The Forsaken Hero

”Are you sure?” Bethiv asked, peering at me intently.

”Yes. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I think the anomaly will help me overcome the last of our issues in preparing for the gate. It’s a mixture of infernal mana and my own mana, and might be able to act as a shield against the corruption while I heal my soul,” I said softly.

”Not to mention it’s absurdly powerful, and could become a significant ally,” Korra added.

Bethiv nodded slowly, stroking the beginnings of a beard on his chin. ”Are you certain this ice spirit you’ve been summoning is truly the anomaly? As far as the kingdom’s best mages could tell, and that includes a ninth-level ice mage, the anomaly was just that. An anomaly. It was an unintelligible, magical storm whose existence was akin to a natural disaster. It’s already killed thousands, and destroyed many towns and villages in its path.”

I nodded, and he sighed, rubbing his temples. The rest of the command tent was quiet, giving Bethiv a chance to think. I looked around at each of the soldiers, most of them familiar to me by now. Jackal and Joel both returned my attention with a nod, while the lower officers shifted uncomfortably beneath my gaze. I’d found the golden, starry aesthetic of my eyes often had that effect, with some even complaining it was like I was looking right through them. They were right, in a sense, but the thought only made me feel self-conscious. It wasn’t right for them to be scared of me, no one should be. I was just...me.

Bethiv clapped suddenly, making me jump. ”Very well. And you say you can feel the anomaly’s position?”

”I can sense its general direction, at least. It gets stronger the closer we get, but the connection is clear,” I said.

”Then we march at dawn. Captain Jackal and Joel, organize your forces and prepare to march. I want everything ready to go before you let your troops rest for the night.”

”Yes sir!” the two replied simultaneously.

As the soldiers all left, Bethiv drummed his fingers on the table, staring at me. I could feel he wanted to speak, but his lips never parted more than a hairsbreadth before they closed. It didn’t take much to guess his question, not after everything we’d been discussing.

”It’s the same one,” I said with a sigh. ”The anomaly is the Ice Spirit I summoned to kill the ice demon in the gate. I’m not exactly certain how, but it developed some sort of sentience during the battle and somehow remained behind after my summoning spell ended, instead of getting dismissed. I’m not exactly certain how it escaped the gate, or how we didn’t see it, but that might have something to do with the idea that ice spirits don’t have a physical body. It might have been able to shed all the ice it took on leave as an incorporeal spirit.”

Bethiv raised an eyebrow. ”Was I that easy to read?”

I chuckled, my tail waving with satisfaction. It was rare that I was the one doing the reading, not the other way around. My tail and negligible ability to control my expression made sure of that.

”I’ve been thinking about it too,” Korra said. She folded her arms and leaned back in her chair, her eyes far away and distant. ”The only thing that makes sense is the infernal mana. You said it practically swallowed an entire demon horde and converted their souls into mana, right?”

”And it absorbed most of the ambient mana in the gate,” I added.

”Then it makes sense, or at least, seems possible. Infernal mana tends to mutate and forcibly evolve anything it taints. Humans react negatively to it and are left in extreme pain and usually die. Animals and monsters mutate and become infernal monsters, and magic turns wild and untamed.”

I gasped, my eyes lighting up. ”You’re saying the ice spirit suffered a similar mutation? The odds of something like that happening have got to be astronomical!”

”You are the Daughter of Fate,” she said wryly. ”From what I’ve seen, things seem to line up for you just when you need them.”

I rubbed my shoulder, wincing as my fingers brushed the Sunpurge. ”Sometimes I wished they would line up a little sooner. It would be nice to make it out of a battle or dangerous situation without being pushed to the brink every single time.”

”That’s life for ya,” Bethiv said. ”There isn’t anyone who has it easy, not really. We’re all fighting against fate, in a way, just trying to survive.”

I nodded, and our conversation continued for a few minutes longer, fleshing out a few speculative details of the anomaly. Both Korra and Bethiv were skeptical of it, citing the tendency of corrupted beings to go berserk, but the odds of that felt low. In my interactions with it, the spirit had logic and reason, and its soul seemed untainted by the chaotic mana writhing within. There was also the soulbond to consider, though what exactly that would mean for our relationship was a heavy unknown in my mind.

As I left the tent with Korra and Fable, I summoned my staff. The cool, glassy haft glowed softly, the ridges of the carved runes pressing into my fingers. Every divine artifact had a few extra abilities that were unlocked as the wielder increased their affinity and familiarity with it. I’d discovered a few of these, potentially, like its ability to summon Fable or the resonance it had with gates. I’d played around a little with the latter, but I had the feeling Elinore would ban my study the moment she learned of it. My soul was too unstable to deal with such powerful and complex things as gates.

But the summoning was another matter entirely, and raised more questions than it answered. It seemed related to the gates, but only seemed to work on Fable. And the anomaly, I realized with a start. When I tried to cast the summoning spell on the anomaly, my staff interceded and modified my runes, turning it into something else and allowing the anomaly through. Could it be I could summon things I shared a soul bond with?

It was the only theory that made sense, yet I lacked the information to verify it and all I could do was keep it in the back of my mind. Once I healed my soul, I could research things like that to my heart’s content.

”My lady!” Sarra’s voice came to us, filled with urgency.

We turned and found the girl running toward us, holding her skirt up to avoid tripping over it.

”I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she said, panting as she came to stop before us. She seemed to notice Korra and her eyes narrowed, her grip on her skirt tightening. ”And what are you doing, Korra? Trying to seduce our lady into some strenuous adventure again? I must insist you let her rest and recover!”

Korra threw back her head and laughed. ”For the gods’ sake, Sarra, we just got out of the strategy meeting. Trust me, it was the exact opposite of whatever you were thinking about. I almost fell asleep listening to those old military bastards tasking about troop formations, supplies, and whatnot.”

Sarra’s lips pressed in a firm line, and she looked between us. After a tense silence, she sighed and her shoulder sagged. ”Alright, fine. But don’t run off again, okay? Elinore almost killed me when I didn’t know where you were.”

”Okay, I’m sorry.”

I meekly bowed my head, but my tail twitched in amusement. Sarra seemed to notice, and blushed faintly, turning her head with a huff.

”Were you on your way to see Sari?” she asked.

The mention of the little foxkin turned the air heavy, and my tail drooped back to the ground. ”Yeah, I was hoping I could get her to eat something more than a scrap of bread. She’s too thin.”

”That’s what I thought about you every time we met,” Korra said, ”You never seemed to eat a lot...actually, that hasn’t changed. But at least you’ve gained some weight and I can’t see your ribs anymore.”

I jumped as her hand darted out, poking my uninjured side. ”H-hey!” I squeaked, turning red.

She laughed and danced back a few steps, avoiding any potential counterattack. I just shook my head and rubbed a horn, unsure of how to respond. I’d only just gotten used to her verbal teasing, what was I supposed to do about this?

Fortunately, Sarra came to my rescue, her face stern. ”Korra, please refrain from touching my lady. Her body is already weak, and I’m doubtful of your ability to control your strength to something she can handle. It wouldn’t do to accidentally hurt her, would it?”

”Oh, there’s no need to be so serious,” Korra said with a chuckle. ”I’d never hurt her by accident, not again. I’m not like Soltair.”

My step slowed as I touched again the tender skin of my shoulder around the sunpurge. Sarra and Korra didn’t seem to notice, still bickering good-naturedly as they moved through the camp. Sarra was quiet and shy most times, but when it came to Korra, she had no reservations.

Soltair. A shiver coursed down my back, and my chest tightened. Even now, after all this time, hearing his name never failed to cause my tail to drag. He had hurt me in so many ways, lifted me from the darkness only to drop me deeper into the depths of despair. The last time I’d seen him, it had been in a vision and he’d all but prayed for me to be dead.

”C-can we go now? I’d like to see Sari,” I all but whispered.

The two paused, glancing back and finally noticing the change in my expression. They exchanged a glance, and Korra nodded. ”Sure, that sounds good. I was just about to head to the training field anyway. I promised Jackal and Gith I’d show them another Art.”

She left with a friendly wave and Sarra and I continued to Elinore’s tent. She’d taken Sari in personally, watching over her whenever she wasn’t working with me or another injured soldier.

The rest of the day slipped by slowly, quietly, Sari and I taking comfort from each other. The following day we set a course for southern Brithlite, and the anomaly waiting for me there.