The Forsaken Hero

Liceria was built on the confluence of two great rivers, nestled on the peninsula where they met. The city’s architecture echoed Bluegate Keep in several ways. Most striking were the design of the walls and the buildings within - sturdy, thick, and embedded with countless enchantments. Graceful towers rose above the wall every hundred feet, bristling with siege weapons like ballistae and more of those formidable enchanted cannons we’d faced at Bluegate Keep. The flags fluttering above the turrets displayed the Brilliants’ emblem and the Church’s insignia, a stark reminder of their united presence.

The rivers were broad and powerful, nearly four hundred feet across on either side of the peninsula. A massive, ancient-looking bridge spanned the two rivers, the city nestled in between. The city also had a magic crystal floating above the central keep. It wasn’t as powerful as the ones we’d encountered before, bearing only seventh-circle spells, but something was unsettling about it.

Dark threads of curse magic were mixed in with the usual buffs and enchantments meant to support the soldiers. They were thin and sprawling like a spiderweb, reaching out with a delicate, insidious strength to the tens of thousands of citizens below. It cast a dark shadow over the otherwise beautiful city.

"Fascinating," Gayron said, his eyes lingering on the tainted mana. I realized it might have been his first time witnessing such a thing, but before I could explain, he asked, "Is this what the eyes of the Oracle always see?"

I nodded, but before I could respond, I finally saw what Korra had noticed all along—the army. Where my gaze had been drawn to the beautiful, yet twisted curse, she had seen the soldiers: a black carpet spread out over the peninsula and the shores on either side of the bridge. Soldiers and mages, veterans and recruits, Church and Kingdom. Was this where Brithlite’s army had been hiding?

"Ten...twenty...thirtythousand?" Korra asked, her mouth agape.

"This must be where that damned undead hero retreated to," Gayron said.

"But I don’t think he had this many to begin with," Korra replied, her brow furrowed in concentration. "He couldn’t have had more than ten thousand."

I shook my head, my tail twitching anxiously. The vision showed an army far larger than anything we’d encountered before. Among the countless soldiers, I could make out faint pinpricks of light—the souls of powerful mages. There were a handful of sixth-level ones and even a few at the seventh level. Fortunately, I saw no sign of Connor’s soul or other heroes. While our army was outnumbered three to one, we were vastly superior in terms of raw power.