The Forsaken Hero

Luke and Fate’s avatar stared at each other for a single heartbeat, the silence stifling. Then fate twisted again, and I whimpered, the strain growing too much for my soul. When it stabilized, we were further away, and Luke and Fate had taken our place on the edge of the crater. Their blades were locked again, and this time, it was Luke who forced the god back.

”You won’t have her,” Luke growled. ”No matter how many times you freeze time, it won’t be enough. I’ll never let you hurt her.”

”How annoying. You mortals know nothing. I care not for this war. Go, and slay, destroy the church here. Fight your futile fight against the sun god. Just spare me the demonkin behind you. Without that divinity under a god’s control, the realms themselves will destabilize. The balance will be broken, and all will come to naught. Everything you fight for will fade into oblivion.”

”Good.”

”You know not what you speak. There can be no gods, no demons, no cycle without me.”

”If that’s the price of making you bleed, I’ll pay it a thousand times over.”

Fate’s scowl deepened. ”You mortals are all irrational. But it doesn’t matter. A descent is sacred, meant to have as little impact on fate as possible, but if you won’t stand aside, the future of this world will be rewritten. I will claim what is mine.”

Luke snarled, raising his sword. ”Try it.”

”Fine. This has gone on long enough.”

His aura intensified rapidly, seizing the realm. The world groaned, fissures opening up in the ground. Soldiers and demons, too close, burst apart, their bodies unable to handle the pressure. Blood rained across the earth, the battlefield stilling in horror.

Fate rose into the air, flying on wings of starlight. He raised his sword, and his voice boomed across the plains. ”Rejoice, Enusia, for your salvation is here! May your enemies feel the wrath of the gods!”

Nine magic circles manifested across the sky, radiating silver fate magic. The instant they appeared, I froze, the divinity in my chest shivering. For an instant, I was taken back to the moments my staff guided me out of Lord Byron’s dungeon, as if the divinity itself were sentient. And it was afraid.

Luke rose to meet it, his sword clutched in both hands. It released a pulse of blackness darker than the night sky, blotting out the stars. Ninth-level curses crawled across the sky, reaching for the circles.

A blazing line drew across the sky, intercepting him before he could reach the avatar. Soltair, riding Luxaria, struck hard and fast. Luke twisted mid-air, meeting them with the full force of his art. For once, Soltair’s light was swallowed up in shadow, and his blade deflected harmlessly to the side. Unhindered, Luke pressed the attack, slashing across Luxaria’s flank as they dove past him.

The dragon screeched in pain as tendrils erupted from the wound and stabbed into her scales, penetrating to the bone. They ripped and tore, filling her with a thousand curses. Her wings stalled, her scales dulled, and she dropped out of the air.

Fate’s voice boomed from Verity’s lips, dominating the battlefield. ”Heaven’s Tears!”

Shining twinkles broke out across the sky, drawing on the immense power of the ninth-level circles. They glittered through the veil of curses, growing brighter and more intense with every heartbeat. My tail turned rigid, and I grabbed Fable, urging him to flee.

We took off just in time. The first star broke through the sky in a blaze of glory, hurtling to the earth. It crashed atop a hundred-foot-long evolved demon shaped like a centipede, punching through its segments and burying itself in the ground. Scarcely had the shockwave rippled over us than it detonated, devouring several hundred feet in a radius around it in pure, molten starlight. When the blast faded, it left afterimages seared across my irises.

When it faded, everything was...gone. Earth, steel, and flesh had been consumed, leaving a perfectly circular crater in the ground with smooth, glassy walls. Flecks of starlight, smoke, and ash drifted through the emptiness on sweeping aftercurrents of fate magic.

More stars crashed to the ground, vaporizing entire swaths of the infernal horde. The devastation was unlike anything I’d seen, matching only the pure destructive power of the lava dragons, or the Starfall Fate’s ally had called upon in High Valley. Thousands of demons, tens of thousands, gone in an instant.

The damage was hardly isolated to the horde. A handful of stars fell upon the human armies, wreaking just as much havoc. One detonated on the wall of the city itself, leaving a gaping hole.

The damage was hardly isolated to the horde. A handful of stars fell upon the human armies, wreaking just as much havoc. One detonated on the wall of the city itself, leaving a gaping hole.

Fable lunged forward, pitching me against his horns, as he narrowly evaded the radiant light of a star that hit beside us. I tasted blood as the explosion rocked my wards, tugging at my insides. That shouldn’t be possible. The spell was ninth, but each blast barely reached eighth. I should be fully resistant to it!

Overhead, Luxaria limped away, sustained by Soltair’s power alone. Luke turned to the god, gritting his teeth as his army collapsed into chaos.

”No!” I cried, my heart clutching in my chest. ”Don’t!”

But he couldn’t hear me. With a cry, he renewed his charge toward Fate, mustering his mana for another ninth-level art.

Fate glanced down, a flicker of annoyance passing through his gaze. His immense soul flared, and silver light gathered on the edge of his sword. With a casual wave, he unleashed an arc of pure, concentrated power. It ripped across the sky, catching Luke at the height of his ascent, before he could finish gathering the mana.

It sliced through his curses like cobwebs, passing straight through him. Time seemed to stand still, his dark silhouette caught amidst the shining light.

The arc continued, falling across the battlefield. It had held its trajectory, expanding as it traveled away from Fate’s avatar. By the time it hit the ground, it drew a line across the entirety of the plains. There was no explosion, no flashing of light like the falling stars, but when it faded, the effect was the same.

When the light dissipated, it left behind a titanic scar hundreds of feet deep and miles long. Of the demons and humans who had been in the way, only silence remained.

”Luke...?” I choked in a whisper, searching the skies. Where was he? Why couldn’t I find him?

But there was nothing. Only cold, empty dread. My fingers scrabbled at my chest, searching for the ring. I found it and gasped, finding it cold to the touch. A void yawned in my chest, swallowing the familiar pulse of warmth that marked the soul binder.

”Luke!” I screamed, my voice lost in the battle.

Demons reeled from the attack, scattering in complete retreat, but Fate wasn’t finished. More stars filled the sky, and twice more, he unleashed devastating strikes that left chasms in the ground.

Every thud of Fable’s paws rocked me, but I barely felt them, staring numbly at the horrors enshrouding Roann. Searching for a blip of darkness amid the shining night.

But he was gone, and soon, I was too, falling into the dark haze of pain and anguish.

I came too sometime later, with soft, morning light against my eyelids, and a warm tongue on my cheek. I sniffled, blinking away tears that had lingered for hours, staring dully up into Fable’s worried face. His massive head rubbed against me, drying my cheeks with his fur.

”Fable...” I whispered hoarsely. More tears fell.

He whined faintly, his tail curled around me. A futile attempt at comfort.

I drew myself into a sitting position. We were in a small field, nestled between two hay bales. That explained the straw flecked in Fable’s fur. A small farmhouse sat between two low hills in the distance, highlighted by the rising sun. East, then. Toward Roann.

I shifted with a groan, feeling for my shoulder as the movement sent a spike of pain through my arm and neck. The shard of metal was still embedded in the bone, but the blood had stopped. Dried saliva cracked around the edges of the wound.

”Thanks,” I whimpered, resting my head against Fable’s flank.

Gritting my teeth, I gripped the shard and tugged, but gave up, biting my tongue to keep from screaming. A small trickle of blood escaped the scabs, running into the hem of my dress midway down my forearm.

”Where are we?”

Fable growled in response, and I sighed, closing my eyes. From his soul speak, it seemed he’d run for hours while I was unconscious, only stopping once the sun had peeked over the horizon. Now, we were somewhere in Western Radia, lost and alone in the middle of hostile territory.

”It’s alright,” I mumbled, blinking away tears. ”We’re going to be fine. We just have to find Korra and others. Fate didn’t seem to notice the Fatesworn, so...they must have retreated. And after we get back, we can find Luke.”

Fable whimpered, resting his head on his paws.

”No, you’re wrong. I’m not giving up on him. He has to be alive. He has to.”