Chapter 144: Gauntlet Run
Grace woke up with her face pressed against cold stone and Petriel’s arm draped across her back. She twitched for a moment, before surrendering to the... current conditions.
[Why do I always end up as the little spoon? I’m the angel who can kill demons. Purify Pillars. And yet, it doesn’t matter. I’m always the little spoon.]
She extracted herself carefully, trying not to wake the healer. Outside their tent, dawn barely touched the mountain peaks. Grace yawned, standing still for a moment, pausing as she found a certain someone. Valkyrie was already up, because of course she was, doing weapon forms that made Grace’s brain short-circuit.
[By Eternia... is it my Love acting up or has swinging a weapon around like this always been sexy?]
"Morning," Grace croaked.
Valkyrie didn’t break form.
"The protection you secured settled overnight. I still don’t get how that works, but the villagers can move normally now."
"Oh. Good."
Grace stretched, joints popping. Her quest log, not that anyone else could see it, showed completion. Twenty villagers helped, protection established. But there was still that other quest. The one about a relic hidden somewhere up the mountain.
"I need to scout ahead," Grace said, sounding oddly more heroic for approximately 5 seconds. "There’s something I need to find before we tackle the Mountain herself."
Valkyrie finally stopped her routine.