Fit for a Goddess - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The fire’s amber flickers shimmered in Delilah’s glassy, blue-ringed irises as she basked in the warmth of the crackling campfire. She drew her long, shapely legs to her chest in an effort to ward off the chill of the cool night air. She tossed her cornsilk tresses over her shoulder, happy to be out of her thick metal armor and relaxing at camp after an arduous day of travel.

“It’s ironic,” came a soft, thoughtful voice from a few feet away. “The woman you pray to for strength couldn’t manage to protect her own temple.” The speaker curled her slender fingers and for a moment, a stately pillared temple formed in the flames, only to vanish a moment later as the log beneath crackled and popped.

Delilah turned to her longtime friend and traveling companion, Loresse. The pair were of a similar age, and she found a familiar note of longing in the dark depths of the slender young elf-maiden’s eyes. Loresse had confessed to having feelings for her on more than one occasion. Delilah was a gorgeous young woman, tall, fit, and strong. Loresse wasn’t the first woman to be smitten with her, nor would she be the last.

Delilah could understand it. She was attracted to power and beauty herself. It was what had led her to the worship of the Goddess Astra in the first place. Unfortunately, as powerful as Loresse had become through the study of magic, the gifted blonde cleric could only manage feelings of respect for the mage. Delilah would have liked to be attracted to her friend, but all of her feelings of desire revolved around her goddess, as she had told Loresse on each such occasion.

It had always been difficult to see the hurt fill Loresse’s large, expressive eyes, but she knew it was better to be honest with her. Leading her on would be the greater cruelty. The repeated rejections, however, never seemed to deter Loresse. That tenacity was something she admired greatly in her friend, the woman’s seemingly inexorable will to go after what she wanted.

“That’s why she calls on her faithful, Loresse,” Delilah explained. “To assist her in the mortal realm.”

“A more deserving goddess wouldn’t need so much assistance.” Loresse shot back, her dark eyes flashing from within her red hood.

A slow chuckle rose above the crackle of the fire from just beyond its licking flames. “Jealous?” Errickan asked, the tiefling’s tone one of amusement. “Methinks you wish Delilah’s adoring gaze fell upon you as it does her goddess.”

Delilah expected Loresse to bristle at Errickan’s baiting words, but she didn’t. Instead, the raven-haired mage simply turned to him, blinking several times, seeming lost in thought.

***

After another long day of traveling toward Astra’s temple in the faraway city of Elumbria, Delilah and Errickan again enjoyed the comfort of the fire as they rubbed their sore feet.

Delilah closed her eyes in prayer, reaching out to her goddess. She began to commune with the divine, feminine presence, feeling the unearthly beauty and silvery power of her chosen deity fill her. She sat in a trance for what felt like hours, reveling in her goddess’s presence, bathing in its overwhelming magnificence, when her connection abruptly faltered. She opened her eyes just in time to see a sudden flash of pure light from over her shoulder. Blinking, she turned away from the orange glow of the fire before her, instinctively searching for the other members of her party to ensure that they were safe.

A snoring Erikkan lay by the fire, but Loresse was nowhere to be found.

Rising quickly, her brow furrowed in concern, Delilah pivoted toward the mysterious flash. She cast about for the elven mage, but the raven-haired girl wasn’t near their tents. She circled the area slowly, waiting for the colorful splotches in her vision to fade before daring to walk at her normal pace. She rubbed at her arms, feeling the evening chill as she strayed from the warmth of the fire into the grassy field that lay just before the woods.

This was unfamiliar country to all of them, and Delilah worried that something may have happened to Loresse. If it had, it would be her fault. After all, she was the only reason that they were on the journey to begin with.

A moment later, however, Delilah saw Loresse’s slender profile in the distance, a glowing white outline rapidly dimming around the slender elf’s cloaked, black-as-midnight silhouette.

“Loresse!” she cried, rushing to the slim elf, enveloping the smaller woman in a tight hug as the glow disappeared entirely. “What was that glow? Did you cast some kind of spell on yourself?”

Loresse gave her friend a sly smile. “I may have…”

“May have?” asked an astonished Delilah, puzzled by her friend’s coyness. “Usually you’re bragging about your latest and greatest magic!”

Loresse simply gave her a nonchalant shrug in reply, guiding her fair-haired friend back toward the campfire. Then, she changed the subject. “How many more days of traveling do you think until we reach your needy little goddess’ temple?”

“Needy?” Delilah replied, a bit offended at this depiction of the sacred Goddess of Healing and Beauty. “She can’t come to the mortal realm if her temple is occupied by non-believers.”

Loresse waved a hand dismissively. “So you’ve said, but I’m helping you aren’t I? I’m going to help you bail out your goddess, however unworthy she is of your adoration.”

“Unworthy?” Delilah gasped, shocked by her friend’s casual blasphemy. While Loresse was no follower of Astra, she had never quite crossed the line of skepticism into disrespectful territory before.

“Exactly,” said Loresse, crossing her arms with a defiant smirk.

Delilah’s brows furrowed in the darkness. She had never heard Loresse speak with such confidence before. She found her friends challenging words distressing—and a tiny bit thrilling. She knew Loresse had grown powerful, but to challenge a goddess so directly aloud? That took true boldness.

As the pair approached the crackling fire, they noticed that Erikkan had awakened, his hardened leather breastplate creaking as he sat up.

“Where did you two run off to?” he gave the two women a half-smile, his eyes dancing mischievously. “Were you after some privacy?”

Loresse raised her hands in a swirling gesture that ignited a spark in the former guardsman’s hair. His eyes widened in alarm as he felt the rising heat from above, and he quickly grabbed his helmet and pulled it on, dousing the flames.

“For the sake of all that is holy, Loresse! Don’t you think that was an overreaction?”

Loresse merely looked smug, crossing her arms. “I just think it’s about time that Erikkan began treating us with a bit more respect.”

Delilah gaped at her friend.

“What foul spirit has possessed you, woman?!” she sputtered, hustling over to Erikkan to heal the burns on his head.

As she removed his helmet to lay a softly glowing hand on his head, she was startled to notice a faintly red glow to her power. That was new. It had always radiated pure white in the past.

Thankfully, however, the healing proved as effective as ever, and Erikkan thanked her for the effort before casting a dirty look at Loresse and heading for the tents to sleep.

“I hope you’re happy with yourself, Lor! Causing hurt for me to heal! You should be more appreciative of my goddess. After all, it’s only through her grace that I can undo your silly, destructive impulses.”

“Through her grace, huh?” her friend replied cryptically, before turning on her heel to march directly to her tent.

Delilah scratched her head, wondering what had gotten into the young mage.