Her Curse Lifted

Yuri examined her captive. Theresa's short curls framed her sleeping face. Thick, black brows arched gently over shut eyes. A wide, flat nose, above large, curvy dark lips. Her full features only looked bigger given her massive size. Theresa lay upon the stone floor of the priest's ritual chamber, cushioned by pillows and blankets. Yuri would've liked to have her resting in a bed, but it wasn't easy to find a mattress large enough to fit a woman nearly three-meters tall.

"Are you sure you're alright, Yuri?" Katia asked. She sat on a cushion, to Yuri's left, eyeing her bandaged shoulder worriedly.

Yuri placed her left hand around Katia's waist and drew her in. After receiving treatment from the temple healers, and a good night's sleep, Yuri was nearly fully recovered. A normal human with her wounds would've needed months of rest, but superhuman resilience was simply another aspect of Yuri's Way. She gave her smallest lover a reassuring smile. "Just fine, kitten."

Katia blushed at the new nickname. "Kitten?"

"That's what you are, isn't it? My cute, adorable little kitten, always worrying over me. I'm all healed up, kitten. Don't worry anymore, alright?"

Yuri brought the back of her fingers to Katia's cheek, and she nuzzled against them. In lieu of a verbal answer, she hummed contentedly, almost like a purr.

On Yuri's right side, Lucy slept peacefully, using her thigh as a pillow. Her swordswoman lover had been up all night in emergency meetings, reporting to her superiors about Yuri's battle. Yuri stroked her blonde hair, eliciting a soft, relaxed sigh from the sleeping woman.

Responding to all of the quiet noises, Theresa finally began to stir. Her eyes flickered open, still unnaturally bright green but no longer glowing ethereally. A side effect of the ritual, according to the priest.

She stretched and rose, letting the blankets covering her chest fall. She took a deep breath and flexed her muscular arms. She faced Yuri, making no effort to cover herself. Yuri didn't complain, drinking in the sight. A warrior's body, fit, and covered in scars. The deepest scars circling the joints, linking different shades of black skin. A massive, patchwork body, carefully pieced together from many, smaller bodies. Even her face held faint surgical scars, mostly hidden by her curls, around her ears and neck and scalp. It didn't mar her beauty, in Yuri's opinion, although she thought it was a shame that whoever had done this to her had elected to remove her breasts. Her chest was flat, her pectorals marked by precise scars, her nipples gone.

"You resurrected me." Her voice was gentler now that they weren't fighting each other.

Yuri nodded. "Yeah, the priest said it was pretty expensive, but he did it anyways. Something about striking a blow against the emperor. I wasn't really listening."

Katia was blushing, her eyes turned away from Theresa's naked body. "You should be free of his influence now."

Lucy woke as well, quickly gathering her bearings. She sat up and faced Theresa's nudity with neither shame nor lust. She stayed quiet, listening, although she could not completely understand the Ancient Tongue they were speaking in.

"Yes, free of the emperor's curse." Theresa nodded. She looked to Yuri. "I owe you then."

Yuri shrugged, leaning back and showing off the growing bulge in her shorts. "I know a way you can repay me."

Theresa scowled. "I'm a warrior, not a whore. I'll pay my debt with lance in hand." Yuri raised her eyebrows. "My lance, not yours," Theresa stressed, sighing. "You are Kendar's champion, correct? You said your name was Yuri?"

"Yeah."

"Then what is your plan to deal with Eleria's retribution?"

Yuri hadn't really thought about it. "Fight and win again?"

Theresa sat up straighter, growing irritated. "You struggled against two Eidolons at once. The emperor has nearly fifty at his disposal. He sees what his Eidolons see, which means that he knows you had a tough time against me and Petrus. Your limit is probably four Eidolons, but he'll want a crushing, guaranteed victory, so he'll send at least a dozen. They'll be here next week, with an army of around twenty thousand undead, many of them more powerful and better equipped than the decaying and longdead in my legion."

Yuri reeled under Theresa's angry barrage of information. Something about what she'd said irked her. She could take a dozen Eidolons, surely, as long as she had enough good swords. "I think-"

Theresa cut her off. "-No, you aren't thinking. Eleria's scouts reported that Kendar has a standing army of around five hundred, and a militia of roughly twenty-five hundred. They missed you," she said, looking at Yuri. "Obviously, or we would've come better prepared. Unless Kendar has more secrets, this city is done."

While Theresa spoke, Katia quietly translated for Lucy. Lucy's expression turned grim, and she said a few words back. Katia turned to Theresa and spoke in the Ancient Tongue, her voice small and squeaky, full of worry once more, "Yuri is our only trump card. She came to us five weeks ago, along with the onset of spring. Before her arrival, we were planning to petition our neighbors for aid, to help us against Eleria and Matzungo."

Yuri shifted on her cushion, indignant. "I can beat-"

Again, Theresa interrupted, now talking directly to Katia and completely ignoring Yuri. "-You have no neighbors who can help you against Eleria, except Matzungo."

Katia protested, saying, "But, the blood tribute-"

"-is better than the genocide that the Empire promises." Theresa's voice was harsh and resolute.

Yuri didn't understand what she and Katia were talking about, but she could tell that Katia was losing hope. Her kitten dug her nails into Yuri's hand, which she clutched tightly with both of her own, too lost in her anxieties to notice what she was doing. She muttered, almost too softly to hear, "Is there no other way?"

Before anyone could reply, the door to the ritual chamber opened and Agnes and the priest entered together. Today, Agnes's colors, besides her ever red hair, were amethyst gems, violet fingernail polish and the same golden stilettos she wore when Yuri first met her. The priest was an old man wearing a white tunic, emblazoned on the chest with a stylized image of an orange sun surrounded by two dozen sunrays. The same stylized sun appeared on the chamber's altar, at the back of the room, in the form of a golden statue. It also hovered like a golden halo over the marble statue of a muscular, bearded man, outside of the ritual chamber in the main temple dome.

When Yuri first awoke, earlier that morning, she was in Agnes's bed, within the temple. Katia and Lucy had then taken her to visit Theresa, whose undeath had been cancelled through resurrection in the priest's chambers. According to the priest, the multi-rayed sun was the symbol of the High Father, God of the Sun and Sky, Sol, and it was Sol's divine will that had returned Theresa to the living. Regardless, Yuri was thankful to have a chance to be with Theresa without the hassle of the Eidolon's fiery aura. Theresa might've rebuffed her once already, but Yuri was nothing if not persistent.

Agnes helped the priest into a wooden chair resting against the wall of the chamber, as he was still weak and exhausted by the miracle he had channeled throughout the night. The two had left early in the morning, to have their own meeting between the clergy and the military, offering their expertise on the situation with Eleria, and the captured Eidolon specifically. Yuri wondered, as she saw the priest's hand brush the side of one of Agnes's boobs, if they had ever fucked before. She decided she didn't like him.

Once the priest was settled, Agnes turned to Theresa and bowed deeply, her large breasts hanging pendulously. "Good morning, Lady Theresa. I am Agnes, Priestess of Lunarra, and this is Marcus, Priest of Sol. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Even Theresa seemed shaken by Agnes's beauty, and her breasts. She took a moment longer than usual to respond, saying, "Yes, a pleasure. And thank you, especially, Marcus, for the resurrection, if that was indeed your doing?"

Marcus answered, his voice weak and raspy, "The High Father deserves your thanks, milady. I am but one of his humble conduits here on the continent. And it is I who should be thanking you, as well. I've heard that it takes the emperor many years to prepare an Eidolon. To release one from his service, and set him back so far, in a single night truly, may be the greatest accomplishment of my long life."

Theresa's gaze faltered, turning away for a moment, before she responded. "Yes… It took him ten long years to shackle my soul to his will, and bind me to this blasphemous body. Thank the High Father, for saving my soul."

"Glory be to the sun and sky," Marcus answered, attempting to stretch his arms up, but failing to bring them above his head. He coughed weakly, muttering, "Glory be."

Agnes knelt on the cushions that had formed Theresa's makeshift bed, resting a hand on the giant woman's shoulder. "Be not ashamed of your body, milady. Despite its origins, Sol's resurrection has bonded your soul to this earthly vessel, and it is truly yours now. Every body holds beauty. Yours is no exception." Agnes pressed her soft breasts against Theresa's muscular right arm.

Theresa lifted the blanket around her waist slightly, as if suddenly embarrassed. Agnes pulled away, flashing a friendly smile. "If you two are part of Kendar's clergy," Theresa said, changing the subject, "Then, do you know Kendar's next step in regards to Eleria?"

Agnes's smile quickly pinched into a frown. "As a matter of fact, we just finished meeting with the Duce and his generals. It seems like the ambassadors from the neighboring city-states are actually upset that Yuri defeated you and the other two Eidolons."

"What?" Yuri asked, confused. "Why?"

The old priest answered, "They were hoping Eleria would lay siege here, slowing them down for some months. Now, I fear, the emperor may seek a more… decisive result."

Theresa nodded, saying, "Twenty thousand undead, led by a dozen Eidolons, at least. Here in a week, by my estimation. I know the Empire well."

Agnes winced, and the priest sputtered. "Lunarra comfort us."

"Sol save us."

"If the ambassadors are backing away," Theresa added, "Then Kendar must face the Empire's legions alone. You can send messengers to Matzungo, but reinforcements likely won't arrive in time. Has the Duce considered migrating the entire city?"

"Wait," Yuri said, "Why can't I just beat this second army too?" Katia whimpered at her side, and Lucy sighed, even if she could only grasp bits and pieces of the conversation.

Agnes gave her an honest answer. "You nearly lost your battle with the third Eidolon, Yuri, and your blessed sword is gone. We can't bless another one properly in a single week." Yuri grumbled, but had no rebuttal. She had forgotten about needing a blessed sword to fight the Eidolons. Agnes turned back to Theresa. "Migrating the citizens would be too costly, and dangerous. The Duce didn't even consider it. I think we're heading into a siege. If we can hold the gates long enough…"

"Impossible, against the Eidolons," said Theresa. "And I suppose if you just abandon the city for Eleria to take, Matzungo might not see value in your people as refugees, sacrificing you to their goddess instead. Dead and damned, no matter which path you choose to walk."

The chamber was silent for a few moments, as everyone tried to think of a solution to an impossible problem.

Yuri was the first to speak. "Well, we'll just have to try our best then, right?"

"Yes, yes, that's right," the priest replied. "Never despair, even in the face of certain defeat."

Yuri squinted and pulled her lips to one side of her face. That wasn't quite what she meant, but at least it got them talking again.

Theresa said, "I owe Yuri for breaking me free from the emperor's Eidolon curse. I'll defend Kendar with her, to the ****. With hope, it may be my last."

Yuri frowned, standing to her feet. "We'll work hard, and we'll win, together. Nobody is gonna die."

Katia whimpered and began to tremble, hugging herself to Yuri's leg. Then, suddenly, she burst into laughter. Lucy followed her into a laughing fit, then Agnes, too. Theresa gave a slight chuckle, and the old priest guffawed, followed by a noisy coughing fit.

"Why are you laughing?" Yuri asked, before getting swept away and joining them in their mostly ****, slightly hopeful wave of mirth.