novelraw Chapter 248: Timely Farewell
Chapter 248: Timely Farewell
Zuzia holds Enya briefly while she waits with the others for Daniel to return to the shuttle. There are a bunch of goblins decked out in a fairly discreet and slightly abnormal collision between fantasy, a little bit of sci-fi, and modern American military equipment. They have uniforms with armor, as well as a sort of spitfire toothy grin like WWII planes and helmets, but with amber-colored eyes. They chatter with each other, showing off various sparkling trinkets that have no business being on a soldier’s person if they don’t want to lose them.
But, given the cufflinks, gold and silver coins, and stitchwork made of precious metals, Zuzia suspects the goblins aren’t as worried about losing the treasures because they already came at the best price.
“He actually armed and armored goblins…” grumbles the Polishwoman.
Geirahoel, who is waiting with her to say farewell to Daniel, looks at the goblins of ‘Grendel Six’ as they make trades like kids on a playground exchanging baseball cards or trading cards with colorful magic animals on them.
“Yes,” replies Geirahoel. “The firearms Mukori developed for the Fievegal level the battlefield immensely, and goblins are the most numerous and fearless soldiers the Fievegal has. They are happy to fight under our banners in exchange for scavenger rights?”
“Looting the dead?” asks the honey brunette skeptically.
“Better than corroding on the plains of some forgotten battlefield or sinking into some swamp. Not to mention the various animals that gather and hoard shiny things.” Geirahoel matches Zuzia’s gaze, adding intuitively, “If you are worried about the desecration, Mukori worried about that, too, which is why he forbade the looting or destruction of obvious personal mementos, like lockets, memory boxes, journals, and such.”
“We also make efforts to send teams to clean up battlefields and cremate the bodies afterwards,” adds Kera’tai. Zuzia doesn’t quite know how to place her appearance, other than some sort of forest nymph. She has antler-like small horns, a soft green hue to her hair, and a tiger-stripe skin pattern that is further decorated with war paint of various tribal-looking markings and glyphs.
Zuzia sighs, and she feels Enya bite her finger. “Hey, you little cutie. Do I taste good?”
Geirahoel smiles as she watches. She was gracious enough to retrieve clothing that was sized to Daniel, since he’s plenty tall enough for his clothes to fit Zuzia, and there were plenty of standard-issue boots for her in her size, a program Daniel installed for the Fievegal’s military, even for as diverse as the races and, more specifically, their feet are.
Zuzia got to question Geirahoel pretty freely about Daniel. She accepts that Daniel stumbled into the situation he’s in, not least of which was the harem that Geirahoel also states very clearly was started by Ryuogriar. Not everyone is as accepting of it as the dragons are, but Daniel didn’t force anyone, including Kera’tai, who declared herself his war bride after he defeated her attack squad at some fortress.
“I never thought I’d get to see a baby dragon,” remarks Treia, who is the most outgoing of the feline women known as Gatonines. She’s more petite than Zuzia, but she has an undeniably athletic build that could probably do well in the Olympics. She pokes Enya’s belly gently, and Geirahoel replies tenderly, “I… had my doubts as well…”
Zuzia doesn’t ask just yet. Neith mentioned something about the dragons only recently overcoming challenges having children, and in spite of appearing around nineteen or twenty, Geirahoel is over a hundred years old and is only now holding her first child.
When Zuzia is about ready to say something else, the goblin commander wearing a grey cloak calls out, “Attention!”
A few other goblins make a pirate like sound that isn’t quite ‘Aye’, but seems to be a general acknowledgement of the fact that the commander said something.
Zuzia looks, and Daniel is entering with Jeavana, the golden blonde dragon, and Reignleif, the blue dragon who is carrying three baby dragons of differing colors.
The many soldiers gathered around, including the members of Grendel Six, all salute, calling out variations of, “Greetings to the Emperor!” “Greetings of Emperor!”
Daniel tries to preempt it, but is a second too late. “At ease! At ease, thank you.”
The fellow Earthling can’t help but roll her eyes. She jokes, “I’d curtsy, your Imperial Enlightened Majestic Majesty, but my hands are full.”
“Very funny,” replies Daniel. He seems to be in a little better mood following how they parted a few minutes ago, which is good. Hopefully, he found the right answer to Zuzia’s question. Either way, he’s still weary.
While they approach, though, Zuzia notices one of the two twin dragons has a small smudge of blood on her forehead, and she continuously looks around with her mouth open like a snake or turtle waiting to bite.
“Willow, stop that!” whines Jeavana. “You can’t pick fights with everyone. Mama will have to convince papa to defend us!” She latches onto Daniel’s arm, suggesting that the strangely voluptuous dragon woman would be more suited to a brothel as a star courtesan rather than one of Daniel’s ridiculously numerous Empresses.
Suddenly, the blonde yelps as Treia walks right up to her and takes her ear, pulling her off of the American. “You’re making us look like fools in front of Zuzia, Jeavana. And, we’re about to go into battle. Can you take this seriously for a few moments, please?”
“Y-Yes… I’m sorry…” replies the golden dragon.
The mischievous dark elf, or rather, archoneldwyn known as Doephluev all but slides in between them, taking Daniel’s arm in turn. “Zuzia, please keep my beloved Daniel safe. He has a tendency to put himself in danger to protect everyone else, even if a little assistance would keep him safe as well.”
“I’ve heard a wee bit,” replies Zuzia dryly. Geirahoel spoke casually at first, but eventually complained at length that Daniel takes too many risks. She asks the man in question, “So, how long will the flight be?”
“Well, I’ve called in reinforcements who should be here any second.”
Suddenly, the air shifts, and a sensation crawls up Zuzia’s spine. It’s similar to when Serrentuk unleashed his magic power on her. Zuzia whirls as her heart starts to race. Something dangerous just arrived.
She does keep herself between the new arrival and Enya, since it feels like that ominous feeling when it feels like Zuzia’s being watched, but combined with a dry, static electricity feel and a warm wind.
Having appeared from thin air are two figures, the golem known as Xyreko and a small girl who appears to be around fourteen or fifteen at the oldest, but short for her age. Making up for her short stature is the absolutely must-pet tail of the most perfect fluffiness that is almost as big as the rest of her body and the two, almost disproportionately big black fox-like ears, specifically a fennec. Even Halkadon the shenwulf and Verbert the gatonine paled in comparison to this young girl for sheer adorable fluffiness that makes Zuzia want to touch…
That is, if that same fluffy-tailed girl wasn’t glowing blue like a nuclear reactor. It’s not painful to look at her, but Zuzia feels like she knows what Serrentuk and Neith were talking about in regards to sensing mana.
This little girl, in spite of her small stature and petite build, absolutely oozes magical power that may possibly make Neith, Serrentuk, his daughter Senn, and all of the female dragons seem normal by comparison.
“Welcome back, your Greatness,” greets Neith, which prompts several others to greet her as well with the same title, including Doephluev, though the archoneldwyn makes a joke of it with evident teasing sarcasm.
“W-Wait!” exclaims Zuzia as she immediately doubts her ears. “You mean… This kid is your so-called Sovereign Empress!?”
A big, fluffy black tail twitches to an upwards rigid position as a pair of black, triangular ears lock upwards and pointed forward, a scowl of disbelief to go with it. “Kid?” growls a teen’s voice.
Daniel chuckles, and the scowl of fury from the kemonomimi girl tilts towards him, evolving further into a look of abject betrayal. The American explains, “Zuzia, please meet Hekate. Hekate, this is Zuzia. And, for the record, Zuzia, yes, Hekate is the founding Empress of the Fievegal at my insistence. She’ll almost certainly outlive us all, and the Citadel originally belonged to the feldroks like her.”
Hekate storms right up to Zuzia, and she hesitantly takes a step back. For all of her strength, given what she faced fighting Serrentuk and Neith, let alone Amalaskae, this black haired girl might actually be a fearsome opponent.
“I’m sixteen!” snaps Hekate as she arrives in front of Zuzia, pointing directly at her. “Sixteen and… uhhhhh… Three months! And in one year and seven months, I’ll be an adult by Earth standards! And Daniel will marry me immediately!”
Zuzia recoils, and she glares at Daniel.
He holds his hands up defensively, saying, “Please trust me. I’ve tried to encourage her to seek romantic options elsewhere. It was difficult enough to convince her of that much.”
“That’s right! I compromised! Like a good empress! I claimed Daniel first, so he’s mine. I’m only sharing him with all of these temptresses!”
“I…” Zuzia is speechless, since she’s not sure what to say. She wants to furiously object, since Daniel carries himself like someone older than Rikuto, similar to Zuzia, who is almost thirty. The transportation to this world did make her younger, so she wouldn’t be surprised if Daniel was around thirty as well.
But, from the sounds of it, Hekate is the one wearing the pants for this particular part of the relationship, and she’s powerful enough from just a glance to do whatever she wants. Zuzia hasn’t dug down deep, but it was common in European history for the age of majority, or at least marriageable age, to be far younger than it is in modern times. Even Poland allows a young woman of sixteen years of age to marry with parental consent, though the age gap does make her a little uncomfortable.
Still, in spite of everything, Hekate seems to be the aggressive pursuer of romance in this situation.
Which does raise one important question.
“Why?” asks Zuzia, the only thing she can blurt out after having her initial anger at Daniel be blended into a more neutral confusion due to Hekate’s confidence and seriousness.
“What?” asks the black-haired teen with bright, amber-colored eyes. She cocks her head, and her big, adorable fox-ears flop to the side, making the move look even more dramatic and cute.
“Why do you share?”
Again, Hekate is dumbfounded, and she repeats, “Wh-What?”
“I mean why do you share Daniel? You don’t have to. I don’t know the laws of this world, but… You absolutely radiate magical power. And, if what you said is true, and you did claim him first, why would you share him?”
Hekate is speechless as she stares at Zuzia, and Treia and Geirahoel both start to object, “Hey, we-...!”
Just as Zuzia is looking at them, though, Daniel is the one to have stopped them with a hand gesture. It seems at a glance that he has some sort of power dynamic over all of them, but they immediately complain at the same time, “Daniel!?” “Mukori!?”
Hekate looks to Daniel, and then back to Zuzia several times. She even glances at the others, who are also unsure how to answer. Geirahoel and Neith both gave the same answer to Zuzia about how dragons naturally produce more female than male offspring, so a ‘harem’ is part of their natural order. Plenty of animal species had similar evolutionary patterns on Earth, including baboons and zebras, though rather than a genetic predisposition towards a ratio other than one-to-one, basic survival of the fittest and the strongest winning the resource/social competitions determine the outcome for those species.
Hekate’s expressive ears flatten backwards as the confusion becomes fear and frustration, and Zuzia starts to prepare to scold Daniel.
That is until Hekate finally answers.
“You’re right. I don’t have to share him. But, if I didn’t share him, my family wouldn’t be this big. Daniel might not have tried to help the dragons, a lot of whom are my friends. Treia and Gwenesphia might not be here to have convinced me not to annihilate other countries in retaliation for attacking us. I love Daniel more than anything else in the whole world, and they love Daniel, too. If they stand in my way, I won’t love them anymore, but because they all help me all the time and will help me keep Daniel prisoner on my eighteenth birthday, I’m fine with sharing him.” Hekate then leans closer to Zuzia, adding, “If you try to break my family or stand in my way, I won’t forgive you.”
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“I just… can’t wrap my head around wanting to be a part of a harem, though…”
“I already explained,” starts Geirahoel, but Daniel says gently, “Mukori, it’s alright. Let Hekate handle it.”
Zuzia finds that part the most surprising. Daniel legitimately is trying to let Hekate handle it. And, also surprisingly, he’s not gushing in embarrassment from being talked about like some sort of prize.
This is all sounding too good to be true, Daniel. What are you hiding?
Hekate adds, interrupting Zuzia’s thoughts. “Everyone teases me because I threaten to not let Daniel have any more mistresses, and then he adds more. I honestly… don’t like it. But, I don’t really care as long as Daniel is beside me. No one can or will steal him for me, or I’ll fight them. That’s all I need.”
“But, you could have someone entirely to yourself,” replies Zuzia. “You could have his heart, his soul, and, if it’s your thing, his resources. I just…”
“You don’t have to understand,” interrupts Hekate with a more gentle expression. “I had absolutely nothing just a little over a year ago. In fact, I had less than nothing. Daniel saved me from that, and I’m thankful every day. If he gave me bread and clean water every day, I would be indebted to him. Instead, he’s helping me gain more things to care about and protect, and he lets me be me. Even when I’m not so smart, or I threaten to chew his face off, he accepts me, trusts me, and relies on me as much as I rely on him.” She points confidently at the Polish brunette once more, adding confidently, proudly, and with a pose that could conquer the whole world with both cuteness and absolute ambition. “After all, I’ve saved Daniel a bunch’a times, too! And, if I have to, I’ll save you too, Zuzia!” The fox-eared kemonomimi girl gives a big grin, and her teeth are noticeably sharp and triangle-shaped, more like a shark than any mammal Zuzia knows of.
Zuzia chuckles, defeated by sheer passion, if not logic. She can’t hope to argue against Hekate’s commitment to her stance. Maybe there’s some trauma bonding, but Hekate seems genuinely happy, confident, and proud of her position.
And, the teen correctly adds, “But, enough of that! Daniel, are we ready to go?”
“Yes,” replies Daniel with a gentle smile. “Do you think you can take all of us onboard the shuttle?”
Daniel gestures at the gathered away team, which includes six goblins of Grendel Six, one of whom is female, but with a strange, almost violet-grey complexion, Neith, Serrentuk, Senn, Zuzia, Jeavana, Yaulwembor, Treia, and Veiranoei.
However, Serrentuk raises his hand. “If I may, Daniel. Zuzia may provide an unexpected obstacle for her Greatness.”
“I can handle it!” declares Hekate with her ears cocked back and her fists on the hips of her rather heavy duty armor, given how petite she is, as well as the fact that she’s wearing a skirt that reaches just past her knees. The pose and her tone makes Zuzia have an unfitting, silent urge to pet, but she keeps it to herself. Regardless of Hekate’s status or power, she is a person. A particularly adorable person, but a person no less.
Zuzia will ask to pet her tail just once after it’s all settled. She can’t not know.
Serrentuk explains respectfully in spite of the fact that they are polar opposites in terms of seniority, “Zuzia’s magic resistance is approaching true immunity, your Greatness. You will expend more mana on Zuzia alone than transporting the rest of us, I’m sorry to say.”
“He’s right,” replies Zuzia. “I was under the impression we were just going to fly.”
“It’ll take a few hours to get there if we do,” replies Neith. “Unless the airship team makes miraculous progress, we should make haste to begin testing our own methods. Before the next few days are finished, I believe we will be testing the very limits of our tolerance for mana restorative potations.”
“Wait, doesn’t that solve our problem then?” asks Zuzia. “If there’s a potion for it, just take me last.”
Hekate gives a frightened look, and the others are awkwardly silent, other than Daniel. “There is a mana potion from the east, but it’s fractionally effective against the western potations. Potations are mostly one-ten proof.”
“‘One-ten’…?” questions Zuzia, confused about what he could be talking about until it clicks. “Wait… They’re liquor!?”
Daniel nods. “Potations use a complex process of distillation and enchantment to ‘lock in’ a specific effect, with mana restoratives being one of the highest proof and slowest to act.”
Zuzia looks to Serrentuk and Neith, who she trusts a bit more than Daniel because they literally put their lives on the line for her.
Both of them nod, giving a seriousness to that fact.
“Goblins can barely survive them, and Hekate gets sick with the smell. That said, she’s also unique because she can absorb mana from certain sources. But, I think we’ll be alright.” Daniel makes a strange clicking sound like he’s summoning a horse’s attention.
The reptilian anthropomorphic woman known as Yaulwembor perks up and looks at Daniel specifically. She looks closer to a humanoid dragon than any of the other dragons present, who have taken human forms with extra bits, essentially.
Daniel gives her hand signals, pointing at her, and then at Zuzia, followed by Hekate, and then he gestures at everyone else.
Yaulwembor studies his movements for a moment, and she makes a similar clicking sound, though hers sounds more like the sparker used to ignite a gas oven or grill lighter.
“My Liege, are you certain bringing Yaulwembor will be wise? If she misinterprets our intent…”
“I have two plans in mind, and she’ll be essential to both,” replies Daniel. “She can copy any spell she sees, so she may be able to emulate Wenlianna’s extractor. And, failing that, Lord Serrentuk, I’d like you to try your gate on the fire. When she’s watching, if you don’t mind.”
The oldest person present chuckles warmly. “I’ve never heard of anyone copying an innate ability, and it’ll be a shame for mine to no longer be unique. But, certainly, you have my cooperation.”
Daniel nods.
“Daniel, you could try taking the portal to the airship as well. The extractor has just successfully initiated, and the current rate of mana transfer will equate to approximately what we receive in monthly donations each hour if sustained. I should be able to restore pre-Devourer levels in just shy of sixty-five hours.”
“I don’t want the fire to last that long,” retorts Daniel. “Any signs of the extractor making an impact?”
“Negligible,” replies the golem. “It seems the excess mana is more akin to smoke than the heat of a traditional fire, having little effect on the fire’s continued burn or spread.”
The American nods, saying, “We’ll try the portal. Grendel Six, you’ll go on the shuttle and meet us there. I’ll get a situation report from Wenlianna and the others.”
“One warning,” adds Xyreko. “It appears the extractor is producing far more noise than expected. Everyone going through the portal will need hearing protection.”
Zuzia looks at Daniel expectantly, and he nods. “We’ll find a helmet that fits you. Is the mana extraction going smoothly?”
“Yes, so far,” replies Xyreko. “Lady Ahok is monitoring the receiving equipment and the Citadel’s core, and she has runners passing through the portal for any messages. Wenlianna is monitoring the other side.”
“Alright. Let’s move, then. Field Marshal, any questions?”
The male goblin wearing the grey cloak similar to Neith’s replies confidently, “No questions. Grendel Six will escort shuttle to airship on arrival. See you in few minutes.”
Daniel nods, and the goblins and a few other soldiers of various non-human races board the shuttle, and the American continues, “The rest of us, if you’re ready, let’s head for the Core.”
“I’ve been waiting on you,” replies Zuzia as she hands Enya back to Geirahoel finally. The dragon smiles and cuddles her baby affectionately as the little hatchling makes cute squeaks and growls.
Daniel says his farewells to those who are staying behind, and Zuzia asks Serrentuk quietly, “Serrentuk, did… Wulfsten, Verbert, and Halkadon…?”
The elven sorcerer smiles. “Worry not, my Lady. They actually were on the shuttle supporting me for our skirmish, but unfortunately, circumstances didn’t permit them to land and check on you. They opted to remain behind and help the airship team once they arrived.”
The honey-haired adventurer sighs. “So, everyone’s getting roped in, huh?”
“Well, they’re getting paid at least,” jokes Neith.
She stares at him, and then looks at Serrentuk and Senn. Senn adds in with her own sense of humor, “I intend to join the harem and take every possible advantage of Daniel I can. Like Doephluev.”
“Hey!” whines Doephluev, paying enough attention to the elf, in spite of clinging to Daniel a bit obsessively.
Just as Zuzia is about to say something about how shameless her American counterpart is, a small voice calls out, “Daddy!” and runs towards the group.
Just a glimpse makes Zuzia’s maternal instincts want to panic.
Two premature infants are running towards them, and it takes a moment for her to process why they’re so small as Daniel kneels to receive both of them.
The little girls are goblins, and their apparent mothers approach. Daniel hugs them, “Ahh, my Princesses!”
Daniel manages to hide all of his weariness in an instant, smiling as he gives them a warm and loving farewell as well.
One of the two is wearing an oversized scarf, though, and she holds up one of the loops of it towards Daniel as he holds the two. “Daddy take Lulu.” The small goblin girl speaks with a softer and more measured tone, similar to Reignleif.
“Lulu? You mean Lucy?”
“Yeah,” adds the bashful-seeming baby.
That’s when Zuzia notices the tiny little figure that floats around the small child’s head and hugs Daniel’s cheek as well. “Yes, yes, Lucy. Thank you for looking after Tekten.” He kisses the girl wearing the scarf, and he adds, “You keep Lucy safe for me, alright?”
“Mukori, I think you should take her with you,” warns Ryuogriar cautiously. “She proved useful many times against elemental magic, right?”
“True,” replies Daniel. “But, if radiant mana is hazardous to living beings with mana, what will happen to her, being pure mana herself?”
There’s no obvious answer to this, and Zuzia glances at Serrentuk. Senn is the one who whispers on his behalf, “Elementals are powerful, but he’s right. We don’t know enough about this ‘strange mana’ as we’re calling it to know if it’ll cause permanent damage to her.”
Doephluev offers, “Won’t she be able to use it, just like Hekate?”
The fox-eared girl in question watches as Tekten struggles to take the scarf off of herself, in spite of Daniel’s insistence that she keeps it. Naturally, the scarf is far too big for such a small girl, since it almost forms a dress just by itself for the newborn-sized toddler. Hekate adds, “She did turn shiny gold in Senn’s spell, didn’t she?”
“True…” thinks Daniel out loud.
The American sighs and helps Tekten take the scarf off, and in spite of both her and her sister sitting together on his left arm, both goblin toddlers do their best to stretch as if they intend to help put it on Daniel with their tiny hands, which Doephluev and Gwenesphia step closer to help him put it on.
For what the situation is, Zuzia does find it to be a relatively wholesome scene.
“Thank you, girls,” replies Daniel. He kisses them again and hands them over to the two well-dressed goblin women who approached. Other than their inhumanly green skintones, they are rather beautiful, and the girls are cute as well.
As Daniel gets distracted some more, Zuzia clears her throat. “Any day, Mr. Emperor.”
“Right, right. I’m coming,” replies Daniel, jogging towards the away team.
Ryuogriar calls out, “Zuzia, please do look after everyone, if you would. If you’d like to be paid like your mercenary friends, that can be arranged.”
“You’re an Empress, right? Make me a noble in this Fievegal thing, and you have a deal.”
Zuzia says it as a joke. She has no strong attachment to these people, yet, and she doesn’t care about status or wealth that much. She just wants to live freely and help people she can help.
But, Ryuogriar stops the Polish brunette’s joke flat with one word. “Done.”
“Huh?”
“I believe Hekate will agree. If you prove to be a friend of ours, there is no reason not to reward you with a station befitting your value to our cause.”
Daniel chuckles as Zuzia stares at her. He remarks dryly, “Now you know how I became Emperor, Lady Zuzia.”
Daniel pats her shoulder and leads the way to the same door he entered by. Neith, Serrentuk, and Senn all give a laugh as well, and Neith bows as he passes the dumbfounded tax accountant. “My Lady.”
Embarrassed and unsure how to respond to Ryuogriar, Zuzia looks at the dragon, slowly starting to follow after the others. The platinum blonde, cradling a small dragon with deep red scales and what looks like a black puppy, gives Zuzia a completely unreadable smile that doesn’t quite feel like a sarcastic or teasing smirk, nor does it seem amused at Zuzia’s response. She knows the dragons are older than their human forms appear, but Ryuogriar really does carry herself like the matron of the Fievegal. Zuzia has only been told that Hekate is the highest ranking person, but Ryuogriar seems more like the true ruler, especially with how she allows the others to lead in their own way.
Still unsure if she’s being pranked entirely, or if the sincerity is the prank, Zuzia decides to worry about it after helping with whatever this mana fire is. The highest priorities in her life have always been a work-life balance that grants her the freedom to go on her hikes through forests, up mountains, and along rivers for day trips and weekends. If she’s given noble rank, she wouldn’t have to worry about rights in this world, but if she’s given the responsibilities of an aristocrat…
No no, Zuzu. Put it out of your mind. She’s kidding. She has to be. At best, I could maybe improve speadsheets and bookkeeping. I suppose I could probably study this world’s tax codes… But, no no no no no! I wasn’t summoned to this world to advise on taxes and finance. I’m supposed to be a heroine, right?
She steps onto the magic circle, and symbols flash, immediately transporting the group to another place. There, a near-literal star is all but literally floating in the air, suspended by a sort of strange cradle, like spider arms reaching way down from the massive high ceiling while a separate set of arms from the floor seems to be “spraying” a continuous stream of mist-like energy into the star.
“Let’s hurry, Daniel!” states Hekate as she bounds ahead.
Daniel checks on Zuzia briefly, asking, “You alright?”
“Yeah… I was just… in awe…”
“I understand. That’s the core of the Citadel. The portal we’re going through is how we’re stealing the mana from the fire. I was hoping it would “suck the oxygen out”, so the speak, but as you probably heard, it’s more like we’re just pulling the heat away.”
“That powers this castle?” asks Zuzia.
“Yes. You could call it my cheat power, since I arrived here without any mana.”
“And, you conquered this castle?” asks the brunette skeptically.
“That one helped a lot more than she’ll let on,” replies Daniel warmly as he points at Hekate. “She wasn’t this powerful at the time, but she was able to use magic attacks which gave me a substantial layer of protection.”
“Just for the record, I’m going to be watching you, Mr. Little Lady Killer.”
The American grumbles, “It’s a curse, I tell you. That’s the only explanation.”
“A curse, is it?”
“Be careful, or it’ll get you, too.”
“I promise that won’t happen.”
Zuzia jogs to catch up to Hekate. Once the fire is dealt with, she can explore this peculiar Citadel to her heart’s content.
***