Val’s eyes fluttered closed to shut out the image of the oncoming sea serpent. The only thing that mattered right now was putting Tavras in his place, so she focused on recalling Divine Judgement.

This time, she needed something to hurt him a little more than a simple punch. Additionally, she needed to pack enough power into this next move to penetrate the shield of water around him. This could be her final chance to strike at Tavras before she was pulverized by the watery sea serpent which rushed for her. A sword or a spear would be useful, something sharp to stab through that churning sphere.

This energy, Val imagined manifesting in the sky directly over Tavras’s head. She directed her mental faculties in the same way that she always controlled Keep the Peace or Mind Blast. Rather this time, she ordered a physical piece of energy to thrust downward, through that sphere of water.

A brilliant light appeared on the backs of her eyelids. That had to be something that she had done, because the sea serpent had not yet struck her to make her see stars.

When Val reopened her eyes to witness what had flashed for herself, the sea serpent fell upon her. She had opened her eyes just in time for salt water to flush into them. Not only did the water sting from the salt, but also from the force that the watery mirage of a sea serpent crashed into her with. The burning outweighed any other individual sensation due to its acute nature.

The rest of her body felt the steady ache of two tons smashing into her, bearing down on her and straining her whole body all over. She might as well have stepped out onto a railroad and opened her arms up to receive an oncoming freight train. When her back thumped against the ground, she could hardly notice its force in comparison to the water that continued to throttle her. The nerves in her eyes screamed over everything else.

The heavy sloshing sounds that filled her ears receded, and Val found herself sopping wet on the ground. She laid flat on her back, utterly wiped out from that water. The breath had been so thoroughly knocked out of her that Val gasped for air as if she had nearly drowned yet again.

Her eyes—most likely completely red—opened up to further sting at the sun. To her, daylight seemed ten times harsher than before. Getting to look up to the sun and feel this pain, she was alive. That was one thing at least.

With another blink, she noticed that Tavras also hung over her vision from where he stood above her. “Very good,” he said. A broad smile cast across his face. “Let’s call this even so that we can leave you on a high note. I would hate to crush your confidence along with any bones, just for me to have to heal you again.”

Did Tavras consider this a high note for her? It certainly felt like a loss from her perspective. Still dazed from the hit, Val propped herself up onto her hands. She had been sprawled across the ground, immediately at Tavras's feet.

“Ugh.” Her head really pounded with a headache anew. What were the odds that she had been left more susceptible to a subsequent concussion after her first one? That impact sure felt like it could have concussed her all over again. The more that she worried, the more that her head hurt. Val did not want to have to think in order to assess her physical state, so she just looked to Tavras for direction.

This better view of him from a sitting position allowed Val to see the actual damage that she had done. This must be why Tavras had praised her, for enough golden blood flowed to make her eyes widen.

A stake of jagged white energy stayed in its static, physical form. This bolt of energy had not only driven through his shield of water, but it had also pierced through his entire shoulder. As excruciatingly painful as that looked, somehow Tavras had still managed to smile at her. Had he even given a shout of pain at all when she had struck him with Divine Judgement for that second time?

Bone must have shattered in the entire region of his shoulder to allow a physical object to impale him like that. While Val could not see the full extent of his injury, she could see where golden blood poured out from the wound and seeped over top of the torn leather of his clothes. From beneath his shirt, blood dripped down his bare arm in long streaks.

“Did I really do that to you?” she stammered.

“Yes, you did—”

Before Tavras could say another word, Foofy came bolting from the side, sailing through the air like an arrow.

Who knew how long Foofy had lain way over there, wiped out from that last wave that had been directed at him. Based on how fast that watery mirage of a sea serpent had taken her out, Val would give Foofy more credit than she did, on second thought. He probably hauled himself up in a matter of seconds and started covering that long run again almost immediately.

Not understanding that the fight had already finished, Foofy lunged for Tavras once more, this time going for his throat.

With his shoulder pinned, Tavras had limited options to defend himself. His free arm casually swung to meet Foofy in midair. His hand latched around Foofy's neck. From there, Tavras twisted around and flung him another good number of feet away.

Finally, Tavras reacted adversely to that. His face twisted up in pain, while his hand reached out to hold the wound at his shoulder. “Call off your dog.”

“Foofy, off!” she yelled. That command did absolutely nothing, of course, as Foofy charged back into the fight.

Val activated Keep the Peace to make him stop in his tracks, halfway into initiating another attack on Tavras. “Stay,” she said, long and slow.

While Foofy may have frozen in place, he stood in an aggressive stance with his hackles raised.

“You have a loyal dog,” Tavras gasped. “I will give him that.”

“Thanks.” She could feel herself grinning wide, so she passed this enthusiasm along to Foofy. “Good boy, Foofy!”

The praise did nothing to make Foofy relax any further than Keep the Peace had already done. His eyes glared at Tavras with the beady, distrustful observation that only a Dobie could muster.

Val could not help but beam with pride at her amazing dog.

“Would you mind dispelling your weapon now?” Tavras asked. “I would rather not have to rip my shoulder free.”

“Oh, right.” Her face paled a little at imagining how Tavras could possibly tear his shoulder free. That would require busting all of the way through partially broken bone from the looks of the injury.

Val closed her eyes for a minute and focused on letting that energy of her projectile dissipate back to nothingness. To do so, she needed to let go of her anger that she had directed at Tavras first.

The weight of her hair which she lacked on her head distracted her from this task. Did she have it in her to forgive him for the untimely haircut?

What she had done to his shoulder had been much worse, but at the same time, much less permanent. Assuming that Tavras could heal himself, he would repair the wound and be back to his usual self. Val, on the other hand, would be stuck looking like a boy for much longer, just as Tavras had intended.

It was just hair and it would grow back eventually. Logically, she knew this, so with a sigh, Val let go of her frustration.

The white spear fractured into shards. Not only turning transparent, but this energy also lost its physical form as it moved through Tavras’s arm and disappeared into thin air. Like that, Val had seen some success in her first fight against a god, and also gained a new ability to her arsenal.

Character Update

* New information is marked in cyan.

* All entries are based on what Val knows.

Valentine (Val) Title: None Rank: Demigoddess Attributes: None Abilities Name Class Description

Divine Judgement

combat

- deals punishment for morally offensive acts

- punishment must equal the crime

Keep the Peace

tactical

- calm agitated creatures

- can sense the baser emotions of others

- works on animals up to the size of dogs, as well as mortal humans

- can manage multiple animals at once, according to their strength

Mind Blast combat - weak, physical blow from the mind

Past Insight

cognitive

- watch a replay of the past

- three pieces of initial information are required

- can stay in the tunnel of time for up to one minute

- real time passes slower in the vision

- can fast-forward through time in a vision

- one day cool down after a failed vision