A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing-Chapter 800 - Do you not...?

Pain ebbed away. Blood halted in its tracks. Flesh stitched itself back together, and soft innards regenerated inside bodies.

Across the battlefield, wounded and dying defenders were healed, and even their mental and physical exhaustion was soothed by the soft golden light washing over them. All across the battlements, they slowly crawled back to their feet and looked up with confused relief. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"The bossess, they... bend the knee? To who?" some muttered softly as they marvelled at their disappearing wounds.

"Who could be this angel’s master...?" some others wondered, their eyes locked onto the shining Emma. The feeling she gave them was that of inviolable beauty and grace as she hovered high in the sky, standing on her golden disk, arms spread wide.

Calm reigned for a moment longer as the golden light soothed allies and blinded enemies... but everything came to an end. The light soon retreated back towards Emma, seeming to be absorbed into her body.

Emma herself breathed a small sigh, and looked at her still-glowing hand, a smile on her lips. "Now.... Now I can truly help, Master..." she muttered to herself, deeply relieved and joyful about the third-rank spell she’d discovered.

Despite Erik’s many assurances, she’d never truly felt helpful. Her first light spell was too weak of a heal, her second, the golden disc, was a useful tool for flying, but not that powerful in battle, and even her nature spells were focused on defence and restraining. Although these things were all incredibly helpful when they were needed, they were too situational for Emma to truly feel useful.

She did feel useful when serving Erik as his maid, but she wanted more. She wanted to be useful to him in every way, serve him in daily life, in bed, and on the battlefield equally.

Why? Innumerable reasons... but the most important one was simply because she enjoyed it.

She opened her other hand, looked at it, and conjured a bright green glow to contrast the golden one. "I hope my next nature spell will be just as good," she smiled brightly.

Meanwhile, down below, the defenders were forced to look away from Emma as the attackers renewed their efforts. Yet, the latter now found themselves facing a rejuvenated and motivated defence force, causing their steady advance to be halted.

Yet, Erik had only told her to cast it once and show her face, then retreat. He told her not to waste her energy, nor risk herself out in the open, so after finishing her thoughts, she turned around and flew back. Along the way, she saw Zohran, Nasir, and Zahra huddling together and recover from their battles.

After Erik showed up and engaged Gabriel, the trio had quickly gathered to look after each other’s wounds and talk about the implications of what happened.

She landed next to them, smiling softly. "Hello," she greeted with a small wave.

A little startled, the trio flinched back warily at first, but Emma’s demeanour quickly put them at ease. "Hi..." Zahra muttered strangely, feeling weirdly comfortable in Emma’s presence. When Emma arrived, she’d been sitting on the floor to meditate and recover, but now she’d shot to her feet.

"I saw what you did for our warriors," Nasir said, nodding with a sombre frown. "Thank you." The vampire was sitting on the floor, in the shade, leaning against a wall and doing what he could to bind deep wounds on his legs. They were recovering, but exposure to the sun and a lack of blood was affecting his regeneration.

"Right, that spell was pretty powerful," Zohran smirked sheepishly. He’d turned back to human form for the moment, and was clutching a deep wound in his shoulder. His warrior pride and brash demeanour had taken a hit today.

"I only did what my Master asked of me," Emma smiled gently, but with a hint of indifference that surprised the trio. Looking at her, they felt a strange mix of emotions. There was warmth and kindness, but also a kind of unapproachable cool that made them wonder how much kindness she truly felt towards them, or anyone.

"Master...?" Zahra asked, a little curious and surprised about their relationship, despite the situation. "You, as a third-ranker, are actually his servant? And you’re okay with that?"

Emma, unbothered by her question, continued smiling while she shook her head. "For your first question, no. Master has servants, but I am not one of them. My name is Emma, and I am master’s second wife. Still, I also serve and honour my husband as my master. For your second question, yes. To serve him is my goal in life, and I couldn’t be happier with it."

She cocked her head, still smiling, but her next words send a strange chill down the trios’ backs. "Is that okay?"

"Y— Yes, of course," Zahra nodded, a wry smirk across her lips. So far, they’d only met Astrid as one of Erik’s wives, and the difference with Emma was like night and day.

Of course, if they met Emily, they’d have to think of a third comparison.

Zohran chuckled smugly. "Of course that’s okay. It’s a woman’s duty to serve her husband."

Nasir and Zahra immediately glared at him with distaste, yet said nothing. Despite the fact they obviously cared about each other, it was just as obvious that they still had differences between them, and had likely grown tired of arguing about them.

Yet, Emma’s reaction surprised them.

"Oh?" she muttered, blinking, her focus now fully on Zohran. Bright green light flashed in her hands, and suddenly, tough vines crept out of various grooves in the surrounding sandstone, rapidly winding themselves around Zohran’s legs. "Are you implying I only serve him because he’s a man?"

Tired and wounded, the human-form werejackal had no chance to dodge or break these vines. "U— Uh," he muttered anxiously, chuckling sheepishly as he looked at the vines and tugged on his stuck legs. "W— What’s happening?"

"Don’t mind them," Emma giggled, her smile gone, cocking her head again. "Just answer the question."

Suddenly, all three of them felt something strange welling up in them... each of them conjured up memories of being scolded by their mother.

Zohran looked at her, the corners of his mouth twitching strangely. Never before would he have expected to be in a situation like this. He had no idea what this girl planned to do with these vines, but they were getting awfully close to his crotch, and he had no energy to repel them right now. "I, uh..." he muttered strangely, his hands twitching closer to his jewels. "N— No?"

"Oh, good!" Emma immediately chirped, smiling brightly once more as the plants beat a quick retreat. "Obviously all women should serve Master, but so should all men. And not because he’s a man, but because he’s master. I’m glad you understand this. After all, you three now serve him as well, do you not...?"