The Forsaken Hero

Roann was silent as we left the hollow Oblivion had carved through it. The massive city, once teeming with hundreds of thousands of people, lay desolate. Shattered towers broke the distant skyline, but everything nearby had been reduced to dust and rubble, half dissolved or consumed by oblivion. Only along the fringes, where buildings still stood, could I recognize it as a city at all.

There were no fires here. Nothing smoldered, and no voices rose from beneath the rubble. I kept searching for a street I recognized, some small piece of the city we’d passed through, but even the paving stones were gone.

But the pit in my stomach wasn’t for Roann, beautiful as it had been. Tens of thousands of souls had vanished into the shadows. Church soldiers, Radians, and Fatesworn alike, gone, never to return.

The demon had taken his darkness with him, but fissures and chasms still scarred the land. Whatever wounds he’d mended in the world, the earth remained broken.

Worst of all was the path of Fate’s final attack. Two widening swaths of destruction stretched beyond the horizon, divided only where Fyren had protected me. One had cut directly through the demon horde, taking thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, with it. I didn’t dare imagine how far it reached, or whether any towns or villages had stood in its path.

This was the price the mortal world paid when a god descended. Fate had been here for only a few minutes, but the devastation would likely endure for millennia. I didn’t know how the world could recover when the very fabric of fate had been damaged. Even with all the practice I’d had with Luke and Haven, I wouldn’t have known where to begin. The scale of it was beyond anything I could comprehend.

At last, we passed beyond the worst of the destruction. The Fatesworn had secured what remained of Roann and, with the remnants’ help, routed the Radian army.

”Lady Xiviyah. You still live?” Incinderus asked as Fable landed.

Our old headquarters had been obliterated. In its place, they’d taken over a cluster of manors, tearing down the walls between their grounds to form a single fortified position.

Wounded soldiers crowded the gardens, lying on cloaks spread over the trampled flower beds. Healers moved between them while others carried water through the broken gates. A few faces turned toward me, and I tried to straighten on Fable’s back.

”Barely,” I murmured, accepting his help as I slid from Fable’s back.

He lowered me gently to the ground, then looked over our small party. His expression grew grim.

”So it’s true. I sensed his descent through the mark, but scarcely believed it possible. To think, an emperor in our midst.”

”You didn’t know?” I asked, taking some small comfort in that.

He shook his head, his plates grinding together with the almost human gesture.

”I knew he was touched by oblivion, but guessed him no more than a demon lord. Looking back, perhaps I should have suspected. Never in my existence, nor in the recorded histories of the Infernal Realm, has Oblivion held a horde.”

”The Demon Emperor Oblivion,” I whispered, my tail giving an agitated twitch.

So it was true. Everything I’d guessed. I wasn’t sure knowing made it any better.

”Why did you follow him, then, if you didn’t know who he was?”

”For the same reason you did. Things had to change. Most demons, lords and emperors alike, are like Rash’alon, suicidal in their pursuit of power. The prospect of becoming a fate demon certainly held its allure, but it was your Fyren who convinced me. He spoke madness of uniting with the gods and rewriting the pattern.”

He shrugged, his plates shifting.

”Now that I know who stood behind those words, they seem rather less mad. Rarely has Oblivion acted, but each time, according to the stories, the realms themselves have trembled.”

”Are we to see any more of Fate?” Bethiv asked, approaching from behind.

I wasn’t sure how much he’d overheard, but judging by his troubled expression, enough.

”No. Fyren, he...he took care of him,” I said, closing my eyes.

”Nor should we expect further divine interference,” Incinderus added. ”Now that Oblivion has played his hand, there’s no going back. I expect he’ll be watching this realm, ensuring no other immortal is foolish enough to descend before your work is done.”

”Did he tell you what that work is?” I asked hopefully.

Incinderus’s lips curled over his obsidian fangs.

”I know well enough, child, and so should you. There’s little sense dwelling on the details. Gods and emperors reveal their intentions when they’re ready. I’ve learned that much. We must merely ensure the board is set for them to play.”

”Rich words coming from a demon lord,” Bethiv murmured, folding his arms.

Incinderus released a huff of steam and smoke.

”We’re little more than pawns in the games of the greater immortals. Only here, in mortal worlds, are we afforded such power and command. Hence why we relish it so much.”

”I see.” Bethiv chuckled, then quickly sobered. ”Lady Xiviyah, the Radian army is broken. Lady Emlica claimed the shard herself and broke the Heart Curse. We’ve shifted our efforts to recovery. The battle shattered the city and slaughtered tens of thousands. We’ll save those we can, but...”

He shook his head.

”There’s only so much we can do.”

”Thank you, Bethiv. Please, do your best. No one deserved what happened here today.” I glanced back toward the ruins. ”It’ll take lifetimes to repair the damage. What matters now is preserving the souls who might live them.”

There was still much to do, but I left it to my commanders. With Fate gone, there should be no threat the remnants couldn’t handle. They burned through my mana quickly, but the realm’s inheritance continued to flood my soul, and their demands gave me somewhere to send it. There would be hell to pay when Haven’s stars retreated. For now, it was enough.

The night remained bright as Fable carried Verity and me toward the Divine Throne, where the infernal horde still fought the church’s army. The battle stretched for miles. We flew over it, ignoring the attacks that rose to meet us.

Adaptive Resistance swelled within my chest, its power growing as the inheritance enlarged my soul. It had lingered at the threshold of eighth-level as long as I had. Now, I almost feared what it might become.

”That’s strange,” Verity said. ”I don’t remember them having that barrier.”

I followed her pointing hand and pursed my lips. A shimmering golden dome enveloped the Divine Throne. It wasn’t merely a shell. Like the Shining Aegis, its power reached through everything beneath it, entwining every stone, pillar, and shard of stained glass.

”A ninth-level spell?” I whispered.

”It must have been one of their old monsters,” Verity said. ”Do you think we can break through?”

I shook my head uncertainly. Had I been fully ninth-level, with my realm consolidated and the danger of my ascension behind me, I could have broken it. Or summoned a remnant who could. As things stood, we had little time to spare.

”I don’t think it’s a barrier,” I said as we drew closer.

The Oracle of Eternity was growing stronger too, revealing details I’d never been able to perceive before. Every spell and soul lay bare, as clear as the threads I’d woven on the edge of oblivion.

”It’s more of a strengthening spell, spread across the whole complex. And a suppression effect. We should be able to enter, but fighting inside...”

I shook my head.

Satisfied that the spell wouldn’t stop us from approaching, I turned my attention to the battlefield, searching for Luke and Soltair. I’d expected to find a sun blazing somewhere overhead, but nothing outshone the stars. They flickered silently above the armies fighting beneath their light.

”Luke?” I whispered, clasping the Soulbinder.

The ring pressed into my palm, pulsing with his warmth. I followed it, leaning forward as I caught sight of a familiar figure.

”There. Down, Fable. To that ridge.”

Fable dove. My wards were up, but I squeezed my eyes shut anyway, bracing against the rush of wind. Or perhaps I just didn’t want to watch the ground hurtling toward us.

We landed hard enough to crack the ridge. Fable offered a paw and lowered me to the ground. I took a few unsteady steps, finding my balance just in time to be swept off my feet again.

”Xiv! You’re alive!”

Luke caught me in his arms, his momentum spinning us around as he crushed me to his chest.

For a moment, I forgot the battle. I caught at his shoulders, feeling the warmth of him through his clothing. He still wasn’t wearing armor for some reason, he hadn’t since his return from oblivion, but I didn’t care, grateful it let us closer.

Then it was too close.

”H-Hey!” I gasped. ”Gentle!”

He loosened his grip just enough for me to breathe, but his eyes searched my face. There was fear in them.

”What happened? The entire city vanished, and then you...you died!”