The Forsaken Hero

A sick forest was the least of our worries. Never mind years in the future, I wasn’t even sure we would survive minutes. None of my visions had taken me down this path. If I were being honest, few had ever passed my journey into Oblivion. We were in uncharted skies.

And those skies were dark. Luxxa cried out as Kislee’s claw caught her, clamping down on her arm. A crack rang out, and the apostle tossed her against the golden ward, making it shake. Luxxa collapsed, struggling to one knee, but her sword arm was twisted at a horrible angle. The claw hadn’t managed to rip through her armor, but blood dripped between the plates. Her bone must have punctured flesh.

Kahlen’s swords spun furiously as the apostle’s full wrath fell upon him. Her blade and claw were everywhere. She had no skill or arts to speak of, but whatever transformation magic she used let her fight as a monster, with pure primal power.

R’lissea joined the fight, throwing vines, thorns, and elementals at her. Gith and Luxxa unleashed every spell and art they knew. None of it was enough. The apostle was wounded, but her vitality was as monstrous as her speed and strength. The only good news was that I could see her soul burning hot. She wouldn’t be able to maintain that form forever.

It was doubtful if we could last that long. All of my focus went into maintaining my wards. Hag didn’t seem to have any direct forms of powerful attacks that didn’t rely on mana, so she shouldn’t be able to directly breath through the Aegis. The Death Blooms meant she would eventually, but I had plenty of mana. The only question was whether Kislee or I would break first.

When Luxxa struggled to her feet, healing magic glowing across her body, I actually felt hope. She rejoined the fight just as R’lissea completed a sixth-circle spell. Her sword plunged at Kislee’s side right as vines grasped the apostle’s legs. The blow struck true, and carapace cracked. Red blood, not insect ichor, sprayed out, and Kislee’s too-human eyes widened with pain.

Kislee tore back, almost teleporting with her speed. She slammed her pincer against the Aegis, using it like a mace. The barrier quivered, cracks spreading from the impact.

"No! Stop her!" I cried.

The Star Guard lunged forward, but she was faster. With a chittering ring shriek, she hit it twice more, and the barrier shattered. I fell to my knees as the foul stench of Hag’s magic rolled in with a purple mist. R’lissea raised her staff, casting a spell that wrapped around us, keeping the toxins from getting too close.

"I’ll fight the demon," she cried, flying out of our circle.

Dozens of elementals rose from the ground, formed of solid earth and corroding plant matter. They charged in formation at the Death Blooms, crashing into them in an avalanche of rock and dirt. Their battle was lost to me as Kislee reengaged my guard, forcing them onto the defensive. I cast what spells I could, healing their wounds and strengthening their weapons, but the gap was too big, and only seemed to grow wider.

Screeches and roars rose from the ridges behind us, and hundreds of infernal signatures lit up on the edge of my aura. Infernal demons poured down from the cliffs, racing at our backs. Jenna spun, releasing a seventh-circle spell. The sound of thunder boomed, and bolts of lightning rained from the sky, illuminating the night with crackling light. They exploded among the packs of scions. Gith’s arrows claimed the survivors, but there were more approaching. Fast.

But there were others, more souls. Souls that bore the touch of Haven. Fatesworn charged through the forest, racing toward us just as more demons appeared.

"No! Get back!" I cried, enforcing my will with a burst of aura. My connection with my mark was still tenuous, the poison having done its work, but the demons among our reinforcements caught on immediately and grabbed their mortal companions before they wandered into Hag’s ever-spreading miasma.

Voices flooded my mark, warm yet overwhelming. I clutched my head, giving a blanket order to engage the Infernals and keep them from interfering, but not to get too close. I didn’t have the strength to shield everyone right now, not with most of Hag’s threat being nonmagical, and I couldn’t bear the thought of any of them dying in a place like this.

But there was no denying the danger we were in, even without enemy demons throwing themselves into the fight. Luxxa and Kahlen couldn’t hold on forever, and Kislee’s mana was burning slower than I’d hoped. R’lissea was even more dire straits. The Death Blooms soaked up every spell and poison she unleashed, growing more noxious with every spell R’lissea dodged. Their vines glowed a sickly purple, literally dissolving R’lissea’s elementals on contact.

"You can’t win, mortal," Hag cackled, moving to engage R’lissea herself. Her curled nails glistened with venom. "Your magic might be powerful against any other opponent, but you’re too young to fight me. Poison eats at the root, and your roots are shallow."

R’lissea gritted her teeth, flying back as Hag charged her. All of her spells required existing biomass and earth, yet none sat untainted, nothing alive she could draw strength from. Her only alternative was creating it herself, but that required more mana, and Hag’s spells melted hers with unnatural ease.

A Death Bloom snaked close, catching her by surprise. Its massive jaws closed around her and its teeth dug into my wards. Cracks spread across the golden sphere, and R’lissea turned, releasing a blast of fire magic. It was only fourth-level, but the plant recoiled, letting her fly away.

Hag seemed to be waiting for that, and lunged forward. She raked her nails across the cracks before my mana could seal it up, and growled as it didn’t break. R’lissea spun away, summoning another series of elementals to besiege the demon lord herself. She moved erratically, panicked, her chest heaving, and soul strained.

It wasn’t going to be enough. Kislee was working her way closer, my Star Guard starting to slow. If I didn’t do something, someone was going to die. They all were.

But what options did I have? Poison still flowed through my veins, hampering every aspect of my strength. I was so close to being able to call a remnant, but it hadn’t yet been a week, and without Haven’s influence, summoning anything from my realm was impossible. All I had was my mana and my own spells, but if this kept up, even those would eventually fail. Kislee was just too strong, and broke too many of my wards. I would run out before she exhausted herself.

There was no safe play. I touched my spatial ring, withdrawing a spellbook. Fyren’s fears ran through my mind, but I pushed them aside and began to cast. I read the runes directly off the page, turning the pages of the gift Elaine had given me what felt like an eternity ago. A spell with a name I could only partially translate, a spell I’d never attempted to cast before.

The sudden swell of mana drew the attention of every soul within a mile. Hag’s eyes narrowed, and then widened as my aura gripped the battlefield, the weight of a peak eighth-level soul. One magic circle appeared, and then a second, runes slowly slotting into place.

"Impossible," she hissed. Whatever arrogance had held her before vanished as she attacked R’lissea with renewed fury, striking the golden sphere over and over.

"What is she doing?" Kislee asked, knocking Kahlen back, her scythe-like claw leaving a thick gouge in Luxxa’s shield. Luxxa went flying, and she lunged at me.

Gith intercepted her, drawing a pair of short swords. He lasted about half a second before her pincer caught his arm, crushing bone and leather armor. His scream echoed amid shockwaves and explosions, but it bought enough time for Kahlen to return. Jenna dragged Gith back, whispering a healing spell. Only third-circle, but enough to stop the bleeding.

Their voices and the sound of the battle faded from my ears. All that mattered was the torrent of mana rushing through me and entering the runes. It was invigorating, warm and sweet as any hug. Never before had I held such power, or so much mana at once. Not even when I’d drawn from shards.

Golden light spread from me, my aura resurging across the meadow and flowing into the forest. It had been suppressed by the cold of oblivion, but the shadows scattered across my soul and flesh melted in its light. The Fatesworn began to glow, bathing in its radiance, drawing strength from the comforting caress of my presence.

I didn’t really understand where it all came from. Not a week ago, my soul had hovered in the middle stages of the eighth level. But now, Enusia itself shivered beneath the weight of my aura.

Another magic circle, and then a fourth. I didn’t think; I just cast. I didn’t even consider the odds of my failure, and the likelihood of forcing something of this magnitude would likely kill me from the backlash alone. I couldn’t even stand straight without the support of my staff. But Emlica had ingrained that within me. Cast, don’t think. And, one rune at a time, I wove a ninth-circle spell from the pages of a tome.

As I reached the seventh circle and began laying the foundation for the eighth, something shifted. A chill ran down my spine, a shudder gripping my soul. The warmth, the light, vanished in an instant. Searing threads drew tight around my soul, suffocating my mana. The voices in my mark, the Oracle of Eternity, Adaptive resistance, everything. It was all gone.

I screamed, dropping to my knees, my staff slipping from my fingers. The mana I had gathered slipped away, and my spell collapsed. I braced myself for the backlash, but it never came. The eight magic circles just...crumbled.

"No..." I whispered, tears of pain and fear spilling over. The hole that had been empty before, the gaping hollowness, was filled again. A single presence in the utter silence of the Soul Binder, pulsing in my chest. Betrayal.

Why? Why was he doing this? Why did Luke activate the Soul Binder? Why now?

My soul shivered again, and I jerked upright, but not fast enough. Cold steel pressed against my throat. Tears blinded my eyes, and I felt no aura, but in my heart, I was certain who held it. Jessia had finally made her move.