The Forsaken Hero

Jessia folded her arms, face darkening. ”It’s not good. Not good at all.”

”So you’re already back?” Luke asked.

She nodded. ”I didn’t have much of a chance to snoop around. They had a weird enchantment over the entire area that basically nullified my–”

”Wait!” I said, looking up at the sky. It took me a second before I found the slight waver in fate.

”What do you want?” Jessia asked, frowning at me. ”Don’t just tell me t–”

”Jessia!” Luke hissed, eyes narrowed.

She stuck her tongue out at him but remained silent.

”Silent Stars,” I breathed, completing the spell.

A shimmering wave of fate mana rolled from my outstretched hand, flowing outward in an ever-expanding dome. The outer edge rapidly reached the small distortion in fate, and the stars froze, locking together and forcing the invading presence away.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Verity’s soul retreated, lowering my hand. ”Sorry, Jessia, I didn’t mean to shout, it’s just...”

”She was watching?” Luke asked, brow furrowed.

I nodded. ”Not anymore, though. I finished the spell to block her, and, um, if you want, I could teach it to a few demons.”

”I would like that.” He smiled at me. ”It’s called Silent Stars? A beautiful name.”

I rubbed my arm, a light blush coloring my face. ”Elise came up with it.”

”It’s a good name. Fitting.”

Jessia leaned forward, holding her hands behind her back like a schoolgirl. ”So, can I talk now?”

Luke rolled his eyes and waved. ”Please, go ahead.”

”Good,” she said, straightening. ”Whatever damned magic they cast over that city locked me out of the shadows. I tried infiltrating on foot, but they’re watching the canyon closer than a hawk.”

She described the fortifications and army placements, but it all spun around in my head—a thousand soldiers here, a few mana cannons there. Without any visual, I struggled to put it together in my head. There were just too many unfamiliar factors, and all I got for my efforts was a dull, budding headache. The others seemed to have no such problem, nodding along as she finished her report.

”So you don’t think that enchantment was targeted at you?” Luke asked her.

Jessia shrugged. ”Could be, but I doubt it. You know, as well as I do, my abilities are unlike anything else, and the church isn’t exactly keen on innovating new magic. It’s more likely they dug up an old musty tome somewhere that blocks all sorts of spatial travel.”

”I don’t like it,” Luke muttered, rubbing his horn. ”They’ve never had anything like this before.”

”They’re probably just adapting to the tricks we’ve shown them in the past,” R’lissea said. ”Soltair and the Pope were always talking about things like that.”

”That’s what I’m worried about,” he agreed. ”How many of our tactics have they come up with a counter to?”

I shivered, remembering the trap the inquisitor laid for me in Liceria. What if they managed to recreate the system that turned my Mana Storm against me? I’d thrown it around several times, but only under Luke’s watchful eye. He and his army could handle something like that, but what if the church found a way to neutralize him, as well?

”Well, one thing’s for sure,” Jessia said, turning around to face us and walking backward. ”They have enough firepower on the wall to slice our army to ribbons.”

”What about a Grand Aegis?” I asked.

She shook her head. ”Sure, if you feel like being targeted by a few seventh-level mages.”

”W-what?”

”It’s a common tactic to have teams of high-level warriors on stand-by,” Luke said, frowning at her. ”The moment they sense a powerful spell being cast nearby, they’ll be drawn right to your location.”

”Even with your freakishly fast cast time, a few seconds is all it takes for one of those monsters to track you down. I’d hate to be there when they did,” Jessia said with a smile.

I shivered. ”Then, um, what are we going to do?”

”I’d like to get a better look at that enchantment Jessia was talking about. I have a feeling it does more than suppress Jessia’s ability, but the only way we could learn that is with your Eyes,” Luke said, rubbing his chin. ”But I’m reluctant to put you at risk again. I won’t let what happened in Whitecliff City happen again.”

I looked between them, then back at R’lissea.

”We did promise to help them,” she whispered, returning my gaze. ”But it’s your choice.”

”I’ll do it.” My throat was tight, causing my voice to come out as a croak. I shrank back as the apostles looked at me, swallowing hard before repeating myself. ”I’ll do it.”

”Are you sure? We’ll have to travel ahead of the horde. You’ll be exposed,” Luke said.

I tightened my grip on Borealis, hugging him closer. The bird met my gaze, and I shuddered. ”That...might not be true.”

Luke’s eyes fell to the demon, his tail stiffening. ”You can’t be serious.”

R’lissea hugged me closer. ”Xiviyah, are you sure that’s a good idea? You get nervous whenever Fable goes a little too fast, not to mention when he does something like jumping over a wall.”

”Well, I think it’s a great idea!” Jessia said.

Her eagerness caused my tail to curl, and I could feel R’lissea’s worried gaze, but I pushed down my growing anxiety and nodded.

”I don’t want someone to hold my hand,” I mumbled, meeting the demon’s gaze. ”It’ll be like riding Fable when he’s big. Just...really high. I can do it.”

It cawed softly and nuzzled my chest with its head. Oddly enough, I could feel a faint affirmation and knew it agreed.

”It won’t be subtle, but I doubt they’d see this coming,” Luke said, rubbing his chin.

” I’ll keep channeling Silent Stars so Verity won’t, either. As long as we’re quick, they won’t have enough time to figure out a way to attack us,” I said.

”Very well, if you’re fine with it, I won’t argue,” Luke said, folding his arms. ”To be honest, I never even considered a plan this insane. Not just because I hadn’t thought you’d agree to it, but flying brazenly over an enemy stronghold...it’s insane, to be frank.”

Once we were all in agreement, we spent a few minutes making preparations. Things went well at first, but butterflies stirred in my stomach the moment I realized we wouldn’t be able to fly out of the canyon. Borealis was simply too big to take flight here. Soon, we stood at the base of the canyon wall, waiting for Luke to return.

”This was your idea,” R’lissea said, nudging me with her shoulder. ”If you didn’t want to do it, you shouldn’t have offered.”

”I know, it’s just...” I bit my lip, hugging myself tightly. ”I didn’t think we’d have to...to...”

”What, jump up a little wall?” She asked, grinning. ”If you can’t even do that, how did you think you’d be able to fly? That’ll be a hundred times worse.”

”Better,” Jessia corrected. ”A hundred times better.”

I shivered more violently this time. ”I said I’d do it,” I said, gritting my teeth.

”Everything alright? You look a little pale,” Luke said, striding up to us. He wore his armor now, and had his sword strapped across his back.

”I’m fine, don’t worry about me,” I said, not meeting his gaze.

He frowned, watching me for a moment, before shrugging. ”If you say so. Let’s get going.”

Borealis had been perched atop Fable’s head, talons curled around his horn. At Luke’s words, he took the sky, flying circles over my head as I anxiously climbed atop my wolf. R’lissea got behind me, and Luke and Jessia stepped to the side. I figured there wasn’t room for them, so Fable would have to return and pick them up on a second trip.

As Fable took a few steps back, giving himself room to clear the cliffs, R’lissea grasped me around the waist. I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around the wolf’s neck. This wasn’t the first time, or even the worst time, I’d done something like this. It was only a couple hundred feet. No need to get so nervous. Taking a deep breath, I tried to tell him we were ready, but my voice caught in my throat. I buried my face in his fur, heart pounding. Even if I thought all that, what did it matter? I was still terrified.

”Let’s go,” R’lisea said from behind me. ”They’re waiting.”

Waiting? I risked a peek out and froze, finding Luke and Jessia gone. A few tendrils of shadowy mana lingered where they’d been standing, the residue left by her Shadow Step ability. Wait, couldn’t she have just taken me too and–

I screamed as Fable lunged forward, kicking off the ground with enough force to shatter the canyon floor. In less than a heartbeat, be hung in the sky over the mountains, close to five hundred feet in the air. I had no time to appreciate the beauty of the peaks arraigned before us before we were falling again. Fable had overshot by about a hundred feet, which wasn’t much all things considered, but far, far too long for me. R’lissea’s giggle sounded in my ear, but I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the jarring impact.