Descension of a Goddess (Beta)

Descension of a Goddess Ch. 01

Snaking through the bustling crowds of people, Erika concealed herself in a hooded cloak to avoid her pursuers. Having been forced to ditch her royal clothing to better blend in with the population, she wore simple commoner attire underneath her cloak. The fall of the capital city of Eperius was the final nail in the coffin of the Imperium. After almost a thousand years of rule, it all ended because of one dragonlord’s thirst for revenge from the lands of Daeydra to the West across the Sandrian Sea.

During the early days of the war, Erika thought that an invasion of the Imperium was a near-impossible task. She and her colleagues grossly underestimated their enemy’s resolve. The war eventually dragged to a standstill, with either side failing to progress on all fronts. But everything changed with the betrayal of Lord Venitia of the Southern Coast Lands.

Since then, it has been almost five long years of bloody war across the continent of Ulrud: the lands where the heart of the Imerpium was situated. The Dragonlords of the West burned the western coastal cities to cinder on their dragons. With their legions of well-seasoned war veterans from previous years of conquest and civil war, they drove deep within Imperium territory, leaving nothing but bones and ash to all those who dared to stand in their way.

Now, with the capital city burning, what remained of the Imperium’s leadership and its loyal citizens fled east to what little territory the empire still had.

And Erika was now one of the many people who fled the Dragonlord’s scourge. She felt so disgraced with herself that she resorted to fleeing like a coward. Unlike the commoners around her, she was a Godkin, a descendent of the great holy deity, Aris, the goddess of all creation.

Unlike the other Godkins who were considered demigods due to their mixed heritage, Erika was of pure blood, granting her the highest of prestige and nobility. She was known as the goddess of order and renowned for her elegance and beauty. She had cultivated a sizable following with her long, graceful golden hair and matching gold eyes, her serene fair skin, perfect curvaceous, and statuesque stature. People, highborn, and commoners alike praised her for Erika’s omnipotence. However, some in the Imperium would say people only liked her for her alluring form.

Her heart raced in a panic as she hastily made her way to the docks Kalos. The city has since surrendered to her adversaries, but she needed to escape there as quickly as possible. But as she walked, her route to the docks was blocked by crowds of civilians gathering around one of the city's main plazas. Erika was forced to stop seeing how it was too crowded even to get past.

“Ugh, these filthy commoners…” Erika muttered to herself in disgust. Although she was acclaimed for her benevolent personality, in reality, she looked down upon anyone less than a Godkin. She thought normal humans were dirty and inferior to her. The only thing she liked about them was the many gifts they brought to her temples across the Imperium.

Snarling in annoyance, Erika stood on her toes to see what the fuss was about. To her dismay, her golden eyes widened to see Daeydran legionaries formed on a large wooden platform. And with them stood lines of people chained to their hands and ankles. Taking a closer look at the people in chains, Erika is anxious to discover that some of them are her fellow Godkin.

They were in various forms of injury. A few of them were just bloodies and bruised, while some had worse. Brought to their knees, the legionaries displayed them to the crowds of commoners. Erika was outraged observing them roar and cry out in praise.

“OFF WITH THEM!”

“RID US OF THESE ARROGANT BASTARDS!”

“These traitorous filth!” Erika hissed. “After everything we’ve done for them, they just turn their backs on us?!” the goddess cursed everyone in her proximity, wishing them to be sent to the mines of Callos.

Erika was in despair seeing her fellow Godkin in such a precarious situation. It was degrading and pitiful what their order had been whittled down to. A once great imperious race is now on a downward trajectory.

With several legionaries stepping forward, Erika’s attention was drawn to a notable woman adorned with a black and white armored dress wielding an absurdly sizable scythe. The goddess of order trembled to realize that it was one of the lieutenants and cousin to Marcellus Tytus, the reigning sovereign of Daeydra; the dragonlord who started this bloody war in the first place.

Erika wanted to do something. She wanted to fight back against her new oppressors. However, given her weakened state from a previous battle in which she barely managed to escape, her powers and abilities were seriously diminished.

Raising her scythe, the lieutenant lurked behind the prisoners. Then, with one fell swoop, she briskly swung her weapon, making almost no sound. A brief silence fell upon the crowd as she gleefully pranced away. As if on cue, each of the kneeled Godkin’s heads fell off their bodies and toppled onto the wood platform.

An audible gasp escaped the goddess’s lips as the crowd broke into a thunderous cheer. They were rejoiced to see their former rulers executed. Erika never felt more betrayed than ever. To think that these people used to worship them!

Knowing that she couldn’t stay here any longer, Erika tucked her hood down and quickly navigated her way through the crowd. Gauging the current public opinion of the Godkin from the locals, she kept her identity as hidden as possible, tucking her head of golden hair away from the commoners around her.  Although not many had the opportunity to see Erika in the flesh, she had enough shrines and statues of her likeness scattered across the land to make her somewhat recognizable.

As Erika shuffled her way out, the crowd's density only seemed to increase. It was as if more and more people came pouring in to witness the spectacle behind her. “Tsk, out of the way!” Erika hissed and she got pushed and shoved around.

“Oi! Watch it woman!” a peasant shouted as the goddess bumped into him.

“How dare you speak to me like that, commoner!” Erika reflexively spat. The peasant arched his bushy brow angrily.

“What the hell? Who do you think you are, lady?!” the peasant squinted into the hood of her cloak trying to identify his antagonizer. Erika gasped realizing she was attracting unwanted attention.

Shielding her face with her hood, the commoner continued to identify her. Feeling a sudden grasp on her arm, a livid expression formed on Erika’s face. “Unhand me you peasant!” she shouted rather loudly. With imposing strength she shoved the man away from her, causing him to stagger back into the people directly behind him.

Even in her weakened state, Erika still possessed considerable power compared to the average human. The commotion drew the attention of her immediate surroundings. The goddess grew more anxious as the commoners around her became curious about what was going on. It felt like the world was collapsing on her as more and more heads turned to face her.

The tension in the air only grew as Erika noticed the legionaries on the platform taking notice of the disturbance in the crowd in the corner of her eye. Returning her attention to the peasant she thrust away, she discerned a confused and fearful look on his face.

Before he could get up, Erika ducked down and forcibly snaked her way from the populated plaza. The longer she stayed there, the more suspicious she would appear to the people whom she once called constituents and the new folks in charge.

Finally breaking free from the crowd, Erika dashed to her original destination before she got sidetracked. She just had to make as much distance between her and the mess she had unintentionally caused. A part of her felt foolish for reacting so brashly. Erika should have known better not to act like that amongst the common people, however, she simply couldn’t help it. They were inferior to her!

As she ran, she was met by patrols of legionaries wandering about in the streets. They stood in between her and the docks. Bringing her running to a stop, Erika calmly shuffled her past the armored occupiers. She kept her eyes straight and tucked her golden locks deep with her hood.

The sneaking goddess couldn’t help but feel their eyes scrutinizing her through their helmets. If they were to find out who she was, it would mean the end of her. Thankfully, enough people were walking around that she blended in with them, enabling her to stride past her adversaries with relative ease.

Finally arriving at the docks, Erika observed the many workers loading and unloading cargo. Again, more legionaries were present, and supervising these transactions. Erika let out a snarl of annoyance. Her plan involved sneaking into one of the few administrative buildings around the port and bribing one of the sailors to stow her away across the Aeona Sea. The gold coins she had should be enough, but if it wasn’t, she had her royal jewelry to barter with. It pained her to ponder giving away such sacred ornaments, but Erika was willing to do anything to extract herself from her current predicament.

Waiting until sundown, Erika made her move. With the legionary patrols eased, she carefully snuck toward one of the larger administrative buildings. She had to be very careful who she attempted to bribe since the loyalty of the locals wasn’t in her favor. But she was sure that enough money could buy anyone out.

Since the administrative buildings in the port doubled as a storage structure, Erika managed to sneak inside using one of the large open entryways without anyone noticing her presence. She sneakily skipped from crate to crate, avoiding the night shift workers.

The person she was looking for was either the ship captain or the local sea baron. Ideally the former since ship captains were always more agreeable. Venturing deeper into the building, Erika found herself in a hallway. It was dark, lit by only a few dim lanterns stretching down the hall.

The sneaking goddess carefully strode onward, searching for the administrative chamber. Usually, the person in charge of the operations here would be inside. Spotting a wooden plack nearby reading, ‘administration’, Erika let out a silent cheer. One step closer to her great escape.

With the door already cracked, Erika saw a faint warm light beaming through. Stepping forward, she peeked inside to see a man sitting behind a desk counting coins. A look of disappointment fell on her face to discover that the man was more well-dressed, which meant that she would be dealing with the sea baron rather than the captain.

Erika shook her head in annoyance. Barons tended to be more strict and unwilling to accept bribes, and even if they willingly received stowaways, they usually would try to extort them for more money like the greedy bastards they were.

However, Erika was fortunate enough to carry enough coin and valuables to bribe almost anyone, even if the baron had flipped sides. She was sure that she could buy him out. Squinting her golden eyes, she scrutinized the man to get a better measure of him.

He was an older man and wasn’t very attractive by any measure. With his chubby cheeks and wide gullet, Erika could tell that he was very well off. The goddess noted his aristocratic mustache and slicked-back light brownish hair. She could discern the greed in his eyes as he counted his money.

Composing herself, Erika slowly opened the door and slipped inside.

Hearing his door creak shut, the baron confusingly glanced up from his duties to see a cloaked stranger standing on the other side of his chamber. “What the? Hey, who allowed you in here?” the aristocratic merchant spoke. “Are you here looking for a job? We’re not hiring as of now. So you best be out of my sight before I call the guards.”

Erika annoyingly ground her teeth. How dare such a man speak to her like this! But she held her tongue not wanting to provoke the plump bastard. “Apologies, sir…” Erika began, it pained her to speak in such a demeaning manner. “I wish to seek safe passage to the east…”

The baron arched his brow curiously and twirled his mustache upon hearing the stranger's surprisingly heavenly voice. He had expected that this was just some random bum. Normally he would flat-out reject the offer, but strangely enough, he wanted to see the person under the hood.

“Oh? And why should I do that? You know, under Imperial decree, it’s unlawful to transport stowaways on trade ships. I can get into serious trouble if I were to get caught,” the baron said, leaning back into his chair.

“With all due respect, sir, the Imperium is gone. Its laws have no more jurisdiction around these lands,” Erika calmly replied. The baron squinted and showed an impressed smirk.

“Hm, a sharp one, are you?” he chuckled.

“I’m not asking for much… Just safe passage. I have the coin to pay you.”

“Heh, even if I did accept your little offer, I’m certain whatever you have on you won’t be enough.” the merchant snickered, rubbing his rotund belly. But upon hearing a heavy sack fall onto his desk, he immediately sat up in surprise.

“Oh, I have more than enough, sir,” Erika affirmingly declared.

Reaching forward, the greedy man loosened the knot of the sock and opened it. His beady brown eyes widened with delight seeing pristine, imperial-minted golden coins brimming inside. He was at a loss for words. Eagerly digging his pudgy fingers inside the sack, he took one of the coins and closely inspected it to see if these were the real thing.

Although the Imperium was for the most part liquidated, gold was gold. The currency would be eligible basically everywhere you go. “Hmm, these appear to be the real thing… You didn’t steal these, have you?” the baron inquired.

Erika braced her hand on her hip. “Does that really matter?” she simply replied. “It’s money.”

Returning to coin to the sack, the baron slowly rubbed his chin. He grew suspicious of who stood before him. The coins presented to him were too perfect. Almost like they were never meant to be spent. Of all his years in the lucrative business, he was quite familiar with all types of currencies.

“Hmm, may I ask who you are, girl?” he spoke. “Because you are either a fool or naive to present me such fine gold. Here you are, a woman, alone and asking for safe passage. You are likely nobility, yes?”

Erika’s mouth fell agape. She hadn’t expected the man to be this keen. She couldn’t ever take into account that whoever she was going to bribe. She was under the impression that they could care less with the amount of gold she offered.

“That amount of gold should be enough so you don’t have to ask any questions, yes? That should be three times the rate,” the goddess objected, avoiding answering his question.

The greedy man held a devious grin. “I suppose it is… but, as of late, there has been an influx in the business of smuggling people. Heh, that means I’m gonna need more than this!” He wasn’t entirely lying his ass off. With the recent events of the world, there have been more people seeking passage out east. But he had a hunch that this stranger had more money lining her pockets.

“Huh?! You can’t be serious! This is way more than any commoner could pay!” The baron grinned knowingly. He recognized nobility when he heard it.

“Oh oh, but you are no commoner, you are nobility!” the greedy bastard declared confidently. “The minted coins and the way you utter ‘commoner’ reeks of royalty!

Erika anxiously clenched her fists. There was no way she was going to try and barter her jewelry now, it would be a dead giveaway about her identity. However, upon sizing up the rotund baron again, the goddess deduced he was simply all bark and no bite. Even in her weakened state, she was sure that she could rough him up a bit. Perhaps even revealing her godly presence would force him to yield before her. Erika smirked confidently, she might be able to get out of this without spending a single valuable.

Stepping toward the desk, Erika swiftly reached forward and grabbed the merchant by the collar of his fancy tunic. Lifting him into the air, she dragged him over his desk causing coins and other objects to tumble around and fall. Although she processed godly strength, she winced uncomfortably. The sea baron was a heavy man, and given her sapped condition, Erika struggled to maintain a stern demeanor.

The baron gasped and trembled as he was forcibly elevated into the air by the stranger. “How could this woman be so strong??” he urgently thought to himself.

Flicking her hood off of her head, the goddess revealed her elegant mane of golden blonde hair. “Now listen here, merchant. You will give me safe passage east. Or so help me,” she spoke sternly. He gazed upon her empyrean golden eyes and alluring features. Her identity was unmistakable.

“W-what?! Yo- you are Erika! Th- the goddess of order!” the chubby man gasped in shock. Never in his life, he would have thought that he would be in the presence of such a divine being and, nonetheless, be manhandled by one!

“Hmm, you’re a sharp one,” the goddess of order sarcastically replied.

“Augh! Wait! Let’s not be brash! We can work something out!” the merchant uttered desperately. “If I had known it was you from the beginning, I would have gladly accepted your proposition! Argh!” The baron huffed and puffed feeling his heavy weight bearing down on him. “Just put me down and we can talk, yeah?? Please!”

Erika smirked victoriously. She had him right where she wanted. “Tsk, you’re lucky I’m feeling awfully generous tonight. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? I expect you to be more cordial with me, merchant,” Erika hissed.

Releasing his collar, the sea baron fell onto the wooden floor, making an audible rumble. The rotund man slowly picked himself up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Leaning back against the desk, he gathered himself.

“I apologize for my behavior, your radiance…” he began.

“That’s more like it,” Erika muttered.

“If I may start from the beginning once more… My name is Staffan Blythe, it is truly a pleasure to be in your presence, your grace…”

“I would say it’s a pleasure to meet you too …Staffan, but considering our previous encounter, your impudence has left a bad taste on my tongue.” Staffan bowed his head in reverence. “Would would mind offering me a seat?” Erika added, her voice weakened.

Staffan arched his brow but did what he was commanded out of fear of retaliation from his goddess. Settling herself down, Erika crossed her legs and uncomfortably rubbed her forehead. She was taken aback by how drained she truly was. It turned out that picking up this man took more out of her than she expected.

“So, Staffan,” the blonde goddess started, trying to maintain a composed voice. “You will take me to Emberlyn. Preferably tonight,” she declared.

“Tonight? But your grace I-,” the Staffan tried to say.

“No ‘buts’. This is a command by your divine eminence,” Erika sternly stated, letting out a heavy sigh. “Ugh… would you mind fetching me some water?” The baron obediently nodded and retrieved a pitcher of water.

As Erika rested on her chair, Staffan moved to make the arrangements for her transportation. However, as he did, he began to ruminate why she was in his chamber. With her divine powers, she surely wouldn’t need to stow away on a ship to the east. It was as if she was desperate. And given her choice of attire, she was clearly trying to hide. Furthermore, Staffan grew more aware of her current state of well-being. He could tell that she was struggling to keep her composure: with her labored breaths and wincing facial expressions. Everything was beginning to be more clear to the greedy man.

Although he experienced her divine strength firsthand, Staffan was willing to bet that doing so took a lot out of her. The baron’s anxiousness about her supreme power waned the more he carefully observed her. Erika appeared tired, drained even. Perhaps his precarious position in all this wasn’t as it seemed.

As greedy as Staffan was, he was also a womanizer. His hungry eyes naturally began to sneak lecherous glances at Erika. He licked his lips wanting to see what she looked like under all those commoner garments. He always admired her statues whenever he came across them. But Staffan wondered if her depictions actually reflected what she looked like in person. He was delighted to know that it was, and then some!

What he would do to get himself some of that divine ass. Such lewd thoughts would get him executed. However, with the current circumstances of the world, perhaps he could make his fantasies a reality without the vigilant watch of the Imperium. Staffan got a feeling that he could take advantage of the goddess before him. As he turned away from Erika to grab some paperwork, a sinister grin formed on his face. If he was very careful not to spook the goddess, he had a particular item that could make his dreams into reality.

“Your grace, you don’t mind if I escort you to somewhere more secluded? Some of my subordinates may walk in here at any moment. I’m sure you don’t want commoners aware of your presence,” Staffan spoke. Erika suspiciously squinted at the chubby man. In any other case, she would question his motives, but she couldn’t help but agree with his assessment. Knowledge of her presence would be dangerous for her.

“Right, uh, just go wait outside in the hall for me,” Erika ordered. Staffan slowly nodded and proceeded out of the chamber.

Leaving the door cracked open enough, he carefully watched as Erika unassumingly sat there. He wondered why she wasn’t moving. The baron then noticed her grabbing at her forehead and uncomfortably clenching her side. Then, with a labored exhale, she slowly sat up from the chair. Her struggle was apparent as she leaned over the desk for support.

Staffan couldn’t help but contain a devious smile. With Erika seemingly sapped of her strength, her senses, and reflexes had to be hindered enough for the baron to deploy his secret weapon…

In progress...