Chapter 28
It was still very dark and Gaost was sitting by the fire on the first watch, so Rose knew she had not been sleeping for very long when she woke up. Tension, just a little more than a pinch, was building in the right side of her neck and spreading outward. There was no doubt in her mind that this was the beginnings of a headache. The quiet Cleric simply nodded as she placed a pot of water next to the fire. She hoped that the herbs given to her by Zinora would stop this attack before it even happened, or at least diminish the pain, but to be honest, she doubted that they would help very much. She found a spot to sit far enough away from the fire so that the light would not bother her but still close enough so she could ask Gaost for help if she needed it.
“I’m sorry if this is interrupting your time of prayer brother,” Rose said smiling slightly.
“I never find you to be a bother Rose; in fact I have something I need to tell you.”
“Just give me some time to make this medicine and I will come closer,” Rose whispered. “We don’t want to wake the others.” The mixture of dry leaves that Logan’s mother had given her had a strange, pungent odour that made her eyes water slightly, but that would not discourage her from drinking it. She would do anything to avoid that kind of pain again. With a fresh cup of herb tea in hand, Rose moved in closer to Gaost to see what he had to say. She looked into his strange white eyes, and maybe it was the glow of the fire, but for some reason, what used to make her nervous, now gave her comfort. What had Logan called it? It was the ‘fingerprints of Ya’ in his life.
“If you sit down in front of me, I can do my best to ease the tension,” Gaost spoke, pointing to the ground in front of him.
Rose gently sat herself down in front of the Cleric, being careful not to spill the very hot drink. It would be a minute or two before she could drink it, so she sat the mug down on a flat rock nearby and used her left hand to point out the spot on her shoulder where the tension was building.
With hands much stronger than they looked, Gaost began to massage the knots with an unexpected skilfulness.
“I should have told you this much sooner Rose, but I am very proud of you. What you did for Logan‘s father was truly an amazing thing and I don‘t want you to think that you did something wrong. You followed your heart.”
“Thank you brother, I have to admit that I was most worried about letting you down.”
“You are not a let-down my dear. I also have to admit that when I first met you, I really wondered if such an abrasive woman could ever become a follower of Ya.”
Rose could not help but smile and laugh slightly as she answered back, “I was so mean to you at first bother, but you were even more patient. In fact, now that I think about it, that patience may be what won me over to your side.” Rose winced as she took her first big sip of the tea that was now cool enough to drink. It tasted terrible, but seemed to be doing a good job of reducing the pain in her head.
“Am I helping at all Rose?” Gaost asked, still kneading her right shoulder.
“Yes brother.” She turned around and took his hand into her own. “I feel much better now, and this terrible drink seems to be working.”
Gaost chuckled quietly at that remark and nodded in response.
“Thank you for being patient with me Gaost, I am glad that we are in this together.”
Within a quarter hour of finishing her vile tasting tea, Rose found that the pain had diminished enough for her to get back to sleep, so that is what she did. Unfortunately for her, this would not be a very restful slumber. For the first time in weeks, she was haunted by visions of Belial’s evil minions, the Taints. Once again she found herself running in fear down a dark and winding cave with a seeming endless flow of the fallen spirits clawing at her from behind. On and on she ran, never gaining ground. Every time she would stumble, the taints would get that much closer to their goal. If they ever reached her, they would tear her into little pieces with their long, black claws. Already those claws had torn the edges of her long white dress, the frayed edges flapping loose like ribbons behind her. She could hear them calling out her name in eerie whispers along with ominous threats of her certain doom. As it had happened many times before in this dream, she caught a glimpse of a white light piercing through the darkness in front of her. She had never reached that light before, but she knew still that it was where she wanted to go. No, it was where she needed to get, desperately. Rounding a sharp corner, for the first time Rose caught sight of what was casting such a bright light in this dark cave. Lying on a bed of stone in front of her was a beautiful wooden staff. She stood there a moment and stared, inspecting closely all the intricate detail carved into the smooth wood. Trailing patterns of rose vines along with realistic flowers ran up and down the length of the cherry color rod. Its beauty took what little breath she had away as she reached out to grasp it…
“Rose! Wake up!” came the voice of Jirah. “You are having a nightmare.”
Rose took a moment to shake the sleep out of her head before sitting up carefully.
“The dreams come from Ya,” Rose said as Jirah moved in close to wipe the sweat off her brow.
“What are you talking about dear?” Jirah was curious. “From all that you have shared with me, those nightmares have been haunting you ever since you were a little girl.”
“I did say that,” Rose responded as if just now her eyes had been opened to a vast secret. “I saw the staff Jirah. I know that I can get to it now. I have seen it.”
Jirah’s face relaxed a little tension and one eyebrow raised slightly as she asked more questions. “You saw the staff of Ramah? How could you know that it is the right staff? Were you able to grab it?”
“I was about to reach out and grab it, but then you woke me up.” Rose said as she stood up to greet the other companions who were coming over to see what all the commotion was about. “I do not know why, but the moment I saw that beautiful staff, I knew what it was and I knew that these dreams have been from Ya all along.”
Gaost was the next to speak and he simply asked Rose to describe what the staff looked like.
“It was made of a reddish wood, like cherry color. The wood was smooth, and there were very intricate carvings of thorny vines that ran all along its length.”
“That accurately describes the staff of Ramah,” Gaost said, scratching at his scruffy beard. “But you were not able to grab hold of it?”
“No, I was about to when Jirah shook me to wake me,” Rose answered with a slight edge of disappointment in her voice.
“Well I’m sorry that you never got to touch the staff in your dream sister, but you sounded so scared,” Jirah said, feeling just a little bit hurt.
Rose moved over to hug her dear friend and kiss her soundly on the cheek. “You did the right thing dear sister, and I saw enough to convince me of the most important part of this dream.”
“And what would that be dear?”
“Ya is the one who has been sending me these dreams all of my life. I thought they were nightmares from Belial, but they are a gift from the Father.”
It was Jer who now spoke up with a question. “I thought that Ya was the good guy. Why would he send someone as nice as Rose such a scary dream?”
“I actually have the same question myself Rose,” Logan spoke up, sounding even more curious than Jer.
Rose took a deep breath before responding. “I know that this mission will be a success. Can’t you see that? If these dreams were coming from the Fallen One, then I am sure the taints would have got to me and ripped me to pieces.”
No one responded to the question but rather, they stood in silence, as if soaking all the information in.
“I know it sounds weird, but it makes sense to me. Knowing that these dreams come from the Eternal Ya means that he has been with me my whole life. All those times that I felt so alone in the world, He was right there with me.”
Now the rest of the group were beginning to under
stand what this meant to the young woman. With tears now forming in her bright green eyes, Rose dropped down to her knees and began to pray. Before she had even got through the first sentence, her friends had all moved in around her and placed their loving hands on her back. The prayer time lasted for nearly an hour with each companion taking some time to thank Ya for this special moment and for protection in the days ahead because they were all sure of more dangers in the near future.
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The Staff of Ramah Page 35