The Forsaken Hero

Time crashed back with the force of a tidal wave, knocking me to the ground. I gasped for breath, clutching at my chest in vain as the light faded and darkness claimed me. Suspending time for so long, even with Fable and Elaine joining on their own, was too much for my time-tossed soul.

I awoke with a start, curled in a ball on hard, smooth stone. Tears welled up in my eyes, and my throat ached. The pain and stress of my soul had subsided somewhat, but a dull ache remained. I reached for Fable, but my fingers grasped empty air.

”You’re awake.”

Avant’s rough voice greeted me as I raised my head. I lay in the ash and dust at his feet, beneath the umbrella cast by his protective wards. He held his staff and was currently casting several sixth and seventh-level spells at once, chantless.

”H-how long?” I croaked, checking myself for injuries. My tail stung a bit where I’d fallen on it, but a soulcast second-circle spell soothed that and the various other minor aches.

”A few minutes. Your wolf is putting on quite the show.”

The surprise in his voice was evident, and I quickly looked up. The twin dragons filled the sky with their immensity and flames. Fable, in his full form, dashed between their coils, biting and slashing with his claws. His eighth-level strength was insufficient to cause real damage, but the sheer size of his claws opened up long, shallow gashes in their scales, tearing them asunder.

Elaine ran alongside him, pausing to unleash savage two-handed attacks in his wake. Her obsidian blade cut to the hilt in their bodies, but the real damage came from the massive explosions of her magical techniques. She avoided using fire, but without physical substance, her mana was ineffective against the dragon’s hardened scales. But, as I’d hoped, she followed close behind Fable, only attacking the vulnerable flesh exposed by Fable’s claws. Every strike sent geysers of molten blood pouring into the air, drawing pained roars from the dragons.

”They haven’t gone berserk yet, have they?” I asked, struggling to my feet.

Avant spared me a glance. ”Berserk? I’ve seen nothing to indicate the usage of that term.”

I let out a breath and summoned my staff. ”Thank goodness. Try not to hurt them too much, or we might trigger it. We’ll all die if that happens.”

The other dragon reared back, gathering mana for a breath attack. Fable’s ears flicked toward it, and he dove toward Elaine, scooping her up in one of his massive paws. He kicked off the dragon’s coil, leaping over a stream of blistering fire.

”Are you certain that thing’s only eighth-level? Its battle sense is beyond any monster I’ve seen,” Avant muttered.

I nodded wordlessly, watching my wolf move with wide eyes. Even though I’d seen him fight these dragons hundreds of times, knowing it was for real kept my heart in my throat. No matter how well-adjusted he seemed to the battlefield, a single mistake would cost him his life.

”Avant, can you cast your binding spell? You just need to hit one of them,” I said.

He stiffened, regarding me warily. ”That spell is a closely guarded secret. How could you be aware of–”

”Please, not now,” I said, rubbing my horn tiredly.

He gritted his teeth. ”Fine, but don’t think this is the end of it. You know too much and have shared too little.”

”That’s your fault,” I muttered. ”I tried to tell you.”

He leveled a glare at me but began chanting. I gathered myself and ran out of his protective shield, heading for the ruins of a large manor house. An errant magical technique had crushed the outer courtyards and gardens, but the low wall remained. I found a blackened well and hid behind it, checking the position of the sun. The lower hemisphere was partially obscured by the caldera. A single cloud drifted across it, stained a deep red in the fading light. When the edge of the wisp crossed out of the sun’s path, I closed my eyes.

”One, two, three...”

I started counting, gripping my staff so hard my knuckles turned white. At the count of ten, I stood and released a soul cast spell.

”Elemental Spirit: Earth!”

The spirit formed amid the ruined manor, drawing on the charred masonry and walls to give itself shape. It glowed faintly from the myriad enchantments woven into the stone. This mansion, specifically, had sixth-level wards, something we’d need in a moment.

At the same time, the ground shook as Elaine knocked one of the dragons out of the sky, obliterating a small ridge on the edge of the mountain. Aftershocks rolled through the spire, opening fresh fissures that spewed lava. One snaked toward me, but the spirit reached me first. I jumped into its open hand, landing hard on my hands and knees. It whisked me away, gaining size as it continued to absorb the rubble around us.

”Thanks,” I gasped, tail trembling. That had been too close.

The elemental followed my will, stomping across the manor’s courtyard. It had reached almost fifty feet in size, pushing the threshold strength of what a sixth-circle spell permitted. The fissure began to glow orange, and my soul tingled at rapidly approaching auras. I looped the Earth Spirit into the Nexus, almost blacking out again.

As I blinked stars from my eyes, lava elementals poured over the rim, flooding the ground in a sea of molten earth and fire. The spirit pulled in a substantial section of a destroyed tower, forming a makeshift club at the end of its hand. It lashed out with wide, violent swings, flinging lava elementals in all directions.

But the horde wasn’t to be dissuaded, swarming the spirit like insects, climbing its legs, and melting portions of its body with their extreme heat. Many dug in and exploded, detonating their cores to vaporize parts of its body. Their attempts here failed, however, as Adaptive Resistance absorbed their mana.

A powerful aura sent a mini shockwave racing from the chasm. A massive hand gripped the side, pulling a thirty-foot-tall lava elemental from the breach. The earth spirit locked in on the threat, but I urged it to flee, summoning another smaller spirit to keep it busy.

”Hurry,” I whispered, ducking my head as the spirit broke into a clumsy sprint. Ruins and debris crunched under its large, misshapen feet, jarring every bone in my body.

There was a small explosion behind us, and the small elemental spirit disappeared from my senses. Another sixth-level lava elemental emerged from a fissure ahead of us, loping toward us with an uneven gait. I glanced at the sun, finding it two-thirds gone, and breathed a sigh of relief.

As the lava elemental hunched over, aiming its shoulder at the spirit’s chest, something flashed in the corner of my eye. I ducked behind one of the elemental’s towering fingers, covering my ears and squeezing my eyes shut.

Less than a heartbeat later, a deafening roar knocked the spirit back a step, sending me tumbling into its finger. I grabbed it for balance, keeping my eyes shut as blinding light seared through my eyelids.

When the noise and light faded, the soft crunch of footsteps made my ears twitch. Rubbing the black dots from my eyes, I looked up at a silhouette framed by the setting sun.

”You look dreadful,” Fyren said, crouching before me.

He was in his humanoid form, his sword plunged into the earth spirit’s hand. He took me by the arms, looking me up and down. Once satisfied I bore no serious injury, his grip loosened. My lip quivered, and I leaned my head against his chest, sniffling.

”You came,” I whispered.

He was still for a moment; then, his arms cautiously encircled me. His hand settled awkwardly on my head, stroking my hair. No matter how many times I’d seen this play out, no vision could do justice to the warmth of his body or the security of his arms. I didn’t know how badly I needed a hug until this moment, and I had to bite my lip to hold back tears.

”Forgive me for taking so long,” he said. ”I meant to greet you when you arrived yesterday, but a few things held me up.”

”You saved R’lissea, right? From the inquisitors?”

His brow furrowed. ”That was a few minutes ago. How did you–”

”Thank goodness.” I breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t found her in half the visions.

Fyren pursed his lips, tilting my chin up to gaze into my eyes. His expression darkened, his grip on me tightening.

”What have they done to you?” he asked in a low, dangerous voice.

I shook my head. ”N-nothing...I’m alright.”

”Your eyes--” he said.

I tugged his hand from my face, resting my forehead against his breastplate. ”Please, it’s okay. I’ll rest later. I promise.”

He was quiet for a moment. ”Fine, but I’m holding you to that, even if I have to follow you into your realm to do so.”

A small shiver crept down my tail. ”I think I’ll stay here for a while. After what happened, I don’t think Fate will ever let me leave again.”

”It won’t be the first time you’ve had a god upset with you. Now, fill me in. What’s the deal with these bastards?”