Title-- The Demon-God of Jubagh (part twenty-two)
Rating and Warnings-- PG; mild language.
Cast-- Rai Gerring, defected black magician (human man); Brandon "Exile" Styhan, exiled paladin-warrior (human man); Lhafa Softstep, possessed spirit warrior (baghan woman); Kerrek Rockhide, dead holy man (baghan man).
Previously-- Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, Part Ten, Part Eleven, Part Twelve, Part Thirteen, Part Fourteen, Part Fifteen, Part Sixteen, Part Seventeen, Part Eighteen, Part Nineteen, Part Twenty, Part Twenty-One.



She didn't think she fully understood the depth of the situation, but as the power pulsing in her talisman made sprinting no more taxing than a leisurely stroll, she didn't care. She had approached them to save her world and stop a terrible evil from being released into the universe. Zeh Gurhai would rot the lands and rise to the stars, leaving her people behind to kill each other in a mindless bloodbath. She had to focus on preventing such disaster from occurring. She shouldn't be concerned with the outlanders' affairs.

So why was her mind racing to find ways to help them, even to the detriment of their chances to kill the holy men who sought to summon Zeh Gurhai?

The ghost in her head was finally beginning to stir, casting out weak efforts to grasp control of her limbs and senses. She batted him away easily but did not attempt to speak with him; she had to concentrate on finding a swift path as the robed man gave her directions towards the gathered holy men. Time was of the essence. The outlanders could barely keep up with her, yet she could run far faster still.

What... what is... what is all this? How did you... what happened? The voice intruded on her thoughts.

She could not stop to focus on speaking with him. Silence. Running. Urgency. Behave, she managed to reply, reaching a hand up to swing herself from log to bough easily. The outlanders followed with less grace and efficiency, and she slowed until they caught up again.

You... magic... how... He sounded nearly as scattered as she felt. His mind curled up in a corner of her own, no longer even trying to assume control. He was weak, fragile. Vulnerable.

Silence! she snapped, running a line straight past a few baghan gatherers. They didn't even look up; the robed one had gifted them with good magic. Her worries eased slightly, while the Rockhide muttered to himself almost incoherently. She stopped listening.

The first magical barrier was visible as a gleam, like the sun on dewy spiderwebs, stretching high and to either side in a massive circle. She hesitated.

"Go on, Lhafa. It's alright," the robed man murmured behind her. With that encouragement, she leapt through, shuddering as an almost painful tingle swept through her body, as though her flesh had been asleep and only now awakened. She heard a soft curse from the robed man. "It stripped away the cloaking spell... Go on, Brandon, quickly. We ... won't need to be hidden much longer, anyway."

She turned in time to see the two outlanders move through the barrier and shiver violently. "That's shitty," the holy man grunted. "But let's keep moving. Maybe the baghans we passed will give our buddies a little pause, and buy us some time." He flashed white teeth in a mirthless grin.

Her eyes widened. "...your sword," she choked out, pointing a hooved finger at the blade on the holy man's hip. He blinked down, then half-shouted and flung the weapon away from his body as it continued melting. The metal steamed and hissed as it touched the ground, blackening the grass.

"What the bloody hells--"

"The barrier. It must not like steel weapons," the robed man mused, unperturbed by the fine blade bubbling into a reeking pool of ore. "We need to hurry, Lhafa," he added, looking at her earnestly. She nodded and turned again, picking them a new path at a slightly slower pace. The outlanders followed.

The second ward surprised her - she didn't see it, but she felt it rip through her body as she passed through. "Stop!" she cried to the men, planting a cloven hoof against a knot in the branch that served as her road and using it to reverse her direction. She halted mid-spin quickly enough to set her head whirling. "There is a second barrier here!" She pointed to where it intersected their path, trying to shake the sudden nausea that gripped her. "It is stronger," she added with a shudder.

The holy man's eyes glowed golden. "I get the feeling this one will fry us, Rai," he muttered to the other, who nodded tentative agreement. "Gonna have to break it, I guess. That'll be a screaming alarm to the hexers, though."

"It may be a ward to alert them to anyone who passed the first," she suggested, crouching and waiting for her body to stop rebelling. Her stomach roiled and her vision was blurring. Inside her head, the Rockhide was laughing. Does this pain amuse you? she asked impassively.

You know so little, he replied, still laughing. But you guess well. This is an alarm ward. They will come to kill you here, rather than let you sully the place of the ritual. I suggest that, not for your good but so that you might have a chance of stopping the summong, you run now.

Her eyes closed. It will not kill the outlanders?

He scoffed. Of course not. A ward so big will not be deadly, not even with so many holy men gathered to create it.

"The Rockhide says that it is an alarm ward, and it is too large to kill you," she murmured, opening her eyes again. She was puzzled when she found that her vision had entirely failed. "I do not believe him, however."

"Lhafa..." The robed man sounded alarmed. "Your eyes are ... white. Are you alright?"

"...it is stronger," she repeated, lifting a hand to place over her eyes. "I cannot see. It may do the same, or worse, to you."

"C'mon, Rai. Let's break it." The holy man shifted his weight loudly on the branch. "It'll tire us a little, but we don't really have a choice. I am not walkin' through that thing."

Clever, the Rockhide muttered to himself. Too clever. So much for getting my revenge.

She closed her eyes, finding the blankness of sight to be no different than before. Revenge, after they promised you a new body?

He sneered. You three race to your deaths, and thus, I to mine. I'd like to be the one to kill them - at least to kill the dark-skinned one who felled me. But I have few chances, and that may have been my last.

"Lhafa?" It was the robed man again; she turned her head towards the sound of his voice. His tone was strange. "Use a strip of cloth from your vest to bind your eyes."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because breaking the barrier might destroy them entirely."