The Forsaken Hero
Chapter 506: Healed

Chapter 506: Healed

"What?" My eyes grew as wide as saucers, my tail stiffening like a board. "Y-you...healed it?"

"Yep!" she nodded, smile widening as if she enjoyed my shock.

I shook my head, unable to come to terms with such a thing. "But that’s impossible! Sunpurge just isn’t curable, Elinore said so. The best she could ever manage was to soothe the pain, and even if she promised her master was close to finding a cure, that was just to give me hope."

R’lissea tilted her head. "Was it?"

I nodded. "It had to be. If curing it was possible, surely someone in the millions of worlds and eternities the gods have ruled would have discovered it."

I looked at her, pleading, wishing for her to agree with me. The fact that I could have been cured–and so easily, while I was asleep–was beyond belief. The sunpurge had been as constant a companion as the Sun God’s curse. It couldn’t just be gone, right?

She shrugged, smiling again as she reached forward, tenderly touching my shoulder. I instinctively flinched back, waiting for the sting of the scars, but the only sensation that followed was the tip of her fingers trailing over my skin, sending shivers down my back and tail.

"I’m not sure anything’s impossible," she said, slightly shaking her head. "There are just things that haven’t been done yet. Considering the gods’ stance toward demonkin and demons in general, I doubt there had ever been a serious effort to heal an affliction unique to their tainted blood. And besides that, it’s not like just anyone could develop magic for it."

I raised my hand, bringing it to rest on her own, pressing it into my shoulder. It had been so long since I’d felt the touch of another, since I’d had a chance to actually talk, yet the first person I met claimed to have healed me. Was this really not a vision?

Everything my eyes were seeing told me it was, and yet....

"How long?" I asked softly.

R’lissea’s smile faded, and she sat on the bed beside me. She turned her hand to meet my own, gripping my hand like she was trying to comfort me.

"A long time. Several months, I think."

My lips parted in a silent gasp. "Months?"

I rubbed my horn with my other hand, my tail twitching restlessly. The worst I’d ever been was asleep for a few weeks, and that had been after the trauma and torture at Western University when I first shattered my soul. Weeks, I could understand. But months?

"Where’s Elise?" I finally asked, when the shock had worn off.

"Safe," she replied. "She’s been recovering well, visiting you almost every day. It took me some time to convince him to let her stay, but I think he knew her before and just how important she was to you."

"And Fable?"

"Is that your pet? The one who fought my dragon?" she asked.

I frowned, finding her ignorance troubling. If I’d been asleep for months, there was no way my wolf hadn’t been by my side. It simply wasn’t possible, unless....

My blood went cold, and I sucked in a shallow breath. "R’lissea, where...where are we?"

As she opened her mouth to answer, I reached out with my soul, embracing my mana for the first time. There was a slight tingling sensation, a remnant of the sunpurge damage, but I ignored it for now and pushed onward until I found what I feared. Countless souls surrounded us, all bearing the chaotic taint of a demon’s soul.

R’lissea’s hand gripped mine tighter as my face fell. "We’re...with the demons," She murmured. "They captured us during the battle." She hesitated momentarily, then added, "Or at least, captured you. They would have killed me, but I saw how bad the sunpurge had gotten, and promised I could heal you. For some reason, the Lord of Ash believed me, and has protected us from the Apostles ever since."

My shoulders slumped as I let out the breath I’d unconsciously held, my hand limp in her grasp. Captured. That was only one step away from being enslaved, wasn’t it?

"I remember feeling a fiery presence," I mumbled, rubbing my horn, "Right before I fell unconscious. But I’d hoped it was Gayron. It was him, though, wasn’t it? The Lord of Ash?"

She nodded. "He came onto the battlefield with the power I’d never believed possible, except maybe the pope or the other ninth-level beings. Even Soltair was forced back, as was that demonkin he was fighting. Luke, I believe he calls himself. But the demon ignored them once he reached the city, rushing straight to the palace. When he emerged, he was carrying you in his arms. It just happened he was passing by as the demon hordes were overtaking where our ship had crashed. I called out to him, and for some reason, he actually listened and killed the demons threatening me."

I nodded slowly, then paused, looking at her. "Why were you still there? You had ample time to escape, and I didn’t see you fighting beside Victor."

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise, then she smiled wryly. "I suppose you had a vision of us, huh? But you’re right, I could have escaped. I, um, chose not to. When we talked, it was clear the sunpurge was spreading; if I didn’t help you, no one would be able to. All the measures Elinore and I came up with were failing, and unless I took action, you would have died."

"I thought I did," I said, shivering. "Wait, Elinore? You know her?"

"Of course. I think she started calling me master or something embarrassing like that. But, anyway, even if we’re captured by demons, it’s okay. I could finally help you," she said, squeezing my hand.

I shook my head. "You didn’t have to. I saw you betray Victor and bring the ship down. Why would you do that? Why would you risk your own life when you could have escaped?"

"I couldn’t do it again," she said, trembling. "I couldn’t abandon you when you did nothing wrong. I...I have wanted to help you the whole time since we first met. But I didn’t have the courage to until Korra said they were going to give you to Alex and then sell you to the slave traders. If I could stand with others, then it would be okay."

"But this time, you were alone," I said.

She nodded, tears shining in her eyes again. "I couldn’t do nothing, not when it was my last chance. Even if it was hard...I did it. They’re going to hate me now," she said, taking a deep breath and meeting my gaze. "But it’s okay. I don’t regret the choice I made. I will never again fight for the monsters who think it’s okay to enslave and control people."

"But what about your god? You’re a priest, aren’t you? Won’t you lose your magic?"

She shrugged and held up her hand, summoning a spark of life magic to dance around her finger. "My guess is that the Life God opposes the faction trying to implement the heart crest. We believe that everyone should be free to live their life, to learn and grow. So, even if it means siding with demons, that’s worth protecting."

"I...I see," I muttered. It was a lot to take in, and we had much more to talk about, but I felt myself growing tired again.

R’lissea picked up on it immediately, reaching up to smooth my hair behind my pointed ear. Her touch was kind and gentle, and quickly devolved into stroking my hair, causing me to relax.

"It’s alright, you need to rest. It took me almost two months to heal the last of the sunpurge from your body, but I think it’s still affecting your soul a bit. I think it’ll be a few weeks until you are able to do much, and even then, there might be lingering consequences." Her face fell a bit. "It’ll take a few weeks until we know for sure, but there might be lingering effects of the sunpurge. I...I’m sorry, but no one’s ever done it before, so we just don’t know."

"It’s fine," I said, suppressing a yawn, my eyes growing heavy again. "You’ve already done enough. There’s no need to apologize."

She nodded and slipped off the cot, letting her hand linger in mine a second longer before pulling it away. My hand fell weakly to my lap. "Good, then get some sleep. I’ll let the Lord of Ash know you’ve awakened, and you can talk whenever you wake up. From the little he said, you two have much to discuss."

"And Elise?" I asked hopefully.

She smiled. "I’ll tell her as soon as she comes. I’m certain she’ll be delighted."

I nodded and sank into the sheets, luxuriating in how they whispered across my skin, soft and painless. Sleeping with blankets was a simple pleasure, but one I’d all but forgotten. Even with the enchantment I’d learned, there was always a hint of pain, the abrasion slight but constantly uncomfortable. But now...?

I yawned, snuggling deeper into the blankets, not even caring that the cot wasn’t that comfortable. My mind still reeled from the shock of R’lissea’s words, from how completely my word had been turned on its head. There was still so much I didn’t know, so many answers I sought, but none would come tonight.

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