The Forsaken Hero

”He really said that? That you could be free?” asked Luke, staring at me, his tail frozen in shock. ”Not just from the divinity, but from your curse?”

I fidgeted with my sleeve, not quite meeting his gaze. ”Yes, but...it’s not possible.”

”Why not?” he asked, taking my arms, forcing me to look at him. ”Xiv, think about it. You could finally be free! You wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally picking up a knife, or that one of us hugs you too hard and literally cracks your rib. You could stay awake for weeks without getting tired, or run across a kingdom in a few days. You could be free.”

”And you would be here.”

He fell silent at that, his grip on me loosening. ”But Xiv--”

”No.” I shook my head. ”There’s only one world shard, Luke. Only one mortal who can ascend. And you...I’m happy here.”

”You’re surviving here. There’s a difference. I see how much you hurt from, well, everything. Hugs, running, flying, even just being too close to a friendly spar... You’re barely living, Xiviyah, and if what that remnant said is true, that might not last for much longer.”

I bit my lip, looking down. ”Can we not talk about it right now? Please?”

He looked like he wanted to argue, but reluctantly, he nodded. ”Just don’t write it off, alright? Just think about it some more. If there’s a way for you to be happier, for you to live, I want to find it.”

Arantius had given me much to think about, but his words were a burden I couldn’t handle alone. The moment I had fled Haven, Luke had come to me, sensing my arrival in Enusia from the Soul Binder. He’d taken one look at the tears gathered in the corner of my eyes and my lashing tail, and hugged me.

Now, we stood on an abandoned segment of ramparts overlooking the valley. The sun descended slowly through the sky, a few hours yet from touching the horizon. A stark breeze rustled through the cracked parapets, cutting through my dress and wards and making me shiver.

”It won’t be long now,” Luke said, turning toward the distant High Valley, resting his hands on the wall. ”Rash’alon was the final obstacle standing between the Divine Throne and us.”

”And Fate,” I murmured, cozying up beside him.

He smiled at me, draping an arm around my shoulders, holding me close. I snuggled into his warmth, breathing his familiar scent deeply. It hadn’t been easy to share everything on my mind, but I needn’t have worried. He hadn’t even blinked at hearing that my soul was torn between two cosmic forces. He just saw me.

”Yes, the false god. I think he won’t find us such easy prey next time.”

”Do you have a plan?”

”Aside from not charging in like a fool?” He chuckled mirthlessly. ”I’ve considered it for a long time, and I’ve reached a conclusion. I can’t see the future, so maybe it’s wrong, but I’m pretty sure I can’t defeat him. No matter what ability I have, what support magic you give me, or which one of our allies fights with me, it won’t be enough. He’s just that much stronger.”

My eyes widened, and I stared up at him. He gazed at the horizon, no hint of anger or helplessness in his face. When he noticed me looking, he met my eyes and smiled.

”What, you didn’t think I could accept that?”

I shook my head, and he chuckled, squeezing me to him. ”There’s more than power and victory on my mind now. I was thinking you could handle it, while I face Soltair and the mortal church forces. It’s your fight, and I think fate will bring you to it even if I tried to interfere. It seems dead-set on proving its path right now, change and oblivion, or fate and stagnation. I’m just as curious as anyone to see which it chooses.”

”You sound like Fate now,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.

”Maybe she’s right, then. Ever consider that?”

”Too many times. But I’m not strong enough, either. I’m not even ninth-level.”

”Then you must become that. I can feel it in the Soul Binder. It quivers with your mana. I think, if you wish, you could break through.”

”But Arantius said--”

”I know. But Xiviyah, as much as I hate it, I don’t see another way. Joking aside, you have the divinity. That’s the only force strong enough to stand up to a god. I spoke to many remnants while you were sleeping, searching for another way. Any other way. But their answer was the same. Not once had they seen a horde, especially one as broken as mine, triumph over a divine avatar without an emperor’s incarnation fighting alongside them. And none of those had used a hero’s body as the host. We barely even have a few demon lords with us.”

”Even if you say that...”

”I know. It doesn’t make it easy. But Xiviyah, if the problem with breaking through is that you have too much power, can’t you just use it all? If you drain your soul, or at least keep your strength below the threshold at which it becomes dangerous, then there won’t be any surplus power to assimilate.”

”The divinity isn’t that simple. First, it’s inexhaustible. It’s not like the Aethereal Prism. It doesn’t draw power from anywhere. It is the power. It is the weave. And that power isn’t mana, so it’s not like I could just cast lots of spells. I’d have to...” I trailed off, my tail freezing mid-twitch.

”You’d have to...?”

I swallowed hard, a thrill making my chest tighten. ”Luke, fate is the power I used to save you. It’s the power that fuels my staff and calls the remnants. Maybe, if things went right, I could--”

I froze as a chill ran down my spine and tail. A faint sense of something not right.

”Oh, come on. Don’t stop now. It was just getting good!” said Jessia’s voice, not two feet behind us.

My breath caught, and my tail curled tightly around Luke’s calf.

”Ah, Jessia, I was expecting you a little later,” Luke said, turning to face her, bringing me with him.

Jessia grinned as I avoided her gaze, stepping close, leaning forward slightly, her hands clasped behind her back. For some godforsaken reason, she was wearing inquisitor robes like they actually belonged on her. ”Just look at you! You’re like twice as pretty as the last time I saw you. Or maybe you’re just more confident. Guess it’s a good thing you’ve stopped keeping all those secrets from each other. You’ve blossomed like a flower!”

”Jessia, please don’t tease her too much. She’s timid enough as is, and I enjoy the sound of her voice,” Luke said, frowning at her.

”Fine, fine. But don’t you think a little thank you is in order, Xiv? If it weren’t for me, you’d be in the arms of quite a different man, no?”

I flinched, my mind flashing unbidden to Alex.

”Did you really?” I whispered hoarsely, risking a look. ”I thought you were...”

”Evil? Tricking you? Well, those are both probably true. But I’ve always been on your side. Why else would I let you spy on me all those times?”

My eyes got big. ”You knew?”

”Well, yeah? I mean, it’s not like my anti-scrying wards accidentally failed, right? Every time I felt your presence, I had to fight so hard to keep from busting out laughing. Hag actually trusted me to shield us, even when she pretended she didn’t! She literally could have cast her own at any time. A demon lord like her trusting a mortal! Hah!”

Jessia laughed, taking a few drunken steps as she steadied herself. I just stared at her, my heart beating quickly and my mind racing.

”But...why?” I finally asked.

She calmed down a little, wiping a tear from her eye. ”That’s my job, isn’t it? Infiltrate the enemy, earn their confidence, steal their secrets?”

”You can’t just decide that and then call it your job,” Luke muttered.

She stuck her tongue out. ”Like it’s not useful to you. The only reason you knew Rash’alon was coming was because of me. And aren’t you still waiting to hear my report of the church’s defenses? I spent like two days scouting out the Throne, and that place gives me the creeps.”

”But how did you find me?” I broke in before she wandered even farther away. ”Rash’alon had nothing to do with Alex, and neither did the church. My soul was sealed, and though some Fate power leaked out, the chances you stumbled across such a meager trail are almost none!”

”Did you think Fate is the only thing your soul bleeds?” she asked, tilting her head. ”Your stars are pretty, and certainly easy to track, but I’m afraid my specialty lies more in shadows.”

Shadows? I shivered, my tail drawing tighter around Luke’s leg. Maybe I was just extra sensitive about it because of what Arantius had told me, but I didn’t like the implications of that. My soul had developed an aura because of the divinity. If Fyren’s pull was just as strong, did that not mean Oblivion bled from me as well? But that was absurd. I hadn’t noticed anything, and fate hadn’t said anything. Just what kind of power would an oblivion aura have anyway?

Another thought struck me, sobering me immediately. If the power Jessia had sensed and followed really was oblivion leaking from my soul, then how could she have known? How could she sense what I hadn’t until Arantius had forced me to? How could she know of something so secret that even the other remnants were ignorant of?