The Forsaken Hero

”The Fatesworn are a group, an identity, a purpose. Sworn to serve and protect Fate,” Fate answered with a kindly smile. ”It was just as questionable to add mortals to its ranks as demons. It was, after all, founded by those you call arbiters, for arbiters.”

”Yes, but the remnants--”

”Have no issue with this,” Arantius answered.

My lips parted slightly, but he held up his hand, continuing.

”It’s merely a name, and not one most of us have ever held. Besides, Jasrin was the one to suggest it.”

”Apparently, it would be too confusing to have all these different names,” Fyren muttered, rolling his eyes. ”I was rather fond of ’Devoted,’ but Fatesworn does have a certain ring to it.”

”The point is,” Fate said, rounding the conversation off, ”That the demons have accepted. I find it better defines their loyalties and purpose now. The Devoted were an assortment of demons from all attributes and hordes, with as many motivations as there were intelligent souls among them. The Fatesworn are those who have embraced their nature as Fate Demons. The first of their kind.”

”So that’s why you did it, then,” I said, looking at Fyren.

He nodded. ”Yes. Fire demons belong to the infernal realms of fire. Storm to the realms of storm. And now, the Fatesworn have a realm of their own. With the concentration of Fate mana and the close tie to the Divinity of Fate, the process of assimilation will unfold at a rate never before seen, even in the beginning. It won’t be long until the first fully-fledged fate demon evolves. Your bird demon, Borealis, is already on the threshold. If you call it here and allow it to connect with the realm, it might give it the final push.”

”Can I?” I asked Fate.

She hesitated a moment, then shrugged, gesturing outside. ”Do it there, in the open air. It will likely assume its true form as it evolves, and it wouldn’t do to break the cathedral.”

”Right!” It wasn’t until I made it halfway across the chapel that I turned, looking back at her, my brown knitted together. ”What do you mean by evolution? Borealis has already evolved. I thought that could only happen when they broke into the next level.”

Her smile was mysterious. ”Why ask such useless things? Go, learn the answer for yourself.”

My tail swished as I obeyed, turning and running through the cathedral. The patter of my footsteps was loud and eager in the tranquil calm, but I was too excited to be self-conscious about the noise. Could Borealis really evolve again and become a Fate Demon? What would he look like? Would he still be him?

I raised the Final Star, channeling a trickle of mana. The crystalline star floating over the staff pulsed with golden light, and a moment later, a swirling tear appeared in the sky above the courtyard. Through it, the brilliant blue of Enusia’s sky shone with midday light, a slit of noon amid the velvety night of Haven. Borealis glided on a gust of wind, taking note of the portal and diving through. He slowed with a flap of his wings as he neared me, and I shielded my face from the gusts of his arrival, only for him to perch on my upraised forearm.

”I missed you, too,” I said, giggling as he rubbed his head against my cheek. ”Thanks for always keeping watch over us.”

After nuzzling me, he perked up, looking around the realm. I could feel his discomfort, the same discomfort I’d felt upon entering Incinderus’s Fire gate, like the very realm itself was rejecting me. It wasn’t as intense as the other demons, not with how much fate mana he’d absorbed, but it was ever-present. But more immediate than that was his curiosity, which practically oozed through our bond.

”It’s yours, now,” I whispered, nodding to the endless horizons. ”The Devoted, er, Fatesworn, I mean. You can make this place your home. You can embrace its power.”

He stared at me for a second, then tilted his head.

”Um, Borealis?” I shook him slightly, my tail curling. ”You can do that, right?”

”He needs your mana,” a voice said behind me.

I jumped with a squeak, whirling to find Zephyriss hovering behind me. She chuckled and did a lazy spin, alighting on the ground. Borealis squawked indignantly, glaring at her as he ruffled his feathers, settling himself on my arm again.

”Bonding with a realm isn’t as simple as you might think,” she explained. ”Like demon gates, all realms have a core.”

”Haven’s not like that. It’s...me, I guess,” I said, frowning slightly. ”Or my staff?”

”That would be right,” she said, nodding at the Final Star.

Giving her a skeptical look, I leaned the staff toward Borealis. He leaned forward and prodded it with his beak with a soft clack. He froze the moment he touched it, a shiver running through his feathers. The star emitted a faint pulse of light, and I gasped, shivering as I felt the bond between us sharpen, until it was as clear and close as Fable’s. Unbidden by me, the divinity hidden within the depths of my soul awoke, releasing a torrent of mana that surged around us, a literal cyclone of golden light and fate mana. I staggered back a step, but couldn’t escape the gales, my hair whipping about my face.

Borealis screeched, his claws digging painfully into my arm. His wings flared, tearing him away and into the sky. The raging torrent of mana followed him like the tail of a comet, and I collapsed backwards, but Zephyriss was there, stabilizing me with a hand on my back.

”Careful, little one,” she purred, staring at Borealis with shining eyes.

”Not you, too,” I mumbled, my cheeks flushing. It was bad enough the remnants called me that, but Zephyriss? It was hard to match such gentle language with the carefree, if extremely destructive, demon lord.

In a matter of seconds, Borealis had risen above the highest island, reduced to a small mote of light no brighter than any of the stars. But that changed as he exploded, releasing the entirety of his aura and physical form. When he’d regained his full glory, his wing stretched two hundred feet across.

”He’s grown,” I whispered, clasping my hands together, unable to help a small smile. At the battle for Duskwood, he’d only been a hundred fifty.

”Yes, demons do that,” Zephyyriss said dryly. ”Especially one exposed to as much mana as him.”

As he stretched his wings, riding the gales of mana, more power began gathering from the realm itself, sublimating upon his soul like dew. It mixed with my staff’s energy, completely overshadowing him. I raised a hand against the sudden glare, blinking away starbursts in my eyes.

”Beautiful,” Zephyriss whispered. ”A sight not seen since the beginning. I was only a scion at that point, hardly capable of experiencing or remembering it myself. But I bet even the Lord of Ash’s memories are faint. If he was even involved with them.”

I glanced at her, pursing my lips. What did she mean by that? Weren’t all demons granted an attribute by the emperors as scions? Why would Fyren be any different?

After almost a minute of intensity, the storm of mana slowed. It condensed, crystallizing around Borealis, a faceted moon hanging over Haven.

”What’s happening?” I asked.

”The evolution has begun. It’s different from what demons experience as we grow in power. That is merely a process of assimilating the powers and abilities of whatever creatures they consumed. This is becoming something entirely different, akin to rewriting their entire soul. When he emerges, he will no longer be an ice demon, but a fate demon.”

She sounded reverent. Wistful, even.

”Like a butterfly,” I murmured.

”Never heard of one.”

”Oh.” I rubbed my horn. ”Sorry. They’re pretty. Like...flowers?”

Her snort was accompanied by a small lightning bolt that struck the ground, sparking. ”They must be weak, then. Hardly worth consuming.”

We waited in silence a little longer, aware of the remnants and demons that gathered, drawn by the spectacle and emanating power. Even Fate, Fyren, and Arantius emerged from the cathedral, observing from a distance.

At last, a terrible, crystalline crack split the air, like the scrape of steel, making me shudder. Cracks spiderwebbed across the crystalline cocoon, a silhouette appearing within. The fissures spread until the entire thing shattered, the fragments breaking apart into light and then dissolving into nothingness.

Borealis emerged from the fading light. His feathers gleamed, spun as if from molten starlight. Countless stars danced around him like snowflakes had the first time we met, giving him a radiant halo of his own. He was translucent, like golden glass, but the light glowing within every feather was bright and radiated warmth.

He spread his wings and soared into the sky. His soul blurred, and dozens of afterimages erupted from him, anticipating his movements with every flap of his wings. Every possible movement, from diving, wheeling, or even attacking a nearby island tower, projected a few seconds before fading, an endless cascade of predictions in real time. Just trying to puzzle out his true trajectory was impossible, and in only a few seconds, a dull ache lodged in my head, and I had to turn away.

”Fascinating,” Zephyriss murmured, licking her lips. ”So that’s what a fate demon looked like.”