“So… let me see if I understand this correctly. Your consciousness completely merged with the mortal’s… and now you are basically one being… and you call yourself Aerynica?”

“More or less.”

“OK… that explains why your divine presence feels different… But why are you more powerful? I haven’t felt power like this since the last time I saw Lissa or Kian.”

Aerynica shrugged and scoffed loudly.

“I have no clue, Liv. Your guess is as good as mine.”

“What did you just call me?”

“Liv. Just like I always used to.”

“And you know I hated it every time.”

“Which is the reason I do it, dearest sister. You say you hate it, but you never failed to respond to it whenever I called you that.”

Livia merely let out an irritated sigh and then arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

“Is your merge what caused that absolutely enormous blast of divine energy I felt last night?”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about… I never felt any sort of blast.”

“How is that possible?! It was like the power of a thousand suns bursting all at once. In all my years I have never felt anything so strong before. Not even from…”

“Not even from what?!”

“I… don’t know. I feel like it's on the tip of my tongue. Like a fleeting dream.”

Both goddesses suddenly looked distant as they seemed to be on the verge of remembering something important, but after a few seconds it slipped away. When it was obvious neither of them could recall whatever it was that was lingering just out of reach, Livia let out an angry grunt and narrowed her eyes at her sister.

“The only way you didn’t feel that blast is if you caused it. So… I’ll ask again… Is your merge what caused it?”

“You said it was last night, right? Not earlier this morning around 10 bell?” 

“Correct. Last night around 22 or 23 bell.”

“Then it most certainly was not my merge.”

Livia studied Aerynica’s face closely, her eyes boring into the slightly smaller woman’s like lances. She narrowed her gaze again and her lip curled briefly into a faint sneer.

“You’re not lying… but you do have some idea what it was.”

“Possibly. But I’m sure telling you would infuriate you further.”

“More than not telling me?! I fail to see how that is possible.”

“Braidatela, another group of guards has drawn close to the alley again. They know we’re somewhere in the vicinity. It appears they have some sort of mage with them.”

All three women seated at the table jumped to their feet immediately and ran to where Zolara was peering around the corner of the entryway. Upon hearing the tall slender woman speak, Livia seemed to be intent on studying her closely as she stood just behind her.

“You’re an Abdat’acra. And judging from your ornamentation and the color of your robes you’re a Mej’lota. Although I don’t recognize your Clan markings.”

“I’m of Clan Brai’mej… But… Forgive my insolence, Braidat Inv’a’go, but is this really the appropriate time for us to be discussing this? I feel like there are far more pressing matters.”

“Zolara is correct, sister. We need to find a way out of the city. Fast. And I’m assuming you don’t have the power necessary to cover all of us with your Shadow if we were to move into the open.”

Aeyrnica hadn’t phrased it like a question since she could tell Livia had barely had enough power to sustain the meager barrier of Shadow that had hidden them earlier. The goddess of secrets wanted to argue with her younger sister, but it was obvious her powers were barely a fraction of what they used to be. It would be easy enough for her to hide herself, but that would defeat the entire purpose of saving her sister and the two women with her. She had so much information in her brain it would take several lifetimes for any mortal to comprehend even a fraction of it. And for all of that swirling around in her mind, she could think of absolutely no way to get out of this situation. So… she did the one thing that no one would ever expect.

As Livia ran out the door, her entire body shimmered with swirling magic. Her hair lengthened and changed to a raven black color. Her skin darkened and her eyes shifted to warm brown. Her clothing seemed to melt and reform into the shape of a rough spun tavern girl’s dress and apron. She shot past the opening to the alley and ran up to the nearest guard.

For a fraction of a second Aerynica’s heart sank and she thought her sister was about to deliver her, Dru, and Zolara straight into the hands of the men seeking them, but when she started shouting loudly for the guards to follow her, she led them in a direction away from where the three women were hiding. Even though they had only been reunited for a brief time, the redheaded goddess didn’t want to be separated from her sister now that they had found each other. She was sure Livia had some grand plan to escape, but she felt a pit in her stomach at the thought of not seeing her again. Instead of dwelling on the feeling, the three women quickly covered their faces again and rushed out of their hiding spot. Once they were sure there weren’t any guards near them in the main road, they pushed into the bustling crowd and made their way towards the secret exit they had been heading towards earlier.

As they rounded a corner, Zolara’s eyes lit up when she saw the worn sign for a tanner’s shop hanging at eye level on the left hand side. This sign marked the entrance to a tunnel that would lead them directly out of the city. She excitedly grabbed the other two women’s hands and started moving quickly towards their destination. The three had to stop suddenly, however, as six guards blocked their paths with their longswords drawn. Aerynica growled and muttered something barely audible.

“We don’t have time for this…”

All at once, her skin began to glow a brilliant white that was so intense Drusilia and Zolara had to shield their eyes with their hands from the intensity of it. The goddess's rose up in the air and then hovered in place when she was about five feet off the ground. In a loud resonating voice, Aerynica spoke to the guards who were staggering around blindly.

“You do not want to do this. It will not end well for you. Leave now… lest you suffer the same fate as the other men I slaughtered. I am taking these two women as hostages, should you attempt to follow me, I will slay both of them without a second thought. Then I will make you watch as I slowly burn the flesh from your bodies. Now leave!”

Everyone in the vicinity ran as fast as their legs could carry them away from the brilliantly shining goddess. After a few seconds, Aerynica’s feet touched back down onto the ground and her skin slowly began to dim before returning to normal. The orbs of her eyes crackling with divine power were the last to slowly fade back to their usual cerulean blue. Aerynica looked around at the vacant street with a satisfied expression and then turned back towards the other two women. As she began to walk forward, she staggered a few steps and then started to collapse. Drusilia rushed forward in an instant and scooped her up in her arms before the smaller woman's body could hit the ground. She looked down at the beautiful redhead and both saw and felt the exhaustion in her body. Aerynica gave her a weak smile, reached up with her hand to stroke her girlfriend's cheek, before her eyes fluttered and she fell unconscious in the muscular woman's arms. Drusilia turned to Zolara and gave her a worried sigh.

“Are we close?”

“Yes, it’s just through here. It will be a bit of a tight squeeze for you, but once we’re in the tunnel it's a straight shot out of the city. Is… Is she alright?”

“I believe so. I can still feel my connection to her just as strongly as ever, so I think she just expended more power than she intended to.”

Zolara led Drusilia to a hidden grate and she moved her hands in the air with intricate motions. After a few seconds a glowing mote of light shot out from between her palms and struck a small opening just above the grate. The sound of shifting stone filled the small space and then a very narrow passage opened up where the grate had slid out of the way. After handing the unconscious goddess to Zolara, the muscular half-elf had to remove her pack and then squeeze her massive frame into the tight space. Her enormous breasts pressed against the stone in a very painful way, but she managed to shuffle just enough to the side to finally make her way through. After she shifted the pack back on to her shoulders she took Aerynica back into her arms and walked quietly beside the Abdati woman. The sound of the stone shifting back to the way it had been before sounded even louder from within the tunnel, and after a few seconds the pair of them were left in near total darkness. A small blue flame suddenly appeared in the tanned woman's hand and she held it up to light their way. The two of them walked in silence, listening to the sound of their boots echoing faintly in the narrow stone tunnel. After a moment, Zolara looked up at Drusilia with a curious expression.

“The blast that the other goddess was talking about. It has something to do with you, doesn't it?”

“What makes you say that?”

“You're different. You're not necessarily a goddess… But you're also not mortal either. But… It's more than that… Isn't it? Something occurred between the time you two went to bed and the time when the goddess's two minds merged into one.”

Drusilia didn't say anything, instead she held the other woman's gaze and allowed her to continue.

“Judging from the uh… Noise coming from your tent…”

She trailed off and flushed slightly as she considered what she was insinuating. She gave a thoughtful look and then her eyes widened as she came to a conclusion. Before she could say the words aloud, the light from the end of the tunnel shone up ahead. 

Drusilia was grateful for the abrupt ending of their conversation, and she looked back down at the woman clutched tightly against her chest. Just before they could reach the exit, however, a pair of silhouettes blocked some of the light streaming in and whoever they were started walking towards them in slow, deliberate steps.

Roseofblades

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If you like this and you haven't already, check out my other story How I became the Empress of Hell!