The Forsaken Hero

*A/N: As you may have noticed, this novel has finally gone premium. Unfortunately, there were a few technical issues that arose in the process. One of them was that the system skipped over a Chapter I had scheduled to publish and published ”Two Worlds,” the next Chapter, instead. I have since corrected this issue and added the Chapter ”Hero” in its place. That Chapter explores the rest of Xiviyah’s conversation with Elise and provides some pivotal character moments, so I invite you to check it out. Also, due to word count restrictions on updating Chapters, I added a new scene to the beginning of this Chapter. I apologize for any confusion this might have caused, and I hope you’ll keep enjoying the novel!

The day wore on quickly, much to my regret. Whenever I was with Elise, time vanished like sand between my fingers. What made it worse was that I now knew that time was limited. Another gate would open soon, and we would be called to fight it. Considering how long I spent in the dungeon, that time was likely only days away.

As the evening drew nigh, Elise stood and gathered her things, before turning to me. ”Xiviyah, let’s meet up tomorrow, okay? There’s something I want to give you.”

I nodded, casually drifting closer to her. I looked at her, feeling a gentle yearning in my heart, and she smiled, embracing me. I was grateful her shoulder hid my blushing face, but then my tail waved and betrayed me.

”You know,” she giggled, ”If you want a hug, you can just ask.”

”S-sorry,” I whispered, flushing darker. Strands of her long, silken hair tickled my face, and I breathed deeply, inhaling her familiar scent.

All too soon, she was pulling away. ”I’d better get going. We students have a curfew, after all, and I don’t want to risk it.”

I glanced out the window, finding it dark already. As she turned to go, my hand moved on its own, catching her wrist.

”Elise...”

She smiled, a sad twinkle in her eye. ”Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

”Thank you!” I burst out, tears welling up in my eyes. ”Thank you for being there. Thank you for being my friend.”

”Of course, silly.” she smiled, and then was gone.

The moment she left, a shiver crawled down my tail. The room felt colder, darker, the shadows more menacing. Hugging my arms about myself, I gathered my things and moved to follow her.

My room was a wing of the university devastated by the dragon, so I ended up joining Soltair and Trithe for the night, joining them at the door of the library and following them to their room. Trithe seemed embarrassed about the fact they only had one bed, but I barely glanced at it before collapsing on a cot the maids brought. My wounds had been healed, but the restoration was quite literally skin deep. Still, trapped between my despair and shattered soul, my heart pulsed with borrowed warmth, given so freely by Elise.

Gathering my blanket around me, I couldn’t find the strength to rise again, so I decided to forget undressing and closed my eyes contentedly. Soltair and Trithe took a few minutes getting ready before they sat beside each other on the bed.

”Xiviyah,” Soltair said, clearing his throat. ”I’m sorry about what happened. After the demon’s spell took away our magic, you disappeared. A few students claimed to have seen you running away from the campus, so it seemed everything was fine. Then, between the repair efforts and, uh, other activities, we didn’t have time to personally look for you. It wasn’t until Elise came to us with tears in her eyes that I realized something was wrong. I checked with the City Lord, prepared to bring vengeance upon the culprit, but it seems it was just a misunderstanding. The city guard found you unconscious following the battle and assumed you were just another surviving cultist.”

”Oh.”

He coughed awkwardly, and I could imagine him exchanging glances with Trithe. ”Yeah, so even though I know it brought you a lot of pain, it was an honest mistake. I’m sure there will be a formal apology for your treatment tomorrow, at the meeting.”

”Meeting?” Trithe asked, raising an eyebrow.

”Yeah. A messenger arrived from the Divine Throne yesterday evening. I didn’t hear much, but there has been a disaster on the northern continent,” Soltair explained, ”Apparently, they’re requesting support from the mages here.”

Trithe tossed back her hair, snorting. ”Good luck with that.”

”Yeah, With Slivera gone, anyone half capable is overworked as it is.”

The two continued to chat for a while, tossing out speculations and sarcastic remarks aimed at the future and recovery efforts. I stared at the wall, wishing Elise were there to fill the void in my heart. It was strange how I could be so close to others I knew well, yet feel completely alone. Fortunately, sleep found me quickly, preying on my exhaustion and broken soul.

For a time, I slept soundly, easing into the first peaceful rest I’d had in days. But, after several hours of dreamless, blessedly quiet sleep, I jolted awake, soaked in sweat and trembling. The dungeon felt dark and unfamiliar, and the constant ache of my wounds was suspiciously absent. My hands flew to my neck but felt nothing but soft, unblemished skin.

Slowly, the fog faded from my mind, revealing the events of yesterday. As the realization hit me, I sagged in relief, curling up tightly beneath the blankets. My wrists ached faintly in memory of the cruel chains, and I rubbed my horns, taking comfort in the familiar ridges beneath my fingers. After a few minutes, my heart finally slowed, and I managed to fall back to sleep.

The next time I awoke, it was beneath Soltair’s gentle hand. As I stirred, fighting off the lingering drowsiness, he stroked my hair with long, soothing strokes. I yawned, my tail curling around me like a cat’s.

”Too cute,” he murmured, fondly resting a hand between my horns.

”I’m awake,” I muttered, pushing him away.

Feeling stiff, I stretched, reaching above my head and flexing my shoulders. Soltair’s eyes widened, falling to my chest. Glancing down curiously, I froze, a blush spreading across my cheeks. My dress, damp with sweat and disheveled from the night, clung to my body, revealing much more than I would have liked.

Although it wasn’t the first time I’d been seen so uncomposed, take the dungeon the previous day for example, I recoiled, quickly adjusting my dress and hugging my arms about myself.

Soltair coughed, finally tearing his eyes away. ”You were rather restless last night. Is everything okay?”

He shifted uncomfortably, scratching his cheek as I glared at him, finally turning away. Trithe sat on the bed, frowning in disapproval before finally whispering something that sounded like ”Idiot.” Strangely enough, they were both fully dressed already, which only made me feel more self-conscious.

Before he could turn around, I retrieved my spatial satchel and retreated into the dressing room, adjacent to the bedroom. Quickly stripping out of the wrinkled garb I unconsciously reached for my mana, intending to clean the night’s sweat away, when a tingle of pain brought me back to my senses. Looking around, I found a bucket of clean water and rags provided by the maids. Following a quick scrubbing, I pulled on a fresh dress and reentered the room.

Soltair was gone, but Trithe looked up as I entered, her lips curling in a slight frown. ”So messy. Here, take a seat,” she instructed, pulling a wooden chair in the middle of the room.

Feeling a bit self-conscious, I reached up and touched my hair. She huffed impatiently, practically dragging me into the chair and pulling out an expensive, ivory come. Wincing occasionally at the occasional tug, I sat still as she fought with the countless snarls and tangles in my hair. Three weeks in a dungeon had my hair worse than I’d ever seen it, but her hands were swift and skillful, far more so than my own, and she soon had my scarlet curls shining in the early morning light.

As she put down the brush, Soltair returned, carrying a few plates of food suspended in Sun Magic. ”I thought we could have lunch here, today. I found a few pastries left over from the celebratory banquet a few days ago if you want to give them a shot.”

The sweets had a golden, bread-like shell, but were filled with a white cream. Before I knew it, my mouth had begun to salivate. How many months has it been since I’d been given something like this?

Soltair held out the plate toward us, and I glanced at Trithe, waiting for her to take them. She glanced at me and smiled, shaking her head, and I realized he meant them for me. My eyes widened slightly but I hesitated, looking away.

”It’s okay, you can have them. I’m not feeling that hungry.”

Soltair’s hand twitched, sending a shiver through the magic bearing the dishes. ”Xiviyah, it’s okay to accept, you know. You used to love things like this back at the Divine Throne, so I thought you might like them.”

Trithe giggled, squeezing my uninjured shoulder. ”Oh, I remember! Didn’t you try and sneak them into your dress when you thought no one was looking and take them to the library? We thought it was kind of weird, but you always looked so nervous whenever you thought someone was looking, so we didn’t say anything.”

I stiffened, my tail anxiously curling around the chair leg. ”Oh...I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” I apologized softly, bowing my head.

They were both silent for a moment, and my heart rate accelerated. Risking a glance up, I found they were looking at each other. Soltair raised an eyebrow but Trithe just shrugged.

Soltair smiled, setting the plates down on the table and sitting across from us. ”Do you mean you’ve been worrying about this the entire time? Those pastries, not to mention everything else they gave us, were gifts. Why would you feel bad about eating sweets?”

My hands grasped the folds of my skirt, growing restless as he raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Trithe slid into the chair next to him, entwining her fingers with his. I fidgeted for a moment longer before finally raising my gaze.

”I-Is it really alright?”

”Of course,” Trithe replied. ”I’ve seen you enjoy food before, so what’s so hard about it now?”

”But those were at the banquets,” I protested. ”Nothing like this!”

”Banquets? Sure they’re big occasions, but we eat like that all the time. What’s so special about today?” Soltair asked.

”Especially in a city like this,” Trithe said, a dreamy look in her eye. ”All those bakeries and sweet shops. It’s practically every girl’s heaven...” her eyes suddenly shot open, ”Wait, you mean to tell me that in our entire time in the city, you haven’t been out once?”