The Forsaken Hero

”Elise?” I choked out, my voice trembling. ”What’s happening? Why did you—”

”Looks like she was right,” Elise said, ignoring my questions. She raised her hand, revealing another ring next to the first. It was an ornate band of gold topped by a diamond—nearly identical to the bracelet I now wore. The control half of a Soul Binder, the same kind the inquisitor had tricked me into wearing.

”No! Please, no!” I recoiled, my voice thick with horror. ”W-why? And where is she? What did you do with Elise?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. ”Nothing, of course. If anything, she’s enjoying her life more than ever right now, though she seemed a little irritated when I interrupted her and Alverin’s nightly fun.”

”You’re lying,” I whispered, blinking back the tears.

”Maybe, maybe not,” she said with a wink. ”That’s the best part about secrets, isn’t it?”

The bracelet weighed on my wrist with the weight of a mountain. I could feel its thick, malign power oozing over my soul, attempting to corrupt me. It took some effort to force the panic down, but my eyes grew wet, and my entire body started to quiver.

”No, she wouldn’t do that,” I half-sobbed, my voice a fierce whisper, my hands clenched into fists. ”She wouldn’t betray me.”

Elise raised an eyebrow, a cruel smirk twisting her lips. ”Wouldn’t she? She literally tripped over her own words to tell me everything about you. Like how you’re super distrustful of everyone except for her. About how she saved you, and that made you trust her more than your own companions.” She paused, her smirk widening. ”And this all while she’s spreading her legs for that idiot king too.”

”Why are you telling me this?” I said, voice broken.

She sidled closer and cupped my cheek, ignoring my attempts to shy away. Her hand was gentle, intimate even, like a lover’s touch. I found myself drawn to her eyes, Elise’s eyes, and my tail went limp at the derision I saw there.

”Just look at you,” she purred, stroking my cheek tenderly. ”Weak, trembling, and afraid. You should have known it was too good to be true, that Elise will forever be trapped as a slave. But you couldn’t. Somehow, you managed to convince yourself of a lie when the truth was right before you.”

”This didn’t have anything to do with you,” I said, ”It was between me and the Circle.”

”Is that what you thought?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. ”I’m afraid there’s much more going on here than just you and the Circle. You’re just one strand of this web, one whispered word in the secret. It is your arrogance in assuming you’re the center of everything that makes your fall so much sweeter.”

My fall? From the moment she’d broken character as Elise until now, I’d gotten a sense of detachment from her, an emotional distance between the things she said and myself. They felt recited, like an actor’s lines.

But this idea seemed to make her excited, that someone like me wasn’t the center of the universe. She didn’t seem to be lying, either, which meant I was only a means to an end. It wasn’t arrogant at all, like she believed, to assume I wasn’t the center of the conflict in Enusia. My staff guaranteed the gods were hunting me, not to mention my role in opposing the gods’ plans enacted through the Circle. So, who then could be her target? What was her goal?

”You’re after Luke, aren’t you?”

I said it before realizing it was true, but her reaction removed all doubt. For the first time, her smile slipped, her eyes turning dangerous. But before she could react, a new, masculine voice called out.

”Lady Anna, are you there?”

She was apart from me in a flash, leaving the warmth of her touch lingering on my cheek, her flowery scent in my nostrils. Several sets of heavy footsteps preceded a small line of soldiers, coming around the hillside toward us. As the soldiers called her, the woman, Lady Anna quickly adjusted her robe and took on a playful, flirtatious expression quite unlike the face she had just shown me. Had it all been an act, or was this one, or even both? It was impossible to tell with her.

The arriving soldiers were few in number, perhaps ten of them, but boasted powerful gear and souls at the minimum of the sixth level. The leader wore a crest I recognized from its use in the Last Light Company, that of a captain. He was young, thirty maybe, with a thick mustache and a long-handled axe strapped to his back.

”You’re early,” he said, raising his hand and signaling the soldiers to stop.

”Better early than late,” Anna replied with a wink. ”And I’ve accomplished my mission. As promised, one escaped slave.”

The captain turned his gaze to me, and I shivered. He made no attempt to hide the lust in his eyes, nor did his men. ”So this is the elusive oracle, eh? Not bad, she’s definitely got the look of a slut, though she’s wearing a little too many clothes for my liking.”

Despite myself, I took half a step behind Anna, my tail twitching anxiously behind me. That caused them all to chuckle, their leers deepening.

”Yes, indeed, very good,” the captain said, giving a satisfied nod. His eyes flitted back to Anna, and he hesitated a moment, scratching his cheek.

”What is it?” she asked, tossing her long, golden hair. ”Like what you see?”

”Well, um, is it necessary to remain in that form?” he asked, ”I would prefer your real look.”

Anna grinned and fluttered her eyelashes at them. ”What, does seeing the court plaything like this bother you?”

The man shifted uncomfortably. ”Indeed. I mean no disrespect, but once a slut moans your name, it’s hard to see them in any other light.”

”None taken,” she replied light-heatedly. She snapped and cast a fourth-circle spell, and her entire body shifted, growing even more lithe and graceful, with fewer curves and a chest no fuller than my own. Her new form had short, dark hair and piercing gray eyes, giving off a sense of mystery and danger. I shivered as she returned my gaze, and her lips twitched in a now-familiar smile.

”Now then,” she said, stretching, causing her ample bust to strain against her robes, ”Shall we get going? The king won’t appreciate us being tardy.”

”Must we be so hasty?” The captain asked, holding an arm out to stop her from leaving. ”It wouldn’t be right to take a girl in without a little preparation first. She’s got to know enough to please the king, right?”

The men circled around me, leers returning full force. I felt naked and vulnerable before their eyes, like a sheep before wolves, shying even closer to Anna.

Anna, for her part, seemed wholly unconcerned and just shrugged. ”My part of this is done, so do as you wish. But I don’t think Alverin will take kindly to getting damaged goods. This isn’t your normal slave run, after all. Think carefully if you value a moment of pleasure over your own head.”

”Yeah, yeah,” the man grumbled, ”I suppose that’s fair. And if this one turns out anything like Elise, I imagine I’ll get my turn soon enough. But what about the soul crest? Are you sure it’s functioning?”

Anna raised her hand, showing off the ring. ”Well, considering she hasn’t tried to escape once, I’d say it was successful. Just look at her, though. Anyone can tell she’s scared out of her mind.”

”You didn’t bother tying her hands?” another soldier asked, raising an eyebrow.

She sniffed. ”Like I said, there was no need. Without her mana, she’s just a regular village girl, fragile as a flower. Even if she tried to run, she’d probably just trip and hurt herself.”

”That’s not how I see it,” The captain said, fishing in his spatial ring. He withdrew a thick length of cord and a steel collar. I shrank back as he approached, unable to take my eyes from the collar. ”Kneel, slave.”

”N-no,” I stammered, my voice shaking. ”I won’t. Not again!”

”I don’t remember asking,” he snarled. ”Kneel!”

When I refused, he raised his hand to strike me. But as his arm reached its peak and began to descend, the tension drained from my body, and I straightened, meeting his gaze with newfound defiance.

A moment before his hand could connect with my cheek, five magic circles, soul cast, blossomed around me, and he froze, his eyes bulging in disbelief. He grunted, veins popping in his neck as he strained with his entire sixth-level soul, but he couldn’t move a muscle. It was a simple binding spell, an advanced form of Binding Winds, but strong enough to hold him.

”Jessia,” I said softly, my voice steady. Though she was behind me, I could feel her tense, soul flaring with seventh-level mana.

”How do you know my name?” she hissed.

”You’re right,” I continued, my voice still soft but unwavering. ”Everything you said was true. Elise knew me well; I was once innocent and naive enough to fall for your trap.”

I took a shallow breath and turned to face Jessia, meeting her gray eyes with my own, now shimmering with starlight. ”But she doesn’t anymore. ”

”No, that’s not possible! You can’t use mana!” Jessia said, her facade cracking into panic. ”This curse is sixth-level. How can you resist it?”

She raised her ring, threading mana into it again and again, trying to activate the soul binder. But the diamond remained dull, failing to respond, and I let out a small, unconscious breath of relief. Adaptive Resistance pulsed warm in my breast, keeping the curse at bay.

I raised my hand, and the bracelet clicked, falling to the earth with a definite thud. I rubbed my wrist as I stared around at the shocked, shell-shocked soldiers and the apostle.

”I’m not who I once was,” I said, summoning my staff. ”I won’t be chained, not by lies, shadows, or curses.” I raised the Final Star, the light reflecting off my shining eyes as it blazed to life. Five soul-cast magic circles erupted around me, lighting up the hillside like a beacon. ”I will never be a slave again.”