The Forsaken Hero

Stars surrounded me on all sides, glimmering like diamonds scattered across an endless expanse of black velvet. As I glanced down, I was startled, even a little frightened, to find that I stood on nothing but air. There was no island, no altar, just stars stretching infinitely in every direction. It wasn’t that I floated, exactly, but rather that I seemed to stand upon a foundation invisible to my eyes. Gentle ripples of starlight constantly radiated from my feet as if I were a small pebble dropped into a tranquil pool. The same was true for Fable, and I suspected it would be the same for anyone who ventured into this ethereal realm.

It was a breathtakingly beautiful scene, and for a moment, I could only gaze at the sky around me, eyes wide with wonder. Only when Fable nudged me with his nose did I snap out of my reverie and remember why we had come here in the first place.

"Come, spirit," I said softly, my voice barely a whisper. There was no need to raise it in this ethereal space.

Stars, which had seemed as distant and untouchable as the night sky itself, suddenly shifted and moved. They streamed together, merging into a figure just a few paces before me. The figure stood nearly seven feet tall, clad in gleaming plate mail with a broadsword taller than I was strapped across its back. A cape of shimmering stars drifted behind it like mist, eerily reminiscent of the dress Fate always wore. Its head was obscured by an ornate helmet, with only its eyes visible. They emanated a soft, golden glow, devoid of any discernible pupil or iris.

"My Lady," the knight said in a decidedly masculine voice, saluting in the manner of the Last Light Company.

I looked him up and down, frowning slightly. My tail twitched, the tip flicking back and forth in confusion. "What happened to you, and to this gate? I thought you were, well, an ice spirit?"

The figure chuckled, the sound echoing through the starlit expanse, and folded its arms, filling the air with the rasp of scraping metal. "I warned you of the dangers of entanglement, did I not?"

My breath caught in my throat, and my tail froze with a shudder. "Entanglement? I...I didn’t mean to...I just, um... I’m sorry."

"There is nothing to apologize for, my Lady," the knight reassured me, his voice echoing with a calm resonance. "I knew this was my fate from the moment you summoned me to this world. The truth is, my existence was rather transient as it was, sustained solely by the power I absorbed from the ice gate. We spirits are unique entities, hailing from a realm beyond the reach of gods or demons. The manifestations you summon with magic are mere echoes of our true selves, meant to fade and disappear. Somewhere, in that other realm, the real me continues without any knowledge of this existence. It was your call that awakened my sentience and caused me to Ascend."

Ascend? Other Realms? Transient? His terminology was so foreign that even though I knew the definitions of the words, it still sounded strange and incomprehensible. Nothing I’d ever read or heard about summoning magic implied what he said was true, or even a thought in the minds of mages.

"So, um, it’s okay then?"