Sky Gardens

Proofer: Saphira

BOOOM!

An explosion erupted where the two spells met. A visible concussive wave shot out in every direction, kicking up loose dirt. The surrounding fires that burned in the surrounding trees puffed out from the force. Helio's hammer sliced the beam in half, reflecting it off its course slightly. That was Avery's miracle as each severed beams punched the ground to her left and right, narrowly missing her by less half a meter.

The air around the beams shimmered from the intense heat. Avery felt it partly through the barrier, but at that moment, it wasn't up. She felt it clearly, the intense pain like she was thrown into an oven. Her skin desperately let out sweat, trying to cool her down.

Avery's spell, having cut the beam, punched through at break-neck speed towards the maw of the dragon. It pierced the spell formation that floated a few inches from its maw's opening. The spell dispersed with another concussive wave. Punching through, it finally reached its target, the dragon itself.

Its head jerked unnaturally, and blood sprayed out the back of its head. Its whole body spasmed for a brief moment before it barreled downwards. After a few seconds, its body crashed into the ground. It carved a trench with its massive body, stopping a few meters away from Avery. Broken branches and leaves began to fall from the sky here and there. Its massive body left tens of trees shattered and toppled in its wake.

[Warning! [Helio's Wrath] in effect!]

Her body fell backward, limp. An intense pain coursed through her body. Her back arched with unbearable pain, her legs thrashed as they kicked dirt. Her hands gripped her chest. Her body burned, her muscles screamed. It felt like someone had stabbed her very soul with a knife. Her vision blurred with tears as she gasped for air. Before finally, everything went black.

»

In the vastness of space, a myriad of distant stars twinkled. Against hues of pink, blue, purple and black, it was peacefully majestic. Nearby, was a single planet with three moons orbiting it. It wasn't the only planet in the system, but it was the only planet that held sentient life. Eos.

"Why did you stop me?" A disembodied voice broke the peaceful silence. Its tone was angry and commanding, but young. For a couple of moments, there wasn't a reply. "Because you've already slaughtered the others." Another disembodied voice replied. It was the sweet voice of a woman. Almost flirtatious... and mocking.

"Obviously it was because they were a threat to us." The childish voice shot back, even angrier. Lightning crackled across the empty space, with no source or target."Yet, little God, it was your idea to use them." The woman's voice sounded sweetly back, but its tone more factly. "That doesn't matter! You have another one!" The childish voice now sounded like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Enough!" A sudden wave of mana exploded from nowhere. The wave passed over a certain spot, leaving two shimmering figures in its wake. One a womanly figure and the other a child with no clear gender. It was only for a moment were their figures visible, but it did its job. They no longer argued.

"The player 'Avery Bailey' is not to be touched." The voice barked an order towards the two. "The agreement was I'd allow your little curse for one year, no more. Whether you were able to kill all of them or not isn't our problem." The voice sounded more normal now, like a deep male's voice. " But -" " Young god, shall we both erase you from existence ?" The young god tried to speak up, only to be cut off by the third voice.

The silence held for a couple of minutes with no other words spoken. "Good, by my command. Avery Bailey is not to be touched unless she defiles a shrine of yours, Alistair. Then, you are permitted to move mortals against her. Under no circumstance are you to do anything personally unless she attacks your heavenly body. You are also no longer permitted to leave Asgard."

Another few minutes went by without a reply. "Do you understand?" The voice boomed out again, releasing a terrifying aura that distorted the vicinity, two figures shimmered again, but only the child seemed to be affected. His shimmering figure crumpled into a fetal position before the aura released him.

After a few moments, a weak childish voice replied "Y-Yes...". "Understand that a High-God's word is law, but it is also a binding curse. The universe gives us our powers, with many rules child; keeping our word is one of them, should you break it... I will have to exterminate you. You both may go now. Jen'Kuo, tend to your champion."

" " By your will, Odin. " "

Where those two were, trails of silver sparkle swirled before disappearing into the vast sea of stars. With a small sigh of annoyance, Odin faded in a wisp of golden sparkles that disappeared into the stars as well.

»

When Avery awoke, the cloud covered sky had disappeared. In its place was an orange and red sky. It had become dusk. She slowly sat up, each muscle screaming in protest. Her body exhausted. A whimper entered her left ear, turning slightly, she saw Fenrir. He had blood spots here and there that had already dried a disgusting shade of brown. "Fenrir! Where are you hurt?!" It took a few seconds for her mind to register the happenings of earlier. Her powered through her body's unwillingness.

She got to her knees, her hands fumbling with his armor as she tried to take it off. "Master, I'm alright! Please rest!" His protests fell on deaf ears. Seeing the panic and fear in her eyes, he became quiet, letting her do what she wanted. It took a few minutes, words of comfort kept spelling from her mouth as she finally got off his armor. Blood caked hands frantically ran through Fenrir's fur, looking for wounds.

It took a few rounds before Avery found nothing and wrapped her arms tightly around him. He was at a loss for words. He could feel her shaking body through his thick fur, but he'd never seen his master this way. He didn't know how to act, his eyes looked at two figures sitting nearby on a toppled tree trunk. "Um... Avery... I believe you're troubling the wolf."

An older woman's voice broke the silence. It didn't have its usual noble tone but sounded tired. Avery's eyes quickly shot up towards the voice with a menacing stare. Her feline eyes narrowed, bloodlust radiated from her. Empress Maria felt her life flash before her eyes, but it wasn't like the dragon. Dragons killed to either eat or gather magical treasures. She was sure the Dragon happened to fly by and detect the unshielded Ghost Flower from the island.

This child, on the other hand, it was pure bloodlust. Her body instinctively shielded Fenrir's unprotected body. Like a wild animal that had been injured, trying to protect its offspring. For a few seconds did it last, before Avery finally became sane, realizing who they were. Her body relaxed visibly, leaving a barely audible "sorry". Desmond stood next to her but was scared stiff. He probably would have emptied his bowels, but he had done that earlier already when he crawled across the that horribly clearing in fear. He was much cleaner than Empress Maria though.

Her left arm was missing from the shoulder down. Her hair was singed, the dress caked in blood and ash. There were many holes and ripped parts. No longer looking like an Empress, she would best be described as a neglected slave. Seeing their pitiful appearances, Avery's heart twisted. "What happened to you guys...?".

Maria recounted that they were sailing over the valley. Noticing the Dragon in the distance, they quickly went onto high alert since young dragons were attracted to magical items. Their ship didn't have any tools to seal the Ghost flower so they tried to speed up. This only caught the young curious dragon's attention. With it coming closer, it managed to detect the flower's aura and began attacking. Having only scholarly mages and Royal Knights, they weren't prepared to fight the normally peaceful dragon.

After that, the dragon knocked them out of the sky.

It mauled the downed ship like a hungry dog mauling a rabbit. It tore at its haul until it found its prey. The Ghost Flower that Empress Maria had. Naively thinking she could keep it safe, Maria lost her arm as the dragon tried to pry it from her grip. It never got the flower as it fell somewhere in the debris along with her mangled arm. That was a few minutes before they arrived. Then a few minutes later, Avery engaged the dragon and she already knew the rest.

"Well... You guys should go clean yourselves up... You both look like crap..." Avery tried to lighten the mood. Sadly, they only looked at her with uneasy expressions. "You look worst than both of us..." Both of them nodded, but before Avery could retort. Desmond spoke up again with a stronger voice." Avery, you're wounded... You're covered in blood, ash, and dirt. Please go tend to yourself.. Fenrir wouldn't let anyone touch you..."

She didn't know she was wounded. She confused what they met before she took a look at her body. Her armor was matted in dried blood with dirt and other debris stuck in. There was a small gash on her stomach and tens of cuts everywhere. Suddenly becoming aware, she felt her skin protest. She most likely was bruised on her back. The notification symbol in the corner of her vision was blinking repeatedly as well.

[Warning! You've been cursed with [Alistair's Curse]]

[War- [email protected](#[email protected]_(#*&3( ]

.

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[ . . . Don't worry my Little Kitten, I am watching over you...]

[Curse has been purified!]

[Warning! Insufficient mana to heal! Please manually activate when sufficient!]

[Warning! [Mana Exhaustion] in effect, Mana recovery slowed!]

She looked at the chain of text. She did a pass before decided she had enough for today. She switched to her mana bar.

[10,000/1,000,000]

She only meekly nodded towards Desmond before asking Fenrir to carry her on his back...

A sea of stars reflexed in the calm river. Silver moonlight illuminated the land and outlined a single girl bathing by the river's edge. She was completely out of sorts. Thinking about the last two days, she absent-mindedly bathed herself. Her fair skin glistened beautifully in the moonlight. Her armor had been thrown into the shallow shore water. A stream of red flowed from both the armor and Avery as the water washed over them.

Her back was entirely black and purple. Bruised from the impact of being hit. Her stomach faired no better, but the injuries on both were visibly shrinking, the effects of a healing potion she consumed a minute ago. The open wounds began to close and the internal damage was being repaired. It felt like someone's hand was rearranging the very fabric of her being while doing so. It was uncomfortable, but she knew it was healing her.

Fenrir had also washed away the blood from his fur. He stood just on the shore while giving her a status report on the happenings at the crash site. None of it improved her mood. She was basically the cause of the disaster. She had given them the flower thoughtlessly and tens of people have died. It went without saying that she wouldn't have known, but it didn't change that their blood was on her hands.

Her mind had gone blank for a couple of moments. The reality of the world she was in. People were dying. She was physically harmed and some god tried to kill her all in one day. She thought she too much on her plate, but today... Today was hell. She let the icy water soothe her worn soul. Trying to find some silver lining, any little thing that could make it just a sliver better. Staring up at the mountain outline, she had tears falling from her golden eyes as the thoughts began to process again.

"Hey... I, umm, thought you might want this..." Desmond voice thoughtlessly danced across the silent night air. There was uncertainty in his voice, a hue of fear, but Avery was his mother's savior. He emerged from the treeline with a fluffy towel in hand. He was oblivious to Avery's nude state as he too was caught up in the day's events. He feared Avery, but at the same time, almost worshipped her. Fenrir's body perfectly blocked Avery's body with only her cascading snow-white hair visible from behind.

Fenrir, being a furred monster, who was none the wiser about human gender etiquette, didn't budge from his spot as he stopped speaking to look at Desmond. It was only after Desmond stood no more than three meters away did he register she was naked. Her beautiful young body bathing in the moonlight made his mind stop. Avery, on the other hand, was too preoccupied. Only when she heard Desmond muttering her name like a broken record did she turn around.

"Desmond..." It didn't register to her either. Her mind pushing the reason for today's event front and center. She rose from the river her wet body glistened in the moonlight as she strode up to Desmond. The fear of her instantly evaporated as her stark naked body entered his view.

Fenrir only looked at him in amusement. Maybe he knew, but just didn't care.

It was only a few minutes of awkward silence as Desmond and Avery stood to stare at each other awkwardly. Both of them without words for two very different reasons. Desmond watched her slowly disappearing bruises, mesmerized as more skin appeared. He was simply to naive to know what to do or say. Be it her thick thighs, her ample breasts, or those faintly glowing feline eyes of her. All of them took his breath away. It wasn't his first time a woman had took it, but none of them were as beautiful as Avery. None so dangerous nor so unique.

"Desmond..?" Avery's head tilted in confusion after agonizing over how to apologize. She also felt something off, but couldn't pin it down. "Y-You're n-naked..." Desmond's face had turned a lovely hue of pink. Only when Desmond mentioned it did Avery become self-aware again. Looking down, her nude body came into sight. Fuck... I... Whatever...

Avery just accepted it. Her body had been in his view for a good while now, no point in getting flustered over it. While her thoughts were like this, her face, on the other hand, was quickly turning red. Almost mechanically did she pick up her clothes and armor from the stream to put it on. "Master, you'll get sick if you put that on.. Take the boy's towel." Avery only let out an "ah" before she blankly left it all on the dirty ground. She took the towel from Desmond before wrapping herself, covering her "important" parts from his sight.

Only then did she return to some state of sanity, turning her grieved face towards the wolf" Why didn't you tell me he was coming?" Fenrir only huffed. "He clearly called out to you." Fenrir finally realized what he did wrong and tried to play it off. As an act of punishment, Avery used Fenrir as a seat. Her weight was nothing to Fenrir, but she wasn't about to actually hurt him for something so small... Well... It didn't deserve physical attacks.

Desmond was somewhat cleaned up, mostly his hands. Avery only looked at him with a forced smile before turning her sight to the river. She clearly was still embarrassed. "So what did you need?" Avery finally got to the point. "Ah... I.. Nothing... I just wanted to give you the towel..." "Are you busy?" Avery turned her attention to Desmond again, there was something turning in those eyes of her. "N-N-Nooo...?". Her feline eyes narrowed, he could almost picture himself as a mouse that fell right into her claws. "Undress. Bathe." Two simple words, that were said in a gentle manner, almost like honey. That's if you didn't look into the eyes...

"Restitution. " Was Avery's final word.

Desmond ended up naked, sitting in the river with a beet red face as Avery dried herself unreservedly. At this point, she gave up all reservations since he had already baked her naked image into his mind. She didn't want to bother with it anymore. So long as no other men came by.

"Master... Why didn't you just dress directly from her item box when he came out?" Fenrir ended up asking her. Her head turned mechanically with a dangerous glint. Fenrir could almost feel himself being carved alive. "I, uh, am going to go help the others." Before Avery could even do something to him, he escaped like a gust of wind into the forest.

Desmond kept looking into the water, reciting noble virtues in his mind. He could feel the beautiful demoness behind him was provoked and tried to avoid her ire.