Terrible Friend

28

He led Jax down the long corridor, through pathways that were dimly lit. There were forks and turns and all manner of places a person could get lost. Lucky for Jax, he wasn't a person. He would be able to find his way back to his room, and the exit, easy peasy. They finally came upon a large opening. It was brightly lit with thousands of candles. It was a large open space with a stage that looked like it had been cut into the wall. In the center of it was a large painted portrait of Josiah, arms out stretched and smiling at his flock.

Jax assumed this was where they gathered, probably several times a day, to hear a lesson from Josiah and worship him. That thought gave him the chills. There was no amount of babble from this man that Jax wanted littering his ears. He also noticed, that below the painting, in the middle of this massive stage, was a tiny statue. More like a statuette actually. A naked woman, looked like it had been carved out of ivory. It was long and slender. Her arms crossed up over her head, all of her parts intricately carved and exposed. She too, was surounded by candles and well lit. Jax couldn't believe his eyes. Their worst fears resided in this little bit of elephant horn. He laughed to himself, but not quietly enough. The monk that led him stopped in his tracks, turned and gave Jax that same scolding stare that the first monk had.

Jax stopped in his tracks. He threw his arms up to avoid the ass whoopin that this little kid looked like he could easily dish out. He was obviously no match for Jax, but he needed to keep his cover. The kid growled and turned back toward the sanctuary. As they approached the stage. Jax realized just how big the portrait was, and standing at the edge of the stage, realized that the man in the painting was pointing toward the statue, not toward the people that gathered there. "Nice touch." Jax was really impressed with the lengths this guy went to to convince his flock.

The monk told Jax to wait there, that Josiah would meet him here shortly, and turned and walked back the way they had come. Jax nodded and continued to look around the room. He walked around the stage and found a set of steps up onto the platform. He went up and stood under the painting first. He had a penchant and an eye for art at one time. This one was not done by hand. It looked like the paint had been applied by a machine. The strokes were uniform, as was the thickness of the paint. "What kind of madness is this? Who painted this?" He turned and found he was the only one in the room still. He shrugged and turned his attention to the statue behind him.

It was surrounded by candles. The heat they gave off surprised him. They were carefully placed around the pedestal that the statue was placed on. The statue itself was not much to look at. Just a long and slender woman's body carved into ivory. Larger than it looked from a distance, but still tiny in comparison to it's surroundings. He stretched his arm between a gap in the candles to touch the statue. He yanked his arm back and caught his sleeve on fire as he yanked his arm away from the statue.

A man cleared his throat from the back of the room. Jax blew at the flames on his cloak and patted until the flames were extinguished. He turned to face the man in the painting as he approached the stage. "I was just wondering. That's a beautiful statue. Who is that?"

"That is The Lady Sophia. Carved from ivory in the early 14th century."

"So, we worship an old lady here?"

"No. We worship Dongorul. The Lady Sophia was a sacrifice to Dongorul. The first in written history. Have you not heard the stories?"

"Can't say that I have. That's interesting." Jax thought it was very interesting and for the first time, had a glimpse into how Beverly chose her prisons.

"What's interesting?"

Jax contemplated his answer. He couldn't say that the fact that Dongorul was trapped inside a carving of his first documented sacrifice was interesting. He was here to gather information. Not give it away. He made something up. (Make something up!)

Jax couldn't wrap his head around why they would worship this statue at all. Nothing in the brochure or the little book mentioned her. He knew that Josiah had to know that Dongorul was trapped inside it. Did he let his followers in on the secret too, or was there something else? "So, if we don't worship the old lady, who?"

"Donatus. The Savior of Souls."

Jax stifled a snicker. This guy was crazy. "The Savior of Souls. Really? Like Jesus or something?"

"Not exactly, no. What are you doing here?" Josiah started to walk in a circle around Jax. He knew right away that Jax was not what he claimed to be. He looked him over suspiciously.

"I came to be forgiven and..."

Josiah cut him off. "You are a demon. You do not deserve or seek redemption. Why did you come here?"

Jax was taken aback. Josiah was obviously not a human either. No human could look at his physical form and know right off that he was a demon. "What do you mean I'm a demon? I a man, just like you. Come to seek redemption. Nothing more."

"Liar! You are a demon and I demand you tell me who you are and what you are doing here." His words were forceful and demanding, but powerless. Without Jax's name, this being would have no power over him.

Jax carried on the charade. "Strong words. I am Nicholas, Nick to my friends. I came here, like all the rest of your followers, to be saved. What makes you think I'm a demon? Is this how you treat all your noobs?"

"Do not attempt to deceive me demon. I can smell the Phareli magic rolling off of you. Why are you here?"

'Shit!' The gig was up. He was caught. There was no way to pretend to be human anymore. He was glad and panicked at the same time. He had to think fast. "Ok. You have me. I am a demon and I came here to convince you to worship me, instead of Dongorul. What would it take for you to...switch sides?"

"Liar! I can detect deception."

"No you can't. If you could you would know that is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. I have been watching and reading and I like what I see and I want a following like this "statue" has. I'm real. I'm reachable. Wouldn't you rather follow something significant?"

"How dare you claim the great Dongorul insignificant? He is the Savior of Souls. He is the only one that can save us. What are you about?"

Jax had to be careful here. He couldn't give his real name away. The power of his name in this guys hands would be deadly for him. He had to think quickly. He had already given his name as Nicholas. He would use Nicor's identity. That would work. "I am the demon of water. Does that quench your curiosity and quell your doubt?"

It worked. Josiah cocked his head and looked Jax over again. "You are Nicor? The demon of water?"

"Don't say it too loudly." Jax ducked his head like someone might throw something at him. "We can't have the masses using it, now."

Josiah nodded his head and contemplated the offer.