The Forsaken Hero

”Hmph,” Lord Bloodsteel said, surveying us with narrowed eyes. ”You mortals and your pretentious titles. Do you have any idea how many emperors I’ve killed? How many god kings have bowed the knee, and arbiters I’ve sent back to the heavens? Yet Sword of Fate, you claim. Don’t you know I am the master of swords?”

Dozens of swords, stripped of their handles with an edge on every side, floated around Lord Bloodsteel, spinning and gleaming in the sunlight. He gave a small flick, and a single one shot toward us. Verity met it unflinchingly, parrying it with the edge of her blade. Sparks erupted, and the demon’s sword spun off into the forest, embedding itself deep into the mountain.

”You move with confidence, but little skill. It seems you possess power you did not earn. Tis always the folly of the gods’ favored playthings.”

Seemingly satisfied with his tests, Lord Bloodsteel unleashed the entirety of his arsenal. Silver streaks traced each’s paths a fraction of a second before they followed, but not even Foresight could give me the time to process and react to them.

Verity was different. Her soul flared with mana and magic, and the speed and number of attacks seemed to matter little to her. She wove between the silver predictions, aligning herself with a small trio and unleashing an offensive art. It hung in the air, moving slower than she did, so by the time it had fully formed, she was already one, attacking another blur. I lost count after that, falling back with a cry and shielding myself with my hands, anticipating the crack of the swords against my wards.

Sharp shrieks pierced the roar of mana, and the ground shuddered. I stumbled, dirt and ash spraying across my wards. I peeked through my fingers, my lips parting in a silent gasp. Swords pierced the ground around me, ripping through the rocky bluffs as if they were no more solid than water. They formed a circle around me, jutting from the earth like a twisted thorn bush.

Verity had only blocked seven. But those seven swords had been precisely the ones that had been aimed at me, shot from all angles. The other were a smokescreen, predicting dodges or distracting from the true threats.

She panted lightly, a habit from her mortal body, because her current form needed no breath.

”Impressive,” Lord Bloodsteel said, a hint of surprise entering his voice. ”Perhaps I underestimated you. Don’t worry, I don’t intend to repeat that mistake.”

He extended his hand, and a single curved sword appeared within. The blade was slender, about as long as I was tall, but fit his grip perfectly. He glided forward unhurriedly, wearing an expression as cold and certain as iron.

”Stay back,” Verity said, focusing all her attention on him.

I stumbled away, and then paused, glancing behind me. Fable padded over, his muzzle and paws stained with demon blood. He looked about to pounce over my head, but I stopped him with a thought. He cocked his head, looking down at me, before restraining his aura and retaking his condensed form. The blood washed off as he shrank, and I breathed a sigh of relief as his tail drew me to his side.

”She can win,” I whispered. She had to. Not for my sake, but hers. She was so brave and determined; it was easy to sense her fear simmering beneath the surface. Deep down, I knew she could hear the whispers of fear and doubt, mocking her. Condemning her. She had to know she could still shine as bright as any other star.

Lord Bloodsteel lunged forward, closing the gap in the blink of an eye. Verity flowed into a defensive stance, but her step faltered as she sought the right positioning. The curved sword crashed down on her, and she staggered back, her sword knocked wide. I gasped, covering my mouth as Lord Bloodsteel stepped close. His own blade was too big to wield in such close quarters, but a silver silhouette showed him pivoting, his fist slamming into her stomach.

Verity saw it too, and agilely twisted out of the way. Lord Bloodsteel’s fist launched a bomb of compressed air into the mountainside. It exploded in a geyser. Debris rained across the battlefield, pattering on Fable’s fur.

”Hah!” Verity shouted, slicing up at an angle, trying to catch him overextended.

The demon wasn’t so clumsy. He received her attack with a raised arm, catching the edge of her sword between two spikes on his bracer. Her weapon snapped from her hand, clattering to the ground, and Lord Bloodsteel grasped for her throat with the same arm, bringing his sword to bear.

Verity disappeared, and he frowned, grasping empty air. He glanced at her sword, but it was also gone, reduced to stars.

Foresight gave a slight warning before she suddenly materialized behind him. He twisted remarkably fast, and her sword missed its mark, grazing his ribs instead. He leaped back, gaining some distance.

”What trickery is this?” he growled, touching his side. His fingers came away dripping with silver blood. ”No spell, no art, no mana? Space is not so easy to control!”

Verity didn’t bother responding. She charged forward, taking the offensive, and this time, Lord Bloodsteel took her seriously. His sword was everywhere, somehow blocking every single attack, although she could see it move before it did. Every moment seemed totally isolated, and yet, as the seconds passed, I noticed she was slowly, unconsciously, being maneuvered. Every parry left her in a slightly worse position, and every counterattack forced her a little closer toward us.

It would be so easy to call out to her, or to share my observations through my aura. We’d never communicated with Soulspeak, but I was certain it was possible. And it would leave the demon in the dark. Instead, I bit my lip and held my tongue. This sky was her canvas. I had to let her shine.

The moment came with no warning. Verity took a small step back, her sword dropping just a hair too low. There was the barest flicker of Foresight before Lord Bloodsteel’s sword lashed forward. She reacted too late, and his sword just cleared hers in a clash of sparks. It sliced cleanly into her armor, cutting an arc through her midsection. She screamed and vanished in a puff of starlight, leaving Lord Bloodsteel with his sword extended in empty air.

”Verity...” I whispered, my hand curling against my breast.

Lord Bloodsteel scoffed and turned toward me with that same confident deliberacy. ”And so she falls. Just the latest hero, or whatever she was, in a long line of others much stronger than her.”

I held his gaze, not quite challenging, but not trembling, either. Perhaps he saw something in my eyes, or sensed the subtle disturbance in my aura behind him, because he suddenly dove forward. He hadn’t hesitated as he had before, moving before the starlight suddenly gathered, and Verity rematerialized mid-charge.

He wasn’t the only one to have learned from their previous engagement. Verity didn’t aim at him, but at the silver silhouette that marked his path. He should have easily evaded her ambush, but when they crashed to the ground, both off balance, her sword was embedded in his lower back. The point emerged just beneath his rib cage, sending gouts of silver blood spilling down his torso.

”Gah!” Lord Bloodsteel snarled, whipping around. His fist connected with her cheek, and her head snapped to the side. She flew off him, her sword dissipating as it was wrenched from her grip.

The demon staggered to his feet, clutching the hole in his stomach and glaring daggers at the fate hero. She rolled midair and came to a stop within a few dozen feet, staring at him defiantly. Her sword reformed, and she floated closer, not bothering to touch the ground this time.

”Just what are you?” Lord Bloodsteel asked. ”How are you still alive?”

”Hmm?” Verity paused, looking down at herself, at her silver, translucent form. She was completely unharmed, even though I had seen her armor sundered and her body torn apart on his blade. Her lip quirked in a half-smile. ”I’m not sure that I am.”

She didn’t give him time to ponder that answer, nor to regenerate from his wound. Slower, weaker, less skilled, Verity surged at him. Foresight flickered constantly, giving me glimpses visible to only the two of us. How had I ever witnessed high-level battles before having it? Even with it, I couldn’t keep up, reacting to entire exchanges after they had already concluded.

Slowly, but surely, the fight came to its inevitable conclusion. Wounds accumulated on Lord Bloodsteel’s body, slowly sapping his mana as he was forced to regenerate them. His retaliations were brutal, but ultimately ineffective. Even when he summoned blades behind her, piercing her back in a blow that would kill any mortal, it didn’t take more than a heartbeat for her to reform, landing a surprise cut on his shoulder.

At last, Verity brought her sword down in a two-handed strike, and Lord Bloodsteel was forced to parry. His blade fell from his hands, shattering into a hundred metal shards that dispersed back into his soul. He reeled back, and her sword flashed. There was a thump as a heavy head hit the ground, rolling once until it faced me. Silver eyes were opened wide in disbelief. The rest of the body followed, and just like that, another demon lord was banished from Enusia.