Wild Wastes 6 -Ch 8-

Vince stood in the center of the Dryad grove of Galicia.

The walls had been knocked down and moved back a considerable distance. Expanding it considerably and pushing out the boundaries until it was easily six times the size of the original grove.

There were trees everywhere as well.

Living trees that were growing and very well and without harm.

“This grew very well,” Petra remarked, one of her ant-legs reaching out to lightly tap at a tree. “It’s a good sign of things to come if the Dryads have been able to regrow themselves, and this city, so quickly.”

“Yes. There is no true Dryad city in Yosemite. It’s good for there to be one here,” Yaris remarked. “Given the portal lock between Yosemite and Fort Legion, transport and migration will be simple.

“I briefly feared we’d have a great number of people moving to Legion planet with the portals being all linked again.

“Admittedly we did, but we also received a number of people in return.

“Felix and Felicia have been very careful to balance population migration. Their controls have been considerably well thought out.”

“This one is grateful the two of them work together and for us,” mumbled Petra.

“Stalled long enough,” Fes growled, then sighed.

Petra grunted, then let out a slow breath.

“You’ll be going on that tour after all,” murmured the general. “The front-line suddenly froze after the appearance of that monster.

“The god known as Null vanished at some point and no-one has seen them since. Francia as a country seems to be undergoing a government change.

“A power vacuum formed after everything that’s happened. Between our attack on their prison, losing a number of troops in their push south, then having Prussany break their brief treaty… they’ve taken too many losses.

“Their ecclesiarchy and it’s support has deteriorated and honestly with the disappearance of the null, it’s practically a guarantee it’ll end.”

Vince raised his eyebrows in surprise at that.

He wasn’t expecting the government to collapse like that if he was being honest.

“I take it Prussany is blazing a trail to their capital then,” Vince offered.

“Surprisingly, no,” Petra said while coming to a stop in front of a large tree. It looked very new and fresh but had the size of an aged tree. “Prussany has moved up to the previous border as well as the one we established with them, and stopped.

“We’re… not really sure why. They’re just holding positions.”

“Like prey sitting in front of a predator,” Fes put forth.

“I honestly don’t know of anything that’d be helpful as to the why,” Johanna offered. “But it might be that they’ve taken significant losses of their own.

“The units that Vince decimated, as well as… well, losing me, was a public black eye that can’t really be obfuscated. They also had a number of other units that were lost to Francia in that meat grinder that ended up becoming the current border.

“Honestly, it’s likely Prussany is trying to figure out what’s actually going on.

“They acted on partial information got knocked through a wall, a Demon they didn’t believe in showed up, and suddenly nothing is what it was.”

“They attempted to kill any messenger I sent their way,” Petra added.

Johanna winced at that and then shook her head.

“I don’t know then. That’s… that’s not something they… I don’t know,” Johanna repeated and held her hands up in a type of surrendering shrug. “I have no idea. Anyone I had ties with that I could reach out to with my godly powers are already within our borders.”

“I could go,” suggested Vince with a feral smile spreading across his face. “Screw the tour. It can happen later. Send me. Send me with some people. They’ll have to deal with me and the Sword of Yosemite.”

Yaris blinked, her head tilted to one side, and she looked thoughtful. As if the idea hadn’t crossed her mind but now was firmly planted.

“Yes,” Berenga stated with a pop as her hands came together. “Yes! Send Vince. He can force them to meet with us and treat him as a ruler.

“I’ll go back to Yosemite and finish off the Emperor. Thera is busy in the east making sure everything remains under control.

“Petra will keep working here.

“Yarie, you don’t actually need any of us to keep Yosemite running, do you?”

The beautiful Royal Elf’s brow scrunched up, her eyes partially clouded, then she sighed. Her gaze dropped down and to the side.

“Honestly… I don’t… I think… uhm,” murmured the Elf unnaturally. He’d rarely ever heard her not have the words to describe something. “As the goddess of the Elves, I do not think I can be the Queen of Yosemite.

“Or… or anything… really, relating to the leadership of Yosemite or Legion.

“I can’t maintain either of the positions while being a goddess of a particular race. It’d be no different than if Dea was the queen, or Ferris.

“Realistically, Yosemite is meant to be a nation for everyone. With a goddess at the helm, there’s no denying that that race would have an edge over the others.”

Vince hadn’t thought about that.

Choosing Yaris as the goddess of the Elves was problematic in that regard.

“It’s fine. I’m happy to be the queen of the Elves and the goddess of the Elves,” Yaris said as everyone digested her statement. “It’s no different than how everyone else has their own representative in the Yosemite government.

“I’ve already talked it out with a number of people and the general consensus is… Berenga should be our Fes and queen.”

“Yarie, no,” growled Berenga, stomping over to stand near the Elf.

“Yes,” argued the Elf with a beatific smile. “It’s fine. Realistically, if I go even further into this new persona as a goddess, it’s likely I’ll be even further removed.

“Caroline and I have already been working out a number of contingencies for her to become the regent for the kingdom of the Elves until my children grow of age.

“Before you try to argue this point, Ferris has been working with Dea and I. As a mortal deity, we eventually have to find a place to lay ourselves down and work with our religion. Religious duties.

“These ‘lay downs’ can last many years. Especially if our portfolio grows. I’ve been working with Felicia at constructing a vault, deep beneath Yosemite for us to lay in.”

Blinking, Vince really didn’t know what to say about this.

Turning, he looked at Johanna.

She smiled at him then gave him a somewhat reluctant nod.

“Its true,” she confirmed. “Before this, I was able to handle my worshipers even as a mortal avatar.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do that for… very long. I think realistically I’ll be laying down with the others when the time comes.

“This is where minor-deities, acolytes, and priests or priestesses convey the word to the flock and the world at large.”

“In other words, you, Ferris, Dea, and Yaris at some point need to go to bed for a while,” Vince simplified. “Given how rapidly you’ve all expanded, it’s a good bet you’ll be… sleeping for a good while.”

“Yes,” agreed Johanna with a small nod of her head.

“Well, that’s disappointing,” murmured Vince, then laughed. “Whatever. I’m sure we’ll come up with something so that you’re only asleep for a short period.

“I’m the head of all these religions after all. Maybe I can force it so only certain days are for religious observance.

“Anyways… fine. Yaris will step down. Berenga will be the true Fes again. Hope you’re ready to fight Taylor, later,” Vince warned. He didn’t doubt for a moment that the Black Dragon would immediately demand a trial of combat. “Romona too for that matter.

“That’s all beside the point though. Everything else doesn’t change. I’m going to head over to Prussany, right? Me and a group of people are going to go… make friends. Get them to answer to us. Figure out what’s going on.”

“Yes,” confirmed Yaris. “You’ll be taking a number of people who have a better head for such things though. Like Leila, Elizabeth, Blue, Elysia, Zathira, Johanna, and Dea.

“You can of course bring others but I insist on those being there. I think with that grouping we can make sure most situations can be covered.”

“Red and Sam,” Vince said without hesitation. “Renata of course. Probably Ynes. She’ll be looking for me by this point I imagine.

“When do you want me to go? Is this immediate or is there some wriggle room in there?”

“Why?” asked Yaris curiously.

“I want to go bless the Duke of Denver with health and vitality. I also need to go check and make sure the Ratkin people I met made it to Bilbao.

“Oh, Johanna, did the Nullifier’s end up praying to you? Any of them Marie-Louise?”

“Yes, they made contact. She did as well. I sent them all to my priesthood,” Johanna confirmed. “The School of Nullifier magic is being incorporated into my portfolio.”

“Great. Then yeah, Duke of Denver, Ratkin and-oh! I probably need to receive that ball of magic from all the Elves that are part of the Crown’s Guard, don’t I?” Vince asked, looking to Yaris to confirm that.

“That’d be ideal… yes but… well… okay,” she trailed off and looked over to Petra. “When would you want Vince to go to Prussany.

“Two days from now, this one would say,” Petra remarked. “That’s how long it’ll take for the engineers to reinforce the fortifications and build out our trench lines to completion.

“That’ll be a point where we can argue best for what we want. Which is to have everything up to the point that we’ve taken recognized as our borders.

“With Prussany at least. This one thinks that for Francia we might want to try taking over but… that involves a lot more planning that this one has put together so far.”

“Yeah, soon as we move on Francia, it’s likely Prussany would do the same and try to carve out at least half for themselves,” growled Fes. “It’s what I’d do.”

“Alright… two days,” Vince confirmed.

Duke of Denver, Ratkin, Crown’s Guard Elves.

That’s not so bad. I can get all that done.

I could even go visit the kids briefly.

In fact, I’m sure this’ll go by faster than I could even imagine.

As if I didn’t have enough time at all.

***

Clicking his tongue, Vince looked to all the video feeds of the Sword of Yosemite. His personalized suit of armor that was more like a battle-tank in human shape.

Andrea had called it a “mech” at some point, though he wasn’t quite sure what that really entailed.

Around him was Leila, Elizabeth, Blue, Red, Renata, Sam, Zathira, Johanna, and Ynes.

In the end, Dea had been forced to defer to Ynes and Blue to be here for her. She’d been called into religious duties.

As had Feris, Yaris, and Elysia, in fact.

Even before he’d gone back to bless the Duke, they’d all been called off.

Maybe I under-estimated being able to keep them around in the mortal world.

“I still… can’t believe how young Master looked,” Zathira repeated for perhaps the seventh time.

Glancing over to the screen that showed the “danger stay away” black and red coloring of the Lamia.

Her midnight-colored hair was pulled back in the pony-tail he came to expect of her. The dark ink-like hair being styled in such a way made the bright red patches in it much more visible.

The burnished orange color of her eyes were focussed on the staff in her hand.

Those thin slits for pupils were wide and open at the moment as if she weren’t really focusing on anything.

Vince couldn’t help but smirk at the comment.

The Duke of Denver had welcomed the blessing and had been forcefully thrown forty years into the past.

He was now a young man in his thirties.

Previously he’d only briefly considered seeking out companionship and an heir.

Now he was actively seeking one and had asked the Dryads who assisted him to help him find a partner. The Dryad “matchmaker” service had been born in that instant.

Because Dryads were intricately connected to the world of sex and love they as a collective group had a fair idea of who might fit with who. All they had to do was set up an introduction and hope it went well.

“— endless prayers,” Johanna said with a laugh. “All of them directed at Vince, though channeled through Dea and myself.

“Though, now that this has happened, he might make a great god of Death, you know. He’s been ‘reborn’ without dying as it were.”

“I like that idea,” Leila stated firmly. “Zathira, you’d be better remaining as a High-Priestess.”

Blue, the beautiful Elven Dryad, lifted a gauntleted hand and put it to Vince’s arm. She was wearing a Bellum Dryadum Legionnaire’s armor set but was clearly uncomfortable.

“Red wants to go home and be fed. Red is hungry. Red hasn’t been fed by Bringer since coming back,” grumbled the Undead. She was clawing at the ground angrily.

“Speaking of, I bought you a gift, Red,” Vince said, looking back to the main screen.

Across from them was the trench works of Prussany.

They’d fired a number of things at Vince and his group only for it to all fail at the shields that were currently erected.

“Bringer got Red a gift? Why?” asked the red-eyed monster, turning her head to look toward him.

“Because I missed you, of course,” Vince answered, then realized he needed to add to that. “I also got something for both of you, Sam and Leila, of course.”

Sam laughed, jumped off of where she sat on Zathira, and landed on Vince’s shoulder. The pretty and extremely large Fae patted him on the back of his head.

“I’m excited to see what you got me!” she proclaimed. “Is it something fun? Is it a ribbon that’s been wrapped around something just for me? Can I unwrap it tonight?”

“No, Red is very hungry. Red must eat tonight. Red is very tired of hearts,” hissed Red, gouging out large chunks of grass and dirt now.

“Red, hello, I’m Johanna. We didn’t really get a chance to talk,” whispered the goddess. She’d eased up to Red as soon as she mentioned being fed.

Ah… is she going to offer up some of her canteen?

“Come this way. I want to talk to you about something,” Johanna coaxed, putting a hand under Red’s elbow.

The two women slowly walked off, surprisingly enough. Red didn’t even seem to be bothered by the other woman touching her.

“Do you want to be able to eat normal food?” asked Johanna suddenly. They were far enough away that no one but Vince could probably hear them. The sensors in the Sword of Yosemite were incredible. “Because I could easily modify your curse. Make it so you can be just like a normal woman, even while being cursed.

“I’m the goddess of all magic in Yosemite, you know. This includes curses and hexes. You’re well within my purview.”

“Red… Red would still be Red?” asked the Undead.

“You’d still be Red, yes. I spoke with Leila at length about it. In fact, I can make it so you can still enjoy your Bringer meals, but can also enjoy the simpler things in life,” Johanna continued. “In fact, here. Take a sip of this. I brought this along specifically for you to try out. It’s my personal concotion. This is my Earth Blend.”

Earth blend?

Is it more of me, or something else entirely?

Technically Johanna could probably produce something equally potent as the goddess of magic after all.

Johanna had pulled a canteen out of thing air and then held it out to Red.

“Only take a swallow or two mind you. It’s very potent and a little goes a very long way,” advised the goddess.

Red had taken the canteen and unscrewed the top.

Her eyes began to faintly glow as she sniffed at the mouth of it then looked to the now smiling Johanna.

“Yes, Red, I heard your prayer just now. If that’s what you wish, you may,” Johanna promised. “You’re a very magical woman, so you’d be welcomed gladly.”

Red grinned at her, displaying her teeth, then took a drink from the canteen. Then actually winced and her face scrunched up.

“Strong,” hissed Red, blinking rapidly. Then she took another gulp from it and started to screw the stopper back on.

“Yes, I— ”

Vince tuned them out and put his attention on the trench.

There was a great deal of movement along it right now. As if something were happening or changing right now.

Then a long white spear swung into view and stood up straight from the trench.

Prussany had raised up a white flag. It was tied to the long spear and being waved back and forth now.

“Well, looks like they’re finally willing to talk,” he murmured.

“Took them too long,” complained the giant Platinum Dragon that was looming over him. Elizabeth had stated she would remain in her draconic form as a show of force.

The beautiful Orange Dragon named Renata stretched out in front of Vince on the grass. Showing off her incredibly attractive self and bright hair in a way that made him want to lay down on top of her.

Renata was a beauty among beauties.

“Oh? Mmm, I guess my naps over. I was having such a fun dream. Vince was riding me and we were exploring all sorts of things,” purred the dragon in a way that made Vince’s spine tingle.

“Exploring? I’m curious. Where were you flying?” Leila asked curiously. “Out to the East? Maybe south?”

“Flying? We weren’t flying. We were in a bed,” Renata explained then got to her feet and leaned her shoulders back and stretched herself out. It pulled his eyes to her chest without him wanting that to happen. Then she looked at Vince with a frighteningly pretty smile. “Well! Shall we get going then?”