The Forsaken Hero
Chapter 404: Strategy

Chapter 404: Strategy

With the arrival of the anomaly, the storm slowly returned to motion, and then continued to increase in intensity. Heavy, wet snowflakes descended from the clouds in billowing gusts of winter, sticking to my hair and clothes. One made its way into my nose, and I sneezed, rubbing my nose furiously as it began to numb.

"Spirit, could you do something about this?" I asked, waving my hand in the air.

It tilted its head and frowned. "This?"

"The snow. Please, can you hold it back a bit?" I asked, drawing my cloak as tight as I dared across the sunpurge as another shiver coursed through my flesh.

"Ah, I see," it said, understanding dawning in its sapphire eyes. "But what you ask is one of the few things I cannot do. Beings of my strength often have an effect on the world, elementals even more so. It’s all I can do to restrain my impact on the immediate surroundings, perhaps within a couple of hundred miles radius. If I were to completely release my aura, plunging this kingdom into eternal ice wouldn’t be impossible."

His explanation was...lacking. I’d been around other ninth-level humans before, admittedly rarely, and never noticed anything particular about them. Of course, they had an oppressive aura, but nothing like the anomaly. Humans were relatively neutral, though, with no inherent attributes or presence of their own. Could it be it was as he said, and elementals were more in tune with the world? Perhaps the same would be true for monsters and maybe even demons.

I shivered, daring to imagine what that might look like. A ninth-level fire demon capable of plunging entire continents into ash was almost too much to think about. I had the church’s promise demons of such strength were not capable of descending through gates into Enusia, though that did beg the question of where the Lord of Ash–an eighth-level demon–had come from.

But the gods had lied to me before, and they’d been able to send an archon. If they could bypass the world’s laws with their magical amulets, wouldn’t their opposites, the demons, be able to do the same?

Fyren had one of those amulets.

The thought wormed its way into my protesting mind, accompanied by an image of the experienced adventurer’s face and the feel of his arms around me, comforting me. The memories were gone as quickly as the snow melted off my wards, but it opened up a dark, hollow part of me that didn’t close for some time.

"Xiviyah," the blade demon said, standing a safe distance from the ice spirit, "We should approach the gate as quickly as possible. The Gate Commander should be able to feel the massive mana of your Spirit and might be preparing countermeasures."

Just as I turned to look up at the gate, wondering how we might assault it with as little losses as possible, Bethiv strode up to us. He eyed the spirit first, then the demon, and finally focused on me.

"My lad–ah, Xiviyah, we’re in position to attack. The gate is some distance off the ground, but it won’t be a problem for our mages to create an approach. What are your thoughts on our assault?"

I glanced at the ice spirit, then back at Bethiv. He smiled faintly and opened his mouth. But before he could speak, the spirit shifted and spoke.

"I would advise against relying on my power to take the gate," it said hesitantly. "Much of my strength originated from such a gate, and any attempt for me to utilize my strength within might have... unfortunate consequences."

"I’ve never heard of anything like that before. What kind of consequences do you mean?" Bethiv asked, eying the spirit skeptically.

It returned his gaze evenly. "It is a unique effect of having a spiritual body without corporeal form. Normally, elemental spirits are bound and controlled by a mage’s summoning spell. I broke those constraints upon my ascension and have similarly lost the protections. To put it plainly, my mana is loose and free, as you see in the storm around us. Gates keep their mana in a similar manner, and should I exert any degree of mana within its dimensional confines, they might entangle."

Entangle? I turned my eyes to the elemental’s soul. It was brilliant, like the sun among stars, a shining beacon of mana both mortal and infernal. The two forces were entwined together, half given of myself in the summoning and the other half of the corpses and infernal souls it absorbed during the battle.

Unlike a mortal or demon’s soul, its soul had no structure or boundary. I could easily envision it catching on to the stray ribbons of infernal mana that saturated a demon gate. Playing it out in my head, I came to no certain conclusion, though using the word ’entangled’ certainly seemed to fit. At best, the ice spirit would gain an absurd amount of power and perhaps be unable to leave the gate. At worst, the entire demon gate unraveled, exposing everything inside to the annihilating extra-dimensional forces without the bubble. Neither option was favorable in the slightest.

"I can attest to this," Kahlen suddenly spoke, his steely words cutting through my thoughts. "Allowing the spirit to engage in direct battle would be unwise."

"Then Xiviyah, your plan–" Korra stared.

I waved my hand, cutting her off. "It’s fine; we’ll take it one step at a time."

She nodded reluctantly, though I could tell it bothered her. Bethiv coughed lightly, drawing out attention.

"It seems a good old-fashioned assault is in order. Demon, he said, turning to Kaheln, "Can I count on you to fight your own kind?"

Kahlen scoffed, an interesting sound coming from a stack of blades. "Demons have no sense of kinship or sentimentality. Those feelings only serve mortals who need them to survive. I’d as soon kill another demon as an insect, faster if I were capable of extracting its soul."

Bethiv grinned, though the expression held no mirth. "I was hoping for as much. And am I correct in assuming a sixth-level gate has a sixth-level commander?"

Kahlen inclined his body in the blade demon version of a nod.

"Very good. In that case, we hold an overwhelming advantage in terms of quality. In fact, I’d go as far as to say we outmatch any other armed force in the world." A hint of pride crept into his voice. "Right now, we have close to thirty sixth-level combatants, split at a two-to-one ratio of a soldier to mage. With Korra and the addition of the demons, I’d take the odds of challenging a seventh-level dragon, not to mention a mere sixth-level demon."

The thought of engaging an enemy force with an overwhelming advantage was entirely new to me. I couldn’t keep my tail from flicking excitedly as a small thrill ran through me. "If it’s in a gate, I should be able to use the infernal mana to–"

"No." Korra’s sharp reply cut through my excitement like a knife. She cringed as I flinched, my face falling, and softened her voice. "Xiviyah, we can’t afford to risk you on the battlefield this time. You remember what Elinore said, right? It’s going to take everything you have to complete the spell and heal your soul. There’s no need to waste your strength on a battle you don’t need to fight."

I bit my lip and gripped my skirt tightly, my tail falling limp. "I-I know, but I want to help."

She laid a hand on my uninjured shoulder, cupping my chin and lifting my eyes to hers. "I know, but now is not the time for that. Instead, let us help you this time. Just trust us, okay?"

I lowered my head, albeit reluctantly. She was right, as usual, but my heart wrenched at the idea of letting my friends and companions fight a battle on my behalf without me even being there. They didn’t deserve to face the consequences of my decisions without me, especially not because of me.

"You could die," I whispered. My voice trembled with feeling.

She shrugged. "So can anyone. That’s what makes living so meaningful, finding a cause worth dying for."

I fell silent, letting her words sink into me. There had been a time when I wanted to die–several, actually. But now...? Now, I wanted to live. I actually liked being alive, traveling, and fighting beside my friends. When I heard Orion had died, my first thought was why it had to be him. Not that he wanted it, but I’d have traded my life for his in an instant. That was the feeling Korra must be talking about, and it was selfish of me to deny it to her while clinging to it myself. I just had to trust her.

I took a deep breath and released my grip on my skirt, raising my head to meet Korra’s worried gaze. "I understand. But please...be safe."

She let out a short breath of relief and flashed me a smile. "Deal."