The Forsaken Hero

Tana watched curiously as I withdrew a small bundle of green and white from my spatial ring and held it out to her. She gasped as it unfurled, revealing a slender bracelet of twining vines set around a single nivaela. The second of the blossoms I’d gotten from Lady Newspring.

”It’s gorgeous!” she exclaimed, carefully picking it up. She slipped it on her wrist, starting in surprise as the vines slithered tighter, snugging it down. She shook her arm, then looked at me, and we burst into giggles.

”It’s enchanted with the spell you taught me,” I said, tapping my own floral wreath around my horns. ”As well as a few other useful things. It should protect you if you’re in danger, and be a light in the darkest of nights.”

”I’ve never seen a flower like this before,” she said, tracing the edge of a delicate petal. ”It’s so...white!”

”It’s a Nivalea. A snow flower, I think it translates to. Apparently, they’re really rare. It was given to me as a gift from a noble lady of Sylvarus. And now I’m giving it to you. Something to remember me by.”

”Oh, Starlight.” She threw her arms around me, rubbing her cheek against mine. ”I could never forget you, flower or no. But I’ll treasure this dearly. I wish I had something to give back to you.”

”That’s what I was thinking last time,” I said, unable to help but smile. ”So just give me this. A flower for the brooch. A memory for a home.”

It was dark by the time we returned. Tana wore the bracelet proudly, showing it off to everyone the moment we entered. Sari and Jenna examined it, exclaiming how beautiful it was. Sari asked why I hadn’t made her one, and I could only smile helplessly. How was I to explain the significance Tana had played in my life? Or Elise? Besides, I only had three flowers.

As fun and carefree as the day had been, engaging myself for so long had wiped me out, and I was quick to retire to bed. As I curled up in the blankets, bathed in Borealis and Fable’s warm glow, my aura stirred. I let it draw on my mana, and it enveloped me, drawing me through sleep into a vision.

Stark white walls began to materialize around me, but before the Divine Throne had entirely appeared, I heard voices.

”Damn that bitch, appearing from nowhere with an army. Brithlite was the last place we had contacts on the entire continent.”

The speaker was an eighth-level inquisitor. He stood before a square wood table, leaning over a map of the northern continent and scowling. A woman with eyes that crackled with electricity and hair that drifted in an unfelt breeze despite being indoors. She stood limply, her eighth-level soul dull like dying embers. She wore an impassive expression, but more chilling were the subtle tendrils of curse magic woven around her eighth-level soul. Her face was familiar, but it wasn’t until she spoke that I recognized her as the Storm Hero.

”I can go and take care of it. Even if the Oracle appeared in that Heartland place, it won’t take much to track her down.”

”I don’t care that she appeared there,” the inquisitor growled. ”I care that she didn’t appear at Brithlite. All of our spies said she was heading there. So why didn’t she?”

”Ask the Fate Hero, not me. I’m just good at stabbing stuff,” Grace said, folding her arms. The Heart Crest prevented her from outright glaring at him, but a small frown drew her lips down. ”Why did you even call me here? You know I hate it. So white and cold. Nothing like the open skies.”

”Because,” the inquisitor said, picking up a scroll beside the map. ”Even if we’ve been blinded, one of our spies in Sylvarus managed to get us some information. It’s useless to anyone without an absurdly high level of mana control, but I think you’ll find it most interesting.”

He handed the scroll over, and Grace casually tore the ribbon binding it off. With a flick of her wrist, she unfurled it in one motion and began to read. Her eyebrows rose as she read, a spark of curiosity entering her otherwise lifeless eyes.

”Interesting,” she murmured, a smile tugging at her lips. ”So that’s how they fly.”

My heart dropped, but before I could truly process what that meant, the sound of footsteps entered the vision.

”You’re being careless,” Verity’s voice came, still out of sight. The vision began to distort, fading. ”She’s listening in again.”

The vision faded, and I was returned to my small room in Heartland. Fable shifted as I startled awake, soaked in a cold sweat. His massive head swung over my bed, and he licked my cheek.

”They figured it out,” I whispered, staring at the ceiling. I barely noticed the heavy wet of the saliva on my cheek. ”One of the elves must have betrayed us.”

It had only been a matter of time. We had flown so much over the city, through the war and in the days of peace and reclamation that followed, it was inevitable that one of the talented mages or warriors would put it together. Perhaps there was one with a hidden ability I hadn’t noticed. That the one who did so was also allied with the church was just...typical.

But, at the end of the day, learning the magical art of flying was more than figuring out how it was done. As the inquisitor indicated, you needed an exceptional level of mana control to even attempt it, not to mention that they would be doing it blind. It was likely that very few of our enemies would even be able to leave the ground, much less compete with any of my allies who had been improving that skill for months.

No, I was far more worried about the other thing the inquisitor had said. They had eyes on Brithlite, which we knew, but they also knew I had intended to teleport there.

And they were right. I should have gone there. I had every intention of taking Sari to Elise, as we planned. That had been the point of waiting these few weeks, to let the temperature cool a bit, so it was safe for the young foxkin. But then...why had we come to Heartland? From before I even cast the failed rift, it had been the only thought in my mind. Was it because of Tana? Ror? It had just felt right

.Fable whined faintly, pawing the bed with his hand. I yawned, nodding along as he shared a small stream of soul speak. He was far less refined and clear than the demons, containing only emotions and vague impressions of thoughts. But it was enough.

”You think it’s my aura/” I asked, idly petting his head. ”I have been getting a lot stronger thanks to Emlica, so it’s not impossible. Fate said that auras only really come into their own at the ninth level, and we’re practically knocking on the door.”

If that were true, it meant I knew far less about my aura than I wanted to admit. Until now, it had only been a hindrance for me, and an occasional boon for my allies, those lucky enough to be swept up in a vision they could actually understand. But after using it to come to Heartland, and then to find the Glory Chasers...was it now also influencing my unconscious thoughts?

I didn’t like that. I didn’t like that at all.

The thoughts and questions swirled through my mind until at last my exhaustion won, and I fell back asleep. This time, the only thing I saw were scattered dreams of shopping with Tana, the impending invasion, and Luke.

The next morning, I dressed in one of the white Heartland dresses I’d bought with Tana, bound with a loose white sash around my waist. Plain and simple, but elegant.

”Looking nice!” Dyson said, flashing me a thumbs-up as I made it down the stairs.

”White on white?” Tana asked, raising an eyebrow.

I flushed, slipping into a seat and thanking her as she set a bowl of thin broth and bread before me. ”I know you said sashes are a good way to put some color out, but I like it. It makes me feel...”

”Clean?” Sari asked.

I giggled. ”Yeah, something like that. And, um, it might have been the first one I grabbed.”

Everyone laughed, and I smiled, managing to forget the worries of my vision for a little while longer. The war would come; it was inevitable. And come the morrow, I would face them, but until then, nothing would stop me from spending these few precious moments with my friends.

”Hey, Tana,” I said, ”Would it be alright if we did some more shopping today? I wanted to buy something for Korra.”

”Just Korra?” Jenna asked with a teasing smile.

My cheeks colored. ”And, um, you know...others.”

Tana laughed, clapping her hands. ”Only if you tell me about these ’others.’ All of them, alright? And no secret.”

I smiled. ”Deal.”