The Forsaken Hero

The thick canvas of my tent bowed beneath the weight of the wind, snapping loudly with every gust and gale. It was dim and cold, the sun shining through the western wall of the tent as a distant, reddish circle, just moments from vanishing beneath the hills on the horizon. The camp had quieted for the night, the soldiers retired from their cookfires, and the watch was already pacing between the orderly rows of tents.

I sat on my cot with my tail in my lap, idly stroking it as I listened to Elinore, who stood across from me with her hands on her hips. She wasn’t a large woman, but she dominated the small tent, towering over me by force of presence as much as height.

"No. I’m telling you that you can’t do it. Even if your soul can cast fifth-level spells, your body won’t handle it. If the sunpurge starts spreading again, I don’t think it will stop."

My grip on my tail tightened, and I bit my lip, pleading in a small voice. "We won’t get another chance. The southern armies of Brithlite are in full retreat, and we drove off their heroes, so they won’t be able to interfere. The demons are far enough away and busy consolidating their hold on Bluegate Keep and the surrounding towns. The gate is inside the anomaly’s influence, which generates enough of an ambient aura powerful enough to cloud any residual signals my soul would release. It’s too good to be true, Elinore. I have to do this."

She groaned and put a hand to her forehead, beginning to pace back and forth. It was cramped in the tent, but I couldn’t blame her. This was hardly the first time we’d had this conversation in the day since Kahlen revealed the location of a demon gate. It was a sixth-level ice gate that appeared three days ago, and was practically on the other side of the next mountain.

"It doesn’t matter how perfect this seems, my lady," Elinore said. "Even if you heal your soul, the sunpurge has already advanced to the point it’s affecting you inside and out. You can’t even walk without wincing, and I know your soul hurts more than it ever has before. There’s no way you can succeed right now."

"But Elinore, the burden won’t be too great if I–"

"’Channel through the Anomaly?’ I know, you’ve already said that," she muttered. "But You don’t even know if something like that is possible. I’m afraid exposing yourself to infernal mana will be enough to push you over the edge, not to mention channeling a fifth-circle spell for hours."

I’d fought countless bitter battles to get to this point, but those very fights now prevented me from doing the one thing I’d prayed for since breaking my soul at Western University. The sunpurge had gotten worse with every fight, and with it, my soul continued to weaken. I had enough mana to cast several fifth-circle spells in sequence, but the pain and effort I felt just casting a single instance of Regenerate to save Luxxa proved Elinore right.