Chapter Twelve
I stopped about half a quarter mile from the silver-haired zealot and her group of followers, and I scanned over the faces of the people surrounding Sarosh. Their heads were hidden beneath the hoods of their cloaks, though, so I couldn’t make out many characteristics from afar.
The elven-like woman had interfered with my introduction to the town of Ivywood not too long ago, and I wasn’t satisfied with how things had been left. She’d gone away with her loyal followers, and the defectors had stayed in the small village, but I wanted the entire world to believe in me as the one, true god.
If I was the God of Time, then I wanted to be the only god, and this was my opportunity to change Sarosh’s mind once and for all.
The small group of people continued to walk toward us, but then Sarosh lifted her arm to order a halt. She must have finally noticed my crew standing in the middle of the road on horseback.
I dismounted my steed and waved in a friendly manner toward the religious nutjob, but she just stared across the distance between us with her chin lifted.
“What are we doing?” Mahini asked with narrowed eyes. “We shouldn’t stop for that zealot.”
“They are being misled, Mahini,” I replied in a soft voice. “The false god they follow would have them sacrifice their own lives, and I wish to save them from such an ill fate.”
“That is very honorable of you, Great One,” Riondale noted. “How can I be of service?”
“You guys stay here,” I instructed as my eyes stayed locked on the silver-haired older woman down the road. “I’m going to go talk to her.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we went as a group?” Elissa argued with a worried frown. “After all, she has at least ten people with her.”
It seemed my two ladies remembered Sarosh well, and their concern for me warmed my heart, but they didn’t have anything to worry about. Despite her desire to give her own life to an unknown god, I didn’t think the zealot was violent. I could handle myself even if she was, though, so I wasn’t worried in the slightest.
“Let me try to talk some sense into her followers, first,” I insisted.
“Of course,” my wife replied with a serious nod.
I loved that she could be fiery and outspoken most of the time, but obedient and submissive when it really mattered.
Eva watched the interaction silently from her horse’s back, but she bit her lower lip with a worried frown, and I could tell she was resisting the urge to speak out.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” I assured my group in a confident voice. “Just god work.”
With that, I turned and walked toward Sarosh, but I made a new save point as I approached her. She’d come to a stop and stood there staring at me, but she didn’t move a muscle as I approached. I got a better look at her followers as I got closer, and I made mental notes about their ages and genders. The majority of the twelve people crowded around the silver-haired zealot were older themselves, with the exception of a few men and one woman.
“Hello, there,” I greeted in a friendly tone once I was within speaking distance. I stopped about fifteen feet away from Sarosh, close enough to see her narrow her eyes with suspicion, but too far away to hear what she whispered to an older man standing behind her.
“I remember you,” Sarosh stated as she lifted her chin. “You are the blasphemer from Ivywood.”
“I could say the same about you,” I countered as I crossed my arms over my chest. “At least I’m not urging people to kill themselves.”
“Sacrifice is far from murder,” Sarosh argued with a frown.
“Doesn’t seem like you feel like chatting with me,” I observed in a thoughtful tone. “Maybe your followers will feel more talkative?”
“You need to stay away from my people, false prophet,” Sarosh hissed.
“Why is that?” I raised one eyebrow as I scanned over the weary faces of her followers. “You guys are ready for a break, right? Maybe a snack while we talk?”
“I could eat,” a man who leaned heavily against a cane said, and mumbles of agreement echoed from behind him, but the older gray-haired man who stood behind Sarosh elbowed him sharply.
“Only if the priestess says it is alright,” the old man muttered to the ten other people.
I got an idea, so I made a new save point to try it out since I didn’t want to have to walk back over again. Then I made eye contact with the man who had spoken out, and I gave him a friendly smile.
“What’s your name?” I asked in a casual tone, and I ignored the sharp look I received from Sarosh.
“They call me Thom,” the man said with raised eyebrows, and his brown eyes flicked worriedly to the priestess’ face.
“Why do you follow this woman to your death?” I pressed, and Sarosh hissed with displeasure.
“How dare you speak to my followers after I forbade it.” The priestess flicked her long, loose silver hair over her shoulder and fixed me with a hot glare. “Only a false god would so flagrantly ignore my wishes.”
“You’re not one of my followers yet, right?” I countered. “Then why should I care about your wishes? I am merely curious about why anyone would want to sacrifice themselves to some unknown god.”
“The God of the Purge is not unknown,” Sarosh scoffed. “But very well. You will not find any dissent here, I have chosen my people well.”
“I can’t imagine you have a lot of choices to pick from,” I teased, and the elven-like older woman huffed but didn’t respond.
I knew I’d hit a nerve, but my goal was to get to know her followers, so I turned my attention back to Thom.
“Go on, you can tell me,” I urged in a reassuring voice.
“I…” he said hesitantly, but then he cleared his throat. “I was wounded in battle, and now I’m not good at anything else. After I lost my foot, I had to ask, what is my life worth?”
“Yeah,” came a voice of agreement from his side. “My brother speaks the truth. We are pointless now, but if we can save this world by giving up our lives? That’s a cause worth dying for.”
“And what’s your name?” I asked the new speaker.
“This is my brother, Carn,” Thom answered for him as he gestured to the brown-eyed man beside him.
Carn had one arm wrapped against his chest, so his cloak hung lopsided across his torso, and I could only assume he’d lost a limb in battle, too.
“We fought together, so we are going to die together,” a third man chimed in with a look of determination in his brown eyes. He looked similar to the other two men, but he was younger. “My name is Abe, and I’m these two’s baby brother. I lost my sword hand to a bandit, and now I’m nothing more than a bum.”
He pulled back his cloak to show me the stump at the end of his arm, and I shook my head in dismay at his loss. If he was right-handed, I could only imagine how hard his life had been since losing the limb.
“What makes you think you have to die to save the world?” I pressed, and I wasn’t willing to drop it just yet.
“I haven’t heard any other suggestions,” a woman piped up, and I could tell the brothers had emboldened her to speak out. “Sarosh is the only one who has cared about us, and if she says this is the right way, then I trust in her.”
“And you are?” I asked with a charming smile.
“Susi.” She was an older woman with graying auburn hair pulled to the side in a long braid, and the crow’s feet around her eyes indicated a lot of laughing in her past. Her face was solemn now, though, and her eyes were full of pain.
“Why do you want to end your life, Susi?” I asked in a sympathetic tone.
“I have nothing left to live for,” the older woman sighed. “After my husband died, there is just no point in doing anything else.”
I made my way through the rest of the crowd, and I learned all of their names and why they’d decided to follow Sarosh. Luka, Cristal, and Ava were the three other widows besides Susi, and then there were two couples who had lost young children and the impossibly old man who stayed close to the priestess. His name was Zeb, and he’d been following Sarosh for almost an entire year.
They were on their way to Vallenwood to perform a ritual in front of all the people, and the individuals following the crazed zealot truly believed they would be saving the world from utter destruction by doing this. It was insane, and I had to find a way to convince them to stay alive. They all had very real reasons for feeling like their lives were over, but I was confident I could show them a new way, a way of hope.
Ross and Rebekah, the young couple whose infant died at a week old, would probably be the easiest to convince. They still had so many opportunities to have a great life ahead of them, and even if they didn’t want to risk another pregnancy, they could always adopt.
Bron and Sarah would be harder to convince. They’d owned a general store for years when it was burned to the ground with their children inside. They were deep in the throes of grief and couldn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.
No one was too far gone for me to save, though, so I set my thoughts to figuring out how to help these people.
After I’d interviewed all of Sarosh’s followers, I reset back to my save point to wow them all with my knowledge.
Chime.
“I could eat,” Thom said, and mumbles of agreement echoed from behind him, but Zeb elbowed him sharply.
“Only if the priestess says it is alright,” the old man muttered to the ten other people.
“Zeb, do you only do what the priestess tells you to do?” I asked.
“I am an obedient and loyal follower of the priestess,” Zeb answered with a stubborn lift of his chin.
“Are you sure that’s not just because you miss your wife?” I pressed with one lifted eyebrow.
“I-I-I’m not sure,” Zeb said as his eyes went as wide as saucers. “How do you know about my dearly departed wife?”
“I am actually a god,” I laughed. “I know all things. Like Luka, you are still grieving the loss of your husband, are you not?”
“I miss him terribly,” the older woman whimpered.
“Thom,” I said as I turned my gaze to the man who leaned against a cane. “You and your two brothers were injured in battle, and your only wish is to serve the world in whatever way you can.”
“Enough!” Sarosh interjected in a loud voice, and she sliced her hands through the air like she wished to cut off my head. “I do not know how you perform these tricks, but I will get to the bottom of it, once and for all.”
“Does that mean you changed your mind and want to talk?” I teased with a grin.
“If you wish to question my followers,” the priestess said with narrowed gray eyes. “Then I need to do the same to yours.”
“Go right ahead,” I encouraged as my smile grew even more. I was confident in the people who followed me, and I knew Sarosh would not find the answers she hoped for from them.
“We should get off the road,” Zeb interjected in a sage voice. “We are at risk for marauders.”
“We are in no danger with me present,” I informed the old man in a confident tone.
“We will break for lunch,” Sarosh snapped, and she shot me a glare. “My people are weary.”
“Very well.” I shrugged. “Gives us more time to chat.”
“Hmph!” Sarosh huffed and folded her arms across her chest, but then she led her people off the road into the copse of trees.
I rolled my eyes, and then I returned to my companions to update them on what was going on.
“We’re going to take a lunch break,” I informed my crew in a pleased tone. “Sarosh wishes to speak with you guys about your experiences with me. You have the right to deny her, but there is no harm in being completely honest with her.”
“What right does she have to question us?” Mahini asked, and her piercing blue gaze shot to the small gathering of people seated beneath the trees.
“They are on their way to Vallenwood,” I explained with a worried frown. “They plan to kill themselves in sacrifice to the God of the Purge. I cannot allow these people to willingly walk toward their deaths, not when I can stop it.”
“Very well, Bash,” Elissa said with a firm nod. “I’ll tell them everything I know about you.”
“Keep out the bedroom bits,” I suggested with a wink. “No need to rub it in their faces.”
“Okay,” my wife giggled. “I’ll try.”
“What are our orders, sir?” Riondale interjected as he cast a concerned look over my shoulder to the silver-haired zealot.
“Enjoy your lunch, or dinner, whatever you want to call it.” I shrugged. “And if you feel like talking to her, feel free to.”
So, we tied the horses to some of the trees, and we began to spread out some of the rations sent with us from the king. He’d included some of the delicious meats that had been served at the feast the night before, but he hadn’t sent any alcohol. I’d been hoping for it since the mood lifting beverage would be a boon in my attempt to save Sarosh’s life, but I would just have to use my charm and wits against her.
My party approached the zealots with neutral expressions, and we set about building a fire in the center of the trees. Sarosh and her followers watched silently, but they all smiled gratefully when Riondale began to pass out the food. The whole bunch looked half-starved, and it made me want to continue feeding them until they were nursed back to full health.
Some of Sarosh’s followers would never be able to return to full health, and even the God of Time couldn’t undo severed limbs from months before I was summoned. No, my only option was to change their perspective about their situation so they no longer saw it as a blight, but more so as a blessing. I’d attempted harder things before, but giving hope to grieving widowers and wounded soldiers would feel really good.
“How kind of you to share with us,” Sarosh said after she’d accepted a plate from my lieutenant. “Your people are generous.”
“We have more than enough to share,” I explained in a kindly voice. “If we start to run low, we can always refill our stores from the wilderness.”
“You would kill the animals in the wilderness, but you do not understand someone’s desire to perform the ultimate sacrifice?” Sarosh shook her head. “You are an illogical man.”
“I’m illogical?” I laughed. “You’re not my follower, but I still give you the time of day. Do you know why? Because I don’t want innocent people to die. You will be a murderer if you go through with this, Sarosh, and deep down, you know it. Admit it.”
“Why should I listen to you?” she snapped. “My master warned me of men like you, those who would pretend to be immortal deities in order to trick lesser beings.”
“Your master was totally describing himself,” I insisted. “Mirror, mirror, and all that.”
“I believe he was describing you.” Sarosh’s lips curled up into a sideways sneer. “You’re merely projecting your own fears of being discovered as a fraud.”
“I have no fear.” I grinned at the annoyingly stubborn woman. “Ask me anything, Sarosh.”
“I think I’d rather ask the people who blindly follow your wicked ways,” the elven-like priestess countered, and she turned her gray eyes to my companions. She scanned over the faces of the guardsmen, and then her gaze flicked from Eva, to Elissa, and finally landed on Mahini. “You have an honest aura, you go first. Tell me what miracles you have seen this supposed god perform.”
“From the first moment I met Sebastian, I was awed by his power,” Mahini informed the priestess in a solemn tone. Her face was neutral, but I could see the emotion swimming in her tumultuous blue eyes. “He predicted my every word like he could read my mind--”
“He did that to us, too,” one of the wounded brothers mumbled from my left side.
I resisted the urge to chuckle as I listened to Mahini recount stories of our meeting, and then she explained how I’d fought by her side through the goblin infested copper mine. Tears threatened to overpower her for a brief moment as she touched upon the subject of her fallen Golden Sword brethren, but she kept her expression stoic for the remainder of the story.
When she finished, I wanted to applaud her, but it didn’t seem appropriate with the seriousness in the atmosphere. Sarosh meant business, and I had a feeling the older woman hadn’t smiled or laughed in years. I wondered briefly if I could change that, but then I turned my focus back to Mahini.
“Then he defeated the goblin king,” the desert goddess finished with an awed shake of her head. “It was so fast, and accurate. I could never question him, or his power. It has always been obvious to me.”
“I see.” Sarosh tapped her finger against her chin thoughtfully. “So, you have sex with him?”
“We are bonded, body, mind, and soul,” Mahini answered without hesitation, and her piercing blue eyes shot daggers of ice into the priestess. “Calling him my lover would not be enough. He is my eternity.”
“Damn,” I whispered as I glanced at Mahini. I knew she loved me as I loved her, but I’d kinda always assumed that my feelings were more powerful because I’d seen her die a thousand deaths to save my life.
“Ahem,” Elissa interjected as she glared at Sarosh. “I’m his wife, by the way. Was there something you wanted to ask me?”
“His wife?” Sarosh’s eyes widened in surprise. “He married you?”
“Why so shocked?” I asked.
“You tie yourself to a mortal?” Sarosh shook her head in disbelief. “It does not seem like something an immortal deity would do.”
“Maybe you’ve never known one personally?” I suggested with a smile. “I’m not going to be anything like your false god, I’m the real deal, and I can prove it.”
“I’m done listening to your blasphemy,” the priestess scoffed. “I already told you, I want to hear about your misadventures from the poor souls trapped in your company.”
“Ouch.” I made a mock hurt expression. “I thought you liked me, Sarosh.”
“You’d be the only one in the world who didn’t,” Elissa added, and my wife crossed her arms over her chest and fixed her gaze on the priestess. “My father even likes him, and I swore he would hate anyone I wanted to marry. Bash saved me from an awful arranged marriage, and now I’m free to be who I am without being forced to be in the kitchen all the time.”
“Your husband allows you to do whatever you want?” Sarosh pushed with furrowed eyebrows. “Do you not see that as odd?”
“He loves me just the way I am.” Elissa shrugged. “I’m sorry you’ve never experienced that before.”
Sarosh huffed but didn’t respond.
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Rebekah, Ross’ wife, said. “I know Ross loves me, but sometimes I feel like he would be disappointed in me if I decided not to follow Sarosh.”
“That’s not true,” Ross insisted in a soft voice, and the dark-haired younger man clasped his wife’s hands lovingly in his own. “I’ve always felt like you wanted us to follow her together, and I would go with you anywhere.”
“Don’t listen to them,” Sarosh snapped at the young couple in a harsh voice.
“Why not?” Elissa countered hotly. “Don’t they have a right to hear other perspectives? Like, how Bash defeated an entire army single-handedly just to save me from a loveless marriage.”
“That was my brother,” Eva chuckled. “Trust me, he had it coming.”
“The man you follow killed your brother?” The priestess’ gray eyes lit up like she’d discovered a hidden gem of truth.
“Fair and square.” Evangeline nodded.
“So, why do you follow him?” Sarosh pressed.
“I want to see the world, to save people, to experience life to its fullest.” The duke’s daughter shrugged. “I waited for years for the opportunity to get out of my father’s castle, and the Great One provided it. I had to prove my worth, but after I watched from the castle windows while he fought against the dragon, I was determined to do anything I could.”
“Wait, dragon?” Zeb’s eyes widened with fear, and he instinctively glanced up at the sky.
“A dragon has awoken for the first time in ages,” I explained in a calm voice. “I first encountered it at Castle Bullard, but I ran into it again in Vallenwood.”
“The city is besieged?” Thom asked with a frown. “I don’t want to run into a dragon’s mouth.”
“Yet you are willing to kill yourself in the name of a god you’ve never met?” I countered, and I leaned back and rested my hands on the back of my neck. “Seems like you all have a death wish to me, which normally I can get behind, but you aren’t even trying to help anyone. You’re just killing yourselves for no reason.”
“Our deaths will stop the apocalypse,” Sarosh informed me in a proud voice. “Once the king witnesses our sacrifice, he will fall on his knees and pledge allegiance to the God of the Purge.”
“And then what will happen?” I pushed.
“Then the world will be saved,” Sarosh said as if she was stating the obvious.
“I’d like to see your god go toe-to-toe with a dragon.” Riondale smirked and folded his arms across his breastplate. “I’ve never known a man more fearless than Sir Sebastian.”
“Sir Sebastian?” Sarosh lifted her eyebrows questioningly. “Are you a knight, now?”
“I am,” I confirmed with a nod.
“I’m not hearing anything bad, Sarosh,” Cristal observed in a wry tone.
“There has to be more to the story,” the priestess insisted, and she narrowed her gray eyes at me.
By this time, the sun had begun its nightly journey toward the western horizon, and the light was growing more and more dim. We’d been sitting around the fire for a couple of hours, and while the conversation was riveting to me, my back ached from being in the same position the entire time.
“It’s getting dark,” I observed as I glanced around at the shadows beneath the trees. “Why don’t we set up camp and pause this conversation for now?”
“I wouldn’t want to keep you from your travels,” Sarosh said with a shake of her head, but I could tell she wanted me to stop talking to her followers now.
“We won’t get very far in the dark,” I pointed out. “Besides, we started late, so maybe it’s best if we stay in this spot for the night and get an early start in the morning.”
“Very well,” Sarosh allowed with a tilt of her head. “I will welcome your hospitality for tonight. There is safety in numbers, after all.”
“I’ll arrange for a watch shift,” Riondale offered.
“Thanks, Ri-man.” I flashed the young lieutenant a grateful smile. “Have Corvis unsaddle the horses and get them some grain, too.”
“Yes, sir,” Riondale said with a crisp salute, and then he stood from his spot and signaled to the rest of the men.
“You are lucky to have beasts of burden to carry you,” Sarosh mused in a tired voice. “My feet grow weary faster than a horse’s hooves.”
“I can imagine,” I chuckled. “I wouldn’t have gotten as far as I have without Goliath. He’s a good boy.”
“You have an affection for some animals, but not for others?” Sarosh’s gray eyes perked up like she’d found a loophole in my story.
“Some are companions,” I explained with a yawn. “Others are food. It’s simple.”
“Would you like to join me on a quick hunt?” Jorgen suggested with an amused smile. “Stretch your legs for a bit?”
“That sounds heavenly,” I laughed. Then I gave Sarosh a small bow of my head. “We can continue our discussion later, but for now, I’m done talking.”
“Very well, Sir Sebastian,” Sarosh murmured, and she turned her attention back to her abandoned plate.
I walked with Jorgen through the woods in search of prey for a while, but all we ended up finding were a burrow of rabbits and some squirrels. I made sure to clean them before bringing them back to the campsite, though, since I wasn’t sure how the odd priestess would react to watching me field-dress my game.
A few of Sarosh’s followers were lingering around the edges of the campsite, but they mostly turned away and returned to their priestess when we approached. Thom, Carn, and Abe were interested in our kills, though, and I took a moment to teach them how to locate rabbits and other small game.
Jorgen taught them a few rope snares and other ways to trap the small furry rodents, too, and then we went over some basic recipes. It shocked me that people who grew up in this world would be so unfamiliar with hunting and dressing animals, but I supposed the issue stemmed from poor leadership.
Elrin’s town had been in bad shape when I first arrived, and while I liked the Mayor of Bastianville a lot, I couldn’t say he’d done a fantastic job of running the town before I’d showed up.
Every city I’d visited had some issue, and while I enjoyed helping people, all the problems could have easily been avoided if the leaders had done their jobs right. All the way to Vallenwood, I’d encountered strife, despair, and other drama, and it was hard for me not to blame the King of Sorreyal for the land’s troubles.
“Thank you for sharing your knowledge, Oh Great One,” Thom said with a grateful smile. “It has been hard to get enough food for all of us on the road, and Sarosh insists upon a vegetarian diet most of the time.”
“She changes her mind sometimes?” I asked with a confused expression.
“Sometimes there is nothing but meat available.” Carn shrugged. “She doesn’t want us to starve before we can perform our ultimate duty.”
“It’s still hard for me to understand why you would follow her,” I said in a sympathetic tone. “Don’t you have something to live for?”
“We failed our people against the bandits,” Abe said with a shake of his head. “The only way to restore our honor is to give our lives.”
“According to who?” I pressed. “I don’t see a god anywhere except in the mirror. I’d like to exchange words with this God of the Purge, and I wouldn’t follow any commands from him until I met him face to face.”
“It is uncommon for the immortals to bless us humans with their presence,” Thom argued. “It doesn’t make sense to us that you would be riding a horse if you’re a god. Why are you stuck in the body of a man?”
“Who said I was stuck?” I smirked.
“Sir, your tent is ready for you,” Riondale interjected with a quick salute.
“Good, thank you,” I replied.
Jorgen, Thom, Carn, Abe, and I returned to the campfire, and I took up a seat beside the priestess as she listened to Evangeline.
“… So, that’s why I decided to swear my allegiance to Sebastian, and only Sebastian,” the duke’s daughter finished.
“Does he ever get wounded or injured?” Sarosh questioned with narrowed gray eyes.
“Never,” Elissa answered for her.
“Not that I have witnessed,” Eva added with a shake of her head.
“The Great One has strength and power beyond human measure,” Mahini explained in a proud tone. “I have seen him perform countless miracles. Why, just before we reached Vallenwood, he saved a lost little girl who was stuck in a mine.”
“Does he violate your mind?” Sarosh asked in a curious tone, and I saw the look of anger flash across the desert goddess’ face.
“The Great One does not violate anything,” Eva cut in. “Your questions are rude.”
“My apologies,” Sarosh said as she tilted her head. “I did not intend to upset you. I just… I wonder how similar your experiences are to mine, and it seems they are quite different.”
“Perhaps you should consider having a different experience,” Elissa suggested with a soft smile. “Your god doesn’t sound very nice to me.”
“He is a strict god, and his expectations of his followers are high,” the priestess explained. Then she raked a hand through her silver tendrils and sighed. “Sometimes the expectations feel too high.”
There it was, a crack in her armor, and I almost whooped for joy.
“My main priority is to save your life, Sarosh,” I said in a soft voice, and I gave her a sympathetic smile. “I wish to free you from the bonds of fear.”
“I will never be free until my soul is reunited with my master,” Sarosh said, and she shook her head to dispel my kind words. “He awaits me on the other side, all I have to do is perform the ritual.”
“The ritual where you kill yourself?” I arched one eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m not buying it. I know it’s fun to call yourself a priestess and to have a powerful master to answer to, but, listen to me, he doesn’t care about you if he wants you to die.”
“We all die someday,” the priestess countered in a haughty tone. “Even you shall eventually disappear from this world. I merely wish to choose the place and time to honor my master and my beliefs.”
“Who is this master guy?” I questioned in a curious tone. “You talk so much about him, but what do you really know of him?”
“He… He would not want me to divulge our encounters with the uninitiated.” Sarosh shook her head.
“How am I supposed to believe in something I know nothing about?” I pressed in an urgent tone. “I’m not going to let you walk to your death without a logical explanation other than someone told you to.”
“Why do you care so much for my life?” Sarosh tilted her head with a confused look on her elven-like face. Her gray eyes seemed full of curiosity, and a small light twinkled inside the smoky depths.
Was that hope?
“I care for all life, Sarosh,” I replied in a gentle voice. “Yours is no less precious than those of my followers, no less valuable than that of the king or all the citizens of Vallenwood. You are special, and important, and you deserve to live.”
Tears immediately sprang to her gray eyes, and her soft, thin lips trembled. I wanted to scoop her up into a hug, but I knew she would reject me instantly. Still, I wished to comfort her in some way, so I moved to the log beside her and gently rubbed her back.
“I-I met him once,” Sarosh said after a long moment of silence, and she cast her eyes down to her lap. Her hands were placed delicately one on top of the other, and she was so still, she could have been a statue. “He came to me in a dream first, and then he appeared before me in the flesh. He claimed me as his own, and… I could not refuse him anything. Then he was gone… and now I just hear him in my sleep, like whispering echoes I can’t ignore.”
The words poured from her mouth in broken flows, but she was opening up.
The other faces around the campfire were motionless and awed, and they listened with rapt fascination but didn’t interrupt the moment with any comments. Mahini’s eyes pierced into Sarosh through the flames between them. I could see the thoughts tumbling through the desert goddess’ mind, and I made a mental note to ask her about them later.
Elissa and Eva sat side by side on one log, and they glanced at each other every so often to gauge the other’s reaction to Sarosh’s words. The two ladies seemed attached at the hip lately, and I could only imagine the kind of mischief they would get into together in the future. Mahini acted like a mother hen to the less experienced women warriors, so she would keep them out of trouble for the most part, but they were just as likely to drag her into their hijinks.
This was not one of those times, though, and I corralled my wandering thoughts to return my attention back to Sarosh.
“So, he can read your mind?” I asked in a cautious tone. I resumed rubbing her back, and I could feel her lean into my touch the slightest bit.
“He owns my mind,” Sarosh sighed. “I fear he is listening to this very conversation.”
“But you’ve seen him in person once,” I noted in a thoughtful voice. “You’re sure it wasn’t some sort of mirage? Or a hallucination?”
“I’m sure,” Sarosh said firmly. “We… connected. There would be no way to create that strong of a hallucination, trust me.”
“You had sex with him,” I assumed as I bit back the urge to laugh.
“Call it what you will,” Sarosh hissed, and her pale cheeks bloomed crimson with embarrassment. “My master has claimed me, body, mind, and soul. I am his, and I will follow his commandments.”
“Other than violating your mind,” I said, and I made sure to use Sarosh’s own words against her, “what other miracles has this master performed to prove his godliness? There are wizards and mages, and they’re not all standup guys.”
“My master can stand on two legs the same as me,” Sarosh countered with a confused scrunch of her eyebrows. “What do you mean by not standing up?”
“Never mind.” I waved my hand. “What else can he do? Like miracle wise, has he saved anyone’s life? Predicted the weather? Anything?”
“Bash,” Elissa interjected in a soft voice, “she looks upset. Maybe we should lay off the questions for a while?”
“No,” Sarosh said in a firm tone. “No, I am fine. I can answer. My master comes from a different plane of existence, he cannot easily maneuver through our world. It was a miracle he came to me in a physical body at all, and I am grateful for it. That was all I needed to trust in him.”
“So, he gives you messages in your dreams?” I asked in a gentle voice. I was curious, but I didn’t want to push her too fast.
“Yes,” the priestess confirmed with a nod. “Not every night, but when it is necessary.”
Could there be mind reading magic in this world? Was this random guy actually a god, or was he some evil wizard?
My head swam with questions, but I knew Sarosh didn’t have the answers I sought. The priestess had bought the guy’s story, hook, line, and sinker, so how was I supposed to convince her otherwise? I had to figure something out, but I didn’t know what to do just yet.
“One more question,” I said softly, and the elven-like older woman nodded in assent. “Why suicide? I don’t get it, why do you have to kill yourself to fix the world?”
“This world is doomed,” Sarosh answered in a solemn tone. “There is no saving it, only ascension into the next. In order to reach the next plane of existence, it has to be done in a specific way. This is the only way I can return to my master once more.”
“I’d like to ask your master a few questions to his face,” I said in a hard tone as my stomach clenched into a knot. This dude was in for a rude awakening very soon. “Think you could arrange that?”
“My master only speaks to me.” Sarosh shook her head. “I’m afraid it is impossible… Unless…”
“Unless what?” I pressed.
“Unless you join the Purge and release your soul from this life.” Sarosh nodded as though this was the smartest route to take, and she rubbed her hands together like she’d solved some great mystery.
The priestess was truly insane, and I was ill-equipped to battle mental illness. I was going to try, though, and I knew with unlimited time at my disposal that I would succeed.
Hopefully before I went nuts in the process.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” I pointed out. “I’m kind of hard to kill.”
“It’s true,” Mahini laughed. “If a griffon can’t even draw blood on him, nothing can kill him.”
“The God of the Purge would accept your lives as sacrifice, too,” Sarosh said to the desert goddess, and Mahini’s face went ghostly pale.
“No, thank you,” the shield maiden murmured with furrowed eyebrows. “I’d rather serve the Great One until my last breath. It would be a dishonor to die outside the battlefield.”
“What is the difference between you following your Great One into deadly battles and me following my master into the next life?” Sarosh smiled like she’d trapped us in a corner, and I resisted the urge to laugh in her face.
Eva answered for me, though, and her voice was full of conviction as it rang out like sweet honey around the campsite. “Because life is the grandest adventure, and what comes next will come in its own time. There is no reason to rush toward the end when there is so much left to experience!”
“You are all truly lost souls,” Sarosh sighed. “I fear for you.”
“You have no reason to fear for the living,” I assured her. “We fear for you who march toward your own death. I grow tired of this debate, Sarosh. How about we call it a night and speak more on this matter in the morning?”
The sun had started to set during our conversation, and it was now dark. The fire in the middle of our campsite made the surrounding trees glow with orange light, and the faces of the two groups were lit up from the flames. Everything else was doused in shadows, and the distant sound of the horses nickering was the only noise to be heard.
“Very well, Sir Sebastian,” Sarosh said with a tilt of her head. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
“Again, don’t worry about it,” I replied as I stood up from the log and dusted off my pants. “We will talk more in the morning, okay?”
“Alright.” The priestess nodded, and then she reached out a hand for me to help her to her feet. I hauled her up, and she mimicked my gesture of dusting off. “Till tomorrow morning.”
“Sleep well.” I nodded to my two ladies. “You two ready for bed?”
“Yes, Great One,” Mahini yawned.
“Absolutely, my love,” Elissa added with a broad smile.
“Get good sleep, Great One,” Eva said.
“You, too,” I said with a wave. I saluted to Riondale and the other men who were still up and nodded to Sarosh’s followers as they leaned sleepily against one another, and then the three of us headed toward our tent.
We climbed into bed with tired yawns, and we quickly assumed our normal cuddling position. The two women each laid their heads on my chest, and I wrapped my arms around their shoulders. Our legs tangled lovingly together, and then we all sighed in unison.
“I hope we always fall asleep like this,” Elissa breathed in a happy tone, and she trailed her fingers down my chest.
“It is the best part of the day,” Mahini sighed as she snuggled her head beneath my chin.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I told them with all the love I felt pressed into my voice.
I was asleep moments later, and I dreamed of an evil wizard hellbent on destroying the world while I stood alone against them. I woke up with the thought that I needed to learn more magic, and then I shook off the uneasy feeling. I kissed the two ladies in my arms on the forehead, and we all stretched and yawned.
It was another bright, beautiful day, and I was eager to get on the road to make up for yesterday’s lost time. First, though, I wanted to take another crack at Sarosh.
I climbed out of my tent, stretched my arms over my head, and relieved myself into a nearby bush. Then I joined the early risers at the campfire with Mahini and Elissa by my side. Sarosh and her followers were already awake, and they huddled near the flames in a bunch.
Sarosh’s gray eyes lit up when she saw me, though, and she stood up to cross the distance between us.
“I’m coming with you,” she announced in a decisive tone. “We will follow you to the dragon, and if you succeed in destroying it, then I will arrange a meeting with my master.”
My eyes widened in shock as I processed her words. I couldn’t say I was disappointed, but it came as a surprise. Now, my company had doubled in size, and I’d added a group of crazed zealots to my party.
I could handle the additional mouths easily enough, though, so I gave Sarosh a wide smile, and I clasped her hands in mine.
“Let’s go kill a dragon,” I said in an excited voice.
The silver-haired priestess tilted back her head and laughed, and the sound was like wind blowing through the softest windchimes.
This was going to be fun.