The Forsaken Hero

A shockwave rocked the cathedral as we made our way to the entrance. The walls shuddered, fractures appearing in the mortar between the masonry. Dust rained from the rafters, and long, jagged cracks spiderwebbed through the stained glass windows. I yelped as a chandelier crashed to the ground, strafing my wards with fragments of shattered crystal.

Another blast shook the building, and Borealis trilled, urging me onward. He lifted from my shoulder and hovered over my head, allowing me to adapt to the occasional tremors in the earth without his weight throwing me off balance.

My lungs heaved by the time I made it to the entrance. Ice coated the broken remnants of the doors, sealing them to the ground. My feet carried me onto the slick stone before I realized and all sense of control vanished. My feet skidded across the chunks of wood and steel, tripping over every step.

By some miracle, I made it over the rubble and stumbled into the inner courtyards. I laid a hand on my chest, panting as I struggled to slow my racing heart. I started to turn, glaring at Borealis, when a third shockwave smashed into my wards. This time, I caught a glimpse of it and recognized Lord Evlon’s mana signature. Had he cast another eighth-circle spell?

The Cathedral shuddered on its foundations. Tiles broke from the roof, sliding down the incline and plummeting to the streets. The bulged inward, split apart by ravenous, growing fissures.

Borealis dove town, taking my sleeve in his talons and tugging me away with an urgent screech. I staggered after him, keeping my eyes on the cathedral as it lilted to the side. A second later, the northern wall of the entrance segment collapsed inward, bringing the roof down with it. Thick dust clouds billowed out, obscuring the cathedral as more walls followed suit. I covered my mouth with my sleeve, coughing as the thick particles filled the air, sucking the moisture from my throat.

”Encircling Winds,” I gasped.

The spell resolved in an instant, whipping up a breeze that circled me like a miniature cyclone. It was just stiff enough to tug at my hair or divert an arrow from its path. The dust cleared right up, but my throat still felt prickly, and my eyes stung. I berated myself for not casting it immediately.

The dust began to settle, revealing that only the vaulted ceiling above the shard had survived the shockwave. Rainbow sparkles of light filtered through the swirling clouds, leaking from the shard’s effervescent mana.

Looking around, I found many of the other buildings had suffered a similar fate. Only the inner keep and fortifications, with their powerful defensive wards, remained unscathed. Panicked shouts filled the complex, and soldiers ran to and fro, searching the rubble and debris for survivors. With my vibrant hair and dress, not to mention the demon bird flying tight circles over my head, we must have stuck out, yet no one even noticed us.

Borealis gripped my sleeve again and started pulling me toward the side gate we’d entered through. I followed a few steps before faltering and slowly turned toward the keep. He cawed louder, impressing a sense of urgency in the Nexus.

”She’s in there,” I whispered, staring dazedly at the keep.

Tears welled in my eyes as I finally allowed myself a chance to process what Verity had told me, and what I’d seen in the vision. After everything we’d been through, after saving my life, R’lissea had left. I’d tried so hard to trust her, spend time with her, and share so many memories, yet...had it all been in vain? Was that why she hadn’t found me after we’d crashed?

I squeezed my eyes shut, a lump in my throat. Had I really only been a means to secure her safety among the demons? Had it all been a lie?

Something warm and hard pressed into my palm. I opened my eyes and looked down to see my hand clasping the brooch fastening the tattered remnants of my cloak. It was fashioned like a cluster of stars with the rune for ”glory” etched in the middle.

The lump in my throat grew thicker, and a tear trickled down my cheek. This was the brooch Tana had given me. It was the official sigil of the Glory Chasers, a reminder of the many memories I made with them.

”Rasce lied, too,” I murmured, running my hand over the delicate ridges of the brooch. ”But he didn’t betray me.”

Fighting the circle in Heartland were some of my darkest memories after High Valley, but this stood out amongst the others. I’d confronted Vithrass alone, thinking my friends had forsaken me. When I’d been defeated and nearly enslaved, they suddenly appeared, but Rasce claimed they hated me and wanted revenge.

Vithrass had believed him, and to my shame, so had I. It had allowed them to take the advantage with a surprise attack, but...

How foolish it seemed, now, to have doubted them. They’d given me so much love. How could I have thought they’d betray me?

I took a deep breath, squeezing the broach before letting my hand fall back to my side. A tremor of uncertainty came through the Nexus, but I ignored Borealis’s skeptical look and squared my shoulders.

”We’re going to the keep. Even if R’lissea did betray us, I need to hear it from her.”

Borealis gave one last look at the gate before gliding to my shoulder, letting out a small, resigned chitter.

”Thanks,” I said, scratching under his chin. ”I know we should flee before the inquisitors realize we escaped, but we’ve already come this far. Besides, I can’t leave her behind if there’s even a chance she didn’t betray us. I want to–no, I will believe in her.”

With that resolve burning in my chest, we cut through the rubble-strewn streets. It was impossible to avoid soldiers entirely, but the few times they challenged us, Borealis cowed them with a burst of aura. The bigger challenge was overcoming the debris with my frail, weakened body. My soul had been restored to its peak strength–save a few lingering pains from the false soul binder–but my physical strength was nearing its limit.

As I stumbled over a particularly large chunk of masonry, Borealis cawed softly, sending a series of impressions through the bond. Did he want to...fly there? I glanced at the sky and shuddered, shaking my head as fervently as my sore muscles would allow.

”No, I”’m not going up there. Even if it’s easier... Never again,” I said, my tail trembling. ”It’s only another hundred yards. I can do it.”

He settled back on my shoulder, disapproval radiating through the Nexus. I ignored him and pushed on, and in short order, we came to the walls of the keep. A squad of soldiers stood guard at the gates. The captain was a fifth-level soldier with a thin face and sharp nose. He lowered his spear, and the rest of his men fanned out, regarding us warily.

”What the hell is a demonkin doing in the keep?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

I took a long breath and met his gaze unflinchingly. ”Please, stand aside. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but Borealis’s eyes flashed. The man choked on his words as the demon’s aura seized him, and the blood drained from his face. The point of his spear jittered unevenly, his hands shaking so badly he nearly dropped it.

”F-for the empire!” he gasped in a strangled whisper.

He leveled his spear with my chest and took one step before dropping to one knee, his eyes bulging in fear. Borealis huffed in annoyance and waved a wing, releasing a wind blade that swept the entire squad off their feet, hurling them against the wall. They groaned in pain but, suppressed by his aura, couldn’t do more than squirm helplessly on the ground.

”Thank you,” I said, nodding to the captain as I carefully stepped over his trembling body.

The keep was a looming mass of walls, towers, and snapping pennants. A few mana cannons lined the walls, but their discharges streaked over our heads into the courtyards beyond, supporting the empire’s soldiers fighting the Devoted. Our entrance was far from flashy, catching no attention from the mages and archers manning the walls. Someone would undoubtedly find the squad we’d defeated, but by that point, it would be too late.

”Hopefully,” I muttered, twisting my staff in my hands.

The keep’s interior was plain and militant, lacking even the simple gilded hallways of the cathedral. The windows were narrow slits in the walls, and every intersection had beveled corners, allowing for easy vision of adjacent corridors.

We were noticed almost immediately by a slave girl dressed in a revealing maid outfit. She screamed as she saw my horns, dropping a vase of flowers, and promptly fled deeper into the keep. I glanced at Borealis before shrugging and pressing on, searching for anything that might lead us to the room in which I’d seen R’lissea, Verity, and the Inquisitors. It had looked like a reception room, so perhaps it was close to the City Lord’s quarters.

Not that I knew where that might be. Asking for directions wasn’t an option, either. Servants fled the moment they saw us, and soldiers attacked on sight, forcing Borealis to knock them out.

With no other leads, I closed my eyes and extended my soul, letting my senses wash through the keep. Hundreds, if not thousands, of magical signatures, seeped into my mind, and I set about filtering through them, searching for the unique feel of the Life Hero.

”Found you,” I said, opening my eyes again. ”Come on, Borealis. She’s close.”