Of Her Nature II

Part two: Preparations

Jorja walked through the deep belly of the earth, walking securely and knowingly through the twists and turns of the caves. There was no light, she knew her way solely by repetition and practice. Off in the distance emerged the muted glow of firelight.

She wa up up to the metal door that led to the homestead of the Moon Order. She thought, *How ironic, the Moon Order underground. Shameful*. The two female sentries recognized her, but still asked for the password.

The sentries were in a similar clothing as Jorja. The same free flowing white material. Where Jorja’s outfit was open on the sides, cinched with her Damascus and silver belt, the sentries had light chain-mail armor on under their white body suits and their belts were a pale leather with silver accents. Jorja wore a headdress, the sentries wore silver bands on their foreheads.

The sentries stood with their staves crossed in front of the door.

Jorja walked up and stopped, inches from the staves.

One sentry, whose eyes were still scanning the darkness said, “Silver shining wheel of radiance.”

Jorja without looking replied, “Mother come to us.”

The staves parted and Jorja opened the door.

The world of the Moon Order was well lit and it gleamed of silver accents and decorations. There were training arenas, educational settings, an infirmary, a ritual room, sleeping quarters, a galley and washrooms.

She heard the sounds of steel clashing. She smelled the aroma of incense and heard the laughter of the young ones. She smiled. It was nice to home.

She walked into the ritual room. The room was round and had vaulted ceiling. The floor was a rich mahogany, the center was a silver inlay circle. The silver sparkled and gleamed with iridescence as it stretched out in waves. The four quarters of the earth were marked with their corresponding color in small circles on the edge of large silver circle. An oak altar stood at the center of the circle. It held a thick Grimoire and a very large white crystal. The crystal was the source of light in the room. Symbols representing the three phases of a woman’s life and the corresponding three phases of the moon stood casting shadows from the crystal. The polished white walls and ceiling reflected the light marvelously. The whole room was bathed in a soft white light.

Jorja stepped up to the altar and knelt. She knew such trinkets were simply trappings of behavior and sentimentality, but she respected the need. People needed to feel like they were worshiping, when they were worshiping. Regardless of the need, the aesthetics were astonishing. She said a prayer of mercy. Mercy that, if struck down, they would die quickly and mercy for the misguided souls and intentions of her pending foes.

She rose and saw one of her lovers walking up toward her.

“High Priestess, you have returned! If you are praying it must be bad news.”

“Mikia, we have been through too much and have been too close for you to be so formal.” Jorja looked at Mikia. They leaned into each other, their lips touched. Jorja closed her eyes and felt her heart flutter. Mikia felt weak in the knees. Their heads separated and Jorja eyed her dear friend. Mikia was a priestess in her own right. She wore the same white outfit as Jorja. Her headband was silver and Mikia felt the need to wear thin chain-mail. Mikia was her successor.

Mikia was a tall shapely blonde, with piercing blue eyes and the pointed ears of a demon.

“Ok, then, I’ll cut the crap.” Mikia leaned on the altar, “When’s ass kicking time?”

“Let’s gather the others. I have some things to announce.”

Mikia looked at Jorja, “I worry when you get so solemn.”

Mikia called all the priestesses together in the ritual room. Mikia and Jorja were joined by three others.

A red haired, red-eyed half-breed who had changed her name to Scarlet after joining the order. Scarlet wore the same clothes as Mikia. Scarlet wore her straight hair in a bob, the back cut shorter than the long locks that framed her face. The back of her neck was completely exposed, but the front locks brushed the top of her breasts. Her muscles were well cut, almost squared.

A white haired, pink-eyed albino human named Tasha. She wore a suit similar to Jorja’s but which was purple in color. She wore her hair in a high pony tail and two long braids at her temple. She wore a violet head band. She was tall and thin, almost too thin.

A shorter woman with chin-length untamed, curly, brown hair and round green eyes. She was fuller figured than the other women. Her face was round and soft. Age and wisdom showed in the fine lines around her eyes. She had some muscle tone, but it was obscured by the fullness of her stature. She was the shortest of the bunch. She wore a green pantsuit, with a brown head band. In the center of her headband was a green crystal. Her name, Cassandra

Jorja took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, “Our beloved town is coming under attack. “ She scanned the faces of her highest advisors. Each an expert in their chosen focus. None were shocked, they knew the attack was coming. They had known for a while. “I expect at their current speed we will engage them from the east in two days. It seems we gave them too much credit when we expected they were going to surround the town. I still want small teams around the town, but the main attack will be from the east. Mikia and Scarlet, you will fight with me in the east part of town. Scarlet, get your teams ready to put this town on lock down. No one in and no one out, we can’t have --travelers --ending up as casualties or, at the least, distracting us. Tasha, I need you to secure a safe place for the villagers and our young ones. Cassandra you of course will set up the infirmary. Hopefully, we won’t have any problems, but you never know.”

The five women stayed up till the wee hours of the morning planning their defense.

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Next Part three: Heading East?