The Forsaken Hero

It was strangely quiet. The Mirror Lock muted the noise of the battle and the rumble of explosions, leaving me alone with only the sound of my ragged breathing and occasional whimpers to break the silence.

Mirror Lock was a regional spell, so unlike a traditional ward, it wouldn’t spread through the Aegis. But its rigidity gave it much more power, effectively combining Blade Ward and Mirror Sphere into a single sixth-circle spell. With support from Adaptive Resistance, it should be capable of withstanding at least a few hits from a seventh-level magical technique.

Light flashed through the tent, tinted by the glinting, rainbow of colors of the Mirror Lock. The bubble rippled occasionally as powerful shockwaves glanced off. More than once, powerful spells enveloped me completely–fire, ice, sunlight, even a burst of raw infernal mana. These reflected directly off the spell, scattering in all directions.

I huddled in a ball, trapped by the anxious pounding of my heart and the babbling voices echoing in my head. The Nexus oozed with the demon’s thoughts. At first, it was rage and hunger, but as the minutes dragged by, there began to be frustration and helplessness. The shift piqued my curiosity, and I loosened my grip on the Nexus, allowing a bit more of their minds to slip through.

Death and pain ripped through my mind, graphically depicted in brief glimpses of sight and sound. Demons throwing themselves against the walls, human mages incinerating swaths of scions at once, and above all, a terrifying deity-like being.

Through a thousand eyes, I beheld Lord Evlon. His soul blazed like the sun, his chant thundering over the battlefield. Thick mana currents twined around his body, bearing him aloft over the gate. Eighth massive magic circles hovered half a mile in the sky.

Beneath him was Fable. He’d assumed his true form and now towered over the walls by an entire head. His fur was slick with blood, but the awful, gaping tear in his shoulder had closed to a jagged scar. Scions climbed over his back, leaping onto the walls and towers, sinking their fangs into the more vulnerable mages and archers.

The entire battlefield was a cacophony of death, pain, and suffering. But the demons were losing. The crystal enchantment smothered their souls, suppressing their spells and techniques by an entire level. On the other hand, the humans received its blessing with proportional strength. Even though most of the soldiers on the ground were only first and second level, they stood man for man against the ravenous scions. The more powerful officers confronted the evolved demons bonded to me in teams, using brute force to overcome the protection Adaptive Resistance offered through the Nexus.

Fable threw back his head and roared. The sound thrummed in my natural ears, penetrating the Mirror Lock, startling back to my own senses. I jolted upright with a gasp, trembling as the voices of the demons retreated again. Extricating my thoughts and identity from the horde was a strange experience, reminding me of when I’d accidentally entangled with Luke.