The Forsaken Hero

The ground shook as powerful spells and magical techniques ripped through the battlefield. The Last Light Company stood firm against the endless onslaught of scions, filling the canyons with cascades of infernal blood. Their reserves had since joined the fray, reinforcing and supporting wherever the lines grew weak. Their bodies were sturdy and my spells guaranteed the lives of the mercenaries, but they were still subject to the mortal constraints of exhaustion and mental fatigue.

Captain Bethiv and his vice-captain, Jackal, had split their attention, one going to rally each canyon, leaving me alone atop the icy perch overlooking the battlefield. My gaze was locked onto the Dungeon Commander, who rested coiled up beside the crevasses in the ice, through which scions continued to stream.

It was enormous, comparable even to the infernal dragon Fyren killed, stretching over a hundred feet long from diamond-shaped head to sinewy tail. Its entire body was coated in icy scales, gleaming like a prism in the flickering light of the battle, sending a kaleidoscopic array of dancing lights across the mountain. In a way, it was strangely beautiful a crystal serpent rearing its head nobly in the air. Its eyes blazed with intelligence, its soul bright with mana. Despite its animalistic form, this was no mindless scion drawn to the slaughter, but a vicious demon capable of collaborating with Luke and strong enough to execute the plan to destroy the armies of humanity.

Its soul was sixth level, far weaker than the curse demon, but not something I could compete with directly. The seas of infernal mana gathered above the icy world were at my beck and call, but my soul could only handle enough for a single fourth-circle spell at any given time. There was also the mysterious origin of the infernal mana, giving rise to the possibility the demon might also be able to manipulate it as well.

The frosty gaze of the demon sent a shiver down my spine, its aura seeping across the distance to buffet my soul. A transparent, crystalline tongue flitted between its lips, its entire body tensing. My eyes narrowed as its soul blazed, a sure sign it had begun casting a spell. It wasn’t yet certain if they Soul Cast in the same way I did, which left me unable to predict the circles or runes. Not that it mattered, anyway. We were barely hanging on as is, and I couldn’t allow it to cast anything that might tip the scales in their favor.

In favor of speed, I abandoned soul casting and simply raised my staff, casting chantless instead. Three third-circle spells materialized around me, combining to form an array.

”Reflection!” I cried, pushing the spell forward.

A glimmering wall of golden magic rose above the mountain, forming a mirror-like canvas between the demon and our forces. No sooner did the array stabilize than a colossal blast of ice swept out of the demon’s mouth, radiating the pressure of a sixth-circle spell. Unlike the demonkin’s Explosive Cascade, the demon centralized and compressed the entire spell, forming one tight bar of pure destructive ice magic.

I took a sharp breath and twisted my staff, manipulating the array to fold back in on itself. The golden wall collapsed inward, forming a small, layered circle just larger than the incoming spell. Not a moment later, the lance of ice collided with the array.

Hundreds of demons nearest reflection exploded as an overbearing shockwave ripped out of the impact, splattering across the ground geysers of blood. Cracks spread along the golden shield, spiderwebbing out until the Reflection. Ice Magic began to seep through the fractures and tear it apart from the inside, destroying the delicate bonds holding together the separate spells in the array.

Moments before it disintegrated, the array released a blinding flash of light, joined by a clear ring like a clock striking the hour. The energy contained upon the surface of the shield revolted, reflecting back on itself, just as the Explosive Cascade had. However, instead of detonating harmlessly in the sky, the entire spell exploded into a fine powder of ice shards. Unable to bear more, the reflection finally shattered, releasing the remnants of its stored mana in another shockwave, blasting the white mists across the entire battlefield.

The ice shards swallowed the mountain, sweeping across the crags and canyons like a blizzard, obscuring all but the brightest fires and spells. I gasped, my heart sinking, as it stuck to the transparent shields around the soldiers, completely blocking their view of anything more than a few feet away. The demons, on the other hand, shrieked as the mana-laden mists coated their bodies, filling them with renewed vigor and bolstering their already formidable magic.

The head of the demon rose just above the sea of fog, its eyes glinting, its mouth seeming to curve in a smug grin. Dread settled in my heart, sending a spray of tingling fear down my tail. I’d played right into its hand. Even beneath the ice, it must have been observing the battlefield, memorizing the patterns and effects of my magic. With a single spell, it had all but neutralized everything I’d accomplished, crippling our soldiers and coordination and empowering its own side a the same time.

I flinched as the first screams erupted from the sea of white mist, feeling the souls of a dozen soldiers vanish from the Nexus. Through Detect Presence, I could feel the strength of the demons growing, their souls sapping more and more mana from the mist. The evolved demons at the fourth level, who had previously been unable to break through the Blade Ward and Mirror Sphere, could start to turn the tables. The soldiers, unable to pierce the thick fog, were at their mercy, separated and ganged up on until their lines started to buckle.

Acting quickly, I summoned dozens of first and second-circle wind spells. I aimed them at the mouths of the canyons closest to me, hoping to relieve the soldiers, if not the entire battlefield. But as the torrents of wind dispersed the mists, a faint magic circle appeared beneath the mountain. Immediately, the clouds of ice froze, then coiled back into place, sealed to the battlefield by the might of a sixth-circle spell.

Feeling desperate, I threw out countless more spells, ranging from Dispel Magic to Fire Wall, but nothing seemed to work. The Ice Demon calmly countered everything I tried, leaving me panting in exhaustion, completely helpless to stop the slow deaths of the Last Light Company.

”Despair!” The serpent’s voice crackled like thin ice, piercing the cries of the battlefield and echoing in my eras.

Luke’s words rang in my mind, a subtle warning that we couldn’t stand against this Gate. Was he right? Had I been too confident? As more souls faded from the Nexus, my knees grew weak and my tail trembled, tears gathering in my eyes. I’d promised them. I’d promised them all I’d protect them. Why wasn’t I strong enough? I had an entire world of mana at my disposal, so why couldn’t I save them?

Was this the great darkness Connor had seen in my soul? That I’d led hundreds of those who swore to protect me to their deaths? Who was I, to think I could do anything when so many brave men, not to mention two heroes, had already fallen to this monster? I was but a slave; a broken, worthless slave, worthy only of betrayal and loss.

”And love,” a small voice whispered, echoing from somewhere within my soul.

”I can’t do it,” I whispered, holding back a sob.

But the small, flickering flame in my heart refused to die, growing ever brighter and hotter as I watched the battlefield. My friends and allies continued fighting and dying, never once wavering in their conviction, never once surrendering to the hopelessness of the fight.

No, to them, it wasn’t vain. I’d told them to believe in me, and they did. They believed in me and each other, even at the end, waiting for me to deliver another miracle. But how could I? The demon was just too strong. Even now, its soul was burning brightly, a sure sign it was using its mana.

My staff dropped from limp fingers, dispersing into a cloud of stars, Tears trickled down my cheeks as I awaited the next spell, certain it would bring us catastrophe. Beyond the sense of inevitable dread, my heart was burdened with the screams of the soldiers winking out of the Nexus one by one. How many had already died because of me? Ten? Twenty? A hundred?

But what kind of spell would take so long to cast? As the seconds crawled by, the demon’s soul continued to glow, filled with a consistent flow of mana. Surely, based on its previous performance, it should have been able to complete two or three sixth-circle spells by now.

Slowly, I raised my head, blinking away the tears. The Eyes of Fate flashed as I narrowed my gaze, observing it more closely. Mana was certainly being used, yet as far as I could tell, went nowhere. The characteristic chaos in the demon’s soul was as unpredictable as ever, lacking the order and stability required to internally craft a high-circle spell. But if it wasn’t casting a spell, then where...?

I gasped, my breath caught in my throat, staring down at the magic circle encircling the mountain. Thousands of intangible runes, some more than twice my height, circled slowly across the ground, passing through ice formations and battling soldiers and demons alike. Periodic pulses of Infernal Mana spread through its intricate weaves, continually saturating the mist of Infernal Energy.

The quiet flame, which had been dormant since I smothered in despair, began to burn once more. Scrubbing the tears from my eyes with the back of my hand, I struggled to my feet, holding out my hand. Stars blossomed around my fingers, condensing together and then extending outward, forming my staff.

I pressed my free hand to my heart, Elise’s love burning bright. My eyes flashed open and I met the smug eyes of the serpent. Sensing my challenge, its mouth gaped open, five-foot fangs glistening with frosty venom, and hissed loudly. The sound sent an instinctive tremor through my body, but I held its gaze unwaveringly.

”I see it now,” I whispered, shakily raising my staff, ”But you can’t hurt them anymore. I won’t let you.”

As though hearing me across the distance and clamor of the battle, the Ice Demon’s eyes narrowed, smoldering with rage. But as I filled the sky with magic circles, that fury was overtaken by wariness, continuing until even that dissipated into naked fear.