The Honor of Light #2 (Waverly Stump and The 7 Realms)

Chapter Nine

Waverly did not know what to make of their short trip but she found it to be a somewhat fun experience. They rode in a carriage that was meant to seat only three people but as it was, there were four of them plus Judson's enormous wings.

Waverly sat near Brijjet who sat next to Judson. His wings were compressed into the carriage and Waverly thought he might be very uncomfortable but even if he did feel uncomfortable, Judson was too busy laughing to notice.

The Priest sat with his back to them on a single bench in front talking about his glory days as an apprentice under the High Priest and how he had saved a pregnant woman who was stung by a dangerous scorpion. As he spoke, he gestured with his hands and his hair bopped up and down in a ridiculous manner.

Brijjet took this as an avenue to make fun of the old man. He made his fingers to look like a pair of scissors and tried to cut off the strands of hair that stuck up from the priest's head. Waverly clasped her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing whereas Judson did not hold back.

Thunder clapped in the sky and rain splashed violently into the carriage but nobody seemed to mind. The road was full of gallops which caused the carriage to move with a jerk and a bump every now and then. This motion made Waverly's stomach gurgle because she had drunk a lot of water right before they left. She was fully conscious of this and the fact that Brijjet might hear the funny sound.

". . . she was as pale as chalk and the infant inside her was on the brink of death. There was no other way." The priest was saying. His robes were soaked on one side and dry on the other and this gave it two shades of blue - one darker and the other lighter.

"What did you do then?" Brijjet asked. He pretended to be interested in the priest's story only in a bid to keep the man's attention away from his actions of mockery.

"I did the bravest thing there was. I travelled for seven days to the realm of Hammiton to find the Slumber Serpent."

"Seven days? How did the poor woman wait for that long?" Waverly inquired.

The priest shrugged. "It was a rare condition, her labor, but she did hold on."

"And you said you travelled to find the what?" Brijjet asked. His tone sounded half enthusiastic. Despite being a joker, he could not totally ignore information such as that.

"The Slumber Serpent. It is one of the most dangerous creatures in all the realms. It produces venom that can cure any mortal ailment."

"That sounds interesting. How did you get the cure?" Brijjet hummed. He moved his hands around the priest's head in a way that mimicked giving him a fancy haircut. Judson cackled whenever the priest would turn unexpectedly and Brijjet would also quickly feign rapt attention. He was very swift and so the priest never caught him.

"I battled the thing. It was ridiculously gigantic - taller than the tallest tower, larger than a whale and stronger than a thousand giants. We fought for many days. It snored up an earthquake that shook the ground to its core." The priest explained.

"Wait? It snores? Why does it snore? I did not know that snakes could snore." Waverly contributed.

The priest chuckled. The thunder would sometimes drown out his voice, so he spoke as loudly as possible but not in a pleasant manner. "The Slumber Serpent is not a snake, my dear. It is only named so because it looks like one. And yes, it snores because it is always asleep."

"How could you not get past it easily then if as you say it was always dozing?" Brijjet asked then whispered to Waverly. "Although, i'm not at all surprised it took him so long."

Waverly snorted and covered her mouth. Brijjet's smiling eyes locked with hers for a moment then peeled off and it left her feeling strangely empty.

The priest yelled something to the coachman who immediately took a hard left. The city had really tall buildings which Waverly found fascinating. She had never seen such before. The weather casted a hazy greyness across the street making it impossible to see anything and yet the coachman seemed to know exactly where he was going.