The Forsaken Hero

We alighted on the tower, a hundred fifty feet above the courtyards, where soldiers scurried around like tiny ants. I could see them carrying each other, arms slung over shoulders, leaving trails of blood on the hard-packed earth. Arrows fell with increasing frequency, claiming the lives of the men and women who had sworn to protect me. I clenched my hands into fists, my heart heavy. Not for the first time, I yearned for Luke. To feel his warmth and his strength. I wouldn’t have to hide if he were here. I wouldn’t have to watch so many suffer.

But he wasn’t here, and he wouldn’t be fighting this war for me. I couldn’t even fight this war for me.

Rolling thunder crashed across the valley as a thick thunderhead swelled over the enemy position. Tendrils of swirling clouds and wind dropped down, forming thin tornadoes that lashed the earth, targeting the old forts and walls. Bolts of lightning lashed out, causing explosions that tossed archers and mages from their hiding places.

The enemy line broke into disarray, with soldiers scattering before the storm. The Crimson Dawn reacted instantly, and squads of soldiers charged outward, striking while the advantage was ours.

IT took too long for the enemy to reestablish their order. I realized why when I saw a fifth-level mage heading a defensive jerk, and start pawing at an arrow that appeared in his throat. Gith might not have the raw destructive magic of Jenna, but his efforts were just as disruptive. Maybe more.

With chaos reigning on the battlefield, I sank to my knees, resting my staff across my lap. Arantius had said Haven, High Valley, and my aura were one. The difference was how much power was flowing through them.

My eyes fluttered closed, and I took a deep breath, letting my power flow through me. The sounds of war faded into the background. All that remained was the pulse of my heartbeat and the gentle light of the stars surrounding me, brushing against me. Answering my call.

Haven’s warmth filled me, washing away my doubts and uncertainty. Fate crystallized, becoming apparent to my soul. Enusia’s weave was stiff and foreign, following rules written by another countless ages ago. But as my power gathered, swirling around me, slender, golden threads pushed outward, lacing through the Enusian stars.

Slowly, fate warmed to my influence, softening and becoming pliable. Answering to my will just like Haven did.

There was a soft gasp, and I felt Luxxa stir. Not her aura, but her very soul. I focused, and found her standing just a few feet away. My eyes were closed, but I could see her clearly. Not flesh and blood, but the natural cycle of her soul, the mana coursing through her body. Like looking at a remnant.

Was that what we were? Remnants of Enusia? On the most basic level, in the weave of fate, I couldn’t tell the difference.

As my awareness expanded, so too did the scope of my senses. The tower, the keep, the courtyards, and beyond. Everywhere my aura touched, from the island floating in the lake to the entrance of High Valley, was mine. Every soul, spell, and technique flowed into me, broken down on the most fundamental level. It was like reading a spellbook for the world. Infinite, vast, and wonderful.

I could have remained there for years, maybe forever, just marveling at the beauty of fate, but along with every spell, I could feel its consequences. The war had not stopped, beautiful as it might appear.

”Haven,” I whispered, keeping my eyes closed to block out any distractions. ”Come to me.”

The golden threads condensed before me, almost entirely choking out the native Enusian weave. Two fates woven together seamlessly, becoming one.

”I’m here, my Lady,” said Haven’s voice.

”I...I can feel it. Everything. But I don’t know how to call them.”

”Allow me.”

The bundle of Haven’s threads moved behind me, and I felt big, gauntleted hands on my shoulders. Before, my power had radiated outward, bleeding into Enusia, but the instant he touched me, the flow reversed. I gasped as warmth flooded my soul, disrupting my mana’s natural cycle. I vaguely recognized the new currents. They were reminiscent of how my staff guided my mana whenever I used one of its abilities. But my staff remained silent. This was completely native to my soul. Something I could do, if I but learned how.

A bridge opened up in my mind, a whole other realm of awareness. Just as I could feel Enusia around me, Haven became clear, too. The islands in the sky, the Fatesworn in their keep, and the remnants. The latter were beacons of light, completely immovable with my current strength. But I’d already expected that. Without my staff, calling them was impossible.

Instead, I turned my attention to Starfall Keep. Haven responded, rippling with my will. A call to any who could answer.

And that answer came quickly. Three hundred souls from amongst the Fatesworn. Demon, human, and elf.

”Brace yourself,” said Haven, whispering in my ear.

Before I could ask what he meant, power erupted within me. My soul screamed in protest, overwhelmed by the force. My fingers curled into fists, clenching my staff so tightly it hurt. The tower trembled beneath me, the texture sliding against my legs. Turning from rough stone to smooth, grainy wood.

”My Lady!” Luxxa’s voice was distant, but I felt her arms around me, lifting me.

In seconds, my mana had drained to nothing, leaving only a puddle to sustain my wards. Gasping for a breath that wouldn’t come, I groped for the Aethereal Prism, my fingers curling against its crystalline surface. As quickly as I could, I offloaded the strain, letting the artifact take the burden of whatever had just been done to me.

Relief was immediate and palpable. I choked on air as it finally flooded my lungs. Slowly, my soul extricated from fate, and my physical senses returned. The rush of the wind, the creak of wood, the hum of a mana core...

None of those were right. Maybe my mind was just scrambled after being so deep in fate.

I shook my head, squirming in Luxxa’s grip. My eyes fluttered, blinking back unshed tears, and opened to slits. The tower was swaying slightly. Dozens of silhouettes cut against the misty backdrop. Why were there soldiers here? Shouldn’t they be on the walls?

”She’s fine, just recovering.” Luxxa was talking to someone. I turned my head, but couldn’t see who.

The ground swayed again, putting my stomach in my throat. I finally managed to free myself from Luxxa. The floor creaked like wood beneath my boots, and I immediately fell, catching myself on her arm.

”Why does it feel like we’re flying?” I mumbled, clutching my head.

”Because we are.”

My vision cleared, and I choked on my next breath. The keep had vanished from beneath my feet, replaced by the deck of a skyship. Fatesworn rushed around us, taking battle positions and arming the small, swiveling mana cannons lining the sides.

”I need altitude!” shouted Captain Ellis, the Skyknight Jasrin had introduced me to before. ”Bring her around! Let’s show these sorry, god-loving bastards what air superiority looks like!”

The ship banked hard, and I stumbled forward, landing against the railing. I stared in open-mouthed shock as the battlefield spread beneath us, the tips of our banners scraping the misty dome. We rose directly above the fort, drawing almost no attention in the billowing plumes of smoke clouding the air. But to me, the enemy formations were clearly visible, arrayed around the fort. A burst of magic streaked across the valley, exploding on both sides.

The Crimson Guard had retreated to the walls, and were taking heavy losses as teams of enemy soldiers fought into the gaps created by their spells. A few bolts of lightning marked Jenna’s position, and Captain Andres held fast at the main gates, but so many had fallen. Their blood died the stones, their faces grim and resolute.

”Fire!” Captain Ellis shouted.

Six lances of brilliant white light exploded from the crystalline shafts of the mana cannons, blazing like shooting stars into the army arrayed below. Flashes of white and thunderous roars triggered my wards, muting the roars and screams to silence. I nodded to myself. This was what battle was supposed to look like.

The mana cannons were only sixth-level, but their results were catastrophic. Over a hundred were killed outright, and hundreds more were scattered like chaff in the wind by the resulting shockwaves. The old walls and forts they sheltered behind were decimated, right in time for a wave of arrows and spells from the Fatesworn to rain down.

The Crimson Guard gaped at the destruction, disbelief etched across their faces. One by one, they turned to look. The light of the skyship reflected in their dark eyes.

”Advance! Get me in range of the main guns!” Captain Ellis ordered.

Guns. A term I hadn’t heard in years. A word that didn’t belong in Enusia.

The ship carried on, soaring over the fort’s walls. A ragged cheer rose as its batteries unloaded again, targeting the line of mages responsible for the gaping holes in the walls. Many fell to their knees, exhausted and spent, tears in their eyes. They didn’t understand why, or how, only that a miracle had occurred. I just prayed it was enough.

”Captain,” I cried, turning in a panic. ”Don’t leave the mists! We have to draw them inside, else they’ll warn Fate!”

”As you command, my Lady. Lieutenant, are we in range?”

An elf woman across the ship shouted back, ”Yes, sir!”

”Then show them hell!”

The entire deck vibrated, and I staggered into Luxxa again. A ghostly white lit the underside of the skyship, spreading beneath us like a halo. Two arcs of searing red pierced the smoke and flame of their bombardment, landing in the midst of the scattered army. I had just enough time to duck behind Luxxa before the explosion turned the sky red, and a shockwave hit the ship.

Eighth-level. This skyship was outfitted with eighth-level mana cannons. No wonder summoning it had almost knocked me unconscious.