The Forsaken Hero

"Darkreign Keep," Luke said, looking around the circle of apostles. The fire flickered on their faces, illuminating their intent gazes.

"The World Barrier?" Edrin asked. "How is that a secret? You went on a suicide mission to attain that."

"The world barrier is just the start. But it will also be the end. For the church."

"How does that make sense? It’s taken us years to secure our grip over the northern continent," Evla said.

"But now we have the horde, ten million strong. And while scions and evolved demons cannot fight without leadership, we have six demon lords and the seven of us."

"Seven? You mean six?" Kislee asked. "The Fire apostle hasn’t exactly been keen on contributing."

"Besides, it’s going to take all of us to destroy the church’s defenses at Darkreign Keep, and maybe that won’t be enough. How many ninth-level beings do they have defending it? Can we even kill one of them?" Edrin asked.

"Two," I whispered, looking at the fire. It popped as a log collapsed, sending a shower of sparks into the sky. "And one hero."

It took a moment before I realized they were looking at me. I snuggled against Luke, looking at him with a tiny, nervous smile.

"Two?" Constance sat back, letting out a low whistle between his teeth. "Yeah, no wonder you’re keeping this plan of yours a secret."

"Which hero?" Jessia asked.

"Grace."

"I’m not worried about a hero. Kislee made it clear they’ve got about the same power level as we do," Constance glanced at R’lissea. "No offense intended."

"Maybe on face value," she replied in a small voice. She looked at me, growing in confidence. "But they stand on the shoulders of the entire world. Connor took over the entire southern part of the continent. Could any of you fight against three kingdoms at once, and win without even trying? It took two heroes, two apostles, and Xiviyah to finally defeat him, and that was with the support of two armies and the Devoted. Er, Fatesworn."

"You didn’t say anything about that," Constance said, his gaze shifting to Luke, eyes narrowing.

"Naturally. I couldn’t risk it drawing the attention of the council. The less of Xiviyah they know, the better."

"I knew," Jessia said, folding her arms.

"Of course you did." Evla rolled her eyes. "But Luke, can you just get to the point? How the hell are we going to take down Darkreign Keep?"

"Xiviyah."

"Yes?" I asked, peering up at him.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "No, you’re the plan."

"What? Me? I thought we were going to fight together!"

"No, not like that," he said, rubbing my arm, the tips of his fingers slipping through my sleeve, warm against bare skin. It sent a tingle down my spine, soothing the spike of panic.

"Xiviyah will strike the World Barrier herself, along with her allies. That will clear the way for our hordes to engage their forces across the continent."

"Even if she can defeat two ninth-level beings, and a hero, how do you propose to move our hordes across the sea? It takes weeks by boat. Trying to coordinate an arrival on that scale would be impossible."

"Sea? Who said anything about the sea? Xiviyah, how many of those rifts can you open at once?"

"I’ve never tried more than one," I said, pursing my lips. "It’s an eighth level spell, you know..."

"But if you had to?" he pressed.

I bit my lip, chewing on it in thought. "The Aetherial Prism can sustain one once I’ve cast it, and maybe, maybe, I could hold two at once. But there’s no way they’d be big enough for an army to march through. When I sent Elise and the Last Light Company to Brithlite, it took everything I had, and more. Even the Prism ran out of mana."

"But if mana wasn’t an issue?"

"It’s always an issue," I mumbled, shivering. Only one army had caused me to burn my soul, and they were barely a fraction of the size of the Infernal Horde.

"Xiviyah." Luke said my name firmly, tilting my chin with his other hand, forcing me to look him in the eyes. My heart fluttered, and for a moment, I thought he might actually try to kiss me. But he didn’t, his eyes filled with earnestness. "Please, have some faith. I know it can be done, I saw it. We just have to figure out how."ba

"It can’t," Edrin muttered. "You’re asking the impossible."

Luke ignored him, and I shivered as his tail rubbed against mine, the tips entwining.

"I...maybe...if I had a shard, I could do more," I mumbled, my face heating up. It wasn’t fair, using these kinds of tactics. How could anyone refuse it when he was so warm, so close?

"What about her?"

He didn’t have to specify who. I’d already thought of it, and shook my head before he finished the question.

"She might be able to, given the mana of a shard, but if I use my power for that, I won’t be able to call another one for an entire week."

"You can’t ask that. It’s our strongest trump card," R’lissea said, giving him a hard look. "It’s the only way Xiviyah can actually defend herself if someone overpowers Adaptive Resistance."

"Is that not why you’re there?" Luke asked, turning to her, his tail flicking away from mine. "You, Korra, and her Devoted?"

"But she--"

"It’s alright," I said, laying a hand on Luke’s leg. "He’s right, R’lissea. If she can, that would change everything. It would mean we could end this war in a matter of months, not years. Maybe even weeks."

"Who are you talking about?" Jessia asked curiously. "One of your remnants? And is that rift thing the way you teleported here?"

"You can teleport

? Without a Wayward Compass?" Evla asked, her tail sticking up. "How? Is it a spell?" "Slow down," Luke said, holding up his hand. "You’ll intimidate her. But long story short, the reason we arrived back so quickly is that Xiviyah opened a, er, Spatial Rift, was it?"

"Just tell the whole world, why don’t you," R’lissea muttered.

"So we can use this...rift...to teleport to the southern continent? What kind of limitations does it have, aside from the mana cost and difficulty you mentioned?" Constance asked.

"I...I’m not sure," I admitted, my tail curling uncertainly. "I’ve got it down to a few minutes for cast time, but it requires a lot of concentration. Even if I had all the mana of a shard, I would exhaust myself casting it a few times. Also, it’s like a gate, so it doesn’t just teleport everyone. They have to physically pass through it. It’s even harder to open one big enough for an entire army to pass through."

"Which means the location of the rift will be vulnerable to a counter attack when it first opens, and while the army is coming through. If our enemies can rally before we get enough forces across, the gate would become a death trap," Constance said, resting his chin on his palm.

"That’s why I proposed sending one of us, or a demon lord, to each location. While alone, we might not be strong enough to spar with their strongest defenses, we can surely hold it long enough to get a critical mass through. Even an eighth or ninth-level being can’t take on thousands of evolved demons at once. Not and spare their cities from collateral destruction," Luke said.

"You’re forgetting the greatest weakness to the plan. If one of the rift falls into enemy hands, it will jeopardize everything," Evla said. "Xiviyah, you’ll be exposed to whoever is strong enough to break through, and none of us will be able to reinforce you. If you fall, so will the rifts, and the entire horde will be scattered across the land without any support."

Strangely, as she spoke, her gaze was fixed on Luke, not me. A muscle in his cheek twitched, and her eyes flicked, not missing the movement. I flinched, startled as his tail curled around my waist, but he didn’t seem to notice, returning her stare with his own.

"That’s a risk we’ll have to take," he said evenly. "I have faith in Xiviyah. You should, too."

Evla peered at him a second longer before nodding. "Satisfied?" she asked, glancing at Constance.

Constance snorted, folding his arms. "Can’t blame me for doubting."

Luke stared at them, his eyes narrow, before turning back to Jessia. "Are you?"

"Me?" Jessia laughed, leaning back on her hands. "What, think I’m going to tattle to the Council? If you’re willing to do what needs to be done, what do I care if you can’t untangle your tails?"

"That’s what I thought." He turned to me, and his expression softened, his eyes reflecting my crimson blush. "So, what do you say? Can you do it?"

"I...I’ll try," I managed, fighting every instinct to bury my face in his shoulder and hide.

That’s what they’d been thinking this whole time? That’s why they all seemed so wary of me? If only they knew. If only they understood Luke would never place anything more important than his revenge. There was no reason for them to worry that he would abandon them.

He wasn’t like Gayron.

"Are we agreed?" Luke asked, looking around the circle of amused faces.

They pulled from me, hardening in agreement. But I shivered, finding Luke’s warmth a little less comforting. Why? Why couldn’t he be?