Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 193

Chapter 193: Promise

Three more days passed.  Progress was slow yet steady on all of the projects Lysette had committed to.  She spent most of the afternoons reshaping the forests to the north and east of Ciricu.  The smell of herbs and dirt in the air, the cool breeze flowing through her hair, the sense of purpose, and the feeling of using her power to uplift and build rather than kill and unmake.  Lysette relished every bit of it.

Beginning on the second day, Amalia started participating alongside Lysette and Lyon. She wielded her Earth-manipulation techniques to help Lysette both uproot the trees and get them re-cemented in their new resting places.  Her Spark’s recovery was proceeding smoothly, although Lysette still forbade her from exerting too much of her abilities and demanded she take frequent breaks.

Lilia had joined in on the third day, helping the two slowly steer the flow of water and bend the existing stream toward an artificial lake the group would be constructing nearer to the town.  Mirae stopped by as well for short stints to bring the group lunch, although they spent most of their time coordinating long-distance communication in and around the village.

They had made one other notable modification to Lyon’s initial plan.  At Maxwell’s insistence, once the project was completed and the lake filled, they would feed the lake’s outflows back into the pre-existing waterway.  

He had expressed concerns that other towns were relying on the stream as a source of water.  If those flows were substantially disrupted, there was always the threat of provoking a more forceful military response, a concern which Lysette found sensible.  She was further concerned with the ecological impact of completely shuttering the downstream flow, the animals and especially the plants that might be deprived of their water.

Most of her evenings were spent Cultivating, improving her proficiency with her new plant-based techniques.  It was slow-going; learning yet another disparate path of Cultivation necessitated yet more time and Essence spent furthering her foundation.  And on top of that, she had to devote some of her expansive, yet still limited, mental energy toward bolstering the strength of her comrades.  

She had awakened Lyon’s ability to Cultivate, mostly because he was insistent in his desire to actively participate in the construction process.  She hadn’t yet done so for the rest of the people of Ciricu at the insistence of the Council of Elders, who wanted to make sure there were guidelines in place regarding the use and misuse of these new gifts.  

There weren’t any serious concerns about someone going on a rampage with their new power— Mirae and Serrena would nip any such attempts in the bud.  But several of the elders were worried about making sure everyone had time to adjust, especially the parents of young children.

Every morning, Lysette spent time with Captain Potani.  She’d ask about the missions that he went on, about the scope of the one in which he’d been captured, and about any future operations in which he was slated to participate or had advance knowledge of.

Every time, he’d say he had no such knowledge.  Every time, Nicholas would confirm Lysette’s suspicions that he was lying.  And though she would again try her aura at half intensity each time, the captain’s resolve remained firm, almost as though it were buoyed by another’s intervention.

But on the fourth day, after asking the usual questions, and getting the usual answers, she continued with some less sensitive questions.

“Captain, if I may ask,” Lysette continued, “Do you have any family members back… wherever you lived before all this?”

Captain Potani looked up.  “Why do you care, Lyse?  It’s not like I’m going to see them again.  It’s only a matter of time before you get tired of me and kill me just like all the others.”

“I lost my family in a military skirmish a couple of months ago.”  She pointed to her heart.  “Time dulls the wounds, and you learn to cope with the scars and press on, but the pain never does go away.”

“That’s the life of a soldier.  You know going in that you might be called to kill for country and god.  Or to die for them.”

“You and I did.  My parents and sister didn’t sign up to die in war.  The people of Ciricu didn’t ask to be assailed by bandits, then have your Archduke send soldiers after them after I stepped in to deal with those bandits.

“They didn’t ask to be terrorized by your fellow Captain Garland.  To be terrorized by armored soldiers one and all, including several trained Cultivators, all with little more to defend themselves than farm implements and the base strength of their muscles.”

“Do you think it’s your right to interfere?”

“My right?  It’s my responsibility to ensure that, as long as I draw breath, the people of Ciricu, who now live under my protection, are shielded from all harm.  To make sure that the elders here aren’t forced to send off their children and grandchildren.  To make sure that the kids here don’t grow up orphaned because some soldier decided to ‘do his duty to country and god’ and slaughter a bunch of innocents who can barely even raise a hand to defend themselves.

“And so I’ll reiterate my question.  Do you have any family members?  A mother, a wife, children?  Maybe a younger sister of your own?”

Captain Potani’s eyes went sullen.  “I won’t tell you.  I’d rather die than see one hair on my wife’s or daughter’s head be harmed.”

Lysette shook her head.  “I don’t do that sort of shit.  That’s the tactics of cowards like your Archduke, knowingly threatening and attacking innocents like your fellow officer did.

“I’m asking because I figure they might want to know that you’re alive.  Held captive for the foreseeable future, yes.  But alive, and will be released as soon as we can establish a peace agreement with the Archduke.”

“You would deliver a letter across enemy lines?”

“Right now?  No.  I don’t trust you not to try to break out of here and continue with your mission to the detriment of my friends and charges.  But if you help me out, give me some information that can be used to protect my people, and convince me that you won’t try to bust out the moment I fly off to deliver the message, then I see no reason why I can’t deliver the message on your behalf.”

“And how would you manage–”  Captain Potani shook his head.  “No, if you command the loyalty of that monster, I’m sure you possess power I could not even conceive of.”

“That monster?” Lysette asked.  “I don’t command any monsters.”

“The woman with the fiery red hair.  I don’t know what she is, but she fought with more ferocity and raw power than any human I’ve ever known.  More like a demon than a woman for sure.”

Lysette giggled at the irony.  “I’m quite confident that she’s not a demon.  And I do not command her loyalty.  She is a friend who has agreed to assist me in some of the projects I am working on in and around Ciricu.”

“You would do such a thing?”

“Like I said, convince me that you are willing to help me.  Provide me with information that will help me defend my people against further attacks, and I would be glad to convey a letter to your family.”

“Even without assurances that I wouldn’t send you into a trap?”

Lysette smiled.  “If you want me to kill more of your comrades, you’re more than welcome to give me directions there.  But I’m trying to be better than just killing everyone who gets in my way.  Anyway, I hope you’ll take some time to consider my offer.  See you tomorrow, Captain.”

Lysette headed outside and stared at the morning sky.  It was completely cloudless, but despite the clear skies, she was filled with apprehension.  

The upcoming night was the night of the new moon.  And between their falling out and everything which had occurred in the previous few weeks, Lysette had heard nothing from Zarielle about any missions for the evening.  Nightshade hadn’t been around in eleven days, and that didn’t seem to be changing before tonight.

“Something the matter, love?”  Mirae slipped an arm around Lysette’s waist from behind and pulled her in against their warm, comforting chest.  “Anything I can help with?”

“I might need you and Serrena both tonight.  If Zarielle shows, she might be hostile this time around.”

“You’re seriously thinking of fighting her?”

“I don’t want to.  I hope not to.  Though we don’t always see eye-to-eye, she is still my patron, and I owe her my life.  However, when I said I was going to protect you and the people of Ciricu, I meant it.  I will protect you from anything and everything that would do you harm, up to and including the gods themselves.”

“I know you will.  And I’m going to support you all the way.”

“Thank you, love.”  Lysette nuzzled tighter into Mirae’s chest.  “We’ll get through tonight, somehow.”

“Somehow?” Serrena asked, dropping out of the sky to land next to the couple.  “Have a little more confidence in yourself, Lyse.”

“Were you listening in?” Lysette asked.

“I asked her to stop by just now.”  Mirae smiled and kissed Lysette’s forehead.

“Well, if you two are going to be all mushy with each other, I’ll take my leave before I lose my breakfast.”

“Sorry,” Mirae and Lysette both said, pulling apart from each other.

The three made their way out of town at Serrena’s insistence, touching down upon a new clearing just outside of town.  Further to the east, there was a conspicuous pathway that continued on for a couple miles and marked through where the stream would be diverted.

Serrena looked both excited and proud of the rapid progress which had been made in the past several days, gleefully grinning and patting Lysette on the back.

“Well, it seems like this is really going to happen, and quicker than I dared hope.  I thought you were a fool for wanting to move all the trees around rather than just cutting a swath of the forest down to make room, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Would have been even more of a pain to do it that way,” Lysette said.  “Even if you cut the trees down, you’d still have to uproot them and figure out what to do with all the cuttings.  Sure, you could have burned them, but it would have been such a waste.  And that doesn’t even mention all the soil erosion, which would only be made that much worse by constructing an artificial canal through the area.”

“I sometimes forget that you used to practice herbalism and botany back before being a goddess,” Serrena said.

“We all have things we’re better and worse at.  I couldn’t hope to match your tactical acumen on the battlefield, nor your mastery of the flame.”

“You know, that actually does make me feel better, Lyse.”

Lysette paused.  “Lysette.”

“Lysette?” Serrena asked.

“My real name.  My human name.  I’ve gone by Lyse all this time because, after what happened to my village, I needed some sort of cover in the event that my enemies would discover me.  Considering the once-Chancellor, I think my fears were well-placed.”

Serrena scoffed.  “You weren’t kidding when you said your tactical acumen was lacking.  You needed a cover name, and you chose literally the closest name possible?”  She shook her head.  “My literal divinity help me, Lyse— Lysette, whatever— but I don’t know what you’d do without me.”

“I know, Serrena.  Our first few meetings might’ve been…  tenuous, but I’m really glad that we met that fateful day ten weeks ago.”

“Right back at you, Lyse.  I don’t know what Zarielle is planning, or whether we’re going to have to fight her tonight.  But I’ll promise you one thing, Lysette.  Whatever happens tonight, we’ll face it together as a team.  And we’ll make it through together, to tomorrow’s dawn.”

Lysette smiled.  “Thank you, Serrena.”

Chapter 192: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111216638

Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/table-of-101896170

Chapter 194: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111216655