Title-- The Demon-God of Jubagh (book two, part eight)
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); Jujinkajou, native guide (shapechanger Sivefi man).
Previously-- Book One: Jubagh. Earlier parts of Book Two: Sivef.



The rest of the day passed uneventfully, as did the cold, windy night. Ju'jou curled up with the lady and blanketed her with his long, furry tail to help keep the chill away; the men slept separately, much to his surprise. Their shivering woke him up throughout the night, so he took turns creeping over to each of them and pressing close until each was warmed. Morning found him beside the lady again, his muzzle resting on her smooth shoulder.

"Is time move now?" the little man asked awkwardly and slowly in Sivefan. Ju'jou's dark ears perked instantly and he bounded to his paws, tail wagging madly back and forth behind him.

"Youspeakmylanguage!" he exclaimed, pleased, then blinked as the man tilted his head at him. "Oh. Slow. Sorry." The Sivefi cough-growled, embarrassed. "You. Speak. My. Language. Yes?"

"Some," the man admitted wryly. His mouth curved in a strange way. "Need try more, to learn. Same him," he added, pointing at the larger man. "Will learn quick, once try. Just hard try."

Ju'jou bobbed his head enthusiastically, ears flopping. "I willtry tospeak slowly for you!" he affirmed. A touch on his shoulder brought his gaze to the lady, who had laid a hand on him as she stood and stretched. She lightly patted his thick fur, then turned her face towards the little man.

"It is good that you will speak with us now," she said with deliberate care, speaking in the sivefan tongue. "The sounds will get easier for you," she added.

"Food," growled the bigger man as he finally pulled himself upright and shook the dust from his cape. Cape? Was that the word? Off-worlders and their too-many-forms-of-clothing... Ju'jou couldn't keep them all straight. The other Sivefi wore shirts and pants and straps. It was easy to remember three things. But with dresses and capes and shoes and hand-shoes and - bah, it wasn't worth it.

Wait, he said food? Ju'jou blinked up at the man. "Don't you have food?" he asked, as slowly as he could manage.

"We have no supplies," the lady answered softly, patting his shoulder again. He leaned against her leg, glad for the touch. "Are there animals to hunt in this forest, or would that offend the god?"

The Sivefi looked up at her and huffed softly. "It is coldtime! Thefood sleeps in hiddenplaces. Even fish aregone!"

"What do you eat when you come through here, then?" she asked. She looked puzzled, or at least, he thought that was what that expression meant. He was learning!... or, well, trying to.

"I don'tneed muchfood in coldtime. I cango somedays without eating. Sivefi are goodguides becauseofthis." His tail drooped sadly. "Howlong can you go without food?"

The question seemed to give her pause. After a moment, she lifted a shoulder in a shrugging motion. "A few days." The little man nodded his agreement, and the big man had crossed his arms across his broad chest and seemed unhappy. Well, of course he'd be unhappy! Nobody liked not eating for a few days, especially when it was cold. "Can we reach a place where we can find food within three days?" she asked next, her face turned towards him.

He headbobbed. "Yes! If we move fast, there is atown twodays northeast. They willhave amarket!" His tail tentatively lifted from the dirt.

"Market?" said the man in the black dress. "Need..." He trailed off and said a few words in the other language again.

The lady translated for him. "Do we need currency to buy food there?"

It took Ju'jou a moment to remember the meaning of the word she used. "Not since you have aSivefiguide!" he replied cheerfully, after he had puzzled it out. Reluctantly, he leaned away from the lady's legs and took a few steps, watching them. "We shouldgetmoving now?"

All three of the off-worlders nodded, and he had to swallow a croaking laugh at the bobbling-in-unison. He cough-growled. It wouldn't do to laugh at them and offend them. Not when they were his first off-worlders that he got to guide on his own! At the mental reminder of his success, his tail swept side to side gleefully, and his chest puffed out again. With light, sure steps, Ju'jou led the three northeast through the winter-dead forest.

The day passed quietly, and the night was colder than the last. The Sivefi didn't rest much, woken too often by chattering teeth or shivering limbs, and he spent most of the sleep-time wandering between the three and warming each of them with his furry tail and body heat. He was groggy the next day, yawning nearly as much as the big man.

Ju'jou recognized the end of the old god's territory when he passed the invisible line and his tail fluffed. "Thegods don'tlike Sivefisinging," he said over his shoulder to the off-worlders, eyes crinkling in a good-humored look. "I willsing, so we won'tencounter anothergod." The two men exchanged unreadable looks as the shapechanger drew breath and began a song he'd heard other guides use to make the gods happy. His tail kept time, whooshing through the air.

The third night was the coldest yet, frost crusting the dry soil even before they stopped to sleep. The big man thumped down onto the ground, grumbling in the other language, and pulled his cape tightly about his body. The smaller man was about to settle some feet away when Ju'jou closed his jaws around his big sleeve and tugged him over to the other man, then waited patiently until the smaller man sat down, confused. Ju'jou glanced over his shoulder, then trotted to the lady's side to gently grasp her wrist in his muzzle and pull her over to the men.

Irritated, the big man said something in the other language. The Sivefi let go of the lady's arm and wrinkled his muzzle expressively. "Toocold tosleep apart," he stated flatly, not leaving room for argument. "You wouldwake with frozenbits. We sleep together. Warmer likethis."

The lady spoke in the other language, then made a strange face when the big man replied. "You are right, Ju'jou," she told him. She was trying hard not to shiver, but he could see the quiver in her shoulders. He let out a soft whine and bumped her hand with his muzzle.

"Cold. Not argue," the smaller man muttered awkwardly, curling up in a tight ball and tucking his hands and feet inside his dress. He pillowed his hooded head on his arms and fell still, leaving the big man to stare down at him with an odd look on his face.

"Sleep!" Ju'jou insisted, moving to the big man's other side and leaning shoulder-to-shoulder with the seated off-worlder. The man leaned back, resisting, then toppled halfway onto the other man when Ju'jou gave him a discreet shove. "Sleep!" he repeated, standing over them until they both settled down again, wrapped tightly in their own strange clothing.

Once they stopped moving, the Sivefi returned to the lady's side and nudged her forward, positioning her at the two men's heads. She, too, curled up within her cape. Carefully, Ju'jou stepped in the very middle of the three and settled himself down, draping his tail over the big man and his hind legs over the smaller man and his neck and muzzle over the lady. There were a few muttered words in the other language from the big man, but he didn't move, so neither did the changer.

They stayed warm that night, and Ju'jou got more than enough sleep.