The Forsaken Hero

I sat beside the elemental on a snowy hillside, resting against Fable with my legs tucked neatly beneath me. My tail twitched back and forth impatiently as the Last Light Company formed ranks in the valley below us as they prepared to enter the gate. Those chosen to remain behind and guard the entrance or not suited to combat in a wintery climate were establishing camp just beneath the gate.

My impatience wasn’t so much because the preparations were taking long, but I didn’t know what else to feel. I’d accepted that I would remain behind, but though they hadn’t even left yet, I yearned for them to return safely. My chest tightened just thinking about the battle to come, memories of my near-death experiences in the gates coming to the forefront of my mind. Without my Nexus and protection, how many soldiers would be exposed to the elements of a sixth-level gate, not to mention the claws of their infernal inhabitants?

I wished I’d had those thoughts sooner, but even if I’d shared them with the others, I doubted it would make any difference in their decision. They were all battle maniacs, the whole lot of them! For some reason, they actually liked being exposed to danger. I’d even overheard some of the more senior soldiers complaining about the battle in Bluegate Keep because it felt ’too easy’ when the enemy couldn’t break my wards.

The elemental glanced at me as I let out a sharp, exasperated breath. ”Is something the matter, my lady?”

”Please, don’t call me that,” I muttered, but knew it was futile. The ice spirit had a strange attachment to decorum, even more than Luxxa.

Of course, ’My Lady’ was better than ’Star Mother,’ which was the most embarrassing of them all, but how did he even hear that term anyway? It was a distinctly mortal title, one that he shouldn’t have encountered since his ascension and sentience. He must have picked one of the times Bethiv let his tongue slip.

Realizing he was still waiting for an answer, I stared down at my hands, which tightened anxiously. ”Sorry, just a little on edge. I’m not used to staying behind.”

”I do not know them, but you should depend on your allies. The water hero has faced more gates than you know, and conquered in all of them,” the spirit said slowly.

I followed its gaze to Korra, who stood at the forefront of the massing army. She wore a bright, cheerful smile and laughed as Jenna made some sort of joke. It had taken some convincing to get the Star Guard to leave my side and accompany her, but after learning that the ice spirit and Fable would be there for me, they agreed. That was some comfort, at least.

”I know, it’s just that I...well, never mind. It’s just the same worries over and over again. I hope they come back safely.”

He nodded, and we went back to watching the preparations. The Last Light Company had an extremely high percentage of mages, so it wasn’t that they weren’t without magical protection. Before they advanced, every soldier was prepared with a third-level Ice Shield and other wards. They wouldn’t withstand direct attacks from fifth or sixth-level demons, but those were rare, likely numbering less than ten in the entire gate--only a fraction of what we had.

After a few tense minutes of waiting, Bethiv gave the command. Two sixth-level mages stepped up and began to chant. A wide magic circle inscribed itself across the frozen hillside, expanding until it overshadowed a region five hundred feet in diameter. The mages worked in concert, their overlapping chants combining together in a storm of runes and circles, rapidly pushing the spell to completion.

Group magic was never something I’d been able to study, and my exposure to it was almost none, but some of the books Thron gave me discussed the topic. The chants were rare and highly challenging to create, and the lack of skill among mages in the world made casting it difficult. The entire group was given a section of the spell to memorize and would recite it in concert. The spell was designed so that each segment could be crafted at once, creating massive magic circles in a fraction of the time it would take a lone mage to do the same. The mana cost was also spread out between the mages, and when done correctly, had the power to challenge higher-circle spells.

The magic was fascinating, and something I would have loved to study more, but the nerves twisting my stomach into knots pushed my mind back to the upcoming battle. Perhaps I could ask Jenna about it later, in return for teaching her Soul Casting.

The group spell finished with a blinding flash of light. The ground began to shake as the magic tore into the earth, bringing titanic shelves of rock and soil out in a series of ascending terraces. It was a staircase of sorts, giving direct access to the center of the gate almost two hundred feet in the air.

The magic was impressive, unlike anything I’d ever found studied before, and I resolved myself to ask about such magic again. Was the spell designed to create a staircase, or allow one to shape the earth as they wanted? Could it be used to create natural fortifications against any enemy charge?

The thoughts and questions almost distracted me from watching the army, but my trepidation rose again, intensifying as the spell winked out, its work finished.

The ground stopped moving as the final terrace settled into place, and Bethiv ordered the army forward. The assault force comprised almost two-thirds of our available army, ranging from seasoned veterans to fresh-eyed recruits. I’d asked about it before, and the commander told me they were broken up into teams of mixed experience, giving the younger and often weaker soldiers a chance to lean on and learn from their elders.

Korra and the other demons led the way into the gate, vanishing into the rippling vortex of mana, leaving no trace behind. My chest tightened as the flowing ribbons of her garments disappeared behind the curtain, and she was lost from my sight.

All at once, my breathing came quick and shallow, and my chest constricted until it hurt to breathe. My heart pounded in my chest, and I squeezed my eyes shut, a tear tracing down my cheek. I couldn’t feel her soul anywhere, not even in the faintest threads of fates. She was gone, far away and outside of Enusia, trapped in a small, fragile bubble in the sea of emptiness between realms. I was alone.

I’d thought I could handle it, had even told the ice spirit as much, but reality was different, and threatened to overwhelm me. Korra had been hurt, and had even almost lost before, but the fear of what-ifs was nothing compared to the solemn reality that she was out of my reach, maybe forever.

My eyes flashed open, a startled shudder running down my tail, as a small hand slid into mine. My entire body trembled faintly, and my vision blurred with unshed tears. I could just make out a slender silhouette sitting beside me.

”It’s okay; you don’t have to be sad,” Sari said, peering up at me with her deep, hazel eyes. Her ears drooped with worry as she gripped my hand tighter, only relaxing as I tentatively nodded.

”I-I know. They’ll be fine,” I whispered, looking back at the gate. ”She’s closed dozens of gates, and the Last Light Company are the best soldiers one could wish for.”

She nodded and leaned back on Fable, sighing contentedly as she sank into his silver fur. Fable seemed to draw a little tighter around us, shielding us from an incoming gust of wind.

As the last of the soldiers disappeared into the portal, I turned to Sari, unable to withhold the question that had been burning in my mind since I awoke.

”Sari, how are you...fine?”

She tilted her head. ”Fine?”

I bit my lip and looked away, the words stuck in my throat. ”Just, you know, after what he did to you. I know how hard it is, and how lonely. It must have been so dark...but you’re okay. You’re walking, and talking, and smiling. How can you be so...fine?”

She was quiet for a long time, staring at the swirling gate above us. Finally, she closed her eyes and tightened her grip on my hand. ”I’m not,” she whispered, turning to me with eyes glistening with tears. ”It’s so cold and dark inside; every little thing makes me jump and feel afraid.”

I nodded, unable to speak past the lump in my throat.

”But you did it. You lived a lifetime, maybe more, of that darkness and still overcame it. I remembered you every single day, and how much it hurt for you to take the next forward. I tried to do the same; I always knew you’d come for me. Even after he cursed me with the Heart Crest, I think some part of me still believed in you. And then you came. I think she’s like that too, waiting for you.”

A shiver ran down my spine and through my tail. Even before Sari was kidnapped, I hadn’t been strong enough to talk about my past, and even now, I barely spoke about Elise. She couldn’t have heard more than that there was a girl I needed to save, caught in the shadows of the same master who had enslaved Sari herself.

I glanced at Sari, finding her still looking up at the gate, seemingly ignorant of the effect her words had on me, and the storm raging in my heart. It was hard to remember that she was only a few years my junior, perhaps eleven or twelve now. She wasn’t the child I remembered her as, mentally any more than physically.

”I hope so,” I whispered, closing my eyes. ”I hope to any god that will listen she’s okay, and can forgive me.”

As we waited for the army’s return, I found that the fear that gripped me had lessened, replaced by a soft, tentative peace. Korra would be all right. I had to believe in her, just like Sari did me.