CH 148: What’s Next?

The Scarlet Seraphs chose to sleep outside, despite access to the carriage. They stayed with the boys under a makeshift canopy that the goblins put together. While they had grown to trust the goblins, the boys were still wary of them.

Most of the children clung to Ursa, practically piling on top of her to do so. Lily and Ana had a few surrounding them, mainly the ones affected by withdrawals. That left Claire, Jasmine and Elsie on the outside.

Claire was happy to find the horses in good shape. Both were cleaned of dirt and any blood that splattered on them, their carriage was also left untouched. She stroked one of their muzzles with a soft smile.

“We’ll have to see if any of the carriages or horses survived,” Claire whispered to Jasmine as the two wound down. Elsie was already curled up in their blanket nest. “Would rather not have the boys in our carriage…”

“That’s a good idea,” Jasmine replied as she lay beside Elsie. “It’ll be a week’s ride to the nearest town, too. Hopefully, there we can hire drivers or adventurers.”

“Where do we even take these boys?” Elsie asked. “Can’t take them to the knights. Maybe we can take them to Fyre, but they might not take them…”

Claire considered her solution for a moment. “Maybe take them back with us?”

“Back to Restol?” Elsie asked, sitting up. She furrowed her brow. “Mom might be able to accommodate them for a few weeks… but I don’t know.”

“We might have to.” Claire insisted.

“Lady Efreit could take them in,” Jasmine said, recalling her conversation with Alice. “Could reach out to Alice.”

“For now, let’s just get to the closest town, reach out to Alice if we can, then get back to Restol.” Claire declared. She crawled behind Jasmine and under the covers. “These kids deserve warm beds and good food.”

“What about Firewater and the goblins?” Elsie asked as she lay back down. “What do we do with them? Leave them?”

“They did just take a stronghold. Could just… let them have it.” Jasmine mused.

“But the traffickers would arrive then the knights…” Claire whispered. “They’ll need to hide.”

“Where the hell would you hide all these goblins?” Jasmine chuckled.

“I don’t know, that’s tomorrow’s problem,” Claire mumbled as she felt her eyelids fall. She felt too tired to keep thinking. She cuddled up to Jasmine’s back and drifted quickly to sleep.

Claire knew it the moment her eyes closed. The ethereal light, the air thick with divine energy.

“Congratulations on the victory.” The Goddess said as She descended towards Claire. She stood before Claire, her features still obscured. “Firewater and Silkie were… unforeseen allies.”

Claire tilted her head. “You couldn’t see them?”

The Goddess shook her head with a sly smile. “I cannot see everything. They were obscured by magic… old magic.”

“Their gods?” Claire asked. She reached her hand out, offering it to her Goddess.

“Gods?” the Goddess muttered.  “We did not think about … it would make sense as even Rava and Anka co-”

The Goddess cut herself off and exhaled. She accepted Claire’s hand with both of hers. She took a moment to caress Claire’s hand before continuing. “Too much information, sorry. I will look into it.”

Claire smiled. She could still only make out a few features of the Goddess’s face. “Any idea on what to do with the boys we rescued?”

“I like Jasmine’s idea.” She said, pulling Claire in for an embrace. Her voice softened as She hugged Claire. “Lady Efreit is one of the few I would trust with them.”

“That’s good to know,” Claire said, tightly holding the Goddess. Her presence felt strange against her skin. “We plan on going back to Restol, too. Take a few days to recoup, then… I don’t know. Ryley’s nearly 18 and at risk.”

The goddess pulled back from Claire, Her grey eyes scanning Claire’s face. Her smile dropped for a moment, but She spoke. “Right. Your Lady’s obsession with age…”

Claire just nodded. She could feel a pain grow within her chest. “You warned me he’d be moved to a worse place…”

“I did.” The Goddess muttered. She took a moment to think before continuing. “Elizabeth might know something. She used to coordinate tra-”

The Goddess covered her mouth, her eyes widening. “Ah, that’s private information.”

She pulled away from Claire and rubbed her chin. Claire took a moment to study her, her eyes wandering. She only stopped when the Goddess began to giggle.

“Hard to think when I can hear all your thoughts.” She cooed.

“I thought you liked it,” Claire replied coyly.

“I adore it.” The Goddess floated back to Claire, Her smirk returning. “But let me make sure I will not be punished for my mistake first.”

“Mistake?”

The Goddess nodded. “I said too much. I might even be breaking the rules for even mentioning it.”

Claire tried to speak, but the Goddess just shook her head. A moment of silence fell as the Goddess went back to hugging Claire.

“I crave these moments…” The Goddess whispered into Claire’s ear. “In our Realm, I am nothing more than a spectre. Here, I have a form. I can touch. I can smell.”

Claire let the Goddess caress her. Letting herself get distracted from the thoughts of her brother. She held tightly to the Goddess in return, feeling sad for Her.

“One thing I have been craving to try…” She muttered as she parted from Claire. Claire met Her eyes as the Goddess hesitated. Claire swore she could see Her face redden, but it was hard to tell.

The Goddess leaned in slowly, and it took Claire far too long to understand. It was only when she felt the Goddess’s breath on her skin that she realized what was happening. Claire’s breath caught as realization struck. She met the Goddess halfway.

She felt her lips tingle, and she felt magic pour into her. It was dizzying and intoxicating, making Claire’s mind fuzzy. The Goddess pulled back quickly, Her grey eyes wide. Claire’s head felt fuzzy as the Goddess let go of her.

“I-I understand now.” She stammered as Her hand brushed trembling lips. Claire felt like she was floating as the Goddess continued. “J-just makes me want more…”

“I’d love more.” Claire said without thinking.

The Goddess chuckled and caressed Claire’s cheek. “Seems some of my power spilled into you. Let me fix that.”

Her hand glowed a faint red as magic flowed into it. The feeling within Claire slowly dissipated. It felt like she was under the influence of Elsie’s skill.

“Hopefully you do not wake up with fatigue… you have a long day ahead of you.” The Goddess whispered. Her hand lingered on Claire’s cheek as she soaked in the human touch.

“I’ll be fine.” Claire said confidently as she grabbed the Goddess’s hand. She held it tightly to her cheek. “It hasn’t been as bad as that first morning.”

“And you did channel me pretty well.” The Goddess admitted. “Maybe one day we can try again under less dire circumstances.”

“Wait, I can channel you?” Claire asked, bewildered. “Like as a skill?”

“Not quite a skill.” The Goddess laughed. She pulled her hand back and started floating towards the ethereal light. “It is possible. Just need to get stronger.”

Claire’s mind spun with all the possibilities. She could pull a Goddess into reality if she got stronger? Then her mind started to wander.

“I was thinking the same thing.” The Goddess chuckled. “I would love to experience my domain.”

“You mean you’ve nev-” Claire’s voice was cut off. She could no longer speak.

“Shush.” The Goddess said with a smirk. The light became overwhelming for Claire as she was left with a few more words. “I barely have a form. Of course I have yet to have sex.”

Claire tried to laugh, but a pain shot through her body. The Goddess’s laugh reverberated in her mind as she was shaken awake.

“Claire!” A deep voice called to her.

She jolted awake, thinking there was an emergency. Her head collided with something solid as the voice let out a groan.

“Fuck!” Firewater said, clutching his bleeding nose.

Silkie was beside him, trying her best not to laugh. Claire blinked rapidly as she quickly woke up.

“Sorry! Thought we were under attack.”