Zion: Light of the New Moon, Ch 5.1 Shrad
Zion - Light of the New Moon Chapter 5.1
Shrad Peace in Pieces
It looks like the Shradians are going to encounter the remnants of their last caravan... what could have caused them to be unable to reach Zion... or return from it? That question is not yet known, but what IS known is that Tolen receives the Cloak of Disguise and Nori receives the bonus exp from last chapter. Congrats to the both of you!
"Come with me." Majh kept her grip on Shadow's shoulder as she walked him up the steps into her carriage and pushed him through the door. The wolf recovered his balance and stopped just inside the threshold, staring at the unconscious form laying in Majh's bed. "The... Satyr?" he asked, staring at the unmoving, naked body of the guardsman, bloody holes in his scalp, toes on his feet twisted and thick.
"Yes." the hyena confirmed, "You left him tied up next to your wagon... do you have ANY idea what could have happened if he got loose?" she seethed.
"But..." Shadow took a step closer toward the guard man; he was unconscious but alive... and, most specifically, not a Satyr, "he... he's cured..."
"We're talking about where you put him... not what I did with him after your stupid stunt." Majh scowled... then paused as she assessed her own comment.
"You did this? You healed him?" Shadow inquired, ears up.
"Tollie did." the hyena clarified quickly.
"I thought it would take divine prayer..." Shadow took another step closer to the unconscious guard then paused, looking back at Majh, "Isn't Tollie a magus?"
"He's many things... but we're not talking about Tollie... we're talking about YOU, Shadow Darkfang." she folded her arms over her chest.
"He's alive and safe." Shadow noted, motioning to the guard, "If you want to whip me for that, I won't object."
"I am not going to whip you." Majh noted, a disgusted sneer to her muzzle.
"I will accept a flogging then... it's still worth it if he's cured." Shadow stood his ground.
"I am not going to flog you." the hyena declined, pulling out a small bone knife.
"I disobeyed orders." Shadow nodded, "I am ready for whatever punishment you've prepared for me."
The priestess held out her empty paw, "Your sword."
The wolf looked at her paw, then raised his eyes to meet her gaze, "Why?" he asked, and took a hesitant step back.
"Do not question me." she answered, eyes growing thin as she glared at him.
"This sword is my family's weapon." he argued, "It wasn't issued by Shrad."
"You said you would accept any punishment...." Majh pointed out, "Now give me your sword."
"...no."
Majh's ears went up at that, "I'm afraid I may have not heard you correctly..."
"You cannot have my sword." Shadow stated with more certainty.
"You are full of impertinence today, Shadow Darkfang... first ignoring the High Priest's command to kill all of the changed, and now ignoring my command for you to give up your sword." Majh noted, voice icy.
"I have a problem following orders I don't agree with." he glared right back at her.
"I see..." Majh noted with casual disregard, "Then let me ask you..." she turned to face him, twirling the bone dagger against one of her paw pads, "Are you familiar with the term 'obtrude'?"
"No, Priestess." Shadow answered.
The hyena moved over to him, resting a paw on his shoulder, "Obtrude, my dear Shadow Darkfang..." and, without warning, stabbed the bone knife right into his ribs. The wolf doubled-over in her grasp and she slowly lowered him down onto the bed beside the tiger even as he continued to try and struggle, "it means to thrust forth without invitation..." she chuckled, forcing him against the mattress and pinning one of his arms beneath his body.
"I assume then that you aren't familiar with--" she pulled the blade out from his ribs, "the term 'impinge'?" and she slid a finger into the opened wound. Shadow clamped his muzzle shut, entire body shaking against the agony as he fought the urge to howl in pain. Majh casually batted his flailing arm away with her free arm, and reached down, pulling his sword free from its scabbard. Shadow reached up feebly for it, and Majh knocked his paw to the side.
"Impinge, my dear Shadow Darkfang..." she noted, standing up even as the wolf tried to reach for her again, life blood seeping out into the mattress, "has two meanings, actually..." she slammed the pommel of his weapon against his muzzle, "the first, is to come into violent contact with..." and she slowly let go of the stunned wolf as he slipped into unconsciousness. Wetting one side of the blade with the wolf's blood, she reached across to draw the other side of the blade across the tiger's wounds. Majh slid the weapon back into its sheath at Shadow's hip and quietly walked to the door leading out of her carriage, "The second meaning, of course..." she glanced back at the two figures on her bed, "to make a lasting impression."
Majh stepped down out of her carriage and meandered casually across the camp. She raised her paws to her muzzle and idly licked them clean, "no sense in making an even bigger mess..." she chuckled to herself, and made her way toward a growing crowd. The hyena was unsurprised when she saw the that it was yet another argument.
"Just cuz they ain't satyrs yet don't mean they won't turn into em!" one of the Kriabnish guards accused, pointing to one of the healers' wagons.
"You've received your orders." Gaerid stated flatly.
"I won't wait around for one o' those guys to change..." the guard sneered.
Gaerid glanced uninterestedly at the wolverine, "You would rather brave the Wild Lands without the caravan?"
"No... I'm gonna go put an end to em." the guard countered, reaching for his sword. He stopped when Wyse growled from the side.
"Get your dog away from the carriages, bounty hunter... you can't stop all of us." announced another guard from a group of unaffiliated hirelings.
"Would you act against the word of your High Priest?" came a voice that surprised Majh to hear. Loric emerged from the wagon, walking down the steps, and came to stand beside Gaerid. The handful of Kriabnish guards present quickly disappeared into the crowd.
"The High Priest said to kill em all." one of the remaining guards argued.
"Well now he's changed his mind. High Priest Armenius Tenge is entitled to do that, you know." the noble noted casually.
"Bullshit." noted another guard, a giraffe, "I'm not waiting around for them to change just so that pompus asshole can have a feel-good moment thinking h--" and the giraffe suddenly went rigid. He dropped his short sword, both of his hands going to his neck as he began choking.
"I'm afraid that I don't like what I'm hearing." the polar bear's unmistakable voice spoke above the suddenly quiet crowd. He casually strolled around a fire pit, approaching the gathering, "I can't believe that I am being questioned." he crossed his arms, staring at the assembled crowd. The giraffe continued to choke. Most of the remaining observers quickly disbursed.
"Is it because you're more afraid of the Wild Lands than what the Moon Goddess would do to you if I were to hear of your fear?" he questioned, looking around at the remaining guards. "Do you think that I am no longer your High Priest just because we aren't in Shrad any longer?" the giraffe fell to his knees, still desperately grasping at his throat.
"Prove to me that I need not question your faith." the polar bear stated and, as one, the full assembly fell to their knees, and bowed their muzzles to the ground. The giraffe scrambled to do the same, falling onto his side as his tongue began to turn even bluer than it already was.
"Is forgiveness weakness? Is temperance a sign of feebleness?" the High Priest demanded of his followers, "No... mercy shows proof that I need not fear." he announced... and the giraffe suddenly gasped, drawing in huge breaths, splayed out on his back, crying. "But those who question the power of the Moon Goddess, and question the divine word as I speak it... they have no place in this world." The giraffe let out a single, bone-chilling scream... which ended in a faint burble... and he lay still.
The High Priest looked at the gathering, "The faithful have been saved by the Goddess... the curse of the Satyr has not taken hold. They are still my flock, as are all of you... but any who would turn on me, your shepherd..." he shook his head as he turned around, "You would be safer out there." he motioned once beyond the caravan, and headed back toward his carriage, twelve guards in tow. The gathering finished disbursing.
Majh passed through the assembly area, glancing at Gaerid, who was seeing to the giraffe. At first, she thought that the bounty hunter was looting his body but, as she paused for a moment longer, she realized that the rottweiler was, in fact, skinning him. Hiding the shudder that went through her, the hyena passed by him, pausing to regard Loric, who was staring at Gaerid. "First time you've ever seen a man skin another man?"
"Gaerid's no man..." Loric noted, licking his muzzle, "he's a wild beast..." Majh wasn't certain, but she had a feeling it wasn't revulsion she heard in the Lord's voice. Moving past him, she put the bounty hunter out of her mind. She glanced at his feral dog, who sat beside the steps to the specific wagon she was seeking; he didn't seem to care. Majh she stepped up into the healer's wagon, completely ignored by Wyse.
"Priestess?" Tolen spoke up the moment she entered.
The hyena moved over to where the white fox was laying in bed with back propped up against the wall of the carriage, "I had no idea you had a thing for Satyrs..." she grinned, "you could have at least waited until you were off duty." the laugh turned into a full-on hyena cackle.
Tolens ears blushed a fierce red, "I heard that you saved me." he spoke in a quiet voice, "Thank you."
"Pfft." she rolled her eyes, "I stab one fox in the stomach and suddenly everyone's calling me a hero."
Tolen smiled, just a little, "You really try to hide it, don't you?"
"Hide what?" Majh questioned.
"I've always said that there's some good in everyone... and despite all of your posturing and scheming, you only help make my case." Tolen smirked, and Majh hated it that it was his turn to see her blush.
"You must still be delirious from the fever." she countered, standing up and heading for the door.
"I wasn't sick too, was I?" Tolen inquired.
"If you keep talking like that you WILL be sick when I wish you ill, you little loud-mouthed cotton ball." Majh scowled... just a little.
"I'm sorry..." the fox noted, ears drooping a little, before a smile escaped him, "When I'm better I'll be suitably cowed."
"Good boy." Majh noted, smiling a little more genuinely, opening the door.
"Priestess Majh?" Tolen called after her.
"What is it?" she questioned.
"Thank you."
"Say that again and next time I'll leave you to the Satyrs." Majh grinned on her way out.
Glancing around the camp site, the hyena was just about to head to the fire pit to get dinner when her path was intersected by Nori. "Commander..." he called.
"Yes?" Majh inquired with a sigh.
"I'm looking for Shadow Darkfang... the Captain of the Guard said that he's supposed to be joining me on my shift."
"He's laying down." Majh answered simply.
"Then I'll go wake him up." the ferret smirked, patting the hilt of his gigantic hammer, "When you're in the Wild Lands you don't get to rest unless you're dead."
"Well then, my dear Mr Bahn, why don't I take you to him?" Majh grinned wide, heading toward her wagon, arm draped across the young ferret.
The two arrived at the carriage and the Priestess turned to the Wild Lander, "Wait here, and I'll go get him for you."
"It's no trouble, really." the ferret offered, heading up the steps.
Majh scowled, "I know that Wild Landers aren't all that used to city dweller customs, but a lady's wagon is her private quarters, Nori..."
The ferret shrugged, "From what everyone has to say about you, I have a feeling you're not exactly a lady." He went to walk in, but Majh reached out and grabbed him by the back of his tunic.
"I said I'll get him." she stated flatly.
"Fine... just tell him not to be any later than he already is." Nori scowled and walked off.
Smirking to herself, Majh ascended the steps and went inside. Shadow was seated on the hyena's bed, paw running across the pristine fur of his unwounded abdomen. He glanced to the guard beside him on the bed, likewise unharmed; the guard no longer had holes in his scalp and his toes had regained their correct, unbroken shape. Blearily, the wolf glanced toward the hyena, and quickly jumped up, "Majh!" he barked.
"Oh, do calm yourself." she said flatly, waving dismissively at him with the back of her paw. She went over to a small cabinet in her carriage and pulled a bottle out of it.
"You stabbed me..." he murmured, and ran his paw across his ribs again, and glanced to the guard, "and... you healed him..." he looked back at Majh, "Was that a Sickle Moon Prayer?"
Majh said nothing in response, taking a huge swig out of the bottle, "You'd better meet up with Nori... he'll probably try to hit you with his hammer if you're much later."
Shadow paused at the threshold, lingering in the doorway, "...was that Thaumaturgy?" he asked, "Are you a magus too?"
"Goodnight, Shadow." Majh dismissed him.
"Do you know how to manipulate life? Is that it?" he questioned.
"Shadow Darkfang..." Majh noted with a scowl, reaching for a carving knife, "Are you familiar with the word--"
"Goodnight, Commander!" the wolf added quickly, and made an exit.
* * * * * *
The Shradian Caravan handled the Satyrs well enough, but there's still one more loose end: the Satyr that Shadow Darkfang incapacitated and then hid... well... Majh isn't just about to let that go without "discussion".
This chapter of Zion is the last one before the Milestone event, thus there will be 4 posts instead of the usual three. This post is about character development and provides some opportunities to establish some connections (or break already established ones) between charaters. Let's see how this turns out!
No votes at this time, but input is always welcome!