The Forsaken Hero

A tingle ran through my soul, and I opened my eyes to find an unfamiliar scene. I was initially disoriented, blinking as I struggled to remember what had happened to the hot spring. I’d been having the most lovely time, and was already feeling cold without the water’s embrace.

It was a...vision? Yes, that was it. I must have drifted off, lulled to sleep by the ripples of warmth and the gentle current. By the feel of things, whatever I witnessed happened in the present, even as we bathed in the hot spring.

It was a forest with massive, towering trees and a canopy blocking the sky hundreds of feet overhead. Many of the trunks had to be over fifty feet wide. I wasn’t alone, either, yet in what seemed to be a city. Homes and buildings rose around me, many grown into the sides of the trees themselves. Elves and a few beastkin made up most of the folk around, talking and laughing in singsong voices. Most were only second or third level, but I noticed a small patrol of fourth-level guards traveling between the trees and a hundred feet away. A few stalls selling fruit, grains, and other wares made it seem that I was in a marketplace of sorts.

A few seconds after I settled into the scene, a deafening cry caused the trees to shake. A panicked silence fell over the market as everyone looked around, instinctively drawing close to their friends and neighbors. The guards’ hands rested on their weapons.

Another shriek tore through the air, and the trees started whipping around like in a hurricane. The winds struck the ground a moment later, scattering the contents of nearby stalls. A child was knocked off their feet, tumbling across the ground until they ran into an adult’s legs. I shielded my eyes out of habit, peering through the writhing canopy. Beyond, the sky was blue. Not the normal, atmospheric blue, but icy blue and glittering like crystal. Sunlight refracted through, scattering rainbow light across the dappled shadows of the shifting branches.

An overwhelming aura descended on the market, and the elves started to scream. My eyes widened incredulously as I recognized the infernal soul overhead.

"Borealis?" I gasped. "What are you–"

The trees parted as a massive, gleaming bird of ice forced its way through the canopy. Borealis’s wings sent gales into the buildings, tearing shingles from the roofs and making the walls groan. A cart of produce was upended, scattering cabbages and lettuce everywhere.

A heartbeat before a claw the size of said wagon crushed a small blacksmith’s shop, Borealis erupted in golden light. The light shrank until it was a pinpoint compared to his bulk before. Two figures tumbled from the light, landing unsteadily on the ground. Borealis, in his eagle-sized form, emerged, landing on one of the figure’s shoulders. My heart leaped as I made out Korra’s face.

"Damn, the hell were you thinking?" Gayron muttered, picking himself up and standing.

Korra laughed, sitting on the ground, leaning back on her arms. "That was fun."