Outside the donut hole that sheltered Glenn and Becka from its rage, the Moss Beast savaged her stolen [Traveler’s Pack]. Bottles audibly shattered inside as the Moss Beast crushed it, then tossed it away. There went all their [Light Healing Potions]. Branches scraped rock as one of the Moss Beast’s big hands pawed at the split, coming ever closer. Glenn stared back at it in stupefaction.

Becka, still trapped beneath him, pushed up at Glenn without success. “Later, Glenn! This part happens later!”

Glenn belatedly realized he’d accidentally pinned Becka to the ground with his weight. After he rolled off her, Becka dived for the split. She once more snatched her torch and stabbed it like a sword at the Moss Beast’s flailing wooden hand. Embers caught as the beast withdrew, huffing angrily.

Glenn pushed to his feet, trembling and covered in scrapes and bruises. Yet he was alive. Gods, he was alive! Also ... he was missing his [Bronze Training Sword].

He’d dropped it outside the donut when he crushed himself through the split.

“Devilspit,” he whispered, again.

Breathing heavily (and rather distractingly) Becka backed away from the split with the torch held out defensively before her. Her once pristine blue top was ripped now, hanging off one now bare shoulder by little more than threads and blood. She was now showing far more cleavage than she had on their latest date, but Glenn forced his eyes to the threat. He could gawk at Becka later.

Now, he really needed to focus on not getting his arms ripped off by a Moss Beast.

“Is she safe?” Becka demanded, when she caught enough breath for words.

“No longer charmed and running home,” Glenn confirmed, also measuring each breath.

Becka risked a glance at him, eyes wide. “Azalea was charmed?”

“Pretty sure,” Glenn agreed. He pointed. “Pretty sure it was that thing.”

Becka looked back to the Moss Beast. “I hope you catch fire and a wolf eats you!”

Glenn focused on catching his breath. “Gloamwolves can’t take down a Moss Beast.”

Becka reached out one bloody, shaking hand to slap his arm. “You know what I mean!” Yet her whole body was shaking, and Glenn now realized she was trembling like a leaf.

He reached out one hand. “Give me the torch.”

She stayed as she was, barely keeping her feet.

“Give me the torch, Becka,” Glenn said calmly.

She shuddered, focused, and carefully handed him their last [Smokeless Torch]. It had burned down a good bit. It wouldn’t last much longer.

The Moss Beast stood just where it had been, with firelight flickering off its jagged, nasty-looking teeth. It wasn’t pawing the hole in the split any longer, but it didn’t look to be going anywhere. They faced off against each other for a long moment before Becka collapsed into a sit.

“Gods,” Becka whispered, almost too softly for Glenn to hear. “When you got yourself caught up in that split, I thought I was going to lose you.”

“You’ll never lose me.” He stepped before her to hold the torch out before him. He needed the Moss Beast to see him. He needed the beast to see he was unafraid.

“If you keep taking actions as idiotic as those you just completed, I fear I might.”

Glenn grinned as his scraped up, bruised up body bitterly complained. “I’m not the one who called a Moss Beast a rancid pile of cabbage. That’s cruel. No one likes being called a cabbage.”

“Also, this outfit is absolutely destroyed,” Becka added. “So, you’re welcome.”

Glenn risked a glance back at her to find her looking even paler than normal, an obvious contrast giving how much of her body and tattered dress was covered in blood. Something was wrong, something she wasn’t telling him. He sensed it. “Show me your Health Bar.”

Becka’s lips pouted and she stared up at him stubbornly.

“Now, Becka. Please. I need to know how badly you’re hurt.”

Becka grimaced, yet a moment later, a green bar appeared above her head right where she sat. Glenn gasped. Becka’s Health Bar was charred down to a fifth of its length, and worse yet, it was slowly shrinking. A flat square abutted her Health Bar’s blackened right end. A tiny skull and crossbones.

Glenn gasped. “It poisoned you?”

Still sitting, Becka shifted her legs to face away from him, putting her back to him. She tugged down her tattered shirt to reveal her upper back. Glenn barely noticed her lovely shoulders. He was more focused on the tiny green bumps all across her pale skin.

Glenn remembered when they’d first fled from the ritual circle, when the horde of Grass Sprite needles peppered them from behind. He’d been protected by his [Ring-Mail Armor] and her big pack, but Becka ... she’d had no protection at all. Nothing but her thin and now quite tattered dress.

“Since when can Grass Sprites poison people?” Glenn demanded, possibly of the Gods themselves.

“It’s fine,” Becka said.

“It is not fine!” Glenn shouted. He spun back to the silent Moss Beast standing silently on the other side of the split. “I’ll burn you to cinders, you rancid cabbage!”

Behind him, Becka giggled drunkenly. “Rude.”

Yet the Moss Beast reacted not one bit. It simply stood in the split, forbidding any escape, baring its mouthless teeth in a terrifying grin. It didn’t even look angry any longer. It had gone completely still.

Glenn realized then this Monster might not be so dumb as it seemed. Technically, the Moss Beast didn’t need to kill them to avenge its fallen brethren and interrupted Ritual. It could simply keep them from leaving this donut hole, and Moss Beasts rarely ate.

That Moss Beast could trap them in this small space the entire night. It could remain where it was for hours, days, weeks … and unlike Moss Beasts, mortals needed food. They needed water. And what Becka needed was a [Light Healing Potion]. Her pack might be beyond their reach, on the other side of the split with Glenn’s sword, but Glenn had carried two potions into the woods.

Belatedly, he shoved his hands in his hip pockets. This rewarded him with stings. He’d cut his left hand on glass vial shards. Yet his right produced what he’d remembered and prayed for. A single glass vial of glowing red liquid.

A single intact [Light Healing Potion].

The Moss Beast no longer looked interested in fitting through that split. It couldn’t, and it didn’t need to right now. Still, Glenn had to focus on what he could do, right now, and that was saving Becka.

She still had her back to him. He dropped the torch at the split, spun, and walked around to kneel before her front. This also let him keep an eye on the Moss Beast, which was ideal.

He offered the intact potion. “Drink this.”

Becka blinked tiredly. Her eyes looked unfocused, and Glenn realized then she might be more far gone than he’d feared. Her Health Bar appeared once more, charred down to a sliver of green, with the tiny, menacing skull and crossbones square clinging to its right end.

Glenn popped the cork with one hand and offered the vial with the other. “Drink.”

For a moment, Glenn feared she might try and be heroic. Yet though Becka was absolutely heroic, she was practical first. She took the potion.

She sipped, and the effect was immediate. Her Health Bar appeared again, yet this time, it ticked up. It remained blackened horrifically, and the skull and crossbones icon remained, but she’d healed. Then, belatedly, her Health Bar ticked right back down where it had been before. Six-cursed poison!

“Keep sipping,” Glenn ordered. “Take it slow. Let’s simply ride out the poison.”

“Are we suggesting possible techniques now?” Becka whispered drunkenly. “Because I have a few ideas about those.”

“Focus,” Glenn ordered. He gripped her hand. “Sip.”

Becka sipped. Her Health Bar ticked up. It ticked down. She sipped again as Glenn kept one eye on the Moss Beast beyond the split, lit by the light of the sputtering torch. How long would this poison last? Grass Sprites were Level 1! They should never have poison this strong.

Finally, Becka’s Health Bar ticked up, and didn’t tick down again. Glenn gasped in exhausted relief. The skull and crossbones icon faded.

“Drink the rest,” he ordered.

Becka focused on him. “You need it.”

“You’re still under a fifth of a bar,” Glenn warned. “A Knife who can’t run or use her dagger isn’t any good to either of us. Drink the whole potion. Get yourself back into fighting shape, and maybe I’ll let you try one of your new techniques.”

“Tease,” Becka whispered. Yet she drank the rest of the potion like she’d down a mug of mead in Wolfpine’s tavern.

Glenn smiled with relief as Becka’s Health Bar ticked up noticeably. When the growth stopped, more than half of Becka’s Health Bar was full and a number of her visible wounds had vanished. Her bar faded, finally, which assured him she was done taking damage and healing.

“Wait,” Becka said, as her eyes narrowed. “Show me your bar!”

Glenn revealed his Health Bar. She saw it as he did. Just over half Glenn’s Health Bar was charred black, but he still had more HP than Becka. It wasn’t as bad as it looked.

“You’re down half!” Becka protested.

“I’m your Shield,” he reminded her. “I also have double your HP.”

“Doesn’t mean you need to get so beat up,” Becka said quietly, as she turned to face the Moss Beast. She scooted back into him. “Arms around me. Don’t let me keel over. I’m still feeling quite weak.”

Glenn grinned as her still mostly bare back pressed against his aching chest. Even battered as she was, Becka remained warm and invitingly soft. He slid his arms around her waist. She tucked her hands over his, locking his hands against her.

“Oh!” Becka said suddenly, like she’d been surprised.

“What?” Glenn asked.

Becka giggled tiredly. “Check your Status Sheet, lover.”

What could she mean? Glenn opened his and gave it a look.

Name: Glenn Redwood ==== Age: 15 Strength: 13 Level: 4 Divinity: 8 Class: Unassigned Luck: 7 HP: 62/110 Vitality: 11 Blood: 50/60 Wisdom: 6 Experience: 21999/22000(Capped) Prowess: 8 Gear: Uncommon: [Ring-Mail Armor] Uncommon: [Hiking Boots] Slotted Skills: Uncommon: [-Phantom Slice-] (Duelist/Vox) Slotted Blessings: Unassigned Known Skills: None Known Blessings: None

Quests:

Level 6 (Group): Rescue Azalea Whitetalon! (Complete)

“Azalea’s safe,” Glenn whispered, and kissed the top of Becka’s head. “She reached town.”

She sighed contentedly. “Gods, Glenn. Did I really just do that?”

“Save a little girl from a Monster ritual, start a forest fire, slay a horde of Grass Sprites, and call a Moss Beast a rancid pile of cabbage?”

Becka chuckled quietly. “Did I really chug an entire health potion?”

“[Light Healing Potion],” Glenn reminded her. “50 HP, no more.”

“That’s a lot.”

“For you, maybe. That’s your entire bar.” He gave her another gentle squeeze.

She snuggled against his chest. “Do that again. Harder, please.”

“Do the bumps from the poison hurt?”

“Not any longer.” She leaned forward, brushed her midnight-black hair away from her still bare upper back, and once again tugged down the back collar of her badly torn shirt. “Still there?”

Glenn was all too glad to take a look. The flickering light of the torch was nearly gone, but the pale skin of Becka’s back looked unblemished save for dirt and a few small, puckered holes from the needles. Her shoulder bones were exquisite. “They’re gone.”

“Check the front?” Becka asked.

Glenn laughed. Despite the fact that the Gods forbid them from doing anything more than they had, he certainly enjoyed thinking about it. “I’m rather sure that would violate the laws of Levos.”

“Try anyway,” Becka said.

Glenn took a moment. “Are you serious?”

“Do I sound like I’m joking, Redwood? This is important. We need to be sure all the poison needles are gone.”

Glenn couldn’t believe she would ask that at a time like this. “Talk about ensnarement.”

Becka turned her upper body in his arms, pressed her shoulder into his chest, and gripped the back of his head with both hands. She tugged him toward her. Glenn leaned in, utterly lost in her needful brown eyes. He kissed her eagerly, and she kissed hungrily right back.

Eventually, Glenn needed breath. He eased them apart, even as his heart raced and his skin felt like it was catching fire. He’d never wanted to bone Becka as badly as he did now, yet the Laws of Levos forbid it. He and Becka could not have each other until both turned 16, by decree of the Gods.

“We just completed a Level 6 Group Quest together,” Becka whispered. “We faced the forever death and the largest swarm of Monsters we’ve ever seen, and we survived it all and saved a little girl besides. I have never in all my life felt this alive, and I want you, tonight. I Consent.”

Glenn grinned drunkenly as the flickering world spun around them. For adults in Balarel, exchanging those words were all the Gods required before two who wanted each other could do all they wished. “Oh Gods, me too. I Consent.”

Becka’s hand gripped Glenn’s tightly as she pulled his palm toward her chest. For one moment, Glenn dared believe it might be different this time. He was soon to be sixteen, after all, so why couldn’t he finally be with Becka? They both wanted this more than anything.

Yet just before the bare flesh of his scratched-up palm met the curves beneath Becka’s tattered shirt, their hands stopped as if gripped by some invisible force. Even with 13 Strength, Glenn couldn’t move. A force both invisible and Divine seized his muscles and locked his arm.

It was just as it had been every time the two of them had tried to do anything other than kiss or embrace since they’d started dating. The will of the Gods was absolute in all things, and They forbid mortals from sleeping together until both turned 16. It was not the only Law associated with age.

No matter how much he and Becka wanted each other right now, the Gods wouldn’t allow it. As in all aspects of life, from birth to death to Leveling, mortals remained bound by the will of the Pantheon. It wasn’t fair, but the Gods weren’t often fair. They simply were, like night and day.

Glenn sighed. “Devilspit.”

As Becka dropped his hand, the invisible grip eased. “I really hate Levos right now.”

Glenn chuckled as she turned back around, to lean into him chastely, without his hands touching anything they shouldn’t ... no matter how much they both wanted that. “Don’t blaspheme.”

Becka settled back into his grip. “I don’t care what the church says. This is downright sanctimonious. As soon as I reached common age the Gods decreed I could have my face eaten by a wolf, my body sliced to ribbons, and my back riddled with poison needles. Yet Gods forbid my boyfriend bone me before I turn sixteen! You ask me, They’re all a bunch of Divine prudes.”

Glenn held her tighter. “Three months. It’s just three months.” He glanced past her. “And besides, did you really want our first time to be in front of an angry Moss Beast?”

“I don’t see why not,” Becka said crossly. “I see no way we could show ourselves to be more unconcerned!”

Glenn hugged her. “The wait will be worth it.”

“I’ll make it worth it,” she assured him, and gave his leg a tingling squeeze. “We are going to have so much sex.”

====

Excerpt from The Laws of Love, and Respawning the World

As decreed by Levos, God of the Hearth, while the choice of whom and when to love primarily lies within the hands of mortals, whether to spawn new mortals falls to the Church of Celes. To exist otherwise would imbalance the world and lead to a scarcity of resources. Trust in the Pantheon.

Fear not ailments or unexpected consequences from lovemaking, for such are forbidden by the Gods. So long as the Law of Consent is respected, the Gods look kindly on love between mortals. Life in Balarel is often tragically short, and the Gods wish all those who live to live well with those they love, so long as they are both of appropriate age and alike in their affection.

Common age may kiss and chastely embrace. Trial age may be with others of trial age. Adults may be only with adults.

Should two adults meet all the requirements (a house and marriage) and sign a contract asserting their desire to become parents, they may petition their local Church of Celes to join the Newborn Waiting List. When the population is once again in need, the church will provide a child.