The escape clam was crowded and room was scarce, so she was pressed right up against Merijest, but Thesa was barely conscious.

  Witmie wrapped a strip of cloth around Thesa’s eyes. “It looks like some sort of migraine,” Witmie whispered to Durn. “Can you use that spell that helps me with those?”

  Durn nodded and activated a simple magic ability to suppress noise around Thesa.

  The muffled silence was a relief, but it was short lived. The clam, surging through the water, lurched to a stop. Blood flowered in the water around them as the clam spit out its passengers in the middle of the river.

  “What the hell?” Witmie shouted between spits of water and blood. She, Durn and the Foxtapus pumped their limbs to stay afloat. Yabba’s mostly-wooden body floated easily. The Bronze Motif floated in the air, jingling with concern.

  Meanwhile, Thesa sank silently. The crash came without warning to the unconscious [Witch] and her heavy armor disregarded any potential buoyancy.

  Dark blood streamed from Merijest’s forehead as she dove below to rescue Thesa.

  On the bank of the river, Thesa spit up water before losing consciousness again.

  An hour later, Thesa woke up to a campsite. Merijest leaned over her.

  “I can’t believe we made it out alive,” Thesa strained.

  “Don’t scare me like that again,” Merijest said. Her face was stern. “You have to be careful about pushing yourself.” The demoness leaned into her [Witch] for a slow kiss. The kiss tasted like metal and Thesa felt a tingling sensation as the wounds across her body were sealed. Was this a romantic gesture or another strange healing spell?

  Another hour later, the party sat around a campfire. The exact cause of the crash was still a mystery.

  “What do we do now?” It was Witmie who broke the silence. “Our escape clam is chowder,” she continued with a forced grin to accompany her shoddy attempt at gallows humor.

  Merijest nodded in recognition. She was unsure what to say. The [Dungeon] had been a sort of bottleneck that limited the number of possible decisions. Go down or go up. Now their destination could be anywhere, but it seemed like nowhere would be safe.

  “If we can escape ItherBeau, that would be ideal,” Merijest explained. “But I imagine the ports and borders will be on high alert for us.”

  Everyone nodded.

  “What about another [Dungeon]?” Durn asked.

  “That could work if we can find one,” Merijest shrugged. “I’ve been to most of the [Dungeons] in the region, but it's possible some new ones have popped up in the past few years. With a party it will be harder to stay hidden over long distances.”

  “I have an idea,” Thesa hazarded. “It’s a stretch, but…the village where I grew up. Whatever happened when I was a kid, it made the land toxic to anything but monsters. At least that’s what I was told. Now I wonder if it could be a safe destination for us. Maybe Beautuk’s power is limited there too.”

  Merijest nodded thoughtfully. She put a hand on Thesa’s cheek and looked down at her. “That might be our best option. Are you ok going back there?”

  Thesa nodded silently. Her face was warm with both excitement and fear of returning to that place. She hardly remembered it. She wasn’t even certain where it was.

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  “All I really know is that it’s north of here,” Thesa replied.

  “I bet we can figure out some more,” Witmie chimed in. Her notebook was out now. “Let’s write down every detail you can remember.”

  ***

  The next morning, the party prepared to set out. Low in the sky, Merijest surveyed the area for any immediate signs of danger. Below, Thesa, Witmie, and Durn packed up to leave while the non-sapient [Familiars] played.

  “By the way, does this mean I have to become a mapmaker now?” Witmie asked as she slipped her notebook into her pack.

  Thesa blushed as she realized what Witmie was talking about. Durn stood behind the [Fighter] and together they stared eagerly.

  “I think you said that was only if she told Merijest how she feels,” Durn replied. “Did you two talk, or just,” with her hands she mimed some heavy kissing.

  From above, Merijest could just hear Witmie and Durn chanting “spill the deets!” The demoness smiled, happy that her [Familiars] were maintaining good spirits.

  The Twin Stars had told Merijest about other [Deities] in the region worth speaking with. Taking on a hoard of followers and Knights was one thing, but If Merijest really wanted to take on Beautuk, to save the people trapped in his realm, then she would need to reach out to a few other powerful beings with interest in his downfall.

  She tried to ignore the continuous mating shrieks of a few early CicadaRats. A headache was blooming in her forehead and temples.

  Then with a start, she sneezed and began to fall from the sky.

  Witmie, and Durn all stopped in their tracks as Thesa darted to right below the falling demoness. She caught Merijest with ease.

  “Do you have allergies?” Thesa asked.

  Merijest wanted to reply with confidence but her vision was puffing up and her breathing was labored. Before she could slump backward, Thesa bounded over and caught the Demoness around the waist.

  “Let’s get you sitting down,” Thesa said softly. Her hazel eyes glimmered with care for the demoness. Her demoness.

  Merijest was a [High Devil], so-called saint of killers and breather of shadows, with draconic wings and cobalt skin. She also had a runny nose and the start of a migraine.

  “This is stupid!” Merijest pouted, uncharacteristically. “It’s not even summer yet.”

  “What’s going on?” Thesa asked. The half-elf [Paladin]-turned-[Witch] leaned over the demoness who had saved her life and given it a new purpose. Usually, it was Merijest who needed to take care of Thesa, but when the need arose, Thesa was more than willing to support her [Stake].

  “Id’z pfine I’mbfiiiine,” the demoness lied through clogged sinuses. Her eyes were like black glass inlaid with ruby irises around a pearl-white pupil, but the black sclera was inlaid with light-blue veins.

  Witmie was next to approach. “Is this like regular seasonal allergies or something magic?” she asked.

  “bMagich” Merijest said. She wiped her nose on her wrist. “dThisz isz why ice [bDeidiez] bdon’t gho out in sbring amd zummer,” she explained. “bWeakerh bmagic amd zduff. Deh runny bnose izz just bmy allergies…”

  Witmie just looked confused at what she was hearing but Thesa got the gist of it. “So because you’re an ice [Deity], your powers get weaker around the solstice?” Thesa asked. “But you also just have normal allergies?”

  Merijest nodded sheepishly.

  Thesa chuckled just a bit. Was it bad that she thought Merijest was kind of cute like this? She decided it might be wrong and tried unsuccessfully to drive the thought from her head. On the one hand, Thesa and Merijest had kissed right before the final push to escape the [Dungeon], but on the other hand she didn’t want to assume anything. Their lives were on the line. Maybe Merijest hadn’t really meant it… And the other kiss was just healing magic, right? Either way it was wrong to take any joy at all in someone else’s suffering. That was a teaching from the convent that she felt probably still held up, right?

  Merijest had a small stock of three allergy potions packed in the bags Thesa was carrying, but she would need to stock up in three days. About an hour after downing the potion, her nose was done running and her headache was dulled.

  “Still,” she explained, “I won’t be as powerful out here, and after the solstice I’ll be even weaker, so stay sharp.”

  Thesa nodded. Protecting Merijest was the most important thing in her life.

  End of Volume 1.

  ??????

  That's a wrap on Volume 1. Thank you so much for reading this far! Paladin to Witch is the longest thing I've ever written and it is NOT over yet. I can't wait to share Volume 2 with you all.

  For more information on the schedule of Volume 2, check out my post about it .

  Also thank you to my wife for helping me edit all of these chapters and also just being awesome.

  ***

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