Aertima's Will: Fighting Spirit

I strained every last ounce of fire within my heart. My wounds curled and bit at me with each twitch. I willed them to close but the blood flowed freely through my shoulders.

The earth tasted bitter in my nose. I coughed and lashed at the dirt.

I knew the attack was coming and still there was nothing I could do. They came from all directions, cloaked in black. I held my shield high. The images Miras painted long ago kept me protected at all times. I feared no wound, till the gnawing press of an arrow sliced through my shoulder.

Like jackals, they kept biting. Each single wound I could fight back and endure alone. But together, my resistance fell. The shield slipped from my fingers. My sword stayed sheathed. I wallowed on the ground like a worm.

I held my head up, trembling against muscles that wouldn't respond. If I was to die, it would not be with my head in the ground. One of them approached and kicked dirt at me with a breathy cackle.

I couldn't feel my arms but tensed them to lift me up. What I could feel seemed like it was bathed in flame.

One of them I couldn't see slammed my shoulder with his boot. His laughter echoed high above my ear. I endured their blows, fighting my way back from the ground even as they stole my sword and shield. I lashed out and they crushed my fingers.

I gargled my blood to spit at them. I growled through the press and tear of every arrow in my body.

Then, I heard their screams. I drank in the sounds like a cooling balm.

They all ran. I took my turn to laugh in deep, wet tones.

When it was quiet again, I heard a single pair of footsteps approach over crackling twigs. I coughed to the sound and clenched my muscles to turn for a look. I stayed there, despite all my straining.

A voice, high and calm, responded, "Hello, Kurt Hollis." More footsteps followed and the woman spoke. Her words brought ease to me. I could feel a peace about her, that nothing bothered her. Her words felt so very old but fresh and full of energy.

"I have been searching for you." She moved so I could see her. I strained a breath instead of gasping. Her face was pure perfection. Her eyes were vast and brown like the trees around us. She was dressed in a white dress with a blue cloak that seemed to glow. Her long sleeves were laced in shimmering, blue satin. Her boots were done up the same way. She didn't come up very high to the tree behind her. Her hair was magic-touched silver that drank in the glow of her cloak in flowing locks.

I knew she was one of the Great Mages.

Miras, my mistress, had studied long to become a Great Mage. It had taken all her skill and strength to just begin the process, but it took too much and she had to remain a guardian mage of the Order.

I coughed out a mass of more than just blood. She crouched beside me and reached out a hand to touch my head. The touch felt so cool and comforting. The pain no longer worried me. She whispered close, "Rest for now."

I obeyed her without question and passed into a haze that was not quite sleep or dreams. Instead, I felt myself in a warm, invisible field that soothed my entire body.

In that place, memories washed over me. I remembered myself as a boy, training and sparring every day, choosing to give myself in service to a mistress. For my strength, she would take care of my family. Miras was beyond description. She boldly reflected every fantasy my childish heart had about beauty. She dedicated herself always to the protection and health of others, and I protected her in turn. I always followed her wishes.

I ventured far into the forest to safeguard those things she could not. I pushed my body to my greatest strength. I trained every day. I imagined every possibility. Still, it was not enough. I feared the secret my mistress hid in the forest would fall without me.

I writhed in the warm place, enjoying it but anxious to return to my duties.

I tried to rasp with my voice, but it came out strange. A second time, it sounded soft. Slowly, the feeling around me dissolved and I could see the trees tracing patches of sky above.

The Great Mage was further away when she spoke, "Welcome back. You are healed but much has changed for you. I am sorry. I should have given you a choice, but your spirit is so bright that I could not imagine it dying out."

I sat up from the ground and I saw that my clothing had shifted in color from gray to a blue more like the Great Mage's cloak. The composition of the garment was much the same. It was rigid and plated in the same places beneath the soft cover but with a closer fit.

Before long, I knew much was different about me. I was not nearly as muscular as before. My shoulders, though still strong, didn't feel like they could rip a branch out by sheer force alone. My hands in leather gauntlets didn't feel like a mass anymore. Hair flowed beside my ears and around my neck where it had been cropped close.

My stomach and back felt leaner. As I stood, my legs were longer but thick with muscles. They didn't bulge through the leggings, but they moved quickly as I stepped. Protective cloth encircled my waist like a skirt.

My chest bulged across my chest plate in a way more like my mistress's. This new chest was smooth and yielding to my touch. I knew there were other changes beneath, but I turned to the Great Mage and asked her, "Why did this happen?"

She bowed her head. "My healing magic draws from the Goddess Aertima. Her will is only that healing be allowed on women. Any man touched by her energy is forever changed into a woman."

I clutched my smaller but still firm hands closed. "Aertima. She is a goddess my mistress worships." I bowed my head. If this new form was the will of a Goddess then it wasn't my place to shame Her will.

The Great Mage joined her hands in front of her. "My apologies again for all the Goddess has brought upon you. Do you feel otherwise well?"

I tested my arms and legs. I didn't have the force of before, but I felt quicker. My arms lashed forth swiftly and my legs turned nimbly. The form was strange and moved in ways that annoyed me, but I'd learned as a child to turn disadvantages into opportunities. It was a lesson that felt well worth remembering with how easily I'd been overwhelmed and nearly slain by a rabble of barely-trained fighters.

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I burned with shame over the loss of my sword and shield. I expressed all this in words to the Great Mage. She listened carefully and told me, "You resisted valiantly against an enemy that few could withstand alone. You did a great service to your mistress, as you have always done. That is why I sought you out…for your skill."

I bowed to her but said that my oath was to the mistress first. She smiled at me. "I could make claim to you because you wear my colors and owe me your life. But I don't need to. I spoke with her just a day ago and we came to an agreement. You are to be in my service for a time and, in return, another Great Mage will make sure this area is forever sealed from danger."

I listened carefully but with skepticism till she produced a scroll in the mistress's handwriting and seal confirming all she'd claimed.

Setting my feet with all dignity, I asked her, "What do you wish of me?"

"First, I'd like to give you a name more befitting you. The name Kindra has always been close to me. I give it to you with the honor from all who have had it before."

I accepted the new name and asked, "What orders do you have for me, Great Mage?"

She folded her hands in front of her. "You may call me Tisara. And you will protect others in a way that Aertima wishes…"

My new mistress Tisara invoked a new sword for my empty scabbard and shield for my arm.

Each glowed bright blue as I held them. As she spoke of my new duties, I felt a warm sensation wash over me.

She sent me into the forest, after the cloaked figures who had so gravely wounded me. With my fleet steps, it didn't take long to catch up to them. They were still running like cowards from the mere presence of Tisara. I hooked an arm around one to drive them into the trunk of a tree.

They squealed with terror and flowing blood. I turned them around and pressed my glowing sword into their chest. Tisara called it Aertima's Will. When it struck flesh, the energy within its curved, flowing length surged forth.

The sprawled figure, expecting death, looked in horror as his body dwindled in his black cloak. His muscles softened. He looked like a child in adult clothes. His hands were slender. His chest flowed forth, fuller than mine by far. The new girl squirmed on the mossy ground, her long hair tangled around her cheeks.

I knew through the sword that all the trivial fight had gone out of her. I had purified away her cowardice and will to destroy. She would become a better fighter than she ever would've been as a man. And now, she would always feel the glow of the Goddess within her towards a truer, nobler purpose.

Even as I turned to the next, the first one's spirit was turning against her former allies. That next one wasn't caught off guard like the first. He turned daggers against me and put up a fight. But I made sure he had to struggle for every moment he remained a man, until I sliced the sword through his shoulder.

All the more his fight, all the greater the feminine grace that emerged when I finished him. Her hair was so silken, her face so bright and colorful. While her figure was soft, some of her stern energy remained about the shape of her shoulders.

The next two were easily dispatched and turned out as a wide-eyed pair of blond twins.

I relished the fight as the sword glowed even brighter with warmth in my hands. I barely needed my shield, but I used it to keep the blows of my opponents off-balance. I knew well now not to be cocky.

The last fight was long. He parried my blows far too easily and I began to pine for the swinging force I'd had before. But I kept at it. I could swing longer and faster than him and I could dodge to keep him off balance. He was putting up a good fight for his manhood, but it wouldn't be enough. He wasn't worthy to it. He and the rest were all cowards and I would make them pay.

He panted and staggered. He begged me to relent. I was tempted to tell him who I was but it wasn't my place to gloat, only to serve. Clutching his sword, he looked around as the new girls drew their daggers. A moment of hope passed in his eyes. He quietly urged for one of them to strike me in a blind spot.

Instead, the new girls came to my side and stared him down. Shaking, she let his sword and shield, both stolen from me, fall and held out his hands. I took a deep breath and calmly sliced him across the shoulder. Before he could scream, the wound had already sealed the energy of Aertima within his changing body.

The last girl was a beautiful testament to Aertima's influence. She and the others would always have the spirit of justice flowing through their hearts. I was sure they would sign up for Rosemary's Guard before long. That all-female force put fearful respect into my heart with their tenacity and skill. I would visit them to train my new body, as Tisara wished.

I looked forward to it. Fighting had always been of my blood and no mere change of what surrounded my veins could dim that spirit. I'd always been honored to fight for the protection of women. I could see no greater honor than to carry the form of one into battle with the blessings of a Great Mage and a Goddess.

The new ladies, who cast away the feelings and the presence of their dark cloaks, followed me through the forest in simple robes

As we arrived in the village of Aranni, we were watched. So many women traveling together was not a common sight. The local men who leered at us earned a warm glow from Aertima's sword. I was not here to start a fight with them but if they gave in to their honor, then Aertima's Will would speak through my hands.

For I am Kindra, protector of women and destroyer of the darkness in men's hearts.