The Forsaken Hero

I closed my eyes against the blinding destruction of the last sun. My soul still quivered from whatever strange backlash I was suffering, filled with a foreign power I couldn’t access. Fable was hurt, and though he’d regenerated enough to shelter me against the sun’s heat, it wasn’t going to make a difference.

We were alone. No matter how badly I wanted him to, Luke wasn’t going to–

The light dimmed, allowing my eyes to crack open. A shadowy silhouette stood above us, soul gleaming as brightly as the descending sea of light. Dark wisps of curse mana, smelling faintly of decay and whispering with unseen voices, rose from the ground and curled around him. A tattered black cloak billowed around the figure, shielding me from the light’s intensity. The air crackled, and a primal fear, cold and sharp, pierced me.

Could it be one of Fyren’s curse demons? Had it actually managed to catch up?

A wave of darkness erupted from the shadow, momentarily soothing the sting of the sunlight. A rising mountain of blackness surged upward and smashed against the descending tide. The miniature sun detonated on contact, blossoming into a fireball that illuminated the night-stricken sky with unnatural, searing light.

Fable growled softly, pulling me closer to him with his tail. I winced as the motion squeezed the broken section of my tail, but couldn’t take my eyes off the heavens. It was a battle of twilight, the line between light and dark, only...it was the day I feared, and not the night.

The sunlight ate through the shadowy power, drawing closer with every heartbeat. More power poured from the shadow, but slowly, agonizingly, it was forced back. The figure staggered, a flicker of violet in its eyes, as the last of the aura was consumed, leaving only the tattered silhouette between us and the encroaching, deadly light of the Coming Dawn.

”It’s over,” I whispered, lowering my head. Even if this was somehow an eighth-level demon, it couldn’t survive a direct hit of sun magic while still protecting us.

The figure turned, its face hidden by a cowl, save for those piercing, violet eyes. ”You can’t die here, not after I finally found you. I won’t allow it.”

The voice was barely audible over the roar of magic, yet it sent chills down my back. My lips parted in a silent gasp. I knew that voice.

”L-Luke?” I stammered.

The Apostle of Curses stood over me, arms outstretched, a dark shadow against the storm of light. Mana surged from his soul, a visible aura that crackled and spat, whipping around him like rain in a hurricane—a last, desperate defense.

The world turned white. My breath hitched as light seared my flesh, and I buried my head in Fable’s fur in a futile attempt to shield my eyes. The pain was overwhelming, driving all thoughts from my mind. The last thing I remembered before the light robbed consciousness was Luke, tall and defiant against the storm.

Next I knew, something warm and wet pressed against my cheek. I groaned, instinctively pushing it away, only to freeze as my fingers tangled in soft, warm fur. Fable’s tongue rasped over my cheek again, and I gasped, everything coming back to me.

”Luke!”

The sudden motion made my head spin, and I fell back against Fable, groaning. My entire body ached, every stretch of exposed skin stinging like a severe sunburn. Persistent shudders shook my frame, and burning tingles stabbed deep into my flesh. I cringed, waiting for the sting of sunpurge, only to sag as it never came. It was just my vulnerability to sun magic acting up.

As for my soul, it was...okay? The warmth grew stronger, soothing the scorching burns of my flesh. Mana thrummed from the depths, cycling in swift, strong currents, unlike anything I’d felt before.

”What happened?” I moaned, rubbing my head, only wince as my normally soft hand felt like sandpaper against my overly sensitive skin.

With some effort, I blinked my eyes open, but my vision remained dark and blurry. A spurt of panic made my heart skip a beat, placing me back in the abandoned city, blinded and alone. My chest tightened, constricting my breathing, and in a panic, I reached for my soul. My mana practically leaped into my hands, responding to my will and intent more than any conscious direction. Runes blossomed in the darkness, and life magic washed away the pain in a single, heavenly wave, restoring my sight and fixing the dreadful throb in my tail.

Fable lit up with the same power, whining as the lacerations knit together and broken bones mended. He rose to his feet and shook his pelt. Dried blood cracked from his fur like crimson bark, revealing lush, gleaming silver beneath.

The realization that we were alive finally sank in, and I collapsed against my wolf in a fierce embrace. He growled softly and licked my face. His tongue was wet and heavy, and I recoiled with a startled squeak, but he persevered, slobbering across my cheek and nearly pushing me over in his enthusiasm.

”No more of that, I mean it!” I tapped him sharply on the nose, a smile tugging the corner of my lips.

The wolf turned his snout with a snort and circled me, carefully examining my body. His nose pressed into the torn folds of my skirt, examining the bloodstains on my newly healed tail before he pulled back, giving a low, satisfied whine.

”I’m alright. Really,” I said, pushing his head away and looking around. ”But what happened? Where’s Luke?”

We stood in a ten-foot circle of untouched earth, surrounded by swaths of glowing, molten earth. The walls of the crater had retreated almost a hundred feet in all directions, the rim fifty feet over our heads. Eddies of mana flowed across the crater, scouring dust and ashes from the cracks in the smooth, glassy floor. A large pile of bones, glowing with sunpurge, marked where the fire demon had fallen.

I turned, jumping, as a shockwave swept over the far side of the crater, thick with Luke’s aura. Fable dove beneath me, throwing me over his shoulder with a nudge of his giant head. I yelped and groped blindly, barely catching his fur before I tumbled off the other side.

He dashed across the crater, moving so quickly that his paws never seemed to touch the ground. He kicked off the ground, shattering the cooling obsidian, and leaped over the rim, putting us high into the air.

The city shook as more shockwaves tore through the world. Fires raged on every rooftop, and the screams of survivors were growing further and further apart. The demons had claimed most of the city and were now sieging the keep itself. The massive walls were torn asunder, and only a handful of mana cannons lit up the night. In the distance, the flying ship above the canyon continued to fire into the horde, joined by a powerful aura that oozed with death and decay.

On the other side of the city, the horizon burned orange and red. Had dawn come already? I squinted against the glare, only to stiffen with the realization that I was looking southward. That couldn’t be the rising sun.

A powerful shockwave crashed against my wards, snatching my attention. Two brilliant souls stood out amidst the chaos, ranging across the city in a series of blindingly fast clashes. They were the center of the hurricane, destroying everything in their path. Luke’s blade gleamed as dark as midnight while the staff of Lord Evlon pierced the darkness like the sun.

I squeezed my eyes shut as we reached the zenith of our jump and crashed back to the earth. Fable’s mana cocooned us, and when we landed, the impact barely jostled me.

”Thanks,” I said, shuddering slightly. Compared to the Fire Demon, Fable was like riding a cloud.

The region around the crater was a scene of utter destruction. Towering heaps of rubble marked where entire city blocks had been laid low, divided into city blocks by the slightly less jumbled streets. Corpses littered the destruction, many torn apart or scorched black by Lord Evlon’s devastating magic.

My heart weighed heavily at the scene, and I bit my lip, a whimper lodged in my throat. Even if we hadn’t been dragged into this battle, many would have perished once the demons commenced the invasion, but...the demons hadn’t killed these people.

The Empire had laid a trap for me, using their own population as bait. They’d taken precautions to evacuate some of them, but the battle had spread far beyond the abandoned sections of the city. And now, three eighth-level large-scale destruction spells had landed amongst heavily populated regions.

”Why do all this?” I mumbled, ”Why do you want me so badly?”

I was just a...a girl. A lost, lonely girl in a world of darkness. Why did they care so much about claiming me? Wasn’t Verity enough for them?

My sorrow was deep and poignant, filling the depths of my heart. Fable whined softly, his ears drooping, and the demons quieted in the Nexus.

”Sorry,” I whispered, petting his head. With the constant pressure and noise of the demons, it was easy to forget my soul bonds went both ways.

As I focused on my soul and suppressed my emotions, a shock ran through me. The mana that welled up inside hadn’t stopped flowing. It raged like a stormy sea, pushing the limits that had constrained me for months.

”Come,” I said, turning to the keep. ”Let’s finish this.”