The Forsaken Hero

”...without the Earth Hero, they won’t be able to hold on much longer. We should be able to take the city by the new moon next month. If that old lady dares show her face, I’ll take action myself.”

”Yes sir!”

”Good, then see that my commands are followed through. Revin, what news of Gayron?”

Slowly, I became aware of the conversation around me. Exhausted, I tried to yawn and open my eyes, only to find I had none. My soul ached and trembled, but the sensation was distant and smothered, lingering only in the back of my mind. Still, it was enough to confirm what my eyes could not. I was having a vision.

The world around me warped and blurry, like looking through a grease-stained window. I panicked, certain the confusion caused by the blade demon had followed me into my dreams, but then a new voice spoke, clear and enunciated in my ears. As the voice spoke, the world gradually began to brighten, revealing looming humanoid forms.

”My lord, it’s...not good. His soul returned a few minutes ago, but all we managed to get were a few screams before he fell unconscious. I brought his memory shard, but I think it would be wise to consider his raid a failure.”

The speaker was a slender man with eyes that swallowed up light, darker than the blackest night. As the dream slowly sharpened, his soul came into focus, bearing the chaotic swells and cycles of a demon, a curse demon by the feel of it. He was bowed low on one knee, eyes fastened to the ground.

His Lord facing him with his back to me. There was no draft nor breeze in the room, yet his cloak swirled about his ankles. Though I couldn’t see his face, he bore ridged horns and a tail, which stiffened in shock at the news. His soul blazed at the peak of eighth level, feeling warm and somewhat familiar, like the forgotten hand of an old acquaintance. There were others in the scene as well, but my soul had reached its limits, and their faces remained hidden in the murk, as did most of the room.

”He failed? Did one of those old monsters make a move?” the demonkin asked.

The curse demon shook his head, and, without raising his eyes, lifted his hands. His palms were held together, offering what looked like a gleaming shard of glass to the demonkin. ”It seems he found her, my lord.”

The demonkin didn’t ask who he meant, but his breath hitched in a soft, audible gasp. His hands clenched and when he spoke, his voice was soft, yet shivered with fury. ”Bastard!” he hissed, ”I told him to leave her alone! If he dared lay one finger on her...”

He snatched the crystal from the demon’s hand. Still muttering darkly, he activated it with a single strand of mana. His protests ceased a moment later, and his tail stiffened. After nearly a minute of fixated silence, his hand fell to his side, griping the crystal in a death grip.

”This...what the hell happened?” he finally asked. Then, returning the crystal to the curse demon, ”Bring this to the mind demons. I want answers, and soon. What did she do to his soul? And how?”

”Yes, my lord,” the demon replied smoothly. He took the crystal and backed away, bowing out of the scene.

My breath caught as the demon kin turned toward me, revealing a young, handsome face. The demonkin felt impossibly familiar, but no matter how hard I tried, the memories stayed just out of reach, taunting me. He had short black hair and a thin scar drawing a line from his eyebrow to his jaw, slicing right through the middle of his eye. His eyes were darker than even the curse demon’s, filled with shadows so deep the entire world seemed to vanish into their depths. They stared straight through me to something behind my perspective point, cold and unnerving, yet filled with care and tenderness that felt out of place.

His lips curled in a faint smile, and, in a whisper meant only for himself, said, ”Oracle of Eternity...? It seems you’ve changed since we last met, and for the better.”

”My Lord,” another voice said, from a speaker out of view.

The smile vanished as quickly as it came, the cold scowl returning to his face. He asked without turning, ”What is it?”

”If the Apostle of Fire has been crippled, then surely we...”

The last thing I saw before the vision broke apart was the demonkin’s eyes, unknowingly staring deep into mine. And then I was awake, a firm hand shaking my shoulder.

”Hey Xiviyah, wake up already!” Korra’s voice was bright and cheerful, slicing through the groggy haze I found myself in.

Groaning, I blinked away the heaviness of sleep and made to sit up. My efforts came to a sudden halt as a blinding pain lanced through my chest, dragging a whimper through my lips. The deep scars cut across my throbbed as when my soul first shattered–an agony so fierce and bitter it often awoke me, crying, from the memory alone.

”Easy there,” Korra’s voice wafted through the pain, and I blindly reached out, searching for something to hold. I found her hand and squeezed it tightly, holding back sobs as she pulled me close.

”I’m here,” she murmured, her breath tickling my ear. I tried to nod, but another stab of pain drove through me, bringing a fresh wave of tears.

A large, wet nose pressed against my forehead, Fable’s scent tickled my senses, and his power flowed through me. It washed over the throbbing scars, gentle and soothing, and, slowly, the pain began to fade. After several long, agonizing minutes, I managed to open my eyes. Korra met my gaze with a worried smile, still cradling my head against her chest.

”I was wondering how you slept so soundly during a battle, but seeing you like this...” she shook her head in wonder, bringing a hand up to cup my cheek. ”You pushed yourself too far again, didn’t you. Then you went and fell asleep, totally missing my epic moment.”

Epic moment? Her eyes flicked over, catching the confused twitch of my tail, and a smile spread across her face. ”It’s alright, nothing big. Just breaking through to fifth level and all.”

I gasped. ”Y-you did? That’s incredible!”

”Why do you sound so surprised? After you took out that fire one, there wasn’t much of a rush, so I took my time with the blade demon. It was pretty tough, but once I figured out its attack patterns and moves out, it was only a matter of time till I pushed myself hard enough to break through. From there, it was a simple matter to break what was left of it.”

My eyes went wide. ”You intentionally played with an evolved demon a level higher than you? Korra! They’re dangerous!”

She smirked, ”Is that so? Unlike you, I’ve spent almost my entire time on the front line fighting these bastards. What’s really surprising is that you managed to win against one yourself.” Her smile faded a bit, and she shook her head, adding, ”Honestly, I was at a loss against that one. It didn’t act like any demon I’ve ever faced before, and its abilities were something else.”

”It...wasn’t a demon,” I responded softly, my eyes wandering off to stare into the distance. ”It was a human, an apostle, actually. He must have used an ability to take on demon form.”

”Apostle?”

My gaze snapped back to her face, and I swallowed hard. ”Korra, this is one of those times you’re teasing me, right? You have to know about the apostles.”

Her head tilted to the side as she eyed me quizzically. ”Oh, don’t look at me like that. I don’t have crazy visions or talk with gods, so how am I supposed to know what an apostle is?”

”Oh.” Closing my eyes, I settled back against Fable, my tail twitching back and forth. Why hadn’t the church warned the heroes about them? Unless...could they not know themselves?

After a moment, Korra asked, ”So what’s an apostle?”

”The demon’s heroes,” I mumbled. She stiffened at that, but I pressed on, my words jumbling as I tried to get it all out at once. ”I don’t know much, but the demons gave mortals abilities just like the gods called heroes. They’re supposed to prepare the world for the descent of the demon lords. I met one, already, who was strong enough to fight the arbiter during the double gates. This one might be similarly strong, but his ability could only channel so much of his strength.”

”Demon heroes, huh?” Korra sat back, rubbing her hands together. ”Yeah, the church’ll be blindsided by that. I wonder if it’s some sort of experiment or something they’re doing, to prepare for the main war later after we win this one.”

Another memory resurfaced, prompted by her words. ”Korra, there’s something else. There won’t be another main war. It’s...difficult to explain, but the gods are just as lost as the demons. Everything’s going to go wrong, which is why we have to save Sari now. Otherwise, we might not get another chance.’ She nodded solemnly, and I blinked, looking at her with wide eyes. ”You believe me? But why? It’s against everything the church taught!”

She laughed and reached forward, ruffling my hair. ”You’re the Oracle of Eternity, right? Besides, if that idiot who descended before us a few weeks back was anything to go by, I’d say the gods don’t exactly have a grip on the current situation. Hard to imagine them taking such unprecedented steps if they had everything under control.” she cleared her throat, her hand falling still between my horns. ”I’m with you all the way, Xiviyah. Let’s get your friend back.”