There were only so many tis I could tell myself to believe in Korra. Practicing it was another matter, but Sari’s presence helped sowhat. As the long, agonizing minutes dragged by, Fable began to shift, nudging with his head.
"Hey, cut that out," I said, giving him a gentle glare.
Sari giggled, and her ears wiggled under my hand. "I think he’s just jealous."
I blinked several tis, then down at the foxkin girl. I’d been stroking her head for so ti now, almost instinctively, to the point I hadn’t even noticed. She was just so soft and silky, like a kitten’s fur.
Fable nudged again, and I smiled, a ray of light breaking through the darkness. "Is that right?"
It didn’t take much to convince to start petting him instead, but that was pretty much unavoidable when he laid his massive head directly in my lap, his perked ears tickling my chest. He was dangerously close to the sunpurge, but like always, Fable sohow avoided doing more than sending a warning tingle racing across my skin.
"See, that’s it," Sari murmured, cuddling up against my side. "That’s how I got through the darkness."
I paused, and realized she was right. Much of the gloom had dispelled, and though I still felt nervous, fear had loosened its crippling grip on . I could imagine Korra walking out of that gate just fine, as easily as I could imagine her being hurt or worse.
Sari and I continued talking for so ti, sharing our experiences and suffering at the hands of the Circle of Chains. It was a morbid, painful subject to share between two freed slaves, but judging by her smile, it was exactly what she needed—and what I needed, for that matter. As much as I healed by sharing my story with Korra and others, I also felt a special kind of relief when sharing it with soone who truly knew what I experienced.
And then it happened. A small, nearly imperceptible ripple spread out across the gate. I sat up, pausing mid-sentence, as a silhouette appeared in the mana. A soldier erged, then another and the rest of his group. Their armor was damaged in places, and they bore light wounds, but the squad was whole, not missing a soldier.
As several more patrols arrived, I gathered myself and got to my feet, forming the vanguard that welcod Bethiv back. Kahlen exited beside him, his silver blades slathered in demon blood.
"It’s done," the ice spirit said suddenly, its gaze fixed on the center of the gate. "The commander is dead."
I nodded and climbed onto Fable’s back. "Sari, get back to the camp. It’s going to get dangerous from here on out," I said, then paused, hesitating. "Well, even more dangerous than the regular invasion of a gate. Just...be careful, and let um, Wisp take care of you."
She nodded and pulled away, scampering across the snow-covered hill to where the other demons erged. The curse demon, similarly covered in blood, shifted uncomfortably as the foxkin ca right up to him, her ears flicking excitedly. I couldn’t hear their exchange from this distance, but he allowed himself to be dragged away to the fortified camp beneath the gate.
With her safety assured, I urged Fable forward. Bethiv looked up as we approached and broke into a rough smile, wiping sweat and gri from his forehead.
"Where’s Korra?" I asked quickly, apprehension clawing at my gut.
"Korra? She’s fine, of course, just clearing so of the remaining pockets of resistance. The commander favored swarm tactics even more than normal demon armies, giving us quite a lot of cleanup to do."
I let out a heavy sigh, feeling the remaining tension drain from my body. "Thank you. And the battle against the commander?"
Kahlen chuckled, or at least made a noise I could approximate as such. "I’d fought beside it several tis a few worlds back. The look on its face was priceless when I showed up first in the core chamber."
Bethiv shook his head, wearing a grim smile. "It was rather...amusing. You’d think he’d never heard of a demon attacking a demon gate before. Wasn’t even in the vernacular."
"That’s probably because it’s never happened in infernal mory," Kahlen said, suddenly serious. "Because of our unique nature and need for power, there’s no need for us to compete in the gates. There’s enough blood for every demon in a mortal world, and should the resource grow scarce, there’s always another world."
"I suppose you’re making history yet again, Xiviyah," Bethiv mumbled.
I felt the weight of my horns as I shook my head, my tail flicking impatiently. "It’s fine, as long as Korra’s safe. Is it safe for to enter now?"
It burned a little, asking if it was ’safe.’ I was no stranger to risk, but I’d mostly accepted my role in this invasion.
"Hmmm," Bethiv stroked his beard, "’Safe’ is a strong word, but I’m confident we can escort you to the Core Chamber without any accident. Our estimates put the gate around fifty percent subdued, but we’ve decimated the chain of command and most demons above the fourth level. I can guarantee your physical safety in the chamber, at the very least, and any magic they can throw at us from a distance should be negated by your ability without the need for action."
I nodded and leaned forward, patting Fable’s neck. "Alright then, let’s get this over with."
As we moved to enter the gate, I fidgeted with my spatial ring, twisting it back and forth around my finger. The small vial of the sunpurge salve was all I could rely on, but it only gave one chance. Part of my worry for Korra stemd from my apprehension at this mont. We only had one dose of this salve, but even if I didn’t, it wasn’t likely I’d survive if I failed.
The gate swallowed in a maelstrom of blue and white mana. The strange, twisting sensation plunged into darkness for a mont, and then I stood in a world not unfamiliar with the frozen countryside of Brithlite. Craggy mountains and sheer cliffs rose around the exterior of the micro realm, beyond that was only mist. Most of the gate was a wide, shallow valley split by countless crevasses. It was oddly reminiscent of the other ice gate and likely contained an equally mazelike network of tunnels and caverns beneath the tundra.
Thousands of demons lay strewn about the valley, piled in heaps of crumpled ice shards and broken scales. Soldiers of the Last Light Company picked between them, finishing off scion survivors and recovering injured comrades. It heartened to see so many alive, but the few lying motionless among the dead left a sick feeling in my stomach.
"The Core is this way," Kahlen said, gesturing to the largest chasm with one of his bladed arms.
It was nearly a quarter mile away but large enough to be easily visible from the entrance chamber. Fable took almost half a minute to reach it, eating up the distance with great bounds. The ice spirit flew at my side, its soul wavering as it interacted with the flowing tendrils of infernal mana scattered around. The sky was a sea of mana, as deep and dangerous as I rembered. It beckoned to , filling my soul with yearning, but I resisted. I agreed with Elinore’s speculation that direct contact with infernal mana would rip my soul apart and kill almost imdiately.
A few explosions echoed from beneath the ice as Fable descended, sounding in the far-away corners of the gate. A few tis in the tunnels, large groups of scions broke from a side passage and rushed us, but our soldier escort eliminated them swiftly. Only once did Kahlen take action, accidentally doubling the size of the cavern we passed through with a fifth-level magical technique.
After a few long minutes, we arrived at the Core Chamber. As I rembered from the other gates, it was a relatively small cave with a floating crystal in the center. An insectoid ice demon lay broken beneath it, the dissipating remnants of its soul breaking apart as I slid off Fable’s back and stepped over it.
The core was about the size of my fist and radiated warmth, starkly contrasting the arctic air. I hesitated as I lifted my hand to it, looking at the ice spirit. It nodded, and I stepped back, not entirely sure what to do next. Korra and I had worked out several plans, and the elental promised it could help , but as for how...?
"Prepare yourself," It said, stepping forward. "Use that substance the life mage gave you. Once we begin, you will have to continue to the end."
Bethiv and Kahlen glanced at each other and then returned to the entrance. "We’ll secure the gate, Xiviyah," Bethiv said. The Last Light Company will protect you no matter how long it takes. The remaining demons will probably strike here hard, but we’re prepared to accept them."
"Thank you." I breathed deeply, then withdrew the vial.
My hands shook as I dipped my finger in, the liquid cold and tacky. I slathered it on my shoulder, my touch as gentle as a whisper, but still cringed as the abrasion of my skin against the scar sent a thrill of pain shooting through .
Then, turning to the n, I tugged at my dress and blushed bashfully. They coughed and swiftly turned away, and Fable curled around , a silver wall of privacy. As I adjusted the garnt to reveal the sunpurge, the arctic air caressed my skin with icy fingers, but my wards had kept most of the chill at bay anyway.
After applying the salve, I let my dress fall back around my knees, hiding the sunpurge. The spirit held out a gauntleted hand to , and I took a deep breath before taking it. "Alright, I’m ready."
It was ti to heal my soul.
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