The Forsaken Hero

”That’s our mark?” Luke turned to me, mouth agape. ”You want us to fight that?”

”You were fine before you saw it was ninth-level,” I mumbled, gripping him a little tighter.

He gave me a flat look, and I shrank back a bit. ”You’re saying you still want to fight it?”

”Look.” I gestured toward the city, where the dragon rolled through the sky like a ribbon blowing in the wind.

”I just see death.”

”No, the streets, the markets, the countryside. There’s no black mist anywhere. The dragon absorbed it all.”

Luke gasped, the realization dawning. ”He’s rolled the dice. He doesn’t think we can defeat the dragon.”

”No, that’s not it. I think he just knows we would defeat him and his liches if he didn’t do this. Connor must think this is his only shot.” I turned to my guard. ”Jenna, please use your ability and reach out to the other teams. Tell them to move now.”

”My Lady,” Jenna protested. ”You can’t seriously think of going forward with this. We should still be able to flee with the majority of our forces.”

I shook my head. ”If we run here, we’ll lose all the ground we took. As long as Connor is alive, the entire continent is in danger. He’s hurt enough people already.”

Her face tightened, but Luxxa gave her a sharp look, and she relented. ”Fine.” She touched her forehead, wincing. ”They’re a little far, but I think I can push it just enough to...done. Message sent.” She paused. ”They’re asking if you’re sure.”

I looked at Luke, whose tail was twitching slightly. Returning my gaze to Jenna, I nodded. ”Do it. We’re taking that dragon, ninth-level or not.”

Luke groaned as I straightened, summoning my staff. ”You’re never this bold. Are you certain we can even win?”

”There’s a chance, and I can tell you it’s better than our odds against it when it was alive. And we had two ninth-levels with us. I just hope it hasn’t absorbed all of the black mist, and Connor divided some with the liches.”

”I suppose I should get up there, then. You coming?” Luke asked, looking at Fable.

The wolf growled, rising to his feet. I cast a few spells on him, strengthening his defenses and using Villie’s flight spell on him.

”Fyren, we’re going to need you,” I said, sending a stream of soulspeak to the demon.

”You’re really engaging it?” he returned.

”I’m staying on the boat. Where it’s safe,” I said aloud.

Luke scowled at me, but I shushed him, listening as Fyren chuckled. He’d been positioned with Korra and R’lissea, whose flight path penetrated to the center of the city. While our plan had been for him to move from lich to lich, erasing them, that no longer seemed feasible.

”On my way,” the fire demon said. ”Let’s hope this one’s weaker than when it was alive.”

”It is. It’s barely over the threshold of ninth. It might not even be strong enough to manifest an aura,” I said.

”Wish me luck,” Luke said, letting out a long sigh.

”I’ll do better than that,” I whispered, standing on my tiptoes and kissing his cheek.

He touched his cheek, the corner of his lips twitching. ”Really, that’s it? After last night?”

I blushed. ”Come back to me safe, Luke. I love you.”

”Fine, but you’d better give me a proper kiss then, ” he said, smiling wryly. ”Come, Fable.”

The two flew away, getting about a hundred feet from the ship before releasing their auras and blasting away with enough speed to cause a miniature shockwave. I gripped the railing tightly, my tail twitching as I watched them streak toward the titanic dragon. A blaze of gold peeled out from the clouds above as Borealis joined them, while a fiery red meteor cut from the mountains, bearing Fyren’s aura.

”Just the four of them?” Luxxa murmured.

”Where has your resolve gone?” I asked, my gaze resting on my friends. ”You, Luke, everyone...why can’t you have faith? We’ve won plenty of hard battles before and fought against long odds before. I believe in them.”

”What have you seen to give you such confidence?” Jenna asked.

I shook my head. ”Nothing, really. I never anticipated Connor would sacrifice his advantage to push the dragon into the ninth level. The stronger his Risen, the less efficient the conversion from Black Mist. It was ridiculous to consider he might actually do this.”

”And yet you remain hopeful.”

Finally, I turned, looking at the four of my guards. ”I have to. Like you, they believe in me. Not just my words, but in the omniscience of my visions. If I were to despair, who has seen countless futures, how could they have hope? A star must shine despite the night, and I promised to be that star. So please, no more of this. We have faith, and we will win this. Together.”

Luxxa and Jenna exchanged looks before saluting me. ”As you say, my Lady.”

Kahlen chuckled. ”To think you are the one saying those words. Bravery ever was forged by fear.”

”You think so?” I turned back to the city, unable to help the slight swish in my tail despite the tension. He thought I was brave?

”My lady!” Captain Esvitt called, rushing to the railing overlooking the lower deck. ”The king’s given the order to advance.

”Looks like they’ve decided to trust you,” Luxxa said.

A lump formed in my throat as I saw the green and brown of the elves moving across the plains, joined by the gleaming silver and steel of the Last Light Company. The Devoted themselves were as numerous as the two combined, their hungry voices echoing in my soul. Seeing Borealis’s transformation had inspired them, fanning the lust for power and evolution in even the dumbest scions. They wanted souls, and though the Risen had little mana left to offer, I wasn’t going to hold them back. Their leaders were on their way to their strike points, so I gave the command myself, ordering the horde to advance alongside their mortal allies.

The Risen finally responded, surging out of their ruined homes and shadowy streets. The black mist, consumed almost entirely by the draconic lich, no longer hid their numbers. Their decaying bodies covered the ground like an ocean of writhing corpses, their dead arms reaching for the living.

”How many are there?” Jenna gasped.

Gith frowned, squinting far below. ”Impossible to estimate, but I’d guess close to five hundred thousand.”

”That’s the entire population of Heartland,” I mumbled, feeling a little lightheaded. It was almost a quarter of the total Risen we’d slaughtered in our weeks-long campaign to get here, all unleashed at once. Their sickly auras made the air waver, their stench somehow reaching us high in the sky, making my nose wrinkle.

”Commence bombardment!” Captain Esvit cried.

The ship rocked as its mana cannons fired, sending streams of molten mana into the hordes massing beneath us. The explosions devoured hundreds, sending blackened limbs and broken torsos in all directions. The shockwaves and secondary explosions tore apart more, ripping up the ground and slowing their charge.

But the horde absorbed the losses, flowing over the craters, filling them with bodies. More booms echoed across the skies as the other skyships escorting the main force opened fire to similar results. The Risen horde’s momentum was inviolable.

As the rain of molten mana turned the sky white, the Last Light Company made contact. Bethiv’s gleaming aura, shining like a beacon, led the charge. The entire company’s battle cry reached us despite the distance, a roar like the rushing of a waterfall. They cut deep into the Risen horde before they even began to slow, penetrating like a magic spear through putrid flesh.

The Devoted swarmed after them. Scions roamed at the feet of the massive blade and fire demons, pouncing on the risen tossed in their wake. Whenever one got surrounded, the archers and mages of the Last Light Company would open a path with a hail of arrows, a favor often returned by the horde, who came to the vulnerable soldiers’ aid when Risen closed in.

”Still no liches,” I muttered, frowning deeply.

”Then that means they’re still in the city, likely guarding their artifacts,” Kahlen said.

I nodded. ”Then we won’t be getting any easy victories in the city. We’ll be on our own against this dragon.”

”That’s probably his plan,” Luxxa said. ”Hold our reinforcements so he can crush us a little at a time. If the apostle and your demons lose, the armies are going to be vulnerable to the dragon. They’ll be slaughtered before any of the other strike teams can get back.”

”Then we just can’t lose.” I firmed my resolve, reaching for the Aetherial Prism. ”Luxxa, inform the captain I’d like to approach the city.”

She paled. ”My Lady? You can’t be planning on fighting. You promised.”

I flinched. ”I know, but...I’m going to help. I’m not asking. Please.”

She sighed, rubbing her forehead. ”I liked it better when you ran away from battles. But as you say, my lady.”

”Thank you.” I clutched in both hands, whispering a prayer as I stared at the dragon. At the four dots of light that had just reached the city. It was about to begin.