Chapter 1243: Fallen Hero

A spear of blinding fire erupted from the chimera’s maw, and it tore toward Korra and Gayron.

There was no dodging it. Even had they been at their peak, the attack would have connected.

Adaptive Resistance triggered as it swept over them, drawing a massive surge of power from my soul. I directed every spare drop of mana I had into the True Nexus. Acting as a conduit for powers that pushed the edge of ninth level, the spell groaned beneath their weight, levying my soul for all it was worth.

For a moment, I wasn’t sure whether it would hold, and my heart pounded in my chest, but then the backflow came as Adaptive Resistance dismantled the attack, reversing the flow of mana back into my soul. Too much was already carried by the saturated weave of Fate around me, so I bore it head-on.

The edge wasn’t quite as sharp as I expected, and I slowly unclenched my muscles, searching for where the mana was going. The air around me was already saturated with mana from both my auras and the ninth-level barrier, so where--

There.

All the excess mana my soul couldn’t safely handle drained directly into my second aura, Oblivion. It seemed to vanish entirely, broken down into basic elements, but I could feel the aura’s power rising. It reminded me of Luke’s curses, like it was feeding on the mana. I only hoped it was temporary.

After a few seconds, the beam of light died away, and the chimera roared, looking smugly around the courtyard. Its attack had carved a tunnel over a hundred feet wide through the earth and walls of the Divine Throne, breaching the main complex and punching through the other side until it struck the wall reinforced by the ninth-level barrier.

There it scattered like a waterfall striking rocks, obliterating the nearby buildings and setting off secondary explosions that riddled the courtyards with craters and debris.

Korra and Gayron emerged from the smoke still standing, though much of the courtyard around them had been reduced to ruin. Korra charged almost immediately, water curling around her arms as she slipped beneath a swipe of the chimera’s claws. The eagle head snapped down at her, and she twisted aside, striking the base of its neck with an open palm as she passed. The blow itself did little, but thin strands of Water Mana clung to the feathers and scales, sinking beneath them like roots.

She did it again when the head lunged after her, catching its beak with one hand and shoving it aside. More mana remained behind, working deeper into muscle and mana channels, slowly weakening its muscles. The effect was subtle, but after several exchanges, the eagle head no longer struck with quite the same force.

"Hey, eyes on me!" Korra shouted as the dragon head struck at Gayron. She lunged froward, her fist connecting with its jaw and throwing out a visible shockwave.

The apostle took advantage of the distraction, sending two Flickers toward the dragon and basilisk heads while Korra stayed close to the eagle, weaving between its attacks and landing quick blows whenever she found an opening. She wasn’t trying to overpower it. Every touch left something behind, a little more Water Mana threading through its body, draining strength from the neck and dulling the hardened scales around its throat.

The eagle snapped at her again, and this time Korra caught the side of its beak with both hands. Water erupted around her arms as she twisted, forcing the head aside hard enough to smash it into the courtyard.

The chimera roared and tore itself free, but the eagle head rose more slowly than before. Its feathers were soaked through, and the mana reinforcing its neck had begun to flicker.

Then everything changed.

The eagle’s razor-sharp beak struck from the side so quickly I hadn’t realized it had connected until it had already clamped down on Korra. She screamed as its hooked beak punctured her side. The monster was so huge it nearly tore her in half, sending her spinning through the air with blood trailing in her wake.

"Korra!" Gayron shouted.

A Flicker appeared in a burst of embers, catching her before she could slam into the walls of the Divine Throne.

When the smoke cleared, the chimera bristled, its serpentine tail lashing and baring its fangs. Gayron rose from the destruction, still holding Korra. R’lissea’s magic played across her flesh, but her wound was severe, and blood dripped from her side where she held a hole that bared her hip and spine. Her face was white with pain, and she trembled.

She was still conscious.

"Stay here," Gayron said, gently lowering her to the ground and leaving a Flicker to guard her.

Over half of his forces had been destroyed by the attack, and he couldn’t have had much mana left after burning through it so quickly. They were still in the opening gambits of their battle, but he held his sword undaunted and lunged toward the chimera on wings of fire.

It hissed, striking at him with its eagle head, its beak still glittering with droplets of Korra’s blood.

The strike came slower than before.

Gayron dashed aside with a flap of fire and brought his sword out in a flurry of flames. He struck exactly where Korra’s Water Mana had gathered thickest, and this time the explosion bit deep, extending his blade as it cut through feather, weakened scale, and bone.

The chimera shrieked and writhed, lashing out at him with tail, claw, and head. The basilisk head grazed his shoulder and sent him spinning through the air. He exploded into flames as he hit the wall, reduced to a Flicker.

At the grievous wound in the eagle’s neck, the embers coalesced into another form.

Gayron raised his sword and cut down before it could react, stabbing deep into the damaged flesh. His mana detonated in an explosion that consumed the courtyard, and the chimera reeled back, throwing him free. It staggered onto its hind legs, claws and heads waving, scattering blood into the storm of embers that consumed it.

Gayron landed lightly this time, a cruel glitter in his eye as he swung his sword, scattering hissing blood from the blade.

A great form burst through the storm of fire as the eagle’s head crashed to the ground, brutally severed from its body.

The flames retreated, coalescing around the chimera’s body, continuing to burn and scorch its scales. It roared in pain and lunged forward, but even to my untrained eye, I could see it had been shaken. A third of its eyes were blinded. One of its roars had been silenced forever. Gayron’s fire had cauterized the wound, but the amount of blood it had already lost was staggering.

A shadow moved above the chimera as it opened its mouths. A snarling silver beast, jaws wide open, slammed down atop its skull with crushing force. Fable’s jaws closed around the dragon’s neck at the base of its skull, and a sharp crack resounded over the roar of battle.

Gayron didn’t pause to ask himself why Fable had come to help. He threw himself forward, turning into a flaming bullet. His skin crackled and shifted, taking on a dark hue and losing its softness as hard ridges formed across his body, split by cracks of molten lava. His body swelled until it stood close to fifteen feet tall.

He hit hard, punching through its armor. Gouts of fire and blood erupted as it reared back, struggling to throw Fable while clawing at its own chest, ripping apart its flesh as Gayron dug deeper and released flames and mana directly into its vulnerable organs.

With one last scream, the chimera threw itself to the side, striking the central walls of the Divine Throne. The ground shuddered, reverberating down through the Dusk Chambers. Dust rained from the ceiling, and I winced, pausing my analysis until the world steadied again.

When I looked back, Gayron was crawling from the chimera’s corpse, his fires spreading from within and slowly consuming it.

"Good boy," he muttered as Fable bounded up to him. "Where’s your opponent?"

Fable growled and tossed his head, flicking his tail toward the other side of the throne, where one of the primary barracks had collapsed. Smoke issued from within, carried on currents of fading mana that could only come from a dying ninth-level soul.

"Damn it," Gayron muttered, shooting the ruined barracks a dark look. "There were two of us, and you killed a ninth-level before us?"

Fable gave him a flat look, then padded over to Korra.

She stirred as he approached, lifting her head and one arm. He pushed his snout beneath her hand, licking some of the blood from her cheek.

"It’s not as bad as it looks," she protested, wincing as she tried to rise before letting herself fall back down.

"It’s exactly as bad as it looks. If you’d been just a little slower, that thing would’ve torn you in half," Gayron said.

"But I wasn’t," she shot back, though the fire was gone from her voice.

She groaned and sagged against Fable, squeezing her eyes shut.

"I can’t believe I was the only one to get dropped. No one else knows about this, okay?"

Gayron chuckled, shaking his head. "I have a feeling it’s already too late for that. Just be grateful she was watching, or things would’ve turned out much worse for us. I think that thing tried to petrify me four or five times, but it couldn’t get through her resistance."

"Damn, and we were the ones supposed to be saving her."

Korra let out a helpless sigh.

"Well, it is what it is, I suppose. Now give me a few minutes. Once I heal up, we’ll head to the library."