The Forsaken Hero
Chapter 334: The Things that Hurt the Most

Chapter 334: The Things that Hurt the Most

Just as I was starting to sink into unconsciousness, Korra took a sharp breath. Her eyes shot open and she sat up, a hand flying to feel her back. I shook my head and drove back the blackness creeping in on my vision, unknowingly holding my breath.

"Korra?" I asked, my tail stirring nervously.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes groggily. "Xiviyah? Man, what the hells happened? I feel like I got run over by a wagon."

She looked impossibly vulnerable and unguarded, like a child waking up from a nap. Her innocence held such polarity from the destruction, grief, and darkness I just stared at her, unable to so much as breathe.

The poison had been purged from her system, leaving her in shockingly good condition. Korra yawned again and stretched, blinking rapidly in the harsh light of raging fires and explosions echoing in the distance. She tilted her head quizzically and glanced around at the city and then finally up at me. Her eyes had lost the befuddlement of sleep and were wide and scared.

"Xiivyah...what’s happening?" she asked in a small voice. "Where are we?"

I took a shallow breath, my first since she awakened. "Korra, I...I did what I had to. I couldn’t let you die."

She frowned and stood, flinching as a powerful explosion rocked the air. "What happened?" she repeated, firmly this time.

Before I could even attempt an explanation, a figure landed beside us, cracking the ground with the force of the impact. I shied away and covered my face as shards of stone blew out like shrapnel, leaving a dozen shallow cuts on my exposed skin. One hit just above the glimmering wound on my side, sending a burst of tingles racing through my flesh. A shudder ran through me; a little lower and I would have been on the ground screaming.

Shaking from the close call, I raised my head, squinting against the rising cloud of dust. The Ice Spirit stepped out of the crater, his handsome, crystalline face darkened with a frown. His armor was scraped and scarred with deep gouges, but his soul glimmered as strong as ever. He had lost his sword somewhere in the battle.

"Apologies, Star Mother. I’m afraid this foe was stronger than I anticipated. Not to worry, though," he said, summoning his sword once more, "It won’t change the result. He dared to hurt and insult you. Death is the only recourse."

"Xiviyah," Korra said, staring at the elemental. "What the hell is that? Why won’t you tell me what’s going on?"

Her words broke whatever spell held me, and I started to cry. "T-they wanted to kill us, Korra. You were poisoned and the inquisitors were going to let you die. I had to save you, even if...if...no matter what."

I stared at the ground, unable to look at Levin’s broken body or the devastation around us. It wasn’t much of an explanation, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. Even now I swayed on my feet, barely clinging to consciousness. The constant pain of the Sunpurge and my exhaustion weighed as heavily as a mountain, dragging me into darkness.

She gazed at me for a moment before her gaze softened. She reached out as though to touch me, but her fingers hesitated a hairsbreadth from the glowing wounds in my side. "You’re hurt," she whispered, her voice churning with horror. "Sunpurge...?"

A sudden pressure swept over us, making us both flinch, as the inquisitor appeared, hot on the tail of the spirit. He seemed fixated on the elemental, alighting on the ground with his spear already charged with a magical technique. He had fared no better than the Ice Spirit, with portions of his armor cracked and a long cut across his face. His confidence was betrayed by what my eyes alone could see–exhaustion. He was at the peak of sixth level, yet fighting the ice spirit and using so many powerful spells and techniques had left his soul drained of mana, perhaps only a quarter of his full strength. Despite that, his eyes remained cold and cruel, seething with hatred.

"You can’t run from me forever, abomination. Just lead me right to your filthblood master and I’ll–" The inquisitor’s voice faltered as he noticed Korra, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. He took a quick breath and smoothed the sadistic glee from his face, replacing it with a far more amiable smile. "Ah, the Water hero. Thank the gods you’ve returned to us. You’re just in time to help me capture this filthblood and end their reign of death and destruction."

"Filthblood?" Korra blinked several times and glanced at me, still completely bewildered by the circumstances. After a moment she shook her head, letting her short brown curls dance around her ears, and her eyes narrowed. "High Inquisitor, why are you here?"

I gasped softly, looking between the two. The inquisitor shifted uneasily, hand tightening around his spear, while Korra folded her arms and leaned on one hip aggressively.

The inquisitor coughed lightly and risked meeting Korra’s flashing eyes. "Hero, I know we haven’t always been on the best of terms, but I am here on assignment from the Divine itself. This filthblood has stolen a precious artifact of the Fate God and has initiated an attack on this city. Hundreds have perished, and–" his voice died as he caught sight of the fallen hero behind us.

Korra frowned. "And...?"

Wordlessly, eyes wide, the inquisitor pointed, and she followed. I flinched as she let out a sharp breath, hissing through her teeth. Slowly, her aura seeped out of her soul, gripping the air with stifling pressure. A tremor traveled down my tail as she slowly looked up, her piercing green eyes burning with anger.

"It was the demonkin," the inquisitor said quickly, before she could speak. I took a step back, my tail twitching anxiously. He hadn’t even seen it, yet shamelessly blamed me. That didn’t make him any less right, but they both seemed to mistake him as dead.

"What in the hells did you do?" she asked, glaring at me. "That’s Levin, Xiviyah. Levin!"

Her anger stabbed into me like knives, eviscerating my fragile heart and sending a shudder down my spine and tail. She’d looked at me with many expressions before, but this was the first time I’d ever sensed outright hostility, and it hurt far more than the Sunpurge.

Tears gathered in my eyes, but as I took a breath to explain, the inquisitor spoke first.

"This is exactly what we were trying to warn you about, Hero. This monster is dangerous and needs to be taken care of. She walked brazenly into the city and assassinated the Lord and his guards, then proceeded to hunt down the Earth Hero. He was wounded and defenseless, still recovering after a battle with the demons, yet she slew him without mercy."

"That’s not true!" I burst out, sobbing, "He tried to stop me from healing you, Korra, and I didn’t kill him. I just...hurt him. He’s still alive."

She hesitated, glancing again at Levin’s motionless body. He was so weak his chest barely rose and fell, but with her enhanced senses, she must have noticed, right?

"I’ve never heard anything more preposterous in my life," the inquisitor muttered. He shook his head and let out a heavy sigh, grieving. "The Earth Hero was well known as a kind, gentle giant. The other heroes looked up to him like a big brother. What motive could he possibly have for trying to hurt you, Korra? Weren’t you friends?"

The use of her name made his persuasion all the more intimate, and Korra wavered, her hands squeezing so tightly her knuckles whitened. "I...I don’t know..." she whispered. She raised her eyes to meet mine. "But Xiviyah isn’t like that either. I don’t know what happened when I was unconscious, but she saved me, that much is clear. And she’s never once voiced a desire for revenge. She’s not angry or bloodthirsty, not like she should be. Not after everything that’s happened to her."

Her voice gained strength and confidence as she spoke, and she turned to face the inquisitor. He frowned and shifted on his feet, sensing the change, that he was losing his sway. Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, his next words slammed into me.

"What say you, filthblood? Will you deny your actions? Did you invade this city and kill its righteous defenders? And who was it that laid the Earth Hero low? Is there some other demon who’s down these evil things?"

Korra glanced at me and nodded encouragingly, giving me a hopeful smile. I gripped my skirt tightly and looked away, unable to hold her gaze.

"I...I had to!" I cried, pleading with her desperately. "Korra, you have to believe me. I couldn’t let them kill you."

I could feel the light leave her face without even looking, but I did anyway and instantly regretted it. Her face fell and her eyes wavered with conflict, struggling between faith and doubt. After a long, tense, silence, she closed her eyes, her long eyelashes glistening with tears.

"So you hurt Levin?" She whispered, "You killed all of these people for me? And you thought I’d be happy, like it was some sort of gift?"

"It’s to be expected," the inquisitor added smugly, leering at me. "Demons only desire death and suffering regardless of who gets hurt. It’s in their nature. All they need is an excuse."

I had thought seeing Korra angry at me was the worst pain I could have known, but the moment I witnessed the hurt in her eyes, I knew I had been wrong. If the small flickering candle within me had been blown out before, it was now extinguished by a hurricane. Every fiber of my heart and soul shriveled up in shame and despair, a withering pain that burned like the fires of hell.

There were dozens of factors that justified my actions, from the inquisitor’s murderous attempts to the lies and deceit of Levin. But my mind refused to organize even the simplest thought. The darkness stifled all of my attempts to speak and somehow explain the situation, leaving me desolate on my knees. Tears dripped down my face and into my lap as I began to weep, my shoulders shaking with sobs.

After everything we had done together, after all the pain and suffering we had endured, was Korra going to leave me too?