[Smite Happens] 10 - In the Company of Sentinels

“Rumors are rumors,” Clarisse said in a sing-song tone as she continued to examine the wound. She wiped away the slime with bits of my dress that she readily tore without asking permission. What the hell was wrong with here? She went on, “The militant monastery was abuzz with these rumors when we left. Rumors are no longer rumors if they’re true, aren’t they? So, is it true?”

I slowly nodded. “My Constitution’s rank… did increase. That’s what showed up when I placed my hand on the, um, green orb. The veloyce.” I couldn’t hide this because they’d just test me again. But it didn’t seem they had a way of knowing the other aspects of my Boon.

“Splendid, splendid,” Clarisse said in almost a monotone. Though I prided myself on being a people-person, I couldn’t get a read on this woman. “Any other injuries? Oh, your back was also struck,” she said after making me lean on my side.

“It’s not too painful. My chest wound is, ugh, the real problem.”

“And your leg has a…” Clarisse gently turned my leg to have a better look at my calf. There was some blood on it. “I was going to say that you also have a wound on it, but it appears to have healed. This is amazing,” she added in a whisper, poking my leg.

“Is it really that amazing?” This should come as no surprise—amazing was my middle name. Wait, do people in this world have a middle name, like how it worked on Earth? I had much to learn about not appearing out of place.

Super lucky that I had a head injury. It was a ready excuse for why I didn’t know a lot of things about this world, as well as the previous life of this body. Not that there’d be much to talk about in a regular villager’s life.

Clarisse met my gaze. “It is… amazing. No sternials. No training. Only your Boon. This reminds me of legends about heroes born from the union of humans and deities, when the latter walked the united planes. Their demi-god bodies are like yours, though you lack their incredible strength to go with it.” She turned to the assassin with an arrow sticking out of his head. “If you did, you would’ve torn him to pieces. Nonetheless, I commend you for managing to wound him without any combat training.”

Clarisse glanced at the assassin’s leg. The handle of the knife stood straight. She then glanced at my own leg. The injuries were in the same spot.

Not wanting her to think too deeply about this, I leaned on the boulder to stand. “I have to go up. Now. Need to find my father… mother…”

“You have to rest and—”

“I’m done resting,” I cut in. “The pain’s still there, but I can handle—ow!” I melodramatically clutched my chest. That should redirect Clarisse’s thoughts to my well-being and hopefully make her forget about my odd leg wound.   

Clarisse tried to make me sit, but I trudged onward. She gave up trying to stop me, instead placing my arm on her shoulder as she helped me climb. “If you can handle it,” she said, “then let us ascend. The captain has stronger potions to cleanse your Stygian affliction.”

As we navigated rocks and loose soil, I thought about my Boon’s restriction. It was a huge hindrance in a fight.

But I wasn’t going to be a pacifist, nor would I be fucking circumspect about my actions. Barely an hour into this new world, and people had already tried to kill me. They wouldn’t be the last. Slashing and stabbing weapons were a no-go because the bleeding from my reflected attack would be too obvious. Even if I covered my body with armor, my blood could seep through the gaps and joints. That’d raise my questions, especially if I hadn’t been struck by the enemy.

Blunt weapons might be the way to go. There was a fantasy book I’d read where a barbarian explained that maces and hammers were the better choice in fighting because swords couldn’t slice through armor. I had no background in medieval history, but it was probably true. Those movies where fully-armored knights fell after a single slash didn’t look very realistic to me. And I had proved for myself that bashing someone’s helmet with a heavy object worked nicely. There might be some bleeding with blunt weapons, but not that much compared to stabbing people.

So far, I had used a credit card reader, a rock, and a helmet to kill. Blunt weapons were my destiny!

I turned away from Clarisse to hide a grin. Really amusing that I was planning that I was just frying chickens earlier, and now I was deciding which weapon to use. Well… this was my second life. I’m just thinking about how to enjoy it to the fullest.

“Sentinel Aspirant Clarisse,” I said, clambering over a rotting log. “Thank you for saving me. Sorry that I’m saying it just now.” This showed that I wasn’t ungrateful. I was supposedly a saint, after all, and I had to act like it.

“There’s no need to say my title—it isn’t much of one. Calling me ‘Clarisse’ is fine. And all thanks be to the Silver-Gloved Lady for guiding our way to you.”

“Yes, yes, thanks be to the Silver-Gloved Lady.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “But, uh… how did you know to come here? Brother Melphor said that you’re supposed to wait for us at Belldale.”

“The captain knows the answer,” she replied. “Someone must’ve told him of this evil plot at Melford because we left that town in a hurry. We were supposed to be at Belldale tomorrow, if the original plan was followed, in time for your arrival. The Silver-Gloved Lady must’ve exposed the machinations to our priest seers.”

I nodded as if I knew what she was talking about. One thing was clear, though—my Boon wasn’t as much of a secret as Melphor thought. If so, it might be better if many others knew about it for added protection. I hoped there’d be more people wanting to protect rather than kill me. The motive of the assassins was another thing I should find out. It was probably better to talk to this captain guy than Clarisse.

Cresting the top of the hill and returning to the road, we met one of the Sentinels of the Silver Order guarding their horses. I counted four horses, though I spotted tracks leading further down the road. More Sentinels were somewhere out there, hunting assassins and looking for survivors. I spotted a couple of them in the distance, wrangling the horses that used to pull our wagon.

I pretended like I was about to run off to find my parents. Clarisse caught me and calmed me down with her usual hollow words. Of course, I relented.

Clarisse unlatched a bag from a horse, which I assumed to be hers, and led me several paces away to hide behind a wall of shrubbery. “I’m going to clean your wounds,” she said, fixing a blanket across tree trunks to screen us from view. “Remove your clothes.”

“Remove…?” What were the standards of modesty in this world? Though this was a medical situation, I shouldn’t be ashamed. Like, if this were my Earth body, I wouldn’t be embarrassed because I worked my ass off and on at the gym. This wasn’t my original body, so I should have fewer qualms.

I unbuttoned my tunic and undressed. More like I was peeling my clothes off my body because they got glued on by the dried blood and black slime. I hugged my clothes across my chest.

“What does this Stygian slime thing do?” I asked. “Smells like rotting meat.”

“It does, yet. The Stygian affliction decays the flesh when untreated.” Clarisse opened a small pouch that turned out to contain water. I think this was the waterskin made from animal hide that I had read about many times in fantasy books. It was a welcome coolness as she poured the water over my wound.

“But you don’t have to worry about that, given your Constitution,” she continued, alternating pouring water and dabbing with a cloth to wipe away the loosened gunk. “This is simply prudence. And I don’t want to leave you bloodied and smelly, do I? Not at all fitting for a new Chosen Bestowed.”

“Thank you,” I said. Still not sure if this odd woman was genuinely helpful or not. Since I didn’t want to let an awkward silence linger while she was wiping my body, I continued to ask her questions. Might as well use my time to learn something. “Where does it come from, those shadows the assassins used? This… sternial? I don’t know what it is. I haven’t travelled far from our village.” I held my amnesia card in reserve.

“Understandable that this is your first encounter with a sternial.” Clarisse vigorously scrubbed my back. “Most creatures are blessed with Cores that allow them to use what you can think of a magic to us humans. Us humans, not native to this plane, don’t have Cores.”

“I remember what my grandfather told me…” Just pretend to know about it for now. I wondered if Emery Pyrebraid knew how to read the writings of this world, so I could research in libraries. Probably not, if she were a random village girl. This was going to be a huge pain in the ass learning to read and write again. I had sacred texts to publish!

“The short of it is that sternials allow us to use Cores,” Clarisse went on. “We don’t need decades of studying magic or crafting elaborate staves and wands. Gone are those days. As for the shadows you’ve seen, they’re the Stygian energy manifestations generated by what I’m guessing to be a feldeer Core. Do you know what a feldeer is?”

I shook my head. “Only heard stories about them and their scary horns.” I hoped that they did have horns.

“They’re monstrous, carnivore deer that live in nether-steeped regions. Not particularly strong creatures, these feldeer. They operate like assassins in the way they hunt, aiming to wound their target and afflict them with dark energies. Stygian energy will poison prey from within. In a couple of weeks, a normal person will be too weak to move due to illness. The patient feldeer will come to feed.”

“That’s horrible,” I said, though thinking the opposite. Those were freaking badass deer! This also meant that this world was populated by fantastical creatures, not just horses and regular Earth animals.

“I share your sentiments.” Clarisse shifted back in front of me and showed me a circular container filled with a greenish paste. “I’ll apply a salve made from herbs on your chest wound and then bandage it.” She dipped both fingers to scoop out some paste.

It gave my skin an icy feeling, reminding me of a menthol balm I had used when I had muscle aches from moving too many heavy boxes at the store. Looking down at my chest, I couldn’t really see the extent of the wound because of the angle. But it wasn’t that painful anymore. The gnawing sensation in my body was also gone.

“Now, I’m going to bandage it,” said Clarisse, unraveling a roll of white cloth. “I doubt that your wounds would open—it didn’t while we were climbing—but this is just a precaution.”

Before I could respond, she held my hands and lowered them along with my torn clothes, exposing my breasts to the cool forest breeze. She expertly wrapped the right portion of my upper body in less than a minute. My chest and back wounds were covered.

“Try this on.” Clarisse handed me a white shirt with symbols on it. “I’m bigger than you, but that should be fine until we reach Belldale. I’ll buy you clothes there.”

“I really appreciate the help,” I said. Hey, this woman was quite reliable. A bit weird, but reliable. “Now, can we go look for my parents?”

“I’m not sure… Oh, the sound of horses.” Clarisse stood up and looked over the cloth wall she had put up. “It’s the captain. Let’s ask him about what happened.”

(Author's Notes: Yuri bait? Sort of. Lol. Anyway, we finally reached ten chapters. I’ve noted many things to add/edit for the rewrite, like Emery's age and circumstances (she’s about to graduate and chose night classes so she'd get the day shift at the convenience store), and Emery Pyrebraid's age, appearance, and clothes. I'm also changing the distance to Belldale to half a day away. Returning to the village would also be half a day.

Also, what do you think of the opening chapters? More specifically, the part where Emery couldn't control her body at the start. I know that this might be a problem for some readers, but what about you? I’ll most likely change that part. I’ll rework the earlier chapters.)