Knee-high blades of grass brushed against Vera's legs as she thrusted her sword forward through the air before her, one foot in front of the other as she sparred with an imaginary opponent. The snow leopard's face wore an intense expression of concentration as she stabbed once more and drew back, keeping a defensive posture, one hand raised up for balance. Gracefully and elegantly, she lunged forwards and swung, the sharp edge of her blade cleaving through the air with enough force to fell a small tree.

There was little other activity in the Spirit Forest, certainly not this late at night. The stars and moon in the sky above provided enough light for her eyes to make out her surroundings: the tall green, teal, and purple grass that covered most of the forest; the trees with their deep brown bark and turquoise leaves; and the similarly colored flowers that rose up on stalks higher than the grasses around them. Few mortals dared to even set foot inside the place, much less venture in as deeply as Vera currently was: right at the heart of the forest, close to the largest tree within it.

Vera feinted her imaginary foe, slipping a thrust past his guard and stepping back quickly. In the mostly still air, every little rustle of her armor was audible. Furs covered her upper legs and thighs, held in place with leather straps. Her chest was protected by metal breastplates with more fur and leather on her back, and segmented metal shoulder guards. Metal bracers covered her forearms, while fur boots improved her grip on the ground. The longsword in her hand looked simple at a glance, but its enchanted edge would never dull no matter how much she used it.

Again, she lunged forward and struck the air, then back again, brushing a forelock of her white hair and its lavender tips away from her blue eyes with her free hand, her enormous tail sweeping in the air behind her to help her maintain balance. She had been fencing with the air for hours, and could go much longer yet – she was a goddess of war, after all. Even an army would be hard pressed to take her down. She'd won such a battle once before.

Unfortunately, she did not face an army. The opponent in her mind that she saw before her, and the reason she was in the forest to begin with, was her father. For most of her life she had followed his orders without question, her blade directed by his will, claiming victory after victory in his name. But with such boundless slaughter did not come fame or recognition, but rather infamy. Fear. Hatred. Her name was cursed and despised by all those who uttered it. As was her father's. Her legacy would not be one of glory, but of evil deeds. All done at her father's insistence.

And so, eventually, she had defied him. Refused his will. She had declared enough was enough, not only sparing his enemies from her wrath, but giving them aid and valuable information, and publicly renouncing her father to all who would listen. They had been wary of her, of course, and did not trust her – but after sending their scouts and confirming her words, they had believed her.

And her father was not happy about it.

His wrath would come for her next, she knew that much. So, to keep his attention away from his other enemies, she had withdrawn into the Spirit Forest, where few dared to tread. She feared nothing, certainly not any beasts that might possibly be lurking within its boundaries, but it would certainly deter anyone he sent after her. And if he came in person, well, so much the better to save her the trip.

Slash. Thrust. Slice. Her blade danced in the air elegantly, moonlight gleaming off its edge. A being like her didn't need to train for the reasons mortals did; it was simply a means for her to focus her thoughts. Her refuge in the Spirit Forest would only last for so long, and she had to come up with a plan. Betraying her father was a dangerous move, and even she would meet a swift end if she did not think before she acted. She had brought with her a tent, several maps and some writing supplies, considering her strategy and available options. Where she might be able to raise an army, if anyone would even follow her at this point. If she had to lead them through fear rather than charisma, so be it. She could atone for her misdeeds later, but only after dealing with her father...

Vera's ears twitched. She spun in place and raised her blade, parrying a strike, sparks flying as her enchanted blade met another of similar quality but much greater size. A mortal would have been hard pressed to deflect such an attack, but she held her ground.

Her assailant stepped back, allowing her to get a good look at him. She did not recognize who it was, especially with his body covered in armor – though it appeared to be made of bronze, it was inlaid heavily with glowing runes, no doubt allowing it to surpass even the finest steel in protection. Large greaves covered his lower legs, and a skirt of leather and metal plates protected his upper legs. His chestplate was decorated to look like sculpted muscle, and more large plates covered his arms, with gauntlets over his hands. His plumed helmet only exposed his eyes, and only just barely at that; the only clue Vera had to her attacker's identity was his large gray tail, perhaps a wolf's, but she couldn't say for sure.

But in his gauntleted hands he held a two-handed sword, and though she did not recognize its wielder, she knew the blade. Five feet long and decorated from hilt to tip with bright blue runes, it could only be Skysplitter, one of a few weapons capable of killing a god. Her father couldn't allow something so dangerous to lie around, and had gone to great lengths to seal it away – for its magic prevented even him from destroying it. But now, it was in the hands of this man, and that told her everything she needed to know about who sent him and why he was here.

"Hope you don't mind me joining in," the man said in a deep voice, keeping the blade pointed towards her as he held it in front of him. "Why spar with the air when you can fight a real opponent?"

Warily, she held her sword up, eyes studying him. Even if the legend about the sword being able to cleave the air itself in twain was simply born from the imaginations of bards, she knew that its god-killing power was not. She could feel it: an aura around the blade that made her grimace just from looking at it for too long. She stepped back, and he stepped forward. She stepped to the side, and he turned to face her.

"Not going to introduce yourself?" he asked in an amused tone.

"You already know who I am," Vera asserted, looking for an opening in his defenses.

"True," the man conceded. "But you do not know me."

"I don't care."

He chuckled, the two of them circling each other. Vera lunged and stabbed, but he twisted with surprising agility and deflected the attack on the edge of his blade, swinging it downward. She hopped back and out of the way of the strike, but she had learned what she needed to: he would not be slowed by his armor.

"I am Andoras," the man told her as he raised his sword into a ready position again. "The God Slayer. Or at least, that's what my title will be when I am done with you."

"Am I supposed to be afraid? I've killed so many would-be 'god slayers', I've lost count," she taunted, feigning distraction. She successfully baited him into an attack as he stepped forward and swung horizontally, his sword cleaving the tops from a swath of blades of grass, but she leapt over it and swung for his face. Her strike met only air as he ducked, and she backed away again quickly, barely fast enough to avoid a rising slice from his blade.

"They didn't have Skysplitter," he said confidently. "And once I have killed you, I'll get to keep it. And many other rewards. Rest assured, only one of us will walk away from here."

"That last part, I will agree with," Vera replied. She dashed forward and swung, but he parried the strike, and she ducked down beneath his slash. Swinging her sword the other way, the edge bounced off his armor, deflected by the enchantments on it, and she leapt up and over another horizontal slash that cut down a wide arc of grass before him.

Vera was undeterred. If the eye slit in his helmet was the only opening, she would just have to strike him there. He brought his sword back for an overhead swing, but it was merely bait; as she leapt forward he stepped aside, and tried to bring his sword down on her as she followed through and ran past, carving off a tuft of black fur from the tip of her tail.

They faced each other once more and took up battle stances again. "Almost got you," Andoras taunted.

"A miss by a hair is still-"

He lunged at her while she was in mid-sentence, and she only just barely raised her sword in time. A mortal would have at best broken their wrist attempting such a feat, but she held strong, stopping his blade on hers, striking sparks. Gritting her teeth, she held her blade against his and strained in a contest of strength with him, unsure how much of it was his own and how much was from his equipment.

Stepping forward he aimed a kick between her legs, and as she tried to get away his boot struck the furs over her thigh. She fell to the ground and he kicked once more, this time scattering dirt towards her face, but she would not be beaten by such a dirty trick. Rolling away, she sprung to her feet and back into a battle pose, taking a deep breath.

Vera darted forward and swung, springing away, only to lunge back in and strike again, though her blade failed to get past his armor. She took advantage of the slow swings of his weapon to strike while he was winding up, and though she landed several hits, none of them could find a weak point. Their swords met again as he successfully struck and she had to parry his attack, the force of the blow knocking her backwards, though she gracefully flipped head over heels with the momentum and landed back on her feet.

"Impressive," Andoras admitted as he readied his weapon again, legs apart. "You aren't the goddess of war for nothing."

She didn't give him a verbal reply and went in for the finisher. Darting right, then left, she closed in, raising her sword, waiting for an opening to thrust at his face, but he tilted his body to the side and swung down to intercept her. Rolling to the side, she backed away from another wide horizontal slash and almost got away in time.

Almost.

The very edge of his blade barely nicked her upper arm in the gap between her shoulder guards and her bracers. It was such a tiny wound, so shallow it didn't even bleed, no worse than a papercut. But it was all he needed to secure victory.

Vera staggered back, her sword suddenly too heavy for her to wield, her reflexes dulled, her movements uncoordinated. She groaned and tried to back away as he charged at her, but her agility was gone, and her foot caught on a tree root that she could no longer perceive without her divine awareness. She fell back, but though most of her powers were drained by the sword's magic, her resolve was not, and she got back to her feet, having to grasp her weapon in both hands to raise it. If she was to die, she would die with her sword in her hands and her face towards her foe, as a warrior ought to.

But Andoras wasn't quite done with her. Instead of delivering a slash to end her with, he kicked once more, planting the bottom of his boot against her belly and kicking her back. She staggered and slammed against the tree behind her, dropping her sword. He chose to strike while she was reeling, swinging his blade down diagonally. It cut across her front, slicing clean through her shoulder guard and straight through her breastplate slightly off-center, cutting a gouge from shoulder to hip. It didn't bleed, but the wound glowed a sinister and ugly grayish color, and Vera felt her remaining strength leave her.

She collapsed to the ground as her legs gave out, unable to move a muscle, sprawled on her back across the roots of the tree. The great tree, no less; she saw its trunk stretching up above her towards the sky, its branches spreading out with only small gaps allowing starlight and moonlight to pass through.

Andoras stood over her triumphantly, returning Skysplitter to the scabbard on his back. "And so, the great conqueror falls. I've heard a great deal about you. But it wasn't personal."

Vera summoned what little strength she had left just to speak. "So be it. Finish me."

"No need," he told her mockingly. "That wound will kill you, in time. Your father specifically asked for me to make sure your death would be slow. He says you would need the time to reconsider the folly of betraying him."

Her lips curled into a snarl. That was her father's will, all right. Vindictive to the very end.

Her victorious opponent took her sword from where it lay beside her after it had fallen from her grip. She lacked the strength to resist as he knelt down and reached out to her, starting to strip off her armor. "What now?" she grunted, wishing she could throttle him, but she couldn't move her hands more than an inch off the ground before her strength gave out. "Going to... have your way with me?"

"Tempting. But no. You aren't worthy of me." Andoras raised one of her arms to pull her bracer off, before working on the other. "I simply need the proof of your demise. Perhaps I'll keep it as a trophy. The armor of the conqueror, after she was conquered in turn."

Vera could do nothing to stop him from stripping her completely naked, bundling up her armor into a bag he took from her own tent. Every time she tried to get up, the wound on her front would glow, and she would collapse again.

With her gear in his possession, Andoras paused to give her one final look. "Don't go anywhere," he taunted, "I'm sure your father will want to come by to collect your remains."

He gave a laugh as he turned and began walking off, leaving Vera behind. His heavy footsteps slowly faded into the distance, and soon, Vera was left with only the quiet rustling of leaves to keep her company. Again, she tried to stand, and again, she failed completely within seconds.

Vera closed her eyes, leaning her head back against a root. She silently willed misfortune on her father, praying to every other god she knew in the hopes that one of them could strike him down for her.

She was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts and back to reality when she felt something touch her right arm. She tried to turn her head, but her strength had been sapped so much that she could do little more than open her eyes and move them. It wasn't enough to see what had touched her, but there was nobody around – she was still alone.

Then, something else touched her, and this time she saw it: a dark green vine, slowly reaching out and over her left arm, curling around it slowly. The only place it could be coming from was the tree behind her, but how...?

The vines pulled her a little closer to the tree, while more of them reached out and crept over her legs. She couldn't move a muscle, and was only able to wait and see what happened as additional vines curled around her. They seemed to be getting a grip on her, the coils of vine slowly tightening their hold. As more vines entangled her, they pulled her towards the tree more easily, and into a hollow at the bottom. The vines around her arms pulled her upper body upwards, and she was raised into a kneeling position, unable to resist even a little bit.

She couldn't tell if the vines were hostile or not – she was being pulled up against the tree trunk, but the vines weren't being rough with her. Was she really going to be eaten by a tree? The bards would have a field day with that one, if they ever learned of her fate. It was growing doubtful even she would find out; her body felt numb, and even keeping her eyes open was a struggle.

But she was able to keep them open, and a bright blue glow from somewhere above her caught her attention. Two more vines were reaching out from behind her, and down past her, over her shoulders. These ones were a brighter teal in color compared to the dark green ones holding her up, and the ends of them had brightly glowing flowers on the tips, white in the center and fading to blue on the petals. They didn't quite look right, though, as though she was looking at the flowers from underneath, the very middle of each flower bearing a teal circle rather than any sign of pollen.

Something soft – more flowers? – brushed against her ears, and against her feet as well, sneaking in between her legs. Though she didn't know fear, Vera did begin to grow apprehensive; she had no idea what was going on. Maybe those foolish mortals were right after all, and this forest was best avoided, even by the gods themselves.

After a few moments, she felt the flowers getting pressed up against her body more firmly: the two vines she could see pressed their flowers against her bared breasts, right over the nipples, while the one creeping between her legs bent back on itself and shoved the glowing flower against Vera's loins just above her pussy. Above her, two more vines at her ears pressed against the insides of them, the flower petals tickling her ears a bit.

But she didn't pay much mind to what they were doing, because of how it felt when they did.

She could feel some sort of energy flowing into her body, through the vines and the flowers. She could only just barely feel the smoldering embers of her divine power, but some new force began to fill her, similar and yet distinctly different. The wound across her front stopped glowing and closed up as the vines transferred energy into her, and Vera moaned out in confusion, overwhelmed by the sensation. She was changing within, even if she couldn't understand how.

As she did, she felt some sort of other presence; almost close enough to be inside of her, though it was definitely something else. Could it be the tree itself? She almost heard a voice within her head, but it was too indistinct to make out, too jumbled and chaotic. The glowing flowers pulsated steadily with light as more energy flowed into her, and her wounds healed completely, yet the power continued to enter her.

She tried to move, but the vines held her tight, even as she regained her strength. Some of it, at least – she could move her arms and legs, but she lacked the supreme might she had as a goddess of war. That power wasn't gone, but had been suppressed so much as to be irrelevant. The flowers pressed against her harder, and she gasped aloud as she felt them merging with her, sinking into her skin under her fur just a little, a strange though thankfully painless feeling.

She was becoming aware of things. Aware of her surroundings – the tree behind her, the grass around her, other plants beyond. So many indistinct plants much further away than she could see, like a myriad of tiny lights dancing with one another. And she became aware of the voice that seemed to be trying to reach her, making out individual words: '...worry... ...save... ...waiting...'

"I don't understand," she said aloud, taking heavy breaths. Each pulse of the light from the flowers seemed to fill her with more power, but it was an alien power to her, one she did not know how to use.

'Do not worry,' the voice in her head said again, much more clearly. It sounded ancient, though it was hard to ascribe a gender to it. 'I will save you. I have been waiting for one such as you.'

Vera panted a little as several more seconds passed, before the teal vines began to withdraw from her. They left the flowers behind as they did, implanted into her body in her ears and over her nipples and slit, each flower still glowing somewhat. She tried to move her arms, but the tree was still holding her in place, and additional dark green vines began to twist and curl around her limbs, securing her in place and binding her – enough of them grasping her that they began to lift her into the air, just a short distance off the ground.

"What are you doing?" Vera demanded – she was grateful to the tree for saving her, but she still had no idea what was going on, and she didn't like being restrained like this. The new awareness was disorienting as well; she was vaguely aware of countless plants, stretching all the way to the borders of the Spirit Forest. She tried to direct her attention to some of them, and was able to sense them in a little more detail, but her focus was broken as she saw more vines coming into view.

These ones were purple in color, with cross-shaped openings on the very tips, and Vera saw two of them in front of her as a third one brushed against her back. 'You were a goddess of war before today,' the tree said into her mind, 'But now you will become a goddess of nature.'

Vera wasn't in a position to argue, but did ask, "What are you doing to me?"

The vine behind her and one of the ones in front of her crept downwards, while the third one hovered in front of her face. 'Giving you enough of my strength to start you off on your journey,' the tree answered cryptically. 'You are a vessel that must be filled with power.'

"What do you-" Vera began, but the vine in front of her face pushed into her mouth as she spoke, and her eyes widened. She resisted the urge to bite down on it, but she did try to push it out of her mouth with her tongue; the vine itself was slightly bumpy, slippery, and oddly enough, a little sweet to the taste. She gave a muffled inquiry, but one that was cut off by a muffled groan of surprise from her as she felt the other two vines push their way into her – one slipping under the flower at her front and into the soft folds of her pussy, while the other pressed itself under her tail and spread out her sphincter to ease itself into her anal tunnels.

Vera squirmed as much as the vines entangling her would allow, her eyes widening, more of her groans stifled by the vine in her mouth, her tail fluffing up behind her. 'I will not hurt you,' she heard in her head, as the vines tightened their hold on her to keep her in place. 'Just relax.'

Feeling uncertain, Vera took a deep breath through her nose, only to squirm and groan again as the two vines under her pressed in a little further to her holes, several more inches of the slippery tendrils slipping into her. The pair of vines was separated only by a narrow wall of flesh between her pussy and ass, but they soon stopped again, staying buried deeply within her.

After a few more heavy breaths, Vera was just starting to wonder what was happening next when movement caught her eye: in front of her, a bulge was traveling down the big purple vine that led to her mouth. As it drew closer, her eyes widened again, and the tree's reassurance of 'Do not panic, you will not be hurt' did little to calm her as the bulge traveled within the vine, closer and closer...

Her jaws were momentarily parted as it passed through them, and Vera braced herself. The end of the vine suddenly sprayed a surprisingly sweet and sticky fluid into her mouth and over her tongue, one that gave her a pleasantly strange tingle, and she swallowed it down with little thought. Yet it felt like it disappeared halfway down to her stomach, and she felt filled up in a different way – filled on a spiritual level, at least a little bit, gaining some small amount of power she did not have before.

With another heavy breath, she relaxed, seeing another bulge traveling down the vine. She was surprised when she felt one at her pussylips first and squirmed in place a little as the swelling passed up and into her tunnels, only to erupt at the tip of the vine and spray her vaginal walls with the sticky fluid, making her groan into the vine in her mouth. As the sap-like liquid gushed into her body and was absorbed, she felt her tailhole spreading around another bulge passing up the third vine and into her body, making her groan once again. Like the others, it traveled to the end of the vine and sprayed fluid into her rear, soon disappearing within her body.

As Vera watched the next bulge traveling towards her maw, she noticed that the forest around her seemed more... defined. Brighter. Her night vision seemed to be enhanced, and she was more acutely aware of the breeze blowing past her and rustling the leaves of the great tree and other trees nearby. Relaxing, she didn't struggle as the next eruption of sap sprayed into her mouth, and she swallowed it dutifully, actively trying not to squirm now as she felt another bulge of sap passing through her labia. Another one traveled through her sphincter a moment later, and both lower vines gushed sap within her at almost the same time.

As her strength grew, Vera became suddenly far more aware of the tree behind her. Not physically, as she could already feel its bark against her tail and the vines around her body – rather, she was aware of the tree's spirit itself, the entity that was speaking into her head. Another bulge in the vine passed through her jaws and gushed sap into her mouth, and she groaned and swallowed it down, feeling her awareness spread further, to encompass more plants – sharpening her 'vision', letting her distinguish every individual tree, every flower, every blade of grass. It was quite overwhelming, and she was only distracted from it momentarily as her ass and slit both got another serving of sap pumped into them, her legs quivering a little bit from the sensation.

'Clear your thoughts,' the tree told her, and she tried her best, closing her eyes. Another burst of sap into her maw took her by surprise but she gulped it down, the range of her improved awareness extending even further. More and more plants entered her awareness with each blast of sticky sap into her body, and they came more quickly as the tree sped up the rate at which it sent bulges down its vines. But just as she might ignore the growing noise of a crowd in a busy street, Vera put all her focus on something else: in this case it was the tree right behind her, tuning out the innumerable other plants in an increasingly large area around her.

'This is all I can give you for now,' the tree said after a short time, and Vera opened her eyes a little, surprised to see a much bigger swelling traveling down the vine in front of her. But the other vines evidently held the same, for she felt something big press against her slit lips and spread her out, the swelling stretching out her vaginal walls a bit as it did. Then the one in front of her reached her mouth and parted her jaws, muffling her groans as the third and final one stretched out her tailhole and then the walls beyond.

All three vines erupted into her at the same time with a final great surge of sap, and Vera's newfound power grew suddenly, the sensation overwhelming her as she felt fluid gushing into her holes and filling her mouth, forcing her to swallow rapidly. She trembled in the grasp of the vines holding her, and soon they had finished filling her, the three purple tendrils withdrawing from her body. Gasping as the top one left her maw, she gave a little groan when the vines pulled out from her rear and then her slit, leaving her briefly dazed.

The vines entangling her gently lowered her to the ground and released her, and Vera put her hands forward to hold herself up as she panted, recovering from what had just happened. "What..." she began between gasps, struggling a little to speak, and had an idea. 'What just happened?' she tried asking the tree telepathically, focusing on its spirit.

'It is complete. You are now a goddess of nature,' the tree answered as she crawled out of the hollow of the tree. 'Your other powers may come back in time, but for now, you are needed to protect this place, among others.'

Vera turned and sat facing the tree, catching her breath but continuing to speak mind-to-mind. It wouldn't hurt to practice. 'How? I know you've given me some sort of... power, but I don't know how to use it.'

'It will take time to teach you all you can do now, just as it surely took a long time to master your full powers before,' it answered. 'But as you have surely noticed, you can sense nearby plants. You will be able to converse with them and determine what is wrong with them. And you and I now share an unbreakable bond; no matter how far you are from me, we will always be able to talk like this.'

Nodding, Vera got to her feet, if slightly unsteadily. Taking a deep breath, she cast her awareness outward into the vast expanse of plant life around her, trying to focus on only a little bit at a time. Grasses here, trees there, mosses and lichens and flowers and...

There. She found what she was looking for: reeds and algae, but only a small clump of them. There was a pond nearby. 'What else is there?' Vera asked as she walked off in the direction of the pond, continuing to talk to the tree, its voice remaining just as clear in her head even as she got further away from it.

'Many things. You will be able to spread new plant life to areas without it. Grow stronger, and you can summon plants to your aid.'

'I will need the help,' Vera thought with a frown. 'That man who tried to kill me is in the service of my father. I must deal with them both. My father is a threat to everyone.'

'Then this is the perfect time to gather your strength. You are but a seedling right now, in rich soil with plenty of clean water. Your adversaries think you are dead and will not be looking for you. So do not challenge them as a mere seedling; take your time. Grow tall and strong; master your powers as a goddess of nature, and reclaim your lost strength as a goddess of war. When you challenge them again, your branches will reach the sky and your roots will be buried deep, your strength too great for them to match.'

Vera reached the pond she had sensed, brushing aside the tall reeds to stand at the edge of the water and peer into it. Her own face stared back at her, reflected in the clear waters of the pond: the flowers that had been implanted onto her body were glowing much more brightly than before, now that she had been filled with power. And she was naked, of course, for her would-be assassin had taken all of her gear. Crouching down, she stared at her eyes: they too looked like flowers now, the pupils at the center surrounded by irises that looked like the petals of a flower, and the whites were now a deep purple-blue in color.

She had to admit that the odds did not seem to be in her favor, but as the tree said, she had plenty of time to grow and gather her strength. She was no stranger to training, after all – this would simply be a new routine. Mastering new powers deep within the forest until she was ready to emerge from it and finish what she had started.

'Very well,' she thought to the tree, finally replying to its last remarks. 'Where do I start?'

'For now, you must help maintain and grow this forest,' the tree told her. 'Learn to use your most basic abilities. Then you can try something greater.'

Vera nodded out of reflex, only realizing a moment later that the tree could not see her. Or at least, she presumed it couldn't.

'Then that's what I will do. I can be patient when I need to be. I will train and gain strength while I can... but rest assured, the day will come eventually when I get my revenge on the so-called God Slayer, and then my father will be next!'