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Chapter 6
Cassandra
On the road away from the Moors…
It had been five days of travel for Aurora, Phillip, and their fairy companions. They had been traveling on a caravan drawn by Samson, with Phillip being the driver. It was a simple-looking caravan, just big enough to fit four passengers, their things, and a week's supply for two people: the prince, and the princess. Above the vehicle, lies a supply of hay for the horse's consumption. They were going to Esonctuaire. They had many reasons to go there: practical, necessary, urgent.
The cottage, being too close to Garderienne, would be too dangerous to remain in. Maleficent's destruction could be creeping to other places. The wraiths Phillip saw would seek anything they could kill, the flying horrors could easily reach the cottage and wreak havoc. Her vines ever so growing, would be crawling outwards from within the kingdom; impaling everything in reach, expanding its roots. Fortunately, since any of the Maleficent's horrors hadn't come to them for the length of their refuge, the black fairy might have been gathering her strength… Or maybe plotting something. Either way, they needed to get as far as possible from Maleficent's reach… For the princess' sake.
Garderienne was gone, there's nothing to return to there. Friends, comrades, family; all gone. Only the people that mattered to Aurora the most remained. The kingdom's destruction devastated Aurora. Her lover, and godmothers were just enough for her to hang on to her life, to say the least. They didn't really have much choice on the matter. They decided to live the remainder of their lives in a faraway kingdom, far from Maleficent's reach. She, along with her godmothers would return to living as commoners. The princess didn't object to the return to her old life. But… she hated not being able to do anything about the tragedy. Especially when the fairies knew something about it, they had mentioned some "it" happening... She needed to know.
The situation was dire. The destruction of Garderienne was enough proof of what Lenore had talked about. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather had just known about the magic realm's disruption and its effects on the gathering they had just attended in Esonctuaire. Maleficent's return was the thing they were terrified of the most, with Garderienne's fall being a part of it. They were relieved that Aurora and Phillip managed to escape the destruction. But they wondered if the prince's sword and shield contributed to that. It was of their magic, after all; and Lenore mentioned that the magics in this realm had been getting stronger. They would ask Phillip about this… Perhaps he could play a role.
The travellers' train of thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a scream and a series of thuds, followed by a monstrous snarl and aggressive ruffles of leaves. The caravan abruptly stopped, inertia staggering the passengers. Aurora and her godmothers looked through the windows to see what was happening.
The caravan was stopped by a caped figure being cluttered in front of them. As Phillip was getting off the driver's seat, the figure groaned and tried getting up. Another horse entered the scene from the off-road, a brown one. The prince reached a hand to assist the person in distress, which was accepted.
"Are you alright?" the knight said.
"Yeah," a woman's voice answered, surprising Phillip. After the woman stood up, a thud from a wood was heard, getting their attention. She drew her rapier, while he his sword.
Atop the caravan was a wolf-like creature. It was bigger than an average direwolf. The creature's fur had the unnatural color of dark-purple and blue, and they were standing up from the skin in an unnatural fashion. Its eyes were shining bright yellow-orange. It snarled ferociously, its mouth salivating black liquid and emitting some sort of dark-blue gas.
The ladies inside the caravan hid under the furniture inside. Frightened by the loud growl coming from above their roof.
The monster lunged forwards with a loud growl, its teeth ready to bite what it would catch. The two people and horse dodged the attack in different directions. The creature turned around and set its eyes on Samson.
As the wolf prepared to pounce on its new prey, it was stopped by a slash on its hind leg. It was from the woman it had originally hunted. It snarled at the one that injured it, its eyes now set on her.
The wound bled purple blood, yet it emitted the same gas from its mouth. The bleeding was quickly slowing down. The wound was rapidly healing. What was this creature?
The woman was distracted by the behaviour of the wolf's wounds, that she was caught off-guard by its pounce. She was now pinned beneath the monster's claws. It was now preying on her. The sound of its growl getting louder as its mouth slowly drew closer. She was prepared to be this monster's meal, but then, the growling stopped with a whimper. She took the opportunity to slide from underneath the creature. Phillip had slashed the wolf on the back. There was a strange light coming behind the wolf, where the new wound was supposed to be.
The wolf's body slumped moments after. Light still lingered on its back wound, slowly dimming. The warriors noticed that Phillip's sword was emitting lights with colors of different hues. It was like it reacted to the monstrous creature. Another thing they noticed is the peculiar transformation of the monster's corpse. It was shrinking, and its fur's color was fading into what color wolves' fur normally were. Once the transformation was done, red blood seeped from the final wound.
"What was that creature?" Phillip asked, sheathing his sword.
"I don't know. But it's the third time I've dealt with monsters like that," the woman answered, as she was getting up.
"Third time…" the knight muttered, shocked. "You've encountered them before?"
"Yes. Managed to escape the previous two. This one almost got us," she pointed to the wolf with her rapier, sheathing it afterwards. She checked on her horse if she was fine, to be relieved that she was. "So, thank you. If it weren't for you, we would have been goners. I'm Cassandra, by the way," she offered her hand for a shake.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Phillip," he shook her hand. He hadn't seen a lady who was capable of fighting before. But the way she talked, that was very colloquial, suggested that she came from a faraway region. He was intrigued. His thoughts were interrupted by Flora's voice.
"What in the heavens happened? Is everyone alri- Oh, my!" the red fairy got shocked at the sight of the wolf's lifeless body. The rest of the women reacted the same.
"This is Cassandra, the one being hunted by the creature," Phillip reintroduced. "These are Flora, Fauna, Merryweather, and my dear Princess Aurora."
"Hi," was all Cass could awkwardly muster. She studied the people she had newly met. The princess caught her attention. Her characteristics reminded her of her best friend, Rapunzel: the blonde hair, the simple dress, the fact that she was barefoot. But, she sensed that a lot of her friend's cheeriness was missing. The way the princess presented herself, it was delicate, poised… gloomy; a polar opposite of Rapunzel.
"What brings you on the road, Cassandra?" Phillip asked.
"I was getting on my way to Corona, until I got myself occupied with these monsters hunting me down. I'm kinda lost, actually"
"Why don't you travel with us, young lady? We are on our way to Esonctuaire. You can easily make your way to Corona from there," Flora offered.
"No, no, thank you, I- I don't want to be on your way," Cass politely declined.
"We insist, m'lady. The road has been proven dangerous by our little encounter. Therefore, travelling alone would be inadvisable. And you could use some company, you seem to have travelled alone for a long time," the knight insisted.
As much as Cass didn't want to burden the group, she agreed that she needed to interact with anybody outside her steed. A glance at her horse, being cheerful while socializing with the other one, convinced her to accept the offer. "Okay."
It was deep into the night, another three days later. They had set camp at a clearing by the road. Their travel for the past few days had been thankfully peaceful. They had made respectable progress, even with the prior encounter. But they were still weeks away from their destination. Phillip and Cass had agreed to exchange turns in keeping watch at night, but both were not feeling the need to sleep at the moment. Phillip sat on a log by the campfire, while Cass sat on a boulder nearby.
Cass decided that the silence was overbearing and broke it. "How long have you been travelling before we crossed paths? And where did you come from?"
"Five days, from Garderienne," a simple answer.
"What brings you on the road with royalty in tow? Some sort of royal mission?"
"No, we are seeking refuge. We have nowhere else to go," the knight corrected, eyes still on the fire, somber.
"Oh, sorry," she felt that she was overstepping on a touchy subject, she better not press on. She was failing on getting to know her new traveling companions. "How does Rapunzel do this?"
Once again, awkward silence surrounded them. It took a while for Phillip to realize that he had been impolite to abruptly end their conversation on a bad note. She was just getting to know her new companions. He decided to change the subject, "Where did you learn to fight with a sword? Given that you've managed to hold your own against those creatures multiple times, it's quite impressive."
"I trained myself. Even though my dad was the Captain of the Royal Guard, he didn't really agree with me learning how to fight. He did eventually accept it and lent a hand on my training, but it was still mostly me."
"I can imagine you easily getting in the Royal Guard," Phillip said, impressed.
"No, I didn't. I was assigned to be the Princess' personal handmaiden. But, it wasn't that bad."
"What made you leave Corona?"
"I… wanted to see the world," her eyes suddenly did not meet his.
The hesitance of her answer hinted that Phillip had overstepped on something private. Yet, another awkward silence between them. Now, it was his turn to be on the other end of the conversational impasse. He paused their conversation in politeness, for her to recollect her thoughts. When he felt that Cassandra internally calm down, he continued, "What's making you come back?"
Another question that was difficult for her to answer. She pondered if she should answer or not. It wasn't the reason that it was terrible; it was because it was, to say the least, unreal. To tell anyone would get her strange looks. And there was no reason to tell if it could only complicate her travels. But looking back at their encounter with the wolf-monster, the mysterious magic that emanated from Phillip's sword. Maybe, it could relate to her reason.
The knight gave her an odd look, as she was putting her hand by her bosom. He was suddenly taken aback by what she was doing. She was opening the upper part of her tunic. He was ready to stop the seemingly scurrilous act, until he was shocked by what he saw.
"This." On Cassandra's left bosom, were cracks that spanned a few inches. They looked like cracks that formed on the earth of drylands. In between the cracks, were ebony-black rocks. In the middle of the area was a small, dark-blue, oval-shaped plate with a slice on the upper-right towards the center. The slice radiated in white, and the rest emitted a dim, cyan glow.
It reminded Phillip of Aurora's hand.
"I have told no one else about this. But when I saw the magic from your sword, I was hoping I would get some sort of answer. That's why I'm telling you this." She closed her tunic.
"I'm afraid that I could not provide you with answers. Perhaps, you could ask Aurora's godmothers."
"The three old ladies?" Cass was curious.
"Yes. They are magical, to say the least. They gave me my sword and shield."
"So, your shield is also magical?"
"Yes," Phillip confirmed in a politely boastful manner.
"That's awesome." She was impressed. "Maybe, I'll ask them later."
Their conversation went on for a long while. Their stories with the armed forces and respective princesses were told. Both were glad to meet a fellow warrior along their journey. There was a natural brotherhood in the way they interacted. Through the rest of the night, they sparred and conversed. They didn't care if they would lose some sleep, they were feeling alive. And it was last watch, after all.
Their travel the next day had them feeling lethargic. It was fortunate that they had steeds who were smart enough to navigate on their own volition. They would have an exhausting night watch the night after. But it was worth it. They made a new friend.
Author's Notes:
So, Cassandra from Tangled the series joins the story.
I decided to have Cass join the journey to Esonctuaire just to stir it up a bit. Make some experiments with characters.
And I accidentally made a BroTP.
Yep. That's it.