Riwenne and her team of warriors went into the dangerous forest on the moon to test her new weapon. But the results were even bigger than they expected. How does she feel about her new lethal strength?

After the Bomb

I’ve seen many explosions in all my time fighting as a divine warrior. When the blood stones had exploded in the bionic witches and leveled the train station in Ruraqie. The imperial air raid which destroyed the Temple of Sawycha in the old port city. Huamani, the demigoddess, tearing apart Lyndamon in the old timeline. The entire floating city of Riqar crashing into the ocean after the evacuation.

This blast was much smaller, perhaps as large as a single missile strike. I was at the epicenter, but I felt nothing as the energy shot out from the tip of the soul staff.

And the giant forest animals around me… liquified.

I could only pray that their deaths were swift and painless. Closing my eyes, I whispered a prayer of safe passage for their souls to whatever came next for them.

When I opened my eyes again, a small part of me was pleased with my careful control. I’d tuned the energy of the blast to only target the animals who threatened my life. The ground, the trees overhead, and all other plant life were all untouched.

But of the animals, there was nothing left except red smears along the ground.

I shuddered with horror, but I forced myself to look. To accept responsibility for what I’d done. This is what I would do to our enemies back on Chelynne. Even Chysa, if I was powerful enough to kill the sun goddess. I had to get used to it.

Then I put away the staff and walked calmly out of the forest. There was no need to rush now that the threat was eliminated.

The planetary warriors took a little while to realize what had happened, but then they circled back to land beside me. When they changed back to their human forms, I could see mixed emotions warring on their faces: shock, pride, even disgust.

Only Fairuza looked me in the eye. “I thought you were coming right behind us,” she said, her normally cool voice shaking.

I shrugged. “Didn’t need to run. All I needed was to make sure that you guys were out of the way before I unleashed the blast.”

Namburo let out a low whistle. “So this is what you can do with the staff when you’re not holding back?”

I nodded. “It was my first time, so I wasn’t sure how strong it would be. If I pushed harder, I could probably create a stronger blast, but then I’m not sure how much I could control what it hit.”

Fairuza clapped her hand on my shoulder. “Then we’ll give you a wider radius next time. Just give us the signal.”

When we stepped out from under the trees, Quilla was waiting for us in the meadow.

The moon goddess took a measuring look of me and nodded. “You’re ready.”

I gazed back at her, no longer afraid of what she would order me to do. “Yes, ready to go home. Will you send a moth for us?”