As I climbed out of the tent, everyone was waiting for me. I suddenly felt very self-conscious as they all stared at me. I fluffed my skirt and glanced around. I could see three tents evenly spaced around a campfire as I had expected. We seemed to be situated on top of a bluff with sheer cliff edge on three sides and forest behind us. A very defensible position. In the distant valley below, I could make out waves of red grass. So we were probably somewhere in the Akari Highlands then.
“So tell us girl, who are you?” My mind had wandered a bit, but Gabriella jerked my attention out of the clouds with her commanding tone.
“Umm, my name is Alexis Stevens. I'm from Wisconsin. I'm a Virgo. I love reading and oatmeal and baking cakes..” I trailed off into silence as Gabriella looked down at me like I was an idiot. An idiot child.
And then she slapped me. Without any warning and lightning fast. One breath I was standing and looking at her frown, the next I was kneeling in the grass. The sting on my cheek was matched by the heat of humiliation. I could taste blood in my mouth and see bugs crawling along the course blades of grass poking up through my fingers. It was real. It was all fucking real. Somehow, I had been teleported or reincarnated or my world had been wished into existence or some other weeb shit. Alright, I could handle this. I can do this.
I started crying. "Gabriella!" Hannah knelt down beside me and rubbed comforting circles on my back.
“Bethul'Dyr, have you ever heard of a Plane called Wisconsin?” The tall elven woman turned to her enigmatic wizard and carried on as if she hadn't just shamed and assaulted me.
“We have not.” The voidling's ethereal voice drifted all around us, seemingly carried on the wind. The only evidence of the shadow creature under the flowing cloak was the glowing red eyes peering out from the hood.
Hannah helped me back to my feet and I dusted myself off.
Gabriella and Bethul'Dyr were still talking, so my mind wandered as I looked around at everyone's heights and compared them to the horses and tents and myself. My Gabriella was six feet tall and this one seemed just about right on the money to match. I was the shortest in the group, depending on how you measured Bethul'Dyr, so I roughly guesstimated my new body's height to be around five feet and three inches. As a devil-blood, I had been demoted five inches from my human self, but the trade-offs seemed well worth it. At least until I had to pee, but we'd cross that bridge when we came to it.
“Well? Speak!” Oh shit. She had asked me a question while I was totally spaced out. I flinched, fearing another slap. Gabriella glared at me, her eyes narrowing at the confusion and panic on my face and I was reminded that this was a terrifyingly dangerous woman. She had two swords and a long bow secured to her back for travel, several daggers on her belt and thigh, and those were just the weapons I could see. For every weapon you could see, any good fighter had one you couldn't, and one day she would be one of the best in Illith Aranor. Although with no streaks of silver yet in her jet-black hair, I would place her as younger than I had ever written her. In fact, they all looked so very young. Maybe this was their origin story? Before all the fame and power.
“You're scaring the poor thing!” Hannah stepped close and wrapped a comforting arm around me. I was very thankful for the angel's calming presence. At a bit over six feet, the cleric was the second tallest in the group after Gregorius. She was still wearing her heavy metal armor, adorned with Iridatha's symbol, and a giant war mace dangled at her hip. Hannah was the strongest of them by far, and I had little doubt that she could toss me into the air with one hand. Or pin me against the wall. And that knowledge was not helping me keep my gay panic in check as my muscle mommy stood so close. My very real, and not a dream muscle mommy. And she had politely ignored me when I hit on her, so she was a real person with agency. They all were.
“I.. I'm sorry. This has all been so overwhelming.” I scrubbed my hands over my face with a heavy sigh.
“You were just about to tell us more about the Elder God and explain how you know about it.” Gabriella informed me in a tone that made it crystal clear I would severely regret not doing so.
I opened my mouth to ramble through what I knew and probably say too much when a subtle movement of Bethul'Dyr's hood caught my attention and their red eyes seemed to glow extra bright at me. Were they shaking their head, warning me to be careful? Was I reading too much into the wind? Discretion being the better part of valor, I decided to play it closer to the chest.
“The gods Above send me whispers and visions when they see fit to do so.” I let out a heavy sigh and hoped that would be enough to stay her blade. “It's often muddled and difficult to decipher the meaning, but this one was very clear. The Elder God threatens..” I trailed off because I realized that I couldn't say Illith Aranor. Huh, that's interesting.
They all took this in and gave it some thought, and then Cassandra finally spoke up. “Just the gods Above?” She emphasized the last word and her insinuation was clear.
“I like to think so, but I can't exactly ask them. That's more of Hannah's thing. On that note, I'd like to ask a question if I can.” I turned to the blonde cleric. “When you said I had been seeded by demonic corruption, what did you mean by that?” It certainly wasn't something that I had ever written. “Is it like a magical thing or more.. phy-si-cal....” I nervously dragged the word out while vaguely pointing at my stomach, in the general location of where I hoped my womb was if devil-bloods and humans had similar internal layouts and I was remembering high school biology correctly.
Hannah seemed to understand what I was asking and shook her head. “It's entirely a magical curse. Gregorius could have received it, the same as any of us. There's a sort of.. magical infection gestating inside you and when it pops, you die painfully and your body becomes a portal to the demonic Abyss.”
Well, fuck.