The Forsaken Hero

The first step was the hardest, and I nearly cried out as the mere motion of walking caused my side to twist, inflaming the sunpurge. But I gritted my teeth and, with my tail lashing at the pain, put my other foot forward. Fable shadowed me closely, ready to catch me should my trembling legs give way.

The cathedral was a shattered ruin of its former grandeur. The once beautiful mosaics and tiled floors were now a chaotic mosaic of destruction, littered with chunks of masonry ranging from pebbles to entire sections of the wall. Blood stained every surface, running in rivulets down the walls and pooling on the floor. I was constantly forced to step over the twisted bodies of dead cultists, their lifeless eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

Once, I made the mistake of glancing towards where the shard had been, only to have my stomach lurch and bile rise in my throat. The two children’s corpses lay amidst the wreckage, their innocent eyes forever closed in death, a silent accusation weighing heavy on my heart.

Eventually, the pain became a dull ache as I adjusted to the new agony. The sunpurge never truly stopped hurting, but with time and experience, I’d learned to push it to the back of my mind. This new tenderness would be no different, though it might take longer to acclimate to, given how much the curse had spread. Even lying down comfortably, not to mention hugging anyone, might be a challenge from now on.

But that was something I could deal with later. I was alive, and I was free. It wasn’t all bad news, either. Unlike almost every other time I’d been left so hurt and damaged in Enusia, my soul was recovering with astonishing speed. The moment I stumbled out of range of the discordant mana field, it began to thrum with warmth, replenishing its reserves. With every passing second, I breathed a little easier, drawing on its strength for support. Was this the true power of a fully healed soul?

It was so trivial, so normal to the experience of others, but it was something I’d never been able to rely on. It had often taken my scared, shattered soul longer to recover than my body, and now, ironically, the roles had been switched. My soul was healed, but the sunpurge left my flesh weaker than ever.

By the time I reached the shattered doors hanging ajar at the entrance, I could stand without the aid of my staff. Tears welled up in my eyes again, but this time they were tears of relief, and perhaps even a touch of joy. I pursed my lips, holding back a sob, and turned my gaze upward, offering my goddess a silent prayer of gratitude.

”I did it,” I whispered, letting a tear trickle down my cheek. ”I did it!”

My pointed ears twitched as the faint sounds of battle reached me, but they were distant and muffled. I frowned. Had the battle really moved so far away? They’d been just outside the cathedral when I entered. I could feel the souls of my companions in the Nexus, even Kahlen’s, meaning they were at least alive.

As I moved to leave the cathedral, Fable’s low growl made me pause. A shiver ran down my spine, causing my tail to twitch, even before I looked over my shoulder.

The Shard of Omniscience glimmered amidst the ruins, its rainbow light reflecting off the stagnant pools of blood and broken tiles. The chains that once bound it were scattered like discarded ribbons around its base.

My eyes landed on a golden crack in the air, shimmering like a broken window. Small crackling pops touched my ears as several more glinting cracks spiderwebbed out from the fissure, slowly spreading, consuming reality. It was only about the size of a man, positioned exactly above where Lord Coufyx had been standing, but was steadily growing. As it reached the ground, the stone just...vanished. Wherever the golden cracks spread, reality ceased to be.

I clasped a hand to my breast as my chest tightened. There was a reason I’d sworn off using my powers to attack the soul directly, and I was afraid this was it. I was free, but now it was time to pay for my freedom.

Even so, it was my responsibility to face it. Steeling myself, I embraced my mana and activated the Oracle of Eternity, plunging into the realm of stars. As the veil of perception lifted, the true extent of the damage to the weave of fate became apparent, and I gasped.

What I had seen with my physical eyes was merely the surface manifestation of the damage I’d inadvertently caused. Now, with the truth laid bare, the problem was far worse than I’d imagined.

Reality was interwoven with millions of strands of fate, a tapestry of infinite complexity. They were so delicate and fine it was impossible to discern any one individually. It was only where they crossed and intertwined that I could perceive them, points I’d come to call the ”stars of fate.”

Everything was a part of this pattern woven in with the world itself: matter, magic, and of course, souls. Just like a real tapestry, once the threads begin to break and fray, it’s almost impossible to stop it from spreading. It had gotten worse every time I abused my abilities, but I’d always been able to repair it with a wave of my staff, even discovering my staff’s ability to summon gates that way. But this time...?

It was already spreading, collapsing in on itself like a black hole. The process would only accelerate until fate was so damaged that...that...I shook my head, a tremor running through my body. I couldn’t even guess what might happen, only that it would be bad. Worse than the anomaly, even.

With a deep breath, I mustered my mana and tried to fix it. Unfortunately, my previous assessment proved correct, and doing anything with the knowledge and power I had available was simply impossible.

”Haven,” I pleaded, summoning a gate to my realm. ”Please, can you help me?”

Haven’s voice echoed in my mind, tinged with a hint of amusement. ”You come to me for aid? Is fate not the domain of the Oracle herself?”

”Please, Haven,” I said, my voice threatened with tears. ”I...I can barely even stand right now. Help me, please. I don’t know what to do!”

”Calm down, my Lady,” Haven’s voice softened. ”I was only trying to lighten your mood, but it seems my efforts are misplaced. Had I a form I could take, I would have leveled this entire kingdom for what they have done to you today. There is nothing I can do here, in Enusia.”

I bit my lip, a wave of hopelessness washing over me. I couldn’t simply close this hole like I had before. It had taken everything I had to repair the damage to Gayron’s soul, but that problem was insignificant, a mere scratch compared to this. Souls were my specialty, but here, in the actual weave of fate, I couldn’t even see the individual threads!

Even as fear and worry threatened to overwhelm me, I clung to Haven’s words, hoping he’d spoken deliberately for a reason. ”Not here?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. ”Then what about in there?”

”Ah, that’s another matter,” Haven’s voice echoed, a hint of caution in his tone. ”It will certainly have adverse consequences, but at the very least, I can contain the rift within Haven.”

”Do it, please,” I said, shifting my gaze back to the rift. It had nearly doubled in size again and now threatened to brush up against the shard. When it did, I couldn’t even guess what would happen.

”As you wish.”

Through the bond I shared with my realm, Haven’s thoughts and impressions flooded my mind. I gasped, my eyelids fluttering as I struggled to process the sheer magnitude of the information. My grip on my staff tightened as the flow ceased, and I nodded, my tail flicking with newfound resolve.

”Open!” I cried, waving my staff with a flourish.

Instantly, the small portal I’d summoned exploded, its shimmering energy flowing like liquid around an invisible sphere centered on the rift. It didn’t stop there, though, and swept outward, rapidly expanding until it formed a colossal sphere around the entire cathedral. It was intangible, yet I shivered as it moved right through me, sending a tingling sensation through my very soul.

Just as it enveloped the tips of the ruined towers, the sphere contracted violently. The sudden compression generated immense pressure and howling winds, forcing me back a few steps and making me shield my face with my arms. Fable wrapped himself around me, taking the brunt of the storm and blotting out the blinding, golden glow of Haven.

When it finally dissipated, I blinked my eyes open, and my lips parted in a gasp. It was gone. The entire cathedral, rift and Shard included, had vanished without a trace.