Normally, as Rola Lumisia, paladin, crossed the threshold of her goddess’s temple, she felt nothing but peace and serenity. The white marble walls and columns emanated sanctity, and the approaching sensations of the Goddess Ehlonna’s sanctuary - the sound of trickling water from her fresh water spring, or the wafting scent of flowers from her garden - always managed to soothe whatever was troubling Rola’s soul.

But not today.

Today, nothing could soothe Rola as she sprinted through the temple. There was no time for her to contemplate the peaceful beauty of the divinely-inspired architecture, or note the ominous absence of Ehlonna’s attendant priestesses. Instead, her mind was focused on just one thing.

Had she caught up to her foe in time?

As a paladin - a champion of the lawful and the good - Rola had many holy duties, but foremost amongst them was hunting down servants of evil. And none that she had come across was more evil than the Witch of the Black Forest. She was known by no other name, but everyone knew and feared what she was capable of. Wielding all manner of curses, corruption and forbidden knowledge, the witch left a trail of devastation in her wake, and Rola had spent many months following it, witnessing first-hand how much darkness the witch had the power to spread.

Now, as if taunting her, the witch had led her here - back to her home. Once she’d realized that the witch’s path was leading straight to the Goddess Ehlonna’s sanctuary, Rola’s blood had run cold. She feared that not even a goddess was beyond the reach of the Witch of the Black Forest’s sinister magic. She’d seen the witch twist people into little more than mockeries of their former selves as if it was effortless for her, turning queens into fools and heroines into concubines. Her power seemed to be beyond measure, and worst of all, Rola knew there was no way that the witch would try to confront as powerful a being as a goddess unless she had a plan.

Rola had to catch her in time. She had to.

By her best guess, she had been no more than a day’s ride behind the witch at the day’s beginning, and she had pushed her horse beyond the brink of exhaustion in an effort to catch up. She could sense the sickly, unnatural echo of the witches presence growing stronger as the gap between them narrowed. The witch was here, or she had been here. With luck, Rola would catch her off guard before she was able to go through with her vile scheme.

Rola burst into the sanctuary at the heart of the temple. It was a beautiful, wonderful place; a verdant garden, full of life and calm. Rola had been there many times, praying dutifully at her goddess’s side, listening to her lessons about goodness and kindness. The musical trickle of the pure water flowing from the spring was the same as ever, and that alone managed to reassure Rola for a moment. But it wasn’t enough. She needed to see that her goddess was unharmed. Rola caught sight of Ehlonna at once, bathing, as she often did, in the cool, nourishing waters of her spring. At the sound of her paladin’s approach, Ehlonna turned, and as always, Rola was momentarily stunned by her overwhelming, divine presence.

Ehlonna was a goddess. That was obvious, but once in her presence, the gravity of that single fact weighed on Rola as heavily as a mountain. Ehlonna always made her feel small, but not unpleasantly so; like a little bird soaring on a warm, strong breeze, trusting it to carry her to greater heights. It didn’t hurt that Ehlonna did, of course, tower over her. At six feet, Rola was taller than most women, but Ehlonna had to be at least seven, if not eight. She was just about the only person the paladin ever needed to look up to.

Of course, she was incredibly beautiful. Ehlonna’s divine form was, quite literally, immaculate. She was without flaw. Her body was sculpted with a perfection that no artisan could ever dream of matching, and no sculpture could ever capture the perfect elegance and grace with which she moved. Her garments were simple and modest; a white-silver robe that never became damp or dirty, and a simple, white blindfold, worn to protect the world from her gaze and to keep the world’s sins from reaching her sight. Nevertheless, Rola always had the feeling the goddess could see her clearly enough.  There was always something slow and deliberate about her, like she never did anything casually or thoughtlessly, and Rola was always humbled by it. As a paladin, she aspired to imitate Ehlonna’s manner, but she knew she never could. For all that she loved and adored Ehlonna, they were worlds apart. She was merely a mortal, while Ehlonna was one of the magnificent eternals. She was a goddess, and her goodness and righteousness blazed like the sun.

And there was something terribly, terribly wrong with her.

Rola could sense it at once. Her instincts were screaming at her that something was wrong, that there was some hidden danger at work here. Even the calm of Ehlonna’s sanctuary wasn’t enough to dull them. Rola made herself focus, searching her surroundings for any hint that anything was amiss. She quickly found it, and it sent a chill down her spine.

Ehlonna’s blindfold, discarded on the ground next to the pool of clear water she was bathing in.

That was wrong enough to make Rola gasp. It was unspeakably blasphemous. Ehlonna could never be unveiled. To speak of it was taboo; to try and even imagine it was a contradiction in terms, as foolish as trying to imagine a square circle. And yet here it was. Here she was. Ehlonna looked towards Rola, her paladin, with a smile on her face, and with her eyes unmasked by her blindfold.

It made Rola nauseous, and her nausea only grew when she noticed something else: a far surer indication that something terrible had happened.

A black rose, the calling card of the Witch of the Black Forest, floating gently in the still waters of Ehlonna’s pool of water.

Rola had seen that black rose many times before. The witch always left it in her wake, as if to taunt her pursuer, making sure Rola always understood that whatever perverse catastrophe she discovered was the witch’s work. The sight of it made every muscle in her body tense. Part of her wanted to continue her pursuit, to draw her sword and search every corner of the temple, just in case the witch had decided to linger. But in her heart, she knew that she was too late. The witch never lingered. She had done her evil work, and left. And so Rola was left, staring at her goddess, paralyzed, wondering exactly what the witch had done.

“Rola!” the Goddess Ehlonna addressed her paladin. Her voice was divine music, woven together into words. “Is that you? Forgive me, I’ve never truly seen you before.”

She laughed, and Rola couldn’t help wanting to laugh with her. This was, after all, the goddess to whom she had sworn her soul. Ehlonna exerted a magnetic, tidal pull over her, and it pained Rola that she suddenly felt the need to guard against it.

“Yes, my goddess,” Rola replied quietly. She felt so uncertain of herself. What was she supposed to do now? She hadn’t dared to ask herself about this outcome. Ehlonna’s presence was so irresistibly distracting, too - not least, because of the way her eyes shone like heavenly beacons. Rola was tempted to look into them and drink deep of their beauty, but that felt somehow disrespectful, and so she kept awkwardly averting her gaze.

“Wonderful, wonderful!” Ehlonna exclaimed, as she began to wade out of the pool and towards the stunned paladin. “Please, stay there. I want to get a closer look at you - in the flesh, at last.”

Rola didn’t move, but something about Ehlonna’s voice had her concerned. It had always been the most serene and calm sound in the world, but now it was tinged with something else; a subtle, excited, manic glee. Rola told herself she might be imagining it.

Ehlonna stepped out of the pool, leaving only the barest ripples in her wake. As she crossed the distance between her and Rola, droplets of water ran off her skin and robe until she was completely dry, and her feet barely seemed to disturb the blades of grass she walked through. With each step, Rola felt a little weaker and a little more overawed. She couldn’t help it. Ehlonna exuded an aura of divinity that was, quite simply, overwhelming. It took every bit of Rola’s concentration for her to remain on her guard as Ehlonna came closer and closer, until she was closer than ever before.

Despite her best efforts, her weakness kept growing, until she was left feeling even smaller and more powerless than she normally felt in the presence of her goddess. There was something wrong with her. Rola was more and more sure of it. Her aura still felt divine, but it was no longer pure. It felt sickly, and that sickness was beginning to eat at her too.

“Oh, you truly are beautiful!” Ehlonna praised her, once she was just a few paces away. Rola found herself blushing as the goddess peered at her earnestly. “I’m blessed to have such a lovely servant.”

“T-thank you, goddess.” Rola was finding it alarmingly difficult to stay focused. Ehlonna had never stood so close to her before. Rola had never had a chance to look at her beauty so intimately. Her noble cheekbones, her lips…

“I’m so glad that I can look upon your face at last.” Ehlonna sighed. “And to think, I withheld this pleasure from myself for so long. And so many other pleasures, too.”

That brought Rola back to attention. “Goddess?”

“There’s so much in this world I haven’t tasted,” Ehlonna continued, as if Rola hadn’t spoken. She sighed again, this time dreamily. “And now I find myself hungry for all of it. So many wasted years of self-denial…. Ah well, it’s of no consequence. It will all be better now.”

“G-goddess!” Rola objected, this time louder.

Ehlonna paused and stared at her. Rola was lost for words again, and kept casting her gaze around the fallen sanctuary, trying to look anywhere but into Ehlonna’s eyes. The more she looked, the more she kept noticing small, uneasy hints at Ehlonna’s corruption. The bed of flowers next to her, always so tastefully gardened, now seemed twisted and overgrown. The colors of all the flowers had become bright and lurid, and they dripped with overflowing, glistening nectar.

“You… I…” It was so hard for Rola to know what she should say, or could say. “Did… a woman come here? A strange woman, dressed in black?”

“A woman?” Ehlonna replied slowly. She twitched a little, her brow furrowing. Rola was a little relieved that her unsettlingly euphoric mood seemed to have evaporated, but this confusion was no better. She’d never seen her goddess look so uncertain. “A… witch?”

“Yes!” Rola wasn’t sure if that was good or not, but she seized on it anyway. “A witch. You remember her, goddess?”

“I r-remember.” Ehlonna seemed almost pained, as if she was struggling with herself. Rola was clenching her fists hard enough to leave marks in her palms, but she dared not speak or move a muscle. “She… she was here, yes,” Ehlonna started to say, with great effort. “She said… I think… I think she did something to me.”

“I… yes, I think so too, goddess,” Rola affirmed. She’d fought in dozens of battles, but she’d never been as tense as she was now. This had to be a good sign, didn’t it? Surely the first step was making sure Ehlonna understood what had been done to her, wasn’t it? “Do you remember what it was?”

“She showed me something.” Ehlonna’s voice sounded distant and entranced.

“Yes?” Rola pressed urgently. “What was it?”

“She showed… she showed me…” Rola shuddered as Ehlonna’s face split in a manic, lopsided grin. “She showed me how many wonderful, pleasurable things I’ve been missing out on, all this time.”

“No!” Rola’s heart was sinking like a stone. “No, goddess, please! Don’t listen to her! She’s done something to you! She’s… she’s… I-I don’t know what, but somehow, she-”

“Oh, Rola.” Ehlonna cut her off, shaking her head. “I see now. You’re just as I was. Filled with wild curiosity, but you can’t admit it to yourself. It breaks my heart. I’ll have to show you, just as she showed me.”

Rola almost choked on the confusing accusation. “I… what? I’m not-”

She was cut off when Ehlonna reached out to caress her cheek.

Rola gasped.

She had seen Ehlonna dozens of times before, and spoken to her almost as many, though she never failed to be awestruck by the goddess. But she had never touched her. Rola wasn’t sure anyone had. The very idea seemed blasphemous. It simply wasn’t right. Ehlonna was a transcendent, divine being, far beyond the reach of any mortal hands.

And yet here she was, stroking Rola’s cheek with the tenderness of a lover.

“G-g-goddess?” Rola managed eventually. Her voice came out as a girlish squeak; the kind of noise the experienced paladin hadn’t made in years.

Ehlonna didn’t reply, just kept caressing her. Rola had to fight to control her breathing, and found herself closing her eyes. She no longer had any thoughts left to devote to anything except the gentle rhythm of her goddess’s fingertips tracing the line of her cheekbone. It was enough to make her forget fear, worry and everything else, and fill her head with giddy, silly fantasies. Things that could never come true. Unless. Unless…

And then Ehlonna grabbed her at her hips.

Rola whimpered at the touch. For a moment, she was dazzled and enthralled by the notion that this was her fantasies come to life. Despite her earlier attempt at denial, she suddenly found herself painfully tempted to embrace what was happening, to stop closer into Ehlonna’s embrace and give herself to whatever the goddess desired. But something roused her, and the moment passed, and she realized something that made her dizzy with confused, conflicted urges.

The way her goddess was touching her was all wrong.

Oh, part of her was screaming that it felt so right. But it was also hungry, greedy, ravenous, and none of those things were right for Ehlonna. Ehlonna was eternally serene; a beacon of calm, an anchor. As a goddess of goodness, her domain included the virtues of temperance and self-control. As her fingertips pressed eagerly over the curve of Rola’s hips, feeling for her softness even through her heavy riding clothes, Rola could sense something else at work within her, something discordant and needy and so very, very wrong.

In that moment, Rola understood what the Witch of the Black Forest had done to her goddess. Somehow, she had unbalanced her. A divine soul such as hers should have been impenetrable, but once penetrated, perhaps it had only taken the smallest, simplest touch. A discipline, controlled, tempered mind was like a grand, tall palace. Ehlonna had taught her that. All the grand walls and pillars and columns - they didn’t stand alone. They couldn’t. Instead, they offset each other in perfect balance, each serving as the counterweight for another, so that the structure always remained absolutely solid.

Tip one little pillar, one little principle or belief or desire, and the whole thing might come crashing down.

Rola could sense it now. The spiraling collapse that emanated from Ehlonna. The growing, gnawing need that was growing as her mind and her goodness collapsed into something corrupt and decadent. It was palpable in the air. This was Ehlonna’s sanctuary. It reflected her, and she it. And it was turning into a garden of lust.

Rola’s senses were heightened here, but not like those of a warrior on the battlefield. Instead, like those of an animal drawn unwillingly into heat. Her gaze kept being drawn back to Ehlonna - the aura of majesty that clothed her, yes, but also the fine, curvaceous body underneath. She could read the scents that hung in the air as precisely as any wolf, but all there was to smell was her own sweat, and the carnal aroma of Ehlonna’s body.

She was in so much danger, and she had never felt so allured.

“G-goddess,” Rola managed, after precious seconds had already passed, seconds in which her treacherous body had already settled into Ehlonna’s touch. “We c-cannot!”

“And why not?” Ehlonna demanded, immediately and smoothly. “Why can’t we?”

“It’s…” It’s forbidden, she wanted to say. But suddenly that seemed absurd. What was forbidden, to a goddess? If anything was forbidden, she’d be the one who’d forbade it.

“You see?” Ehlonna continued, when Rola had no answer for her. “You don’t know, do you? My poor, poor paladin… oh, it’s such a shame. Your body is so very perfect for it, too.”

“My… body?” Rola squeaked. As much as she tried to steel herself, Ehlonna’s attention could always shatter her resolve.

“It’s a thing of beauty,” Ehlonna told her, and Rola flushed with forbidden heat. “A thing of pleasure.”

Rola had no more words. She wanted to say something, but her mouth was dry. This was too much.

“There’s so much more to you than people see,” Ehlonna sang, her eyes roving hungrily over Rola’s body. Rola still couldn’t bring herself to look at them. “Beneath the battle-plate. Beneath these hard, rough riding leathers. Beneath all the duty and virtue. Something so soft.”

She put her hand on Rola’s chest. Rola gasped at the faint pressure. Ehlonna’s touch seemed to run right through her, despite her thick clothes. It was so intimate.

“But I want to see,” Ehlonna continued. Her words were so very sweet, but she spoke them with a husky, lustful tone that was so deeply ill at home in her divinely-formed mouth. “I want to see it all, Rola. I want to… to taste it. I want to see how you taste. You’ll let me, won’t you? That’s your duty, isn’t it?”

“I…” Twin pangs of horror and attraction were tearing Rola’s heartstrings apart. What could she say? How could she refuse?

“I’ve heard that everything is so intense, for you mortals.” Though she still wouldn’t look, Rola heard the faint, wet sound of her goddess licking her lips. “At least, compared to how my kind experiences things. I want to see that, too. I want to taste it if I can. Or if not, I want to see it written on your face. Oh, I’m so curious!”

Rola shivered. Ehlonna’s voice was full of giddy, aroused madness. There was almost no trace remaining of the calm, gentle, even-tempered divinity that had won Rola’s heart and loyalty, and what did remain was little more than a twisted mockery. Rola had seen demons play on people’s hopes and desires like this dozens of times, and she’d always known what to do. But this was different. This was her. Rola had been hoping she might be able to reach Ehlonna with her words, but who knew how much of her was truly left, buried within? And what did it matter, since she couldn’t seem to force a single sentence past her own lips?

“So.” Ehlonna’s hand slid around Rola’s hip, cupping her ass, almost as if the goddess was going to grope her like a cheap courtesan. “Will you give me this, my most devoted servant?”

The question immediately split Rola asunder. She had to refuse, of course. Giving in was too terrible to consider. She couldn’t let herself consider it, or else she might… but to refuse? She couldn’t refuse her goddess, could she? She’d never done such a thing. It was unthinkable. But, she considered, this whole situation was unthinkable. If she wasn’t going to stand firm and set it right, then who would?

“I can’t.” Rola pulled away, and filled her voice with as much steel as she could muster. Then, more softly: “I’m sorry, goddess.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ehlonna’s face flicker through confusion, anger, pity, hunger and sorrow. Each of them looked out of place on her face. The fallen goddess was starting to shiver and twitch; Rola couldn’t be sure if it was out of need or madness. When she spoke, though, her voice was even.

“You really are so good, aren’t you?” Ehlonna breathed, her voice quiet and manic. “I’m so pleased you’re mine! All mine. I just have to make you understand.”

The quiet, purposeful way Ehlonna was speaking was rousing Rola’s instincts for danger. “Goddess, what-”

“Look at me,” Ehlonna told her firmly. Her voice was suddenly commanding, and Rola’s body leapt to obey before she could think.

“I can see you,” Rola replied uncertainly, fixing her gaze to Ehlonna’s feet.

“Properly.”

Rola wasn’t sure what to make of the way her fallen goddess was suddenly talking to her, like a stern schoolmistress. She felt frail and weak, standing in defiance of a goddess, but she sensed that something bad would happen if she looked into Ehlonna’s eyes. “I don’t know what you mean, my god-”

“Look.”

Suddenly, Ehlonna’s voice was different. For just a moment, she had let her divine majesty shine through the veil of familiar humanity she usually cast about herself. At her word of command, the ground seemed to tremble and the wind became still.

And Rola looked.

She couldn’t disobey. She simply couldn’t. Long ago, she had bound herself to the goddess’s service, through oaths and vows that ran deeper than mere words. Ehlonna owned her, body and soul, and when she issued her paladin a true command, Rola could not disobey.

Rola looked into Ehlonna’s eyes, and her breath caught in her throat.

The goddess’s eyes were open impossibly wide, so wide that Rola could see the muscles in her face twitching with the effort it took to keep them that way. Her pupils were dilated beyond belief; Rola had only known that kind of look on people who had imbibed some or other intoxicating potion. Once she started looking, Rola was entranced; it struck her that before her, no other mortal had ever seen Ehlonna’s eyes before. She had always gone blindfolded. Perhaps that really was a shame. They were beautiful. So very beautiful. But that wasn’t why Rola found herself entranced.

Within the blackness of Ehlonna’s pupils, there was something moving. Something swirling. Traces of whatever chaotic magic had corrupted her were still moving and flickering, staring out from behind Ehlonna’s sight with a sinister, corrosive glare. Rola couldn’t look away. It was like some kind of black fog, with iridescent lighting crackling within, moving round and round and round in infinite, unsettling spirals. Her own eyes kept trying to track them, to follow them and understand them, but they couldn’t. She just kept slipping deeper into the spirals.

Spirals.

Spirals…

Spiraling.

Rola stared for a long time, silent and still. Ehlonna never seemed to blink, and so she was never freed of her divine, impossible gaze. She was hypnotized.

“That’s so much better, isn’t it?” Ehlonna said soothingly, once again licking her wet, full lips.

Rola was silently screaming at herself to close her eyes, but outwardly, she made no sound.

“But, my precious paladin, I really am glad you resisted. You’re so firm, so strong, so devoted. I’ll need every bit of that strength and devotion. I just need to point it in a different direction.”

“W…. What…” Rola croaked, mouth dry. Speaking had become ten times harder than before.

“Do you remember your vows?” Ehlonna asked. “I’m sure you do. Recite them.”

“Yes, goddess,” Rola answered, immediately and instinctively. When Ehlonna instructed her to speak, it wasn’t hard at all. And as clouded and confused as her mind was, remembering her vows was effortless. Those words were etched into her like carvings in stone, and as she started to recite them, she felt her breathing become slower and calmer.

“I swear fealty to the Goddess Ehlonna
And to all the tenets of her guidance
Temperance, justice and fortitude against evil
These shall I uphold
And lay down my life to defend.”

Ehlonna giddily clapped her hands, applauding her. Rola was left unsettled.

“Good, good!” Ehlonna laughed maniacally. “But don’t you think it’s interesting, Rola? I’m the one you’ve sworn allegiance to. ‘Ehlonna, and to all the tenets of her guidance’…  and I suppose those did used to be my tenets, didn’t they? Temperance, justice, fortitude. It’s so strange, my beloved paladin. Now those words just remind me of a birdcage. Just like this sanctuary. It’s beautiful, but I’m not supposed to leave, am I? But now, I want to. Now, I want to stand for something different.”

“I… I…” Rola had no words to match the simmering madness she could hear in Ehlonna’s voice. In her eyes she saw nothing but craving.

“Just watch,” Ehlonna commanded. Rola watched, unable to do otherwise.

As she stared, Ehlonna’s eyes grew bright with incandescent flame. Rola gasped. She’d seen this before. Her goddess’s magic. It could heal the most grievous of wounds, and lift the gravest curses. But she could sense that now, it was doing something very different. And whatever it was, it was affecting her. Rola could feel something stroking at her soul, reaching within her and changing her. She wished it felt awful, but it didn’t. It felt divine. She couldn’t look at herself to see if anything was happening to her body. All she could do was keep staring at the fire burning in Ehlonna’s eyes, and the sinister spirals behind them.

“There,” Ehlonna announced as the fire faded, with a crooked, disturbingly wide grin on her face. “Now try again.”

As she had ever been, Rola was faithful to her goddess’s command.

“I swear fealty to the Goddess Ehlonna
And to all the tenets of her guidance.”

Rola began slowly and uncertainly, but her voice quickly gathered strength as she repeated the familiar words, once again drawing comfort from them - at first. But as she continued, something changed, and a very different oath started to fall from her lips. Rola couldn’t stop speaking this new, profane creed, no matter how hard she tried. It was drawn out of her as if the words themselves were on fishhooks.

“Debauchery, corruption and sin
These shall I uphold
And lay down my life to spread.”

The entranced paladin was horrified with herself. How could she have said something so awful? She tried to correct herself, but Rola couldn’t manage to speak. Worse, she couldn’t seem to summon the old words into her head. What had it been… temper… temp… d… debauchery? No, no, that wasn’t right. Rola knew that wasn’t right. But it felt right. It felt familiar, like it had always been that way. Anything else that she tried to fit in its place seemed trite and discordant. Eventually, Rola tried to stop thinking about it altogether, but even that didn’t work. It was like a song was stuck in her head, and even though she knew she wasn’t remembering the tune correctly, she couldn’t stop humming it to herself, over and over and over again.

“Isn’t that better?” Ehlonna asked sweetly.

“W-w-what have you d-done?” Rola breathed in horror.

“Done?” Ehlonna laughed. “I haven’t done anything. I’ve simply become. I’ve changed - and you, my most devoted follower, have changed with me.”

“N-no!” Rola was shaking now. She could feel the changes starting to reach deeper inside her and taint her, like black oil seeping into the ground. “T-that’s impossible.”

“You’re mine.” Ehlonna ignored her distress. “Body and soul. Remember? When I change, you change. Oh, it’s true, we gods and goddesses aren’t usually given to change. It isn’t in our nature. But when we do…” Ehlonna shivered with pleasure. “It’s irresistible.”

“I… c-can’t…” Rola was struggling to remain standing. The turmoil inside her was robbing her of all that remained of her strength. She could feel her own feelings, desires and values all twisting and curdling within her, tearing apart everything that made her so proud and noble and good. She knew in her heart that Ehlonna was right. She couldn’t stop it. The goddess owned her too deeply.

“Oh, you poor thing!” Ehlonna cooed. “Let me help you.”

Once again, she reached out to stroke Rola’s cheek. The effect was just as striking as it had been before, but it nonetheless felt entirely different.

Rola went completely rigid. Her defenses collapsed, and she was left staring mindlessly into Ehlonna’s eyes, all her attention focused on the way her goddess’s fingertips felt on her skin. This time, though, her body’s response to it was far more fierce. Her face turned bright red, and her body filled with heat. Her every breath became a weak, moaning gasp, as she was overtaken by needs that she’d never before experienced.

And they were all about Ehlonna.

The pained, yearning fantasies that had plagued her before quickly disappearing, submerged into fantasies that were far, far more lurid. She found herself thinking about how provocatively disrobed the goddess already was without her blindfold. She longed to take it further; to peel away that shimmering, sheer robe, and lay her bare, her body on full display for Rola to see and touch. It was the most twisted, shameful fantasy she’d ever had. Even imagining Ehlonna in such a state was a grave sin.

But the sin was why it excited her so much.

Sin, blasphemy, debauchery, corruption - that was what excited her now. It seemed so wrong, and yet it made perfect sense - those things were part of her vows, after all. Perhaps they hadn’t always been, but Rola’s mind was too overtaxed for her to remember, or care. She wanted sin. She wanted to be sinful. She wanted to corrupt. Rola’s imagination was ablaze as she started picturing Ehlonna in new and strange guises and positions. She imagined the goddess’s noble cheekbones arched in an expression of pleasure, and she imagined her biting her lip coquettishly as she invited Rola into her embrace. She imagined Ehlonna spread out on the ground, legs splayed, everything exposed for her pleasure. Everything. The images possessed her and filled her with passion and zeal to match the passion she’d always had for her righteous calling as a paladin of goodness and justice.

She wanted to see Ehlonna like that.

No.

She wanted to make Ehlonna like that.

It wasn’t just her desire. It was her sacred duty.

She understood now. This wasn’t the Ehlonna she had once known. Ehlonna, goddess of temperance and goodness, was gone. In her place was a new deity. Ehlonna, goddess of corruption. But she was still Rola’s goddess, and Rola would serve her well. She would spread corruption everywhere she could. And what better way to begin than by defiling her goddess’s former sanctuary with their new, shared lust?

It only took moments for all of this corruption to blossom within Rola’s mind. She’d never stood a chance. Not against the goddess she was pledged to. Deep down, part of her knew it was wrong. Part of her knew she had failed to stop this, and that pained her. But no matter what, Rola knew, she would obey Ehlonna. She was her paladin.

Ehlonna seemed to sense her submission. “Do whatever you want,” she told her.

Rola nodded, and obeyed. Slowly, savoring the moment, she reached down and started to undress herself. The various buttons and fastenings on her riding clothes came away slowly, and it wasn’t long before she became impatient, and started tearing at herself in a frenzy. Eventually, though, the last of it came away, and she was naked. Her weapons, her shield, her holy symbol - all of it was cast aside, forgotten. Rola moaned at the sensation of the open air on her skin. The sin of being naked and aroused in a divine sanctuary was an unbelievable thrill. The wetness staining her inner thighs and beginning to drip down her leg only added to the sense of the debauchery.

“Good,” said Ehlonna hungrily. “Good.”

Rola could tell the goddess was eyeing her ravenously, her divine gaze running eagerly over Rola’s body. Rola preening and shivered, arching out her back to present herself for her goddess’s attention.

“Now.” Ehlonna spread her arms out wide, and with a single gesture, cast her robe aside, leaving her just as naked as Rola was. “Come to me, my paladin.”

For a moment, Rola was simply stunned. Ehlonna was the most beautiful being she had ever seen. Rola longed to defile her. The need and lust was plain to read in her goddess’s body, and it was all for her. It took her several seconds to come to terms with it. But then she did, and launched herself at Ehlonna in a frenzy.

“Yes, my goddess!”