The Forsaken Hero

When it came to battle, Verity’s foresight was much stronger than the Oracle of Eternity, rising to the same cheat-like realm as Adaptive Resistance. Like a fate demon, it laid out thousands of possibilities every second, letting her find the ideal outcome, but from what I’d seen, it was more than that. It wasn’t just her own fate, but that of everyone around her. A glimpse into the fate of their every intention and capability.

It took me an eternity of visions and all of my mental stamina to accomplish something similar with the Oracle of Eternity. For Verity, that was happening every second, every move of the battle. It was more limited in scope and range, but if she had the practice I had, who knows what she might be able to accomplish by blending her foresight with the Eyes of Fate.

But even with all that, she was losing. I waited patiently, watching as she wore down bit by bit. It wouldn’t be long before she ran out of mana. Whatever method she had used to accelerate her growth had sharpened her skills, but her soul was barely over the threshold of eighth, with noticeably less mana than me when I had broken through. Part of that could be accounted for by the fact she’d broken through with techniques instead of spells, but the reality was, there was a qualitative difference between the upper and lower realms of the eighth level. It was her misfortune that Fable stood at the very peak. She might as well dig up a mountain with a shovel as wear him down with her endurance.

”I still don’t get it. Even if she can see it coming, what could she do about it if she’s frozen?” Gayron asked.

I blinked, looking up at him. It took me a second to remember I hadn’t actually answered his question, and I cleared my throat.

”Because I might control fate, but I don’t own it. Not in this realm, at least. If I were to initiate the pause, everyone with a seventh-level soul or stronger could take the opportunity to slip between time with me. Each one that does increases the burden on my soul. If I were to drag even a few heroic souls inside, the strain would crush me.”

”And the wolf?”

I hesitated, shifting my grip on my staff. ”It would be much harder, given his speed, but that’s exactly why he can’t. Verity would see it coming. Her heroic soul resonates with fate like mine. It wouldn’t be hard for her to follow Fable between the stars, and then it would be just the two of them. Never mind how wasteful that would be, given they’re already fighting, but it would give Verity the chance to approach me without you or me being aware of it, much less capable of stopping it. It would place me in even more danger than her.”

He scratched his cheek. ”Yeah, we’d better not do that. Korra would kill me. But damn, that’s an inconvenient limitation. It would be a lot easier if you could just throw it around.”

I nodded in silent agreement. The truth was, that had been the case. We wouldn’t have gotten where we were without it. But I’d been forced to show that card too many times. The church must have been developing countermeasures and preparing its elites to face it. Unless it were a life-or-death situation, I didn’t dare risk using it.

But, speaking of Korra, I’d been paying her battle far too little attention. Once I was sure Fable had Verity in hand, I turned my gaze toward them. Trithe and Korra were a blur of intertwining fire and water.

”You’re nothing compared to your peak,” Trithe hissed, stabbing a short, curved blade at Korra’s stomach.

Korra slid aside, moving fluidly like flowing water. ”Well, yeah, obviously.”

She hit back, punching with the force of a falling mountain. Trithe crossed her blades, sliding back as she took the blow head-on.

”Then why? Why would you betray everyone who ever cared about you for her? A filthblood? She’s pathetic. Do you know how many times I caught her crying because a bad dream scared her?”

Korra bared her teeth, slipping a kick under Trithe’s guard. It landed on her hip, sending her flying with an angled spin. Kicking off the ground, she chased after her, slashing at the woman with a shining water blade.

Trithe twisted mid-air, releasing a pulse of fire that scattered Korra’s art. She landed in a crouch and dropped to one knee, clutching her side. A deep purple blotch spread across her exposed side, a small water dragon clinging to her with its fangs buried in her skin.

”Power has a cost,” Korra said, landing lightly on her feet. ”The gods might offer much, but at some point, they also require much. When the bill came due, I skipped out on it. It’s that simple. But you...?” She advanced a step, eyes narrowed. ”Xiviyah paid one hell of a price for her power. Tell me, what price will you pay?”

She didn’t let her answer. With a low, predatory growl, Korra lunged forward. A flowing serpent curled around her forearm, lashing at Trithe as she unleashed a blistering barrage of punches and kicks. Flowing serpents filled the air, attacking the swordswoman from every direction at once.

Trithe bobbed and weaved away from her, parrying where she could. A few blows landed, but none of them broke her stance again, leaving fading bruises and draping her in heavy water mana.

”What the hell is this?” Trithe gasped, panting as she finally broke free. She shook her arms, lines of exhaustion on her face, and shook herself again. ”What are you doing to me?”

Korra smiled softly. ”You don’t have to be a raging river to carve a canyon, or an ocean to water the farm. Even the slightest trickle can wear down the mountains with enough time.”

”Don’t be ridiculous. You’ve only been a hero for a few years, and you’ve only been training for a fraction of that time. Don’t think you can compare with me,” Trithe spat.

”A prodigy?” Korra dodged a fiery arc, advancing with an almost casual grace. Trithe grew more and more desperate, burning her mana recklessly as she struggled to keep up. ”That was what they called you, no? Worthy to stand beside the sun hero?”

”Shut up!” Trithe hissed, backing away, her blades faltering. Korra struck her left pommel, and a crack snaked up the silver blade.

”You trained with the finest warriors in Enusia. You had every resource in this world dedicated to strengthening you and your lover.” Korra spat the word lover, sneering. ”By your own word, I had only a single, forsaken filthblood. So tell me, why are we here? Why are you losing?”

Korra rose on the ball of her foot, bringing her other foot down in a vicious arc. Trithe crossed her blades again, but as their techniques clashed, a sharp, discordant clang shook the air, setting my teeth on edge. Steam exploded around them in a maelstrom, and Trithe’s scream shook the air. I shielded my face instinctively, my hair rippling in the ensuing shockwave.

When the steam cleared, Trithe knelt before Korra. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, her body weighed down with chain-like ribbons of coiling dragons. Her swords lay at her sides, the blades ending in jagged stumps. Fragments of steel were embedded in her body, leaking drops of blood that colored her leather armor. She tried to lift her head, but couldn’t, too weak to meet the water hero’s gaze.

”You want to know why I chose Xiviyah?” Korra asked, standing over her.

Trithe’s fist clenched weakly, and Trithe reached down, grabbing her by what served her armor as a collar and lifting her into the air. She dragged the girl’s face to hers, whispering in her ear. Trithe’s face paled, and she shuddered as Korra dropped her again.

”What did she say?” I asked, gripping my skirt.

”I think you should ask her yourself,” Gayron replied.

I stuck out my lip in the beginning of a pout, glaring at him. It wasn’t my fault that the Sun God’s curse prevented me from developing super senses!

Trithe bowed her head, her shoulders trembling. Her soul flickered, groaning beneath the weight of Korra’s arts. ”You’ll never get away with this. You’ll pay for every drop of blood you’ve spilled. Once he comes, you’ll--”

A dreadful roar shook the skies, and Trithe looked up, her bleak gaze filling with hope. As I turned my face skyward, a blistering radiance bloomed above Amberhold Keep, brighter than the midday sun. The night fled, and all Enusia trembled at the glory of that light. The world warmed, but to me, it was colder than the grave.

I knew that power. I knew that light.

”It’s too late for you. He’s here,” Trithe said, a smirk tugging at her exhausted face. ”Soltair’s come for me.”