I ended up falling asleep again not long after the man’s offer to help. I was annoyed, but, hey, I was on some sort of painkiller magic and recovering from having god-killing dark magic invading my very being, so… I was pretty sure that warranted resting a little.

It was morning when I woke up again, the smell of cooking waking me up. Pushing myself to sit up, I stretched my wings out. Right, they were why I’d been elevated. As much as I liked them, they did make lying on my back trickier (while certain other gains of my new form made lying on my front more awkward…).

“Ah! You’re awake again!” Sukura said, having been sitting beside me.

“Good morning,” I managed to mumble, while offering a somewhat weak smile.

I saw her eyes were a bit red, though they seemed dry at the moment.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“I’m alright… a bit queasy still, but managing,” I replied. “What about you, though?”

Her lip quivered before she hugged me, crying into my chest. I hadn’t expected quite so physical a response, so I took a moment to return the hug. Finding words to say proved rather harder, however. 

Eventually I managed to offer up a soft ‘I’m sorry’.

“I was worried about you… I didn’t—I wasn’t ready to lose you too,” she mumbled into my chest.

There was a strength to her emotions when she said it that I couldn’t begin to process. We’d gotten along, but we’d only known one another for a couple of weeks, and… I would have thought I’d barely register after her father.

“Oh… oh gosh. I was… you don’t…” she said, pulling away a little and wiping a few tears on her loose flowing sleeve. “You’re a goddess… what was I thinking…”

“Uh… I’m not sure?” I managed. “I’m still not quite sure I’ve followed where you’ve led.”

She glanced up at me, blushing. “You’re beautiful, and you radiate such kindness… it’s no wonder Aara also fell for you so… I’m sorry if I made things awkward, however.”

I blinked, staring at the beautiful woman in front of me who was somehow acting like I was out of her league.

Before I could clear things up, however, Aara arrived with a stew of meat and some sort of local root vegetable. She explained that the zebra centaur was apparently off to get something to help me. Apparently Aara had called for aid from the birds after I had fainted, and he’d arrived not long after, a local druid happy to help. He’d then moved us here, to a sacred hill where the forces of darkness would struggle to find us. 

That explained, my questions then moved to Sukura, asking about her skill with the sword. She’d proven slightly embarrassed, but had explained that her father had trained her since about the time she could walk. Chem had wanted her to be able to defend herself, but had made her swear to keep it a secret. That she was to never become a soldier. To never go looking for blood to have on her hands.

To ensure the secret, during our stay she’d trained while both Aara and I had slept. The day we’d fled had, in fact, been her first time using her blade in genuine combat. The closest she’d gotten before was hunting.

She did not like it. Which I could understand. The violence and killing left a foul taste in my mouth.

“It is simply the way of nature,” Aara replied, looking adorable as she did so.

Both Sukura and I had to stare, processing the contrast between her words and her innocent appearance.

“I can speak to animals, yet we’re eating meat,” she replied, taking up a spoonful of stew. “Death is not only the only guarantee in life, but essential to its continuity. Whether you consume meat directly or plants that have fed upon bones.”

My stomach turned slightly as I thought back to the story the other druid had told me last night. That I—well, that the original Vazehr had eaten…

I shook my head, and tried to move the topic on to something more productive. Like the fact I apparently needed to learn magic. Aara nodded, explaining that the other druid had mentioned it to her. 

She, however, wasn’t quite sure which destination to turn to, pulling out the map again. There were a few marks on it, which she said covered the great centres of magical learning that she was aware of. The best places to find a mage capable of teaching me what I needed to know. One was located on a distant continent off to the south west. One was down in Litania. Another was on the northern-western end of the continent we were on. A fourth not too far north of that on a large continent that covered much of the north of this world. And then a final one on a landmass somewhere between an island and a continent to our north east.

The issue was not knowing which ones were safe. The great northern continent of Aelvus was the home of the Holy Kingdom, and therefore largely under Nemza’s control. So we were left with two main options: turn around and go south, to the centres well away from the dark armies, or go north to one of the two centres that may have fallen. The former offered safety, but also ate up our time. Even ignoring my desire to go home, we all wanted to stop Nemza’s dark armies as soon as possible. 

Which meant taking a gamble by going north. But which option?

Well, we’d encountered raiding parties in the southern forests of this continent, Kati. Which surely meant the north of the continent, the lands past the great desert, had likely already fallen. 

So the great centre on Chuu-la it was. The mountain city of Guuji.

Once I was feeling good enough to move.

-

It hadn’t been long after we’d decided that the other druid returned. The large centaur was carrying two drums on his back. Seeing him in daylight, I was struck by the fact he seemed much older than I had realised. His hair had the same white and black patterns of his zebra section, but the wrinkles on his face told of his age more than any grey hair could have.

“Lay down and get comfortable, young goddess,” he said, while sitting down himself. “I think there is still a thread connecting you to those you care about back home. And we shall strum so that you might use that thread.”

Not quite sure what was about to happen, but excited by what I could put together, I lay down where I had been before. I closed my eyes when he said to, and listened to a beat on his drum that seemed to align with my heartbeat. Yet also with something else. Some… deeper.

And then I found myself in one of the hallways of my college. It was empty, and also… a little blurry? I was disoriented, and not sure what to do from here, when I heard Lena’s voice.

“N-n-no. No. No. I triple checked. The exam was today. It wasn’t yesterday. It couldn’t have been,” she said, pain in her voice.

I turned around, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw her.

“Lena,” I said, barely more than a whisper.

She turned around, before staring at me wide eyed. “E—Emily? You… wait. You have wings and horns? What’s that supposed to mean…”

“Oh! Right. I’m still golden,” I said, looking down at myself, before glancing up at her again. “I—this probably sounds crazy, but… I’m alive. I, uh—it turned out I’m the reincarnation of a goddess? Or. Something? I didn’t really die. They called me back. I have to save this other world.”

She stared at me for a few more moments before speaking up. “I need to watch less anime before bed. I suppose there’s worse ways to dream about you… but…”

“It’s really me,” I said, stepping forward to take her hand and staring into her dark brown eyes. “Lena…”

I decided to lean in, to see if a kiss could prove it was me. I was still shy about initiating, but I didn’t know how long I had here, so I had to act.

It was a quick kiss, meant to prove a point, but it saw her fingers raise to her lips after I backed away.

“Lena Chan. It’s me. It’s the real Emily,” I said in a soft voice. “And I’m going to try to find a way to get home properly. Believe me.”

She blinked, but smiled.

I felt a slight shift, and realised I didn’t have much longer left in her dream. Since I didn’t know the next time I would get to see either of them again, I decided I had to ask the one sort of awkward question.

“Also, our polycule’s an open one, right?” I asked. “It’s just… there’s these two girls who might have fallen for me and I don’t know what to do. Or how long I’ll be here, and—”

Lena leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss. “Yes. It’s open. Especially while you’re trapped somewhere else… but you’d better let us meet them eventually, Emily.”

“I’ll do my best,” I offered with a slightly forced grin as I felt myself drifting away.

When I opened my eyes again I realised I was crying.

I still had to get used to how easily I could cry now.

“Oh no. Is everything ok?” Aara asked.

I nodded and smiled. “It’s wonderful.”

-

The other druid told us to head west. Towards the great dwarven mountains. There was apparently a pegasus rancher who owed him a favour, and he was sure would give us a mount. Especially with me in the group. 

I appreciated that, as I could only fly so well while carrying both Aara and Sukura. Which meant another mode of transportation would be very appreciated. 

We set out that afternoon, keeping away from the main river. While neither Aara nor the centaur had heard bird whispers of the demon elf hunting us it still seemed best to avoid prying eyes. Plus, it meant I could keep my wings out.

We didn’t get overly far the first evening before setting up camp again, but I wasn’t up for flying while carrying anyone just yet. I also apparently wasn’t up for discussing relationship things with Aara and Sukura yet either. In part because I still had no idea how either would respond to the idea of polyamory. And I wasn’t about to spring anything like that on Sukura just yet. Not while she was still working through mourning.

We set out at dawn the next day, and were making good ground. However, a few hours into our walk we came across what seemed to be a body lying in the road, a few buzzards around, watching it.

One of the buzzards felt brave and hopped over, seeming about to take a bite, before the ‘body’ waved an arm at it and groaned something.

We hurried over, shooing the buzzards away. While we didn’t know who it might be, it seemed cruel to just leave someone to die out here in the blistering savannah sun. At least until I saw who it was that was lying there.

While she was sunburnt to the point of being almost burgundy and covered in what looked like hoof-marks, I still recognised the obnoxious dark elf from back in the jungle. Ne’avo, the pompadoured disaster.

“Are you ok, miss?” Sukura asked, bending down to offer her some water.

Ne’avo turned to face her with a lazy roll of her head. “No, I must have died out here, to see a celestine such as yourself at my side.”

Sukura blushed while Aara and I both exchanged annoyed glances.

“Did you follow us?” I asked, walking over and leaning over Ne’avo.

I suspected she blinked, though it was hard to tell with her dark nightglasses. “The golden beauty! Oh! How wonderful to see you again!”

She shot up to her feet and pulled one of her flexing poses. “You missed my glorious biceps, didn’t—didn’t… oops.”

Ne’avo then keeled over, losing consciousness. Aara walked over and knelt down, poking her a few times.

“I’m not sure if it’s dehydration or heat stroke, but… either way we should probably help her. Moon Elves don’t do well in this much sun.” Aara said. “She’s annoying, but not bad enough to be left out here.”

I nodded. I didn’t want to have to deal with her, but I didn’t want her to die either.