The Forsaken Hero

The Last Light Company had come to a stop by the time we found Bethiv. Soldiers ran about, setting up a base camp. They gathered in their small teams, gathering firewood, pitching tents, or just collapsing against trunks or boulders, clearly exhausted. They barely noticed us as Fable passed between them, but those who did saluted, forcing tired smiles.

”My Lady! And Lady Lastlight. What a pleasure,” Bethiv said, bowing as we slid off Fable’s back.

I ran up to him and hugged him. He dwarfed me, but he was soft and warm. I barely noticed the edges of his armor digging into me.

Bethiv chuckled softly, patting my back with a far more practiced hand than he had the first time. ”You look well. I trust nothing happened while we were on the move?”

I shook my head, squeezing him once more before backing away. ”The flight took forever, but I guess it was better than walking. I’m just glad you’re here.”

”Lady Xiviyah!” Captain Joel said, approaching from the side. ”We weren’t expecting you to visit so soon.”

Jackal was beside him, his scarred face twisted in a grin. ”You missed us that much, eh?”

I rubbed my horn ruefully. ”I should have visited more. I’m sorry.”

”Always time to make up for that, right?” Jackal asked cheerfully.

My hand fell, and I swallowed hard, my mirth fading. ”Well, um, actually...I need to talk to you about something.”

”All three of us, my Lady?” Captain Joel asked.

Nodding, I looked down, resisting the urge to grip my skirt.

”We’d best find some privacy. Stellen, get that tent up and find some mages for a privacy ward,” Bethiv ordered the soldiers.

The team working on the command tent saluted and broke into action, drawing on their mana to accelerate their movements.

”They’re certainly diligent. I’ve never seen soldiers push themselves like that for a mundane task,” Elise said.

Bethiv said, ”They’re good lads and lasses, to the last. I just wish we hadn’t been forced into so many circumstances to teach them that discipline. On the road, before Blacksand, we were often ambushed by monsters or demon cults. While never a threat to our army, they could easily pick a guard or take an entire team. Sometimes, the difference between life and death was having the camp established and the watch already in place.”

”But not here, in Sylvarus,” Elise said.

Bethiv shook his head. ”There’s only so many times you can see your friends bleeding in a place you thought was safe before you decide there are no safe places. Such is war, my Lady.”

I wanted to say something, to apologize for dragging them here when they should have been home with their families, but I held my tongue. I couldn’t keep my tail from swishing, though, and Bethiv noted it, his brow furrowing.

When the command tent was set up, he showed us outside. The Star Guard stood guard, relieving the usual sentries to see to their own accommodations. As I ducked inside, Jackal holding the flap open, I noticed a few older soldiers approaching them, clasping arms and sharing smiles.

”First of all, I wanted to thank you,” I said once we were alone, just the five of us. At their skeptical looks, I hastened to add, ”For everything, from fighting with Korra against the Circle to invading Ornth at my side. I couldn’t have done anything without you. I’m grateful and aware of every sacrifice you’ve made.”

”I mean no disrespect, my Lady, but we’ve been apart for much of that time,” Captain Joel said.

Bethiv gave him a scathing look, but I held up my hand, nodding sadly.

”Apart, perhaps, but not alone. I’ve followed you everywhere you went, and many places you didn’t. I was there when you confronted the Circle in their hidden caverns and when you stood alone against the Risen outside Brackencliff. And I’ve been with your families, your friends, your home, as you’ve been away fighting.”

Joel sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes going wide. ”Our...home? Brithlite?”

I nodded somberly. ”It’s dark there. Darker than Sylvarus, Blacksand, or any of the cities you’ve protected. But it’s not lost. Not yet.”

”It’s strange to hear you speak like this,” Jackal admitted, rubbing his chin. ”We’ve always assumed we were dead, and our home exists only in our memories. Even the young-uns who joined to fight against Alverin and the Circle, and ended up all the way out here, speak little of ’home’ anymore. We’re just soldiers. Day in, day out.”

”No.” I shook my head emphatically. ”You’re so much more. You...okay, maybe you and Bethiv, but Captain Joel, your family still waits for you. They cling to your promises, to your word that you would return. They’re waiting for you, as are tens of thousands of others for their lost fathers, sons, and daughters. They’re tired, starving, and suffering under the dominion of warlords and bandits, and on the brink of hopelessness. But still they wait.”

”You mean to send us back?” Bethiv asked, frowning.

”You understand, don’t you? We’ve liberated the northern continent. You’ve done your part. I can’t possibly ask you for more.”

Jackal opened his mouth to argue, but Bethiv put a hand on his shoulder.

”You should listen to her,” he said, ”The Oracle rarely speaks when she isn’t sure.”

”But she’s always been too kind, too sensitive,” he replied. ”How can we leave when the greatest war approaches?”

”And you, Joel?” Bethiv asked, turning to the other captain.

Joel wore a dark look, staring at the ground. He flinched at his name, looking up sharply.

”I owe the Oracle as much as anyone, and I would follow her wherever she asks. But if she no longer requires our service, I would return to Brithlite. To what’s left of it, at least.”

Bethiv nodded slowly, gazing at the war map in the center of the room. It still showed the terrain from Orth, with little tokens showing where the Last Light Company had been deployed.

”They’re so young,” he murmured, pursing his lips. ”Most of my boys and girls shouldn’t be here. They should be home, plowing a field or weaving a rug. Chasing skirts and fawning over muscles. No young person should know the toll of war.”

”And yet they have. They’ve fought, bled, and died for a future. Is it not good to grant them the right to live in it?” I asked.

”I take it Lady Lastlight is returning as well?” Bethiv asked, looking at me suddenly.

”I am,” Elise said, giving me a small smile. ”Xiviyah convinced me it would be for the best. It’s my every intention to stabilize the region, and should it be possible, establish a new kingdom amid the ashes.”

”I wanted you to go with her,” I admitted.

Bethiv’s lip curved. ”Every aspiring ruler needs a sword, eh?”

I nodded, shamefaced. ”You’re more than that, but...”

”You didn’t learn nothing from the elf king,” Captain Joel said. ”Should we return, it would be an honor to fight for you, Lady Lastlight. The soldiers already speak fondly of you. Your courage, your smiles...few suffered as much as you did under the traitorous king, yet you never broke. It’s given many of them the courage and strength to continue.”

”Really? You think so?” Elise asked, clasping her hands to her breast. ”I...didn’t know.”

”When we heard you’d been granted the name ’Lastlight,’ there were many cheers and celebrations among the ranks,” BEthiv said, chuckling. ”We’re honored to share that title with you.”

Elise looked away, trying to hide the shimmer in her eyes.

”See? I told you,” I whispered, taking her hand, squeezing it.

She nodded, dabbing the corner of her eyes with her sleeve. ”Forgive me, I’m not being very ladylike.”

Bethiv let out a dry chuckle. ”We’re hardly formal folk. You could have the language of a sailor, and you’d fit right in. I believe I had to beat some sense into Jackal here to get him to clean up his act around Lady Xiviyah.”

Jackal flinched, avoiding his gaze. ”That was a long time ago. I’m a changed man, now.”

Joel rolled his eyes. ”As if anyone would believe that. I heard you attempted to woo those elvish girls at Sangra City. It must have stung when they called you too old. Imagine that, an elf calling you too old.”

Jackal grinned, running his finger over his rough cheek. ”I’m not old. Just seasoned.”

”Enough, we have gentle company,” Bethiv said, giving them a sharp look.

”Forgive me, ladies,” Joel said.

Jackal just huffed.

”Lady Xiviyah, I will consider your offer and will extend the same to the entire company,” Bethiv said, serious once more. ”But know that there are many who have sworn to follow you until the end. I would not count on everyone being eager to return to Brithlite.”

I lowered my head. ”Thank you, Bethiv. And please, tell them I’m not asking them to leave because I think they’re weak or worthless, or that I don’t appreciate everything they’ve done. It’s just...they’ve fought on someone else’s behalf for long enough. I want the next battle the Company fights to be for themselves. For their own home.”