The Forsaken Hero

I swallowed hard, my tail flicking as my eyes fell on the battle. Fyren’s words weighed heavily in my mind, more so because I knew he was right. It was asking too much for eighth-levels to go against a ninth, even a hollow shell like the dragon. It might not have the attack power it did in life, but it was just as strong and durable. It just couldn’t be killed.

”You need more power,” I whispered. ”You have to break through its regeneration. Can you really not do it?”

Fyren’s answer didn’t come for the longest time, as I saw him narrowly dodging a ferocious series of claw swipes. Even when he broke free of its assault, hiding behind Fable’s flank, he hesitated.

At last, he responded. ”Perhaps I could, but you are not prepared to handle the consequences.”

”But Selena won’t be able to help. None of her powerful spells is geared for combat,” I protested.

”She couldn’t come anyway, else she would abandon her lich. If any of the strike teams fail or retreat, it will leave those unkillable monsters free to attack the armies. They don’t have anyone strong enough even to stall them.”

I chewed on my lip, tail flicking. ”I’ll figure something out. Just hold on.”

”Don’t do anything dangerous. You’re worth more than any other soul in this battle. Every other soul.”

I didn’t answer, withdrawing from the mark. I knew he wasn’t just talking about the effulgent dawn, but that didn’t change anything. My mind was made up.

Just seconds later, the ship slowed to a halt, and Captain Esvit’s voice rang over the deck. ”We’ve gotten as close as we can. Any closer and the ship’ll be in danger!”

”It’s perfect,” I said, though there was no way he heard me.

I strode to the front of the boat, my guard trailing behind me. I could feel their questioning looks, sense the tension as they prepared for whatever foolish decision they thought I was making.

”My Lady...” Luxxa tried, but I shook my head.

”Enough, Luxxa. I know you’re trying to protect me, but no more whining.”

Her eyes widened. ”Whining?” she huffed.

I turned to her, voice solemn. ”This is my war, too. I’m just as willing to sacrifice as everyone else. Not that I intend to. Please, stand back.”

There was one thing I hadn’t yet shared with anyone, one thing that before I stood here had been as uncertain to me as the risen dragon’s power. But now, as I gazed over the city and the raging battle taking place within and without, I no longer had to wonder.

I took a deep breath, letting my mana flow fill me. The Astral Prism lit up, reflecting stars across the front half of the ship, tugging at my aura. For the first time, I consciously let it go. Starlight erupted around me, enveloping me like a cloak, an aurora as bright and glorious as the sun’s halo. The sudden explosion of power stole the breath from my lungs, lifting me a few inches off the ground, my hair floating like I was underwater. And yet, as I opened my eyes, finding the entire world gold, I’d never felt so alive. Every breath, every heartbeat, filled me with vigor.

The starlight continued to expand, overtaking the entire Azure Wing and continuing beyond. It fell over the city, wrapped around the other skyships, and consumed the dragon itself. The tide only began to dwindle as it washed over the armies, bathing their battle in starlit night.

”Xiviyah!” Luxxa cried, shielding her eyes against my luster. I could sense the fear in her voice. She never called me by my name.

”Incinderus,” I whispered, calling to the fire demon lord.

I could feel him in my aura, see him in my mind. He stood with his arms folded, dozens of sixth and seventh-level spells casting around him as if on their own. His opponent, a lich shaped like a knight riding a horse, galloped around him, but every time it got close, a circle resolved, blasting it with fire. The artifact: a crystal spire the size of the demon’s forearm, floated on a pedestal some distance away, on the other side of the tower floor.

He tilted his head at the sound of my voice, glancing curiously at my aura as it curled coyly around his legs. ”What is this, Oracle? I’ve never heard your voice this clearly.”

”I need you, your power, against the dragon.”

He shrugged helplessly. ”And leave this lich? I’m afraid it still has too much Black Mist. Unless you’d like me to go all out...but that would endanger the entire city and your forces.”

”No, not yet. Save your strength. Use mine instead.”

I could feel the question on his mind, but before he soulspoke it, I broke away, beginning to cast. Seven circles materialized around me, the runes of Celestial Grace forming at blinding speed. As I neared the end, I hesitated from resolving it, glancing at the seemingly endless mana welling up in my soul.

There was no time to ponder the foolishness of the idea that came to my mind, nor did I want to. We needed more power.

With a thought, I bound the unfinished Celestial Grace to the Aethrial Prism and began another copy. When it was close to finished, I bound also that spell to the aetherial prism, relieving the mental burden of sustaining both and freeing my attention to my next task.

Using even more mana, I began to entwine the spells, layering them together in an eight-circle array. It was far simpler than combining two different spells, if far more inefficient. The burden on my mana eclipsed that of casting both spells at once.

But I didn’t care. Mana was the very thing I had in excess right now. Not just from my soul, supported as it was by the Soul Binder, but from everywhere. It surrounded me, drawn along the currents of Effulgent Dawn, condensing into my soul from above like a whirlpool. The purifying power carried the fibers of Adaptive Resistance woven throughout, to the farthest fringes of the plains, absorbing the residual mana released by every fight and battle occurring within its holy light. Every attack the dragon threw, every spell Selena cast, every barrage of fireballs released by the Last Light Company.

The strain on my soul was tremendous, transcending any burden I’d placed on it before, even more than the stress Rash’alon had broken me with at Western University. More than the power I wielded in that first ice gate.

And yet I stood tall, unbowed by the weight. Such was the strength of my soul, supported by the Aethrial Prism and unburdened by the limits of my cursed flesh. I felt as if, for a moment, I could do anything.

”Celestial Grace!” I cried, raising my hand, releasing the array.

A brilliant sun of twisting green and golden light manifested over my palm, coalescing from streams of light drawn from the two spells. It grew to the size of a closed fist, containing almost half of all the mana I carried. Its brightness overshadowed my aura, releasing a pressure on par with Selena’s Arboreal World. It chased the shadows from the Black Mist itself.

The Azure Wing groaned as the spell finished gathering power, the deck creaking and shifting beneath my feet, as if it were on the verge of being torn apart. I gritted my teeth, starting to feel the burn as it reached its zenith.

All at once, the power exploded, releasing a shockwave that swept over the battlefield in an instant, following every thread and star of my aura. The Azure Wing ground as it spun through the air, tossed like a rag by the force generated by so great a release of mana. The deck shifted, groaning as if it were being torn apart from the inside out.

I tapped my staff on the ground, sending a pulse of mana through the wood and steel, enveloping it in an Aegis. It quickly steadied, but waves of light continued to radiate from above me, aftershocks that tore the buildings directly beneath us apart and sent two of the closest skyships smashing into towers and walls. Thousands of Risen directly exploded into black paste, their rotting, brittle corpses unable to handle the concussive force.

”By the gods,” Jenna whispered, hanging on to her staff with white knuckles. ”What did you do?”

I shook my head, my tongue caught in my throat. Never had I imagined such destruction from the simple release of a spell. Celestial Grace was already a complex, mana-hungry spell, but to think of combining it like that would do so much!

Even worse, it was only an eighth-level array. What would happen if I pushed it farther? Would I even survive that resolution?

The question vanished, driven from my mind as the power of Celestial Grace resonated with my aura. Its power collected wherever the stars fell, using it as a guide and binding to the souls of all those bound to my own. To every demon who bore my mark.