by D. R. Rosier
Cassandra: Magic’s Hope
Ashley’s Daughters Book 3
Author: D. R. Rosier
Copyright 2015. This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, Places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission.
Table of Contents
Introduction:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Afterword:
About the Author
Other erotic fantasies by D. R. Rosier:
Non-erotic Fantasy title:
Book Description
Introduction:
Ashley’s Daughters is a trilogy, one book dedicated to each daughter. This third and final book is about the youngest daughter and twin, Cassandra. This trilogy happens in the same universe as Jezebel’s Tale and Ashley’s Tale, starting about twenty seven years after Demon’s world: Ashley’s Tale Book 2 ends. Does this mean you need to have read the previous two multi-book stories? No, not at all, this trilogy will stand on its own. Of course, if you haven’t read the first book of this trilogy, Dawn: Dragon’s Honor – Ashley’s Daughters book 1, and the second book which is about Amber, then you should read those first.
In some ways the world is completely different now, but of course, some things never change. I hope you enjoy the book, and please take a moment to review it on Amazon and/or Goodreads after you finish.
Timeline note: This book starts almost right at the end of Amber’s, I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 1
I could hear the screams of terror and the sounds of lightning strikes as they ripped through the air, and crackling flames as the nearby buildings caught fire. I was frozen with horror, just inside the main building for the village. I’d volunteered, at my grandmother’s insistence, to help fix the protections on twenty of these villages despite the fact I could barely think straight the last few days.
I’d killed a dragon, and not only killed it, utterly destroyed it.
I don’t think my sister understood what happened exactly, but I didn’t merely atomize the body of that dragon, it was blown into much smaller pieces than that, literally ripped apart at the subatomic level. And my magic, my mind, was intimately connected at the time.
Not that I didn’t think they deserved our help, there were people dying out there, and I was completely frozen in fear. Not fear of death, fear that I would have to fight and kill again. The innocent screams called to me outside as the dragons attacked in force and razed this village. It was right, it was what I believed, I should be protecting them, but I wasn’t, I was frozen.
I stayed that way for a long time, my magic held tightly in my mind and time stood almost completely still around me as I lost my mind in the conflicting desires. Maggie, a local sorceress who was my guide from village to village, stood beside me with an anxious and concerned look on her face, she was also virtually a statue.
I’d met her just hours ago, when Dawn had taught me how to keep this world’s magic from overwhelming me. The strong feeling I didn’t belong here wasn’t helping either. The only plus was I apparently wouldn’t have to feed, although Maggie was attractive enough that I almost regretted the fact.
I closed my eyes and started to breathe deeply trying to relax and work through it. I planned on working out my issues in meditation when I was done protecting the villages, but that was before I ended up in the middle of an attack. I have a secret. I knew the dragon deserved what he got, they invaded our world to scout it, then declared war and tried to destroy the Whitehouse.
The death did bother me, more than I can express. But the truth was, it was failure that had me near to useless. I failed. I was so… arrogant, and sure of myself. It was much more than that I simply killed him, it was that I killed him by accident, and that… scared me to death.
When I move from place to place, which is much harder than simply folding space, I actually move sub atomically, where the laws of physics just aren’t quite… well laws. Reality gets a little malleable at that level. It’s extremely complicated, and once I activate the spell it’s my mind, my thoughts, that actually move me where I want to go. I don’t really move though, it’s more I decide I’m somewhere else. I thought myself clever, messing around with forces that humanity has only recently discovered.
I was arrogant. I’m pretty sure he died because I don’t entirely understand how those forces work. I have a theory that at that level, my magic enabled me to move his particles, but for some reason my magic made the particles that made up his body susceptible to his thoughts as to where he believed he was as well. But… it’s just a theory. So in short we both decided he was in different places, we had a tug of war with his existence, and both lost.
Of course, I’ve sworn off trying to move anything else with intelligence besides myself. But the idea that I may have tried to move a friend, or a family member in that way, scares me. I’d have to be careful, trying anything new, not just my unique way of transport.
Time really was slow right now, maybe a few milliseconds had gone by on the outside. I started to categorize my spells in my mind, not just the transportation one, into two groups. One was the safe to use that I completely understood, the second was my list of stuff I’d discovered on my own, and wasn’t quite sure if they were truly safe or not.
While I was at it, I tried to reconcile my mistake, which destroyed a dragon I’d been intent on saving despite himself. I didn’t really have enough time to do it all, or at least, not finish the reconciliation in my mind. This was more a band aid until I could. I’d need at least a few months for it, and the people out in real time just didn’t have the fifteen or twenty minutes of real time I needed right now.
I took a deep breath and walked over to the protection stone plinth that was fueled by dragon’s blood. My sister’s memories were clear, and I could see what she did. I saw a lot of other improvements that I could make to the actual spells that were inscribed, but that wasn’t why I was here. I followed my sister’s lead and merely updated the power source. The dragon blood turned to crystal under my guidance, and I put down a stasis and recharge enchantment.
I slowly released my magic and let real time catch up to me. Maggie had a confused look on her face, obviously wondering how I’d gotten across a room in what to her looked like no time at all. Now that I was half noticing the world around me I took another look at Maggie.
She was three inches taller than I was, at about five foot seven. She had very long light blonde hair, down to her ass at least, and light blue eyes. I wasn’t sure how long humans lived on this world, but she looked somewhere between twenty five and thirty. She also appeared a little tired, but then so did I, I couldn’t really blame her. Despite that though she was very attractive and was looking at me a little worriedly.
I tried to smile reassuringly, but I think it may have come out as a grimace. I really needed down time to finish dealing with my issues, but I could at least move now and concentrate.
I asked softly, “Should we move on, or help?”
I was of two minds about that. One said to not jump into anything and think it through. The other listened to the screams outside which kind of made my wants immaterial. Then I felt guilty, because I was glad the dragons were here, and not on my world.
I was kind of a mess.
Maggie shook her head, “The defenses are kicking in, we should get to the next village. We may save more of this one if we stay, only to lose many villages in the long run that we didn’t protect.”
I nodded in understanding and pulled the next village from the mind of the sorceress. I had to use a portal to get there, since I was taking her with me. It was with somber regret that I turned away from the attack outside and we stepped through the portal. The fact their shields would most likely hold out now was little relief.
The next five villages thankfully weren’t under attack when we arrived. There was a certain urgency about what we were doing, but in each village I had to wait while Maggie, the head of her own village, explained what we were doing. It didn’t help that some of them obviously held me in suspicion.
Not that I could blame them, we were literally showing up blind and asking to modify the heart of their defenses. It couldn’t be an easy decision for them to make, they were charged with the protection of their entire village after all. I suppressed a yawn and used magic to wake myself a bit. Normally going ten hours was nothing for me, but I’d not really slept well at all for days now, ever since…
The point was, when this was over I was going to go home and pass out.
Even tired I thought we could do better though, if we split off small bits of it into smaller blood crystals, and put them around the village and put the enchantments to absorb magic on all of them, they could transfer magic to the center crystal many times faster. I shook my head, honestly in that case they wouldn’t even need dragon’s blood, they could just use normal crystals.
My mind wandered a bit over the last ten. I wondered if I could make that work across worlds. Leave a crystal here to absorb what on Earth would be huge amounts of magic, and funnel it to a crystal I had on me. I worked on all the spells and enchantments it would probably need while fixing the town power sources on automatic pilot.
I wasn’t sure, that sounded… really cool actually, and I was almost positive I could pull it off. But did I really need it? Witches tended to use the least amount of power possible and hide the true extent of our current abilities, the last thing I probably wanted to do was get more power than I’d ever need or want to use anyway.
Still, I wondered what I could accomplish if I cut loose in this place with its overabundance of magic. I finished the current village using the same spells I started with and turned toward my escort.
I smiled at Maggie sheepishly, “I lost track I think, I’m extremely tired and I… never mind. How many left?”
She returned my smile, “Don’t worry Cassandra, I know what it is to be tired. Do you need to rest before we complete the last?”
I shook my head and smiled wryly, if I quit now at the last one all the other witches would make fun of me.
“Just one more? Let’s finish, I’ve also got to get you home. Oh, and call me Cassie, or Cass. My full name is a mouthful.”
I pulled the location from her and opened a portal, she went through and I followed. It seemed strange to me but the villages were all almost identical in setup except for a few small details. We walked to the edge and I waited for her to talk us through. This time it took a mercifully short time, and we were led past the houses into the center of the village.
The building I’d coined their town hall and library was prominent, the same everywhere. The man led us in and over to the center pedestal, surrounded by the books. It made me pause for a moment; it seemed that these people really treasured history and knowledge, to put it all in the most protected room in the entire village.
I repeated what I’d done nineteen times already, and let out a sigh. The village elder, an older man who I think was a wizard, thanked me and we took our leave through a portal to Maggie’s village.
Maggie asked, “Do you need something to eat or a place to rest? It seems so little for what you and your family have done for us but…”
I shook my head, “No, thank you though. I do have a request though. I’m just not sure if it’s allowed. If not, that’s okay.”
She waved her hand, as if to say stop stalling.
“Would it be okay if I visit and learn about your world? I’m really curious to read over all those books as well.”
She bowed, “I would be pleased to allow it, and assist you in your search for knowledge.”
“Thank you, I think it’s time for that rest we talked about, I’ll see you soon?”
She nodded, “Thank you again for your help.”
I looked up at the sky, noting it was probably around two in the afternoon. I nodded once and then released a spell and simply decided I was in my apartment. My apartment was right outside the campus and I had it to myself. I considered getting a roommate, but I could afford not to, and that helped when I… entertained.
I looked at the clock, it was about three in the early morning. That was… good I decided. I could visit there during their day and not miss any of my classes.
I still had to work through all that stuff though, so instead of seeking sleep I embraced my magic and meditated. I had a lot to get through, not just put the death behind me, but my huge failure as well. I still had doubts when I finished of course, they were normal, but by five in the morning I felt more like myself again. I was also determined to figure out how things worked exactly, not just what seemed to work with the new magic I had been… pioneering.
I also decided that I’d never stand by without helping if another village was attacked and I was there, or had knowledge of it. It may not have been my world to defend, but… I wasn’t sure that really mattered. They were fighting off enslavement, and then, it would be better to defeat the dragons there and make sure they never stepped foot on Earth again.
Of course, now it was five in the morning on Wednesday, and I had classes in… four hours?
Great. My schedule wasn’t that full though, I was taking a few advanced physics and math courses that ran Monday and Wednesday. Other than that I just… did independent studies for the most part. I had a feeling most of the independent studies would take a back seat to learning about a new world though. Just because they aren’t using their magic perfectly, doesn’t mean they won’t have some knowledge gems buried there somewhere.
Plus, I was curious why they weren’t stronger magically, they really should be.
Oh, and succubus, I spent a lot of time at parties and even just dropping in for a… quick visit. I didn’t really hunt at clubs or anywhere public. Outside of the apartment housing for post grads, there were fifteen frats, seven sororities, and thirty eight student houses each hosting seventy or so tasty treats. Not to mention the bar on campus.
I was welcome at most although I did have my favorites, like Jim who I brought on my double date with Amber last week, who was in my physics classes. He actually lives downstairs in the same apartment building. I’m not actually that indiscriminate of course, just saying, I have lots of options right here on campus to keep my inner succubus purring.
I stripped and slipped into bed, with my now quieted mind I found sleep quickly and easily.
Chapter 2
Despite only three hours sleep… I felt great. The hot water of the shower was reviving, and outside of a new caution I finally felt like myself again. The fact I was bursting with magic from my visit to magic world didn’t hurt either, I’d be fine as long as I got some real sleep tonight.
I got out of the shower and heard a loud banging, it sounded like it was my door.
Wrapped in a white towel I walked out and down the hall when another loud knock came. I opened the door to a frantic and apologetic face. My neighbor, and good friend, was one of the few peo
ple shorter than me. Dina Franklin came in at a mere five foot two, had dirty blonde hair and light gray eyes.
Her words came out like a waterfall as she slipped past me and walked toward my kitchen.
“Oh, I’m so sorry Cass, I need caffeine and now, but I’m out of milk and I can’t drink that stuff straight, it’s disgusting, but also the stuff of life. Where were you last night anyway, I was looking for you and…”
I laughed lightly, “Calm down Dina. My milk is your milk.”
She turned around and raised an eyebrow at me, then looked down at what my towel was straining to hold.
She snickered, “Good to know Cass, good to know.”
I had to admit, it had sounded better in my head. At least I’d managed to derail her monologue, so it did work...
“So what happened last night?”
She shrugged, “I felt like your answering service. Jim dropped by, so did Tammy, but I had no idea where you were and you didn’t answer your phone.”
I smiled apologetically, “Sorry, family emergency… and I was kind of out of range on the phone part.”
She frowned, and grabbed the milk from the fridge as she asked, “Don’t you have good coverage, who’s your carrier.”
I giggled, “No, I was… really out of range. On another planet out of range.”
She topped off her coffee and took a long sip. Her face looked beatific, as if she’d just discovered the secrets of the universe…
She sighed in satisfaction, “I wish you would have told me, so how is dad then?”
“Oh,” I didn’t want to lie to my friend even though it was probably a perfect out, I wasn’t sure I should be spreading around the idea of contact with new worlds. But it made me uncomfortable, and she was my best friend.
“I was actually on a different one. Long story but they… needed help with something.”
Her eyes lit up and I knew I was in trouble.
“Really, you’ll have to tell me everything, but I can’t be late for class… later.”