The Forsaken Hero

”She’s insane!” I cried as Fable landed on a small boutique some distance from the walls.

A wail came from inside as the tile roof collapsed beneath this weight, and we fell through. Stone and wood smashed against my wards as he lunged forward, breaking through the wall and putting us on a street packed with fleeing stragglers.

”How can she cast that here? There are thousands of people in range.”

”That’s just how important the secret you now carry is. It had better be worth their sacrifice,” Emlica said.

The first meteor erupted from the magic circle, releasing a series of shockwaves as it accelerated toward us. Fable leaped a street over and took off, agilely weaving between terrified people. Their screams rang in my ears, drowning out the angry hum of the approaching projectile.

The earth shook as the meteor slammed down behind us in a flash of purple light that made the sun seem dim. The ensuing explosion consumed several city blocks, eating up the ground we’d just traveled over. Chunks of earth, stone, and broken bodies were flung in all directions, pinging off my wards like rain. Fable ran on, keeping ahead of the expanding cloud of dust and ravaging mana until it finally slowed, falling behind us.

”That’s a radius of about five hundred feet,” Emlica said matter-of-factly. ”At our speed, it shouldn’t be hard to keep ahead of them.”

I shrank low over Fable’s shoulder, tail twitching back and forth. Five hundred feet was a lot in a city, especially when people hadn’t had time to evacuate.

”How many are there?” I asked, dread pooling in my stomach.

”Twenty-five, maybe thirty. It’s going to be rough,” she replied.

The next meteor came as we crossed a small canal coming from the city center. It landed in the water, instantly vaporizing the liquid. Huge plumes of dust, smoke, and dancing purple sparks ascended into the sky, blotting out the sun. The third went wide, colliding with a solid stone barracks a quarter mile away. When the smoke faded, there was nothing left of the fortified structure or the residential neighborhood it was located in.

More meteors detonated indiscriminately around us, obliterating everything in their path. While the explosion itself consumed a circle a thousand feet across, the shockwave was even more deadly, disrupting buildings and living beings three times that far. Most townsfolk were little more than first level, if they’d awakened at all, and couldn’t handle the force passing through their bodies. Those who survived the purple light often collapsed anyway, coughing blood as their organs ruptured.

There was no rhyme or reason to it; they weren’t even targeting

us. It was pure, unbridled destruction, bringing death to hundreds, perhaps thousands.”Clever girl,” Emlica muttered.

I glanced over my shoulder at her, flinching as another meteor landed on Fable’s heels. We were partially caught in the blast, but Adaptive Resistance blunted the force, allowing my wards to handle it.

”Notice how we haven’t faced any resistance? She’s using the meteors like a smokescreen. If she didn’t attack indiscriminately, it would lead high-level warriors directly to our location. The chaos further intimidates them, as if they give chase, they might be caught up in an errant blast,” Emlica explained as if nothing had happened.

True to her observation, we arrived at the cathedral without being challenged by a single soul. Fable came to a stop before the outer courtyard, the gate already smashed apart from our previous exit.

”Not so fast!” R’lissea’s voice crackled in my mind. ”Watch out for the–”

Shockwaves erupted from the building, and as Fable came to as top before the entrance gate, the top of the tower exploded, flying off into the heavens. Korra careened through the rubble, smashing through boulders of worked stone the size of a wagon. She tumbled several times before stabilizing, a streak of blood on her cheek.

”Told you so,” R’lissea said.

”Shut up. I’m coming back in. Gayron, line him up!” Korra said.

Shaking her head, Korra spat a glob of blood and zipped back through the massive hole in the cathedral, releasing twin water dragons from her fists. A moment later, another shockwave tore through the structure, ripping another section from the walls.

The once graceful building shuddered and began to lean, the entire upper half riddled with holes. Parts of the roof had already caved in, letting flashes of light and mana from within shine through.

”Once we’re inside, it’s going to take me about five minutes to initiate the teleportation,” Emlica warned.

I gritted my teeth, summoning my staff. ”I know. Just hurry, alright?”

A meteor, one of the last growing in Nithalee’s spell, slammed into the outer wall of the cathedral. The impact blew the entire structure sideways, stone and tile collapsing like ocean spray. The outer walls buckled, looming over us. Fable lunged forward, slamming into the enchanted stone with his shoulder. He threw it backward, but the structural integrity failed, the wards unraveling. With a roar, the wall shattered into individual stones, burying my wolf under thirty feet of rubble.

I took a step toward him before catching myself and running through the ruined gates instead. My instincts urged me to run to his side, but Emlica was restrained by my aura, and couldn’t access the shard unless I was right

there. Besides, Fable was already emerging from the heaps of rock, shaking his coat like he was shaking off mud. It took far more than a simple pile of stone to phase him.”Xiviyah, you’re here!” R’lissea cried as I entered the cathedral proper.

The Life Hero stood with her back to the shard, staff held in both hands. Thick vines snaked across the ground around her, forming a natural wall. Several fifth-level life elementals, shaped like winged humanoids, fluttered around her, wielding weapons of thorns and briars. They battled against a horde of small water elementals.

The eighth-level mage she’d been fighting before stood against one of the last surviving walls, sweat beading his forehead. He clutched a crystal wand with a large sapphire set at the tip, furiously casting spells. Rays of water and jagged icicles streamed from the tip, drawing lines across the sky. Korra and Gayron dipped and wove, dodging without a chance to strike black.

”About time,” Gayron muttered, sparing me an irritated look. ”Let’s get the hell out of here.”

”You’re just mad his attribute counters yours,” Korra said.

”Yeah? Then why can’t you beat me in sparring? You were the water hero, remember?”

”That’s because, uh...you cheated,” she replied weakly.

”What? By doing this?”

Gayron dove low, boots skimming the mosaic tile floor. He held his sword in both hands in front of him like a spear, flames washing over the blade. The water mage turned his wand toward him and started chanting a sixth-circle spell.

Despite the mage’s speed and skill, Gayron was faster. When he was thirty feet away, the fire gathered on his sword gathered on the point and launched forward. The tiles blackened and cracked as it flew over, warped by the extreme heat of the art.

The mage abandoned his spell, eating the backlash with a grunt. He dove to the side, barely dodging the fireball. Using his momentum, he bounced to his feet and launched a few fourth-level spells at Korra, catching her mid-approach. These spells were chantless, but shattered against her defensive combat art, too weak to do more than stall her.

The ball of fire landed against the statue of the sun god, exploding in a ball of fire. A dark silhouette formed within, drawing on the explosion to give it form. When the fire cleared, a second Gayron stood within the embers. I gasped softly as he took a step forward, raising a sword identical to the real form’s blade.

”Human? But I thought his flickers used his demon form!”

”Pretty neat, eh?” Gayron grinned.

As the two Gayrons attacked the mage, he summoned a ward, taking their swords without so much as a crack. But the defensive posture forced an opening in his onslaught of spells, allowing Korra to slip through. She landed on him from above, a combat art sheathing her fist in blue light. The ward rang like a bell as she punched it. Her art detonated in a water burst, covering the mage’s barrier. Her mana pierced his magic formation, directly weakening the runes instead of attacking it head-on. When Gayron’s sword landed next, it created a series of small cracks.

R’lissea waved her staff, creating a path through the thorny wall of trees surrounding the shard. I ran through, panting heavily as I collapsed next to her, back against the shard. Its warmth soaked through my dress, causing my soul to tingle with titillation.

Emlica touched the shard with her hand, establishing a link. She raised her head, making eye contact, as magic circles began to blossom around her. A golden circle formed on the ground, the region we must be standing in when the spell is completed.

”Your five minutes begin now.”