Her Most Ardent Devotee
It was only the very last touches that were being put into place now. The many priests and attendants of the Great Tree's temple had done their work well in preparing for the harvest ceremony. All the proper rites and rituals had been administered. Blessing upon blessing had been sought and granted in the build up to the big event for the day.
Even the more superficial details were all exactly as they should have been. Every robe and banner had been freshly cleaned and perfectly pressed. The most beautiful flowers from all across the kingdom adorned every room, corridor and garden. Fresh food from the fields had been brought in by the bushel to be blessed, filling tables and basket with their earthly riches. Incense carried a soft perfume throughout the temple grounds, down into the city below and even up into the mountains above.
Everything was just as it should be.
All except for one thing and, of course, it was the trickiest of all the things in all of Eternia to get in the right place at the right time.
"Dana …" Olga muttered under her breath.
The High Priestess prowled the grand halls of the temple in search of her quarry. Her eyes cut harsh swathes from every nook to every cranny as she hunted. Many of the younger, less experienced members of the clergy scampered into hiding or else turned their faces away for fear of drawing her wrath.
Olga clenched her teeth like a vice. "Where in Eternia are you?"
xxx
Shrill little whinnies and wails rang into the air as the fox panted through the pain, his paw at an unnatural angle.
"There, there, it'll be alright." Dana soothed. She reached out and gently took the twisted paw in hand.
The fox flinched a little but was either too panicked to try, or else didn't have the strength, to pull away and flee. The poor thing must have been so weak. Gods only knew just how long he had been lying there in the grass until Dana had stumbled upon him.
She glanced back out over Eternia below. They really were quite a distance from the city now, high up on one of the hillsides that surrounded her homeland. The tall stone spires of the city stood as proud beacons amidst the rich greenery of the forests and jungles Eternia was nestled between, along with the crystal blue waters of the sea on the city's far side. Her home was always a welcome sight – a little island of civilisation within the maelstrom of natural chaos all around it – even though she did enjoy venturing out to see that chaos first hand.
"It's ok, I'll help you however I can." Dana promised with a smile as she turned back to the fox. She had no idea if the poor beast could understand her in any way, but she hoped that her sincerity would get through to him somehow.
She put her other hand out to hover just over the paw, willing her power to pour from her fingertips. Soft green light flickered into life as it passed from her to the fox. Dana knew her healing capabilities were sorely lacking compared to many of the other priests and priestesses at the temple. She could handle little scratches and scrapes at most really, so her attempt to fix a broken paw probably wouldn't be able to do all that much, but it would just have to do for now.
Within seconds, her spell seemed to have at least some of the desired effect. The fox stopped in his whining, falling to a steady pant. His beady little eyes became transfixed on the strange green light that passed through his fur to the bone and muscle beneath.
"There, is that a little better?" Dana asked with a smile.
She chuckled when the fox replied by leaning up to give her cheek a lick.
"Dana!"
Dana froze, already grimacing even before she saw the glare that was surely waiting for her from behind her back. The fox in her arms merely peered up at her with its beady eyes, cocking his head curiously.
Turning slowly, Dana instinctively manoeuvred the fox to hide behind her back.
As expected, Dana was greeted by the sight of a tall, familiar, athletic figure climbing up the cliff-side to meet her. She had green hair that was cut in a sharp diagonal across the face with one ponytail hanging off to the side, its tone was almost the exact same as the fine regalia she wore as High Priestess. As expected, the expression on the taller woman's regal cut face was a stern scowl.
"Olga! How lovely to see you!" Dana smiled wide, as though it would deflect the impending lecture at all. She already knew that it would never work however. It never had in the past after all.
"What do you think you're doing?" Olga cut past all pleasantries with folded arms and a hard look as she stared the shorter woman down. She wasn't even out of breath from the climb.
"Who, me?" Dana put a hand to her chest with an expression of pure naïve innocence on her face.
"Yes, you." Olga patted her arm with one set of fingers in an impatient rhythm. "Dana Iclucia, the girl who should be at the temple, conducting her very important duties as Maiden of the Great Tree."
Dana scowled a little at being deemed a 'girl'. She was a woman after all. A young one, sure, but Olga was hardly any older than her. The slightest hint of a teasing spark in Olga's eyes told her that the taller woman knew it just as well, and was purposefully prodding buttons.
"There's just the little matter of a service before the Great Tree itself today." Olga continued in a sarcastic drawl. "You know, the one where we thank the Great Tree for another bountiful harvest. The one the whole kingdom of Eternia will be in attendance to witness. One the Maiden of the Great Tree herself should be there in person to preside over, ring any bells?"
"I know! I haven't forgotten! I just- I needed to come out here and …"
Dana struggled to think of an adequate excuse. There was very little that came to mind, much less that might actually work on the High Priestess.
"And what, Dana?" Olga tapped her fingers impatiently again.
"And … Well, come out here and see the animals and nature?" Dana finished with an awkward smile. "Get a breath of fresh air?"
Olga sighed, more of a groan really. "You came all the way out here – all alone, without an escort need I remind you – just so you could play with some animals?" The High Priestess' voice dripped with disdain.
"Hey! I didn't come out here just to play!" Dana objected with a frown. "I came to help them. Look!" She held up the fox to show Olga her proof.
The poor little beast whined and moaned tenderly. It gazed up into Olga's eyes with a cautious yet tentatively hopeful glean in its own gaze.
Olga regarded the creature for a long moment in a steely stare. Her expression didn't soften from that scowl at all, not one inch.
Dana brought the fox back to her, putting it up beside her face. "Look at him, he needs our help. His paw is broken, poor thing." She pouted, flashing her eyelashes at the green haired woman to add to the charm offensive.
Eventually, the High Priestess sighed. "What am I going to do with you, Dana?" she shook her head wearily.
"Well, you could help me get this little one back to full health?" Dana tried with an optimistic smile.
"Dana, you are the Maiden of the Great Tree." Olga reminded her needlessly. "You have greater responsibilities to see to than running around after every injured animal in Eternia you know."
"I know, but …" Dana sighed, but then she gazed up at the High Priestess with renewed resolve. "But he needs our help! I can't just abandon him now. He won't survive out here all on his own!"
"Dana …" Olga murmured with a stern look.
Dana just frowned back with growing confidence. "I can't just abandon someone in need, Olga, no matter how small, not if I can help them. Besides, maybe the Great Tree led me here so that I'd find our little friend and see that he gets better."
"You don't believe that any more than I do, Dana." Olga rolled her eyes.
Yet Dana could see that her will was breaking. She kept up the charm offensive, fluttering her eyelashes over large, puppy dog eyes.
The High Priestess sighed heavily once more. Her scowl started to turn into something more like a grimace and she groaned in meek objection to the inevitable.
"Fine. Bring him back with us if you must." She finally relented. "I'm sure you can find someone who can take care of him at the temple."
Dana smiled wide. "Yes! Thank you! Thank you, Olga!"
"But you're carrying him." Olga gave the blue haired woman a pointed look before turning to march back home. "Come on, let's go. The whole temple will be up in arms if you're gone much longer. Let's get back before they decide to elect a new Maiden, one that won't run off all the time."
Dana chuckled as she jogged to catch up before falling into step besides her oldest friend.
xxx
Back at the temple, Olga quickly ushered Dana inside a dressing room to prepare for the ceremony.
She pulled the injured fox from Dana and pushed him into the arms of a bewildered initiate in one fell swoop, simply instructing him to 'deal with this'.
Dana was a little surprised that the taller woman hadn't just pushed her straight into the service itself, but Olga was nothing if not a perfectionist. The High Priestess quickly summoned some of her subordinates to help titivate Dana's attire into a more 'dignified bearing, as befitting a Maiden of the Great Tree' as she liked to say.
Olga herself joined in on the fussing of course, and Dana couldn't help but smile at her friend's deeply furrowed brow as Olga deliberated over what exact angle Dana's tiara should be at.
Dana gave her a cheeky wink and stuck her tongue out.
Olga gave her scowl and flicked the Maiden in the forehead with a single finger.
Dana just chuckled back.
It was a little thing, one that paled into nothingness before the magnitude of serving the Great Tree of course, but Dana couldn't help but enjoy those little moments of silliness. They helped remind her of the humanity beneath all that pomp and ceremony. Underneath the lofty titles of Maiden and High Priestess that held sway over much of their lives, there was simply Dana and Olga.
Once she was finally satisfied with the Maiden's appearance, Olga gave the other priestesses the nod. Dana was swiftly ushered out of the preparation chamber and through the heart of the temple to where the Great Tree stood tall and proud.
It was always quite the sight to see. Just being in its presence was a humbling affair, but Dana was always drawn to smile, instead of giving more solemn reverence. The temple and the Great Tree had been her home for so many years after all. It was their home, Dana and Olga's too.
Gathered before and all around the Great Tree were the many hundreds of souls that called Eternia home. All people, of all ages and all walks of life were there to celebrate and give thanks. As much as it was a celebration, all those gathered seemed to understand the significance of the event, or at the least they respected the sanctity of the Great Tree that stood tall and proud before them all. Even the youngest children, who would have normally been running around and getting into trouble, seemed to recognise it too and kept diligently by their parents' sides.
A part of Dana lamented that, and that the mood was a touch too solemn for a celebration. She loved it when people could freely be who they wanted to be, who they really were, even if that was just being a kid at play. There would be more jovial, more relaxed events in the city in the coming days of course, but those were whole days away.
Even the Queen, and Dana's other dearest friend, Sarai was there as part of the ceremony. Dana gave her a broad smile as she passed, and Sarai returned the gesture with an amused look and an encouraging nod.
In most other events of national importance, the Queen would typically have been right by the Maiden's side – their positions were regarded as near equal as head of state and head of religion after all – but this ceremony was one of spiritual significance most of all, as the Great Tree was thanked for another plentiful harvest.
Once in position at the dais before the Great Tree, Dana stopped and bowed her head low before it. The priests and priestesses that had been escorting her bowed likewise, before turning to leave the platform once more. Dana however stayed, and was soon left as a lone solitary figure on the dais as the rest of the clergy passed by one by one.
Dana watched them go by without really seeing. She'd rehearsed the same procession a hundred times before, and would likely walk the same path another thousand more. Her eyes were only really interested in one thing that made her smile.
Near the back of the parading clergy was the High Priestess herself. Olga's face was a familiar mask of solemnity as she cast a critical eye over the proceedings. Dana could just imagine Olga silently judging every little detail that was out of place, even if it was a single leaf that fell from the Great Tree itself.
When she finally reached the front, Olga bowed her head low before the Great Tree, just as the rest had done, but unlike the others, she stayed with Dana on the platform to stand by her side before the massed congregation. Olga then turned, giving Dana a short nod of encouragement, before carrying on to face the assembled clergy and laypeople.
Then, Olga was speaking, giving her meticulously well-rehearsed sermon to the masses.
Of all her more formal responsibilities – and there were many – Dana perhaps liked this one the most. For whatever reason or tradition that started it, it was the High Priestess who had the lion's share of the speaking responsibility for that day. Dana as Maiden chimed in at the appropriate intervals of course, but for most part she could simply stand there and watch Olga do her thing, delivering her sermon in that crisp, authoritative tone of hers.
Dana couldn't help but smile at her.
When she happened to notice the attention, Olga returned the look with a slight narrowing of the eyes. The High Priestess gave the Maiden a minute scowl that would only be picked up by Dana herself at such close distance, and not by the many Eternians gathered before them both.
Dana couldn't help but chuckle a little under her breath, even as she knew that she would probably pay for it in private later, when Olga didn't have to worry about keeping up such stringent appearances before the whole kingdom.
xxx
"Honestly, you can be so immature!" Olga was bristling as they walked back to their chambers a while later. "Imagine if you had distracted me from the sermon, in front of all those people, in front of Queen Sarai!"
"Relax, Olga. That didn't happen, did it?" Dana chuckled.
"Not for the lack of trying." Olga huffed with a shake of her head. "You are such a child!"
She would have chuckled a little more, but Dana decided not to push it against the High Priestess any further. Olga had allowed Dana to bring the injured fox home after all, after much persuasion.
After the ceremony had concluded, Dana had gone to make sure the fox was doing well. She found it with its paw freshly bandaged and was pleased to see it happily lapping up a bowl of milk while being petted and fawned over by at least half a dozen younger priests and priestesses at once. The only person in the room who didn't seem to be enamoured with the cute little critter was Olga of course.
Still, Olga stuck close by the Maiden's side as they left for Dana's private quarters – probably just so that she could make sure that the shorter woman didn't run off again. Dana would have found the babysitting to be more than a tad irritating from anyone else, but she was always glad to spend more time with her dearest, oldest friend.
"The ceremony went well today, don't you think?" Dana asked, idly chipper as they walked the temple's halls. "You were brilliant as always, Olga."
"Hmm …" Olga murmured noncommittedly.
"Olga? Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing." Olga shook her head. "Sorry, I was just wondering how much the people actually hear from me – how much they want to hear from me – when they have the Maiden right there to deliver their sermons to them."
"Olga! Don't think like that!" Dana objected. "You're the High Priestess. Of course the people want to hear from you."
The taller woman let out a small smile. "Oh Dana, I'm not being melancholic at all. I just know that you are the one the people love most of all."
Dana sighed. "If that's even the slightest bit true, then it's only because I'm the Maiden."
She thought back to their youth, to the time when it seemed all but certain that Olga would have been chosen to lead the people as the Maiden of the Great Tree. Dana wondered how things might have been different were their positions reversed. It could so easily have happened after all. In many ways their positions should be reversed. Olga was the more grown up and responsible one. She always had been. Surely she would make a more capable Maiden than Dana did?
Dana sometimes wondered if Olga held onto any lingering resentment that she was passed over for the role of Maiden for Dana. Yet as stern and as prickly as the green haired woman could be at times, she had never showed any bitterness towards Dana herself, not even for a moment. She had always been Dana's most steadfast ally and an ever-present source of comfort and support, and Dana knew that she could never really repay her for that.
"It's true because you are 'Dana'." Olga corrected with a smile. "The people care for you because of who you are, because you care for them even more."
Dana wasn't sure what to say to that. Of course she cared for her people, for all people, and all animals and injured foxes too.
"Don't you care for them?" She almost hated herself for asking it, but the way Olga was speaking had her wonder.
"Of course I do, but you are …" Olga trailed off into a slight chuckle for a moment, "something else."
"What do you mean?"
Olga merely shook her head, chewing on her lip a little.
"Come on Olga, tell me." Dana tried to coax with a smile.
"It's nothing." The High Priestess smiled back. "Let's just get you back to your room, night will be falling soon."
"Alright." Dana smiled back, but couldn't keep that hint of curious concern out of her gaze.
Reaching Dana's quarters, the Maiden sauntered over to her bed and sat herself down with a relieved sigh, glad to take the weight off her feet. The grand, decorative stonework that marked the rest of the temple's architecture carried on through here as well. Warm browns and sea greens and blues were the gentle décor of choice, with the flickering glow of the fires in the braziers lit about the room adding to the homey, comfortable feeling to the place.
Olga meanwhile moved over to the side of the room, where Dana kept her crescent blades hung up on ornate stands when not in use. Olga reached down to pick up one of the curved swords. The long, elegant arc of razor sharp steel glinted gloriously in the fading sunlight that crept in through the window as Olga turned it in hand to inspect.
"It's always struck me as a little odd you know," Olga mused as her fingers traced the blade's edge, "that the Maiden of the Great Tree would wield such a fearsome pair of weapons."
Dana smirked back just a little. "Almost as weird as a High Priestess having a spear?"
"I mostly use it as a staff in my role." Olga retorted calmly. "And even if I didn't, it's a far more a practical tool than yours. A spear is a simple yet effective weapon. I can use it to fish for meals in hard times, or even as a simple rod to bar a door if needs be."
"Hey, my weapons are practical!" Dana complained with a pout. She struggled to think of a utilitarian use off hand, mind. "Kinda."
Olga smiled just a little. She gently lowered Dana's blade back down to join its twin on the stand.
The High Priestess then turned back to face Dana, a sincere and determined light in her emerald eyes.
"And I use my spear to protect my Maiden."
Dana felt her chest clench a little, even as a happy smile took over her lips at Olga using the word 'my'.
"You don't need to protect me, Olga." Dana promised. "I can take care of myself, you know."
"Your antics say otherwise." Olga raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Running off from Eternia to go and explore the wilderness isn't the most sensible of decisions, is it? There are more than injured foxes in those hills you know."
Dana frowned, and was about to retort when Olga sighed and shook her head.
"I know," Olga cut off the impending rebuttal, "I know, you weren't in any real danger today, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about you, Dana."
"Well you don't have to." Dana chewed on her lip for a moment. "And you know, while you may be my High Priestess, I am also your Maiden. It's my responsibility to keep you safe as well."
Olga breathed a chuckle. "That isn't how it works, Dana."
"Why not?" Dana pushed herself to her feet and approached the green haired woman, a serious look in her eyes. "What is the point of me being Maiden if I'm not supposed to protect my people?"
"You protect us in other ways. You interpret the Great Tree's teachings to us." Olga answered calmly. "Let me, and the rest of the temple, worry about protecting you first."
Dana frowned. "You know I don't like being coddled like a child."
Olga smiled warmly. "I'm not coddling you. I just want to keep you safe."
"And I am." Dana stressed with a bit of a chuckle. "Seriously Olga, what do you think is going to harm me here? Do you see an assassin under my bed?"
Naturally, Olga's gaze darted straight to the bed in question, then roved around the room for a few moments to search for any other hiding places an assassin might use.
"You are the Maiden of the Great Tree." Olga reiterated once her scan had come up clean. "You're the most important person in all of Eternia. It's vital that you are kept safe above anyone else."
Dana chuckled. "Don't let Sarai hear you say that, she is queen after all."
"And I know she'd agree with me." Olga smirked. Then she sighed. "Am I irritating you?"
"No, I just- I just don't want you to worry so much. I'm fine Olga, really."
"You know I can't just stop worrying about you." Olga murmured, raising a hand to gently brush a couple of stray hairs away from Dana's cheek. "You're my Maiden, my best friend, and my …" She faltered, biting her tongue.
"Yes?" Dana whispered, leaning in a little closer with a smile. "Go on."
Olga sniffed a brief chuckle. "And you're the main source of all my stress and anxiety."
"Olga!" Dana scowled, swatting at the taller woman with both hands.
The High Priestess merely chuckled under the assault. She soon stopped the attacks by simply grabbing hold of Dana's wrists.
"Stop being so mean." Dana pouted.
"Only when you stop being such a troublemaker." Olga smirked. "Honestly, you're always running off when you have something important to do. You're worse than those children you play with."
Dana eyed Olga's grip on her wrists, noted that it was loose, and deftly manoeuvred her hands to hold break free. The Maiden swiftly struck back, taking Olga's hands in hers so that their fingers were intertwining. Dana took a moment to smile at how their hands fit together, with Olga's being so much larger than hers, yet holding Dana's fingers so gently.
"Those are rather outrageous words to use against your Maiden, you know. Do you want me to exile you to the corridor for the night?" Dana teased with a smirk.
"Dana …" Olga murmured, cheeks pinking bashfully just a little.
It was an odd thing really, in front of a crowd of hundreds, Olga's will and resolve was an impenetrable fortress. There was never a moment where even the smallest crack of emotion showed through. Alone with Dana however, that fortress was little more than a poorly thatched hut, and Dana revelled in taking that hut apart piece by piece to find the heart and soul of the woman within.
"That's what I thought." Dana whispered with a silly smile as she leant up to lay a soft kiss against Olga's lips.
It was the first of many, and soon enough the Maiden was pulling her High Priestess, her chief acolyte and worshipper, back towards the bed with her.
Olga stopped the movement simply by bringing her lips away by just a fraction. The sudden separation had Dana frowning.
"You can be such trouble." Olga sighed with a shake of her head, though her lips were quirked into a sly smirk. "You know we shouldn't."
"Why not?" Dana almost pouted. "I don't remember ever making a vow of chastity, do you?"
"Dana, I'm your High Priestess." Olga reminded her with a soft chuckle and a pointed look. "You know it's not right that that we get to … enjoy each other, like this. Some would call it favouritism."
"Well, you are my favourite." Dana smiled wide, giving both Olga's hands a squeeze. "That's all that matters here, right?"
Olga let out a sigh and another shake of her head, but that smile on her lips was only growing. "You always make it sound so very simple, don't you?" She murmured in a delicate whisper.
"That's because it is." Dana reached up to caress Olga's cheek as she gazed into her eyes. "Here, we can forget about the world outside, even if just for a little while. I love you Olga, and I want to spend all my private time with you."
"Is that right?" Olga breathed a chuckle. "Well, I don't think it's really proper that the Maiden of the Great Tree has such a perverted mind, you know."
"Oh, shut up!" Dana swatted at Olga again with a sly smile. "You were thinking it too."
Olga merely laughed under the faux assault.
Dana sighed and bit her lip softly. "Don't you love me?" She asked quietly with a tentative smile.
She knew it was probably mean in a way, and it might even have been a little manipulative, but Dana loved to ask that question.
Olga breathed another chuckle, her cheeks flushed just a little bit more, and it was so very pretty. Those majestic, regal features of hers looked so very soft and inviting in that moment. Her emerald eyes beheld Dana with the softest care and devotion.
Dana had been praised and worshipped by so many of her people in so many ways over the years, but no matter how much it happened, nothing ever came close to the warmth she felt when Olga looked at her like that.
"Of course I love you too." Olga promised her. The smile on her lips turned into a smirk and the High Priestess gently pressed her forehead against Dana's, almost like a cat would. Dana found herself being pushed back just a little. "Even if you are the biggest troublemaker in all of Eternia, and surely the most immature Maiden of all time."
"Hey! Don't be so mean to me then!" Dana laughed and happily let herself be pushed backwards.
Seeing the beginnings of that hungry look in Olga's eyes, Dana took the encouragement to move in and kiss her again.
Olga needed no more coaxing than the briefest caress of their lips. She reached up to take Dana's chin in hand as she guided the Maiden to the bed behind her. When Dana's calves hit the bed and she fell back, Olga was quick to catch her and lay her down gently. Like always, Olga was so reverent and tender, even when the fiery hunger in her eyes grew so intense that Dana thought they might both be engulfed in the flames, her touch was always soft and gentle. It was almost as though she was scared that Dana would shatter like glass if mishandled even slightly.
Dana never minded, in fact she revelled in it. Of all the forms of worship and adoration she could possibly receive, Olga's was by far the most touching, and somehow the most exhilarating.
And Dana, like always, made sure to worship Olga just as much as Olga worshipped her.
xxx
The sky was dark, yet the sun was out in full force. Smoke hung heavy in the air, choking the light and the life out of Eternia.
It was noisy too. A horrible, keening wailing held sway over the land. Hundreds of voices and pains of anguish all coalesced with the blasts and crashes of the falling sky into one ungodly cacophony.
Streaks of light rained down from the sky. Burning rocks blasted holes through temples, homes and lives indiscriminately.
Dana witnessed all of this, yet she was frozen. She was a singular bystander to the terror and death of her homeland, inept and useless. Though somehow physically untouched by the horrific blasts of the ensuing apocalypse, she was still brutally mutilated to her very core by the mere sight of it all.
She would have turned away if she could, but some unknown force kept all her attention focussed on every single horrible little thing as it happened.
She could do nothing but watch on at the death of all things, as all life in Eternia was torn asunder right before her eyes.
xxx
Dana woke with a start, her breathing fast, erratic and laboured. She was up from her prone position and onto her feet in a heartbeat, ready to fight or take flight. Her hands instinctively reached for her crescent blades, only to find them not at her sides.
She blinked. The room was cast in darkness. It was night time? The last thing she remembered was a blazing, vengeful sun, scorching the land below as it was pummelled by the wrath of the skies.
Blinking again, Dana finally realised that she wasn't at the end of all things. The proud stone walls and fine furniture around her were familiar and comforting, even with the long shadows of night masking everything. She wasn't surrounded by death and destruction, she was simply in her own bedroom, and it was calm and quiet.
"Dana?" Olga's voice asked in the dark, heavy with concern. "Dana, what's wrong?"
Dana swivelled, finding the High Priestess' bare silhouette propping herself up from the bed. Dana cursed herself a fool. She'd somehow forgotten that Olga had been with her.
"I- Nothing." Dana hid her face away even though she knew probably Olga couldn't see it in the dark anyway. "Just a bad dream, that's all."
A moment's pause as Olga seemed to consider. "You're shaking."
Dana pulled her hands together and instinctively began wrapping them over each other back and forth in a manner she hoped looked casual. "It's- It's nothing, just a bad dream, really. Sorry for waking you."
"Dana." Olga murmured in a firm yet not unkind tone. She'd always been able to see through the shorter woman clear as water. "Come here. What's wrong?"
Dana sighed. She reached up to brush some azure locks away from her face before tentatively creeping back into bed. "I … I had a dream."
"So you've said." Olga murmured softly as she wrapped Dana up in her arms and laid them both down again. Though Dana struggled to make out that light, reassuring smile on Olga's lips in the dark, even at such close distance, it was at least getting easier to see as her eyes gradually adjusted. "What was it about?"
The Maiden swallowed thickly. "It was- It was about everything."
"Everything?" Olga asked patiently.
"Everything … died." Dana breathed. "Aegias, Eternia, the whole world just died. The sky, it- it rained fire. Everyone died too, and I was there, watching it all happen. I was powerless to stop it, any of it!"
"It's ok." Olga soothed, running one hand up Dana's neck into her hair, while the other held her back protectively. "It's alright, it was just a dream."
Dana shook her head violently. "That's just it, it wasn't! It was so real, Olga! It was more like a vision!"
"Shh." Olga tried to calm her with a soft murmur. Dana was surprised that it worked just a little. "It'll be alright."
"How can you-"
"I just do." Olga cut her off, squeezing her a little tighter. "I have faith in us all, in Eternia, in the Great Tree, in you."
Dana let out a harsh chuckle in spite of herself. "I don't know what I can do to stop it. The sky was falling, Olga!"
"Shh …" Olga hushed once more. "It was just a dream. Everything will be alright."
"And if it wasn't? If it really was a vision from the Great Tree, of the future?"
Olga's moment of silence spoke volumes enough.
"If … If it does come to pass, then we'll find a way to stop it. Have faith."
Dana wasn't sure how she was supposed to do that. She had no idea how Olga could be so calm and collected when told how they might all die in fire and ash. All she knew was that the warmth of Olga's embrace was so much more enticing than the cold, dark terror of her nightmare, so she burrowed her face into the taller woman's neck and clavicle and hugged her tight.
"I- I don't know what I'm supposed to do." Dana wailed quietly. It was only there, in the dark of night and in Olga's warm embrace that she could ever voice the deepest fears of her heart. "Some Maiden I am!"
Olga sighed and continued to draw slow circles over Dana's back with the tips of her fingers.
"Dana, do you know why you were chosen to be the Maiden, over me and any other?" Olga asked calmly in the dark after a while.
Dana bit down hard on her lip. She had wondered that very question for years and years. What made her special when people like Sarai or Olga were there to pick up the mantle instead?
She moved her head back a little to gaze up into Olga's eyes and shook her head gently.
"It's because you care." Olga smiled. Even in the darkness, Dana could see the most beautiful, most heartfelt smile on the taller woman's lips. "You have a deep love for everyone, no matter who they are or what they might have done. You have a passion for life that no one else could ever match."
"That's not true." Dana felt a tear glide down her cheek. "I mean- It's not just me, we all care. You care, Olga, I know you do."
"Not like you can- Not like you do – every single day. I would never go off into the wilderness to go find a wounded animal to treat now would I?" Olga smirked.
Dana couldn't help but chuckle. "That was an accident, you know? I didn't intend to find a fox in need of help."
"Maybe not, but you found yourself exactly where you needed to be, didn't you? That's just another reason why it had to be you."
"I thought you said you didn't believe that the Great Tree led to me to find him?"
"And I still don't." Olga smirked again. "I think that's just you. That's just your natural talent. Well, it's one of your talents."
"Olga." Dana chuckled. "Don't tease me like that."
"I'm not teasing you, not one bit." Olga promised her. She leant her lips up to press a soft kiss to Dana's forehead. "You're special, Dana. You're smarter and stronger than you know. You're the Maiden because you're the best person for the job. You care for everyone, you care so much that you'll do anything and everything you can to help them, and then you'll find a way to do even more than that somehow. That's why you're the Maiden, Dana; You, and no one else."
Dana smiled back a little weakly. She was so very touched by Olga's words – how could she not be? – but the flashes of fire and death still echoed back and forth in her mind's eye, taunting her with her weakness.
At the Maiden's silence, Olga moved her head and gaze down to meet Dana's. Perhaps that shift of something in Olga's eyes was her realising that her platitudes would have little more effect; no matter how nice and genuine they were intended to be. After all, she knew the power of the Great Tree's visions just as much as Dana did.
Olga sighed. She pulled Dana even closer to her, one arm wrapped around the shorter woman's back while the other moved up to caress her face. Olga moved in to rest her forehead against Dana's. The High Priestess' steady breathing was a comforting constant somehow.
"Whatever happens," Olga murmured in the dark, "whatever comes, I will be here with you, Dana. Unless you ever want me to, I will never leave your side." She pledged, more sincere than when she had made her vows as High Priestess.
Dana swallowed that heavy lump she felt in her throat. "Olga, I- Thank you." She whispered, voice wavering with emotion. "And I'll never ask you to leave me, never."
Olga smiled back warm and true. Then she moved her head closer, and laid her lips across Dana's in a soft, soothing kiss.
Dana wanted nothing more than to just melt into the contact, to lose herself forever in that moment. She knew that could never happen of course, but she could at least revel in the moment of comfort and love she felt for a little while longer at least.
She also realised right then and there that, for the first time, Olga had been the one to kiss her first.
"Is that … a little better?" Olga asked almost nervously when their lips parted
Dana gave a shaky chuckle. "Of course, I- Thank you, Olga."
The Maiden could feel that slight waft of warm air on her face as Olga breathed a soft chuckle herself.
"Good. Now, don't be afraid to go back to sleep." Olga soothed. "I'll be right here all night- Every night, if you want me to be. I'll keep you safe. I promise."
"Ok, I trust you." Dana breathed a smile.
Though Dana wanted nothing more than to stay awake with Olga forever more, she already knew that she would lose that particular battle. The adrenaline from her nightmare had faded completely. Her eyes were as tired as her whole being. They couldn't focus on Olga's regal features in the dark for more than a couple of seconds at most before drooping shut.
"I love you Dana." Olga whispered her promise softly.
Mumbling too quiet and incoherent a murmur to be heard against the High Priestess' neck, Dana swore her love back, and pledged that they would be by each other's side forever.
When sleep claimed her shortly after, Dana surrendered herself to warm dreams of bright, carefree days, where her only concern was how she could get Olga to smile at her again.