The Forsaken Hero

Sangra City was quiet when we arrived that night, the stars obscured by a thick cloud cover. A drizzle soaked the skyship, driving me into my room. Luke and R’lissea had joined me, R’lissea sitting beside me on the bed, Luke standing at the small, thick-paned porthole, staring at the flickering city lights below.

”Are we going to stop here for the night?” I asked, looking up hopefully as the ship drifted to a stop. ”I could do with an inn and a bath.”

”You don’t like the rain?” R’lissea asked, grinning.

I shook my head, a shiver running from my horns to my tail. ”Too cold. A nice, warm sprinkle, maybe, but--”

A low rumble rolled through the ship, the porthole lighting up. I squeaked, instinctively covering my horns and ducking my head. R’lissea giggled, taking my hand and squeezing it.

”Is it really safe to be flying up here?” I asked.

”This ship survived the direct shockwave of a ninth-level attack. A bolt of lightning’s hardly going to do anything,” Luke said.

I glared at him. ”It ended up crashing after that, remember? Like five miles away!”

Luke chuckled, sitting on my other side, taking my hand. My face warmed, but I cozied up against him, tail brushing up along his. R’lissea rolled her eyes.

”If it was a problem, there’s at least three mages in the fleet who could dismiss the storm,” R’lissea said, ”We had to do it twice on our journey around the kingdom. I guess the storms are always bad as summer turns to fall.”

”Autumn already?” I asked, shivering again. That meant snow was on its way.

R’lissea smiled, patting my hand. ”That’s how seasons work. But aren’t you glad we spent the whole summer in Sylvarus? I’d hate to have wasted the good weather traveling or be embroiled in another war.”

”Do you like the winter?” I asked, looking at Luke.

He shrugged. ”Not particularly, though only because of the inconvenience of snow and mud. Admittedly, the horde does better than mortal armies, but maneuvering them is still a pain. They don’t need provisions or shelter from the snow and ice. I take it you’re not too fond yourself?”

”No. The snow, the cold, the wind...the chains,” I whispered. ”I don’t like it at all.”

An uncomfortable quiet fell about the room, like a heavy blanket. R’lissea cleared her throat, asking, ”Where is your horde now?”

”Split up again, under the direction of the other apostles, save Gayron,” he muttered, shaking his head. ”That damnable...agh, I know you’ve spent a lot of time with him, but we really don’t need him here.”

”Where do you need him? What are you doing?”

”Just the usual. Scouring the land for powerful souls and securing reinforcements from demon gates.”

”Are there many?” she asked, tilting her head. ”I’ve only heard of like two or three in all of Sylvarus since we arrived.”

”That’s because there’s little infernal mana here. Not enough pain and death, I suppose. But there are dozens that land every day. It would be simpler to let them roam and collect them as they’re drawn to the horde’s power, but I promised Xiviyah I’d minimize collateral damage, so gather them up I must.”

”Really? But the elves have suffered so much...” R’lissea whispered, biting her lip. ”But you’re saying the rest of the continent is worse? I...I don’t even want to imagine.”

”Especially the north, where the kingdoms collapsed from within, destabilized by the church’s heart crest scheme. The despair you feel upon realizing your dignity and agency were stolen...” Luke clenched his jaw, shaking his head. ”Almost half of our demons mass from above the Blue Canyon.”

”How many are there? Total, I mean,” I asked softly.

He hesitated before answering. ”Three.”

”Three hundred thousand?” R’lissea asked. ”That’s a lot of–”

”Million.”

Silence. It was thick and oppressive, making the already small cabin feel stuffy and cramped, the light too dim. My stomach twisted at the thought. I’d seen the hordes mustering across the land time and time again in vision, but to hear it put to number...

”That’s a lot,” R’lissea whispered hoarsely.

”But not enough. From our reckoning of their forces in Xiviyah’s vision, the church has close to five million amongst their standing armies, with dozens more to be conscripted, should the need arise. Most of those are fodder, to be trampled underfoot, but they’re armed with skyships, mana cannons, and potentially emboldened by the Heart Crest, if such designs managed to make it to the southern continent.”

”Then you’re glad we’re dealing with the Risen now,” she said.

”Exactly. The demons, having conquered this continent in full, wish to strike now. They don’t seem to care about the church’s defenses, most seeing this as just another world they’ll either conquer or lose. The ones who see the importance of this war, like the other members of the Council, are helping me keep them in check, and having an excuse in the Risen gives us some leverage.”

”At this rate, you’re going to have enough to assault the entire continent at once,” R’lissea said, forcing a smile.

The joke fell flat as Luke nodded, dead serious.

”I hope so. The continent is vast, but with skyships, the church will be able to reinforce whichever point we strike quickly. Even if we can only send a few demons to every port and coastal fortress, it will force them back. Even with heroes and arbiters on their side, they just won’t have the manpower to resist us everywhere. And that’s when we’ll strike with our main force, breaking through wherever they are weakest.”

”Do you think they’ve thought of that?” R’lissea asked.

”They have,” I answered, ”but there’s little they can do about it. For once, we’re going to have the overwhelming advantage, and they’ll be left scrambling to hold on.”

The ship jerked, the lights beginning to move below. I groaned, letting go of Luke’s arm and falling back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I could feel the movement in my stomach, a sickening tug that slowly faded as we got underway.

”Looks like we’re not stopping,” Luke said, rising again, peering out the window. ”Looks like only the Seraph remains behind, but... no, it’s moving now, too. They’re pulling up tether from the Lord’s mansion. Perhaps Aerion decided to visit the city leaders.”

”It’s his first time coming here as a king,” R’lissea said, giggling as she looked back at me. ”Xiviyah, quit pouting. At least you have a cabin, and aren’t stuck out in the rain. Think of all the soldiers marching after us.”

She was right, but I still scowled, jumping again as another peel of thunder shook the ship. With less than twenty skyships in the fleet, the vast majority of Aerion’s army was forced to follow on foot. Our advance party was to secure a forward position and do as much damage as we could to Connor’s defenses before they arrived to begin the invasion. That they would be forced to march and camp in this dismal weather...I could only pity them.

The ship travelled all through the night, through skies and over forests I’d never visited. Sangra was the farthest I’d been in Sylvarus. At some point, we must have passed the borders of the forest, because the air became colder, the winds more severe. At some point, tired of the conversation, I lay back in bed and closed my eyes, drifting to sleep.

I awoke slowly, shaken awake by the gentle rocking of the ship. As I yawned, sitting up and looking around, I found myself alone. There was no sign of R’lissea or Luke. I still wore my dress from the night before, but someone had taken my boots and stockings off and tucked me into the sheets. I slid off the bed, wobbling as the ship rose on a gust of turbulence. The floorboards were coarse against my feet, cold with the morning chill.

Gray light streamed through the window, and I went to it. I could see the forest had thinned. Gone was the canopy of ancient boughs, and the trunks had shrunken to something resembling the forests of the southern continent. But their leaves were rotting and ashen, the trunks withered and gray. Dark curls of black mist wound around the roots, polluting the soil and corrupting the scrub. Like thick fog, it smothered everything, rising a few hundred feet over the ground, but far shy of our altitude. We were in Risen Territory now.

After dressing in a red, elvish dress, I brushed my hair and cast a few wards before making my way onto the deck. The air was crisp and hazy, making my horns itch and tickling my throat. A few soldiers patrolled the deck, nodding to me but not risking their vigilance of the ground below by speaking. Luke stood at the prow, arms folded, the wind causing his cloak to billow out behind him. He glanced over as I made my way toward him, lifting his arm and allowing me to snuggle against him.

”What are we doing here?” I asked, peeking out from within the warmth of his cloak. ”I thought we were supposed to meet up with the Last Light Company and Devote. Not in Connor’s territory. Did Aerion change the plan?”

”This is the rendezvous,” Luke said, sending a chill down my spine. ”The mist here, and your forces are not.”