The wind was getting colder with each passing day, the leaves of the trees now now littering the ground wherever one went. The time of harvest was upon the land and farmers everywhere were busy with gathering their crops. The village of Doovlin was no different. Their crops included such things as wheat, corn, squash, and various root vegetables. There was much to do and precious time in which to do it. Luckily for them this year they had extraordinary help.

Miya was out in one of the wheat fields, her normal dress replaced with a work outfit. It was little more than a sturdy pair of shorts and light shirt as this was hard work. Her hair was tied back behind her head and she was covered in sweat. In her hand was a sickle with a deadly edge, each swing producing a whistle through the air. It was evening and she was one of few out at the moment, the others being well built men who stood in various areas working in the same manner.

An middle aged woman appeared in Miya's vision and walked up to her holding a flask. As she approached Miya stopped working and stood up straight, wiping the sweat from her head with the sleeve of her shirt. It was her mother Elentra who was coming to check up on her daughter.

"Miya dear" her mother said. "You've been out here since daybreak! Certainly you can come back to the house now and rest?"

Miya just smiled back. "You know we have a short time to harvest mother. I'm really not getting tired. Thanks to how strong I am now I can keep working without stopping for days it feels!

Elentra reached out her hands and handed the large flask over to Miya who took it and began drinking its contents. It was fresh cool water straight from the river, or one should say straight from the water dispensary in the middle of town. No matter where it came from it was a relief to Miya who was thirsty. She drank the entire thing and then let out a long sigh.

"After drinking that much you should sit down for a bit" Elentra said sternly. "Otherwise you'll feel sick."

Miya sighed again and relaxed her shoulders. She then lowered herself to the ground with a grunt. The sickle remained gripped in her right hand as she used her other hand to support herself.

"I suppose I could use a break."

After sitting down she looked around the farmland and to the village beyond. So much of life had changed now that the goddess was here with them. She thought all the changes were for the better of course though there were those that disagreed. Just looking at the waterwheel and pipes that carried river water all the way to the village center was a marvel. Then there were the sturdy stone walls and tall watchtowers, like that would grace the castle towns of far away. People seemed to be in a better mood in their everyday lives as well. How blessed and happy she was to be lucky enough she became the high priestess of this goddess.

Her mother's words shook her out of her thoughts.

"Whats on your mind dear?" Elentra asked.

Miya looked up and smiled happily. "Oh I was just thinking about how wonderful everything has been since Goddess Jenna arrived. I'm so blessed and lucky to be her high priestess!"

"I'm happy for you too. My little girl growing up to be such an important figure." Elentra said as she bent down.

With her free hand she gave Miya an affectionate pat on the head and smiled softly. She then stood up and turned to leave.

"I'll head back to the house now. Promise you won't be out after dark alright?"

Miya nodded and waved. "Yes mother! Leave some dinner for me please!"

As she watched her mother walking back towards the village she let out another sigh. She was a woman now and her mother still sometimes treated her like a child. Its not like it bothered her all that much, it was out of love and would eventually be grown out of. One day hopefully there would be a man who would help this farmer's daughter have children of her own.

"Oh great goddess" Miya thought to herself. "Thank you for giving me such a wonderful life."

No sooner had she said her silent prayer did a sudden presence make itself known within her mind. It felt like standing beneath the mountain as its looming shape blocked out the sky above. Some other thought that wasn't hers had pressed its way into her head. The experience was actually just like whenever goddess Jenna bent down and touched her. In fact this presence felt eerily similar.

As the intrusive thought finished pressing its way into the forefront of Miya's mind it shaped itself into words. She was shocked to discover these words even sounded like a voice. The goddess's voice!

"Come in Miya over. Do you copy Miya? Over." Jenna's voice said.

"Goddess is that you?" Miya said aloud in confusion.

Surely it couldn't be she thought. Was this some kind of trick?

"This isn't some kind of trick" Jenna's voice answered within her mind. "Its called telepathy. I'm happy its working!"

"Telepathy?" Miya asked verbally again while thinking about what that could mean.

There was a sigh that came through. "It means I'm speaking with thoughts directly with you Miya silly. I can't hear whatever you're saying out loud. I'm listening to your thoughts."

Miya stopped speaking and started thinking back at Jenna. Hoping to herself that this was what her goddess meant.

"So all I have to do is think something and you'll be able to hear me goddess? That's amazing!"

"Mhm it is" Jenna thought back. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything but I wanted to test this out and you're the best one to try it with. When I heard you praying I figured it'd be a great time to."

"Yes goddess. I was working in the fields for the harvest. I know I'm sitting down now but that's only because my mother came to give me some water!"

Jenna's voice let out a small chuckle. "I'm not going to call you lazy little Miya. Its good to hear the harvest is going well over there though. I'm still over in Yuvoghen helping with the harvest there. To be honest its not easy interacting with such tiny bits of food. To avoid crushing these pumpkins I have to resort to using magic. Don't worry its not like I'm doing all the harvesting. It's important they do their own work! They just were a bit behind is all so I'm stepping in and giving them a head start."

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"That's so kind of you goddess!" Miya thought back. "You're always taking care of us even when we don't deserve it!"

"Thanks little Miya" Jenna's voice said back. "Now I'll be cutting off the telepathy and leaving you be. You'll see me again soon, probably by tomorrow evening. Stay safe until then!"

"Goodbye goddess!"

After the farewell Miya found her mind belonged once again only to herself. The presence of her goddess vanished in an instant as if it was never there to begin with. She continued sitting there on the ground processing what had just happened. Feeling her goddess's presence within her own mind, it was so intimate and made her blush. To have goddess Jenna's attention so focused on her made her feel so warm and happy inside.

There was work to be done however so she couldn't sit around daydreaming forever. It had been at least fifteen minutes since her mother had left and there was still wheat to be gathered. With another grunt Miya pushed herself back up to her feet and adjusted her clothing. Quickly she brushed the dirt off and lifted the sickle to continue. It was her goal to get as much of this cut down as she could before dark. She had promised her mother she'd be back by then.

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Across the village Jenson Butterhorn was in his house trying to make sense of the new mess his so called goddess had left him with. He was sitting in a large room that served as his study of sorts. It was about thirty by thirty feet wide and filled with finely crafted furniture. There was a large oaken desk and delicately carved pine chairs. A small collection of books sat on the nearby shelving tower along with many knickknacks and various keepsakes. He was sitting at the desk with a unlit candle and a mug of wine nearby. The light from the evening sun was allowing him to see without using fire. Before him was a large pile of paperwork which he was going over and trying to sort out. They were documents of billing and inventory for various shipments of iron and coal from the lord's city. Some company called Watching Rolling Rocks had apparently had a run in with their local goddess.

"That blasted goddess!" he huffed angrily to himself. "First she takes over my company and now she's having unprocessed ores shipped here! I run a lumber company not a metalworks dammit!"

Ever since this goddess Jenna had appeared his life seemed to be filled with nothing but complications and misfortunes. Yes it was true that life had improved for the village as a whole but his own company had suffered for it. There were many times in just this year she had been here that his workforce had been pulled away to do various random tasks. Some of these projects the goddess demanded the people work on were nonsensical to say the very least. She had shown herself able to do all of these things herself so why would she involve the people anyway?

Jenson put down the papers and learned forward onto the desk. He supported his head in his hands and gripped at his hair, a long and frustrated sigh escaping him. What does a goddess even need with iron and coal anyway? He had asked himself this question when the paperwork first arrived. To think his relatively simple life would once again be thrust into the wider wold of financial nightmares. He had moved to this tiny village and taken over the lumber industry here to get away from all the big money of the cities and cutthroat scumbags that it flowed through.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden knocking on his study's door. The voice of his wife Delilah could be heard through the wood.

"Dear there's someone here to see you. A mage from the nearby village."

Jenson jumped up from the desk in shock. A mage here? To see him? What in hells name!

"O-Of course! Please give me a moment!" he said as he rushed over to the door.

As quickly as possible he grabbed the handle and opened the sturdy study's door. There standing before him was his aging wife alongside a very young looking woman. She probably was under eighteen. She had long blonde hair and very pale skin, her eyes were burning intensely in a shade of deep violet. Her garb was white robes with brilliant crimson laced throughout it like flames. Despite her warm appearance her gaze was piercing and made one's blood run cold like ice.

"You are Jenson Butterhorn are you?" she said with a bite to her voice as if disappointed.

Jenson cleared his throat and tried to appear collected though he wasn't. He nodded to his wife to let her know he would take it from here and then gave a quick bow to the young woman.

"Yes I am. At your service. Who may you be?"

"My name is Samel Nimelly" the girl replied. "I know you've heard of me and are beside yourself in confusion as to why I've visited your... humble village."

The pause was accompanied by a quick look around the room which could only be interpenetrated as disdain for the relative squalor the villages lived in compared to a family of mages. None of this escaped Jenson who just wanted to get this girl out of his house as quickly as possible. He knew better than anyone that when mages were involved horrific kingdom altering events were sure to be going on.

"Y-Yes of course" he stammered a bit. "Please come in and have a seat."

Elentra was clasping her hands together in fear and spoke up. "I'll go get you both some tea!"

Samel turned to her with a look that almost could be called a glare. "That wont be necessary. I'll only take a moment of your time. I'd rather be gone from here as quickly as possible."

"Of course" Jenson said. "Please take a seat."

He led her into the study and left the door open as he took up position behind his desk again. As he sat down he quickly stacked up all the papers into a messy pile at the side of the desk. Samel showed no reaction to this as she stepped closer to the desk. She quickly snatched one of the nearby chairs and slid it underneath her as she sat down in one smooth motion.

"Behind on your paperwork are you?" She asked with a sneer.

Jenson cleared his throat before replying nervously. "Just taking care of a few things for my benefactor is all. The work never ends for a loyal subject!" He said with a badly faked laugh.

"The Goddess Jenna you mean" Samel stated sharply.

Her eyes darted from the paperwork and then back to Jenson with her intense gaze intact. Whatever her thoughts were behind those fierce violet eyes they were hers alone. This pause lasted only a moment before she continued.

"As you may know this goddess is over in Yuvoghen helping the commoners there with their harvest. I'm led to believe you're not the loyal subject of hers you claim to be out of your own free will. Is that correct?"

Jenson swallowed nervously as beads of sweat began forming on his brow. He quickly reached into his pocket and used his hankerchief to wipe them away. Then with a couple quick breaths regained his composure. He didn't know what this mage's angle was but he didn't like it.

"Oh well..." he replied as evenly as possible. "While its true she just sort of appeared one day and took over its not like she's been overbearing or anything." He had to look away from those piercing eyes for a moment and then continued. "Yes I'm getting more work than I should reasonably have to put up with but her meddling has actually helped my business as well you see. So its not all bad!"

Samel sat there for several moments just looking him over. Her expression never changed and the time seemed to last forever before she spoke again. It was a tone of voice that sounded like she was on the verge of having a temper tantrum but was barely controlling her rage.

"Very well" she finally said. "I can tell deep down you actually like this goddess."

"Y-Yes I do!" Jenson replied even surprising himself with his answer.

"There is a small group of people that are very interested in becoming her loyal worshipers I know" she continued without missing a beat. "They're a bit scared of her though you see and so don't want to approach her directly. They'd love to meet and talk to her high priestess. Would you be so kind as to help arrange this meeting?"

Something in the back of Jenson's mind gave him a very bad feeling about where this was headed. Its not like he had much of a choice though as these were mages. Should he pray to Jenna? Would that involve her and put his life in danger? No. Better just handle this himself for now.

His pause was noticed and the glare from across the desk snapped him back.

"Oh of course Miss Samel! I'd be happy to!"

Samel stood up and crossed her arms under her robe. "Excellent. Their representative is a short tan man named Benny. His hair is long and black and he'll be visiting you within the week. I expect things to go smoothly. Farewell for now Jenson."

With her piece said the young woman turned on her heels and marched from the room. She left without saying so much as another word to either Jenson or his wife, her flaming garments flowing as she opened the front door herself and went over the threshold in one smooth movement. The door flew shut behind her and slammed with a loud bang.

Jenson sat there in confusion and fear while his wife reappeared with terror in her expression. What did he just get himself into?