Gube.
Gube stared at the massive obelisk that had emerged outside, as did most of the clan who'd gathered around it.
It was, in a word, impressiveâ¦
Though she didn't exactly know what to think of it.
The thing had appeared shortly after midday, and with her sisters still out showing their newest member to the priesthood the ropes, Gube was the only member of the faith to be present.
Instincts urged her to try and bend this phenomenon to her lady's benefit, though whether it had been her who caused it or another force at play, she couldn't say.
She was about to just start âramblingâ something about her goddess to reassure those around her when a window appeared in her sightline...
There was something abnormally different in the way it sat there, completely opaque, demanding her attention with its ominous dark backdrop, similar to the screen she saw when looking at her status, but much darker and devoid of anything she could seeâ¦
Then, words appearedâ
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Hello Gube. I am your goddess. Yes, it really is me, and no, you are not hallucinating. However, I will apologize if this feels brief and curt. This costs a surprising amount of power.
To start, I can hear you when you pray to me.
I have been watching.
I have been pleased.
You âmayâ have fucked us with the shaman.
Partly my fault; I'm not angry with you. Long story short, he belonged to the elder-god of goblins. Now, we owe three hundred souls to her, to be paid in full in thirty days. We own that fucking shaman now, by the way. Make sure he understands that, and if he gives you any fuss, I'll demonstrate what that means for him.
We need weapons and more goblins with the gift, both of which we will start working on tonight. Be ready; we're going to start a few wars together. For now, go to the lake; you need a power boost, and I think both of us need to release some stress.
With love, your lady of darkness, Melinda."
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Gubeâshook as she read, then reread the text⦠eyes growing wider and wider as she just stared at the final words that had been gifted to her.
With love, your lady of darkness Melindaâ¦
With love⦠Melindaâ¦
With love⦠Melindaâ¦
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Gube!
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A second window appeared, snapping Gube from her reverie; the goblin having collapsed to her knees, tears flowing down her cheeks as she burned the image of those words into her mind.
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Love. Her goddess loved her!
Her!
Gube..
Out of all others in the worldâ
She'd known it; of course, she had known it all along!
She'd been the first, and the only one with whom she'd been so excitable with despite how she'd lookedâ¦
Of course, there was that as well, Gube having been the only one to share in a spark of her lady's divine beauty.
And her stats!
She knew what the others started with, and knew what she had, likewise, been gifted.
The difference had been staggering, to say the least.
Gube was only level nine now, but with what she'd been bestowed with her gift, she might as well have been more than three or four times that! Then there was how she was always the only one her lady used to perform the ritual, and⦠well...
Gube was gushing!
Her face was a bright and beaming shade of lovely purple. Love, her goddess loved her!
Had said it, had confirmed it. And now she wanted her to âreleaseâ stress with herâaloneâ¦
Gube felt a familiar heat building within her, one that was too impossible to deny as she let a small moan of excitement leave her lips, unbidden by her usually disciplined demeanor.
Of course, there was more to unpack beyond her goddess's admission of her feelings for Gube, like her dark lady's name.
Oh, her name!
Melindaâ¦
It sounded like a songâ¦
Sounded so elegant and refined when compared to her own that it was just âperfectâ in every way!
She was loved.
She was wanted.
And she'd been watching Gube the entire time and listening to her prayers!
War?
Hah!
Gube would âshowâ the fools around her what war wasâ¦
Three hundred souls?
Why, that was just ten prisoners to be sacrificed to her goddess, per day!
Such paltry numbers like that were an insult to her graceful name.
Gube would burn the Blackwood down around her. Would crush the skulls of fallen children beneath her feet!
She would tear this world asunder for her beloved goddess and pull whatever deities defied her from the heavens themselves and butcher them as a gift for her merciful loveâ¦
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Great! You âjustâ hit fanatic status⦠thatâactually solves a few problems, good job Gubeâ¦
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"Yes, my lady!" Gube screamed, unable to help herself as yet another message from her goddess emerged before her.
She was just so excited and happy and still crying that she just couldn't control her emotions!
âH-high-priestess?â A goblin asked, reaching down as though to try and help her up as, in turn Gube's vision went red.
"Don't touch!" She roared, rising faster than the goblin could react and backhanding the creature across the face, partially splattering its cranium with her hand and sending the goblin cartwheeling end over end with a sickening âneck-crackingâ crunch.
All around her froze as her victim's twitching body finally came to rest very, very far away.
Yet Gube didn't pay a single one around her a moment's consideration as she pushed through the crowd, marching towards the distant lake as all those near her parted like the wind before a rolling boulder...