The Forsaken Hero

”Choose!” Lord Evlon said, staring down imperiously at the smaller-framed Elaine.

The inquisitor holding the emperor let go of his spear, pulling a knife and laying it to the emperor’s throat. His dropped weapon remained floating by his side, held aloft by a tendril of mana.

”You dare...? ” she growled.

Lord Evlon shrugged. ”After so much, what more is a little provocation? Besides, you have much bigger things to worry about than a drop of blood. Isn’t that right, filthblood?” His disdain turned to curiosity. ”Though I am curious why you seem to know what’s happening.”

Another bead of blood oozed past the blade at my throat, dribbling down the gleaming steel before dripping onto my collarbone. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, and certainly couldn’t reply.

”Don’t hurt her!” R’lissea cried, but stiffened as the inquisitor holding her tightened his grip on her throat.

Elaine’s shoulder sagged as she let out a long breath. ”Is this really where the church stands? Sacrificing our empire in the fires of war?”

”The church does nothing save the Divine’s will. To question is to doubt, and to doubt is to align yourself with the demons.”

”I see. Then you leave me no choice.”

Evlon smiled. ”I knew you see it that way. After all, how can a pair of children compare to his majesty’s life?”

Elaine tilted her head, gazing at him strangely. ”Hmm? Why would I choose between them when I can have both?”

Evlon’s eyes widened, but it was too late. A surge of mana erupted from Avant’s soul. He thrust his hand out toward the emperor, shooting a thin stream of mana toward him. At the same a dozen other strands shot toward the other inquisitors.

Unfortunately, Lord Evlon and his companions hadn’t lowered their guard with their apparent advantage. The moment Avant’s aura rose, they sprung into action. I screamed as the knife slit across my throat, the sound fading into a wet gurgle. R’lissea cried out as well, but my vision was dark and blurry. Something sharp and cold pierced my arm, hanging heavily in my flesh.

The assassin’s grip vanished as Avant’s spell tore him from Fable’s back, and I clutched at my throat. Hot fluid sprayed between my fingers, dying the front of my dress red.

The fiery line across my throat burned every time my lungs heaved, but no breath came. I reached for my soul, instinctively starting to cast a healing spell, but my mana scattered the moment it left my soul like it had struck a wall. A fire burned inside me, the comforting power of Adaptive resistance, but it couldn’t concentrate enough to properly flare it.

My thoughts were drowned in pain and terror, every failed breath blurring what little awareness I had. The wall surrounding my soul refused to allow my next spell through, and every attempt at soulcasting ended with me losing focus as the next beat of my heart sent a fresh pulse of blood between my fingers.

There was so much blood. It was too cold. My consciousness began to fade.

Blurry faces appeared above me, shrouded in light.

”L-Luke?” I tried to call his name, but nothing came out.

Voices sounded in my ears, but nothing they said made sense. I could just writhe, aware of only the pain and encroaching darkness.

I screamed without breath or sound as the cold object lodged in my arm was torn free. The spurt of blood from the unblocked wound was little more than a trickle.

There was a flash of magic, and the darkness tinted green. Gradually, the cold retreated from my limbs, and the murk lifted. The fiery pain of the cut on my throat and punctured arm dulled, leaving me lying limp, too weak to clutch at them any longer.

”Xiviyah, can you hear me? Wake up!”

R’lissea’s frantic voice finally penetrated the gloom, jump-starting my mind. Strength surged into my limbs, and I jerked awake, gasping for breath. Miraculously, air flowed down my throat, soothing my burning lungs. I hacked violently, clearing mouthfuls of blood out of my lungs. It dribbled down my chin, following drying bloodstains that marked the struggle of the last few minutes. My dress hung heavily on my quaking body, soaked crimson.

Someone embraced me, sobbing against my chest. I could tell it was R’lissea from the subtle aroma of flowers that tickled my nose, gentle amidst the acrid stench of coppery blood.

”I thought you were...that they...but you’re okay!” she sobbed.

Again, I couldn’t breathe, the air squeezed from my lungs. I weakly patted her back, praying it was enough to get her attention.

R’lissea gasped and let go of me, casting another healing spell that brought back another portion of my strength. I tried to sit and look around, but she pushed me down.

”R’lissea.” I finally succeeded in croaking her name. ”W-we have to...move...it’s coming...”

She pressed a finger to my lips and dried her eyes with her sleeve. ”Don’t try and speak. Whatever it is you’re worried about, Elaine and Avant will take care of it.”

”No, you don’t understand! They can’t–” I coughed as another glob of blood caught in my airway. ”-can’t fight it alone. It’s a dragon!”

”A dragon? Even I’ve killed one of those. Besides, there are two Ninth-levels. Didn’t you see how easily they took out the inquisitors?”

She ran a finger over my neck, checking to see if there was a scar. There wasn’t, but I still shivered. Even her warm, slender finger felt too much like a knife. I took her hand, gently pulling it away.

”They tried to kill me,” I whispered.

She nodded. ”Me too. If Avant hadn’t been so quick, they might have succeeded.”

I closed my eyes, letting go of her hand. ”I...I couldn’t heal myself. I tried, but there was this wall or something. It was like...a soul binder.”

”I think that’s what this was,” R’lissea said, holding up a strange metal pin, almost like a bolt. It was soaked in blood. My blood. ”I don’t recognize it, but when it was stuck in your arm, none of my magic could affect you. It was an...antimagic device, I think he called it.”

”He?”

”Avant. He tore it out of your arm before he rushed over there.”

I struggled into a sitting position, looking in the direction she nodded. The mage sat crossed legend, his wand clasped tightly in both hands against his chest. Thick streams of mana wound around him, lifting his body a few inches off the ground. The sheer density of his aura was overwhelming, making the air shimmer like it were underwater. Nine magic circles rotated around him, thousands of runes appearing by the second.

”See? That’s why there’s no need to be worried,” R’lissea said. ”He’s been doing that for a minute or so and is close to finishing. Not even a dragon can do anything about that.”

”Where’s Elaine?” I asked, gripping my dress tightly.

She shrugged. ”She took off toward the palace. Er, what’s left of it, at least. It’s hard to tell with all the smoke and dust.”

”And Luke?”

She hesitated, wringing her hands. ”He’s...gone. Their auras are too far to sense anymore, so I think they left the city. I don’t blame them, but...”

”He should have been here,” I whispered, shrinking against her.

She nodded and stroked my hair, holding me as I started crying again.

”Shh, it’s alright. Even if he were here, nothing would have changed. The inquisitors were ready and caught us in a trap. Even though Elise freed them, the curse took much of their strength. I don’t think they could even fight a sixth level. We can’t blame them for retreating.”

”I know, it’s just...” I took a shaky breath, dismissing the thought. There was no reason Luke had be protect me from everything, especially after what I’d said to him. It was actually my fault for begging him to sign the treaty, and my fault for not foreseeing the curse. If I had just spent a few more seconds analyzing the scroll, I might have–

An earth-shattering roar blasted my thoughts to pieces. R’lissea and I both screamed, hugging each other as the spire bucked beneath us. Pillars of fire erupted from the fissures lacing the mountain, some towering hundreds of feet in the air. More explosions detonated within the igneous rock, sending flaming chunks of stone into the atmosphere. Entire streets and mansions disappeared as sections of the mountain collapsed inward, yawning open like a giant’s mouth.

An overwhelming aura descended on the city. The temperature rose dramatically, the hot springs fountains and ponds hissing into clouds of steam.

I reacted the instant the heat wave touched us, soul casting a ward. Blisters erupted across my flesh as the magic formed, and I screamed, writhing as if I’d been dipped in lava. The pain faded as the ward materialized, and R’lissea cast another life spell.

”I-it broke all my spells,” I panted, shuddering in her protective embrace.

She didn’t seem to hear me. Her gaze was fixed up far above us, where the entire tip of the spire had disappeared, blown away, or collapsed inward.

”What the hell is that?” she whispered. ”Is that really a dragon?”

”You were right,” I mumbled, chills running down my tail. ”There really is a dragon in the middle of the spire. Two dragons, actually.”