The Forsaken Hero

The temperature in the throne room plunged as a dozen powerful auras erupted from the guards and inquisitors. The combined pressure swept out in a wave of semi-visible distorted air, slamming against me like a physical blow. Every muscle in my body stiffened as it threatened to overwhelm me, suffocating my lungs and turning my thoughts fuzzy. I might have been able to simply shrug it off were it not for the High Inquisitor, whose soul was at the peak of sixth level.

Fable pressed against me, and a flood of mana surged into my soul, buoying me up and allowing me to release the seal I kept on my own aura. Immediately, the pressure equalized and I sagged back, gasping for air.

”Curious,” the high inquisitor muttered, ”I’m surprised you can withstand that. But it doesn’t matter. Resisting will only bring you more pain.”

Moving as one, the guards and inquisitors charged forward, weapons leveled at my chest. In a burst of starlight, Fable left my side to meet them. They cried out in astonishment as his silvery form blazed with astral glory, shielding their eyes against the blinding light. Before the spots cleared from the vision, a massive clawed paw tore through their ranks, sending several third-level guards spinning through the air. Blood spurted through their mouths as they crashed against the blue-tinted stone wall with enough force to crack it, falling limply to the ground.

”What the hell?” a fourth-level inquisitor cried. Despite his shock, he charged forward into the lingering mist of starlight, only to vanish as a titanic, horned head broke out of the fog above him. The inquisitor vanished in a flurry of teeth and maw, reappearing a heartbeat later as a broken ragdoll of crumpled armor and blood beneath the throne.

The high inquisitor frowned and swung his curved spear off his back. The gesture alone released a small shockwave that blew the clinging mists back, revealing Fable in all of his infernal strength. A small thrill of shock ran through me as I saw him for the first time since the fight with the centipede, eyes running over his sleek frame. He had been fifty feet long before, right? Then why was he now sixty? He was still fifth level!

”It seems you’ve brought a demon right into the heart of home,” the city lord said, standing. The sword leaning against his throne wobbled before rising into the air, flying into his hand on its own accord. The high inquisitor stepped up beside him, the two greatest threats in this fight.

”Would you care to play with the mutt?” the inquisitor asked. Despite the death of several of his inquisitors and over half the guards, he sounded perfectly nonchalant, like he was discussing lunch.

”It’d be a pleasure. I can at least pin it down until you take the filthblood and interrupt whatever spell she’s using to enlarge it.” Then, commanding the remaining guards, he shouted, ”Stay clear of that demon! Circle round and engage that damned slut! She can’t use combat magic, so there’s no need to be wary.”

Despite the gravity of the situation, I found myself wearing a slight, grim smile. They were wrong on all accounts, from Fable’s natural size to my inability to defend myself. I took no pleasure in the knowledge that once my array finished, I would claim all of their lives, but the irony wasn’t lost on me.

But first I had to survive, no easy task against a sixth-level inquisitor. The tall, proud man kicked off the dais, the force of his departure shattering the dais. It seemed he never intended to keep his promise of minimal damage after all.

As predicted, his white-cloaked form blurred toward me at speeds I couldn’t follow. Had I been alone, his curved spear would have skewered me then and there, but unfortunately for him, he’d underestimated my companion.

A silver tail the size of a tree scythed through the air, slamming into him like a baseball bat. A powerful shockwave sprang out, blasting the weaker guards off their feet, as the high inquisitor flew through a wall, disappearing in a cloud of shattered stone.

”Dammit, inquisitor,” the city lord shouted, blasting toward Fable, ”wait for me to tie it down first!”

His sword blazed with light, sheathed in the power of sun magic. Before it could strike Fable’s unprotected flank, I threw my hand out and Soul Cast a spell.

”Link Ability!”

Half a heartbeat later, the city lord’s sword scraped into Fable’s side. His magical technique detonated, consuming almost half of the throne room in a blaze of blistering light. I shielded my eyes against the glare, wincing as the Sunpurge on my shoulder throbbed, yet the heat of technique failed to touch us. The city lord’s eyes widened in surprise to find his attack had failed to so much as displace Fable’s fur.

”Impossible!” he spat, striking thrice more. Each time, the sun magic sloughed off my wolf’s silver coat like rain on a window, doing little more than blinding the weaker soldiers and inquisitors.

As he raised his sword a fourth time, Fable’s claw swept toward him. He quickly redirected the strike into a desperate parry, but the sheer difference in size made the gesture futile. The city lord cried out as he too was thrown across the room, landing heavily on the floor and coughing blood.

Pressing his advantage, Fable pounced across the room and brought another claw down on his chest, punching right through the enchantments on his breastplate. The claw was so large it nearly severed him in half, tearing a gaping hole from neck to navel.

With a sickening pop, my wolf tore his claw free of the corpse and whirled to face the others, who were only just now approaching me. They froze in their tracks, eyes bulging as they found the spasming form of the city lord lying on the ground. His limbs stilled as blood spurted from his chest, a rapidly spreading pool of blood flowing around his broken body.

”The hell?” a fifth-level inquisitor gasped. He glanced around, looking for the High Inquisitor, but the man hadn’t appeared through the wall yet. His expression paled as he realized he was now the strongest in the room, and he gestured out with his hand. ”Damn it all! Spread out and don’t let that thing near you. Don’t bother with sun magic either, it has no effect!”

As the remaining forces sprang into action, I stared dumbly at Fable. He was only fifth-level...the same as the city lord. From the man’s aura and confidence, it was apparent he was a powerful, experienced warrior. The High Inquisitor also seemed to have full confidence he could stall Fable, yet now the man lay in a pool of his own blood, before the Inquisitor could even crawl back from wherever he’d been thrown to.

”Fable...?” I whispered, feeling as though I barely knew my own wolf. His soul was about as powerful as when we’d fought the Titanic crawler, yet I had the impression things would go very differently if they met again. Just what had he been doing these past few weeks?

Although battered, the soldiers and inquisitors weren’t defeated yet. There were still three fifth-level and five fourth-level combatants among them, and they were now properly aware of Fable’s immense power. For the most part, they ignored me, concentrating on the greater threat, giving me a moment to catch my breath. It was almost time.

”Quite impressive. I never would have believed there to be a demon this strong.”

I whirled around, tail stiffening as the High Inquisitor strolled back into the room. His white cloak was ripped and tattered, and there were long, dark scratches scored deep into his armor, yet he seemed unhurt.

”He’s not a demon, he doesn’t have infernal mana,” I said, glaring at him. It was a moot point, yet something about his disdain bothered me.

The inquisitor waved his hand dismissively, continuing to walk toward me unhurriedly. ”And neither do demonkin, yet simply look at the devastation you have caused. How many are dead for your selfish whims? How many more will that monster kill before I manage to take it down?”

I grimaced, my grip on my staff tightening. He had no idea what was about to happen, about the true destruction I was about to unleash. The array was almost finished, rotating high above the fortress. When it did...I had seen how much destruction would follow.

The inquisitor frowned, sensing something wrong. Trusting his instincts, he charged forward and stabbed toward me. There wasn’t enough time to cast a sufficiently powerful protective spell, so I threw myself aside, barely managing to avoid the tip of his spear. It grazed by my ribs harmlessly, but the wind blades generated by the thrust slammed into my cloak. The garment’s defensive spells cracked and strained, struggling to absorb the aftermath of a sixth-level magical technique. Ultimately, it deflected the worst of it, but a few ribbons of power slashed through my dress, tearing deep ribbons into the tender flesh above my hip.

White hot pain flared from my side, but before I could cry out, let alone stumble away, the inquisitor’s spear slashed sideways. The purpose of the extended blade became clear as bit deep into my hit, shattering what little remained of the cloak’s protective wards. Only now did I manage to scream, blood spurting from my wounds, trailing in crimson arcs behind me as the force of the impact sent me crashing through the air.

I hit the ground hard, a burst of black spots dancing before my eyes. The blade had only stopped midway through my hip bone. Had the cloak not absorbed much of the attack before it broke, the spear might have cleanly severed me in half.

Tears filled my eyes, and I bit my lip, cutting off my screams. My staff had vanished somewhere, but that thought was furthest from my mind. The pain consumed all, as agonizing as any torture or punishment I had received, far more than such a wound, grievous as it was, should have merited. It threatened to drive me unconscious, but I clung to my thoughts by a thread. If I were to falter now, even for a second, I would lose my hold on the array.

A shadow fell over me, blotting out what little light made it through my tears. The inquisitor’s condescending voice filtered through the pain, driving blades of terror into my heart. ”So weak. I was afraid, for a second, that I accidentally killed you. Amazing how someone so small and...delicate proved such a thorn in my brethren’s side. No matter though, call off your wolf and I’ll allow you to live.”