Chapter 1227: Shackles of the Flesh

Verity caught me up, carrying me from Fable’s back. The wolf didn’t wait to see where we landed before pouncing on a massed formation of Radians. His claws carved furrows dozens of feet deep through streets and buildings alike. Corpses littered his path, crushed and mangled, many torn apart by the weight of his aura alone. Starlight scattered from his coat whenever an attack struck, but mana cannons, arrows, spells, and spears failed to displace so much as a hair.

We landed in the square, and Verity set me down. A handful of Radians had survived, most of them wounded, but they struggled to their feet and charged us anyway. Fatesworn broke from the cover of their makeshift fortifications.

"To the Oracle!" they cried.

They reached us first, forming a defensive line beneath a covering volley of arrows and spells. I hardly flinched as explosions thundered around us, feeling their mana pour into Adaptive Resistance. Before it could build, another golden pulse of What Once Was Shall Come Again washed over me. The excess faded, my soul restored to its state before I’d cast the spell.

"What’s the plan?" Verity asked.

Before I could answer, a titanic eighth-level fireball descended on the square. It was over a hundred feet across, burning with every color of the spectrum. The cobblestones glowed red and began to soften before it even reached us. There was no need, but instinct took over. I raised my hands, casting a Shining Aegis over the square, sheltering the Fatesworn and the Radians caught beneath it.

The fireball detonated.

An eighth-level firestorm swept across the city, blotting out everything beyond the barrier. The air grew hot and acrid, every trace of moisture seared away. By the time the flames subsided, we stood in a lake of molten slag. It rolled over the Aegis, piling almost a dozen feet deep before cooling into glassy rock. Hundreds of Radians had vanished, their bones melting into the ruins.

"Vorinth," I said, narrowing my eyes across the glowing lake.

I clapped lightly, sending a call through my aura. Less than a second later, a golden remnant appeared beside me. Emlica surveyed the destruction with a slight frown.

"Which child threw a tantrum this time?" she asked, clicking her tongue. "It’s always the fire mages."

"It’s the king," I said, fidgeting with my skirt and not quite meeting her eyes. "He rallied the rest of the Radian defenses around the cathedral. Fable could get us through, but I don’t think we have time. Fate is fighting Arantius, and I have to reach him."

"Your monster’s too busy, is he?" A small smile quirked Emlica’s lips. "Then I suppose I’ll have to summon my own. Go, child. Leave this foolish mortal king to me."

She clapped her hands, drawing a massive torrent of mana directly from my soul. I gasped and stumbled back, feeling suddenly hollow. Then a golden pulse washed over me, and the emptiness vanished.

Overhead, a titanic serpentine shape took form within the golden mists. Flame and starlight gathered around it until it loosed a bellow that shook the city, sending ripples through the molten slag.

"The lava dragon?" I gasped, covering my mouth.

Emlica gave me a small smile. "You didn’t think you’d seen the last of it, did you? It’s not often I get a ninth-level toy to play with. And now, with your mana, it truly is ninth-level."

I called Fable back. He bounded toward us, dripping with the blood of thousands of Radians. I wasn’t sure who had caused more damage: him in the few seconds he’d been loose, or King Vorinth with his carefully aimed fireball.

Probably Fable. Every step was enough to crush an entire formation of paladins.

"Down," I called, waving at the enormous wolf.

On his next step, he burst into stars, condensing until he was only thirty feet long. Still enormous, especially compared to what I was used to, but much more approachable. I reached up to pet him, only to find his head was nearly as big as my torso was long. The best I could manage was a scratch beneath his chin, where I knew he liked it most.

The steady patter of spells and arrows against the Shining Aegis ceased. I glanced up. The attacks hadn’t stopped. They’d turned toward the sky.

The lava dragon had finished forming and now roared its challenge. Though made of star and fire, it seemed far more substantial than the last time Emlica had called it. Its coils rolled across the night like a mountain of living flame. Spells glanced harmlessly from its scales, and the few that pierced them left wounds that vanished almost at once beneath its cleansing fire.

It was still a shadow of what we’d faced, only half of the whole. The lava dragons had been twins. But seeing even one dominate the skies above a city again sent chills down my spine. I hadn’t forgotten how terrifying they’d been.

"Remember this?" Emlica called, letting out a wild cackle.

I wasn’t sure who she was speaking to, but she stared upward as though challenging the heavens themselves.

"Ironic, isn’t it? You unleashed this oversized snake against my chosen student and thought there would be no consequences? Well, here it is, darkening the skies of your own chosen city. Let’s see how you like it."

She swept a hand forward, and the dragon descended, pouring fire from its jaws. Shining barriers sprang up as magi scrambled to shield their forces. None were enough. The flames crashed down in a vast wave, scouring the streets of all but bones and charred rubble. Buildings collapsed in the inferno, sending pillars of smoke winding around the dragon’s coils.

"We should go," Verity said, catching my hand. "This is more than enough of an opening."

I nodded, turning away from the destruction.

Emlica was right. The gods had unleashed this dragon to slaughter us and the whole Blacksand Empire. But that didn’t let me forget the terror I’d felt that day, or what these people must be feeling now, trapped beneath the Heart Curse.

This wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to inspire hope, not fear.

"A light only shines in the darkness," I whispered.

But what if I was the one bringing that darkness?

"You can’t think like that, Xiv," Verity said.

She’d guessed my thoughts. Or perhaps, with the bond between us, she’d felt them herself.

"This is exactly what the church wanted. They knew they couldn’t stop you with walls of stone."

"So they built walls of corpses instead?" I asked, closing my eyes. My tail curled tightly against me.

"Yes." She shook her head. "You know better than anyone how awful they are. Well, both of us do now, don’t we?"

Fable cleared the burning streets in three bounds, carrying us into the ruined palace grounds. Ahead, Arantius drove Fate through a shattered colonnade. Silver light erupted from the rubble, forcing the remnant back.

"Closer," I whispered, gripping Fable’s fur.

Verity glanced at me, then at the two figures colliding overhead. "Xiv—"

"I know. But we only win this if we kill him and get your body back."

I reached through my aura, following the threads of fate that trembled with every clash. The god’s power spread through them, bending their courses, guiding his blade into Arantius’s path.

But I could see it now. More than that, I could touch it. I tightened my grip, willing the golden stars to wrap around the silver ones.

Fate stumbled in midair. His sword swept wide, and Arantius’s blade plunged through his shoulder. Crimson blood spurted out, and he growled, wrenching himself back.

"You," the god hissed, looking down at me.

My breath caught. The weight pressing against my soul was immense, but I held on, forcing his power back. I hooked my will around the threads he had claimed, pinning them in place one by one. Where they twisted toward his command, I redirected them, anchoring each strand to the constellations burning within my aura.

"Arantius," I gasped. "Now!"

The remnant needed no encouragement. His sword flashed, tearing through Fate’s hastily raised guard. More blood scattered across the sky like rain. Before the god could recover, Arantius struck again, driving him down hard enough to crater the stone below.

Verity’s hand tightened on my arm.

Her body lay at the center of the crater, one arm bent beneath it. I swallowed, reminding myself who wore it. We could heal her. Once he was gone, we could—

Fate laughed. It was quiet at first, almost lost beneath the settling rubble. He rose slowly, disregarding the sword Arantius leveled at his throat. Silver light shone through the wounds, growing brighter.

Every fiber of my soul tingled in warning. I shielded my eyes, praying whatever happened, What Once Was Shall Come Again would hold.

Verity went still. "No!" she whispered.

"I’ve suffered the shackles of mortal flesh long enough," Fate growled, letting his sword go in a shower of silver stars. He spread his arms wide.

Arantius lunged forward, but his sword froze, grinding against the impossibly dense aura of fate mana emanating from the god. He narrowed his eyes, pushing forward, but couldn’t gain a single inch. I tore at it, but it formed a shield against my mana.

"Goodbye, forgotten one. When next we meet, you shall bow before my throne," Fate said.

His body grew brighter, until its intensity transcended that of the sun. Every drop of mana Fate had brought to Enusia gathered together, until the very fabric of fate trembled in protest. And then, without warning, Fate exploded.