The Forsaken Hero
Chapter 365: Negotiations

Chapter 365: Negotiations

I’d originally planned to summon a fire spirit and two earth spirits, yet the moment I began casting the arrays, the open gate overhead hijacked the spells again. It didn’t take long for me to accept the change and work with the anomaly. The moment I did, the strain on my soul lessened, with the anomaly shouldering most of the burden and allowing me to focus on casting the spells.

Within seconds, three armored ice spirits stood before me, each carrying a two-handed broadsword and standing close to ten feet tall. Their power levels were close to the peak of sixth–the absolute maximum I could sustain right now. Surprisingly, their faces and forms were slightly different from each other, though their ’souls’ were identical. As I’d begun to figure out, they were simply extensions of the anomaly, a personification of its power. Perhaps it thought I would be more comfortable if its puppets didn’t all look like clones.

It was right, and I smiled faintly at its concern.

The moment they were formed, the three spirits pressed their gauntlets to their breastplates in a crips salute, mirroring the discipline of the Last Light Company. Bethiv raised an eyebrow at me, but just ended up shaking his head in wonder.

"You never fail to amaze me, my Lady."

Korra nodded in agreement. "Honestly. A second ago, you were about to pass out, and now casting three sixth-circle spells at once? At least wait to reach sixth level before trying something so ridiculous!"

I shrank before her words before noticing the twinkle in her eye. A slight heat crept into my cheeks and my tail twitched bashfully. "S-sorry, but I don’t know how much longer I can continue to draw on the shard. It’s all I can do to remain connected and sustain the gate, and, well, it’s starting to hurt."

Even with the Anomaly shielding me from the worst of the strain, my soul ached, burning with the weight of the shard’s mana. But more than that, I was worried about the voice and presence that had assailed me in the shard. It had retreated for now, but I could feel it hovering on the edges of my mind, watching and waiting. Whatever agreement it had struck with my staff felt tenuous at best, and I wanted to avoid doing anything that would provoke it. The Shard of Omniscience was a conduit to the Divine, one of the few places in this world where gods had actual power. Provoking it would be most unwise.

"Looks like they’re here," Bethiv said with a frown. "Damn it, that’s more than I expected."

As he spoke, a wave of auras washed over the courtyard. Korra and I both tensed as several hundred soldiers charged from several streets at once, converging together like tributaries into a single force. They formed ranks directly before the gate, expressions darkening as they found us prepared to meet them.

"Come on," Korra said, grasping my hand, "Our soldiers will need support, not to mention seeing us on the front lines will work wonders for their morale."

I nodded and allowed her to tug me forward, arriving at the shattered ruins of the gate just as the enemy prepared their formation. The battlefield was overly simple, essentially just a large, wide-open field of cobblestone divided in half by the wall. The enemies on one side, and us on the other. The point of contest would be the gate, a thirty-foot-wide gap in the wall. The Last Light Company had worked hard in the brief reprieve between enemy waves, constructing makeshift defenses from the remnants of fallen battlements, walls, and the tower.

We found a position in the center of our battlements on a large chunk of stone that overlooked the battlefield. True to Korra’s word, the soldiers straightened when they noticed us, the fire of resolve burning bright in their eyes. A shiver trickled down my back, and I gripped my staff tightly, eyeing the mustering forces beyond the wall. We were within range now, an easy target for their mages and archers. I had faith in my magic, but that didn’t stop the thrill of fear from making my breath shorten and heart accelerate.

"Courage," Korra whispered, noticing my stress.

I swallowed hard and nodded, but couldn’t keep the tension from my shoulders. This was a war, a place I had been cursed never to appear in. The closest thing I’d ever experienced to a conflict of this scale was in the Ice Gate, but this felt...different. The demon hordes were faceless, moralless monsters. But these were people with families and principles, who all thought they were doing the right thing. The only similarity between the two was that both wanted to claim me for their own–whether to kill or capture remained a mystery.

Fable growled softly, his eyes fixed on the captain of the enemy company, who stood before his men glaring at us. The man had a sixth-level soul and emitted an aura tinged with lightning. He wore the armor of a paladin and carried a two-handed battle axe that must have weighed more than I did.

"You’re surrounded!" the company commander cried in a loud voice. "Our forces are engaging with the demons as we speak, and yet here you are, hindering the heart of our power. Bethiv, am I to take this as confirmation of your alliance with the demons?"

Commander Bethiv stepped before the gate, arms folded strictly across his chest. His back was to me, but his aura raged around his soul, and I had no doubt he was frowning.

"We stand not against humanity, but the traitors who seek to enslave them. This kingdom has fostered a rot that will strip us of our pride and dignity, not to mention the lives of our loved ones. I care not for the demons, or your army for that matter. But if you seek to stand against us..." He stretched out his hand, letting his restless aura finally break free, stunning the weaker soldiers under the enemy banner. "We will not show more mercy. You have seen what our mages have done to this city. That was but a warning. Retreat or you will be annihilated."

I stared at Bethiv from behind, taken aback at the coldness of his words. It was so different than the kind, loyal man I’d fought beside and who’d looked after me to the extent of his considerable power. Even forgetting his bluff about the Ice Spirit I summoned, this was nothing short of a declaration of war. Our actions could have been considered self-defense, as we were simply freeing our friends from the curse, yet he didn’t hesitate to take it a step further.

"I see," the paladin muttered darkly. "Then we will strike without mercy. Any who stand against the armies of the divine will be marked as traitors to this world and allies of the demons." Then, raising his voice even louder, he addressed our small army in its entirety. "If there are any among you who still have a shred of righteousness and loyalty left in them, you may come forth. I cannot fault good men like yourselves for simply following orders, but the time has come to make a stand against this coward’s tyranny. I guarantee your lives and your families. Refuse this olive branch and I promise the opposite."

A gasp rose among our soldiers, their faces tightening with anger.

"Our families?" one muttered.

"Bastards," another cursed. "Who’d trust them after what they did to us?"

I smiled faintly, feeling more than a little gratitude and pride, as not one of our soldiers accepted the offer, opting instead to stare the church’s army down with steely eyes. Seeing their conviction dispelled my doubts, and I chose to act. I should have stalled for time, for the spirit to return, but I couldn’t ignore the feelings that swelled in my heart.

Korra shot me a curious look as I took a deep breath and stepped up higher on the broken battlement overlooking the courtyard. The Paladin’s eyes narrowed as he caught sight of me, my striking red hair and presence unmistakable in the prebattle calm. The slight breeze generated by the seething auras around me tugged at my hair, letting it stream out behind me in gentle waves.

"We won’t fall for your lies anymore," I said, surprising myself at how well my soft voice carried over the courtyard. "Neither do your gods. They have betrayed this company and shackled them with darkness. We will not surrender to you, not now, not ever."

"Blasphemy," the paladin hissed. He threw his hand forward, commanding his troops to advance. "Kill them all!"

The battlefield erupted with the rumble of chants and the whistle of arrows. I stood calmly atop the battlement as the first wave of attacks filled the air with flashes of magic and infused arrows, flinching only as the first fireball exploded against my chest.

Or at least, it tried to. A silver glow flared up around me as the first spell made contact, directly absorbing the spell and redirecting its mana. Hundreds of identical scenes played out all around the courtyard as the deadly salvo ground to a halt, spells flowed into the silver wards and arrows plinked harmlessly off the blade ward.

The paladin’s mouth dropped open as the smoke cleared and a low hum reverberated through the air, growing stronger with every passing second. He stared at my solemn face, and his eyes widened.

"Shields! Mages, get your shie–"

But that was as far as he got, for it was at that moment the world discovered what happened when a hundred mirror spheres activated at once.