For what seemed like long, infinite moments, Kondolar, Tao, Yelsnid, and Djoser could only stare in complete wonder and disbelief at the incredible transformation the girls went through. No one who hadn't witness this awe-inspiring moment would ever believe that these mystical figures were the very same young girls on the verge of womanhood that were about to be killed just moments before. It was as if all time had stopped and every living thing suddenly gave respect to the five figures that stood tall, proud, and determined before their adversaries. Now, all waited to see what would happen next.
But no one else was more shocked, more affected by this than Djoser. When he first laid eyes on Jeneta, he had thought of her as nothing more than a child...well, not really a child, but a young maiden barely out of childhood by his country's custom. Girls were not even thought of as women nor married off until they reached their 20th year; but as time passed and he had seen how much she had changed...how much she had grown up since being here, he slowly began to realize that he didn't see her as a child anymore. He had tried to ignore and drive away those feelings that were entering his heart for her, but try as hard as he could, it was useless. That night when he asked Jeneta to stay with him...he had no idea what came over him, but he knew he couldn't let her go that night. And now...standing before him in a form that showed her true beauty....Djoser knew there was no doubt in his heart anymore as it beat fiercely within his chest; he loved her, loved her more than he loved anything else in his life, and he would do anything to protect her, because without her, there would be no life for him.
Near him, Kondolar and Tao could barely breathe with the wonder coursing through their body. Similar thoughts as Djoser's raced through their heads; were these young girls that they were developing feelings for truly the lost Goddesses...the ones they were searching so long for? If so, what would that mean for them being together? A tinge of sadness entered Tao's heart as he thought of all the things he wanted to say to Ling...how her grumbling and funny remarks made him laugh, even though he held it inside in front of everyone, and how he admire her fighting skills and her bravery. How was he to say that to her if they couldn't be together because she was one of the Goddesses? He had no idea, but he at least wanted a chance...a chance to tell Ling everything in his heart.
Kondolar could only think of the sweet, quiet Prya and how badly he wanted to tell her that it was for her now he wanted to be the greatest sorcerer in his country...about how he loved her quiet, shy smile and soft voice. But looking at Prya now, he understood that there was a chance he was not meant be in her destiny, even though he badly wanted to be. But even if he had to wait a thousand years for her, he would, there was no doubt about that. He was always taught that if a person wanted something bad enough, they would get it...and he wanted nothing more than to hold Prya in his arms one day.
He suddenly sensed movement near him, and he turned his head in surprise.
One of the black, shapeless demons growled deep in its throat and lunged forward, releasing the still whining grey wolf from its grasp. The goddess who was moments before Jeneta was the first to rush forward, raising her sword with a determined gleam in her eye. Just as they were about to reach each other, the black creature stretched forth its arm and shot out a long string of its black, oozing ropes, but it never reached the goddess as she jumped high into the air and expertly turned in a sideways double twist, then slashed her sword downward on her way down from the flip and sliced cleanly through the creature, cutting it in half. She landed on one knee, her arms outstretched and sword gleaming in the sunlight. She got up quickly, turned, and raised her free hand. A burst of pure white energy suddenly exploded from her palm, and it slammed into the creature like it weighed nothing. It landed on the ground a few feet away with a crunching thud.
For a moment, Djoser watched and expected the demon to come back together when the energy faded from around it...but instead, it seemed to let out a hissing sound of pain....then crumbled to the ground in a jelly-like pile, quivering in the wind with small wisps of smoke rising from it. Not even a moment passed before it seemed all hell broke loose, as the black demons forgot their captives and raced full force towards the intruders.
The golden-haired warrior goddess who was Heather a moment ago next stepped up. She cleanly dodged a punching blow from another of the dark creatures, then spun around and kicked her leg out as she crouched down, knocking it off its wobbling, gelatin legs and flat on the floor. But it got back up swiftly again and was ready to fight. Unphased, the goddess jumped up high and delivered a hard spin kick to the side of its head, knocking it back harshly on the ground. This time she didn't give it a chance to get up again. Her eyes glowed for just a moment, then she brought her palm up toward the demon. A soft greenish light blasted out from the center of her palm, and in an instant, the demon was completely incinerated, smoke rising from a blackened pile. With a satisfied nod, she went to go look for another opponent.
The sleek, black-haired goddess that once slept in the body of Ling had just finished off two of the black monsters with lightning-quick sword moves, moving as though she was made of the wind between one, then the other. She back flipped, spun around, and brought her sword straight down to the middle of one demon. She pulled the sword out, spun again, and slashed her sword down once more, cutting another demon behind her diagonally across its body. With a smirk, she whirled her sword around in one hand, stabbed it into the ground, then spread both arms wide from her body. Immediately a burst of red, sparkling energy shot out and struck both creatures on either side of her at the same time. Both were nothing more that a quivering mass when she was done with them.
The tan-skinned goddess...formerly known as Angeni, backed up slightly as her opponent advanced on her, but it was only a ruse. As soon as the demon was close enough, she smirked and delivered a hard, upward kick to its face, stunning it a little and making it stagger backward. She let no time pass by as she flipped over its head, landed, spun towards it, then pushed forth a dark, maroon stream of energy into the back of black demon with one strong hand. To finish it off, she then thrust the sword into it and blasted it away, easily dispatching it as she did the others. She barely looked back at it as she rushed off to fight another of the assassin demons.
The goddess with dark eyes who was Prya until moments ago slowly looked from one black demon to the other, both of whom had surrounded her. No more than a year ago, she knew the girl Prya would have let this situation scare her into insanity...but no more. The Goddess in her was alive now. With a knowing look in her eye, she raised a hand and beckoned the creature standing in front of her to come with two flicks of her hand. The creatures hissed loudly and dashed forward. She waited until the last minute before jumping high and out the way and letting the two black creatures smash into each other, as they had not expected such a quick movement. As soon as she landed from her jump, the goddess stabbed her sword straight through both of them, and when she brought her sword back out, she finished them off by first swirling bright blue electric energy around her free hand, then thrusting it toward the struggling black creatures. When the power faded, there was nothing left but smoke and piles.
But it was long from over, as there were a lot more of the strange, black demons than they thought. The battle seemed to rage on for hours as the goddesses impressively flipped, kicked, parried, slashed with their swords, and shot out powerful energy, taking out more and more. Finally, it was down to one, and it was quickly done away with by a downward slash of a sword held by the dark-skinned goddess that slept in Jeneta. When it was done, the goddesses stood together and turned to face Djoser and the rest of the men, who still had disbelieving looks on their faces. Cautiously, the women walked up to them, their hair only slightly tusseled and barely breaking a sweat during the fight. They had almost reached them when suddenly, there was movement behind Jeneta's new form.
With eyes widen, Djoser rushed forward and yelled "Incantantus Flarium!" The goddess just barely got out of the way before a burst of flame shot past her and straight into one of the last blackened demons...who had hidden among the remains of the others. It let out a wail of a painful hiss as it was engulfed in flames before she turned and sliced through it, finishing it off.
Silence once again seemed to drown out the area as the groups looked uncomfortably at one another. Then the dark-skinned goddess stepped forward and bent down on one knee. "Thank you, brave warrior," she said, her voice deep and full of maturity.
Djoser was still barely able to speak, but he nodded his head. "You're...welcome." he said shakily.
The goddess placed a fist over her chest, and spoke once more as the others stepped up beside her. "We are the Ones Who Are Blessed...the ones who protected this world and all in it since time began. We thank you, brave warriors, for releasing us in this great time of need," It seemed as though tears misted in her eyes for a moment, and she spoke on. "We failed in our fight many years ago to destroy the great evil known as Kumraa...but this time, we will not fail again."
She then looked up and smiled slightly. "I am Ula, the first and leader of the Ones Who Are Blessed..the Goddess of the seasons here,"
"I am Celeste, the Goddess of knowledge and higher understanding," said the blonde-haired goddess, going down on one knee next to Ula.
"I am known as Maiyi, the patroness of the animals of the land and sea," said the tan-skinned goddess with a soft smile, falling on her knee with the others.
"Thiyalin, the muse goddess of the arts and music," said the dark-eyed, bronze-skinned goddess once known as Prya with a wink.
"And I am Jadinna, the goddess of justice and equality," finished the almond-eyed, black-haired goddess, falling into place along with the others.
"Yes...yes, it's true...all the legends, the stories...it's all true!" said Yelsnid with a smile. "You HAVE come back!" He clenched his staff closer to himself and bowed low. "We all now have hope to free our world."
"Yes, but...but where's Jeneta? And the rest of the girls? Are they...still here?" Djoser gave the kneeling women a slightly worried look.
The dark-skinned goddess now known as Ula smiled shyly and stood up. She walked over to him and took his hand in her own soft ones. "Do not worry brave one. The one you know as Jeneta is alive and well...and her feelings for you are just as strong as yours is for her. I feel it."
Djoser blushed slightly, but before he could say anything else, Ula released his hand and stepped back. "We must all go back and rest now....there is still much to do, and we must keep our awakening a secret for as long as we can. We will be back when we are needed."
"But..." Whatever more Yelsnid was about to say was lost as the Blessed Goddesses all stepped back together and closed their eyes. A soft, calming light flowed from inside their bodies and engulfed them. A moment later, the light faded, and in their places once again was Jeneta, Pyra, Heather, Angeni, and Ling.
"Whoa...what was..that?" said Jeneta woozily as she opened her eyes. Her legs suddenly felt shaky and she nearly fell over. Djoser quickly stepped forward and steadied her in his arms.
"Are you alright?" He made sure she was on her feet before looking her over.
"Yeah, I'm fine...but...it was like..like watching myself in a movie. I mean, I knew it was me, but...it wasn't me at the same time. It was...like a dream." Jeneta blinked her eyes in confusion and looked over at the other girls. Heather was holding herself to keep from shivering, a frightened look in her eyes. Ling was holding onto Tao's arm for support, and Pyra was walking up next Jeneta, holding Kondolar's hand.
"Are the demons gone?" Jeneta asked, but no one answered as Angeni gave out a frightened cry.
"KAIN!" she screamed out. She rushed over to the struggling figure and knelt down beside him. "Kain, please wake up," she whispered as she stroked his grey fur. For a moment, nothing happened, then slowly, the wolf form began to slowly shrink. The fur began to sink back into caramel-colored skin and black hair on top of the head. Claws and paws shrank half-way back into hands and feet and the nozzle back into human nose and lips.
"Oh my God, Kain, I'm so glad you're okay, I..." Her words were cut off suddenly as he growled and lunged at her, grabbing her around the throat. The transformation had not finished, and long fangs still inhabited Kain's mouth. Long claws still jutted out his trembling fingers. He growled deep again as his hands squeezed around Angeni's throat. His eyes were still red and they did not recognize her or anyone else at all.
"K...Kain, it's...it's me!" Angeni struggled to breathe and tried to pry off Kain's strong hands, but it was as if her pleas fell on deaf ears.
"Noo! Kain, stop!" yelled out Jeneta. She tried to run forward to help, but Djoser stopped her.
"No, it's up to her! She must tame the beast within him," Djoser said, his face grim.
"Kain....please!! Remember me! Remember who you are!" Tears fell from Angeni's eyes as her face paled and she felt darkness surround her as his hands squeezed even more. It was then that Kain seemed to see the tears; tears that suddenly brought an image of his crying mother next to the body of his father in his wolf form in his mind. Slowly, the redness to his eyes faded and his growling stopped. The fangs slowly shrank away, and the claws got smaller and smaller, back into normal nails. The transformation back was complete then, and he looked down into the face of a crying Angeni under him.
"A...Angeni?" He looked down at her in disbelief, then looked up and around before looking down at her again.
At the sight of the tears, he backed away from her and shook his head. "I...I didn't...I thought...I..." Shame colored his face, and he held his head in his hands in despair. "By the Gods, what did I do this time? What did I do? I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." Had he hurt someone, like last time? Did he hurt Angeni? He couldn't bare it if he did, and he felt the shame engulf him.
"Kain," Angeni whispered. She gingerly touched his bare shoulder as he sobbed, then cautiously, she enveloped his shaking body her arms. For long moments, no one said anything as the two held each other, each seeking strength from one another.
It was Yelsnid who broke the uneasy silence, clearing his throat. "Come, we should all make camp for tonight...there's nothing more we can do until the morning." With that, the group nodded in agreement and slowly began getting back on their horses. No one saw the longing glance Heather gave as Jeneta rode with Djoser on their horses, Prya with Kondolar, Ling reluctantly with Tao, and a still shaken Kain with Angeni.
After traveling for a few more hours, just as the afternoon turned late and dusk soon arriving, they stopped at a clearing in a small forest they entered and set up camp. A meager meal was prepared, and soon, they started drifting off in a fitful sleep...all except Heather. The stars were shining brightly in the night sky when she secretly slipped away from the camp hours later, Djoser keeping watch.
Her heart was beating uncontrollably, but she couldn't bring herself to say why. Tears were suddenly falling from her eyes down her pale cheeks as she walked, but she couldn't explain what they were for. She couldn't...she wouldn't allow herself to give the reason of why she felt like her heart was breaking. It was too much! After walking for what seemed like forever to her, the blonde girl finally fell to her knees in the forest, tears running down her cheeks like a river. No, it was no use...she couldn't hide from it anymore. She missed him...missed him like nothing else in her life. She missed and longed for Danji. She hadn't known the young fighter very long, but the precious time she did spend with him meant so much to her...meant the world to her. But he was dead...gone forever while protecting her and her friends from being captured and brought to the evil Kumraa. She would never hold him, look into his eyes like Jeneta, Angeni, Ling, and Prya could do with their loves. She would never have a chance to tell him that she had feelings for him... feelings from the first moment she laid eyes on him and the alluring outfit he wore. And he would never see the amazing transformation she went through just a while ago.
It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair! With a cry from deep in her soul, Heather pounded her fist on the ground, wishing it would open up and swallow her. She cried and sobbed louder and louder, pounding the ground again and again and again with her fists until it began to bleed. It was just too much! How could she go on and save a world when she couldn't save her first true love? Her cries were now heart breaking screams, but she didn't care who heard her as she continued to pound her fist. She wanted to be with him...she wanted to be with Danji now, wherever he was! She barely felt the hand on her shoulder then, and she barely heard the concerned voice whisper out her name. "Heather?"
She looked up at Jeneta, her body shaking and wracked with sobs. She said nothing as Jeneta knelt down before her, and she shook her blonde head sadly. "I..I miss him. I miss him...so MUCH!" she cried, falling into Jeneta's arms. Jeneta nodded in understanding, and she let her own tears fall down her dark cheeks for her friend's pain.
For what seemed like the rest of the night, Jeneta held Heather in her arms and soothed her, whispering comforting words to her. For now, there was no one else in the world but the two of them, comforting each other, giving strength to each other. Nothing else mattered except to just cry and imagine a beautiful love that could have grown between Heather and Danji.
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To Be Continued....
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