CH 69: Northern Woman

Claire backed off from her head as she looked at her angry face. Her face reddened as her mouth opened in shock. The woman’s red eyes stared back at her with annoyance as she shakily stood up. She stretched her arms, showing off not only her muscles and the scars that littered her body but also her fully nude form. Claire was staring right at the woman’s most intimate part as she let out a gasp.

The woman looked down at her with a scoff and turned around. She grumbled something to herself as she made her way to the carriage. Jasmine raced after the woman as Lily helped Claire onto her feet. She watched Jasmine make it to the carriage first, blocking the way inside.

“Move.” The stranger growled at Jasmine. She balled her fist, ready for a fight as she looked up at Jasmine in the entryway. Jasmine studied her physique for a moment, getting caught up in her attractiveness. But she quickly recovered and drew her blade.

“No. Not until you answer our questions.” Jasmine bit back at her. She wanted to know why this bitch showed up during their fight with the trolls. Not to mention her lycanthropy curse. The two stared each other down while the other four caught up with them. The stranger was surrounded by all five members.

She looked around her, studying each of them individually. She stopped on Ana, staring the frightened girl down as Ana backed off. Claire got between the two, shielding Ana from her. The stranger let out a laugh before turning back to Jasmine.

“Really? Threatening me with these weaklings.” She had a smug smile on her face before stepping towards Jasmine. Claire felt her anger flare for the woman disrespecting her and her party members. She grabbed the woman’s shoulder, stopping her.

What should have been a devastating blow to Claire was quickly blocked by Ana’s ward. The stranger turned faster than any had anticipated, but Ana was thinking ahead. The woman’s fist slammed into her ward, cracking the translucent wall between them. Her eyes glowed like before as she stared at Claire.

Claire might have been able to move her shield in time, but she highly doubted it. Regardless, her shield was ready now as Ana’s ward began to crumble. The woman let out a warcry as her eyes locked onto the healer behind Claire. She tried to push past Claire to get at the party’s perceived weakest link, but Claire struck her with a defensive strike.

The woman shook off the blow as her attention moved to Claire. Another cry rang out as she punched Claire’s shield. Her right arm bounced off its shiny shell before her forearm erupted with cuts. While Claire wished that would stop the woman, she quickly followed it up with a second punch. This one, Claire used her parry skill, causing the woman to overextend.

She shoved the woman away from her party members, putting herself between them and the woman. Ana, Elsie, and Lily all traded places with Jasmine as she joined Claire in confronting the woman. She recovered fast and turned back to the group, a smile on her face now.

“Oh? Proper training? Didn’t expect that from the Guard out here.” She said with a laugh. She wiped the blood off her forearms as they quickly healed up. “Maybe mom was wrong about Riefleheim…”

“We’re not with the guard.” Claire corrected the woman.

“Then why apprehend me?” She asked, readying her fists again.

“We didn’t. We found you and healed you.” Jasmine added as the woman stared the two down.

“Doubt it. Your wagon smells of men and their… discharges… no country bumpkins would have enough money for men.” She retorted. Her smile faded as she focused on Claire. “You, in particular, smell strongly of them…”

Claire felt the woman’s rage focus on her as those intense red eyes stared her down. She frowned at her words before coming to a realization. Claire let out a laugh as she lowered her shield. She held up her hands and found a simple way of clearing this misunderstanding. “Hold on… we’re not guards, we just have…”

“Don’t care.” The woman growled at her. She moved towards Claire with blinding speed as Jasmine moved to intercept. The two met before Claire as Jasmine redirected the woman’s punch away from her lover. Claire jumped back in to tackle the woman. It felt like pushing against a brick wall, but she was able to pull her to the ground.

She struggled against the woman’s overwhelming strength as Jasmine joined in to pin the woman down. Both women took a side and pinned her arms to the ground. With all the moving and rubbing, Claire couldn’t help but react to the woman. Her arousal grew as she pinned her to the ground. The stranger snapped her eyes to Claire and stopped resisting for a moment.

“Listen,” Jasmine said. She used the stranger’s confusion to free her hand and hold her knife to the woman’s throat. “We’re not guards. Just listen to Claire. It’s the least you can do for last time.”

The shocked woman looked at Jasmine wide-eyed.. She tilted her head as she looked back at Claire, who eased up slightly on her right arm. Recognition finally flashed across her eyes as she studied Claire again. She looked back at the twins and Lily before looking down at Jasmine. “You were there with the trolls… right?”

“Yes. I was the one who handed your axe back to you.” Claire said, getting off of her. She offered her hand to the woman as Jasmine kept her left arm pinned. The woman stared at her before relaxing slightly. She furrowed her brow for a moment.

“Then why do you reek of men now? There’re no male brothels in this area… and what was…” She said, stopping as she glanced at Claire. She was avoiding looking down as she studied Claire’s face. She brushed off Jasmine’s blade, and Jasmine let her free. Jasmine rolled off of her and sprang to her feet. After both women helped her to her feet, her angered eyes lost their edge as she waited for Claire’s retort. She expected them to be nobles at first, but whatever pressed into her made her question that.

Claire and Jasmine let out a sigh in unison as they both thought about it. Jasmine gave Claire an approving nod as Claire started on her speech. “We, uh, are special. I am a Paladin of an unnamed Goddess. She… rules over virility and gave us, well me, a certain gift.”

The stranger frowned at her before Claire offered her hand. “You’re welcome to see for yourself…” She would let her status sheet speak for itself as the woman grasped her hand. She gave the woman permission to look over her class. The woman’s eyes widened as she read Claire’s class and her Bestowed skills.

She gave Claire a puzzled look as she finished and then looked down at her crotch for the first time. She stared for far too long at the bulge she hadn’t noticed in Claire’s pants. She went back to staring at Claire with a shocked look. “Do all of you have…?”

“Yes. All four of my party members chose to accept the gift.” Claire said, her embarrassment slowly taking over as the stranger looked at her. She was judging her and her party silently. “My Goddess wants to free men of their oppression… That is the goal she gave me when she appeared. This gift… it will lessen the value of men in noble women’s eyes. They’ll no longer be able to control who gets to be a parent or extort people for money to do so.”

The woman’s eyes zoned out as she tried to comprehend the information that she had just been given. It took her a moment to come to terms with it before she looked over each of the other members. Her mouth was agape as her eyes fell on Ana, who backed off from her gaze. Elsie got between the two of them, shielding her sister before the woman spoke up. “What the fuck?”

“I know it’s a lot. I promise you that everything we’ve said is true. My own brother was taken from me which is wh-” Claire started to say, but the woman held her hand up.

“I believe you. You can’t fake your class.” She said as she furrowed her brow. She finally found the embarrassment to cover her feminine parts as all five looked at her. She crossed her legs and covered her breasts. “And let me guess. Brother taken by a local lord when he was underage.”

Claire nodded before turning to Jasmine. “Get her some clothes or a blanket.” Jasmine nodded back and went to the carriage. “Seems to be a common occurrence. Is that why you are here?”

She shook her head. “Rather not say… Just heard the story so many times already…” Jasmine was quick in getting her a blanket. She accepted it and covered her body, the tension leaving her as she looked to the carriage. “Sorry about attacking you… thought you were Guards taking revenge for those bandits…”

“It’s okay… Sorry for petting your head earlier.” Claire said, offering her hand. The woman laughed at her words. She bent over to laugh as it overwhelmed her.

“Not your fault… my, uh, other self liked it.” She said between laughs. “She has a mind of her own…”

This little fact struck the three standing by the carriage. All three had read about lycanthropy, and none of them had heard about separate consciousnesses. Lily spoke up first. “Wait. Your wolf form has its own personality?”

The woman stopped reaching her hand out as she froze. She gathered her thoughts for a moment before muttering under her breath. “Shit.” That only Jasmine and Claire heard. “Uh… it’s a secret.”

Claire tilted her head at the woman as she blushed slightly. She bit back a laugh as the woman took her hand. She led the girl back to the carriage as all four of her lovers watched her. They cautiously watched as the woman and Claire entered the carriage.

“Your axe is under the floorboard with our other weapons. I won’t make you stay if you don’t want to, but I sincerely ask that you do. We could use your strength.” Claire said as she pointed to the handle.

The woman pulled her hand away and covered her body. Claire held her hands up and continued. “I didn’t mean it like that… Sorry, you don’t have to join officially. I just received word from my Goddess that we may need your help…”

The woman eased her shoulders as she let out a sigh. She looked Claire up and down before speaking. “I’ll think about it… Just… don’t know about the whole gift thing…”

Claire nodded as she gave the woman space. She let her open the hatch to confirm where her axe was as she let out another sigh. “We won’t force you to join us. If you just need a ride, we can take you to Fyre, which is close by.”

She nodded before closing the hatch. She turned back to Claire and finally looked her in the eye again. “I’ll let you know after we get to Fyre.”