Theo #2
A glimmer of light caught my attention and I grabbed for it, mud squelching between my fingers. I cleared the muck against my pantleg to reveal a cloudy white crystal. To satisfy my curiosity about this strange new object, I raised it and stepped towards the hungry beast. It backed away.
A handy charm indeed.
“You didn’t have to do that!” the goddess called as I approached the border of her field, holding the stone up triumphantly.
“Why are you still in the rain?” I asked, eyeing the rocky alcove across the clearing. Her beast had already curled up against a flat section of stone under the shelter. A black spot against a gray-brown backdrop.
“In case you needed help!”
I grinned, grabbing her small wrist and pulling it out to me so I could press the crystal into her soft pink palm. “That’s very thoughtful of you.”
I tried not to show my amusement at the idea of her tiny hands throttling something.
I knew plenty of smaller females who could take down massive and brutal things.
But this one… I couldn’t picture it. Or maybe after all my life experience, I just didn’t want to.
I’d met many killers, and she wasn’t one.
I grabbed my bag from the mud and started towards the alcove. She sloshed behind me, saying something I couldn’t hear over the roll of thunder quaking the ground. We’d have plenty of time to talk once we were out of the rain.
The cavern wasn’t a home, but it provided a dry—and surprisingly cool—nook.
I’d have to duck my head in the deeper recesses, but the brim of the hill’s overhang had room to spare for my height.
Bundles of twine-bound herbs hung from the sharp edges of rock.
A dress laid out to dry on an incline of stone.
There was a waterskin, a couple of jars, some archaic tools, and a pile of dark berries from the bushes.
The goddess had so little here, of course she’d sought out a town.
Miscellaneous belongings were crudely gathered next to a dark fur with an aged, hand-knitted blanket bundled up on top of it. A… bed? Her cat was twisted up within the folds of the fabric in a position that could not be comfortable. Nor safe. Its vulnerable belly was on full display. How confident.
Though its bite wasn't painful, I felt comforted that she had a fearless guardian, regardless of its current size. Maybe it would grow? It certainly looked like it could one day be something fierce. I’d make sure it had plenty to eat while I was here.
The beast could be good protection if it was larger.
More crystals, feed the cat. My list grew.
The goddess stumbled past me, pulling at her waterlogged boots as she moved.
Her choppy hair dripped a trail of droplets between her footprints.
Her curves swayed when she walked, full and feminine.
She was splattered with mud, soaking wet, and clad in clothing that was far from modern. This wasn’t how a goddess should live.
“If you don’t mind, I’ve been soaked for the majority of the day and I’m not trying to get jungle rot.” She stood by the beige dress laid out on the stone, starting to unlace her bodice.
“Of course.” I turned my back to her, staring into the rain and trying not to let my mind wander to what was happening behind me.
“Sorry I don’t have extra clothes for you,” she said along with the distinct sound of wet fabric hitting the hard ground.
“I packed some.” I doubted she had anything that would fit me, anyway.
“That’s good.” Her tone dropped, she sounded distracted—although more lucid. Force returned to her husky voice, but there was a heaviness to it I didn’t understand. It must be an after effect of the trauma today. “So… what’s your name?”
“Theo.”
“I’m really glad you’re alive, Theo.” There was a weighted pause; I wasn’t sure how to fill it. “I thought I’d left you to die. I’m so sorry. I really tried to get back to you, but I couldn’t.” The words seemed to catch in her throat.
My chest ached. She saved my life that day, and all this time she’d been blaming herself for my death? I should have waited for her return that night. Death was a heavy burden to carry, and not one I wanted on the shoulders of the very goddess who had rescued me.
“I made it to safety after you healed my leg. You saved my life. I owe you more than I can ever repay.”
“How is your leg? You’re still limping. I can take another look.”
She was suddenly kneeling beside me. I forced myself to look at the rocky ceiling above us as she rolled up my pant leg. I could not look at this divine female on her knees. Ceiling. Breathe.
I was quickly losing my good place in the afterlife. If I’d had a chance to begin with.
She squeezed up and down my calf, looking for the problem. Ceiling. Look at the rocks.
“It’s my ankle,” I said calmly, managing not to betray myself. I was at high risk of my chest creating the low growl-like noise that any Trebite would know was… indecent. Would she know?
“Your ankle? I’m sorry, I didn’t see that it was hurt too. I thought you’d just broken your shin.”
“Me too.” Up until it was too late to do anything about it.
“Take your shoe off.”
I stood in place. I’d just hiked up a mountain in the rain. I really didn’t want her to be near my bare feet right now. “Maybe later.”
She grabbed behind the back of my knee and pushed hard, and I lifted my leg in surprise. Was she treating me like a damn Silvate getting their hoof cleaned?! Before I could protest, she’d yanked my boot off.
“How is it still bruised?!” her voice raised in surprise.
“Probably because I’ve walked at least a hundred miles on it.”
I was hoping she’d laugh. Instead, she grumbled an unhappy noise and pressed her palms around the joint. I felt the cool tingles of her healing magic, and the relief of the ache melting away. My eyes closed momentarily, this ankle had been paining me for a long time.
“There. All better.” She stood up and I was able to make eye contact again. “Did you have a doctor look at it or anything? It is fucking insane that you climbed a mountain like that, you know.”
I shrugged, focused on testing the functionality of my ankle. I pressed my weight into it. Normal. No pain.
“You know what, never mind. Don’t answer that.”
“Didn’t plan to.”
She snorted at my bluntness, humor gleaming in her blue eyes. Her laughter was intoxicating. I wanted more of it.
“I guess you’re probably wondering how I did that,” she laughed again awkwardly. Music.
“Wait,” I warned, the relief of experiencing a healed ankle melted away.
It was not good that she was offering information on a silver platter.
She needed to be ready to avoid, deflect, deny anything related to her divine status.
“You… shouldn’t be so quick to talk about it. You need to be careful.”
“What? My healing?”
I bristled. “Among other things. Being discreet will do you a lot of favors in this world.”
She hummed in thought. “I’m not great at ‘discreet’. But you can explain why I need to keep my mouth shut while we eat. I’ve been traveling all day and I am starving.” Her bare feet padded towards the pile of berries.
“I brought food and can make a fire,” I interjected, irked that her options were limited to a pile of foraged fruit in a cave. Do all goddesses scrape by like this on Trebianna? For the first time, I had some context for why Graysen had taken Faeryn out of her safe haven, other than dumb love.
“Really?” Her head whipped around, her voice excited. I supposed I would be too if I’d been living off only one meal and was regularly waterlogged.
“Really. Where do you want it?”
She nodded to just behind the rocky column connecting the overhang to the ground. “If you don’t mind keeping it closer to the fresh air. I don’t want too much smoke clouding around Nurghle.”
I looked at the small mass of black fur named Nurghle. “Of course.”
“So, like, are you a hiker? Do you live out here? I’m not used to seeing people on the mountain.
” The vibrancy that had returned to her deep voice was intoxicating.
The tone reminded me of nails in wood, organic sturdiness held together by sharp metallic pins.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you showed up.
Nurghle would be so upset if I didn’t come home. ”
An interesting reason to justify not wanting to die.
I tossed more brush from her miscellaneous pile of things into the small fire.
We were dry, warm, and settling just in time for the daytime stars to disappear over the tree line.
Collecting wood for fires needed to be one of my first priorities.
Her stash wouldn’t last long, and it would take time for anything I gathered to dry out.
“I came back to see you.”
“Oh?”
Her eyes flickered with sadness again for a brief moment. Was my injury upsetting her? Or my near hypothermia? I wanted to know so I could comfort her. But she’d asked me an important question.
“I know about other females like you. I want to help make sure that you have the resources and information you need to survive on this planet.”
“You know other demigoddesses?”
I cringed. “Please don’t be so quick to throw that word around. It’s dangerous for you.”
“Good to know,” she chuckled softly, naively calm about the situation. “Pray tell, what’s so dangerous?”
I needed to be honest with her. Graysen wasn’t being honest with Faeryn, and I was pretty confident that was a mistake. If this female knew the danger she was in, she would act accordingly. The moment she was on E.A.R.T.H.’s radar, it would be too late. They wouldn’t stop until they had her.
“This planet is experiencing an energy crisis. There aren’t enough resources to fuel society. An organization called E.A.R.T.H.—I know, same name—found out your sisters make for a convenient solution to that problem. The energy of a goddess is very powerful.”
Her brows furrowed. “What kind of solution is that?”
Part of me suddenly didn’t want to burden her with the harsh reality, but losing her freedom would be a high price to pay for blissful ignorance.