The Forsaken Hero

I held my breath as the knock’s echo faded, hands clasped at my waist, digging into my skirt. One second, then two. Nothing. And then...

”Come in, child.”

My shoulders sagged as I let out a breath, hands falling to my side. I glanced at Fable, who padded in front of the door and licked my hand. Emlica folded her arms, tapping her foot.

”Are you coming?” I asked, pushing Fable’s head away.

”I rather think I’ll wait outside. You’ve recovered enough mana, I might be able to help stall anyone who gets past the heroes and the apostle. Call me when the time is right.”

I nodded. ”I’ll be quick.”

With a gentle push, the door opened, and I slipped inside. The room was as I expected: simple, plain, and unadorned. There was a small counter on one side of the room, with a table, bookshelf, and bed on the other. A weak mana signature drew my gaze to the counter. There was a hole in the top covered by a grate, with a magical crystal emanating fire mana.

Nithalee stood by the table, pouring tea into porcelain cups. A quick count showed five of them. She was wearing a rich purple dress with gold trim, a high neck, and long, flowing sleeves that draped around her fingers.

”Just one?” Nithalee said, frowning at me. ”I suppose the others are busy. But come in, child. I would guess your time is short.”

I followed her gesture to the table, taking a seat across from her. She finished pouring and slid a cup across to me. I gave it an experimental sniff before sipping it. Hot, but good. It tasted like lavender, flowing through my body and warming my fingers and toes.

”An exotic spice from an island nation between the north and southern continents,” Nithalee mused. ”Very rare in this season, with the borders locked down.”

”You knew I was coming?” I asked timidly, taking another sip.

She shrugged, sitting herself and leaning forward, arms resting on the table. ”Hard to miss the explosions and shockwaves and whatnot. But, to be honest, I expected you to get in contact with me far sooner than this. It’s been months, no?”

”I...this is all we can do.”

”However, did you manage to teleport through a shard?”

I pursed my lips, not meeting her gaze. She sighed, picking up her cup in both hands and taking a long sip.

”You would have told me before,” she murmured, returning the cup to the table. ”You’ve wizened up.”

It would be nice if that were true, but my confidence came from experience. Not experience negotiating in general, but in this specific negotiation. I’d lived it a dozen times now, and generally knew what to expect.

”Nithalee, I...I need your help.”

”I daresay you do.”

I inwardly groaned. Why did she make everything so difficult? My frustration wasn’t just with her now, but all the other snide comments she’d made throughout my visions.

”You’re after the World Barrier, aren’t you. You can’t find it, but you have to break it. A trade, perhaps? For the shards?”

”H-How did you know?”

My chest tightened. That was a new line. Did that mean she’d known all the other times in my visions, and just not revealed it?

”You just told me.” She grinned, sitting back. ”And you’ll be delighted to hear that I know where the formation is centered. I helped build it, after all.”

I let out a breath. At least she hadn’t known. That meant the rest of my knowledge could still aid me. ”Will you tell me?”

She clicked her tongue, waggling her finger. ”Of course not! It’s the greatest hope of humankind! My god may not be friends with the Sun god’s faction, but he could never condemn a world to the demons.”

It was a complete, utter dismissal, without a shred of hesitation. My tail curled around the chair leg, rubbing against the hard, sharp edges. It hurt like a pinch, and I grabbed the appendage, forcing it off the wood. My cheeks warmed as Nithalee raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching.

”You don’t seem particularly upset,” she said.

My blush darkened. ”Well, um, if you truly had no intention of helping me, you wouldn’t have invited me in. And you wouldn’t have offered me tea. It’s good. Thank you.”

She shook her head, rubbing her forehead. ”The temerity of youth. How naive. Is your courage supposed to persuade me?”

”You said the same thing about the antimagic field, and yet you destroyed it, too.”

Her eyes sharpened, focusing on me. A chill raced down my spine, but I tightened my grip on my tail, refusing to let it twitch.

”Then you must have something to offer me. Something worth a World Barrier,” she said.

I took a short breath. There it was, the real reason she hadn’t attacked. Exactly as I’d foreseen countless times.

”I don’t suppose a vision would interest you. I’ve gotten rather good at those,” I offered half-heartedly.

She chuckled, taking a sip. ”I’m afraid the future is of no consequence. The few things that can threaten one of my level will still threaten me no matter how prepared I am for them.”

I nodded, expecting as much. With a thought, I called Emlica, who ghosted through the door as though it weren’t there.

Nithalee froze the moment the remnant’s aura touched her. Slowly, she raised her head, meeting the golden woman’s proud gaze.

”What...is this...?” she asked, eyes never leaving Emlica.

’Who?’ is a better question, don’t you think?” Emlica said, folding her arms crossly.

”Not a summon, or a Risen. And this aura. I’ve never felt anything like it!” Nithalee cried, rising from her chair.

She swept around Emlica, poking and prodding the remnant with wisps of her aura. I waited with my hands in my lap, anxiously gripping my skirt. This was the only part of our conversation things truly varied. The only part that actually mattered.

”Sit down, girl,” Emlica said, letting out a huff. ”You’d do well to show your elders some respect.”

Nithalee recoiled, her eyes narrowing. But she exhaled softly and relaxed her expression, backing off with a respectful nod.

”Forgive me, I let my curiosity get the best of me. Who, and more importantly, what are you?”

”This child calls me a ’remnant,’ but I’m not sure any word can describe my nature. My past, however, is more clear. I was once like you, a student of fate and magic. Now, I serve my goddess in a closer, more intimate way.”

”An archon?” Nithalee’s eyes widened.

Emlica shrugged. ”Once, but no longer.”

”You serve the goddess of fate still. I was certain she’d fallen...is she still in a form that can be served?”

”Too many questions for one who refuses to give answers of her own,” Emlica said.

Nithalee’s lips drew in a firm line. ”I see. You’re here to exchange knowledge for knowledge.” Her gaze returned to me, softened by a smile. ”You knew you had nothing to offer, so you found one who did. Clever girl. The question remains, is what you have to offer worth more than what I hold? It would be most inconvenient if certain people were to discover I’d disclosed the location of their greatest shield.”

Emilca glanced at me, and I nodded.

”Watch, and judge for yourself,” Emlica said.

The remnant raised one hand, maintaining eye contact with the mage. Runes materialized in her palm, drawing the mana from my soul. The first was a first-circle light spell, conjuring a ball of bouncing light about an inch across. The other was a sixth-circle spell, with every circle spinning a different speed and direction. Nithalee watched, fascinated, as the circles formed into one, resolving in a spell I didn’t recognize.

”Temporal Echo”

A purple light filled the room, resonating with my soul. I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth, before the appearance of a new spell caused me to look. A single magic circle spun above Emlica’s hand, resolving and creating another small ball of light. It rose and joined the first spinning in the air. The two were identical, to the point I couldn’t discern a single thread of mana so much as a hair out of place between them.

”Impossible,” Nithalee whispered.

”What happened?” I asked, looking between the two wizened mages.

Nithalee ghosted forward, reaching as if to touch the floating balls, only for her hand to fall short. She turned to Emlica, eyes burning with hunger.

”How can such a thing be done? Teach me this spell.”

Emlica smiled, raising a finger. She waggled it, a near-perfect mimicry of Nithalee’s dismissal of my request earlier.

Nithalee frowned, folding her arms and wearing the closest thing to a pout I’d ever seen on a ninth-level being.

”You won’t trade for something else?” she asked hopefully. ”As much as I yearn for that spell, to trade a world barrier for it...”

Emlica raised an eyebrow. ”You thought I was trading a spell? Oh, no, forgive the misconception. I’m offering something far greater than that. Give Xiviyah what she desires, and I guarantee you a chance to visit the Library of Fate.”