Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 190

Chapter 190: Recovery

Lysette reappeared just along the northern outskirts of Ciricu.  Kiarra appeared next, followed by Lilia, then Gerald, and finally Nicholas as reality reformed behind their teleport.  None of them showed any signs of injury or discomfort as they stood up and looked around, a welcome sight, and proof that her dangerous foray had borne fruit.

The warm sunlight high overhead revealed that it was now early in the afternoon.  But as she looked up, her vision blurred for a moment.  Fatigue took her, and she slumped toward the ground, only stopping as Nicholas and Gerald had rushed in to grab her by the shoulders.  She was already not in the greatest shape after her ordeal attuning the teleportation matrix, and the jump of over nearly a dozen miles had drained nearly all of the stamina she had left.  A few lingering prayers and accompanying Divine Essence were still trickling into her, but with the raging torrent of strength mostly cut off, Lysette felt weak.  As weak and vulnerable as she was in Saffron’s presence, completely at the mercy of forces beyond her control.

Thankfully, she was instead surrounded by allies who helped her hobble along as the group made their way down the foothills and toward the town of Ciricu in the valley just below.

Mirae flew out toward the party, concern plastered on their face as they saw the state Lysette was in.  Lysette’s eyes brightened at the sight of her love approaching, and theirs followed suit as a smile crept its way onto both of their faces.

 They landed right in front of the group, and as they ran up to Lysette, Gerald and Nicholas let go of her, letting her stumble into her love’s arms.  Mirae caught her and scooped her into a princess carry, stroking her cheek with an icy tentacle not unlike Lysette’s own shadowy version.  And all Lysette could do was smile, yawn, close her eyes, and enjoy her love’s embrace and the cool sensation of icy water dripping along her cheeks.

“I’m so sorry, Lyse,” they messaged.  “I had no idea that things were this bad.  If I’d known, I would have rushed out there, helped you with whatever left you in such a state.  I–  I–”

“No, you did wonderful, Mirae love.  Because of you, I was able to overcome my trial.  If you hadn’t been here, hadn’t rallied everyone, filled me with prayers and well-wishes and strength, I would certainly have failed.  Please know that your goddess, your love, your lover, the object of your everlasting Devotion, is very, very proud of you.”

A single tear emerged on Mirae’s face as Lysette slipped comatose.

***

Lysette awoke some time later on a makeshift bed in the small cottage where she and Mirae had been staying while in Ciricu.  Judging by the orange and purple light streaming in through the window, it was now early evening with sunset now fast approaching.  She tried to get up, but Mirae’s arm pressed down on her, pulling her into her love’s embrace.

“It’s good to see you awake, Lysette, love of my life.”  Mirae moved Lysette’s blonde locks and planted a kiss on the back of their neck.  “How are you feeling?”

“A lot better.”  

Lysette moved her hands about.  Her stamina was nowhere near its maximum, let alone the state it had been in while her body was overcharged with Divine Essence, but she could move about and use her less demanding techniques.  She conjured a shadow tendril, and as she waved it around, Mirae responded with an ice tendril of their own.  The two playfully batted their elemental appendages against one another for a few minutes, giggling about as they interspersed their playfight with occasional kisses and plenty of gentle caresses.

“I’m glad to see you feeling better.  I was so worried when you passed out in my arms, you know!”  Mirae’s giggles turned to tears as they buried their head in Lysette’s chest.  “I was worried I’d lost you, love.  That I’d be alone again, without the only person who’d ever shown any romantic interest in me.  The only woman I think I could ever love now.”

Lysette again tried to sit up, only to be pressed down into Mirae’s embrace even tighter.

“Love, I need to go and check up on everyone, let them all know I’m okay.”

“No you don’t, love.  I’ve already sent telepathic messages to Evelyn, Theo, and Serrena, informing each of them that you are awake, in good spirits, and will be spending the rest of the night recovering your strength after your goddess trials.”

“Goddess trials?”

“Was that not what you were doing?  Gathering prayers to give yourself the strength to perform an incarnate miracle?”

“No.  I fought with Asterion’s lingering will within the teleportation matrix on my thigh.  I needed everyone’s strength to fight him within my Cultivation realm.  And in doing so, I banished his will from the glyph and forcibly attuned the artifact to my will.  Then I teleported the five of us fifteen miles from the mountain ravine to the outskirts of Ciricu.”

Mirae’s eyes bulged open.  “You did what?”

Lysette repeated herself.

“Oh, Lyse.  I–  I wish you had told me you were going to do such a perilous thing.  I–  We–”

“You would have tried to talk me out of it, asked me to wait until it was safer, until we could evaluate all the risks.  But I had to judge the risks of not doing so as well.  And in that moment, we were trapped under millions of tons of snow and ice in conditions that only you and Serrena could have endured for long periods of time.  Time I didn’t think we had, not with four human companions with limited food, water, and warmth.

“The distance was too far to teleport without undergoing the attunement process, and the Essence the jump would have taken out of me was so great that I would have been enfeebled and useless for weeks, if not months.  And at a time when my strength would be more necessary than ever.”

“You can teleport without burning Essence now?”

“It still drains my stamina at quite a steep rate, so I can’t just jump us to Domark on a whim.  Not as I am right now.  But yes, I can.  And it doesn’t try to rip my body apart either.”

“Ah, thank goodness you’re okay, Lyse.”

“How’s everyone else doing?”

“Well, while you were attuning your teleportation glyph, a squad of about thirty Terean soldiers decided to try something.  Rayleigh, Serrena and I were able to rout their forces, although it’s always possible they had some intelligence operative who was able to scurry off and report back.”

“That’s troubling.  We were attacked by a landwyrm yesterday.  And there was a loud shrieking noise that set off the avalanche earlier today.  I can’t help but feel that something, or someone, was behind all three incidents.  Were there any captives?”

“A few.  We’ve stripped them off their armor and weapons, and handed those over to Theo.  Serrena volunteered to serve as prison warden for them tonight until we can figure out what to do with them.”

Lysette hadn’t really had an opportunity to hash out what to do with Cultivators who violated the laws of Ciricu, whatever precisely those would end up being.  Most likely, there was some sort of artifact she could craft which would restrict the use of Cultivation techniques once inside, although she wasn’t sure exactly how to go about Creating it.  She endeavored to ask Kiarra what she knew about the topic.  Tomorrow, she added to herself, after Mirae planted a long, passionate kiss on her lips.

“What about everyone else?” Lysette asked.

“They’re all getting comfortable in their accommodations.  Rayleigh will be staying with Serrena.  Apparently, the two of them are going to try joint Cultivation tonight.”

“That was…  not a sentence I was expecting to hear.”

“Well, you know how Serrena and her Ambition are.  Anything to keep getting stronger.  As for the others, I’ve had a couple days to help get some rooms ready for everyone.  Gerald and Nicholas will be staying together, as will Amalia and Lilia.  Kiarra has her own place, though whether that’s because she wanted her own or because no one wanted to room with her, no one can tell.

“They’ve all been settling in, introducing themselves to the elders, getting to know the townsfolk, some light preliminary discussions about plans going forward.  Lyon is practically shaking non-stop thinking about all sorts of different projects over the next few years.  Honestly, I’m not sure how he has as much energy as he does sometimes.”

“Then we’ll have a busy day tomorrow.  As for right now–”

“You are absolutely not going out today, Lyse.  Goddess or not, you need this time off.  Not just to restore your stamina, but also because we need to get you some practice in delegating tasks to all the rest of us.

“I’m sure you’ll keep blazing on ahead, getting ever stronger, constructing an avatar so you really can be in two places at once.  And I, as your partner, could not be happier thinking about seeing the changes we’ll bring to this world.  But you chose the path of sharing your strength with others, and that means giving all of them opportunities to grow and gain experience.  Not just you doing all the work while distributing Essence with your goddess Cultivation abilities.”

Lysette sat up, earning Mirae’s ire.  She gave them an incredulous look.  “I want a bath, Mirae.”

Mirae’s face went blank.  The two lovers stared at one another for ten seconds, neither moving a muscle.  And then Mirae broke out laughing, followed by Lysette Reciprocating as was her divine nature.  When the two finally recomposed themselves— a task made considerably longer by several bouts of spontaneous kissing and other displays of affection— the couple made their way to the back room and looked around.

“I’ll be right back, love,” Mirae said.  “I’m going to get some firewood.  And no, you are not going to help.  You are going to rest, which means accepting that I am going to tend to you, My Goddess.”

Lysette lowered her head.  “Yes, my lovable demigod.”

Mirae grinned as they walked out of the small cottage, leaving Lysette alone in the bathroom.  Once they were gone, Lysette sat down, closed her eyes, and meditated.  She reflected upon her Reciprocity without dipping into her Cultivation realm, with special attention given to the relation between herself and her mortal followers.

It was easy to think about the transactional relationship that governed their interrelation.  Lysette received tremendous power from their prayers earlier, and with that power, moved one step closer to finally ending the War of the Gods and bringing Asterion’s reign of terror to an end.  And she had, since her rebirth, shared that power with her friends, with her followers, and soon, with many others who lived under her divine protection.

But she hadn’t given the less tangible side of the interrelation as much thought.  About working together in ways other than simple power scaling and defying the heavens.  Part of her didn’t like the implication.  There was so much work to do, defensive fortifications, teaching Cultivation, recruiting a dedicated healer, building an Academy at some point, not to mention the irrigation and waterway project she’d already promised Lyon.

Though, Mirae wasn’t wrong.  There were so many things that, even with multiple avatars, she wouldn’t possibly be able to do it all on her own.  

Many of those things were things only she could do.  Serrena and Mirae were capable fighters, but neither of them had the demonic power that she possessed.  Power enough to supplant the gods one day, if it came down to it.  Neither of them could have done what she had just done today— force her will on Asterion’s artifice and bend it to her will, then teleport herself and four trapped companions a dozen miles to safety.

And neither of them seemed to have the desire to lead.  To be gifted lieutenants, companions, and colleagues, yes.  Rivals as well in Serrena’s case, and lovers in Mirae’s.

Those responsibilities were Lysette’s, and not ones which she could entrust to another.  In order to have time and energy to do the things she alone could do, she had to do as Mirae said.  Rest, recuperate, relax her weary body and mind alike.

And so she did, not moving as Mirae returned carrying two large logs.  And when Mirae set up the tub, filling the tub and starting the fire underneath, Lysette remained motionless, clearing her mind and not Cultivating.  For a few hours on one long night after a perilous journey?  It was… acceptable.

When the bath was fully set up and a thin layer of vapor filled the room, the two lovers disrobed and slipped into the large tub, Lysette wrapped around Mirae’s arms.  She again closed her eyes and partially dissolved herself within her love’s embrace.

“This is nice, Mirae love.”

“It is nice.  So nice, Lysette, my love, my Goddess.”

Chapter 189: https://www.patreon.com/posts/110762801

Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/table-of-101896170

Chapter 191: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111216637