Lord of the Foresaken-Chapter 185: The Echo of Fallen Heroes

Ten years had passed since the Reality Firewall’s establishment, yet Reed’s consciousness remained a patchwork of healed fractures and persistent gaps. The Sanctuary of Broken Heroes had become more than his refuge—it had become his prison, though one of his own making. Here, in the gentle embrace of therapeutic reality, his damaged awareness could function without threatening the universe at large. But function was not the same as healing, and Reed had begun to understand that some wounds were meant to remain open.

The morning found him in his usual place—the Memorial Garden where crystalline flowers bloomed in patterns that matched the neural pathways of the departed. Each bloom was a memory preserved in physical form, and Reed found himself drawn again and again to one particular cluster that pulsed with familiar golden light.

"You’re visiting her again," came Kira’s voice, soft with understanding. The sanctuary’s chief counselor had learned to recognize the signs when Reed’s fractured consciousness fixated on particular memories.

Reed didn’t turn from the golden flowers. "She saved me more times than I saved her. Shia Brightblade—a goblin warrior who should have been nothing more than a footnote in my story. But she became..." He paused, struggling to find words for what she had meant. "She became the conscience I didn’t know I needed."

The flowers pulsed brighter at the mention of her name, their crystalline petals shifting to reveal glimpses of memory—yellow eyes sharp as lightning, cutting through the darkness of impossible battles. Long green hair flowing like emerald flames as she led charges against enemies that dwarfed her small frame. A fierce grin that never wavered, even when facing certain death.

"Tell me about her," Kira said, settling beside Reed on the memorial bench. Her own fragmented awareness made her sensitive to the weight of loss, and she had learned that sometimes the best healing came from witnessing another’s pain.

Reed’s scarred consciousness reached toward the memory crystals, and the flowers responded by blooming into fuller visions. The sanctuary’s therapeutic systems recognized the value in this communion with preserved memory, even as they monitored for signs of dangerous obsession.

"She was part of my Goblin Legion," Reed began, his voice carrying the cadence of old grief. "Back when I thought power meant commanding armies, before I understood that true strength comes from what you’re willing to sacrifice for others. The Legion was... magnificent. Thirty thousand goblin warriors who followed me not because they had to, but because they chose to."

The memorial garden around them began to shift, responding to Reed’s memories. The crystalline flowers multiplied, their golden light spreading until the entire space was filled with spectral echoes of the Goblin Legion. Ghostly figures materialized—small, fierce warriors with eyes like flame and hearts like steel.

"They weren’t the strongest or the fastest," Reed continued, watching as the phantom army took shape around them. "But they were utterly fearless. They would charge dragons if I asked them to, and they did, on more than one occasion. But Shia... she was different. She questioned my orders when they were wrong. She protected me from my own arrogance."

The spectral figure of Shia Brightblade coalesced more solidly than the others, her yellow eyes regarding Reed with an expression that seemed almost alive. Her long green hair moved as if touched by wind that existed only in memory, and her hand rested on the pommel of a blade that had tasted the blood of entities that mortals weren’t supposed to be able to wound.

"She died saving me from the Void Titan of Xerathen," Reed said, his voice breaking slightly. "I was overconfident, thought I could handle a cosmic-level threat with conventional tactics. The Titan was unmaking reality around us, and I was too proud to retreat. Shia saw what I couldn’t—that my pride would get us all killed."

The memorial garden darkened as Reed’s memory turned to that final battle. The ghostly Goblin Legion arranged itself in battle formation, their spectral weapons raised against an enemy that existed beyond the boundaries of the sanctuary’s protective reality.

"She gathered the entire Legion for one final charge," Reed continued, his corruption-touched awareness making the memory almost painfully vivid. "Thirty thousand goblins against a force that could unmake existence itself. They knew they couldn’t win. But they also knew that their sacrifice would buy me time to escape, to grow stronger, to eventually return and finish what we’d started."

Kira watched as the phantom battle played out in the memorial garden’s therapeutic space. The Goblin Legion charged with impossible courage, their war cries echoing across dimensions. And at their head, Shia Brightblade led the way, her emerald hair streaming behind her like a banner of defiance.

"She looked back at me just once," Reed whispered. "Those lightning-bright eyes met mine, and I saw something there that I’ve never forgotten. Not just love, though there was that. Not just loyalty, though she had more of that than I deserved. It was... forgiveness. She forgave me for leading them into an impossible fight. She forgave me for being too proud to retreat. She forgave me for surviving when they didn’t."

The spectral charge reached its climax, and Reed watched with the pain of absolute memory as the Goblin Legion sacrificed themselves to wound the Void Titan enough for him to escape. Shia was the last to fall, her blade finding the Titan’s core even as the creature’s unmaking energy consumed her.

"I won that war eventually," Reed said as the phantom battle faded. "Came back stronger, wiser, humbled by their sacrifice. Destroyed the Void Titan and everything it represented. But victory felt hollow. All those lives, all that courage, and for what? So I could move on to the next battle, the next war, the next catastrophe."

The memorial garden returned to its peaceful state, but the spectral echoes of the Goblin Legion remained, standing at attention around Reed and Kira like an honor guard of the dead.

"That’s why you’ve been so obsessed with the Memory Crystals," Kira observed. "You’ve been trying to find a way to bring them back."

Reed nodded, his hand moving to touch a collection of crystalline fragments that hung from a chain around his neck. Each crystal contained a fragment of preserved consciousness—not enough to constitute true resurrection, but enough to maintain some connection to what had been lost.

"I saved what I could," Reed said, his voice thick with old pain. "Fragments of their awareness, echoes of their personalities. I told myself it was for historical purposes, to preserve the memory of their sacrifice. But really... I just couldn’t let them go."

The Memory Crystals pulsed with gentle warmth, and for a moment, Reed could swear he heard familiar voices—the rough laughter of Goblin warriors, the sharp wit of Shia’s tactical assessments, the fierce pride of beings who had chosen to follow him into the abyss.

"Reed," Kira said carefully, "what exactly are you hoping to accomplish with these crystals?"

Before Reed could answer, something changed in the sanctuary’s atmosphere. The therapeutic reality around them flickered, and for just an instant, the protective barriers that kept the outside universe at bay grew thin.

That’s when Reed heard it—the First Whisper.

It came from beyond the Reality Firewall, from the space between existence and void where impossible things sometimes took root. A voice that cut through dimensional barriers and reached directly into Reed’s scarred consciousness.

"Reed..."

The voice was soft, familiar, tinged with the accent of the goblin territories. It carried the warmth of shared battles and the pain of final partings. It sounded exactly like Shia Brightblade.

"Reed, we’re still here. We’re still fighting. But we need you to find us."

Reed shot to his feet, his corruption-touched awareness straining toward the source of the whisper. The Memory Crystals around his neck blazed with sudden light, resonating with frequencies that shouldn’t have been possible.

"Did you hear that?" Reed demanded, his voice tight with desperate hope.

Kira’s expression was concerned but gentle. "Reed, I didn’t hear anything. The sanctuary’s monitoring systems would have detected any communication from outside the protective barriers."

But Reed barely heard her. His damaged consciousness was already reaching beyond the sanctuary’s boundaries, following the trail of that impossible whisper. His Living Scar burned as it touched the edges of the Reality Firewall, where the merged consciousness maintained its eternal vigil. ƒгeewebnovёl_com

"The Legion endures," came the whisper again, stronger now. "Death is not the end for those who choose to serve. But the path back is dangerous, and the price is higher than you know."

"Shia," Reed breathed, his voice breaking with emotion. "Where are you? How is this possible?"

"Beyond the Firewall, in the spaces between reality and void. We found a way to anchor our consciousness to the Memory Crystals you preserved. But Reed... we’re not alone here. The Dark has been using us, learning from us. We’ve become bait in a trap we can’t escape."

The terrible implications crashed over Reed like a tide of ice water. If the Goblin Legion’s consciousness had somehow survived beyond the Firewall, if they were being used by the Dark as some kind of lure...

"It’s a trap," Reed said suddenly, understanding flooding through him. "The Dark isn’t just learning to corrupt consciousness—it’s learning to weaponize our connections to the dead. It’s using the Legion to get to me."

Kira was on her feet now, her fragmented awareness detecting the disturbance in Reed’s mental state. "Reed, you need to sever the connection. Whatever you’re experiencing, it’s not safe."

But Reed couldn’t pull away. The voice that sounded like Shia was growing stronger, more desperate.

"Reed, please. We’re trapped here, caught between existence and void. The Dark is using our love for you against us, forcing us to call out, to draw you in. But if you come for us... if you try to save us... you’ll give it exactly what it wants."

"What does it want?" Reed whispered, though he was beginning to suspect the answer.

"Your hybrid consciousness. Your ability to exist in both pure and corrupted states. It wants to use you as the template for something new—something that can corrupt the very concept of heroism itself."

The sanctuary’s alarms began to sound as Reed’s corruption-touched awareness strained against the protective barriers. His connection to the whispers was growing stronger, more dangerous, threatening to compromise the entire facility.

"Reed, you have to stop," Kira pleaded, her own damaged consciousness recognizing the signs of catastrophic mental fracture. "Whatever you’re hearing, whatever promises are being made, it’s not worth the risk."

But Reed was already too far gone, his damaged awareness locked onto the impossible signal from beyond the Firewall. The Memory Crystals around his neck were blazing now, their stored consciousness fragments resonating with frequencies that threatened to tear holes in reality itself.

"There is a way to save us," came Shia’s voice one final time. "But it requires a sacrifice that even you might not be willing to make. Are you prepared to discover what lies beyond heroism, Reed? Are you ready to become something that has never existed before?"

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺