The Forsaken Hero

The dungeon, as Soltair had often called it, began in the colossal circular chamber centered around the crystal. Two towering iron doors loomed on the far side, standing as the only way forward. Commands filled the air, directing the army into formation and allowing Riven a few minutes to study the crystal.

A path cleared as I moved toward the archmage. The soldiers parted respectfully before me, giving loose salutes. The attention made my horns itch, and I gripped my skirt, trying not to meet any of their eyes.

Riven glanced up as we approached, offering a welcoming nod. His forearms were covered in intricate magic circles. Threads of magic sprouted from the circles, tying them to the surface of the crystal. He stroked his chin, eyes locked on the crystal for some time before dismissing the spell with a sharp nod.

”It seems we need only touch this to be sent outside. I wonder why the demons are unable to do it.”

”Their souls are different than ours, right?” I ventured. ”Maybe the realm barrier rejects them, and they can only break through once the dungeon breaches.”

His nodded. ”That’s as good a theory as I’ve got. Until we find differently, we’ll act under that assumption and begin the attack.”

His hand swept up, releasing a flourish of magical sparks. At his signal, Lord Griffon ordered the advance. Soltair led, sword ablaze as he strode towards the doors. Although handles jutted from the doors, the Hero could never begin his first dungeon with so mundane an approach.

His sword met iron in a burst of brilliant light, emitting a shockwave that stirred my insides. The iron screamed at the impact, caving in around the center seam. The sun magic raced from his blade into the gap, followed by a blinding explosion of light. As I blinked the spots from my eyes, a fresh blast of heat swept through the room, flooding from beyond the gaping doors and flushing away the dust and debris. The doors hung askew on their hinges, gaping just wide enough for five men to pass through at once.

”Charge!” Soltair’s voice thundered, a blinding aura encasing him as he surged forth.

Moving as one, the army followed his lead. The clash of armor and war cries of the soldiers echoed off the igneous rock of the walls and built to a mighty crescendo. The cacophony was deafening, assaulting my delicate hearing with enough force to leave me disoriented.

Fyren took my arm, guiding me through the breach and into the room beyond. ”Observe,” he directed firmly.

We emerged into expansive caverns resembling the lava chambers I’d learned of on Earth. Dark, glassy rock flowed in sinuous curves and spirals, reflecting the soft glow of molten rivers dripping from the ceiling. The main cavern stretched more than a mile onward, honeycombed with countless shoots and passages. Tremors shook the ground as a distant rumble echoed through the chamber, growing louder with each passing second.

The source of the roar became apparent as the noise reached a crescendo. Hordes of fiery monsters appeared, scaling the walls and crawling from tunnels in an endless tide. Unlike the fire demons I’d seen in my vision, these were small, scaled creatures barely three feet tall. They were bipedal, but moved more like gorillas, using their oversized arms to thrust themselves forward. Droplets of fire leaked from the seams of their scales, dripping down their clawed hands and flinging away in their erratic movements.

As the imposing tide of demons crashed toward us, the commanders of our forces quickly formed a defensive line. Soltair stood at the point, sword held tightly in his hands as he channeled more power.

”Sloppy,” Fyren muttered, eying our forces.

I followed his gaze, but couldn’t find what he was commenting on. Protected by their shimmering fire shields, the soldiers were the picture of grim determination. Swords and spears bristled from their ranks, lowered to receive the incoming wave of demons. Riven chanted the words of a fifth-circle spell, and a massive magic circle appeared beneath the troops. A dazzling star rose from the ground, shining a cold, familiar light over the cavern.

A surge of revulsion overcame me as a wave of filth washed over my soul, emanating from the floating star. It took the effects of a Divine Star and amplified them across the battlefield, attacking infernal blood and sapping its strength.

Fyren appeared behind me, catching me as I stumbled. ”Careful,” he murmured, casting a critical eye at the Archmage. Pressed up against his arms, I could feel a slight tremble in his muscles, but it quickly stilled as he mustered his aura.

My Adaptive Resistance hovered on the threshold of breaking the Sun Magic’s influence. By forcibly injecting man into the ability, I was able to shake off its effects, although doing so put a constant drain on my concentration.

A few breaths after the spell triggered, a wave of offensive magic erupted from the mages of the Crimson Guard, raining on the heads of the demons. Explosions of light and lightning carried the bulk of the assault, but scattered usages of earth and wind magic threw rocks and gales forward, hampering the approach.

Agonizing screams rent the air as the spells connected, and hundreds of the small creatures vanished in explosions of light. Those of the front line who survived were blasted with shrapnel and scorched by sunbeams. Their firey scales cracked and peeled, leaving them writhing futilely on the ground.

A surge of excitement rippled among the humans, their eyes bright and voices alive with energy, but the scattered cheers faded as the demons pressed onward, trampling their dead and dying with no hesitation. As they reached the front lines, Soltair made his move.

Stepping forward, he released a wave of light with the slash of his sword. The blazing crescent expanded as it moved, spanning a hundred feet wide by the time it struck the first demons. The magic scythed through their chaotic charge, bisecting thousands in one fell swoop. Awed silence pressed upon the soldiers as it traversed the entire length of the cavern and slammed into the wall, shaking the entire dungeon. Lava gushed from the rend, accompanied by a soft white glow.

”The realm barrier!” Fyren hissed, jaw slack with shock. ”He cut through to the realm barrier!”

”I-Is that bad?” I asked.

It didn’t take much to imagine the catastrophic results of rupturing the magic protecting our world.

”Probably not. It takes more than that to actually rupture it and endanger the inhabitants, but breaking the walls of a gate shouldn’t be done lightly.”

A momentary pause washed over the demons as uncertainty clouded their ferocity, leaving them hesitating in the face of the absolute display of destruction. Though their front lines were hardly a hundred feet from us, their bloodlust had been subdued, replaced by something else entirely. Fear.

Taking advantage of their hesitation, Lord Griffon unleashed his aura. ”Kill them all!”

The soldiers roared, breaking from their orderly ranks in a cascade of magic and steel. The disoriented demons caved before the assault, their lines breaking before them. Some recovered their fighting spirit, but their claws and fire failed against the armor and fire shields of the humans. Occasionally, a soldier would get separated from his comrades and disappear within a storm of claw and scale, but the humans pressed on, ruthlessly slaughtering everything in their path.

I shook my head, surprised by the one-sided massacre. ”This is...”

”Pathetic?” Fyren asked, ”Yeah, it’s not much. But these are only the scions. Without their fire, a farmer with a pitchfork could take one out, much less the elite soldiers of the Crimson Guard. Lord Griffon’s men are no slouches either. With the firepower and healing of the mages, this fight could only have one result, even without that absurd attack from the Sun Hero.”

”Even if this is the first gate, shouldn’t there be higher-ranked demons here as well? With how numerous these weak ones are, it would make sense to have someone to direct their destruction.”

He looked away from the battlefield, shooting me an appraising glance. ”You’re right. This army was likely placed here to test us, while the stronger ones sit further back and watch for weakness to exploit. We’ll probably find them guarding the Gate Core, which sustains the life of the dungeon.”

My tail swished as I pondered his words. While the soldiers were more than capable of fighting these smaller, mindless demons, wouldn’t it be better if our party were to engage the stronger ones? If their leaders were any more intelligent or possessed a bit of magic, the regular soldiers might be in trouble.

Soltair was currently flying across the volcanic battlefield, vaporizing the larger clumps of demons with bursts of Sun Magi, so I shot a few Waterballs up to get his attention. Normally, it would be easy to miss something so simple, but the water immediately evaporated, drifting toward the ceiling in pillars of steam.

After a few seconds, Soltair made his way over, leaping across the battlefield in titanic strides. Trithe mirrored his movements, and the two arrived by our side in a matter of moments.

”What is it?” he asked, face flush with excitement. ”There’s still more demons, so make it quick.”