The Forsaken Hero
Chapter 324: The Earth Hero

Chapter 324: The Earth Hero

I sat across from Levin, hands tightly gripping the hem of my skirt in my lap. The room was silent for the agitated swishing of my tail and the crackle of the fire in the corner. A tear trickled down my cheek, the sting of the Earth Hero’s cruel words fresh in my heart.

After a few tense seconds, Levin shifted and sighed, resting his chin on his scarred hand. "Look, I’m sorry about what I said. I don’t actually think you’re a...a..." He looked away, cheeks tinged with red.

"It’s alright," I whispered, staring at my hand in my lap. "I’m...used to it."

"Then please stop crying. It’s distracting," he muttered.

"S-sorry." I swallowed hard and brushed the tears from my eyes. My tail continued to flick back and forth, so I snatched it from the air and held it in my lap, stroking the tip softly.

We sat in tense silence for another few seconds, and then Levin leaned across the table, stern and serious. "Lieutenant Joel tells me you were the one responsible for healing the Last Light Company after the double gate incident. Is that true?"

"Joel?"

"He was my escort on the journey north to Brithlite. I moved ahead of the because...reasons...and ended up encountering a demon. It was like nothing we’d seen before, a real monster capable of destroying entire cities with a wave of its hand. That’s where I lost my party...lost Arthur, and Surva...."

Tears welled up in his eyes, overflowing to drip down his face. His broken voice stirred my heart, and before I could think better of it, I reached across the table and laid my hand on his, squeezing comfortingly. He stiffened and jerked up, staring hard at me.

"Levin..."

He shook his head, flinging small droplets off his face. " If only I’d been stronger, I could have...No, it’s done now, in the past. There’s nothing I can do to change it. All I have left is this ruined body and regrets. Victor’s out there on the front line, and I can’t even touch my mana anymore, much less rejoin the fight. So I ask again, can you heal me?"

"I...I’m not sure," I stammered. He was done talking around the issue and hit the topic directly. Even if I could, I didn’t know if I wanted to. He was partly responsible for abandoning me with Lord Byron, for all of the pain and horror that had followed. I could empathize with his pain, probably more than he knew, but where had he been while I was hurting? Because of him, and the others, Aurle was gone.

He sighed and sagged against the back of his chair. "Look, I know we haven’t always gotten along, but–"

"You never even talked to me," I burst out, "You didn’t know who I was–who I am–and yet you fought to enslave me. To send me to that monster to be raped and killed!"

"And I regret that now, but that was a different matter entirely! Victor confirmed you were guilty of your crimes and justice had to be met. I was just doing my duty." Levin groaned and crossed his arms, glaring at me. "You know, I was going to threaten to sell you to the inquisitors if you didn’t heal me, but that clearly won’t work anymore. They already know you’re here."

"The inquisitors? You saw them?"

He shrugged, then paused, and his face brightened. "Actually, that gives me an idea. Your friend’s hurt pretty bad, I’ve heard. Sixth-level crawler poison. Normally, fifth-level crawler bits can be healed only by a sixth-circle spell created exclusively for that purpose. As for sixth...? Even if they manage to find someone capable of casting that spell, which I doubt, there’s almost no chance it’ll work. She’ll probably die.

My heart skipped a beat. I’d been expecting as much, but to hear it spelled out so clearly twisted my stomach into a knot. But that wasn’t the only reason I shifted back, my tail twisting nervously.

"Levin," I asked slowly, "Why did the inquisitors remind you of her?"

"Hmm? Oh, they dropped by yesterday and wanted to know if you arrived here with anyone. I figured they wanted to learn who you’ve been traveling with, so I pointed them to the fortress. It’s where the healers have been keeping your friend."

He couldn’t be serious. I could believe he would do that to me, but Korra? My fingers twitched, then curled in my lap, the soft fabric of my skirt bunching between my fingers. My mana writhed with my anger, a growing tempest of white-hot fury. It took everything I had to contain my aura, but I could do nothing about the lashing of my tail.

Levin frowned and met my gaze. A visible shudder ran down his back, and he shifted uncomfortably, tearing his eyes away.

"Hells, were your eyes always this intense?" he muttered.

"Levin...she loved you," I cried, my voice breaking. "She talked about you heroes as dear friends, almost every day. About how kind, or reliable you were, about how much you meant to her. How could you possibly do this? How could you betray her like this?"

He blinked several times, his face crossing somewhere between bewilderment and irritation. As I continued to stare at him, he shook his head violently and placed a heavy hand on the table.

"I have no idea what you’re talking about, and frankly, it doesn’t matter. Inquisitors or not, unless that poison’s miraculously healed, she’s just going to die in a day or two anyway. Which brings me back to what I was trying to say before. There’s no healer here who can help her. But I can. I have an ability that nullifies poison and other similar conditions. If you heal my soul, I’ll do what I can for her."

His callous indifference stung, but awakened some semblance of reason behind my anger. He hadn’t said her name once.

"Do you even know who she is?" I asked, my voice a trembling whisper.

He shrugged. "Just some girl you managed to fool into pitying you. Just like you did SOltiar at the beginning, and R’lissea, and Ko–"

"Korra," I finished for him. "It’s her, Levin. I came here with Korra."

The name hung in the air, weighty in the following silence. Saying it out loud lifted a burden from my shoulders, my anger draining away and leaving me feeling cold and empty. Levin stared at me blankly. His mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came out.

"Korra?" he finally repeated, the word sounding foreign on his lips. "She’s here?"

"She believed in me," I whispered, the words tasting like ash. "Even when you turned your backs. And now when she’s hurt and alone, you gave her to the inquisitors."

"No, that can’t be," he whispered, voice thick with denial. He squeezed his eyes shut and massaged his temples. "She’s going to be fine. She has to be! Why would they do anything to her? She’s a hero, right?"

Tears gathered in my eyes, but I didn’t move to wipe them, allowing them to spill over and trickle down my cheeks. "Does it change anything?" I mumbled, holding back a sob, "Will you help her now?"

His silence stretched, punctuated by my gentle sniffs and sobs. Then he slammed a fist into the table, sending a long crack spiderwebbing through the dark wood.

"Damn you," he snarled. "Why did it have to be you? Why couldn’t she just choose someone else to be her pity project. Someone...normal."

I bit my lip and held my tongue, letting my lashing tail convey the terror that clawed at my heart. If the inquisitors had Korra, she was going to die. She had betrayed them for a demon, casting aside their favor and laying down her staff. She was still a hero, so they couldn’t kill her, but if she was already dying? It would be a simple matter to pretend they arrived too late and couldn’t save her.

I was against a high inquisitor, nothing like the third or fourth-level inquisitors I’d faced before. High Inquisitors were the peak task force and special forces of the church, standing even above their paladins. They were chosen for their skill, ability, and mastery over unique combat techniques. Even with Fable, I had no confidence we could win, not when they had Korra as leverage. But with Levin...what would I do if he refused to help?

Levin groaned and dragged a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes. I held my breath, gripping the folds of my skirt so tightly my knuckles turned white. At long last, he exhaled heavily and broke his silence.

"Fine, I’ll do it. But only on the condition you heal me first," he said through gritted teeth.

"You will?" I asked, a flicker of desperation tainting my surprise. Relief washed through me, buoying up my heart and clearing my mind. But my joy was short-lived, undercut by a wave of apprehension. Could I really trust him to keep his word?

"Hmph. Not for you, filthblood. I still owe Korra for that time in the Blood Gate, and unlike you, I’m not keen on abandoning those who’ve done me right." He paused, eyes narrowing. "Don’t think this changes anything. After this, we’re done."

I swallowed, my tail curling around my leg. I had no choice anymore. I had to trust him. "Thank you, Levin," I managed, my voice small but steady. "Thank you."

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