Zion: Light of the New Moon, Ch 1.2 Doen
Zion - Light of the New Moon Chapter 1.2
Doen A First Taste
The party has elected with a lesser majority vote of 3 out of 7 characters to have Zachary attempt to use the Divine Shield to drive off the Snap Jaws.
I'd heard about Snap Jaws but I'd never seen one before that day. The sounds of growls, roars, and mens' screams filled my ears as I joined the great host of guards and warriors heading to the front of the caravan. Narissa stayed at my right the entire time and Brother Bronderson-- Lord Rust, was to her right. By the time we arrived there were already several slain laborers; some were dismembered corpses laying unattended on the ground, others were mostly-whole and being dragged away by the beasts.
"I will take ten men and come at them from the left." Lord Rust announced, pointing to a slightly downward sloping length of land. He glanced to Dillan Flinn, who had apparently found his way to the front, "Did you just come to watch good men die or do you plan on helping, merchant?"
"No need to rattle your quills, good sir," the ferret noted with casual defense, "I wanted to see what the commotion was about. And, to answer your question, no-- I do not plan on sitting idly by."
"So you will fight?" Narissa asked him.
"Me? Of course not." the ferret waived the thought away, "I have guards for that." he snapped his fingers and a dozen soldiers in banded mail marched forward, halberds at the ready, "They'll contribute far more than I could do alone."
"Ah..." Rust noted blandly, "how foolish of me to think that you might actually raise a paw to save your fellow travelers."
"You're forgiven." Dillan confirmed and looked to his soldiers, "Kill the beasts... save whomever you can. We'll discuss pay later." The ferret's guards saluted, and made their way forward.
Looking at the already blood-stained ground, front-runner guards engaged in combat with the pack of Wild Land beasts, I realized that any blood spilled would be on my paws. "Wait." I wasn't comfortable with that thought.
"Brother Zachary?" Narissa spoke up.
"I don't want anybody getting hurt." I explained.
"A little late for that, isn't it?" Dillan inquired.
"We're in the Wild Lands-- people die." Jasper noted from the side. He was already prepared for combat; the rat had a short sword in one paw, a stiletto in the other.
"I'm a Priest of Tah'aveen." I explained, "It's my duty to protect those in my charge."
"That's a mighty big thing to claim for such a small kid." Lord Rust challenged. I was already under too much stress to accept another one of his casual dismissals.
"Lord Rust... I won't demand your understanding and I can't demand your respect, but I WILL demand your obedience. You might not be a Priest of Tah'aveen any longer, but I am." I was shaking-- a combination of anger and fear. I was not going to stand by and do nothing and I wasn't about to let the echidna continue to challenge my motives or will. "You will NOT lead those men into battle."
"Listen, you little self-important piece of--"
"ENOUGH!" I slammed the butt of the Silver Staff against a rock and the entire length of the Divine Shield lit up like a moonstone; Lord Rust finally fell silent.
"You are not leading those men into battle because there will not be a battle. I'm going to stop this myself." and, before my will failed me, I walked forward to where the lead wagons were being ravaged by the beasts. Several Snap-Jaws turned their attention away from the fallen and pulled their massive maws off of the cracked supply crates-- they were interested in me... and I felt my heartbeat pick up once I realized it.
"In the name of Tah'aveen, Moon Goddess, Mother to us all, She of the Silver Disc... I denounce you." I spoke in as firm a tone as I could manage. The Silver Staff's light grew brighter, but all it really seemed to do was draw the attention of more and more of the Snap-Jaws... I was surrounded.
I heard the shouting from further back in the caravan. Narissa, Rust, and Jasper were rushing to my aid. They wouldn't get to me before the Snap-Jaws did, of course, but I didn't want them in danger anyway-- this was my responsibility. I would succeed, or I would die trying. That was the entire purpose of the caravan and I wasn't about to let anybody else pay for any sense of pride or vanity that might have inspired me. "In the name of Tah'aveen, BE GONE!" I intoned. The Snap-Jaws gathered closer.
They surrounded me, focused on me and me alone. Out of the corner of my vision I could see guards quickly evacuating the wounded-- if nothing else, I had accomplished that much. Closer, so much closer, the Snap-Jaws started growling, slowly creeping closer. It was all up to me, and I was failing. Either I would succeed or I would fail, and I would die. In that moment, I remembered the most important thing I was supposed to have learned in my time at the temple.
"I can't do this alone." the words escaped me as I finally realized where I had gone wrong, "I'm not strong enough." The whole world came crashing down in that moment and I fell to my knees. I was a single rabbit in a world of dangers... beyond the protection of the temple I was a target... I was prey... every last thing in creation wanted me dead... everything with a single exclusion.
"Tah'aveen..." I gazed toward the sky, "Mother Goddess... I cannot do this alone. Help me... please." and everything went white, ablaze with holy light. I remember it hurting... I felt it in every inch of my body... a fury of burning agony. But it felt good... it felt pure. I remember screaming, and I remember the Snap-Jaws squealing and snarling, the sounds of their scrambling, fumbling retreat filling my ears. And, as the light faded, the blessed comfort of blackness took me.
The blackness was still with me when I awoke, but it was nowhere near as complete. I felt the vibrations of the wagon as it rumbled along the highway. I blinked several times as my eyes focused in the artificial twilight created by the supply wagon's canopy. Taggart, one of Dillan's aides was present, as was Zeke, one of our guides. The fox was busy dipping a cloth into bowl filled with some kind of herbal mixture; even from that distance the smell was powerfully distinct.
"He's awake." Taggart spoke, his soft tone causing my head to ache regardless. I groaned, and tried to sit up, but he placed a paw against my chest and slowly eased me back down, "No... rest." his words were quiet, but firm.
Looking up, I saw Zeke abandon the cloth and bowl and quickly leave the wagon, hopping out the back. "What is...?" but that's all I could say; hearing my own voice in my head brought the throbbing pain back two-fold.
"He's been taking care of you for the better part of a day." Taggart explained, crawling across the inside of the wagon to collect the cloth and bowl. He squeezed out the linen into the bowl and then laid it across my forehead. The coolness of the cloth made the banging in my skull quiet and, when I took a deep breath, the vapor from the herb mixture helped do the same.
Something Taggart said suddenly struck me, "The better part of a-- how long was I out?"
"Not quite two days." the dog replied, dipping a new strip of cloth into the bowl.
"Two days?" I asked in surprise. When I tried to get up again the headache came back. Taggart gently eased me back down, "What about the Divine Shield? I--" I looked around the wagon; it wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Just relax, Brother Zachary," Taggart offered, gently patting down my neck and shoulders with the piece of cloth, "Lady Hearthsinger is watching the caravan in your stead."
"She isn't a priestess." I pressed, but the dog didn't seem concerned about it.
"By the Goddess, I think she knows more hymns and prayers than a whole coetry." Taggart laughed, "She might not be of the clergy, but she can inspire faith like a walking miracle." he leaned forward and brushed his muzzle across the top of my head... it was a strange gesture-- not quite fatherly; not quite motherly; almost like a lover... but not. Despite the oddity of it, the attention felt... nice. "Rest, Brother Zachary... there are many in the caravan that wish it to succeed and you have already done much to help make that happen." and, with that, the dog took the bowl and excused himself, climbing out of the back of the wagon.
I blinked several times, trying to make my vision clearer than the blurriness that filled my eyes. Staring up at the canvas covering the top of the wagon I counted the times that it gave a jump or a bump, wondering just how far the caravan had managed to go during my period of unconsciousness. Though my eyes were blurry my ears still worked fine; I heard the sound of someone at the back of the wagon, "Who's there?" I hailed.
"You've never used a Divine Shield before." I recognized Lord Rust's voice immediately.
"No..." I admitted, "I haven't.
"That was stupid." he grated. When I didn't reply, the echidna continued, "You are not a cautious individual, are you?"
"If I was I wouldn't be on this journey." I confirmed.
"No." he acknowledged, "I suppose not."
"So you've come to continue your insults?" I asked, still staring upward; my head hurt but it wasn't as bad as when I first awoke.
"Actually..." he said, and his sentence trailed off for several seconds before he added, "I came to apologize."
The admission caught me off guard, and I almost made the mistake of sitting up again, but I caught myself before I did, "For?" I asked.
"I've spent a lot of years hating the temple of Doen for what they did to me... and for what they've continued to do to the city." he let out a sigh, "I didn't think anyone else would ever be able to see past the gilded exterior and realize that things were falling apart."
"A wise priest once wrote, 'To act in accordance with any order is duty, but to question a wrongful command is true loyalty.'." I said, "Do you know who wrote that?"
"I do." Rust confirmed from his position at the back of the wagon, "It's a shame his teachings were all destroyed and his hand was taken from him. It's a shame that he spends his days filled with hatred and that he's become more jaded than those that did it to him. It's a shame--"
"It's a shame that you keep running from all the opportunities that you once would have embraced." I interrupted.
He chuckled in response, "You're not a very easy person to keep down, Brother Zachary." I heard him drop from the wagon, leaving me to my own thoughts. He had called me Brother Zachary-- perhaps things weren't hopeless after all.
* * * * *
The Doenians have successfully overcome the Snap-Jaws thanks to Priest Zachary.
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