1.26 Oathsworn Sentinel
Vicktor and Selia stood with their respective parties and paid. He had assumed the celebrations would have taken place in a similar manner to his last moment of passion, but instead, all eight left the warm building into the cold of fall.
It was weeks away from snowing at a minimum, the weather mages could only predict up to a few days in advance with any certainty. Sooner or later, the first flakes that Vicktor had seen in a long time would fall.
Despite what Selia had said, it wasn't truly getting late, the sun had been set for an hour or three, but it was late in the year. The midnight bell had yet to strike, and was easily more than an hour out.
"Where are we going?", Vicktor asked as they stood in a small circle near the entrance. The street had a fair number of stragglers and quite a few stumblers.
"WE aren't going anywhere," Lav said in a light tone, "I am going back to my bed and sleeping in."
"Havlan will do the same, can't stalk and skulk without a proper night's rest."
The small person departed without warning, jumping off the sides of buildings for no other reason than it was fun.
"Meryl and I are coming back to my bunk, we both need a shower," Nora smiled, "Vicktor you have a nasty habit of going to bed reeking of sex, I know your nose isn't as good as mine, but still!"
"Hey! I get into it and then I'm just tired after. Plus it's much nicer to sleep next to another person than it is to sleep on my cot", Vicktor huffed a little, "who has time to shower after?!"
Gralgra, huffed in amusement, "I do actually have a good nose, but I prefer to shower the morning after. The smell reminds me of battle and victory. I will be taking this feathered lad to Peculiarities and Playthings, they have rooms there and a few toys I think Alar would like."
Alar gulped and nodded.
"It's a surprise!" Selia said in an odd tone.
Vicktor looked up at the dragon in confusion, but she only smiled back.
With their itineraries known, the seven split, four groups departing into the chill night.
"Did Ultar talk to you when you advanced?" Vicktor asked.
He was following Selia as they walked in an unfamiliar direction. Allium was huge, but they were definitely going towards the outskirts, near more of the residential areas.
"He did. You came up actually..." Selia almost snarled out the words.
She did not speak for a few long moments, but they continued walking.
"It's the second time he's spoken to me. I won't talk about the first. If you recall, he's given me guidance three times. Those are separate to Ultar actually talking to me, it's more of a feeling that a thought I had must be true, with utter conviction."
Vicktor took a step to avoid a small puddle in the street. "Huh, I'm not sure I like that a god has taken interest in me..."
Vicktor mentally thumbed back through his memories, nothing really felt that way. He wondered if the chaos gods even spoke? They never did in any of the more well-known tales that he had ever heard of.
Selia stopped and turned her snout to look at him, her eyes boring into his with an unexpected ferocity. She pushed him against a wall and growled. "Neither do I. Ultar congratulated my faith and my aspirations. He said..."
Silence. Selia just stared, her incredibly strong arm pinning him to the wall. She was now tier two. With no equipment and no plan, there was almost no way he could actually win a fight anymore. Vicktor's pulse quickened, he was about to channel his intent towards the street below.
Selia sighed and released her grip on him, before pulling him into a rough hug. Vicktor couldn't move his arms to try and hug back. Her warmth was comfortable even though her demeanor was uncertain.
"He said... What you are... I agreed to the 'Oath of the Sentinel'. It changed my plans for advancement, but I now have an even higher purpose than before." Selia gave a pained smile.
Vicktor was stunned, "Then you know why I didn't tell you. I... don't know what that means, what did you agree to? What does it have to do with me?"
"I'm living my life the way I want to, Master Tosk will explain it when he returns", Selia let out a dry chuckle, "I have it on good authority that he'll be back soon"
Vicktor could see the creases around her eyes, "Why do you seem so sad? Whatever this 'Oath of the Sentinel' is, it sounds like a good thing? Right?"
"Because I did not ask permission from you before agreeing to this, it's not a small matter." Selia pulled back a little and wiped a few tears from her eyes.
"Because I can't come with you, not until you and your party become Rectors. Faith gets in the way of mages' foundations, yours is tremendously more sensitive. Especially with this branch of divinity."
"I think I understand." Victor moved in to hug her, even with no armor, she felt as hard as stone.
"You don't, but that's okay. Come with me. I'm going to miss you. If we don't do this now, I will be even more insufferable than Gralgra."
He really didn't understand, but tried to comfort her. "Will it really be that bad?"
"Yes," She grabbed his hand and dragged him off into the night. A few minutes later they were inside a small stone house.
The house was dark, there were no lights out front and there was no indoor lighting. The only thing to guide him was the tight grip of Selia's hand on his. His senses told him there was no basement and the general layout of the structure, but none of the wood within.
"Follow me", her voice sounding loud in the darkness. Her hand tugged him into a doorway and into the small room beyond.
"One moment", her hand gave him a final squeeze before cool air replaced her warmth. A moment later, a small inscribed lantern came to life. It was even dimmer than a candle, but it was enough to illuminate the room. There were shelves filled with books, small mannequins bearing outfits, a proper bed and some weapons in glass cases. He gazed around the room, straining to see everything in this well decorated room. Her membranous wings blocked off part of the room from view. He only stopped when a small musky garment struck his face.
"You really should be more observant." Selia laughed, placing her hands on her naked hips. The dull light shimmered off her silver scales, sending minuscule points of light off in hundreds of different directions. They twirled and swayed with each breath and minor movement. Her scaled breasts held their shape. They were smaller than the average woman of her size, but nearly irresistible as they twinkled in the lantern light. There was not a single spec of hair on the dragon.
Victor pulled "I was observing the room!"
"You should be observing me." She mocked a huff.
"I will be, is this a gift?" He gave the garment another sniff, it was pleasant, if perhaps smelling a bit like the beer they had drunk earlier.
"I like you, you know", her smile was audible, even if her lips were barely visible.
"Yeah, I like you too." He began to take off his robes, folding them and placing them on a desk next to a few small mannequins of knights fighting.
Selia spoke in a low voice and moved closer, "No love, not until you can be trusted, like will suffice. Just don't die, please."
"Okay," Vicktor decided that now was the time to ask, "I know this isn't a declaration of a relationship, but I thought you'd be more the monogamous type? Very headstrong and direct. I like it a lot, but it doesn't scream monogamy."
"Monogamish, same as you I think. There are too many hot people. Even after my oath, some people are just so cute. Sorry if this sounds strangely one-sided. God’s know quite a bit and Ultar, the god of justice, loves keeping extensive records. That Wordbinder, Quinn I think right? You should keep things going with zer. You two share more than you think."
"Ah", he shrugged, "Interesting. I will keep that in mind."
Vicktor frowned, almost forgetting something, "Pregnancy? I'm sure this oath doesn't agree much with babies."
"I laid an egg last month, it'll be another two months before I need to worry about any hatchlings."
"Alright then." Vicktor stepped closer, placing a kiss on a scaled breast. "Shall we begin our second duel?"
"Let's."
With her newfound strength, Selia plucked him up and threw him upon the bed.