Devil's tale

Devil's tale chapter 30

"Where is he?!" Avarice shouted, tossing Jazz's empty bedroll to the side in anger. He felt sweat drip down the sides of his face and he wasn't sure if it was from stress or from the heat. Avarice paced around the campsite, desperately searching for traces of his friend, but any tracks he may have left, had been erased by the wind. Avarice was flooded with panic.

"You said that there were sightings of demons in the desert, right?!" He asked one of the soldiers. The man grimly nodded.

Avarice gripped his head and fell to his knees. "No, no, no, no! This is all my fault!"

"Avarice!" Emily snapped, giving the minstrel a stern, meaningful look. "Calm down."

Avarice took a deep breath and did as Emily suggested. He calmed himself and thought logically. He realised there was an easy way to figure out if Jazz was still alive or not. He spoke an incantation and cast a message-spell.

"Where are you?"

To Avarice's intense relief, Jazz's voice soon replied. "Captured by Farris. Tricked him into thinking I split from the party so he won't look for you."

"Farris?" Avarice wondered aloud. "How did he catch up to us so quickly?"

"Wait?! Farris captured Jazz?" Emily asked incredulously.

"It seems so. Jazz sounds fine, though knowing him, he could be bloody and bruised and just not think it's a big enough deal to tell us." Avarice replied. He sent another message.

"Where are you headed? Has he hurt you at all? Don't worry, I promise I'll come for you."

"You don't gotta tell me you'll come for me, I know that. Headed to city of water. Farris is an angel, be careful."

Avarice looked stunned. How could Farris be an angel? He knew from being raised by Roland, how an angel's presence felt, and Farris had not seemed to have that distinct, divine aura about him when last they'd met. He told Emily. "Jazz says Farris has 'turned into' an angel. Ever heard of something like that happening?"

"I've only ever heard of mortals who gained the favour of the gods being granted angel-like powers, but the last known case of that happening was with the royal family of Northland, centuries ago. Maybe Jazz just mistook something like that for Farris being a real angel." Emily replied.

"Maybe. It's too risky to contact Jazz again though, since Farris was able to catch my message-spells, even in his 'human form'."

"About that. I may have a way to track Jazz, though it's going to be hard." Emily suggested.

"How so?"

"It's technically heresy." Emily said, dwindling her thumbs.

"If it helps us find Jazz... well, I can't ask you to forsake your beliefs, but still..." Avarice stuttered indecisively.

Emily rolled her eyes and produced her holy-symbol. She began to pray, though her prayer now sounded more like a conversation than a simple request. Golden light shone around her as her hair levitated, as if ignoring gravity.

"Leto, grant me knowledge once deemed unfit for mortal minds. Grant me sight of more than my senses and let me divine the location of my friend, to undo the sin committed by Farris in your name, with your power." Emily spoke confidently, though Avarice knew her well enough by now to recognise a good amount of fear in her voice as well. He supposed it must take a great deal of courage, to demand something of your god like that, to use a power that others would deem, evil. It was well-established that divination was a forbidden art amongst clerics, as overstepping the boundaries of one's senses was tantamount to being unsatisfied with the body and abilities given to them by the gods, and thus, made them just as avaricious as the devils they so hated. Seeing Emily do this, made Avarice stroke his chin. He felt admiration for his comrade, but soon realised that if he had done something similar, he would have only felt disgust for himself. Was he being hypocritical? He shook his head, those were questions for later, for now, he had to find his friend.