The Forsaken Hero
Chapter 387: Echoes in Fate

Chapter 387: Echoes in Fate

On the following day, we began a two-week-long march into the depths of Brithlite Kingdom. Spirits were high, and the soldiers moved quickly, far faster than we had in the rough, unscouted terrain of Blue Canyon. Occasionally, our column passed larger towns and villages, but Bethiv ordered the soldiers clear. I was grateful for the decision, as we would bring nothing but trouble to the innocent inhabitants of this land.

Travel was easy for me, as Elinore refused to allow me to do anything but ride on Fable’s back. It was soft and comfortable, and more than once I drifted off mid-march. The frequent rest was probably good for me, all things considered, as I pushed myself as hard as the healer let me whenever we stopped for the night.

On the third night of the second week, we stopped in a large cluster of hills in a light Brithlite forest. I sat on Fable’s back with my legs both dangling on one side, like a lady riding a horse. Korra and several sixth-level soldiers, including the martial combatants of the Star Guard, practiced in front of me. She’d been teaching any who could learn how to use Magic Arts and was now mid-lecture.

"Listen closely," she said, peering intently into the eyes of the soldiers. "You’re used to magical techniques, but those are just the foundation of magical arts. Arts take the principles of utilizing mana in your body and expand them to affect the world around you. Instead of just releasing raw mana in a burst of flame or defensive parry, Arts take that mana and manifest an actual shield, or fires that eat away your opponent’s defense. There’s a nuance to it, a depth and multitude of effects, where techniques only have one."

There was more to it, of course, but the soldiers couldn’t know about the research Korra and I were doing. That day a few weeks ago, Korra managed to synthesize a brand new art based on the Canyon Crawler’s defensive ability. It was a fifth-level art, yet capable of withstanding a peak sixth-level attack. She’d named it ’Water Guard,’ but the most interesting thing about magic arts is that they lacked any sort of attribute. They functioned similarly to the spell Summon Elemental Spirit, which could use any element as a focus. Each individual chose the specific effects of their arts, usually tailored to the magic they were most proficient with. The elements ended up as little more than flavor.

But Korra wasn’t the only one sharing her pioneered skills and abilities. Across from me, seated on the ground, was Jenna. Her long blonde hair stirred in the wind and her eyes were closed in concentration. Sarra, Elinore’s apprentice, sat beside her, similarly deep in concentration.

"Soulcasting is about condensing your mana and weaving within your soul," I said softly, more as a reminder than instruction. "Use only as much mana as you can control, and focus on weaving the shape of the runes, not perfecting the spell. Once you can confidently weave runes in your soul, it’s only a matter of time before you can soulcast entire magic circles."

Watching Korra share her skills with the Last Light Company inspired me, but deciding to teach others what had taken me so much pain and suffering to learn wasn’t easy. Even now, a week into instructing these two on soulcasting, I still hesitated. The church had stolen arrays from me, dragged them out through my screams in their horrible torture chambers. Could I really give away something like this for free?

"My lady," Sarah said, opening her eyes. There was a faint gold hiding in the mundane brown of her irises, the promise of stars drifting within her pupil. "How could you have done this all on your own? Even if you had your ability, creating something of this magnitude...not even the greatest mages in history dared to dream something so ambitious."

I smiled faintly and rubbed my horn. "I did what I had to to survive. From the first basilisk to our battle at the shard, every fight has pushed me past my limits and nearly left me for dead." I fingered the hem of my dress, pulling it taut over the sunpurge and allowing the golden light to shine through the fabric. "My sunpurge is just the outside indicator of this, but I think I can count the number of fights I ended without falling unconscious on one hand."

"It’s truly, troubling, isn’t it?" Jenna said, glancing at Sarra. "To think one so young and innocent has had to suffer so much. That’s why we’re studying this now, so that she won’t have to in the future."

Sarra looked down at her hands clasped tightly in her lap. "It’s just...I don’t think it’s fair."

There was loss and longing in her voice, and I looked up at the older girl. "Sarra?"

She shook her head. "Never mind, it’s nothing. Please, show me again?"

"I, um...okay." Perhaps Korra or Elise would have pushed a little more and found out what was bothering her, but I shrank back from that, being just a little too timid.

As I began weaving a single rune in my soul, demonstrating it for the two mages, my mana shuddered, writhing out of my control. The two frowned, undoubtedly witnessing the disturbance, their own mana resonating with the warning in the depths of my soul.

Sarra blanched as the resonation increased, pressing a hand to her chest and looking sick. "W-what is this?"

Jenna was on her feet in a flash, her staff gripped tightly in her hand. "Something feels wrong. It’s hard to say what, but–"

"There’s danger," I finished for her. Fable stood beneath me, and I adjusted my position to be a little more stable on his back.

"Is this you? Are we feeling it because you linked your ability with us?" Sarra asked with wide eyes.

I nodded, then raised my voice and called for Korra. "Korra! Something’s about to happen!"

My soft voice fell flat beneath the tumult of the sparring grounds, but Korra seemed to sense something was wrong. She turned with a quizzical frown and, upon seeing our alarm, immediately called for a rest.

"What is it?" she asked, running over.

"I’m not sure," I said with a shake of my head. "My mana’s warning me something bad is about to happen, but at the same time, it feels a little different."

"Different? How?" she asked sharply.

"It’s hard to say, almost like it’s...not here."

She blinked. "I’m not sure I get it."

"Me either." I let out an exasperated sigh. "But we should be on our guard. I haven’t had this feeling before unless something terrible followed, and it’s almost always been life-threatening."

She nodded, and I ended the link with Sarra and Jenna. "Keep practicing on your own, as much as you can at least. I know it’s not easy without being able to see the mana, but soulcasting requires a degree of familiarity. Hopefully, if you can master it, you’ll be able to teach the others how to soulcast without relying on my ability, too."

"Yes, my lady," Sarra said, giving a polite curtsey.

Jenna just shot me a wink before turning to the Water Hero. "Korra, would you keep an eye on Xiviyah? I’m going to go find the others of the Star Guard. They should be close by, but we should be ready in case something does happen. Can’t have our little oracle getting hurt again, right?"

She shot me a wink and ran off. I saw a pulse of mana leave her soul and stream off toward the command tent, a sign she was using her ability, Whispering Winds. Probably just alerting Bethiv that something was off.

A few minutes later, the rest of the Star Guard gathered. A general alert was passed out the army, but, after several minutes of waiting, the disharmony in my mana faded away. It was the first time something like this had ever happened, when the Oracle of Eternity gave a warning that didn’t manifest. And why had it felt different than before? There was a slight chaos to the movement in my mana, almost like...

I gasped, my tail turning rigid. "Korra, I think it’s a response. There’s...ripples in fate, like an echo."

"A response?" She raised an eyebrow.

I nodded quickly, my fingers wrapping deep into Fable’s fur. "I think someone was watching us, with the Eyes of Fate, that is. I can’t explain it, but it was too similar."

She was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "It must be the new Fate Hero. Grace told me a little about her, and she definitely has the Eyes of Fate. The church might be trying to use her to spy on us."

"Or maybe she’s just beginning to awaken her powers," I said, remembering my own experience. "Controlling the visions is next to impossible, especially when she’s so new to it all. It took me several months of study and practice before I gained even a semblance of control, and that was only because I had to find you, and Sari, and Elise."

"Either way, it’s something we should be aware about," she said. "Once she gets control of fate, or even just has reliable visions, and you’re not the only one, everything’s going to change."