The Forsaken Hero

A brilliant light fell over the city, matching the radiance of Arboreal World to my eyes. Its rays made my horns itch and skin crawl, pricking like the legs of a thousand insects. At its heart was a figure of light, as brilliant as the noonday sun overhead. It hovered several hundred feet in the air, gazing around the devastation of the city. Wings as glorious as the noonday sun extended from its back, matched by a sword cut from the same fabric in its hand.

”A Sun arbiter,” Fyren murmured.

”Is that bad?”

”Just for your apostle. It couldn’t be better for the Life Mage.”

I nodded slowly, watching as the arbiter’s wings beat, sending it streaking across the sky in a line of lingering light. Curses had no inherent weakness, not in the magic of this world, but Luke’s blood was only marginally more resistant to the power than my own. As for Selena, as a native mortal of Enusia, she’d be able to shrug off anything below ninth-level with the help of Adaptive Resistance.

The arbiter blazed across the sky, a spear of divine light aimed directly at the grove’s heart. As it drew near, a counterpoint rose from below—a single mote of emerald light, vibrant as the deepest forests of Sylvarus. Selena’s mana bloomed in the air, and with it, eight massive magic circles materialized over the city, spinning into existence like gears of an ancient machine. Each stretched wider than a mile across, their edges blurring as they rotated, their green light pulsing in time with a rhythm that resonated through the very soil of Duskwood. They coalesced, forming a towering column five hundred feet high that seemed to anchor the sky to the earth below.

The arbiter passed directly overhead, its divine radiance casting the column in brilliant gold. As it did, the circles flared. A pulse of pure green light erupted from the ground, surging upward with such force that the air itself trembled. The earth responded in kind, the ground beneath the arbiter rumbling and shifting as if awakening from a long slumber.

The ground ruptured, rising in pillars woven of tree, building, and street, erupted from the ground, twisting together like the threads of a tapestry, forming a titanic humanoid figure. I gasped in horror as I saw countless souls, like distant stars in the sky, tumbling from the newly formed monstrosity’s form. They were those unfortunate enough to be caught in the spell’s area, their homes and manors called into its body.

But another spell resolved, and countless vines snapped into the air, groping for the plummeting elves. They snapped around their limbs and torso, dragging them safely to the earth. I swallowed hard, tail slumping. I should have known Selena wouldn’t allow her own people to be harmed in her spells.

The titan’s roar tore through the sky, a sound like the very foundations of the city grinding against itself. Its form loomed a thousand feet over the battleground, a patchwork monstrosity of earth, stone, and splintered architecture all woven into the rough approximation of a humanoid shape. The proportions were warped—limbs too thick, torso too narrow, crowned with massive hands shaped like clubs of masonry and ruin. Where eyes should have been, two emerald lights pulsed in the hollows of its face, burning with the same suffocating pressure that radiated from its entire being.

”Now that’s not something you see every day,” Fyren said, rubbing his chin. ”To think she had a spell like that hidden up her sleeve.”

”Surely you’ve seen something like this before,” I said, trying to hide my own wonder.

He shrugged. ”The life mages of her class that I’ve seen were healers first and foremost. Even the life heroes throughout the ages have fought in support roles, never leading the charge. To see one engage in direct combat like this...it’s exceptionally rare.”

The life elemental moved, its fist crashing down on the small dot of light the arbiter had become. It looked slow and clumsy, but sonic booms erupted from its fist as it surpassed the speed of sound, cracking the air like a whip. The arbiter dodged, weaving between the golem’s fingers with a grace that left afterimages in his wake.

”That thing will never threaten it,” Fyren said, folding his arms. ”Not that it has to, but I wonder if it’s going to be able to buy enough time.”

”Luke’s there, too. I think she’s going to use it to lead it away from the city,” I said.

Just as I guessed, not two seconds later, the elemental began retreating. The titan’s movement was ponderous yet terrifying, each footstep shaking the foundations of the city as it lumbered across Duskwood. In its wake, buildings crumbled, streets split apart, and the very earth groaned under the strain of its passage. The arbiter obliged, following it with a vicious slash of his sword. A crescent of light burst from the blade, arcing out and blazing a line across the city, some miles long. The elemental groaned as it struck its back, leaving a line of charred forest and earth.

Just as destructive as the art itself was the shockwave it generated, both in the release and impact. Entire city blocks crumbled under its weight, the ruins bursting into flame from the extraordinary heat. Hundreds of souls extinguished in the blink of an eye. Even our ship, though miles away, rocked as it struck us, forcing even Fyren to put a steadying hand on the railing.

”They’re going to destroy the entire city fighting like this,” Victor said with a curse.

I glanced at him, a ponderous frown touching my lips. He’d been quiet since the battle started, and honestly, I’d completely forgotten he was even there. But he was right.

”Don’t even think about it,” Fyren said, staring at me.

”I can help,” I said, knuckles whitening as my grip on the railing tightened. ”Even if I can’t fight, I can still protect everyone.”

”Perhaps, but you’ll lead them right to us. After seeing what he can do, do you really think you can contest that arbiter right now?”

I hesitated, glancing back at the door leading into the belly of the ship. ”I haven’t found the source of the disruption, but Fate is still blocked around here,” I said. ”No matter what spell I cast, they won’t be able to track it to us unless they physically see me.”

”And you have the mana for it? You’re not pushing yourself?” he asked

”I’ll be fine. I can use the Prism.”

His doubt flooded our bond, so thick I couldn’t tell whether it was his or my own. Probably a little of both.

”I-I’ll be fine,” I said aloud, raising my voice over the roar of the wind. As bad a liar as I was verbally, that was nothing compared to my transparency using soul speak.

”What makes you think you can use the prism?” Victor asked. ”From the way I saw it, even that inquisitor had a hard time managing all its power, else you would have been slaughtered.”

I gave him a sharp look, but he shrugged unapologetically.

”It can’t be that different than drawing from a shard, or the infernal mana in a gate. I can do it.” I smiled bitterly. ”I have to.”

With a sigh, he relented. ”Fine, but if I sense the slightest wavering from your soul, I’m calling it.”

My tail gave a twitch, a nervous gesture I couldn’t suppress. I turned away from Fyren, his skepticism still ringing in our bond, and found Captain Melvet at the helm, barking orders to keep the Azure Wing steady amidst the tremors that shook the sky with each strike between the arbiter and the life elemental.

Though I had a good idea how to draw upon the prism’s power, it remained tied into the ship’s weapon systems below. I couldn’t be sure how diverting its energy might affect the Azure Wing’s stability, already strained from our earlier battle and now buffeted by the distant shockwaves. Probably not at all, I told myself, recalling how the high inquisitor had effectively done what I was about to attempt during our fight. I could only hope.

”If you’re certain, My Lady, we’ll give it our best shot,” the captain said, fighting with the controls. He flashed me a tense smile. ”Just don’t blow us up, alright?”

I gave Captain Melvet a tight smile in response, but as I turned toward the stairs that would take me below deck, Victor shifted to block my path. His expression was grim, jaw tight as he stared down at me.

”You can’t,” he said, his voice low but firm. ”A spell that large will be visible across the city. The moment it resolves, they’ll see the epicenter up here, and they’ll come for you.”

”And what’s the alternative?” I asked, my tail giving an anxious flick against my leg. ”We let them destroy the city while we hide?”

His eyes flicked to my tail, a brief acknowledgement before returning to my face. ”Not necessarily. You’ll only be vulnerable for a brief second, during the casting. Let me draw their attention until your magic stabilizes.”

”You’ll reveal yourself? But if they know you don’t have the heart crest, they’ll be just as eager to kill you,” I protested.

He flashed me a grin, his armaments appearing in the air. ”Let them come.”