoes traveled far in cave systems, but passing through enchantments and hundreds of metres of winding passages seemed like a bit of a stretch.

My wings manifested and filled the air with the smell of ozone and the silky whispers of eternity. "Sorry, but I'm going to speed us up." With a gliding step I moved behind her and wrapped my arms around her middle. "Hold on tight." I felt her tense when my magic enveloped us in a sturdy cocoon to keep her safe. A surge of light thundered through the tunnel and Lin squealed in surprise as the rough walls and glowing gems turned into streaks of colour all around us. The world trembled and the echoes of space bending roared in my ears, but before my breathing burden could even comprehend what was happening to her, I had already come to a halt in front of an open, fortified gate that wouldn't have been out of place in a fortress.

Behind us the corridor was still glowing with the energy of our passage. Despite my effort to shield us, my power had still melted a good chunk of the walls into liquid glass. Heat waves rippled through the air wherever huge, orange-red drops fell from the burning cuts I had torn into the tunnel. The air was filled with a tangy, almost liquid smell and the temperature easily rivalled high noon in the Gobi desert, but I didn't care much for the hellish background, nor the alien, roaring sound that accompanied each breath of the rock.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

I clenched my jaws and kept my wings wrapped tightly around Lin while I carefully studied a bleeding, quivering bundle of fur and flesh on the ground. A trail of blood led from the wounded creature to the impenetrable darkness behind the door. Here and there the crimson liquid had pooled to mark the tortuous path the beast had taken until exhaustion and loss of blood had extracted their toll and it had collapsed. By the looks of it, it had forced itself to crawl a few steps further until even the last bit of its energy had been spent and now I could only discern a few mangled limbs, some broken tails and an assortment of wounds that would have turned any war hero green with envy.

Very slowly I lowered myself into a crouch and breathed in deeply. Despite the acrid smell of burning rock I immediately tasted the coppery aroma of spilled blood and the faint, ethereal scent of unspent magic. Spells had ravaged its body, but there was also something else, something deeper… something familiar like a hidden melody in a plain song. That creature was a fox spirit and even though its magic was running out, I could still feel its fleeting allure. Had it been exiled? Had it fled? Was it being chased?

A myriad of questions fluttered through my mind, but in the end they didn't matter. I could either help or watch it die on the spot. Now, judging from experience, I'd have one hell of an easier time if I simply cut off its head and took it with me as a sign of goodwill to whomever I might encounter on the other side of the door, but unfortunately, even after uncounted years, I was still plagued by a conscience. Plus, I had been in a similar situation often enough to thoroughly sympathise… then again, if it had been me lying there, I wouldn't have recommended getting involved. Not one bit.

"Damn it," I groaned and gently touched the fox's flank. It didn't react, but the tremors, that still shook its frail form, intensified. "You're scared," I mumbled and made my decision. "Don't be. For better or worse, we'll have you up in no time." My eyes lost focus when I rose back up and concentrated. With a twist of my awareness I conjured my armour above my dress and pushed a small fraction of winter's deadly wrath into the corridor behind me. The very next second the fires petered out with a sound like hawsers snapping and a glistening hailstorm of ice roared through the tunnel. I folded my wings away, stored my armour and grabbed a disoriented Lin by the shoulder to keep her from stumbling.

"Can Yueji help? I could probably patch it up myself, but I'd rather not. Aren't spirit dragons renowned for their healing abilities?" The girl blinked in confusion and unconsciously folded her arms around her middle against the biting cold. Her hesitant reply came with a pensive frown:

"They are. Give me a moment." She leaned into me and her face went blank. Before my inner eye I could see the connection between her and her companion pulse in time with their thoughts and even though they exchanged much more than a few sentences, it didn't take more than a handful of heartbeats. "She needs some space to materialise," Lin explained when her eyes flickered and opened again. "Yueji has a condition, but that's something the two of you have to puzzle out yourselves," she added. Before I could complain she had already squeezed my shoulder reassuringly and was quickly striding down the frozen corridor until she was about twenty body lengths away. Then her slender frame lit up with sparks of red and blue as the power of another realm thundered through her veins.

A flash of light was followed by the sound of ivory claws scraping over unyielding granite and the warmth of a dragon's breath suddenly challenged the supernatural cold I had called forth. The sparkling behemoth of rubies, sapphires and golden antlers was still as beautiful as I remembered, but her demeanour had changed. Before I had only felt weariness from her, but now she seemed genuinely pleased to see me. At least if I was right and her menacing display of fangs, as long as my arm, was indeed a smile and not a snarl.

"Long time no see," I mumbled as my eyes darted over her glittering coils and I cautiously moved in between the wounded fox and the imposing dragoness. With a jerk of my head I indicated the dying creature and added: "let's cut to the chase. What do you want?" She exhaled a dark plume of smoke before she nimbly slithered through the tunnel. The adamantine rocks quaked under her weight and the coat of frost on the walls immediately began to thaw. Yueji wasn't a crystalline, but a spirit dragon was still a presence to be reckoned with, even though she wasn't yet old enough to have grown into her own powers. In a millennium or two she wouldn't have needed me at all to rescue Baihe. Which begged the question where the truly ancient spirits were hiding, but for now I couldn't have cared less.

"I still can't get used to you," she rumbled deep in her throat, which caused another tremor to shake the corridor. "All that power, but yet you look just as tiny as Mei. Would you mind transforming? I'd rather ask another dragoness for help than a small human with tails."

"Vanity has brought more powerful creature to their knees than you can imagine," I replied. I had no intention of humouring her. "There's also a difference between asking for help and bargaining for it. So… what will be your price to save one of your own kin?" She arrived in front of me and the entire tunnel turned into a writhing mass of glowing scales and deadly fangs.

"Bargaining? You've misunderstood. My condition is for you to listen before you make a mistake. Everything else is… just a plea."

"A mistake? So you know…"

"Him. I don't, but I know of him. I'm always trying to keep an eye on the creatures who have made me flee my home. If you had lost to their machinations, you'd have done the same." I chuckled darkly.

"You don't know me very well. I'm not big on waiting nor on nurturing a grudge. Well, mostly. Is that all you want? You heal him and I'll listen?" She inclined her scaly head. "I accept."

On a side note, you might be wondering why I hadn't simply healed the fur ball myself. Several reasons, but the most important was probably my severe lack of understanding where my own powers were concerned. I just couldn't tell when my intervention would leave a mark, so to say, and when it wouldn't. Most of the time my magic had changed the people it had come in touch with much more throughly than I had expected, never mind intended. Admittedly, I had pulled off healing Yueji and Baihe without a hitch, but I was by no means desperate enough to trust in Fortuna's fickle blessing once again.

"I'll stabilise him," the dragoness continued. "Then I'll tell my story. I'll heal him after, if that's what you want." I shrugged my consent and Yueji wriggled her long neck around me and brought her snout close to the small spirit. She exhaled and a few bright sparks travelled languidly from her nostrils to the bleeding fox. For the fraction of a moment he glowed in pink and blue before the magic permeated his hide and the tremors stopped. Even his breathing deepened when his limbs finally relaxed. "That'll do for a while. He isn't in danger anymore."

"Go on then," I replied. "I assume Lin knows your story?"

"She does and so do a few others. It's not much of a secret. What do you know about my home, about the… you called it the land of dreams?"

"Not much. I've never been there," I answered and gently stroked the fox's flank. His fur was still caked with blood and scab, but the wounds had stopped bleeding, even though they hadn't closed completely. "But I do know a bit about spirits. You're loners, you don't live in society. A family is already the pinnacle of community for you, isn't it?" I brought my crimson coloured fingers close to my nose and sniffed. Copper and ozone was all I could smell. He hadn't been poisoned or charmed, the magic I perceived was his and his alone.

"We don't shy away from company, but we don't seek it," she corrected me. "Spirits don't follow the rule of a king or the words of a priest. We do help each other, though. We have… friends, just like you. I… my best friend was a fox. A vixen to be precise. I think you'd have liked her. She… in a way she even looked a bit like you. She was silver all over, except for the tips of her tails. They were pitch black, just like your hair."

"Was… were," I asked and turned wearily towards the still open door. "What happened to her?"