Chapter 715: Aid And Comfort
Upon the shepard's return, Erika who'd been healing Riyanzah and Seraphim left the djinn for a while as they cursed the man who'd defeated them not too long ago. The priestess was informed of everything that had taken place with the giants as well as the demolishing of the temple of Asmareth. To which, Erika responded with a rather unexpected response.
"Leave the temple ground be. We'll rebuild once the demon general is dead." Waving a hand to one of the many soldiers of the holy order, she beckoned him closer. "But our work isn't done yet. While the rest of the soldiers rest, I want you three to take the order in three groups, each spreading her gospel and curing the young of their blindness."
Turning her attention from the shepherd to the man that she'd beckoned, Erika looked him in the eye and ordered.
"I want you to separate families from lone soldiers in the order. Anyone with children back home will be dealing with the cure and the rest will preach the goddess's words and try to win hearts over." Lifting a hand to her side, she quickly dismissed the nodding man and focused on the shepherds again. "I doubt I need to tell you why we're only curing children, do I?"
"They'll accept Athenia easily while the parents might resist due to societal pressure?" Asked the jester, and he was right–however, only half right.
"We want to draw out their emotions, capitalize on it so that we can lead them to the light," the Sword added, completing the reasoning behind Erika's idea.
Nodding back at them, the priestess held her hand forward with her fingers clenched tight. Glancing at the shield, she gave him a moment to step forward and place his hand right under hers.
"The last of the life giving necklace. A piece of our goddess's body…" Opening her fingers, Erika let the shattered crumbs of the necklace fall on the shield's hand. "The witch Linkle had it for the longest time, but I convinced her to give it to me. You should use it well to heal those children as the only other necklace left is meant for spreading plagues, not curing any disease."
"Goddess's nails?! Are you sure you want me to handle this, high priestess?!" The giant of a man was absolutely shaken as the crumbs fell onto his gloves. His body grew tense and his heart began pumping as if he'd been running all day without stopping for a second.
"I-it's an honor, high priestess!" The sword on the other hand, dropped to her knees.
The jester felt the same way, but having better command of his mind, the man simply joined the sword in doing as she did. Looking back at his comrades, the shepherd of shield huffed a heavy sigh and lowered himself on his knees as well.
"W-we'll get it done, priestess." Finally accepting the command, he kept his lowered to the ground as Erika returned to address something else.
Left in awe of the very responsibility that they'd been burdened with, the shepherds remained kneeling for a while until the shield got up and the other two wanted to hold the pieces of the broken life necklace. Engrossed in the glowing shards, their minds drifted for a while so much so that the screaming of Flitza on the citizens of the city that Erika had sunk into the hells, turned into a blur.
The priestess calmed the dragoness, but the quarrel continued and making things worse, having just recovered from their injuries, the djinn sisters began lashing out. They wished to know where Frazen was so that they could slit his throat, however, as omnipresent their sister Elana might've been, she kept her lips shut for she knew what would happen if she told them where to find him. Her lover, the prince of Nile backed her up with the decision by trying to talk some sense into the girls.
Meanwhile, watching chaos erupting everywhere, Raven sat on a chair simply taking in everything that was happening for a moment. If he wanted he could've settled everything at once, but if experience has taught him anything as a general, you never meddle with the crowd, especially when they're bickering amongst themselves.
"If I take anyone's side the others will think I favor them over the other," taking a glass of water from Mel's hand, he took a quick sip and sighed. "Better to let them handle it themselves, and if it gets outta hand, I'll interrupt then."
"The Mistress, was it your idea to send her to the map maker?" Mel asked, glancing sideways at him.
Shaking his head, Raven quickly dismissed her doubts.
"It was hers."
"Let's hope she doesn't bring any more trouble."
"Look around Mel," looking up at her, Raven raised his glass and smiled just a little. "We are the trouble, each one of us. I think it's time we accept that and keep making more trouble than our enemies can handle."
A smile crept up Melicia's lips, she hadn't thought about it this way, but sure enough her party was the trouble that they'd been desperate to avoid. Bobbing her head left and right, contemplating that thought, she weighed in the right and wrong, and coming out the other end, she leaned down towards Raven and gave him a quick kiss on his cheeks.
"Speaking of trouble. Since our plan to visit the map maker is no longer viable, how about we make trouble in one of the tents in the back?" Caressing his arms as she pulled away, the fair elf winked at her man before waddling towards the general's much bigger tent. Before getting in, however, she shot Raven one last glance. "Coming? Rose and the others have been waiting for you inside for quite a while."
Winking at him again, she walked into the tent full of Raven's women. And since there wasn't much left for him to do that night, the general rose from his chair and walked into the arms of his harem of beautiful women.