Rescue

It was not that you felt guilty enough to want to save the woman. It was not even that she was a representation of divinity. She was simply interesting to you. The Seraph was something you had never witnessed before. Having never seen one for the entirety of the first half of your life, you found it likely that this could have been the only point in which you ever would. You did not want to make that only time one where you watched her be devoured by a monster.

“We're saving her.” You stated assertively. Beside you Aiden grinned triumphantly as the other two turned to look at you with slanted glances. Adelin merely stood with the same stock, subtly smile plastered across her lips with her head bowed in the presence of the group. She of, of course, had no opinion unless prompted to have one.

“Technically killing the spider is saving the Seraph.” Merit argued, watching the pale dryder approach the tangled Seraph while salivating something that looked venomous.

“We kill it and then after that she'll still be captured.” The jackal added tellingly. Suddenly you understood her intent perfectly, but it did not change your decision.

“Are you going to vote to run, Merit?” As you asked that she shook her head. You looked to Esther who was already angling to retreat.

“Will you vote to fight?”

“Not even my second choice.” The goblin girl scoffed.

“Then you're both outvoted.” You stated triumphantly. Merit and Esther stared at each other but neither on of them was willing to alter their vote. After a few seconds you took it as your victory and began to plan a good approach.

“Since we're focused on freeing her, we don't need to play to win, just to get the girl and escape.”

“Easier said than done.” Esther pointed out the various filaments surrounding the the clearing.

“All these threads will alert it and it's babies if they're tripped. They're also super sticky and strong, so you can get caught pretty quickly.

“That is why my plan was to use the familiar with her floating swords to cut through.” Merit had a coy smile which told you that the second, unspoken part of that plan was to use the girl as bait.

“Uhm. The spider has almost reached the Seraph.” Aiden pointed. The creature almost had it's pale hands on the divine creature. You could not tell if she wanted to mate with the Seraph, or eat her. Either way, you wanted to stop it.

*

You had Esther throw her rings down so that at least two of the creatures eight legs would fall in. Merit, who wanted to be closer to the action, was held back due to her strength. As soon as the dryder slipped into the portals Esther had thrown she grabbed the legs and pulled. The girl's original intent was to pull the legs off entirely so she could get into the fight but she was very surprised with the raw strength of the dryder that almost pulled the beastfolk through, instead. With her eyes wide she grunted and tightened her grip around the hard appendages.

“S-strong...” With a great amount of effort she got leverage and pulled the legs back in her favor. She stopped trying to pull them off and began just trying to hold them.

You took that success as your cue and nodded to Aiden and Adelin. Adelin spun her swords in a single path towards the seraph to catch the webs and clear the way. You and Aiden followed closely behind, careful not to allow the cut filaments to land on you as they were still extremely sticky and strong. As her web was cut, the dryder creature noticed you all and began screaming in a language you did not understand. Merit had to struggle even more as the monster doubled her efforts to escape. It was at that point that the Seraph woman began to notice you. She reached out as best she could towards you with one hand while pointing down at something with another. You paid that no mind for the moment, completely focused on simply reaching her.

As you and Aiden proceeded forward he suddenly tripped. You stumbled to a stop and looked back. Falling filaments had caught on him and were gluing him to the ground. You also had a chance to look back at your partners. Esther was sticking close to Merit who was struggling to both keep a hold on the creatures legs while desperately kicking away another disgusting, more spider-looking thing. The dryder's young was like it; A spider in body. Where it's mouth should be was instead just a fleshy opening with tendrils that whipped at Esther and Merit in an attempt to grab and pull them. You knew you had to be quick. Looking back, Aiden was already freeing himself with flame, but it was slow. Adelin tossed her swords in a line, causing them to land in the ground as they flew out of her range. She turned somewhat understandably and focused on controlling her shields to protect Esther and Merit. You understood and appreciated that it was the best choice she could make, but still did not like that you were basically on your own for the next, crucial few seconds. You could not wait for Aiden as you could clearly see that the creature was slipping free gradually.

As you made your way through the cleared path you once again looked to the Seraph in desperation. She was annoyedly reaching out to you and pointing down. You followed her elegant, ringed finger down to a sword laying on the ground. You realized what she was trying to say and nodded to her. With no time to think you slid under where she was captured and got yourself caught as well. The strands were like iron that glued you to the ground and prevented any part of you they touched from moving. Luckily that did not include your arms. You grabbed the sword and threw it up to her. It cut through any filaments it touched.

The Seraph smiled down at you as she caught the sword and spun it around using just the strength available in her wrist. Even with just that you could hear the wind whistling from it's movements as she deftly freed herself in less than a second. The woman stood over you and offered a short nod before lunging towards the monster. It seemed at first to be a foolish endeavor but with her sword in hand there was no string that could touch her or fall on her. You wondered how she could ever allow herself to be caught at all. The dryder, whether it was due to greed or animal instincts, refused to retreat. Even if the seraph was free, all she saw still was prey. You knew that was her mistake as the being swiftly severed the pale head from it's neck, followed by it's feminine body from the horrifying lower half. The seraph turned to you once she was down and with a gentle smile cut you loose. The strokes of her sword struck you as being like calligraphy with the way she moved the point so accurately around you to sever the sticky thread and nothing more. Once you were freed she reached down. You gripped her soft hand and allowed her to help you up.

The woman was even more majestic up close. Even with her body's subtle curves they stood out beneath her beautiful white-silk robes. Her tone both seemed impressive and underplayed as the seraph gave off the impression of both being strong and delicate at the same time. Her blonde hair was of course faintly feathered and her wings rested on her back like a flowing white cloak. You took so long admiring her that you did not notice when you returned to making eye contact that she was staring at you somewhat awkwardly, like she was embarrassed.

“Are you okay?”

She shook her head and pointed to her parted lips. The woman then tilted her head to one side and stared at you.

“What? Did you lose your voice?”

“Seraphs have a language that's incomprehensible to most. Some even claim that hearing their voice is enough to drive men insane to hear it for too long.” Aiden explained. He caught up on his own but his uniform was a little singed and he was covered in dust. As you remembered the rest of the party because of his appearance, for good measure you glanced back and saw a dead spider pinned to a tree by one of Adelin's shields. Satisfied, you returned to the conversation.

“Shoot... What do we-” As you were about to ask, Aiden leaned in and spoke in a different, very throaty language after assuring himself that no one else was listening.

The woman was surprised and a bit confused but she gradually caught on, cleared her throat and began speaking using the same language that Aiden spoke. They carried on a small conversation before they stopped and he could explain.

“Her kind and Dragons tend to share the same spaces very often as 'higher beings.'” She nodded as he said that, understanding the higher beings portion quite well, even when spoken in your tongue.

“She says she is very grateful and in your debt.” She began saying something after that. Aiden stopped to listen.

“Oh?” He nodded along for a moment.

“She wants to give you something. I wonder what it is...”

“I accept?” You were uncertain, but not enough to refuse a gift from a mythical being. As Aiden relayed your acceptance she smiled and leaned down to kiss you. She was easily a foot taller and had a long distance to go to connect your lips, but you were not about to move. You were too shocked and intrigued. As your lips locked your vision went white. You heared horns blaring in your ears. Not normal horns. The ones that you heard felt like they were carrying around the entire planet to reach you and were many, many tones layered over one-another. As you focused you realized your vision was not purely white, you were simply staring at something far too bight. Your eyes managed to adjust and view gold-lined clouds swirling around something. Slowly they began to clear and you were given brief glimpses of something. A mass of wings, gold rings and eyes spinning impossibly together all staring at you with unknowable intent.

“There.” It was a voice you had not heard before. It snapped you back to reality. The Seraph's face was still inches from yours and you realized that the soft, deep voice was hers.

“Sorry if that scared you. For most humans, interpreting our voice is more of a curse than a blessing but I just felt as though you would be able to. There are a faint few throughout history that can.” Her soft hands were still holding your cheeks, but gradually slid off. You were stunned.

“W-wuh?”

She cocked her head to one side. “Did you see something?”

You gulped. “Saw and heard.”

“What?” She asked curiously.

“Horns blowing across the whole world. Endless clouds and...”

“Oh...” She was surprised, but also not at all phased.

“You saw the end of everything. Creation returning to it's creator.” She leaned down and squinted at you.

“Are you okay? You don't look mad...”

“I feel fine. Just a little...”

“Shocked? I'm sorry.” The woman stepped closer and hugged you quite familiarly. It was tight and warm. While you were still in her embrace she leaned back and smiled down at you very sweetly.

“What are you doing here?” You questioned.

“I got in to have a look around but I have to go quickly before the guardians figure out I was here in this form. Will you keep my secret, as well? We can possibly meet again as friends if you do.” She asked, still holding you affectionately while looking down into your eyes.

* * *

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