Fairy Tales

[Gildarts]

Their feet carried them far along the craggy obsidian rocks, meanwhile, Cassandra explained some of the Omniverse’s physics, as well as told her a little more about the current verse they were traveling through, the Ashen Steppes. A dry sweaty dew accumulated on the vampire’s pasty skin, as the woman donned in black explained they were traveling away from Death Mountain.

“And there are Primes there, battling a dragon, right now?” Cana asked out loud, pondering if Gildarts was there.

“Yes, a group of them,” Cassandra confirmed, and as though reading the Cana’s mind, continued, “But, you were up there, and you would have seen them, plus, it’s dangerous to be searching up there all alone, and lastly... We asked everyone at the pub if they had seen Gildarts, and no one had, almost all the Primes meeting to battle the beast passed through town. Cana, there’s also the fact that many of the people who go up to battle the dragon will not make it, in which case, they’ll actually be resummoned at the Nexus, like I said earlier, or maybe it was Sy, Primes are immortal. And they just so happen to like to test their luck once and a while. Unfortunately for us Secondaries, we aren’t so lucky, and have to go through this life the hard way.”

Cassandra batted her eye in a wink and carried on. Cana was left pondering this, Gildarts, her father, was supposedly immortal. Damn, life was moving so fast. Cana felt her mind reeling with thought and hardly noticed the many people streaming in and going toward the town they just left. Cana asked the vampire, “Hey, where d’you think they’re headed?”

“Oh, them?” Cassandra cocked a coy, luscious crimson smile, “The majority of them are merchants, stragglers, and traveling hunters. They heard about the battle, and I think that they’ll try to ask the Primes for the skin of the immortal dragon, Volvagia, that is, if they are victorious. Now, we’re nearing the end of the path the miners usually use, so we’ll have to be extra careful-”

Immediately a burst of fire spouted into the sky, inches from Cana’s nose. “Eeep!” the woman shrieked and jumped back, but the pain of the fire had caused her nose to redden and singe slightly. “Ouch,” Cana muttered, batting her now tearing eyes as she looked down at the hidden minefield below her feet.

“Hmm. Perhaps it’s best if I lead. I’ve noticed, on my travel at least to the base of Death Mountain, that if you look closely at the contusions in the rock, the parts that are a slanted inward, are usually more condensed and sturdy rock, in which case, it’s a stable stepping stone to the next patch of declivity.” Cassandra informed Cana, then extended her long leg outward, into a lunge which carried the woman to the next patch of lowered stone, like she said. It didn’t explode, so Cana thought that that was at least a good sign.

Cassandra seemed well cultured, and educated, as well as very... adaptable. Cana appreciated the woman’s help, even if Cassandra had not confessed that she was a vampire outright. Perhaps it was rude for Cana to have assumed that fact, based on the less than obvious traits the woman had displayed. It could have been a matter of circumstances, even if Cana’s gut told her the opposite. Cana decided she’d ask the woman later, and focused on hopping from step to step, and hoping to the great laws of magic that she’d make it out of this volcanic place in one piece.