The Forsaken Hero

Gayron hadn’t been particularly harsh, but his interruption caused me to flinch back, my confidence gone. "L-Levin? He’s the Earth Hero, the one who..."

My words trailed off as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. For some reason, I’d assumed Gayron fought Levin and wounded him so grievously that it was one of his abilities that could corrupt mortal souls and flesh. I’d only ever had one vision of the battle between Levin and the Fire Demon, but the moment I saw Gayron’s demon form, I instinctively connected the two. My memory was hazy, but the two figures had seemed identical. Or had they?

I groaned, covering my face with my hands, my tail lashing in agitation as a wave of embarrassment washed over me. A mysterious and powerful Fire Demon had fought and won against one of the heroes. The one thing I remembered clearly from my vision was that it had a grudge against Levin. Gayron didn’t even know the name. Add to that the fact that Kahlen knew some sort of corruption technique and had origins that also aligned with another mysterious Fire Demon... It was an easy connection to make, and I didn’t know how I could have missed it.

"The Earth Hero’s dead, isn’t he?" Gayron asked, his voice sharp and curious. "I heard you killed him, so why bring him up now?"

The Lord of Ash injured Levin, supposedly on behalf of someone Levin once wronged. It had mentioned a woman and tried to ask him where she was. Then, afterward, he sent Kahlen to protect me. The demon hadn’t admitted that was the reason, but it was quickly becoming obvious the Lord of Ash had some sort of interest in me and had for some time.

"Xiviyah, is everything alright? You’re not making a lot of sense," Korra said.

I jumped slightly, startled from my thoughts. "I...yes, everything’s fine. I just thought that...well, never mind."

Before they could pry further, Sari suddenly perked up and pointed into the air. "What’s that?"

A tiny thread of mana wound through the sky toward us, traveling like a snake in the water. It moved too quickly for me to react to, streaking toward my head. I didn’t panic, though, and barely even jumped as Jenna’s voice whispered in my ear.

"Commander Bethiv requests your presence in the command tent. Would you please come speak with him?"

Whispering Winds was the unique ability that had landed Jenna a position in the Star Guard. Well, that and her supposed reliability, something I constantly questioned. But she hadn’t failed me yet, and this was the perfect opportunity to escape the current situation.