The Forsaken Hero
Chapter 342: Into the Night

Chapter 342: Into the Night

The wind circled around the peak of the mountainous stone monolith, rising to tug at our hair. I held my staff out at arm’s length, tilting the star so it caught the glare of the evening sun, sending it spiraling out in colorful dots of dancing light.

"Her?" Korra wrinkled her brow, looking between me and the staff. "You gave your staff a gender? Did you name it too?" She chuckled as I fixed her with a flat look. "What?"

I rolled my eyes, but on the inside, I was cheering. She’d been teasing me, and I hadn’t gotten embarrassed. Regardless of the heaviness of the things I was about to share, I couldn’t help but feel a thrill of pride.

Korra cleared her throat, and I jumped slightly, startled from my thoughts. "R-right," I stammered, blushing slightly. So much for remaining composed. "I wasn’t talking about the staff, but Fate, or what’s left of her at least."

"I thought Fate was dead? Didn’t they put a new god in her place?"

"It’s not that simple. When the new Fate God descended and approached us in Heartland City, he recognized something in my staff, and I don’t think that’s just because it’s the Divine Artifact for fate. The inquisitors have come hunting it specifically. It’s like I’m just an afterthought now."

Korra was silent for a time, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. "That god mentioned something about a Divinity, didn’t he?"

"Yeah, and with the Oracle of Eternity, I could see he wasn’t his full self, not like Fate. He was missing something, and I think that something is what Fate put in my staff. It...guides me sometimes, and I think it’s the reason behind the changes to my status and abilities. I don’t know what a divinity is, but it has something to do with the gods’ relationship to their domain, and as long as I have it, the new fate god can’t inherit the full power and scope of my goddess."

"So that’s why they are so intent on getting it. That damned High Inquisitor was one of those who argued against allotting resources to find you. His thoughts swayed the entire Council of the Inquisition to assume you were dead. I thought it strange that he led the first major operation to intercept you, but if it’s an order from the Divine, everything makes sense. I bet the pope got a revelation or something, which is how they knew where to find us."

Her words reminded me of another burden I’d been carrying, and a weight settled on my shoulders. My staff slipped from my hand, breaking into stars a heartbeat before it hit the ground. Korra glanced at me, head tilted in concern, but I stared at the ground. How was I supposed to say something like this?

The pressure built in my chest, rising until I squeezed my eyes shut, my tail lashing, and blurted, "The Fate Hero sent them."

She stared at me, lips twitching into an uncertain smile, as though she didn’t know whether I was joking or not. "What? But you’re the...oh."

I nodded miserably. "The inquisitor said they were sent by the Fate hero, which means they somehow summoned another one."

"Is that even possible? It’s already been over two years since we were summoned, and the demons already have forces on the world. How is a new hero supposed to contribute anything without time to adjust to the world or train themselves?"

"Maybe they don’t care about the war," I said slowly. I’d been thinking every since the revelation, but trying to organize my theories took me longer than I liked. My tongue felt slow and heavy, as though saying the words aloud made them more real. But she was looking at me now, waiting, and I couldn’t stop now. "The gods can’t physically appear on a world, or they would break it with their mere presence. Even descending into the body of a believer takes an incredible amount of power, something which the new fate god doesn’t have a lot of. They had to be extraordinarily thorough in destroying any of Fate’s believers across their realms to crush her. Calling a new god wouldn’t change that. It will take a lot of time for him to build a base of believers again and start getting power from faith. That might be one reason he was allowed to send a hero here–to jump-start the process."

Korra’s eyes dawned with understanding. "Ah, I see. But Enusia’s the worst choice right now, it’s already under attack. The other heroes have already performed wondrous feats and ’stolen’ a lot of potential believers. The fact that they sent them here...you’re saying there’s more to it than just faith. Is it about the staff?"

"I don’t know," I whispered, "but it makes sense."

Korra sighed and settled back against Fable, pursing her lips. "If that’s the case, then things are going to get a lot harder than I thought. Heroes have a lot of sway in the church, especially one with a specific mission from the Divine. I bet this new hero chooses to be a priest and gets absolutely power-leveled. That staff is bonded to your soul, and until they take it, they won’t stop hunting you. The inheritance of a literal god depends on it."

I took a shallow breath, watching her intently from the corner of my eye. "Kora...um, do you still want to stay with me?"

"What kind of idiotic question is that?" She cocked her head and stared hard, and I averted my eyes, a flush of warmth spreading across my face. "Why would this change anything? If anything, it just got even more exciting! Think of it. The entire Divine focused on hunting down a ragtag band of friends, and us resisting with everything we have. There’s going to be so many good fights coming up. I’m a little reluctant to fight the other heroes, but if they come, I’m going to send them packing."

She pumped her fist in the air and grinned. All I could do was rub my horn, shaking my head in disbelief. Of course that was the thing she was thinking about. Of course.

"I kind of wonder what the new Fate Hero’s like, though," Korra said, settling down a bit. "Do you think the others accept them?"

"As long as they’re not a demonkin," I said, somewhat bitterly.

"Yeah, but, you know...jealousy and stuff. They’ve got to have all kinds of advantages and support to be able to catch up to everyone else, which I bet ruffles a few feathers. I can’t imagine Victor taking that all. He’s always been obsessed with rules and fairness."

"Unless you’re a demonkin," I repeated. "Then you just attack and humiliate them on sight. That’s what he did to me, at least, the first time we met."

Korra let out a sigh, giving me a meaningful look. "That’s enough, Xiviyah."

I wilted under her gaze, my tail twitching back and forth. "You’re right. Sorry."

We sat together for another hour or two, resting against Fable and chatting about anything from our previous lives to the strange influence of the anomaly. Up on the monolith, we were so far removed from the world, lost in a strangely eerie stillness. It was comforting, yet also a little eerie, as though the entire world had vanished. Somewhere below us, on that endless plane of blue rock, there were demons and inquisitors, warriors and innocents, all twisted together in a struggle for survival.

As the sun began its evening descent, our conversation dwindled into silence. Minutes passed, and I leaned my head against Korra’s shoulder. She laid her hand on mine and smiled, and together, we watched the sunset. There was no need for more words, we had said everything that needed to be said. All that was left was to savor the precious seconds of what might very well be one of the last moments of peace in our lives.

The gold faded to red, and then to violet, and finally gray. As the final streaks of color left the sky, I heard Korra take a breath. Before she could suggest leaving, I laced my arm in hers and snuggled against her side, pleading with my eyes. Please, just a little longer. I couldn’t bear to let this moment end, not yet.

She smiled softly and relaxed, raising her other hand to ruffle my hair. "Fine, fine. You know I can’t resist that look. But you do know that Elinore will be waiting for you, right?"

I winced, squeezing her arm even tighter. "Please, don’t remind me. But it won’t be long before the medicine wears off I can’t hug you anymore."

"Alright, fine. But we’re leaving once it gets dark. Fable’s going to need to see to be able to make the jump without landing on anyone."

Jump? My heart skipped a beat, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t hear anything. I was just going to enjoy the moment and pretend everything was fine. There was no jump, spire, or four-mile fall. It was just–

I let out a sigh, finding it impossible to relax again. Korra smothered a giggle as I finally let go of her, my tail already quivering in apprehension. "Did you really have to say that?" I muttered, glaring at her.

She shrugged. "Probably not, but it’s time to get going. Oh, come on. There’s no need to look so down, it’s not like I’m going anywhere. We can hang out another time."

"Just next time, maybe not so high up. Please." I glanced over the edge at the darkening world below and immediately regretted it. My vertigo returned, and I stumbled back a step, practically falling against Fable. As I slid onto his back, I turned to look at Korra with wide eyes. "Do we really have to jump? This isn’t like last time, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes. There’s no path up, which means no path down." She nodded solemnly, but I didn’t miss how her lips twitched or the sparkle in her eye.

"Fine, let’s get this over with. Just...hold me...please."

She wrapped her arms around me, carefully avoiding the Supurge, and said, "Don’t worry, I got you."

Fable tensed, giving me a second to suck in a desperate breath, before launching himself off the monolith. As we plummeted through the air, I closed my eyes and let the rushing air sweep away my thoughts. I didn’t want to admit it, but the peaceful, gentle days of travel had come to an end. All I could do now was walk the path that I had chosen, to follow it to its end.

I didn’t know what that end was, or where fate would take me, but the next steps were clear. The time for peace was over. It was time for war.

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