Surviving as a Broken Hero

With the sun overhead, we walked down the central street toward the main square, where I’d left the others with the Unawakened. Eve looked around at the signs of destruction along the way and raised an eyebrow at me when we were just a few blocks away.

“It may have survived a demon attack,” she said, “but this city looks halfway to abandonment.”

I grimaced. I at least held some sentimental attachment to the city and hated to see it abandoned, especially after the effort it took to save it.

“I guess a demon threat will do that.”

The square was largely cleared out by the time we arrived—the Unawakened still lingered here and there, but most had apparently been assigned lodgings.

Koise and Eileen stood in discussion under the shade of the towering Association building’s awning. They looked up at my approach, and Eileen stepped away, taking that as her cue to leave.

Even partly abandoned, many Awakeners called Karfana their home; Eve, with her hood down, immediately attracted both of their attention.

“Did you figure out the caravan issue? Who’s this?” Koise asked, his eyes immediately attracted to Eve’s missing ear.

“It turns out there was a dungeon trapping people on the route,” I briefly explained, “and this is—”

“Eve,” the elf interrupted, holding her right hand out. “I’m Eve.”

Koise glanced down at her hand, as if contemplating whether to return the greeting for a moment.

Finally, he gave in and shook her hand. “Koise.” He looked back over to me after the brief greeting. “What were you saying about a dungeon trapping people?”

I gave him a brief summary of events, including the odd way the dungeon had delayed its activation to drag us in and the demons inside.

He rubbed his chin in thought and alternated his gaze between me and Eve. “So you’re a demon hunter? Is that an elf thing?”

“You could say that,” Eve cryptically replied. “I’ve been tracking their influence, and I wanted to know more about how this city survived the attack when other outer cities fell.”

That was news to me. “Other outer cities fell?” I asked. “How many?”

From what I could recall, human territory was divided into inner, middle, and outer cities. The outer cities were the most numerous, but they were also the smallest, with some being little more than glorified outposts.

“Out of the ones that were attacked? All of them. From what I’ve been able to gather, around a fifth have already fallen. Though your leaders are trying to keep that information secret, for some reason.”

Koise slightly nodded in agreement. “Reports from the guild say pretty much the same thing.”

“So you can understand why I’m here then. Out of all of those cities, why did this one come out intact?” Eve asked. “I can see it’s relatively large, but nothing else of note stands out that could’ve possibly helped.”

I hadn’t directly told him, but Koise had likely already heard the story from others. Maybe even from Rhil, who had been there.

Koise’s eyes briefly flickered over to me.

‘Something is odd about this…’ Eve thought.

She noticed that the moment she asked about how the city could’ve survived the demon attack, Koise’s eyes naturally moved to Aizen.

‘Does he have some sort of special anti-demon ability?’

If he did, it would be her first time hearing of such a thing. She’s seen many Awakeners of her own species fall to demon corruption and dealt with the aftermath in more than a few elven villages.

Almost every time, the corruption came from within. A promise for gold, power, life, whatever one might desire combined with the greedy nature of mortals, and then it was over.

‘I need to figure out what I can, for his sake.’ She couldn’t just return to the emperor and tell him the humans had someone capable of resisting demonic influence.

She would be expected to learn his secret, take him back to the emperor herself, or—in the worst-case scenario—kill him. If he wouldn’t cooperate with the elves, the humans couldn’t be allowed an advantage.

Deciding to reveal some information, she said, “The humans aren’t the only ones dealing with this. Us, dwarves, orcs… I’ve heard rumors of such attacks originating in each of their territories.”

Trying to convey just how urgent it was that they share whatever they were hiding that’d enabled them to survive the attack, she spoke with great care. “Whatever it was, it can also help human cities.”

“It’s that bad?” Aizen asked her, his eyebrows rising in what could only have been genuine surprise.

‘Did he think it was just limited to humans or something?’

No, humans weren’t that special.

A tense silence fell over the air between them, Eve staring into Aizen’s eyes in what seemed to be an attempt to bore the information straight from his mind. Of course, she didn’t have any mental abilities to speak of, but the silent aura of intimidation still weighed down on him.

Koise finally clapped to break the silence and said, “Well, as important as this is, we’ll have to travel to the Central Cities regardless.”

He clapped Aizen on the shoulder. “The good news is that your bounty was lifted through the Association’s guild management options. The bad news is that we’re still short on supplies.”

“Now…” Koise gestured gently toward the both of them. “We could find a way to send communication for caravans, but from what Eve here has mentioned and what I’ve heard through the guild, a proper meeting is in order. We can’t just stay on the defensive.”

He nodded at Eve. “Maybe, if you come with us, you’ll get the answer you’re looking for.”

She knew it was bait, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She wouldn’t hesitate to kill if she had to, but it wasn’t her preference.

“I’ve been thinking about how we can disrupt their plans as well,” Aizen said. “I don’t really have much influence, but the Lion Guild is pretty widely regarded. Would they listen?”

“Of course they would,” Koise replied. “Especially if I tell them to. In fact, Gregor will probably want to meet us as soon as we arrive.”

“Gregor?” Eve asked.

“The leader of the Lion Guild,” Koise explained. “If you two already dealt with the blockade, we should be good to head through to the Central Cities, meet up with him to discuss the demons, and get the caravans back in action.”

“I just came from the Central Cities,” Eve pointed out. “They weren’t of much help. They were trying to suppress information rather than act on it, if anything.”

“No offense, but you’re an elf. Of course they’d be guarded around you.” Koise tilted his head in a sort of apology. “I’ll show you how hospitable the Lion Guild can be and what we can do.”

‘It’s not a bad opportunity, if a bit of a waste of time,’ Eve thought to herself. ‘On top of that, I might get to see the humans’ governing figures in action.’

The elven emperor would be interested in whatever she could glean about humanity’s rulers as well. Sure, the elves had some documentation on them, but more information was always valued.

“Will the others be alright if we head out?” Aizen asked, his tone laced with a tinge of concern.

“Don’t worry about it. There are plenty of Awakeners here, and Eileen already had the city’s management well-handled before we arrived. First, though, you should get some rest.”

‘Good,’ Eve thought, ‘I should have some time to investigate the city.’

She’d slept the few hours she needed during their journey.

Much to her surprise, Aizen shook his head. “No need. Unless you need more time?” he locked eyes with her.

“Can I look around a bit first?” she asked. “It shouldn’t take long.”

Aizen nodded. “Koise and I will prepare the supplies, then, and we’ll head right out in a couple of hours. We’ll meet at the front gate?”

He was eager to see what the Central Cities looked like.

“I’ll see you at the front gate.” With a small tilt of the head, she headed off.

It didn’t take long for her to find what she was looking for. Cities, especially those on the outskirts, always had their fair share of people trying to evade the law.

Karfana was no different. Only a few minutes into the worst-looking group of buildings she could find, while wandering down a shadowed back alley, someone stepped out in front of her.

“Lost your way, eh?” the man asked. He might’ve towered over most, but he was only slightly taller than her, and his attempt to look down on her was almost laughable.

“No, I haven’t,” she replied, Pulling gently at the warmth around her. She didn’t want to kill him, after all.

‘Who knows what information he might have?’ Through her life, she’d learned that those in the back alleys had intelligence networks of their own, and they often knew more than even the officials.

It was only a matter of prying that information out of them.

‘I don’t have the time for negotiations or the money for bribery.’

The man faltered for a moment, clearly having expected an entirely different sort of response.

He struggled to retain an intimidating aura. “Er… Well, this is a poor place to wander around in, My Lady, especially for someone like you.”

He leaned his face slightly closer to hers. “After all, who’d miss an elf?”

She rolled her eyes. The same sort of conversation had replayed itself for her in countless other backwater alleys in the most regal of cities and the dinkiest, mismanaged towns.

‘Let’s just get this over with.’

“Now,” the man said, “maybe if you part with some of your valuables, I can help you find y—”

Tik—

Frost suddenly crackled on the alleyway’s stone wall as the warm air snapped into a cold front. The man had just enough time to realize he’d made a terrible choice of victim.

In the next moment, Eve extended her hand until it was almost touching the man’s chest, and the frost instantly melted, sending water dripping down the wall.

Heat blasted from her hand, warping the air with such violent force that it created a shockwave in the previously chilled air and launched the man backward and out of the alley, where he rolled across the ground and thunked into the wall across the narrow street between buildings.

She’d taken care to not set the man on fire. The technique took time to set up and required fine manipulation, but the man had given her all the time in the world.

She strolled over to him and placed her foot on his chest. Before he could try struggling to get up, she hovered her hand over his face.

“You’re going to tell me everything you know.”