The Forsaken Hero

Exhausted after attuning with Emlica, I retired from Haven and collapsed in my bed, slipping directly into a vision. It was a small hill that overlooked a thinly wooded plain, strewn with boulders. The sky was gray and angry, the sun low on the horizon. Lightning flashed in the distance, and the air hummed with the low murmur of thunder.

An army encircled the hill, spreading to the horizon. I knew this army, this hill. I’d seen it before. The sprawling mass of patchwork canvas, the ill-equipped demon and beastkin. The filth of their auras was palpable, leaving a sick feeling in my stomach. This was where Luke had been.

On the edge of the knoll, not far from me, I made out two figures. I shifted toward them and recognized them instantly. Constance and Evla, apostles of blade and gravity. Evla sat on a rock, her legs dangling. There was a tightness around her eyes, a slight twitch in her stark white tail, that spoke of more than exhaustion. Constance stood behind her with his arms crossed, staring expressionlessly at the camp below.

”Does he seem different to you?” Evla asked quietly.

Constance raised an eyebrow, and Evla bit her lip, staring at the ground.

”I-It’s nothing. Just...thinking.”

Constance was quiet, unblinking as another flash of lightning lit the horizon. When the distant peel of thunder died, he let out a sigh, sinking beside Evla. She scooted a touch closer, but wouldn’t look at him.

”He does,” Constance admitted. ”Even before he left us, he was never like this. Dark and brooding, sure, but never...”

”Gloomy?” she whispered. ”Sad?”

”I thought he was like the rest of us. No tears left to shed.”

”You saw him cry?” She asked, staring at him. ”Not Luke. No way.”

Constance shrugged, a wry smile tugging at his lips. ”Maybe not cry, no. Not on the outside. But I saw him staring at the sky the other night. Have you ever known him to look at the stars?”

”Only one.”

”Then perhaps the others remind him of it.”

Another rumble shook the earth, but this one was closer, thrumming deep within the ground itself. That one wasn’t thunder.

Evla and Constance frowned, glancing at the horizon. Evla let out a sharp gasp, and both bolted to their feet.

A great plume of blackness rose across the twilight landscape, swallowing the sun’s fading light. It expanded rapidly, devouring torches, campfires, and even souls. The tide only slowed as it neared the edge of the camp, consuming almost half of it in utter darkness.

”That’s not good,” Evla muttered.

”I’ve never seen his aura so thick,” Constance said, frowning. ”Someone must have really upset him. Too bad, too. Weak and pathetic as they were, the mortals had their uses.”

”He’s never lashed out like this. He knows how limited our forces are.” Evla let out a heavy sigh. ”I wish I knew why he was acting like this. Why is he so...unstable? What is he missing?”

”Are you going, or should I?” Constance asked.

”I’ll do it. No matter how angry he is, he wouldn’t raise a hand against me.”

She slipped into the darkness, leaving Constance behind. He muttered a curse and dropped back on the rock, watching the fading ball of darkness.

”Do you really not know?” he muttered, resting his chin on his hand, gazing after Evla. After a few breaths, he sighed, letting his hand drop and leaning back, staring up at the darkening sky. ”I think the council might have made a terrible mistake.”

The vision slipped away, leaving me in darkness. I sat still for a long time, idly stroking my tail and staring into the void. With every day he was gone, I felt like I understood what was happening with Luke less and less. I just knew I wanted to see him, and soon.

But there was one more thing I had to do before he came back. One last mission before our invasion. I turned my mind northward, summoning a vision of a land I had once destroyed.

Brithlite formed around me, but even as the city materialized, the visions shifted away, dragged off by an eddy of fate. I watched, curious, as my surroundings reformed into the interior of a building. The room was large and spacious, with a vaulted ceiling and a grand staircase that arched around one side, stopping twice at balconies for different floors. The walls and marble pillars were cracked and crumbling, the windows shattered. Dust hung heavy in the air, and the ground was littered with debris. A small group of white-cloaked men and women huddled around a campfire built from scraped furniture. The smoke was heavy with burning stain and paint, but none of them noticed the stench.

My stomach flipped as I recognized the sigils on their chest. Inquisitors. And strong ones, too. Their leader had a thick beard and leaned on a staff, his soul at the apex of the eighth level.

The group stiffened as the door crept open, but relaxed as a seventh-level woman slipped through. She had a pair of long, curved daggers on her waist.

”What news?” the leader asked.

The woman shrugged. ”Nothing, yet. I question the wisdom of being here at all. The hero wasn’t even certain she’d come.”

”But there’s a chance, and that’s more than we have otherwise,” he answered. ”If we can silence her, or better yet, bring her to the throne, our chances of victory rise exponentially. The hero will have unchallenged views of fate, and the demons lose the Oracle’s power.”

”Whatever,” The woman muttered, sinking down by the fire. ”I still think we’re better off tracking down those apostles or whatever. Killing one of those would cause actual damage to the horde. The filthblood can’t even fight.”

”Tell that to Evlon,” another inquisitor muttered.

A chorus of dark chuckles rippled through the room. But the leader held up his hand, and they all quieted.

”We will remain here for a few weeks. It won’t be easy to remain hidden once this ’Last Light Company’ establishes itself fully. If she hasn’t appeared by then, we’ll move to our next lead.”

The vision broke apart, and I slipped back into my soul space. I was too tired to ponder what I’d seen and let go, allowing my soul to rest alongside my body. When I awoke, light streamed through the curtains, announcing the morning.

”What is your plan, my Lady?” Luxxa asked after the maids finished dressing me.

”It’s been a few days since Elise left, right?”

She chuckled. ”I suppose you’re asking, given how much time you’ve been unconscious. But yes, it’s been a week and a half.”

I nodded, standing. ”Then it’s time we brought Sari. Would you prepare for our trip? We’ll only be gone a few days.”

She saluted. ”Right away, my Lady.”

Some hours later, we gathered in the secluded corner of the garden, where Sari and Fable always went to play, and I kept the gate to Haven.

”Do we really have to go?” Sari asked, her ears lying flat. ”I don’t want to leave you. I’m learning so much from Emilca.”

I sighed, folding my arms. It wasn’t the first time we’d had this conversation, and if things kept up like this, it wasn’t going to be the last.

”You have your own life to live, and a home to return to,” I said gently. ”Friends and family who are waiting for you. The last time you were with Ror, you were in a cage in Heartland.”

”I know, but...it feels so long ago. What if I don’t recognize him?” she asked, her tail twitching.

”Then that’s a sign you need to be with him more, not less. But the truth is, you can’t remain with me. Your war is over; it ended when we defeated Alverin. But my war has only just begun, and I won’t drag you through it.”

”I could stay in Haven,” she offered.

I shook my head. ”No. If something happens to me, that realm will fade. I won’t be able to fight knowing you’re in there. I couldn’t bear losing you.”

She stared at me duly, then lowered her head. She sniffled, her tail drooping.

”I don’t want to lose you either,” she whispered.

I put my hand on her head, rubbing between her ears. ”I know. It’s hard to say goodbye. But that doesn’t mean it’s not important. You already said goodbye to Selena and the others, didn’t you? It’s just me, now.”

She nodded, but that didn’t seem to reassure her. ”You’ll come visit, won’t you?”

I smiled, patting her head once before taking my hand back. ”You just want to get into Haven.”

”...maybe.”

We both giggled, and I summoned my staff, looking around to make sure everyone was ready. There was the star guard, Fable, and Borealis. Our group was small enough that opening a rift wouldn’t stress my soul too much, not when I was still recovering from attuning with Zephyriss.

”Ready?” I asked.

Everyone nodded, and I took a breath, beginning the spell. I was confident in the runes by now, but as I neared the end, my tail began to twitch, not for the mana, or the difficulty, but because, for the first time, I began to grow nervous. It had been so long since I last visited Heartland. Did I even remember it well enough to teleport there?