The battle raged on, and as the party watched Old Thane one-sidedly slaughter the Fire Giants that previously had seemed like such a massive, uneatable wall of a threat to them, they could only wonder at the might of what was once one of the mightiest adventurers throughout Soleil, a decorated hero of a Darkening, and the strength of a five hundred plus year old demon. 

“If a demon is that powerful, what hope have we of defeating them? How did we ever manage to do so in the past Darkenings?” said Mercer as he let his twin wooden daggers hang limp by his sides. 

“Because we had the gods by our side,” said Mason. 

“Incorrect,” said Asala. “Only in the First and Second Darkenings didst the gods truly stand strong against the demons. Since then, it is not gods that have saved thee. Saved us all. 

It hath been heroes. This is why I adore the nature of epics as tales. They telleth of heroes. Of how they are created.”

Asala raised a pale hand towards the burning forest all around her. “Heroes are forged in flames. When there is only darkness, it is then that a hero riseth to bring forth the light. When there is pain, it is then that the hero riseth to sooth the masses.”

“Like the heroes of Soleil now that cross the skies,” said Mason.

“Perhaps,” said Asala. “But thou shouldst understand. A hero is not a title that is granted. It is not one decreed by a cape, granted by some crown, nor one reserved for those that possesseth certain powers. 

A hero may come from anywhere, for it is not who they are, the form they are born with, what they are blessed with, that truly completes them, but what they do.”

“That…,” Mason paused for a moment, his eyes flitting upwards, reaching out to the sky. Even though he could only see the oversized branches of the Gigant forest, his eyes saw past them, to the past. 

“Sounds like what father used to say,” said Mercer, completing his brother’s statement. “Why we became adventurers in the first place. Or tried, to be more accurate.”

“And why is it that we hath to bring the fight to the demons?” said Asala. “Is it not that a demon now saves us? That a demon hath been by our sides this whole time? Shouldst not the demon before us be considered a hero for us?”

“It…it is still hard for to stomach this,” said Mason. “We were supposed to bring the fight to the demons.”

“No, we fight against the greater darkness that the seer hath told us of,” said Asala. “I can tell, Mason, that thou wisht deep down to be a hero. Thus, thou believest that to be a hero, to save people, thou must follow the crown, the light, and fight against the demons.

Thou doth not know what to fight for. What to fight against. 

But if thou doth desire to be a hero, to help as many as possible, to carve thy name into the epics of history with thy actions, then is it not that you must fight against the greater darkness to come? What good shall it be to raise thine ire against demon kind when they themselves may have to join our fight?”

“I know,” said Mason quietly. 

“Doth thee truly?” said Asala. 

“I know!” Mason said, this time louder. He sighed. “I know that how I think is wrong. You have pointedit out many times already. But father…he was killed by a demon, and I have been told to fight and fear them my whole life. 

This does not feel right even if I know it is. Even if I know the seer is right, I still question him, even when I know he knows vastly more than I do. But I cannot help it.”

“Do not vex thyself too deeply into this matter now,” said Asala. She put a comforting hand on Mason’s shoulder. “It will taketh time to soothe thy mind and the experiences that hath been raised into thee.”

Mason nodded, and Asala withdrew her hand.

“Brother, I should mention I am quite jealous of you,” said Mercer as he gazed at Asala’s hand. 

Mason smiled slightly at his younger brother’s antics. 

“You may know, but I don’t,” said Sheela. The gold-furred Feli gripped her curved short sword tight in her hand as she stared at Zagan. “The demons have wronged my people. The blood of shamans before me, all of them scream from the burns of demons.”

“Thou, I shalt talk to later,” said Asala. “For now, it doth seem the battle draws to an end.” 

“Indeed,” said Vilga. 

Old Thane was now face to face with the final fire giant captain. One wielding a flaming greatsword. The fire giant was taller than the others, standing at nine meters tall, and two smaller, six meter tall giants stood at his side. 

“You are no match for me!” shouted Old Thane as his red Berserker’s aura raged around him, all of his accumulated damage and burns funneling into more power, more stats, more ferocity. It also granted him more of a resource to expend to cast stronger Berserker class skills. 

Behind Old Thane were the broken and torn apart bodies of the entire rest of the fire giant cohort. 

The greatsword giant understood this fact and dug its greatsword into the ground. The other two giants did the same. They withdrew daggers, ready to ritually sacrifice themselves again. 

“Aye, the easy way out, eh? Not on me watch!” roared Old Thane as he charged forwards, using the Berserker class skill [Rage Breaker] to empower his charge with a powerful stunning and knockback effect to break any channeled spells. 

However, too late. The giants slit their throats, casting their ritual magic. A pentagram of flame filled with sigils floated above them, glowing red as some form of transportation spell began to manifest on Old Thane’s speeding body, warping the space around his limbs. 

But then, the warped space simply shattered before reforming back to ordinary space. 

Old Thane had simply charged through the spell, slamming into the great sword fire giant, though by now, the fire giant was already bleeding out its molten life blood. The huge great sword giant’s corpse tumbled backwards form the impact of the charge, limp and dead. 

“What was that?” remarked Old Thane as he stared down at his molten covered hands. “I could have sworn I was too late and the confounding spell they cast upon the lad was cast upon me.”

“The Herald Shard of this personage,” said Zagan from Old Thane’s heart. “As the Herald of Greed, this personage possesses the capacity to render this personage or a compatible host the effect of pure unstoppability when they desire to reach a target or destination.

No manner of spatial manipulation, binds, nor barrier will prove resistance enough. Yet, this personage does regret that it could not have foreseen this and utilized the shard for the Seer.”

“The lad will be fine,” said Old Thane.. “It is now time to find him.”