The Forsaken Hero

A blinding pulse of white light erupted from the myriad Mirror Spheres within the inner courtyard, accompanied by a clear, piercing ring that echoed through the streets. The church’s soldiers cried out in pain and surprise, stumbling back as the reflected light burned their eyes. The sheer intensity of the blast was enough to knock many of the weaker soldiers off their feet, sending them sprawling across the cobblestones. The shockwave continued past the enemy company, shattering ice formations and toppling buildings weakened by the Ice Spirit’s rampage.

Barely a heartbeat later, the air crackled with chaotic energy as the Mirror Sphere spell turned their assault back on themselves. Bolts of lightning, balls of fire, shards of ice, and a thousand other elemental attacks arced out of the heart of the blinding glow, striking the soldiers where they stood. Screams of agony filled the air, mingling with the sharp scent of ozone and burnt flesh.

I winced, squeezing my eyes shut against the glare. Even through my closed eyelids, the light was blinding, a searing white that seemed to penetrate my very soul. A wave of nausea washed over me as the backlash of turning so many spells swept through the Nexus, and I swayed on my feet, barely managing to keep my grip on my staff. Were it not for the overwhelming power of the shard, that alone might have broken me.

When I finally dared to open my eyes, the courtyard was unrecognizable from before. The air shimmered with residual magic, and a faint haze of smoke lingered just above our heads. The enemy soldiers were scattered across the outer courtyard, slumped motionless amid the craters that pocketed the ground outside the walls. Of the three hundred or so soldiers who had attacked, less than a tenth escaped the reflection unscathed.

There was a long, profound silence filled with only the groans of the survivors. The Last Light Company stood stunned in place, staring at the absolute devastation on the other side of the wall. Many of them had been fighting demons for months by now, and yet their eyes still bulged in disbelief. Bethiv, who had just raised his hand to signal a counter-offensive, let it fall limp at his side.

”What the hell?” he muttered instead, casting a sidelong glance. His voice was quiet, but unmistakable in the settling smoke and silence.

Korra slapped my shoulder, sending me stumbling away a few paces, nearly losing my footing on the battlement. ”Now that’s a spell. I can’t believe I’ve never had the chance to fight a battle with you before. Soltair’s a bastard for hogging you in the early days. Gates would have been so easy if we were together.”

I nodded and rubbed my shoulder, relieved it had happened to be my uninjured shoulder that had been facing her. ”I didn’t expect them all to shoot at once...”

I let my voice trail off, continuing to watch as smoke continued to curl from the scorched and blackened bodies. The company commander struggled to his feet, coughing up blood. He managed a look around the courtyard, blanching as he found his company in tatters, the survivors in no better shape than he was.

”What...are you?” he gasped, staring at me with increasing horror.

”The Oracle of Eternity,” Korra answered for me, her voice filled with pride.

I cringed at the pretentious title. My tail twitched back and forth as my bashfulness overcame the lingering shock of the mass reflection, and I tugged on her sleeve, blushing. ”W-we don’t need to speak to them,” I said, half-pleading. ”Besides, there’s more coming isn’t there? We should be ready.”

She grinned at me, reaching out to poke my cheek. ”Whatever you say, Oracle.”

I protested a bit more, but in the end gave up. Her teasing served its purpose though, and as I returned my attention to the battlefield, I let out a sigh. My anxiety for Sari and the horrors of the battlefield faded in the back of my mind, leaving me relaxed and ready.

In the meantime, Bethiv strode into the outer courtyard, crushing smoldering bodies beneath his heavy steel boots. The enemy paladin tried to stumble away from him, raising his sword and mustering his mana, but the older veteran crushed through it with a wave of his sword and snatched the man by the collar. The shriek of steel rang out as his powerful grip crumpled the man’s gorget as Bethiv lifted him up until his boots kicked helplessly in the air.

”You should have gone to fight the demons,” Bethiv said almost dispassionately. ”Then at least you might have survived.”

Bethiv’s hand clenched tight around his neck and his soul flared with power. The paladin choked off and he began to kick, but it ended abruptly with a sickening snap. His struggles ceased and his body went limp, his eyes going dull and lifeless.

Grouting, Bethiv threw the corpse aside and wiped his hand on his thigh as though disgusted. ”Filthy paladin,” he muttered, spitting on the corpse. Then, raising his voice, he looked up to Gith, who had scaled the wall and now stood atop the gate. ”What’s our position looking like?”

Gith frowned at being addressed directly, shifting uncomfortably as the eyes of the entire company turned to him. After taking a final, long look toward the outer city walls and the canyon, he said, ”Our forces at the rim of the canyon have broken away from the demons, letting the church bear the weight of the assault. From the looks of things, they’re circling the city but are slowed by skirmishes, mostly demon scouts and an errant human company. Neither should prove a problem, and I’d estimate they’ll arrive at the rendezvous in twenty, maybe thirty minutes. No sign of our allies in the canyon itself.”

I stared at the ranger for a moment before glancing at Korra, finding her eyes as wide as my own.

”You ever see him talk that much before?” she whispered, not wanting to draw the attention of the others.

I shook my head, turning back to look at Bethiv as he scratched his cheek, a habit I remembered meaning he was deep in thought. After a moment, the commander nodded.

”Good. And what about us? I imagine reclaiming the entrance to the central keep and the shard remains one of their priorities.”

Gith hesitated a moment, scanning the streets of the innermost district for signs of activity. ”There’s another three or four companies headed our way, maybe a thousand and half total. The rest of been recalled to face the advancing demons. The horde’s broken through the first two waypoints and is assaulting the rim itself now.”

As though to testify to the truthfulness of his words, an explosion rocked the city. I fell back against Fable, who caught my weight and supported me as the ground continued to heave. An enormous plume of darkness rose beyond the walls in the canyon’s direction. A second later, a visible shockwave rolled over the city. It broke against us with the force of a fourth-circle spell, which, fortunately, my spells had no problem deflecting. Even so, to contain so much force even after traveling several miles said a lot about the spell that had released it.

Korra frowned, coming to a similar conclusion, and muttered, ”That’s a seventh-circle spell.”

”A curse, too,” I added bleakly. It reminded me of the wave of darkness the Curse Demon Lord had cast at Western University, which in turn reminded me of Elise. My grip on my staff tightened painfully and my tail began to twitch agitatedly.

”Prepare for contact!” Bethiv suddenly shouted.

My head whipped up just in time to see soldiers streaming into the outer courtyard once more. Their leader took one shocked look at the piles of corpses strewn beneath the walls before ordering a direct assault. It seemed they had no intention of forming up and demanding our surrender this time. They must have had scouts or spies because they didn’t bother launching concentrated barrages of magic. Instead, their mages began casting support spells and erecting magical barriers.

At least, that was their intention. A grim smile flickered across my face as the enemy’s faces paled, their spells failing one after another. A discordant shimmer hung in the air, breaking apart runes and circles the moment they appeared. Mirror Sphere had the same power as Dispel Magic, creating a chaotic field of mana that disrupted all casting for a time afterward. Given the sheer scale of the reflected attacks, it would linger for several minutes more.

Their mages faltered as one, casting confused glances at each other, but this only gave my allies the chance they needed. Spells and arrows rained on the church’s soldiers by the hundreds, destroying their formations before they had a chance to form. Men and women screamed as they fell, joining the motionless bodies of their comrades on the cold, unforgiving stone. The few that survived to reach the gates were swiftly cut down by Bethiv and our other knights, which included Luxxa and Orion.

A few tense minutes later, another company arrived, only to meet the same fate as the previous two. I didn’t even need the three ice spirits under my command to act, they remained back, flanking me like bodyguards. Korra shifted impatiently as a fourth company arrived a little later.

”They could have at least attacked together,” she complained, glaring at the smoking corpses left by our mages. ”Then at least I’d get a chance to fight something. I’ve been itching to smash a face in ever since that bastard Alverin showed up, and this waiting and watching isn’t cutting it. Maybe we should head down to the front gates and see if the demons made it yet.”

I shook my head as she let out a wistful sigh, letting my gaze rest on the canyon. The minutes dragged by slowly, but it wasn’t the battle drawing near that worried me. In the calm between our short, brutal fights, I found my thoughts landing on Sari. She’d been on the brink of death when the anomaly took her. Would it make it in time? Would Elinore be able to heal her? What would I do if she didn’t make it?

As the questions twisted my stomach into a knot, a new sound echoed in the distance. It wasn’t fire, ice, or even a curse explosion this time, but the sound of thunder. As I looked at the horizon, this time in the direction opposite the canyon, my brow creased. A storm was coming.