The Forsaken Hero

The Westfall Inn was warm and cheery, with a blazing fire in the hearth and customers at every table. The majority of the villagers were farmers, so there was little to do in the evenings save talk and eat, and the inn provided ample opportunity for both. A thick haze of smoke drifted about the ceiling, rushing to escape into the early spring night each time the door opened.

Boisterous talk and laughter, split by the occasional off-tune shanty, was unsettling, but I persevered and remained in the common room, unwilling to leave my new party without hearing the plans. Unfortunately, they seemed content to sit and chat well into the night, never truly arriving at the topic of the urgent request they accepted.

”So, Starlight, where did you say you were from?” Dyson asked, leaning casually on one hand. ”Tana mentioned something about the Beast Kingdom, but-”

He winced, shooting Tana a glare. She returned a scathing look and shifted her weight forward, drawing another groan from Dyson.

”Tana,” he said carefully, barely holding back a wince. ”If you’d be so kind as to move your foot...”

”That’s enough of that,” she hissed, and he winced again.

Ignoring her foot, he flashed me another smile. ”I simply can’t help but get curious about such a mysterious, beautiful-agh, alright I get it!”

I shot the half-elf a grateful glance. From what I could tell, Dyson had fairly innocent intentions, but I couldn’t help but see Alex every time he spoke.

Rasce cleared his throat, opening his mouth for one of the first times since introducing himself. ”I think what our silver-tongued friend is trying to say is that we know nothing about Starlight. I agreed to allow her into the party based on the fact that she’s a competent mage. Beyond telling stories of fantastical monsters, do you have any other useful abilities?”

I flinched at his barbed tone, my hands tightening on the folds of my skirt. ”I can cast first-circle spells right now.”

He raised an eyebrow, waiting for more, but I held my tongue. There was no guarantee my soul would recover to the point of allowing me more than that anytime soon, and making empty promises seemed a good way to destroy what little credibility my race and circumstances allowed me.

”What kind of spells?” Sorrin asked, leaning forward. ”Tana’s already a great combat mage who can use third-circle magic. Even if she thinks you have potential, I won’t risk taking someone into battle who can’t contribute and takes our resources to protect.”

”I know a lot of different kinds of magic,” I said, unable to hold his steady gaze. I couldn’t just come out and say ”Fate Magic,” which was extremely unpopular in the world, or that my combat abilities were nonexistent.

”Explain,” he said.

I gulped, looking helplessly at Tana. The half-elf folded her arms and shrugged, leaning back against her chair. It seemed this was an issue I wouldn’t be able to avoid.

”Protection, Life, Wind, and Water magic, mostly, but I can do some Sun, Earth, and Shadow Magic, too,” I whispered. Their stares bored into me, making me shiver anxiously.

”Which one?” Dyson asked slowly.

I looked up, surprised to find them looking at me not with condemnation, but befuddlement. ”Which one?” I repeated dumbly.

”Yeah, which one do you use? I mean, it can’t be all of them, right?” He chuckled, looking around the table.

The others nodded, and Sorrin sighed. ”Look, if you don’t want to say, we can’t allow you to-”

”Show us,” Tana interrupted abruptly, watching me intently. She coughed and quickly softened her voice. ”I mean, would you please show us?”

Nodding, I raised my hand and called my mana. She’d already seen my Aegis before, so I riffled through my memory to come up with the chant for another spell. After only a few words, I trailed off, creasing my brow in concentration. How did the Life Dew chant go again?

Ever since leaving the Divine Throne, I’d only ever used the modified version I created for Selena. The original spell, flawed and inefficient, was barely a distant memory, obscured through months of darkness and pain.

With nothing else to do, I waved my hand and cast the modified version, holding my breath as a gleaming drop of dew plopped into my empty cup. My tail stirred nervously as I watched the reactions of the party, who were witnessing my chantless casting for the first time.

Sorrin reached across the table and grabbed my cup, tilting it so he could peer beyond the rim. ”What is it?”

”Life Dew,” I mumbled, rubbing my horn.

The three men nodded, as though this had been expected, and we all turned quickly as something clattered to the ground. Tana sat frozen in her chair, her mouth agape, fingers twitching emptily in the air. Her mug rolled on the floor, dripping what little had remained of her ale.

”Tana? What’s wrong?” Sorrin asked, jumping to his feet. His ears pricked alertly, and his hand fell to his sword hilt.

”C-chantless?” She gasped breathlessly. After a stunned silence, she shook herself and snatched the cup from Sorrin. ”Give me that.”

”Wait, you shouldn’t be so-” Sorrin protested, trying to stop her from drinking it.

But Tana shook him off and swallowed the bead of Life Dew. Her piercing green eyes widened as she set the cup down, and she turned to stare at me.

”How did you...what kind of spell...no, this isn’t right. That wasn’t Life Dew.” She muttered unintelligibly. After a few deep breaths, she looked at me and nodded. ”You’re in.”

Rasce coughed. ”But Tana, we should-”

Sorrin raised his hand, silencing the protest. ”Are you sure?” he asked Tana.

The half-elf eyed me like she was looking at a priceless treasure. ”Absolutely. We can’t afford not to.”

”Then that settles it. Welcome, Starlight, to the Glory Chasers.”

I nodded hesitantly, already second-guessing my decision. There would undoubtedly be more questions than I was willing to answer, but this was a start. If things went wrong, I could always summon Fable and make my escape.

”Aren’t I too weak?” I asked timidly, voicing one of my fears.

”Not at all,” Dyson replied. ”Mages are rare around these parts, especially ones willing to go out and adventure.”

”I’m actually a little weak, too,” Tana admitted, tucking a strand of hair behind her pointed ear. ”The entire party’s fourth-level but me. I’m only third-level.”

”Right. Any other concerns?” Sorrin asked.

I shrunk back as they all turned to me again and shook my head. There were several, but it would be easier to wait and ask Tana later, Perhaps it was her resemblance to Selena, but I found her a lot less intimidating than the others.

Sorrin nodded slowly and cleared his throat. ”Then it’s time we move on to the request at hand. Unlike the other villages, the past few weeks have been extremely quiet for Westfall village, with hardly any monster sightings reported. The few that came to the guild were mere reports of dead monsters, similar to the wolf pack that chased you into town, Starlight.”

I nodded, wincing as the memory of that first night sent a line of pain up my leg.

”But shortly after we arrived, we got word of a goblin raid on some of the outlying farms, located a day or two from the village. The goblins have been unusually active this time of year, striking all over Heartland. The Guild Master set this as our promotional quest, so we can’t afford to fail.”

”What exactly are we supposed to do?” Dyson asked.

Sorrin shook his head. ”The request didn’t have any specific objectives other than eradicating the goblins and saving the hostages.”

Rasce leaned forward, lifting the hood of his cowl to better look at Sorrin. ”Hostages? Don’t goblins usually kill everyone in a raid?”

”That’s why this is our promotional quest. Normal eradication missions rarely take more than a high-level bronze party, but this situation’s been different. There’s been several kidnappings over the last month, and the people are starting to get antsy. The Guild Master staked our promotion on the successful investigation of the group behind it, which might be using the goblins as a front.”

”So we break in, kill the bastards, make off with the girls, and get the gold?” Dyson asked, grinning.

Rasce chuckled and patted the black-clad human on the back. ”Something like that. However, given your record, one of those might not pan out. We might save another grandma, like last time. I’m sure she’d be more than willing to give you a ’reward,’ if that’s what you want.”

Everyone laughed, except Dyson, who glared at Rasce. ”Shut up. I’m sure it’ll be a cute village girl who can’t help but fall in love with her rescuer.”

Once it became clear the serious talk was over, I quickly excused myself. Making my way through the crowded common room, I paused, feeling a chill trace down my spine and tail. Glancing over my shoulder, I met the gaze of a finely dressed merchant wearing bright silks and far too many gold bracelets.

His eyes were cold and calculating, and he did little to hide the lust in his gaze. As I turned to flee up the stairs, I caught sight of an emblem emblazoned on his sleeve. The decal was a simple red rune with a sword through it. The rune stood for ”wealth,” or perhaps ”luck,” depending on the specific translation.

I didn’t stop until I locked the door and threw myself upon the bed, panting. My leg stung from the sudden exertion, but even that did little to distract me from the man downstairs. It wasn’t simply his naked desire that scared me, but the way he looked at me like I was simply property, or an object waiting to be claimed. It was a look I was more than familiar with, having experienced it thousands of times in both my lives.

The night passed slowly, split by nightmares, barely allowing me any sleep. All too soon, the gray light of morning streamed through the curtains, and there was a knock at the door. For a moment, I was back in the Divine Throne, the slave crest burning on my chest. I panicked, pulling the sheets up the my chin, but it was Tana’s voice, not Soltair’s, that came through the door.

”Starlight, it’s time to go.”