The Forsaken Hero

The remnant took me by the hand, raising me to my feet. My tail flicked as I gazed into her eyes. They were pure, translucent gold like the rest of her, but there was a spark there.

”W-who are you?” I asked.

”Invika. They used to call me a ’Chronolord’ or whatever, but Invika will do nicely.”

She turned, snapping her fingers. The golden disk disappeared.

”Now, I believe I have some business to attend to. Mind expanding your aura a bit?”

She gestured at the mists of starlight that emanated from my soul. They swirled in a hundred-yard radius, forming an irregular sphere.

”I don’t know. I’ve never tried,” I admitted.

She tilted her head. ”Is that going to stop you?”

Wordlessly, I shook my head and focused on the leaking fate mana. It was different from my aura before. That had merely been a means of exerting pressure and informing all how powerful my soul was. This felt alive, like an extension of my soul. The ambient fire mana made it thick and unresponsive, but I willed it outward, and was rewarded by a fresh tide of starlight flowing out, smothering half the cavern.

”Perfect. Now, where’s the bastard who attacked us?” Invika asked.

I turned in the direction the fire spell had come from. High above us, in the mouth of a lava tube, stood a bipedal demon. It was a humanoid with draconic features, with a long, spined tail, twin webbed wings, and red scales all over its body. Long, serrated claws jutted from its hands and toes. It wore no clothing and held no weapons, but its soul was in the middle stages of eighth-level.

It wasn’t looking at us. Instead, it dragged its hand through the starry mist. Eddies of starlight trailed after its fingers, wrapping it in fate mana. I felt a tug on my soul as my ability tried to give it a glimpse of fate. I gripped my staff tightly, urging it to stop. Thankfully, the Oracle of Eternity listened and retreated.

”I’ve seen this one before,” Invika muttered. ”That must have been what, twenty, thirty thousand years ago? No, maybe it hasn’t even happened yet. Hard to say.”

She shook her head, letting a lazy grin replace the wrinkle on her brow. The demon returned its attention to us and raised its hand. A dozen fifth and sixth-level evolved demons charged toward us. It raised its other hand and started casting another eight-circle spell.

Invika’s face lit up. ”Finally! Something interesting.”

She clapped her hands and seven magic circles appeared. It was a simple, chantless spell, not soul cast or anything, but it resolved with incredible speed. The circles spun so quickly they blurred, like I was watching a spell cast in double time. Even more surprisingly, the spell drew in fire mana in equal parts with fate, making it a dual attribute spell.

”Future Flares,” she called, completing the spell.

Seven brilliant balls of fire erupted from the magic circles. They were as swift as sunbeams, leaving a tail of light behind them. They struck an evolved demon each, but instead of an explosion, they splashed like water, wreathing the demon in light. I shifted, twisting my staff in my hands, as the demons didn’t slow, seemingly unaffected by the ghostly flames.

I gasped as my mana left me, flowing into the new ability that tied me with the remnant. She wasn’t using her mana at all, but mine. It was like looking at Haven. He seemed to have a corporeal form, but he was really just a manifestation of the realm. So, too, was Invika. She had no real presence or strength except what she borrowed from my soul.

”Now, for you,” Invika said, looking up at the eighth-level demon.

The fire spell was nearly complete, crushing the air with its pressure. It made breathing difficult, like someone sitting on my chest.

Invika waved her hand and sent a series of sixth-level fire blasts toward the demon. While maintaining its spell, it threw itself out of the tunnel entrance. Its wings snapped out, catching it from falling. They beat slowly and steadily, suspending it high as it finished the last few runes. Invika’s spells struck the side of the cavern and exploded, raining rubble on the heads of the demons below.

”Sword of the Fire Lord!” it cried in a voice like scratching nails.

Another massive, twenty-foot blade dropped out of the magic circles, plunging toward us. The air hissed and wavered with heat vapor. I waited for Invika to cast another shield on us, but she didn’t.

She clicked her tongue. ”Feeling sloppy, aren’t we?”

The remnant waved her hand and cast a seventh-circle spell. It drew entirely on fate magic, but very few of the runes were ones I recognized. It resolved with the same accelerated speed as before but had no visible effect. I looked around, checking every trace of mana I could, but there was nothing.

My heart started to beat quickly, painfully. The sword was almost upon us. There wasn’t time for another spell. Why had she wasted her chance?

Suddenly, the flaming sword began leaking mana. All spells constantly lost mana just by existing, as no magic circle was entirely self-contained. Things like distance, density, and the caster’s skill could all make spells leak faster. But this was something more. If a normal leak were like a water skin with a loose lid, this would be the equivalent of cutting the entire thing in half. The escaping fire mana was so dense that it formed a long comet trail behind the sword, visible to the naked eye.

The sword, moving faster than my eye could track, barely made it fifty feet before the spell structure collapsed. Without sufficient mana, the runes broke apart, and the flaming blade burst in a harmless whoosh of light and sound.

”What happened?” I gasped.

She smiled and cast another spell. ”Reverse Gravity!”

Eight magic circles appeared on top of the other, forming a massive cylinder stretching from the ground to the cavern’s roof, and several hundred feet across. The burden on my mana was intense, stealing over half of what I had left, but the familiar ache in my soul never materialized.

The demon screeched as it found itself in the center of the spell. It flapped its wings and streaked away, attempting to escape the cylinder. A heartbeat before it crossed the threshold, Invika snapped her fingers.

A deep, vibrating thrum filled the room. The magic circles turned purple, emitting insane pressure. Everything caught within the spell was pressed flat against the ground. The flying demon lurched as the magic took hold, wings beating feverishly. It lost altitude, slowly at first, but soon it plummeted to the ground. It slammed atop a group of prone scions, obliterating them and forming a small crater.

Invika turned to the approaching demons. ”And....now.”

The demons surrounded by her magic abruptly detonated, filling the area with a sea of fire. The shockwaves rippled across my wards, kicking dust and ash up. The explosions were at the peak of sixth-level, far stronger than the mana she had imbued each one with.

When the raging fires died down, none of the demons caught within the blast had survived. They were reduced to ash.

”Come,” Invika said.

The remnant rose off the ground, gliding through the air as they were prone to do. I followed her, stumbled every few steps. Invika had thrown so many powerful spells out so quickly that my soul was still reeling. Even if there was no pain, I felt weak and shaky, like my soul was out of breath.

I hesitated as we came to the edge of the gravity spell. The ground had collapsed beneath its own weight, forming a perfect circular depression several feet deep. Most of the demons were crushed into bloody pulp, and those who survived were pinned to the ground. The winged fire demon was twitching feebly, but its limbs and wings were twisted in sharp, unnatural angles, broken from the force of its fall.

”Come along, it won’t hurt you,” Invika said, beckoning me forward.

I swallowed hard and carefully climbed down the newly formed ledge into the depression. There was a slight downward pressure, like a weighed a few more pounds. We made our way over to the winged demon. It struggled to raise its head, eyes burning like coals. Invika squatted beside it, shaking her head and clicking her tongue.

”What are we going to do with you, attacking my sweet Oracle like that?” she paused, looking up at me. ”Actually, that’s a good question. I wasn’t really paying attention before you called me. Why is it attacking us? Wait, are we in a demon gate?”

I shrugged, tail twitching. ”Yes, and I...don’t know. Fyren said it was a trial by fire, but I...”

”Xiviyah! Don’t kill it!”

We both looked over as Fyren dropped over the edge of the reverse gravity spell. He grunted as the magic took hold of him, panting heavily as he stomped toward us. The ground cracked under every step, his feet sinking into the compressed rock. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

”By the emperors, gravity magic?” he muttered.

”And you are...?” Invika asked, her eyes flashing.

Fyren reached us. ”I am the Lord of Ash, but she calls me Fyren. I presume Xiviyah summoned you?”