Fit for a Goddess - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The main dome of the Temple of Astra came into view, its upper spires rising above the trees at long last. The party had wound its way through the woods for most of the day after having received directions at the inn. The sight of the temple caused a withering jolt of nervousness to twist Delilah’s stomach after she had witnessed the carnage caused by the last rescue attempt at the inn. Still, the sight of her goddess’ temple also stirred a new sense of resolve within her.

I’m coming, Astra, the young cleric thought to her patron deity, though again she felt nothing in response from her connection with her goddess.

As if sensing Delilah’s thoughtful prayer, Loresse turned to her, giving the cleric a calculating look…

...just before a swarm of monsters erupted from the trees.

Delilah instinctively sprang into action, casting an invigoration spell on Erikkan as he leapt toward their attackers. To her surprise, the spell flared a blinding crimson, temporarily blinding her. By the time she blinked the blurs from her vision, she was shocked at the changes her spell had wrought.

Erikkan was huge! He had grown at least a foot and his massive biceps and broad pecs bulged with incredible strength. His knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on his polearm, the steel handle almost seeming to creak under the pressure. Delilah gaped at her companion even as her fingers worked their way along the length of her own weapon.

Suddenly, another red flash caught her attention, this one from below. She looked down. Her weapon was on fire!

The stunned cleric nearly dropped it, but the nearing enemies—large, ferocious trolls this time—quickly brought her back to reality and she brought her mace up before her, its spiked, ball-like head shedding sparks as it rose. She glanced at Erikkan once again, again wondering at his phenomenal size. The man was easily the equal of any of the trolls that now bore down on them! The sight of his taut muscles giving her comfort, Delilah steeled herself. They could do this. They could fend off even a large party of these huge creatures.

She watched as Erikkan raised his axe, swinging it down in a powerful arc on the first of the approaching foes. The blow had such power that it shattered the club that his troll opponent had raised in its defense before its edge sank deeply into the monster’s thick skull.

Then, Delilah turned away, focusing her attention on an attacker of her own. She swung her mace to meet its attack, her heart thrilling in delight when she saw her tentative blow knock its heavy sword to the side and set its ragged clothing on fire.

The troll screeched in dismay, dropping heavily to the ground, frantically trying to put out the flames as more creatures emerged from the dark, foreboding woods around them.

Four trolls came at Delilah all at once. She blocked the attack of one with her shield, another with her mace. She cast a freeze spell at the third, but it somehow resulted in a gout of flame instead. Luckily, it proved equally effective, sending the troll stumbling backward into the trees. She had no way of dealing with the fourth, however.

Delilah cringed, bracing herself. She expected the incoming attack by the troll on her right to land any minute. Strangely, however, it didn’t come. She opened her eyes, meeting the gaze of her surprised adversary. The monster’s bulbous eyes widened further in surprise an instant before it flew away, yanked by some powerful force from behind. It was sent careening into a tree a dozen yards away.

Loresse stood in the creature’s wake, one hand gripping her staff, the other dropping back to her side.

Delilah blinked, feeling the weight of the other two attackers’ weapons pull away with the scrape of metal as they readied for another swing. The cleric’s mind, however, remained on what she’d briefly seen. Had Loresse pulled that troll away from her and flung him aside as if he weighed as much as a piece of cloth? Had she grown stronger as well as more beautiful?

If she had, it certainly seemed as if she had grown a lot stronger.

Her thoughts quickly returned to the task at hand, however, as Delilah fended off more strikes, driven back by the power of two troll blades against shield and mace. She checked to see that even the massively enhanced version of Erikkan was being similarly battered, a cluster of four trolls pounding at his defenses with their flailing weapons.

Delilah craned her neck to search the area for Loresse, desperately hoping her friend could launch another one of those well-timed fireball attacks. She found the sexy young mage out of the corner of her eye, the elf leaping forward to slam her oak staff down on the head of a troll with a terrifyingly loud crunch.

Delilah flinched at the sound, almost feeling sorry for the heavily muscled creature as it dropped to the ground, dead before its chest hit the dirt.

The blonde cleric risked another glance at Loresse, this time just in time to see the mage raise her staff and murmur a dangerous-sounding incantation with her newly seductive voice. Dark swirling clouds gathered in a stormy, ominous vortex overhead. Wind whipped the raven-haired mage’s tumbling tresses as her small feet lifted from the ground. The gorgeous elf rose into the sky, closing her eyes in apparent concentration.

Twenty columns of heaven fire roared down from the sky, accelerating downward with breathtaking speed to wash over each troll in a terrifyingly intense wave of searing heat, consuming them utterly.

Only faint traces of ash were left behind, drifting innocuously in the swirling breeze, as the trolls were incinerated by the pinpoint strikes of Loresse’s heavenly inferno.

Delilah and Erikkan turned to find Loresse drifting back to the ground, a broad smile on her beatific face as the luscious mage lowered her outstretched arms.

“How…?” asked a stunned Erikkan. “That was…” He swallowed, looking about at the scorched patches of earth where each troll had stood moments before, unsure how to properly phrase his question.

Loresse turned her gorgeous visage toward him to give the hulking man a reassuring look. “I’ve become a bit more powerful over the last couple of days.”

“A bit?” said a staggered Delilah, the blonde cleric fascinated as she watched waves of power ripple the air around the young elf’s luscious body. “That was like nothing I’ve ever seen! You destroyed those trolls so easily! Those flames were absolutely precise! I barely got singed even with two of them right next to me!”

“Well, I’m glad you approve, Delilah,” Loresse said, that now-familiar glimmer of amusement once again evident in the beautiful elf’s dark eyes. “Now, let’s go take care of your pathetic little goddess…”

Loresse marched forward and as she did, Delilah noticed that the sexy elf’s robe was now slit to the thigh, allowing tantalizing glimpses of shapely flesh to flash into view as she moved.

“Loresse! You’re… you’re… changing!” Delilah finally got the words out as Loresse pulled even with her, the young cleric’s heart fluttering as the gorgeous, staggeringly powerful mage paused, her stunning face turning toward that of her friend.

“Don’t be silly, Delilah. Of course I’m changing! I’m a growing young mage. I’m getting better all the time!”

“But…” Delilah trailed off, unsure exactly how to respond to that. What exactly was she trying to say?

“She’s right, Loresse,” said the behemoth version of Erikkan, still under the influence of Delilah’s strangely magnified spell. “You’re changing abnormally fast.”

Loresse waved a hand dismissively before retorting. “Says the 8-foot tall hulking fighter?”

The dark-haired elf turned to face Delilah. “Empowered with an amazingly powerful spell from our ever-stronger cleric?”

Delilah’s mind began to spin. Was she right? Were they all changing? The blonde cleric’s powers had become more effective of late, her spells’ silver hue tinged first with orange, then with red. What was happening to her? Was her appearance changing as well? She had noticed anything different about her face when she had gazed into the bath water the previous night, but how closely had she really looked?

A cry rang out from the trees behind the party as another group of monsters rushed from the woods. Delilah whirled a moment too late, and a club cracked her on the head, sending her to the ground, her world quickly fading to black.