The Forsaken Hero

The next day, at sunrise, a patrol of sixth and seventh-level soldiers arrived at the front gates. I was quickly ushered to the courtyard, where they introduced themselves as elite soldiers from Whitemarsh. They were all older, with the youngest perhaps five hundred years old.

”We’ve brought the mana cannon as requested,” the oldest said, handing me a ring.

I took it, holding it up so it caught the morning light. It was a slender gold band with a small ruby set within. ”A spatial ring?”

He nodded. ”A military grade one. These are capable of carrying far greater items. Consider it a gift from Lady Whitemarsh.”

I slipped it on my finger aside my other spatial ring and threaded my maan into it. It flashed white and resonated with my soul, keying itself to my unique mana signature. Inside, as promised, was a small mana cannon. From the size of the core, it seemed it would barely be capable of launching a beginning-stage sixth-level attack. But it was a mana cannon all the same.

Giving them a distracted nod, I summoned Fable to play with them and took Fyren and the Starguard to a secluded garden on the backside of the manor. I hardly noticed the suddenly nervous look on the soldiers, or the way Fable’s tail wagged. They’d been the ones to ask for this. It was too late regretting signing up to be his chew toy.

Once we were alone, I summoned a gate to Haven and ducked through with Fyren, leaving the others to stand guard.

”You seriously went through all that for a remnant?” Fyren asked as we appeared on the entrance island.

”Haven,” I called, turning to the demon as the Spirit appeared. ”Yes, I did. I know it was clumsy and inappropriate, but I couldn’t let the opportunity pass. This is going to be our best chance to persuade the elves to submit peacefully.”

”Peacefully? You make it sound like violence is more likely. I didn’t think you’d force them to accept your mercy.”

”I won’t, but...well, you’ll see.”

He nodded, eyeing me thoughtfully as we crossed the realm. Remnants gathered to us, almost all that I recognized by now, though few by name.

”You fought the dragon again?” Jasrin asked, pushing through the others to drift beside us.

”Just its Risen form. It had barely a fraction of the power the original living version had,” I answered.

”And the wolf did it? Just like you planned?”

I slowed, turning to look at him. ”I don’t remember sharing that plan with you.”

He smirked, gesturing at Haven. ”Don’t have to. It’s like Soul speak, just less...”

”Voluntary?” I muttered, rubbing my horn. It wasn’t the invasion of privacy that irritated me, but the seeming lack of concern around it in the first place. He didn’t have to look so happy about it.

”Whatever happened to the one you captured?” I asked, smoothing my frown away. ”I haven’t heard of it yet.”

The mirth left his face, replaced by a slight shiver. ”Emlica still has it. Legends say you can hear its screams from miles away, floating on the wind like ghostly howls.

My eyes grew wide. ”Really.”

”Of course not,” another remnant said, glaring at Jasrin.

I blushed as the other remnants laughed, though most seemed to be directed at Jasrin.

”Hey, I’m just saying that, well, what does that

say about Emlica if she was willing to believe me?” Jasrin protested.”Maybe you wouldn’t be so scared of her if you didn’t give her such a hard time,” another remnant muttered.

”Me?” Jasrin looked horrified. ”I’m not scared of anything! I used to hunt monsters far stronger than Emlica all the time!”

”Is that so?” A cold, withering voice slit the air like a throat.

Remnants scattered, dissipating into golden light as a faint, translucent Emlica ghosted through the air. Jasrin paled, backing away quickly, raising his hands placatingly.

”Now, Emlica, that wasn’t what it sounded like. You came at the end, and missed the context that showed I was actually praising you,” Jasrin said.

Despite his confidence, he vanished, teleporting away before she could respond. I giggled, shaking my head as we suddenly found ourselves alone with the librarian. I couldn’t hide the smile even when Emlica’s glare turned to me.

”I expected more of you, keeping company with those hooligans,” she scolded, placing her hands on her hips. ”Did you know every one of them was part of the Fatesworn? The biggest troublemakers in the realm.”

”It wasn’t like that. They were just keen to know what had happened at the battle against the Risen. And Emlica, you shouldn’t be so hard on them. They’re like Korra. They live to fight, but they’ve been trapped here for so long...it must be awfully lonely for them.”

”They knew their lot,” she muttered, turning away. ”But...perhaps you’re right. I only wish they wouldn’t scratch the itch by bothering me all the time.”

I smiled a bit and soon, we arrived at the library. Fyren left with little more than a nod, disappearing in the direction of the city. From experience, I knew he had gone to visit with Fate. It was almost unnerving how much time he spent there, always staying a few times a week.

”So what have you come here for today? To study a spell, ask some questions, or, as that ruffian mentioned, wonder about the dragon?”

”Well...” I hesitated, scratching my cheek. I would be lying if each of those didn’t entice me. Especially the dragon. But I had to stay focused. ”I got you something.”

Beneath her curious gaze, I tapped the spatial ring, depositing the mana cannon in the middle of the library lobby. Her eyes widened slightly, lips parting in a murmur as she circled it, scrutinizing it from every angle.

”I see,” she muttered, coming to stop beside me again. ”You really found me one. A...’mana cannon,’ wasn’t it?”

I nodded. ”It’s one of the smaller ones, but the function is all the same.”

”It’s more rudimentary than I thought,” she said, crouching beside the core.

She traced the edge of a facet with her finger, letting some of her mana run into it. It lit up faintly, pulsing with light from within.

”I can see how these would be valuable. Normally, in a war, a hundred first-level mages are less valuable than a single sixth-level one. But if they were to channel all their mana into it, they would collect enough for several low-level sixth-circle attacks. And that’s a good deal more useful than one mage who could cast maybe one, and that’s forgetting the sizeable cast time.”

She looked up, a light in her eyes I hadn’t seen before. ”Thank you, child. I think I’ll be able to spend a long, long time researching this.”

”Really? I hadn’t thought they were all that complex,” I said.

”That’s because you don’t understand it. While most of it is rather simple spellcraft and enchantments, the core principles of the formations are things I’ve never seen before. I’m inclined to think the divine found some old, forgotten research in one of their libraries and decided to implement it. I wonder which god it came from? Magic? No, it’s not quite clean enough for him. What an intriguing puzzle.”

She hummed as she caressed the core again, expression growing distant. I cleared my throat, terrified she might forget about me altogether. She blinked, looking up, a flash of irritation in her eyes.

”Is there something else?” she demanded.

I nodded nervously, tail twitching. ”I was, um, wondering if you would allow me to take a tome from the library.”

”A tome? Is that why you bothered finding me a mana cannon? To butter me up?” her eyes narrowed. ”Besides, have you ever considered whether taking physical objects native to Haven outside is possible?”

”Is it?”

She groaned, touching her forehead. ”You didn’t, did you. Yet somehow, you’re not wrong. Haven is different than your mortal world, yet as you’ve seen, it’s possible to take native beings and project them into Enusia. However, doing so takes lots of energy and focus.”

”I can do it. I have lots of mana, I literally can’t use it in a spell, else my body breaks down,” I said. ”I wouldn’t mind the cost.”

”Even for something as small as a tome, it would take about half of your mana to sustain. And while it’s active, you won’t be able to call one of us to your side should something happen. Even if you dismissed the book, it would likely take days for you to recover enough to do that.”

”That’s a risk I’m willing to take. I won’t be needed to fight the Risen again, and the same rules in Sylvarus bind the church that we are. There won’t be much danger for a while.”

”Which tome did you have in mind? If I remember right, you’re already studying a ninth-level fate spell, and I don’t advise starting a second until you’ve cast the first.”

”Not fate, but life. I need a ninth-level life spell.”