The Forsaken Hero

”Emlica!” I gasped, turning to stare at the remnant. ”You can’t...I mean...but that’s–”

Emlica chuckled, patting me on the shoulder. ”Take a breath, child. Her god has already been there, remember? Whatever she might learn is only a fraction of his minute-long visit revealed.”

My mouth clicked shut as I flushed red, quickly averting my gaze. ”Sorry, I’m just...can you offer something like that?”

”You’re the one who brought me along. Isn’t it a little late to be asking that?”

Nithalee cleared her throat. ”By the Library of Fate, you couldn’t possibly mean...?”

Emlica nodded. ”The very same. The Divine Library that once resided in Fate’s Divine Kingdom. It’s filled with the accumulated knowledge of countless millennia, beginning shortly after the first Realm War.”

”Realm war?” Nithalee raised her eyebrow.

Emlica stood just a little taller, staring down her nose at the ninth-level mage. ”Yes, I suppose you wouldn’t know about things like that. The gods have kept this world ignorant of the rich history of the Divine. It’s almost as much a shame as restricting Enusia to a fraction of the spells available in other realms. Spells, I might mention, that are carefully recorded in the Library of Fate.”

”Fate’s divine Kingdom fell. How could any part of it survive? The new god of fate has already established a new realm to replace it,” Nithalee said.

I stiffened, avoiding her searching gaze.

”You didn’t...” she muttered, staring at me. ”Is that why the god of Fate is so eager for your staff? Not just the divinity, but you’re hiding an entire realm in there?”

I shrank back as far as my seat would allow me, glancing over my shoulder at the door. Why did Fable have to stay outside? I really needed something to pet right now, something to soothe my nerves.

”What will it be, mage?” Emlica asked.

”As enticing as your offer is, I’m afraid it’s unverifiable. The only way you could prove the existence of such a place is by taking me there, but doing so would give away any bargaining power you have. Just glimpsing a place as ancient as a divine library is a gift in and of itself.”

Emlica’s eyebrows rose. ”You’re turning my offer down? Not one mage in a trillion receives the chance to personally attend a divine realm.”

She shrugged, offering a small smile. ”I’m afraid the secrets I carry are just that valuable. Divulging the location of the core mage would set the entire world against me. What good is learning some cryptic knowledge if I end up being harried for the next two hundred years?”

”Not the whole world,” I said slowly, meeting her gaze. ”Maybe now, but not the future. Many nations shall rise in the ashes of the infernal invasion, and very few of them will stand on the foundation of the divine. The gods have played their hand, sacrificing and enslaving countless souls in the process. Once the shackles are gone, they shall find their halls empty.”

”You’re suggesting I flee to the northern continent? And lose everything I’ve built here for the last three hundred years?”

”You will lose it regardless,” I said with a confidence I didn’t feel. ”Fate has chosen its course. Powerful as you are, you’re not strong enough to resist the current. You, like the rest of the Divine and Infernal Realms, will be swept upon its whims.”

Nithalee hesitated, eyes darting between me and Emlica. Her breathing was heavier than I remembered, and a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. I looked at Emlica, but she wasn’t releasing any sort of pressure. The remnant didn’t even glance at me, just watched Nithalee closely, lips pursed as if she were deep in thought.

Nithalee’s tongue rasped over her lips. ”I think, perhaps, I was too hasty. Allow me a week within the sacred halls of your library, and the location will be yours.”

”One day,” Emlica said flatly.

Nithalee swallowed. ”Two.”

”Fine.” Emlica folded her arms, eyes narrowed. ”But the location now.”

”How can I trust your world?”

”Do you think this child is capable of such guile?” Emlica asked.

Their gazes both settled on me. I resisted the urge to shrink, keeping my back tall and straight. Nithalee had regained some of her composure, but as our eyes met, she looked away first.

”Darkreign Keep. That’s where Lusha’s hiding. Find her, and you’ll get your chance to bring down the world barrier.”

”Darkreign Keep,” I repeated the name slowly, committing it to memory. I hadn’t the faintest idea where or what that was, but someone would. Maybe Korra or r’lissea had been there on their travels.

”I’ve given you what you want. Don’t you dare forget what you owe me, or there will be hell to pay,” Nithalee said.

She rose, looking like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Walking over to the bookshelf, she selected a thick tome with a heavy presence and set it on the table.

”This is a ninth-level tome,” Nithalee said, patting the cover. ”You came here to steal it. Fortunately, I was here at the time and fought you off. An eight-level spell ought to do it, right?”

”What?” A chill ran down my spine. ”What are you saying? We didn’t come here to–”

”Xiviyah,” Emlica said sharply. ”We have what we came for. Let’s return to the shard before I’m forced back to Haven.”

I rose quickly, gaze lingering on the tome. Nithalee watched us, a small smile spreading across her face.

”Good luck, Oracle. I pray that the next time we meet, it won’t be as enemies. But for now, you’d better do as she suggests. I won’t go easy on you just because we made a deal. Try not to die.”

Her aura exploded, bearing down with the full force of a ninth-level soul. I gasped, staggering as it struck me like a punch, driving the breath from my lungs. The entire room shuddered, dust raining from the ceiling.

I gave her one terrified look, noting the eight magic circles appearing around her, before turning tail and fleeing. Fable met me outside, waiting for me to crawl onto his back before taking off the way we had come.

”R’lissea, Korra, we got it. Let’s get out of here!” I cried through the mindlink.

”What the hell is that aura?” Korra’s panicked voice came. ”I can feel it out here!”

”Just run! We’ll meet you at the Cathedral.”

Several guards rallied against us, but Fable blew right through them, tossing them against the walls with the force of his passing.

”What kind of spell is that?” I asked Emlica.

”Broken Skies. It’s a pretty standard large-scale destruction spell. I’d say the range will cover from here to the cathedral, perhaps farther. Clever woman, that one.”

”What are you talking about? She’s trying to kill us!”

”No, she’s covering our tracks. With this, it’ll be impossible for anyone, even an inquisitor, to determine what happened. They’ll have to take her word on it, and even if they’re suspicious, there will be nothing they can do about it.”

”Than what she was saying before, about us stealing her spellbook?” I asked.

Emlica nodded. ”Her cover story. That way, she can justify using a spell this powerful to drive you off. And it will mislead the church about our intentions.”

”They’ll think I’m trying to break through to ninth level,” I said, realization dawning. ”They won’t even consider we might be targeting the World Barrier.”

”Oh, they’ll consider it alright. But you’re correct about the assumption of breaking through. After all, it would be insane to attack the southern continent before you break through to the ninth level, and this will only confirm that. They’ll think they have years, maybe even decades, before you manage to do so, and won’t expect an attack anytime soon.”

”Maybe they’re right,” I said, ducking as a piece of rubble whooshed past my head. ”There’s no way there isn’t a ninth-elve being guarding the mage sustaining the world barrier. Lusha, or whatever her name is.”

”There will be time to plan that out later. For now, focus on escaping. We can’t afford to mess this up,” Emlica cautioned.

I nodded, taking as deep a breath as my pounding heart allowed and clearing my mind. A few seconds later, we broke through another squad of soldiers, successfully escaping the keep. R’lissea was nowhere to be seen, and neither was the eighth-level mage she’d been fighting. I could feel her soul soaring above the city, headed toward the cathedral. Gayron and Korra were apart from her, but they headed on an intercept course.

”Take us home, Fable,” I said, adjusting my grip on his fur.

Now that we were free of the building, he launched himself forward, covering ground at a dizzying rate. My wards flared visibly around us, burning mana to keep the wind from knocking me off his back. Every time his feet touched down, his muscles tensed, throwing us another hundred feet forward.

As we crossed the wall and entered the city itself, I glanced over my shoulder. My breath caught in my throat, my tail going limp. Eight magic circles surrounded the keep, growing until they dominated the sky. Purple motes of light appeared within the circles, swelling until they were the size of the two-story buildings disappearing beneath Fable’s feet.

”Don’t worry about the meteors. They look scarier than they are. Just make it to the cathedral,” Emlica urged.