Title-- The Demon-God of Jubagh (part twenty-seven)
Rating and Warnings-- PG-13; mild language and violence.
Cast-- Rai Gerring, defected black magician (human man); Brandon Styhan, exiled paladin-warrior (human man); Lhafa Softstep, blind spirit warrior (baghan woman); various Lightworkers (human men and women).
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, Part Twenty-Two, Part Twenty-Three, Part Twenty-Four, Part Twenty-Five, Part Twenty-Six.



Brandon slowly turned, one arm still upraised to sustain the hail of holy fire onto the burning fields below. Standing half a dozen meters away, a woman clad in gold-and-silver platemail armor leveled a broadsword at his face. "You are critically interfering with this world and its people, Brother Styhan!" she snapped, face mostly hidden by a well-crafted helm. "Cease immediately and come with us."

His precious few options seemed ugly. Do as they say, leaving Lhafa to fight two dozen spirit warriors on her own and leaving Rai with a demon? Fight and be swiftly defeated by his former comrades-in-arms? Try to talk his way out of it - which, given his tactlessness, was bound to end in failure? He hesitated.

Abruptly, the earth cracked open beneath his booted feet, sucking him down into dark depths. Well, that solves that, the exile thought as the smoke-filled sky was hidden by a network of roots closing over his head. He swore he could hear the whispers of elemental spirits as he was engulfed in blackness.

Lhafa's sight was fading as gradually and inexorably as it had come upon her, but her head was frighteningly quiet. The Rockhide had taken one of the spirit warriors and killed the other in passing. He was free - she was, as well, but she felt hollow. Her talisman was emptied of magic, her only source of knowledge had possessed another unwary woman, and her only way to see was dissipating.

Beneath her, the earth shuddered, and her attention went to a sudden explosion of earth-green light where the holy man had stood. The other outlanders had arrived, had shouted... and she could see the holy man's spirit swallowed by the spirits of the land. The outlanders shouted more and rushed around in a blur of too-bright lights that were becoming less distinct. The colors were draining from their spirits - from all the spirits.

Resigned, Lhafa inched forward and felt along the ground until her questing fingers met the haft of the fallen baghan's spear. She gripped it tightly and stood, watching as the red fire-spirits became grey and dimmed with the regression of her sight. "In thanks to the spirits," she murmured, drawing the blade of the spear across her thigh until blood welled up and trickled to the ground, "for allowing a humble woman to witness their light." Perhaps they would let her see again, if she survived the battle to perform the ritual a second time.

Rai was laughing as his demon - his demon, yes, that was how it was supposed to work, and it pleased him - tore baghans limb from limb. The air was smoke and ash and shadow, and the white fire had stopped falling. He walked through the ruins confidently, a wide smile twisting his face. He found himself at the bottom of the slope and looked up idly, his demon leaping past him towards a lone baghan that stood, bleeding, between him and... Lightworkers? Lightworkers were up there? Hm. That might be bad.

A strange creature whose spirit glowed like embers raced forward, nearly as tall as her though it ran on four legs; Lhafa recoiled, readying her spear as the world slowly went dark. It might kill her, but at least she would die on her feet, fighting. She whispered a prayer for the spirits to bless her aim and spear, then hurled her weapon forward.

It struck the beast squarely in the throat, the shaft of the simple spear sinking well into its torso as it jerked and rolled backwards with the impact. Lhafa almost allowed herself a smile, but the expression froze half-formed as the creature rose again and limped towards her. Its snarl was like crackling flames as it gained speed up the slope.

She drew back, stumbling slightly as her vision narrowed to just the creature and nothing more. There was a clear-voiced shout behind her in a tongue she did not know, then the creature, too, disappeared from sight.

She was fully blind again.

Rai frowned as one of the Lightworkers smote his wounded demon and destroyed it. That wasn't good. He eyed the odds as the nearest Lightworker finally spotted his dark silhouette through the thick smoke; three paladins, a priest, and a ... berserker? Really? They didn't often play with Lightworkers, being far more nature-oriented. Odd, that a druid-warrior would help a priest and its warriors... Still, four Lightworkers against him... he might want to leave. Perhaps after killing the paladin who'd seen him; she was moving briskly forward, brandishing a sword as though it mattered. He snickered at her foolishness.

The ground let out a groaning noise as it split behind him, and the black magician bounded forward and whirled, a hand raised to incinerate whatever the hexers had called against him-- only to pause for the briefest of moments as the earth retched up a muddied form. Shaven head, simple leather clothing... looked familiar. Where had he seen it?

The man raised his face from the dirt, white tattoos barring his skin betraying his alliance. Rai snarled and brought shadows to bear on his enemy.

Brandon groaned and sent a blast of raw Light at the magician, sending him staggering and buying him time to climb stiffly to his feet. "Rai, dammit, it's me. Snap out of it!" He lunged, grabbing the other man's wrists before another spell could get flung his way. "Rai! Do not make me kick your ass! We don't have time for it!" He shook the magician violently enough that his hood fell back and he lost his footing.

It was the first time he could remember ever having to snap Rai out of a dangerous mindset. Before, it had always been the other way around.

After a moment, Rai blinked, shaking his head and peering at Brandon. "...oh," he whispered, legs giving out. Brandon caught his robes and held him upright awkwardly.

"They're here, Rai. Get out of here, and take Softstep with you. She's still alive." The exile glanced around at the charred husks of huts and bodies. "We laid this place to waste, but we're both about to give up the ghost. Get out while you can."

"Brother Styhan!" The paladin strode towards them, sword at the ready. "Destroy the mage, or step away and allow me. I see now that you were merely trying to keep him from slaughtering these helpless natives, and I apologize for not realizing this earlier." She gestured with her blade, the movement firm and practiced. "Move aside so that I may kill it."

"Rai," Brandon muttered, releasing the other man's robes slowly, "we have the worst hellspawned luck I've ever bloody seen." He glanced up as one of the other paladins led Lhafa down the hill, ignoring her protests and trying to let him see her eyes to be healed. They didn't bother knowing the common tongue, after all; she wasn't letting him near her face. With a sigh, he stepped three paces away from his companion.

The black magician smiled wryly. "Yes, we do," he agreed, swaying as he stood weakly on his own. He blinked as two other figures emerged from the smoke - a priest and a berserker. He had forgotten he'd noticed them earlier. Three against one was a bad enough shot; five against one just made for worse odds.

"Here's the deal, milady," Brandon barked, moving forward with surprising quickness before the paladin could come within striking range. He smiled down at her, no warmth or cheer in the expression, and she hesitated for just a moment as his bulk blocked her path towards the magician. "You want me to do something for you? A suicide mission for the exile? Sure, sure," he went on, ignoring the surprised look beneath the helm. "I'll do whatever you want, on the condition that this man," he jerked a thumb at Rai, "comes with me. Alive and unfettered."

There, that did it. They were stunned; the woman actually lowered her sword as she stared at him in utter shock. "You expect us to spare a demonic mage in order to elicit the cooperation from you that we should have without needing to ask?!"

Brandon's grin turned wolfish. "Look, it's either that, or I'm going to fight you right along with him."