Chapter 11
When Rose finally awoke she was laying in the soft grass beside the road with Jirah sitting beside her.
“Welcome back dear sister.” Jirah spoke as she gently brushed her hair with her hand. “You are full of surprises today.”
Rose sat up to see that Joshua was still lying on the ground beside them.
“What happened? Is Josh alive?”
“He is fine for now, thanks to you that is.”
Rose sat quietly for a bit to let what had just transpired sink in.
“I have seen no sign of that Bane fellow anywhere, so we should be safe here for now.” Jirah said. “I think that he was casting his image from somewhere else. My arrows went right though him.”
Rose could see that Jirah was still quite shaken from the attack so she reached over to give her a hug.
“That was the most frightening thing that I have ever seen Rose.”
Rose squeezed her tightly and said, “We were all scared out of our wits sister. I thought those evil things would never stop coming.”
Just then the weary Cleric began to stir. He got to his feet quickly and looked around them with a nervous glance.
“We are safe now Josh thanks to you and Rose.” Jirah reassured him.
Joshua let out a deep sigh and gathered himself.
“It would seem that our healer has come of age. Do you know what you just did Rose?”
Rose shook her head and responded, “I am not really sure, but I did pray for help.”
Joshua nodded, “It would seem that Ya has favored you with an unexpected gift. When you stood and clasped me around the waist, I felt a mighty power coursing into me. It was like the power I receive from Ya was amplified tenfold.”
“So that is not a normal thing that happened is it brother?” Jirah stated.
“No it is not. The holy healer is empowered by Ya through using the staff of Ramah. You seemed to take on the role of a priestess as well. Your prayer on my behalf granted me power that I have never felt before.”
Slowly they all gathered themselves up and once again mounted the horses to continue on with the journey.
“Joshua.” Rose asked carefully, “Who exactly is that Bane character. He scared the life out of me.”
“He is the hand of Belial and has been my enemy for all long as I can remember.”
“He obviously has power over the evil spirits which is not good for us.” Jirah stated. “Can he control the Taints as well?”
Joshua nodded. “All the minions of Belial are his to command. He can cast his shadow anywhere so he is a hard enemy to hunt down. I still have no idea where he is at any given time and have never met him face to face.”
“Why did he call you Gaost?” Rose asked. “That name seems familiar to me but I am not sure why.”
Jirah and Joshua gave each other a knowing look, then Joshua answered, “I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you the truth Rose. My real name is Gaost and I have been the Cleric of Ya for a very long time.”
“In fact,” Jirah stated after a pause, “He has been the Cleric of Ya since the beginning. He is the first and only true Cleric.”
That statement was a lot for Rose to take in all at once and she asked, “Are you telling me that you are hundreds of years old?”
Joshua nodded and responded, “I was there to discover Yeshu, the first healer that Ya brought forth. I was there when she gained the staff of Ramah, and I was the one who failed her in the end.”
Rose was beginning see the reason for the overwhelming sadness that this poor man carried with him every day. They rode on is silence for a moment before Rose responded. She rode up beside the stoic faced holy man and reached out to grasp his still shaking hand.
“I have seen you fight. I am fully convinced that you did everything you could to protect this Yeshu girl. It can’t be your fault that she died.”
“Rose is right brother. You need to let go of the blame and self regret. It is Belial that is to blame.”
Tears were now forming in Gaost’s sad white eyes. Jirah rode her horse up to the other side of Gaost and grasped him on the shoulder.
“I know what it is like to live with regret brother. It eats away at your soul. Let it go.” The two ladies were sensing that all their attention was overwhelming the Cleric, so they ceased to question him further.
Joshua rode on is silence for at least a half hour more before he was composed enough to speak.
“I thank you dear sisters for the kind words. You are both very right to say that I have carried this pain around for much too long. For long this regret has been the fuel for my revenge on Belail. I was wrong to let it affect me this way.”
Rose rode up again beside him and this time reached over to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Ya bless you Josh, or shall I call you Gaost now?”
The Cleric smiled and answered, “I think we will stick with Joshua for now Rose. Most of the good folks in this world do not believe that a man could live for hundreds of years, so I change my name from time to time.”
“Are you ready to share with us what really happened to you back at the fen Rose?” Jirah asked.
“Yes, I think I am. So much happened all at once and I wanted to gather my thoughts before telling you guys. I prayed! That is what happened. I have never prayed before in my life, and did not have a clue what to do, but I just started talking to Ya. Before I knew it, I was dumping all of my pain and frustration out. I don’t blame him for all the bad things that have happened to me, but I wanted to know why he seemed to have forgotten about me for so long. I do not know if this is the right thing to do or not, but I asked for a sign. I needed to know for sure that he could hear what I was saying or that he even cared at all. Then…” Rose began to choke up and could not continue with her story.
“Take your time dear.” Jirah reassured her.
“I would guess that your answer was the rather dramatic lifting of the fog then?” Joshua asked.
Rose nodded and said with a still tearful voice, “He answered me! It was an amazing feeling. I have spent so much of my life being used and ignored and then to have this amazing thing happen to me…” again Rose’s voice trailed off while the emotion of it all overtook her.
“Oh Rose!” Jirah exclaimed as she rode over close to her side. They stopped the horses and held each other in a tight embrace for a long time.
It was Joshua who finally broke the special moment with a dose of reality.
“I am glad for you both, but we must keep moving on. There will be more time to talk and hug when we get to Jeru.”
“You are right brother.” Jirah responded. “We have a good way to go yet. Do you want to camp somewhere for the night?”
“I think not. There still may be a triad after us, so we should just keep on through till the morning and we may get to the capital by sunrise.”
So for the rest of the night they rode on in silence. Before long Rose slumped forward in her saddle and fell asleep to the soft falling of hoof beats on the winding mountain road.
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The Staff of Ramah Page 14