Tási was obviously both amazed with the Robes, and a bit uneasy with how different they were from her usual attire, and Nentai’s reaction only made her discomfort worse.
“Oh, now come on,” Nentai said as she rolled her eyes, clearly irritated. “You’re wearing a damn God-forged Artifact, not an old maid’s outfit.”
As she spoke, Nentai strode over to Tási and adjusted the opening around Tási’s neck. Tási seemed ready to jump out of her skin as the Goddess worked but held steady as Nentai made her alterations. When Tási had come downstairs, the top of the Robes had been tightly closed around her neck, leaving only the tiniest patch of skin exposed. Once Nentai was finished, the Robes had a more open neckline; while it didn’t plunge deeply, it did expose quite a bit more of Tási’s skin than before. When she stepped back to review her work, Nentai seemed satisfied, but Tási was clearly uneasy with the change.
“Listen to me, all of you,” Nentai said as she took note of Tási’s discomfort. “Dreya Sintári is on a great quest, and you have chosen to follow her on that quest. You will need to be true heroes, with great courage and determination if you are to succeed. Whether you like it or not, if you choose to follow the Sintári, that is the role that each of you will have to accept. And the first step to being a hero is to act like one; to not cower like a scared mouse behind a curtain or shiver in fear at every unexpected event.”
Nentai said the last as she first glanced pointedly at Tási before turning towards Venna who was still trembling and clutching onto the Armor of Light in a near state of panic.
“Do you think Thassa meant this Armor for a weak, blubbering fool?” Nentai said as she stepped over to stand almost in Venna’s face. “Do you think the Sintári needs a quivering idiot by her side?”
Goddess or not, I almost slapped Nentai when she taunted Venna that way, but before I could, her comments apparently hit their intended mark, and Venna lifted her head and returned Nentai’s gaze.
“No,” Venna replied, and although her voice shook, I could hear the steel in her words.
“That’s better,” Nentai said with approval. “We may want your respect, Venna, but in turn, we also honor your strength. My sister made this Armor for you because you earned her admiration with your courage and loyalty. You should feel honored by that, not intimidated. You may have chosen to worship Thassa, but Thassa has also chosen you.”
“I have tarried here too long, and it is time for me to go,” Nentai said abruptly. “Until then, do not hide these gifts—wear them openly, as the Sintári does. They are meant to aid you, and they cannot do that if you hide them from sight.”
“Wait, please,” I asked her. “Before you go, can I ask you some questions?”
“Another time perhaps, Sintári,” Nentai smiled at me as she faded from view.
I was disappointed that the Goddess couldn’t stay longer. Despite her sometimes gruff and authoritarian manner with my companions, I felt a certain bond with Nentai—a bond that her oddly familiar manner made me feel certain she felt as well. It was one of the things I had intended to ask her about, in addition to asking if she had any insight into Bane’s changes, but since she had left so abruptly, I had to wait for another time if I wanted any answers to my questions.
With my opportunity to question the Goddess lost, I decided it might be best for me to try and help Venna put on her armor for the first time. If it was anything like the Armor of Melía, she would likely need some assistance.
“Come with me, Venna,” I said as I pulled her away. “Since you don’t have a Goddess to help you into your armor for the first time, you’ll have to settle for me.”
I guided Venna upstairs to my room and shut the door behind us.
“Let’s see what we’ve got here,” I said as I took the bundle of chain from her and opened it up over the bed.
I thought that I would see a pair of pants and chain shirt when I shook out the links, but from somewhere inside the mass of chain, a pair of boots and gauntlets fell out, followed by a bright blue tabard and ornately tooled belt. The bundle I held in my hands a moment before had not been anywhere near large enough to conceal all those items, and I resigned myself to the fact that I had just witness more of the ‘God magic’ Nentai had mentioned before.
Venna was clearly amazed yet again, but to her credit, she maintained her composure and didn’t react to the incredible sight of all the armor spilling out on to the bed.
I picked up the chain shirt to examine it closely, and as I suspected, it had a layer of padding already incorporated on the inside of the links. There would be no need for any inferior quality items to be worn beneath the Armor of Light.
“Take off your clothes,” I told Venna as I continued to look over the various pieces. “You won’t need to wear much of anything underneath this.”
She had been examining pieces of the Armor as well, and understood what I meant, so she stripped down without needing any further explanation from me. When I slipped the mail shirt over her head, it seemed almost comically large on her, but I cautioned Venna to wait until we had all of the Armor’s component’s in place before she evaluated its fit.
As I suspected, once we slipped the last boot on her foot, the links began to pull together, and the oversized mail shrunk to fit Venna’s slender frame perfectly, hugging her body close and joining together seamlessly, just like the Armor of Melía had for me. When it finished adjusting to her, I helped Venna drape the tabard with Thassa’s emblem on it over her head and cinched the belt around her waist before I stepped back to finally take a look at the complete set of Armor on her.
The chain and its matching boots and gauntlets were made of pure Khelduin, but the metal itself had been worked beyond the level of any mortal smith. The links shone brightly, and the articulated metal of the boots and gauntlets flexed smoothly when Venna tested them out. Even the bright blue tabard was exquisitely crafted, and the fabric almost radiated with its vibrant colors.
There was no helmet, as Thassa, like Melía, had incorporated that additional element of protection into the Armor itself. The added freedom and increased vision would be an obvious advantage, as helmets were often quite restrictive.
“How does it feel?”
“Almost like I’m only wearing regular clothes,” Venna replied in awe. “It’s so light compared to what I’m used to, and I can move so much more easily.”
“Come, Stel must be dying to see what you look like,” I said as I picked up the pile of clothing she had left on the floor and guided Venna out the door.
When we descended the stairs, Stel could only stare at his wife in awe. While the Armor of Light was truly magnificent, it was seeing her in it that had obviously overcome him. Venna smiled at his reaction and took his hands in hers as she stood in front of him.
“How do I look, husband?” She whispered to him softly.
“I have no words,” Stel replied as he stared into her eyes.
“We’re supposed to be looking at the armor, right?” Khorim interrupted.
“You better be looking at the armor,” Broda said as she forcefully smacked his arm.
Venna flushed red for a second as the two of them quickly stepped apart and let everyone have a good look at the Armor of Light. Stel, Tási, and Broda examined the links closely, feeling the metal and commenting to each other on its incredible craftsmanship. But it was only after a stern warning from Broda about where he was allowed to place his hands that Khorim was permitted to join in on the examination.
Once everyone had a good look at both of the new God-forged Artifacts, we sat around the table and began to speculate about what might come next. Venna calculated that there were still nearly ten of the Gods who’s gifts we had yet to receive, but there was simply no way to know what they might have in store for us. So, after a bit of idle conjecturing, we gave up and finally called it a night. It had been yet another momentous day for us, and in the morning, we would be revealing that my companions had been gifted with their own gi
fts from the Gods. That disclosure meant that the next day would be quite busy for us, so despite our excitement, we finally headed off to bed.
“Come here,” I beckoned softly to Tási once we made it back to our room.
She approached me cautiously, obviously uncertain of my motives.
“I just want to have a closer look at your new robes,” I half-lied to her.
While I did indeed want a better look at the Artifact, I also had an ulterior motive as well.
When Tási drew close enough, I reached out and felt the fabric of her vest. The material was soft, yet felt substantial between my fingers, as if there was far more to it than I could see with my eyes alone. Once I finished with my evaluation, I took hold of both sides of the vest and slid it off of her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. With the vest gone, Tási was left wearing only the Robes themselves, and I took a step back from her to see if they truly fit her the way I thought they did beneath the cover of the vest.
I had not been mistaken, and as Tási stood still for me, I took in the full measure of how the Robes accentuated her beauty. Although the lower half of the Robes still flowed gracefully over her legs, with the vest gone, I was able to see just how closely the portion above the cinched belt clung to her body. Starting at her hips, the material hugged Tási’s every curve, sliding over her like a thin sheen of water.
“You look… incredible,” was all I could manage to say as I stared at her.
“Thanks, but I feel a little self-conscious,” Tási replied uneasily. “I’m going to wear it, like Nentai told us to, but not with the collar so open, and definitely not without the vest on.”
“No,” I told her firmly. “You’re going to wear it exactly as she showed you. Anytime I catch you with that collar tightened up, I’m going to open it twice as wide as she did.”
“What? Why?” Tási asked in confusion.
“You heard what she said,” I reminded her. “No more hiding—no more living in the world we’re trying to end. If we are going to change things, we have to lead by example. I understand why you dressed the way you did in the past, but that’s over now. We are trying to free people from the brutality that haunts this world. Anywhere we rule, people must feel free to be themselves, and not like their actions are dictated by some depraved criminals.”
Tási reluctantly nodded her head in understanding. While she was clearly uncomfortable with the way the Robes hugged her body, and even more so with the relatively modest patch of skin the neckline exposed, she knew that I was right—the time for her to hide herself beneath bulky robes and folds of fabric was over.
“Good,” I continued when she nodded her assent. “Now, I’m curious. Just what do you have on underneath there?”
As I spoke to her, I gently pulled open the front of her outfit and found to my delight that she wore nothing but her thin undergarments beneath the Robes. With a mischievous smile, I backed her into the bed, and we fell into the blankets together.
13
Just as we thought, the next day was a hectic affair with nearly everyone in the valley taking time to seek out Tási and Venna to see the new Artifacts for themselves. Between the interruptions and the loss of time due to people leaving their worksites, almost every project we had underway ground to a halt for the day—but I didn’t let the delay bother me. This was exactly what my people needed to see, and I wanted to make them feel as connected as possible to us; to make sure that they knew that the gifts we were given were theirs as well.
The new Artifacts’ impact on morale was far greater than I anticipated. While the gifts I had received assured my citizens that what we were doing had received the blessing of the Gods, these new gifts, bestowed not on me, but on my companions, made them understand without a doubt that the Gods’ approval extended well beyond me and my individual actions. They came to believe, as I had hoped, that they were all part of something that was bigger than any individual, regardless of whether that individual happened to be a Sintári or not. The obvious evidence that they were taking part in a momentous undertaking, and were not merely someone’s pawns, became undeniable and the change in mood was incredible.
Every person in the valley had already sworn their allegiance to me, and each one of them had seen me in my own God-forged gear, but once they’d seen my companions in that same equipment, it was as if they found a new level of dedication to our cause. Things had already been going very well, but after that first day, everyone dove into their jobs with a near cult-like devotion. After a few days, I was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable with just how zealous everyone had become when Venna seemed to pick up on my concern.
“It will fade, Dreya,” she said as we walked together past Hilgreth’s forge.
“What?”
“Their fervor—it will fade,” she repeated for me. “I’ve seen the concern in your eyes. You’re uneasy; you think it’s too much. It probably is, but it will fade in time once they get used to things.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I have seen it before,” Venna replied wistfully. “The newly converted often pursue their religion with a certain zeal that can be unsettling. And while this is somewhat different, I think the same thing will happen. After a while, things will return to normal again.”
“I hope you’re right,” I replied sincerely as we slowly wandered away from forge.
Stel and Khorim had left the day before on their joint recruiting mission, so I had spent all day with Venna. She was a wreck the entire time Stel had been away on his previous trading excursion, and I wanted to keep her distracted as much as possible. So, we made the rounds together, checking in on all the various projects in the valley and along our outer fortifications while Tási tended to the infirmary for her. We had been trying to come up with a name for the garrison, but nothing we came up with seemed appropriate, so the facilities remained nameless.
“How did your little weapon testing go yesterday?” Venna asked as we walked through the canyon on our way home.
I had finally set up a secluded archery range to test out the power of the Quiver of the Elements’ arrows but hadn’t yet told my companions of the results.
“Well,” I began. “The fire arrows completely charred the targets, and instantly burnt a hole through the logs I fired them into as well. The water arrows froze solid anything I fired them into. The air arrows were harder to evaluate—when I shot them into something, lightning ran over its surface. There were some scorch marks, but without actually using them on a living target, I’m not sure how serious the damage would be. The earth arrows imparted an impact effect, like my Bow, but much more powerful.”
“So, it sounds like the fire and ice arrows would probably be lethal no matter where they struck someone,” Venna surmised. “Even having that kind of damage to a limb would almost certainly be fatal.”
“I thought so too,” I agreed. “The earth arrow effects are also pretty apparent. It’s only the air arrows that need further evaluation.”
“If that’s what you’d like to call it,” Venna replied with amusement.
I took her hand in mine as we finished walking home. With everything that had been going on, the two of us had spent very little time together, and we were both happy to finally share a few moments alone, even if it was for just a short walk. Tási and Broda were already waiting for us, along with Bane who was coiled in a ball along the wall of the common room. Ever since he had missed the second visit from the Goddess, Bane had been coming home early to ensure that he was by my side for the next one.
Bane was still growing and had easily added another few pounds to his frame over the last several weeks. The Rhastoren that had come to me the size of a housecat was now almost as large as a medium-size dog, and his growth spurt showed no sign of stopping. As he lay there in the common room, I couldn’t help but wonder yet again just how big he was going to get.
We shared dinner together and when we were done, Bane ate every single scrap we had leftover. Althoug
h he hunted for himself every day, that never seemed to stop him from scrounging anything he could from our plates. His appetite was almost insatiable, and it was no wonder that his growth was so pronounced.
The night before, we had all retired to our separate rooms, but with Stel and Khorim gone on their mission, that had left Broda and Venna alone for the night. So, to provide some additional distraction for the two women, I broke out a bottle of wine and began pouring a glass for everyone as we sat around the table.
“I appreciate the effort, Dreya,” Broda objected politely. “But I’m not very fond of elven spirits.”
“Then you’ll be happy to know that this is fire wine, Broda,” I said as I filled her glass.
The powerful liquor was an old dwarven concoction, and much prized for both its potent effect and smooth taste.
“Where did you get this?” She marveled as she picked up the glass and sniffed its powerful aroma.
“I had Stel scrounge up a few bottles for us on his last trip,” I told her. “I’ve been saving them for an occasion like this.”
“Go easy on that, Tási,” Venna cautioned as she saw the halfling take a deep sip of the powerful liquid.
“It doesn’t seem so bad,” Tási replied after she swallowed the wine.
“But it is—that’s why it’s so dangerous,” Broda warned her. “Best you wait a little while before you have any more.”
Second Skin: Unified: A litRPG Adventure (Second Skin Book 3) Page 31