Roseofblades

Apologies for the extremely lengthy delay! I have been struggling with a severe bout of writer's block and then am just now getting over a bug I caught that left me on my ass for the better part of a week. I'm not sure when the next update for Goddess will be, but I hope to at least have some momentum now that I'm getting moving again.

Aerynica and Drusilia exited the tent cautiously as soon as they had finished packing up everything. A wickedly sharp curved blade the length of the goddess's forearm hung from the small woman's belt in a beautiful metal and leather sheath. Drusilia's new weapon, a sword that was nearly as tall as she was, was strapped to the side of the heavy canvas bag on her back. It too was beautifully crafted, and it was obvious the massive metal blade had been originally designed for one of the giant men they had seen when they first arrived in the camp. Normally something that ridiculously large would be far too heavy for someone of Drusilia's size to even lift such a weapon, but her extremely enhanced strength allowed her to carry it without much difficulty. Aerynica had to resist a snicker as she realized that the weapon her girlfriend carried was reminiscent of the one from a character in a popular video game. She could only imagine how devastating it would be when in her hands.

Zolara greeted them with a warm, yet worried expression on her face. She had a heavy pack on her shoulders and was wearing a cloth covering that obscured most of her face. She handed both women similar coverings and quickly showed them how to hide their faces. Once their hair and the majority of their faces was covered, the tall Abdati woman led them through the camp silently in the opposite direction than the way they came through yesterday. The sounds of men shouting filled the air, and Zolara let out a determined grunt and led them through a narrow alley out of the camp. 

The other end of the alley led to one of the main roads, and Zolara scanned both directions before she dartied into the busy street, Aerynica and Drusilia in tow. Despite the fact they were mostly moving against the flow of traffic, they still managed to wade through the crowds of people without too much difficulty. As Zolara looked ahead, she let out an irritated grunt as she saw a dozen or so guards walking in a direction that would lead them right towards the trio. The tall woman in the yellow and blue robes slowed their pace, and she motioned for the other women to do their best to blend in with the rest of the crowd. 

The guards up ahead seemed to be searching the busy streets for someone, and as one of them grabbed a woman and yanked off the cloth covering her face, Aerynica's heart sank as she realized it wouldn’t be long before they were discovered. Shouts sounded from behind them, and the goddess glanced back and saw with even more dismay that a group of about 20 guards was moving through the streets, pushing people aside as they made their way towards them. 

Aerynica could feel fear radiating from the tall Abdati woman and could sense the hesitance of what to do building within her. The goddess channeled a small bit of power through her fingertips and into the hand that was clinging to her own. She smiled behind her face covering as Zolara immediately seemed to calm and look around with a more determined expression. The strong woman clutched her hand tighter and led her towards a nearby alleyway. After they made a sharp left turn, Zolara let out a sound of panic as she saw that the narrow passage came to an abrupt dead end. She turned to face the smaller woman and she was about to speak when the sounds of shouting came from the entrance to the alley they were in.

Suddenly, without warning a hand reached out from one of the darkened doorways and grabbed Aerynica's arm. She was yanked off her feet and into the building, and she let out a small yelp of surprise. As she was quickly pulled further into the room, she felt strong hands pin her to the floor and heard the heavy footsteps of Drusilia moving quickly towards them. The figure who was pinning Aerynica was covered in very dark leather armor, and had a covering over her face similar to the ones they were now wearing. The person was slightly taller than the goddess was, but the figure’s otherwise diminutive stature and shape indicated that the person was female. As she heard the half-elf draw closer to her, she took a hand off of Aerynica's wrist and held it up.

“Drusilia. Wait!”

Upon hearing the figure call out her name she stopped in mid-stride. The shouting outside drew closer to them and suddenly the woman's body began to radiate some sort of power. The shadows seemed to deepen and the darkness appeared to draw into her outstretched palm. She saw and felt the woman push the shadowy power towards the doorway and watched it move to cover the entryway like a door. 

Heavily armored boots pounded down the stone alleyway and Aerynica felt the other woman tense on top of her. She continued to hold her hand out to keep the shadow barrier in place, and the goddess could tell that her power was waning quickly. Aerynica used her free hand to reach up and gently grab the woman's wrist. She channeled her divine power outwards and directed it towards the woman pinning her to the floor. The shadowy barrier began to expand rapidly, and it filled the entire room in an instant. Sounds became muffled and the small amount of light pouring in from the outside seemed to dwindle to small pinpricks of illumination. The woman looked back at her and despite the darkness, she could tell the woman was staring at her with an intense look of surprise.

After a few moments, the clanging and shouting of guards faded to nothingness, and the woman nearly collapsed against Aerynica's chest. The room returned to normal at once, and light flooded into the space from the doorway and loosely shuttered windows. The woman in the dark leathers pushed herself up and slowly moved off of Aerynica. She held up her hands to Drusilia and Zolara as they quickly moved towards her. The muscular half-elf cleared the distance to the leather-clad woman in half a second and struck her with a quick blow to the solar plexus. Before she could recover from getting the wind knocked out of her so suddenly, the woman just barely managed to dodge a blow from Drusilia’s other fist swinging at her face. The smaller woman staggered backwards and held her hands up defensively.

“W-Wait! Hol-Hold on! I-I’m not here to-”

“Dru! Zolara! HOLD!!” 

Aerynica shouted out as she sat up. Zolara stopped casting the spell that was starting to flicker between her hands and Drusilia’s knuckles hovered inches away from the woman’s nose. The redheaded goddess removed her headwrap and glanced at the figure who was now slumped against a stone support pillar. She could easily see the woman's sky blue eyes looking from the two women standing above her back towards Aerynica. The goddess sighed softly and then slowly rose to her feet. She closed the distance to the other woman and then reached down and extended her hand to help her to her feet.

The redhead could see confusion in the woman's eyes, but she still took the offered hand and stood up slowly. She let out a small yelp as Aerynica pulled her close to her with a strong tug and wrapped her arms around the slightly taller woman in a tight hug.

“It's so good to see you! Thank you for saving us… Livia.”

“Livia?! As in… Your sister Livia?”

Aerynica still hadn’t released her tight hug from around her sister’s shoulders, and she nodded her approval without letting go. Finally after a few seconds the woman clad in dark leathers managed to free herself from the deathgrip of her sister and she backed up several steps with a look of intense confusion.

“Who are you and what have you done to my sister?! I can sense her within you… but… you’re different. And the power radiating off of you does not belong to Eronica. When you channeled it into me it didn’t feel like anything I had ever felt before.”

The entirety of Livia’s eyes shifted to a pitch black color that seemed to draw the light in, and she wore a dangerous expression like that of a cornered animal. The air in the small space seemed to get heavier and it felt like a storm in the brief seconds before a lightning strike. 

“Calm yourself, sister. You’re right… I’m not Eronica. Well… not entirely. Please, give me a chance to explain before you go all god-mode on us.”

“You’re Erin, aren’t you?”

“Yes and no. Will you give me a chance to explain? Please?”

Livia’s blue eyes returned to normal, and as she released whatever power she had been channeling the immense building pressure faded away. Aerynica motioned towards a rickety table and chairs in the corner of the room, and she moved to sit first to show there was no cause for hostilities. After all the women had removed their headwraps, the goddess with the short red hair listened intently to everything that her younger sister had experienced in the few days she had been out of her sight.