Enna Is a Land God- Book:2

A Land God's Responsibility

Lagdon did not bother to respond.

"It still lives..." Kishi growled, appearing back at our side and spitting out a hunk of bark. 

I glanced around Lagdon and saw that the fox had put up a wall of fire, preventing the advance of the wooden minions. The larger ones seemed to have stopped, swaying from side to side for a second. Then they began to march again. Damn it.

I returned my gaze to the elf and Specter, the light having begun to fade. Relief flashed over me when I saw Reihekiu getting up off the ground, her hair no longer up, and clearly she was favoring her right leg... but she was alive and that was what mattered. But just as fast as my mood had lifted, it sank to the soles of my feet. I watched as the shadow that was the Specter rose up from the rotted earth as well, seemingly un hurt, but its eyes now blazed with purple light. He was pissed.

"Gnat!" It spat, and a formless jet of darkness shot out from its form, flasing past us, striking the woman, and sending her flying back toward the rest of us.

"Reihekiu!" I gasped, bending down and pulling her bruised body back toward me. I smoothed her hair out of her face and saw that her eyes were still open, but blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and down from one of her nostrils. "Oh no..."

The elf coughed. "You need to worry about yourself, Little Goddess..." She wheezed, exhausted some effort in pulling herself into a sitting position, one of her hands still tightly gripping her blade. "He is strong, and I am done. I am afraid I can be no help now..."

I felt the panic rise in me, but along it began to grow something else. It was red hot and relatively unfamiliar to me, this rage. I used to think that, despite all my troubles and disadvantages in my last life, I rarely grew angry. But since coming to this world, since gaining things that meant something to me, people I could not bare to lose, I had experienced it more and more. It seemed like the more I gained, the more people wanted to take them from me.

"Kishi, please protect Reihekiu." I said, my voice much calmer than the boiling rage within suggested. "Lagdon, finish off the minions."

The hobgoblin narrowed his eyes on me, still aware of the Specter, who appeared to be in some kind of pain, allowing us but a moment of peace. "And how am I supposed to help you, if I am doing that?" He rumbled.

I shook my head. "You can't touch him." I said, pulling the elf toward the fox and setting her next to Kishi's feet. The fox bowed her head and licked the woman's brow. "But I can hit him Mistress... why not use me?"

"Thank you Kishi," I said with a small smile, reaching out and patting her rather massive head between the equally large ears. "But someone needs to keep an eye on Reihekiu while Lagdon manages the rest. I would not be able to bare it if she died fighting my fight."

Fists clenched and scowl firmly in place, Lagdon spoke, his own rage much more evident than my own. "It is my duty to protect you, Lady Enna. Not the other way around! I will-"

"You," I said, in a quiet yet assertive voice, cutting off a man at least three times my size. "Will, do as you are told." I looked up at his stricken and conflicted face, and softened my own features. "I am the land god, and it is my job to rout any pretenders to my office. I can not hide behind your vast and impressive shadow all the time Lagdon... Sometimes, like now, there will be battles that a god must face on her own."

Not allowing for him to try and convince me farther, I turned my back on my friends, wishing desperately that I could have them with me, but knowing that it was not possible right now. Even if they were able, how could I ask them to face a being that had the strength of a god. Even more than when I faced the goregek, I needed to fully embrace my role, and with my own hands, protect what I held most dear.