The Forsaken Hero

An earth-shattering roar split the skies, and I whirled, heart, leaping. But it wasn’t the dragon who cried, but Fable, sheathed in gold and green light that licked along his fur like liquid fire. His aura spiked, slamming into the ship and sending us reeling despite my wards. The two demons bore the same halo, Fyren literally shivering as he struggled to contain the power within his comparably small body. Every movement he made left small black spatial tears in his wake, and I realized I was only following afterimages.

Incinderus’s chuckle sound in my mind, sending a chill down my spine. ”This was a surprise. You have my thanks, Oracle.”

An explosion rocked the earth as one of the southern towers was consumed in a pillar of fire. Smoldering chunks of masonry rained from the billowing clouds of smoke and flame like volcanic tephra, glowing red-hot and exploding like artillery as they smashed into the city around. Incinderus rose from the inferno, wreathed in red and orange flame, clutching the crystal artifact in his hand. He looked in the Azure’s Wing’s direction. Though we were too far for him to actually see me, through my aura, I watched his lip curl around his fangs. His fist clenched, crushing the crystal into dust.

Immediately, an unholy shriek slithered across the city, the black mist recoiling in agony. But, inevitably, it collected and began to flow towards the other lich locations.

He spared little thought for the theatrics, releasing a burst of compressed air as he blasted through the skies, heading right toward me. I flinched as he came to a full stop near instantly, moving so quickly it looked like he had teleported across the city.

”I’ve never tasted power this delicious in a mortal world,” he said, landing with a heavy thump. ”You spoil us, Oracle.”

I flinched at the clack of claw on wood, the ship tilting slightly beneath his bulk.

”Can you do something?” I said, moving beside him, gesturing with my staff to the dragon. Fyren and Fable’s newfound power had evened the odds, bringing them back from the brink and giving Luke a chance to recover. But they still didn’t have the power to overwhelm the dragon’s defenses.

His lip curled in another infernal grin. ”If destruction is what you call for, then it would be my pleasure to answer. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to use a proper spell. Stand back.”

Incinderus rose from the deck of the ship, again blitzing through the sky. He arrived above the dragon before I realized he’d left, a thick, slate gray staff in his hand. The top was shaped like demon claws, clutching a deep red ruby, the same shade as the embers blazing in his eye sockets.

He raised the staff, and Eighth magic circles appeared, scrawling across the sky simultaneously, completing within the space of a single heartbeat. I gaped in disbelief. No one could cast spells that quickly. Not even Nithalee, a literal ninth-level mage attributed in magic! Was this what Arantius had meant when he said my skill was nothing remarkable in the immortal realms?

The risen dragon twisted as it sensed the immense amount of mana gathering over its head. It gathered undead magic in its maw, preparing to blast the fire demon, but it couldn’t match the infernal mage’s speed.

”Hellfire!” Indinerus’s roar rose above the hum of his magic.

Cascading sheets of flame erupted from the magic circle, dropping like curtains over a stage. The dragon released its technique, but the attack was swallowed by the fire, doing nothing to temper their heat. Fyren, sensing the approaching danger, grabbed Luke and streaked away, and Fable and Borelis made their own escape. But the dragon was too big to flee, or perhaps Incinderus’s spell was simply inevitable. It was swallowed up in conflagration, consumed from the tip of its tail to its snout.

Even from a distance, its shriek was deafening. It thrashed and twisted as the flames burned, plummeting from the sky. Its flesh cooked, and its black ichor boiled into nothingness before it could even drip. Scales peeled away, disintegrating as they fell, and even bones were reduced to ash.

The dragon, screeching and writhing, crashed into the city, burying its head in the outer city wall and covering a market and several neighborhoods with its coils. No matter how it twisted and clawed at itself, the flames refused to die, spreading throughout the streets and buildings.

”Now!” Incinderus shouted.

Fyren released Luke and lunged at the dragon. He fell like a meteor, the flames red first, but as he gained momentum, they turned ashen white, like the flames that sheathed his sword when he fought. But I could feel the heat radiating from them despite the mile between us, baking my wards. As he descended, every Risen within a thousand yards ignited, the heat pushing the flames over almost half the city.

He slammed into the dragon’s back, punching through it and cratering deep in the earth below, and detonated. The dragon’s neck and tail were flung into the air as the force of the explosion traveled along its length in either direction. Both halves writhed as they struck the ground, flung far from the original impact crater. The dragon’s roar shook the sky, but they began growing frantic as the gaping wounds started turning white, disintegrating into ash. The crumbling crept up its length, overtaking its limbs, spines. At last, its panicked roared faded, as its head collapsed, vanishing into nothingness before it hit the ground.

The silence that followed was oppressive, smothering the crackle of flames, the boom of distant explosions, and the moans of the surviving Risen. I waited for the Black Mist to react, to take the dragon’s vanquished power and surge toward the other liches, but it didn’t. In fact, there wasn’t any black mist where the dragon had died.

Around me, the star guard and the Azure Wing’s crew were stunned silent, staring with wide eyes as Fyren emerged from the column of smoke, flames licking around his scales. He rose into the air, streaking to the ship, and landed with a thud. Incinderus joined us a half-second later, the two twenty-foot demons causing the ship to sway off-balance. The brilliant radiance of Celestial Grace overshadowed my aura, the air shivering from their sheer presence.

”It’s done?” I whispered, hollow with shock. I’d known that Incinderus, as a pure mage and demon lord, had more raw destructive power than anyone else in our army, but to see him and Fyren bring the dragon down like that... it was too much.

Incinderus nodded. ”That Risen won’t trouble the living ever again.”

”Why didn’t you mention you cast that kind of spell? We could have ended this long before if Incinderus had been here. I’d have traded the apostle for him in a heartbeat,” Fyren said.

”I...I didn’t know if it would work. I was trying to be safe, conserve my man like you asked. But with Effulgent Dawn spreading my Resistance, I could draw mana from across the battlefield.”

”Even with the soul binder, you shouldn’t shoulder that kind of burden.”

”I didn’t.” I rested my hand on the Aetherial Prism. ”This can hold an incredible amount of mana, more than any individual mortal soul. Any more than my soul could bear, I poured into this, replenishing everything I used during the battle with the arbiter. I hope it’ll come in handy someday.”

”Seems like it already has. How much longer do you have on this?” Incinderus asked, gesturing at the gold and green aura.

I shook my head. ”Another minute, at most. The structure and circles were really bad, so it’s going to collapse on itself soon. I barely got it to work as is.”

”So long? Support spells such as these rarely last more than a few seconds,” Fyren murmured, studying me as if I were a curiosity. He turned to Incinderus, ”I think we should get back to the fight.”

Incinderus nodded. ”Agreed. You, mortals,” he said, gesturing at a nearby pair of mages, ”Get your captain to communicate with the other lich teams and inform them I will be reinforcing their attacks.” As they scurried off, shaking in fear, he returned his gaze to me. ”Zephyriss and the elf mage have already destroyed theirs, so I’ll coordinate with them. We should be able to slay them all before your spell runs out.”

At my nod, he flew from the deck. I grabbed the railing, steadying myself as the ship rocked with his departure.

”What will you do now?” Fyren asked.

I glanced at the Last Light Company and Devoted on the plains. For all oppressive shadows of the black mist, there was now just as much starlight. It wasn’t just the evolved demons but even the scions basked in my aura, gaining the strength of Celestial Grace. Even the Last Light Company and the elves nearby seemed affected, though not so much as the demons. I didn’t understand why, or how exactly it was affecting them, but I’d figure it out later. For now, it was enough that we were winning that battle.

My gaze turned to the castle at the center of Ebber’eve, my grip on my staff tightening. As if sensing my thoughts, Fyren growled deep in his throat.

”Your role is over, Xiviyah. Let them perform theirs.”