The Forsaken Hero

The sorrow in my heart built until I couldn’t bear it. Letting out a sob, I threw my arms around Fyren’s neck. I knew it was foolish to consider comforting a demon, but I couldn’t restrain myself.

”What the–” Fyren jerked back, looking completely lost.

”I’m sorry,” I sobbed, hugging him tight. I touched the back of his head, caressing the wild tangles. ”I didn’t know.”

”What are you doing?” he asked, gently prying me away.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I hugged him again, and this time, he relented, awkwardly patting me on the back.

”You’re trying to make something new, aren’t you?” I asked. ”To escape the darkness, to break the cycle. To be free.”

Fyren hesitated. I could feel his head turn, exchanging looks with Incinderus. His hand paused on my back, heavy yet comforting.

”What have you seen?” he whispered. ”What do you know of the cycle?”

I pulled back, hands resting on his shoulders. He looked the same as always, but I teared up again.

”What have I seen? Fyren, you ask of the future, yet it’s no different from the past. I’ve seen the past. Lived it. And you were the one who pulled me from the darkness. Even though I had Soltair and Trithe, I was so, so alone. You’ve saved me over and over since then.”

”Xiviyah–”

I shook my head. ”You can’t tell me your heading for a future like that and not expect me to do something. You saved me from the darkness of the past. As the Oracle of Eternity, how could I not save you from the darkness of the future?”

”You would do that?” His voice was a whisper. ”Even after I lied to you?”

”I...wish you wouldn’t, but if you mean what you said, I forgive you. Betrayal hurts because you find out someone you loved and trusted isn’t who you thought they were. But you’re still Fyren. You’re the same demon who protected me in the first Fire gate, and the same who’ll be by my side, right?”

”I am.”

I smiled, an enormous weight lifted from my shoulders. Every word of his could have been a lie, but it didn’t feel like that. I knew it would just hurt all the more, and it ended up deceiving me again, but...I wanted to trust him.

A small voice in my head whispered that I had wanted to trust Luke, too, but that...that was different. It had to be, or I didn’t know what I would do. But this was a chance to try again. One last bid for the light I found in R’lissea, Elise, and Korra.

Incinderus cleared his throat. ”If you have that settled, I believe we have business to attend to.”

I jumped, my tail twitching at his voice. I’d completely forgotten he was there. Fyren patted my head one more time before helping me to my feet. I leaned against him, wiping tears from my eyes.

”Oracle, I have found your character and strength sufficient. Would you accept my horde?” Incinderus asked.

”Why? Why do you all need me to mark you?” I asked. ”Not just you, but Fyren, and Zephyr...Zephyria...:

”Zephyriss,” Fyren prompted, grinning.

I nodded, flushing. ”R-right. Zephyriss. Why is it so important? Aren’t you a demon lord?”

”Demons cannot survive being divided,” the demon lord said. ”All those under a cause must be divided, or the individual’s lust for power will overwhelm common sense. It stems from an eternity of survival and evolution, where the only goal is strength by any means. Even those with intelligent, sentient thoughts like mine will be tainted by that desire.”

”Thus, one desire must rule all,” Fyren said. ”Also, demons connect with more than words. Feelings, memories, and impressions are far more meaningful in their communications. You can guarantee the behavior of the horde only by marking them. They will begin to reflect your will even without you impressing it upon them. Given the newly attributed nature of your soul, there might even be other...symptoms.”

”What kind of symptoms?”

He chuckled, turning me toward Incinderus. ”We’ll have to see, won’t we?”

His grip was firm and irresistible, but my heart barely trembled. I felt a little proud of myself at that. He didn’t have to manhandle me, but my instincts were much more tame than when Luke did it. Maybe I was growing, a little.

Incinderus knelt on one knee, shaking the ground a little. He extended an immense, clawed hand, holding it a foot above my head. Taking a breath, I reached up at touched it. It was warm and abrasive, like a scratched fingernail.

”I swear fealty to the Oracle of Eternity, and accept her mark,” Incinderus said.

The rush of mana took my breath away. It was like marking Zephyriss, only hot and stifling instead of cool and breezy. The sensation lasted a lot longer, too, though I wasn’t sure if that was because I was exhausted or because my mana was so low. Invika certainly hadn’t taken it easy on the spellcasting.

Incinderus shuddered as the rune of fate materialized in his soul. His tail lashed, and he drew back sharply, his aura constricting. A wave of thoughts and feelings rushed into my mind, but I was getting good at balling them up and ignoring them. Too much practice, recently.

”By the emperor, that feels...odd,” he muttered. ”Damned fate mana.”

Fyren grinned. ”I told you it was weird. Just wait until she shares her ability with you, and it’ll all be worth it. There’s nothing quite like ignoring spells thrown at you.”

”I look forward to it. Now, Oracle, if you will?” the demon lord said, gesturing at the passage ahead.

The lava tube opened up into another cavern, this one the size of an inn room. A glowing red crystal floated in the center.

”The gate core?” I asked.

At his nod, I approached and reached out, brushing the smooth, crystalline core. It was hot, like Incinderus, and filled with infernal mana. It reminded me of the seething tides of mana saturating the gate, and my hand jerked back. It was like a jolt of electricity, making my soul ache, burning along the lines it had fractured after the ice gate in Brithlite.

Fyren put a hand on my shoulder. ”It’s constrained to the crystal, so unless you do something foolish like drawing it into your soul, there’s no danger.”

”R-right,” I said, shivering again. ”What do you want me to do?”

”Would you do the honors?” Incinderus asked. ”It’s time for us to step into Enusia.”

”The gates breaking?” I gasped.

He shrugged. ”Use your mana like a stimulus. The gate will do the rest.”

I hesitated, glancing at Fyren. He nodded.

Carefully, tentatively, I coiled a small strand of mana up and inserted it into the crystal. It lit up like the sun, blinding me. I squeaked and averted my eyes, blinking back stars. My mana had retreated in the moment, but the crystal continued to resonate, the mana within vibrating with growing intensity. As it reached its peak, a violent, discordant note rang out, like breaking glass. The entire gate lurched, throwing me into Fyren. He caught me and kept his hand on my back, steadying me as aftershocks rolled through the caverns.

Everything grew still. I looked back at the crystal, but it had fallen out of the air. A large crack ran through the middle, and it had lost its color. All of the mana within had disappeared.

”That’s it?” I asked.

”That’s it,” Fyren said. ”Now we can leave.”

As we returned to the massive cavern in the heart of the gate, I was shocked by the number of demons that had gathered. It had felt crowded before, with close to ten thousand by my guess, yet now there were nearly double that. My soul’s senses pinged nonstop, urging me to run and hide, to cower before this insurmountable threat. It was hard even seeing the walls through the sheer mana generated by their combined attributed souls.

”How many are there?” I asked, hiding from their hungry gazes behind Fyren.

”I brought close to thirty thousand,” Incinderus answered. ”All my most trusted and powerful servants who weren’t currently engaged in an invasion. It might be the greatest horde I’ve ever personally assembled.”

”My Lord,” Magscale alighted beside us, dropping into a low bow. His tail flicked, his wings trembling.

”You survived that?” Incinderus raised an eyebrow. ”I see you’ve grown stronger.”

”Forgive me for speaking out of turn. But I still don’t understand the cause of offense.”

Incinderus shrugged. ”I can’t say I get it either, but for some reason, this mortal’s emotions were important to that...existence. And that, alone, is enough.”

The winged demon looked troubled. ”I see. Even ten thousand years isn’t enough to learn all there is to learn, is it?”

Fyren chuckled. ”I was the same as you when I first arrived, but being around this one taught me there is more to mortals than blood and souls. Their lives are fleeting, but that is precisely why they cling to them so dearly. Even one sorrowful experience can persist throughout a lifetime.”

”I’m right here,” I muttered, tail twitching furiously.

Fyren laughed again, patting me on the head with a heavy hand. ”Are you ready to leave?”