The Forsaken Hero

I stared at Borealis, my mouth hanging slightly agape, too surprised for even my tail to twitch. The crystalline bird hopped between my thighs, fidgeting with its wings. His thoughts and feelings continued to seep through the unfamiliar bond, as sure and distinct as Fable’s mind.

A powerful shockwave ripped across my wards, startling me back to my senses. I tried grabbing Borealis again, but he agilely sidestepped me, and I huffed. ”Look, what do you mean the demons are here for me? Isn’t this Luke attacking the city?”

Powerful beacons of mana erupted from the courtyard below as several sixth-level mages unleashed spells at once. Beams of blinding sunlight lanced across the battlefield, incinerating dozens of scions. One landed directly on the fire demon that had led the charge, carving a glowing trail of sunpurge across its chest and forelimbs.

”Die, demon!” the commander shouted, kicking off the ground and lunging into the demon’s chest.

His battle axe lit up with a seventh-level technique, cracking right through the sunpurge-weakened armor. The ensuing explosion tore through the demon’s torso, blasting it into two smoking halves.

A rallying cry rose from the empire’s forces, and they charged forward, pushing the demons back out of the courtyard and into the restrictive confines of the streets.

Borealis cawed again, hopping onto Fable’s shoulder and waving his wings around.

”Fyren sent them? But...” I pursed my lips, glancing back toward the darker section of the city and the destruction caused by Fable’s fight with the inquisitors. ”Could he really not hold them back?”

I turned back to the courtyard, only to meet the gaze of a sixth-level mage. My breath hitched as he pointed and shouted, and a dozen powerful auras locked onto us.

”Is that... the filthblood!” the commander hissed, falling back from the front lines. ”Garyth, with me. The rest of you keep those blasted demons off the walls.”

”Fable!” I cried, hunching over his shoulder. ”Get us down there!”

The commander launched toward us, followed by a squad of sixth-level soldiers. Fable unleashed his aura with a roar, nullifying the pressure of their souls, and lunged off the edge of the building, passing just under their charge. Wind whistled in my ears as I screwed my eyes shut, the commander’s axe passing just a few inches beyond the streaming tips of my curls.

The building exploded behind us as the soldiers landed and their attacks landed in connected with empty air. Flurries of rock and rubble peppered the ground as we landed, strafing across my wards. Fable raced forward, trampling soldiers across the courtyard before breaking through the back of the defensive formation and leaping into the demon-infested streets beyond.

I screamed, clinging to Borealis as we plunged into the writhing ranks of a horde of fire scions. Their eyes burned feverishly as they locked onto my soul, their toothy maws salivating with traces of ash, fire, and infernal mana. I braced myself, one hand on my staff the other clasping Borealis to my side, but the demons parted like water. They snapped and growled before a sixth-level evolved demon shouldered through, his eyes fixed on the ground. The others lowered their heads, backing away and giving us some breathing room.

The evolved fire demon resembled the curse demons, its only corporeal form a suit of full plate wreathed in flames. Instead of the claws fire demons favored, it held an oversized morning star in one hand. The flanged ball of burning steel was bigger than my chest, yet it swung it about like it were a child’s toy.

Borealis squirmed from my grip and hopped atop Fable’s head, screeching at the hulking mass of fire and steel. Its cry was sharp and commanding, but its small, glittering body looked impossibly fragile before the hulking figure of fire and steel. I bit my lip as the fire demon’s eyes smoldered, and had to grasp my skirt to keep my hands from reaching for Borealis.

My fears were in vain as, with a hiss, the fire demon lowered its head to him. Borealis turned, a smug glint in its eyes, and stretched its wings out triumphantly.

”Sorry, it’s just... scary,” I mumbled, staring at my skirts bunched in my grip.

The Fire demon’s helmet tilted slightly, turning to fix its empty, eyeless gaze on me. I squeaked and shrank back, conscious of the lust I felt radiating from it and the other scion’s auras. A bark from Fable stilled the bunch, but the evolved demon’s helmet never turned from me. It felt expectant, waiting.

Borealis jumped back into my lap, kneading at the fabric of my skirt until plopping back down, nodding its head at a job well done. I frowned at it, but it just preened, craning its neck until I sighed and started petting it again.

”I don’t even know what you did, but good job. I guess,” I muttered, shaking my head. ”At least they didn’t attack us.”

Its eyes began to slide closed, a thrum of pleasure deep in its throat, before it stiffened, eyes flashing open. Fable moved at the same time, cutting through the demon’s encirclement and putting us nearly fifty feet down the street before an explosion rocked the city. A wave of dust and ash overtook us, sending me into a fit of coughing.

When my vision cleared, Fable had carried us into the midst of a horde of ice and blade demons. They reacted instantly to our presence, forming a living wall of ice and steel between us and the direction we’d fled from. A thirty-foot tall blade demon with a double-bladed axe for a head crouched in front of us, his spindly limbs splayed out in something resembling a bow.

Borealis cawed and started to nudge me again, but I smothered his head with my hand. ”Fine, I get it. I don’t know how many I can cover, though. I only have enough mana for a few spells.”

I laid a hand on Fable’s shoulder, who glanced at me skeptically. I nodded, and he lay down, allowing me to slide from his back. Borealis hopped into the air as I landed on my two feet, grumbling irritably. I rolled my eyes and ducked as he made a pass at my head. His talons just missed my horns, but there was nothing I could do as he settled for my shoulder.

”Hey, get off me!”

I shooed him away, but he just squawked and flapped his wings, tightening his grip until the pricks of his talons sent chills racing down my spine. His soul brightened as he used mana to regain his balance, and pushing him felt like pushing a mountain.

”Really?” I said. ”Now you have enough mana to do something?”

He stared at me a moment before, very deliberately, turning to preen his feathers. I groaned and turned to Fable, but he returned my gaze unblinkingly, tail swishing. Our bond felt suspiciously clear of emotion, but I sensed a hint of mirth in his eyes.

”Traitor,” I mumbled, folding my arms and puffing my cheek slightly.

Another explosion wiped the pout off my face. With a final, resentful look at Borealis, I gathered my mana and raised my staff. The power of the crystal enchantment billowed around me as it sensed the rising tide of mana in my soul, but I kept it tightly hidden behind Adaptive Resistance as I soul-cast it. Not until the final rune had failed did I allow it to leap free, using the rest of my mana as a buffer to push it through.

A golden magic circle materialized underfoot, starting small but rapidly swelling until the edge encompassed half a dozen nobles’ properties. I shivered as several thousand infernal souls brushed against mine, but swallowed my disgust and sifted through them, selecting any evolved demon I found. By the time the crystal enchantment ate through my buffer mana, I’d already reached my limit.

”Nexus!”

My voice was bright and clear, rising above the sounds of the screeches of the demons and the clash of battle. The magic circle flared with light, drawing threads between my soul and the four hundred I’d chosen. It wasn’t much compared to the thousands of demons charging the keep, but my lip curled in a small smile. That was still a hundred more than my limit the last time I’d really pushed this spell.

With the link secure, I wove the lingering remnants of my mana into the Nexus and reinforced it with Adaptive Resistance. The demons froze as starlight seeped from their souls, purging the power of the crystal enchantments. Their souls surged as their auras were unleashed, driving the scions under their command into a frenzy.

The resurgence passed beneath my notice, and my attention caught on my spell. My hand trembled slightly as I reached out, passing my fingers through the invisible threads of the Nexus that bound our souls together. They shone as if with fire, sheathed in the starlight that kept the enchantment at bay. It seems the Nexus claims the same protection it ushers through its bond.