Title-- The Demon-God of Jubagh (part thirty)
Rating and Warnings-- G; mild language.
Cast-- Rai Gerring, defected black magician (human man); Brandon Styhan, exiled paladin-warrior (human man); Lhafa Softstep, blind voodoo warrior (baghan woman); two knight exemplars [Arista Reenla, Erick Glessen], two paladins [Gary Hallin, Theo Doreck], a young priest [Father Joshua Krein], and a berserker [Keeper Michael Arugin] (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, Part Twenty-Seven, Part Twenty-Eight, Part Twenty-Nine.



Arista spoke as she led them briskly through the woods, half-jogging out of Tarblade territory before slowing to a more reasonable pace. "We will go to the Source of Light first," she was explaining. "The mage will be held accountable for all crimes under his name on our records, tried, and sentenced. The native will share his fate, the sad creature. You, Br--, ahem, Styhan, will be briefed of your mission, allowed to say goodbye to them both before they are imprisoned or executed, and then taken to Sivef."

"Whoa, whoa, Sivef? I've barely even heard of it," Brandon protested, keeping up a long-legged gait that made the shorter paladin at his side stretch to stay abreast of him. "It was hard enough getting tossed on Jubagh with bare-bones knowledge and the language!"

Her tone stayed clipped and terse. "You will be given the resources to study the Sivefi and their culture, as well as one of their languages, on the journey there. However, you will not be tutored, nor given supplies to take with you. I will be stretching the law to even provide you with fresh clothing once we reach the ship."

"Ship? Don't tell me you brought a whole ship out here, milady." The exile groaned. "Jubagh doesn't even have docks!"

She didn't favor him with a glare. "The Light's Hammer is docked a distance away. We will take a lifeboat back to it. It is a considerable distance to the Source of Light from this sun, and even farther from the Source to Sivef." She paused briefly, calculating. "Approximately two weeks' travel from here to the Source, and perhaps a month from there to your destination."

Lhafa spoke just loudly enough for Rai to catch her words. "We are walking deeper into Ironhoof territory," she warned. "I do not know precisely where we are, but their scents are getting stronger. Will we fight them here?"

"I doubt it, Lhafa," the magician replied, ignoring the paladin tugging on his arm to hurry him along. He kept up a more relaxed pace. "I'm hoping everyone's still unconscious from the Lightworkers' first pass through the territory."

"Baghans do not remain unconscious for long," Lhafa murmured, tail sweeping rapidly before her hooves to ensure she did not trip. Her talisman's light was beginning to wane, fading to a more ambient glow, and both Brandon and Rai were moving more slowly as a result. The berserker followed her closely, touching a shoulder when he needed to steer her, but she followed the noise of the group easily enough on her own. "Where are we going?"

"I'm not sure. The Lightworkers have transportation back to their ship somewhere nearby. It may be a day or more of walking." Rai frowned, feeling the exertion begin to catch up to him. "We'll need to rest, if that's the case. But, ah, after we reach their ship, they're taking us back to their home, and then to a new world."

"So what's the deal, milady?" Brandon muttered after Rai and Lhafa fell silent. He'd been listening. "Why Sivef? Why me? What's going on there?"

"You will be briefed when we arrive at the Source of Light, and not before, Styhan." Arista's voice held no room for compromise. "Brother Glessen is bringing the lifeboat to us as we move. He should meet us within an hour or two. We will place you in secure quarters and provide food for you, once we reach the Light's Hammer."

"Your kindness and hospitality overwhelms," Brandon grumbled. "You're gonna toss us in the brig of a warship of the Light and throw stale bread at us. Great. Do we even get mattresses? Light knows we just went through a helluva battle and are getting tired."

"I will reconsider giving you a bed at all if you continue being disrespectful, Styhan. At the moment, yes, all three of you will have your own beds in the same large room. And the food will be better than stale bread. You will, however, be confined to quarters for the duration of the voyage."

"...you sound like one of the handbooks on 'how to speak to prisoners of war'," Brandon mused. "Is this your first real mission or something, and how the hells did you make Exemplar if it is?" He eyed her.

Her calm demeanor snapped. "That is quite enough from you, Styhan. I will answer no further questions until we are on the Light's Hammer! Be quiet until then."

"Why, Brandon," Rai murmured in the baghan tongue, "I think you've wedged yourself under her skin. You're always so good at that." He smirked when the dark-skinned man grinned over his shoulder at the mage. "Are all Lightworkers as temperamental as you two? You people certainly seem to have anger issues."

"She is very unbalanced and emotional," Lhafa remarked. "She would make a poor spirit warrior." After Brandon's snicker faded, she continued. "Why do we walk on the ground? We are much slower like this."

"Well, three of the Lightworkers are dressed in heavy metal armor," Rai explained. "And one is in robes, not unlike mine, but robed Lightworkers aren't really the type to go bounding around on trees and logs. Brandon and I could manage easily, and the berserker could probably keep up, but--"

"ENOUGH!" Arista shouted, whirling on them. "You three will be silent until further notice." She fixed her gaze on Rai. "Inform the native to be silent, then. stop. talking." Brandon struggled not to laugh as Rai carefully told Lhafa that the paladin was raving and possibly rabid, and it would be wise to be quiet in order to avoid being deafened with her shrieking. The baghan smiled slightly in amusement.

In silence, then, they passed through Ironhoof territory and back onto the same path that Lhafa had first taken when she led the ex-paladin and black magician towards what should have been the finale of their quest. They continued moving through the night, the paladins setting their gold-and-silver armor aglow to provide light, Lhafa's talisman dimming further as the battle-weary trio slowed.

Just before dawn, Erick met them on the road; he didn't look at Brandon or Rai, only saluted Arista and nodded to his comrades-in-arms. A huge serpent with frills and tendrils and fins all fluttering in the soft wind hovered well above his head, thicker in the body than the path was wide; it landed when Erick gestured downwards, and the mismatched group boarded their living 'lifeboat'. It was difficult to convince Lhafa to climb the rope ladder and settle into what amounted to a saddle on the creature's back; she was convinced it was a demon, and it took both Rai and Brandon swearing to her that it was safe before she would even stray near it. The sun had stained the sky red by the time all seven men and both women were astride the opalescent serpent and belted into their seats.

Unaffected by gravity, the creature rose languidly towards a distant battleship that waited on the horizon like the setting moon.