*Terrasin deVon Almistraus*
Terrasin had coming running when the announcement that the Hero had returned, and was surprised by the fact that Blade had brought him back. He was not displaying his demonic heritage, but Terrasin had not expected to see the man here and was suspicious of what the Demon Adders would be doing here. But there was no time for that now, Lucas was thrashing around in Blade’s arms, yelling and shouting.
“Lucas!?” She followed as Blade shouted for someone to help hold Lucas down. “Lucas!”
His eyes were open, he was talking, and moving- but he was absolutely unaware of his surroundings. Lucas was brought to his bed, and soldiers came in to help Blade hold him. His arms were covered in scratches, and sometimes he would thrash and other times his muscles would stiffen and he would scream in pain.
“Blade,” Terrasin asked desperately. “What is going on? What has happened to Lucas?”
“High Spider venom!” Blade growled, “he is resisting far better than I had hoped, but there is nothing we can do but wait for him to come out of it!”
That had been a few days ago- Terrasin had felt more stress in that time then even when she was summoning Lucas to this world. The whole camp was on high alert too. Surrounding Lucas, Versi, and Terrasin were increased guards- to the point where when they were meeting together it was like a small army in itself.
Lucas had told the story of what happened and Blade has stuck around to corroborate parts of it and the news was not good. Powerful demons rarely came this far south- to the point where some people believed that they could not. That was obviously wishful thinking or even straight denial, but it was true that they were not often seen. For High Spiders to come in such force…
Terrasin had sent to messages back to her family, telling them to prepare. An organized push by the demons may take a while to reach the front line from their fortresses in the north- but she had studied history enough to question if this was simply the calm before the storm. And- for all her confidence in him- Terrasin had to admit that Lucas was very nearly useless in a fight. He had a few tricks, which could be quite deadly in the proper conditions, but he was the wrong Hero to have.
She had sent her message and was now at her desk with her head in her hands- an extremely unladylike pose that she would never let anyone see. She felt bitter, and felt like cursing her ancestors right now. The first hero brought the power of the Gods and the second brought magic and between the two the demons had been driven to the brink.
A thousand years ago, if her ancestors had not failed, they would have summoned a hero and won this war- and Lucas would have been summoned into a world of peace, where his teachings would have time to grow and spread and show their efficacy. Lucas’s weapons were powerful- but where they as drastic as the power of the templars and mages? No. No, they were not.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
There was only one thing to do, one possible chance- and she did not have much hope of her capabilities. Terrasin stood up and gathered her determination to go and talk to Lucas, who was still recovering. At his door she knocked softly, and Lucas invited her in.
“Ah, Terra.” Lucas smiled lightly, though he looked terrible- even if he did look better than before, “As I said before, it is probably not the best time- the after effects of this includes irritability, and I am not exactly the nicest to begin with…”
“Lucas…” Terrasin sighed, and sat down in a chair by the bed and watched as Lucas’s expression became serious as he examined her face.
“You are looking serious there,” Lucas’s tone was also serious. “As I said before- unless it is urgent, this is a very bad time.”
“I need to ask you a favor, on behalf of this entire world.” Terrasin bowed at the waist towards Lucas, who looked surprised and even more uncomfortable.
“Whatever it is,” Lucas quickly answered. “Raise your head, I am uncomfortable with all of that to begin with- and I especially do not want to see that kind of behavior from you.”
After what I am about to ask… Terrasin thought to herself, but she said. “I- I would like you to rethink your position regarding your worlds weapons.”
Lucas’s eyes narrowed immediately as he saw through to Terrasin’s meaning.
“You really do not know what you are asking…” He spoke softly, less angry than seemingly concerned for her. “Yeah, some bad things happened- but there is no need to overreact. I am alive, after all.”
“Lucas, the records of the wars…” Terrasin shook her head lightly, “we have been being bleed and held back by merely the remnants of our enemies forces- for hundreds of years we have begun to be pushed back slightly by just that. The appearance of High Demons this far south- they are aware, and they are moving.”
Lucas studied Terrasin’s face intensely for a moment, and Terrasin willed herself not to blush and break his gaze. After a few seconds, he sighed and sat back in the bed.
“I am guessing the issue is that my original plan will take too long, huh.”
Terrasin said nothing, but it would be unreasonable to assume that if the enemy had reached this point- not just aware that the hero was here, but aware of Lucas specifically- it was likely the clash would come sooner rather than later. Terrasin had been drilled by her father and grandfather that her purpose in life was to bring the hero to this world, because if they failed humanity would be wiped out. There was nowhere left to go, humanity had its backs against the sea. Lucas’s forbidden weapons may end up backfiring on humanity, but who cares when your dead anyways?
She said as much to Lucas and Lucas, reluctantly, ended up agreeing.
“I cannot fault your logic,” Lucas spoke unhappily. “But I must also hate it. Especially when I am starting to doubt myself.”
“I read your books, there is no reason to doubt yourself and your abilities.” Terrasin hastened to say, having read and eventually understood the reasons behind what Lucas had begun to spread in his books about farming and medicine- there was no way she could doubt his wisdom regarding those subjects.
“No, Terrasin. I mean my personality.”