Chapter 3
It was mid afternoon when the two unlikely companions finally left the city of Sharron. Slow moving patches of clouds graced the vast sky letting the sun peek around them every once in a while, casting a faint light of hope on the coming journey.
“Am I allowed to ask where we are going now?” Rose asked.
“We are on the way to a farmstead many leagues north east of here. I hope to meet a friend there who will help us on our journey.”
Rose teased, “And I was hoping that we would have some quality time alone Josh. Do we really need a chaperone?”
The Cleric rolled his white eyes and responded, “No Rose, we will need a companion with tracking and hunting skills if we hope to get to our destination. If you have not guessed yet, I am not much of a woodsman and our food will run out eventually.”
Rose decided to pry just a little now. “Can’t you just flick your hand and make food appear? I saw that little trick you did with the candle. Was that magic or something?”
“No Rose, I am a Cleric of Ya, not a wizard. As far as I know, that would be impossible.” He gently corrected her, paused and continued. “I do have, shall we say, certain abilities that you will come to see soon enough.”
Not wanting to annoy her only companion too much, Rose chose to walk on in silence for a while. They continued on along the winding road past many a farm. Workers were seen gathering grain, feeding animals. Once in a while other travelers would pass coming from the other direction and give them strange looks. Many would even pass around them quickly with their heads turned away.
“Do I still smell or something?” Rose asked. “It seems like these country people are scared of a city girl like me.”
Joshua shook his head and answered, “I’m afraid that the problem is me Rose. People fear things that they do not understand and they do not trust a man who looks as I do.”
Rose had to admit that those eyes were rather disturbing. She again risked a personal question. “Josh, why do your eyes glow? They are kinda freaky you have to admit.”
“My eyes mark the touch of Ya on my life. When I was young, my eyes were a green hue, much like yours, but that was a long time ago.”
“Well I would love for a man to look me in the eyes once in a while.” She meant this to make him feel a little better about the whole subject.
He shrugged and said, “I am used to it and not bothered at all. Most of the time I just want to be left alone anyways.”
A long silence followed that statement and they continued on for the rest of that evening in quiet thought.
As the sky grew dark that night, they set up a small camp off to the side of the road in a small grove of trees. Rose had spent a good deal of her life sleeping outdoors, so this was no strange thing for her. As she lay on the soft grass she looked up at the stars and wondered many things to herself. Strangely enough, she felt very safe. Her companion was a puzzle to her, and there was still so little that she really knew about him, but she knew that he could be counted on to care for her.
“Good night Josh and thank you for answering my questions.”
“You are welcome Rose. I pray that you will have a restful sleep this night.”
With that, she closed her eyes and drifted off slowly, thinking less and less of prisons and being hungry.
In the week that followed, their journey remained much the same. They walked on together at a steady pace, stopping for meals and sleeping at night under the stars. When there was opportunity, they would stay in a roadside hostel. There were long moments of silence on these walks, but Rose would still ask questions of Joshua and he would usually give her a direct answer. The Cleric always seemed to deflect the personal questions however and this would infuriate her slightly. Day by day, her sarcasm would diminish though, and eventually their conversations developed a rhythm she found delightful. Rose loved to tease the Cleric and see what kind of reaction she could get out of him. Joshua would just smile slightly at her, never losing his patience. To anyone looking on, it would seem that these two were actually starting to like each other’s company.
It was mid-evening on the eighth day of their trip and they had finally passed over some high hills and were now descending into a low valley. The bright colors of autumn shone as they approached a forest that lent its shade a nearby river. This was a view Rose had never seen before and it took her breath away. This sight brought her thoughts back to what Josh had said when he first saw her in the white dress. Is all this beauty a credit to the Eternal Ya? Could there really be a God out there that created this splendor? If so, had he created her too? She was not ready to believe it yet, but the way that Josh had looked at her in that moment made her wonder all the same.
They continued along the road and entered the forest ahead of them. The sun was soon blocked out by the thick grove of large trees and the road narrowed a little, making Rose feel rather closed in. Many of the sounds were new to her as well. Birds chirping and branches waving in the wind had her nerves a bit on edge. As if sensing her discomfort, Joshua began to walk a little closer to her, looking over once in a while to show a reassuring smile.
Just then Rose caught some movement out of the corner of her eye and she looked with a start into the trees. There was nothing there.
“Did you see that?” she asked Joshua with a worried voice.
Rather than answer the question he commanded in a firm voice, “Get down and don’t move!”
She dropped immediately and clung to his leg in fright. The snapping of branches and the rustling of leaves came towards them in a rush but still she saw nothing. Looking up to the Cleric’s stoic face she saw that his white eyes were beginning to glow very brightly now.
“What’s going on Josh?” she cried out.
His only answer was a stern “Shhhh!”
The air around them seemed thick with movement, yet she still saw nothing but the swirling of leaves. Whatever it was, it was nearly on them now, but Joshua simply stood there, as if gathering himself for a collision. He was muttering under his breath when she began to notice a bright white light building in his outstretched hand. With a deafening crack, a burst of white light shot out from the tips of his fingers and the air crackled with power. It was then that she saw who this enemy new was. It was the dark ones from her dreams, revealed by bright sparks as the white fire of the Cleric shot through them. Their pained cries were horrific causing Rose to scream in terror, clinging to Joshua’s leg till her fingers ached from the effort. There was another powerful burst of the blinding light, and many more cries of pain from the unseen enemy, and then in the next moment, total silence. They were gone and all that remained was quiet tension, thick and heavy. She realized she was still clinging to the Cleric’s leg as if it was her lifeline.
“You may let go of my leg now Rose.” Josh said gently. “They are gone.”
Slowly she got up, still shaken from what she had just seen. She had so many questions. “What were those things?”
Joshua shook the dust and leaves off of his dark grey cloak and answered with one word.
“Taints.”
“Where did they come from, and why could I not see them? Can you see them?”
“I will answer your many questions, but can we please continue walking as I do so?”
She did not have to be convinced of the merits of leaving this forest. Rose was still trembling as they continued on at a much more hurried pace.
“Those are the agents of the Fallen One. Mortal enemy of Ya and all that is good. They are invisible to most men, but my eyes give me the ability to see them.”
“You saw them all along! Why did you not tell me?” she said as she gave him a stern look.
“The taints do not always attack that way. They know of my power and usually do not come at me unless they have much greater numbers. You were never in any real danger Rose.”
The words did little to re
assure her of safety and Rose wondered if she should tell Josh of her dreams. She had seen these taints many times before.
“I am very sorry to have frightened you my dear. That was not my intention. I did have to act quickly, however.”
As they continued on, Rose chose to keep the rest of her questions to herself. She most definitely was not going to try to escape any time too soon. She would be dead if not for the Cleric. She was however beginning to hope for an end to this forest. “Do we have much farther to go now?”
“We will be clear of the forest in two miles or so then it is open plains for two more leagues to the farmstead.”
Rose reached out and carefully clasped the terrible hand of the Cleric, hoping to gather strength from it. He squeezed her hand firmly and they continued on their way.
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The Staff of Ramah Page 6