The goddess knelt beneath the scorched trees, arms wrapped tightly around herself, tears silently falling as the three elf children clung to her.
At first, it was just them—scared, bleeding, hiding.
Then more came.
Tens.
Dozens.
Eventually, nearly the entire village gathered around her glowing presence like moths to a flame. The elves didn't understand what she was, but they felt it the divine energy, the quiet pulse of light that calmed even the smallest child.
Some called her Aelara, some whispered Sky Lady, but none of them left her side.
And Ashley?
She said nothing.
She just kept crying not from weakness, but from finally understanding what it meant to be responsible.
While she watched over them, I moved through the village ruins.
I found bodies in the ash. Mostly men.
Some had been burned alive, others executed cleanly like they were in the way. The slavers had taken only the females and children easier to break and sell.
I didn't speak to anyone. I just worked.
Dragging bodies. Covering faces. Digging shallow graves where I could.
By the time I returned, the camouflage field Ashley had placed around the elf survivors had faded a bubble of holy energy that finally gave out once the village was completely emptied.
The last embers still glowed behind us, black smoke drifting across the sky like a final warning.
Ashley sat on the ground, her robes tattered, her stockings stained with dust and ash. Her head hung low.
The elves crowded around her.
She wasn't their goddess.
But now, they believed she was.
"So" I said, sitting beside her, "now we've got a massive group of terrified elves. And our 'all-powerful goddess' is still sobbing like a child."
She sniffed but didn't respond.
"Where do we take them?" I asked. "You're the goddess."
That's when an elder elf approached me. His hair was silver, braided in the style of forest nobility. His eyes were tired but clear.
"Is your friend truly divine?" he asked.
I tilted my head. "Why?"
"I've seen the way she walks. The way the wind avoids her. The way fire dims in her presence. She's not from here."
I nodded.
"Then perhaps she can help us," he said quietly. "There is an old legend among our kind. A sanctuary. The Secret Tree. If she can grow one, we can survive anywhere. We can rebuild."
Ashley looked up slowly, wiping her face.
"It's not over for these people she whispered.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I have a seed," she said. "A sacred one. I was going to plant it in the royal church, beside my statue. It would've stood for generations."
She reached into her divine robe and pulled out a glowing white seed, pulsing faintly in her palm like it was alive.
"If this seed takes root it will become a sacred haven," she said. "A tree that shields its people, hides them from gods and demons alike. But"
She hesitated.
"But what?" I asked.
"There's a price," she said, voice suddenly hard. "If I give this to someone who isn't worthy, I'll lose my divine authority. My connection to the heavens. This seed is bonded to my core."
"So don't give it to anyone," I said. "Let's plant it somewhere you trust. Somewhere you choose."
She looked at me, surprised.
"Do you have such a place?" I added.
Ashley blinked.
Then slowly nodded.
"There was a temple," she whispered. "A divine grove I visited in my first days in this world. Hidden in the mountains. The humans tore it down long ago. But the soil it still remembers me."
"Then that's where we go," I said, standing. "We take the elves there."
Her eyes widened. "But it's a long journey."
I smiled faintly. "You're the goddess. Aren't you supposed to guide us?"
She looked at the elf elder, then at the children, still huddled at her feet.
"I'll do it," she said. "I'll take them there myself. I'll protect them."
She held the seed in both hands, and a faint divine halo formed behind her pale and broken, but glowing again.
Not because she was strong.
But because she had something to protect.
That night, the elves built small tents from what they salvaged. Ashley summoned protective wards, drawing divine circles in the dirt to keep monsters away. For the first time, she wasn't glowing for show she was glowing for them.
I walked the edge of the camp, keeping watch.
She approached me quietly.
"Thank you," she said.
"For what?"
"For not making me decide alone."
I shrugged. "You're learning."
She looked away. "I still lost the bet."
"Oh yeah," I grinned. "You did."
She sighed. "Fine. One day of slavery. Just one."
I smirked. "Don't worry. I'll save it for something fun."
Her face turned red instantly. "You pervert!"
I laughed. "Just kidding."
But part of her wasn't mad.
Part of her was relieved because for once, her power wasn't about orders or rituals. It was about choice.