The Forsaken Hero

Talk to it?

I stared at the elemental, my lips parted in a silent gasp. But it was a monster. What use did they have of talking? Monsters were hell-bent on destroying and consuming, like demons in their own right. And one that had been sealed away was surely too dangerous or unpredictable to reason with.

"Hmm, what a surprise. You’re the last person I would have assumed opposed to the idea," Incinderus said, conveying his bemusement with a small chuckle.

"That’s not...I didn’t..."

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. He was right. The Elemental held no real hostility toward us. It had to have absorbed enough mana for several ninth-level arts at this point, but it hadn’t unleashed one.

"Korra," I said, severing my connection with Incinderus and turning to the True Nexus. "Could you pull back? Just for a moment?"

"Retreat?" She sprang back, getting enough distance from the slashing blades to look over her shoulder at me, staring incredulously. "You can’t be serious! Things are just getting good!"

"I know, but this isn’t a fight we can win."

She pursed her lips in a small pout. "But it’s the first time we really get to work as a team! Do you know how long I’ve waited for that?"

"I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you. I promise. There are lots of fights to come."

"Not enough," she grumbled.

But she didn’t argue further, swiftly disengaging with the elemental. The others pulled back on her command, but remained tense, like coiled springs.

"What are you doing?" R’lissea asked worriedly.

"I wish I knew," I muttered. "Fable, please, take me closer.

Fable was aware of every communication and bond active with my soul, so I didn’t need to explain anything to him. But his ears still twitched with displeasure.

"Please?"

He whined faintly, marking his protest, before flying down to the shattered battlefield within the chasm. The massive earthen bubble it had formed from was cracked and fractured. It had dropped several hundred feet beneath the rim of the massive chasm and was draped in heavy shadows. The elemental regarded me curiously, content to rest in the reprieve. Korra flew over as I slid off Fable’s back.

"You shouldn’t be this close. It can cut through your wards with a single slice," she said.

"That’s why I must."

She seemed about to argue, but I stepped past her, heading toward the elemental. My heart pounded, but I let my staff go, dismissing it in a wave of starlight. I wished I had the confidence to maintain some poise, but there was nothing I could do about the anxious swish of my tail.

"H-Hello," I said, stopping when I was just twenty feet away.

It peered at me silently, giving no indication it had heard or understood. My fingers curled into my skirt, gripping the fabric to keep from trembling.

"I’m, um, Xiviyah. I’m sorry if we startled you. We don’t want to fight."

A half pace behind me, Korra snorted, muttering, "Speak for yourself."

I gave her a sharp look. What did she think I was doing?

Still no response, so I tried a different approach. Drawing on the Oracle of Eternity, I let my aura go. Starlight flowed out, manifesting in thick, golden clouds. I shivered as it brushed against the elemental’s aura. This close, it was heavy and earthy, pressing against my skin like encroaching sand.

I tried communicating again, this time with a crude semblance of Soul Speak. If I could feel its intentions through our auras, perhaps it could do the same.

This time, the elemental took notice. The crystalline core vibrated with a soft hum, releasing a gentle pulse of white light. No language or emotion, but I felt acknowledgment. I’d gotten its attention.

"Can you speak?" I asked aloud, accompanying it with a crude stream of soul speak bearing the same sentiment.

The humming sound changed, growing lighter. It no longer grated against my bones. Its aura shared affirmation, but that was it. I wasn’t quite sure if that really qualified as speech, but maybe it was just saying it understood the soul speak?

"We don’t want to fight you," I reiterated. "I know you must be angry and confused after being trapped for so long, but we’re not the ones who did it. We’re just...here. I’m sorry we attacked you."

Amusement answered my apology. What was that supposed to mean? It shifted quickly, and I blinked. Curiosity, but with a direction I actually understood.

"We’re here to bring about the end of the church, and the gods’ influence on Enusia. Their darkness has spread far and deep, bringing many under its shadow. We fought at all because of their schemes. They wanted to use you to destroy us."

It accepted that easily, without any real feeling either way. I’d known Haven long enough to understand elementals and spirits existed on their own, outside of the Divine Cycle. Gods and demons had little interest in them. They just...were like water, or trees.

"What is it you want?" I asked.

The hum changed to a low keening noise, and with it came a flood of sensations through its aura. Pictures formed in my head, portraying a nonsensical world of earth, stone, and endless seas of mana. Tying it together was a concept that pulsed with warmth, one I knew only loosely.

"Home?" I asked, tilting my head.

The keen quieted again. Affirmation.

"It just wants to go home? That’s it?" Korra asked, folding her arms. "Kinda lame."

It seemed only natural to me, when I actually thought about it. Haven had proved that powerful elementals couldn’t exist long in a mortal realm like Enusia. They were creatures of element and attribute, and without the support of a similarly aligned realm, they would bleed power. The earth elemental’s aura seemed stable enough right now, but given time, I had no doubt it would destabilize Enusia’s dimensional walls. Once that happened, the realm would notice, and like an immune system, would mobilize and neutralize it.

I took a shallow breath. "So, if we can help you get home, you’ll stop fighting?"

Something brushed against my soul, and I jumped, letting out a little startled squeak. The elemental showed amusement again, and the feeling came again. It felt like an invitation, so, tentatively, I accepted. A small conduit of mana appeared between us, and at last, I heard its voice.

"Daughter of the stars and heir of the end, I am Gaiac. How is it you can converse with me, and offer so confidently a means for my return?"

Daughter of the stars. Wasn’t that what Haven had called me, too? It must have something to do with how elementals viewed the world, and my soul, specifically. But Heir of the end...I shivered, my tail curling around my ankle. I didn’t like the sound of that at all.

"I...I can’t promise anything," I admitted in a small voice. "But if there’s a way, I will find it. I have...friends that might be able to help."

"And what would you ask in return? To cease this conflict?"

I fidgeted with my skirt. "Is that not enough?"

It was quiet for a long time. "This battle was over. There is nothing more these children have to offer me. Their spirits were valiant, but their bodies and souls frail."

I winced, grateful Korra couldn’t hear its voice. "Then, um, there is one thing."

"I accept your proposal, on a single condition."

"And that is...?"

"That you allow me to feed on your power. Your stars are simple but beautiful. I’ve never encountered one that holds fate with such purity. And for that same soul to swell in the shadow? I’ve never tasted oblivion before. It’s most...exquisite."

"You eat mana?" I gasped, covering my mouth in an attempt to smother the outburst. "Er, I mean, alright? But I can’t use combat magic, like everyone else. So I won’t be able to help you charge."

"Do you not also?" It asked, tinged with confusion.

I held back a giggle, shaking my head. "Humanoids like us, we eat, well... other things. Like animals and plants."

"Curious. I had forgotten how strange mortals are. Even demons devour mana. But it doesn’t matter. I shall have time to observe your oddities in excess. Now, you promised me relief from the burdens of this realm. Answer to your oath, and I shall fulfill mine."

"Right. Sorry." I summoned my staff. Korra flinched, gathering her own mana, but I soothed her with a gesture. Then, with a wave of my staff, I opened a gate to Haven."

"Uh, Xiv? What are you doing? You’re not going to let that thing in, are you?" Korra asked, aghast.

It didn’t make any sense. I knew that, too. Inviting such a powerful being into my realm when I knew next to nothing about it. But, for some reason, I trusted it. It just felt right.

"A realm of starlight, with a sentient will? How delightful." Its voice was almost reverent as it bobbed forward. Its swords and avatar were gone, leaving it as just an uneven lump of crystal about the size of my fist. It pulsed with an excited heartbeat.

"Its name is Haven. The Realm Spirit, I mean...and the realm. He used to be an elemental, too. I hope you’ll get along nicely."