The Forsaken Hero

The heavy oaken gate slammed shut with a resounding boom, echoing through the empty streets like a death knell. Orion cursed under his breath, his eyes scanning the towering walls for any sign of weakness.

”They’re buying time,” he muttered, his hand tightening around the hilt of his sword. ”We need to get through before the army collapses in on us.”

Without waiting for a response, he dashed towards the gate, his powerful legs propelling him forward with incredible speed. The rest of us followed close behind, our hearts pounding in our chests as we prepared for the inevitable clash.

The gates were massive iron-bound panels of wood, reinforced with sixth-level enchantments. Several squads of soldiers stood before the gates, perhaps fifty in all, a mix between mages and melee combatants. Archers and more mages lined the parapets above, and the unfamiliar magical siege weapons were aimed directly at us.

”Take them!” Orion shouted, leading the charge.

Luxxa kicked off the ground, launching herself across the outer courtyard. She chanted as she flew, completing her spell the moment she smashed into their ranks. Vines exploded out of the ground once more, tying up and distracting over half of the soldiers beneath the gate. Korra lunged right behind her, slipping through the entangled soldiers, fists lashing out with various Arts. Before the soldiers stationed on the wall could react, water dragons coiled through the vines, ripping and tearing their comrades apart. Gith and Janna picked off those who managed to escape, rapidly dropping their numbers.

Fable slowed as the rest of our companions engaged, hanging back several dozen feet from the battle. There was nothing I could do in the fight except get in the way, and even trying would strain my body to its limit. Instead, I looked up to where the defenders were finally reacting to the sudden assault.

The captain of the units atop the wall cut down with hand. ”Fire!”

Close to fifty arrows and spells leaped from the ramparts, raining down on the party in a furious onslaught of light, fire, and lightning. The wave of attacks was indiscriminate, with just as many striking their own as landing on my companions.

At the same time, the four magical siege weapons discharged a deafening explosion of light and sound. Concentrated streams of magic tore through the air, leaving trails of fire and lightning in their wake. I gasped, my heart leaping into my throat as the beams converged on our party. There was nothing more I could do but pray I had calculated their power correctly.

The storm of projectiles and terrible bolts of magic struck all at once, filling the courtyard with a sea of fire and lightning. Explosions rocked the ground as magically enhanced arrows and spells detonated within the flames, sending chunks of rock and pieces of corpses out like shrapnel. I flinched as a head-sized piece of cobblestone few toward my head, but Fable casually raised a paw and batted it out of the air. The Blade Ward would hold against such things, yet I still kept my head low after that, my tail flicking nervously as I waited for the billowing clouds of dust, fire, and debris to clear.

But before it did, a lance of lightning leaped out of the smoke. The spell streaked upward and struck one of the siege weapons. The mages had already begun charging it for the next attack and looked on with horror as the lightning overloaded the weapon. The ensuing explosion swept over the wall, vaporizing everything near it and throwing those unlucky enough to survive over the edge into the courtyards on either side.

Orion burst out of the smoke and dashed directly to the gate, bringing his sword down on the reinforced wood with a fifth-level magical technique. The wood shuddered, but the enchantments held, shimmering with a defiant glow. Orion grunted in frustration, sweat beading on his forehead as he poured more mana into his blade and attacked again. No damage.

”Damn it, this is taking too long!” he shouted, glancing back at us over his shoulder.

”Stand back, I’ve got this!” Korra emerged from the smoke and flames, moving with the speed and grace of a flowing river. A single, watery serpent coiled around her forearm, rearing its head and merging with her fist as she struck the center of the gate.

”Dissonant Strike!” she cried.

The impact of her fist against the gate was like a thunderclap, sending shockwaves through the air that rattled my bones. Water erupted from the impact, filled with chaotic swells of mana that passed right through the wood and assaulted the enchantments themselves. The magic defenses were sixth-level, far stronger than any of us could break through with sheer force, yet they trembled before her Magic Art. Dissonant Strike had proven able to break the ability of a canyon crawler, perhaps the single strongest defense I’d ever witnessed at sixth level. Compared to that, this gate magic, saturated with human flaws and inefficiencies, was little more than smoke in the wind.

In the space of a heartbeat, the enchantments on the gate flared brightly and disintegrated. A horrified, disbelieving cry rose from the surviving soldiers, many of whom were picking themselves up from the blast. Before they could rally, Korra struck again, this time with a regular fifth-level magical technique. With a deafening crack, the gate splintered and burst inwards, showering the courtyard with wood and metal fragments.

”Through!” Korra shouted, gesturing towards the opening.

Spells and arrows began raining down on us again, but it was too late. We surged forward, following Korra through the shattered gate and into the inner courtyard. It was a smaller, more enclosed space than the outer courtyard, surrounded by tall buildings that cast long shadows in the fading light.

A contingent of elite guards, clad in heavy armor and wielding enchanted weapons, stood before us, their faces grim and determined. They were the last line of defense before the keep itself, and they were prepared to die rather than let us pass.

”For the King!” one of the guards roared, charging forward with his sword raised.

Luxxa met him head-on, her shield deflecting his blow with a clang of steel. Her sword flashed in the dim light, and the guard stumbled back, clutching at a gash in his arm.

Orion and Korra joined the fray, their blades singing a deadly song as they cut through the ranks of the elite guards. Jenna, her eyes blazing with power, unleashed a torrent of wind and lightning spells, blasting the guards back and disrupting their formations.

”Milady, watch out!” Gith cried, diving away from me.

”Hmm? What is–” My tail twitched a warning before the entire world filled with fire. Fable accelerated beneath me, nearly dislodging my grip, as flames curled around our bodies and lightning lashed at us from all directions. I screamed as much in surprise as fear but quickly calmed as it became apparent it lacked the power to hurt us. Between Adaptive Resistance and Blade Ward, my skin didn’t even warm, nor could the flashing arrows reach their mark.

A moment later, we were free of the attack, and I looked up just in time to see the other two remaining weapons discharge. A jet of fire engulfed Jenna while the other landed directly on Gith. They both emerged from the storm a second later, eyes wide and breathing hard in relief. I sighed and shook my head, trying to get my own heart to stop racing. There was something disconcerting about being surrounded by deadly magic. No matter how many times I escaped unscathed, it never got any easier.

”Fable, let’s get rid of those,” I said, tightening my hold on his neck.

Fable barked in agreement and accelerated once more, turning to a silver blur. Arrows and magic splattered the ground behind us, leaving many a smoking crater, but Fable ignored it all and leaped. I squeezed my eyes shut as we soared through the air, my tail stiff with fear.

Our landing was hard, softened only by the two squirming soldiers unlucky enough to be beneath our landing. They screamed as Fable’s claws punched through their armor, claiming their lives in an instant. I considered jumping off the wolf before he took further action, but was there anywhere safer? Even in his condensed form, Fable had gone toe toe-to-toe with a High Inquisitor. These soldiers were strong and skilled, but nowhere near that monster’s strength

And so, I just hung and tried not to squeak as we dashed over the walls, ripping and tearing through soldiers. Many were lightly armored archers and mages, dying the moment he touched them. A few tried to conjure barriers or cast spells to inhibit our movement, but I silenced their efforts with a few well-placed Dispel Magics, leaving them helpless before the snarling fangs of my wolf.

The one-sided battle ended as quickly as it began. Fable tore down the final magic weapon with a roar, sending it crashing to the ground below. The ensuing explosion shook the city, blasting another massive crater in the ground beneath the gate.

As Fable flicked the blood from his fur, I looked out over the city and my breath caught in my throat. From my vantage atop the walls, I could make out the Divine Throne’s army, a relentless tide surging through the streets. Their banners whipped in the wind, promising a battle we couldn’t win. A battle now just a few minutes away.

My attention didn’t linger on them for long. I looked past the city to the canyon beyond. My gaze settled on the massive Demon Gate, a roaring swirl of vibrant reds and yellows with an aura every bit as powerful as the sixth-level Ice Gate. Countless strands of infernal mana were drawn from the city the gate in a vortex of flickering light, seeming most dense from the Last Light Company positioned at the rim of the canyon. Why were the demons able to take so much from them? Was it because of the curse?

Just as I was about to turn away, my gaze flicked down the Gate’s base, and my eyes widened. A carpet of darkness marched toward the gate from inside the canyon, a forest of bristling spears, claws, and infernal mana. They had already reached the gate and were now encircled around it protective, skirmishing with the scouting parties sent by the Last Light Company. The demons were here.