“With Jasmodeus
Now back in his place,
There was once more hope
For the human race.

The Future that did
Loom above so bleak,
No longer did make
Anyone feel weak.”

- Excerpt from the “The Ballad of Jysalef”, as Written by Gulosc the Bard

Chapter 40: “So Auspicious a Day”

Jysalef, currently sitting on the ground, grunted disgustedly to himself; the swordsman had already been there for five annoying minutes, and yet he was still waiting for the numerous spots in his field of vision to finally clear up. When the priestess had moved to use her abilities on his many burn wounds - otherwise he’d still be laying down immobile - she had informed him to not open his eyes during the process, right now Jysalef really wished he had listened to that advice. The spell’s blue light hadn’t actually seemed all that bright when he had witnessed Reoisce’aihr using it on her brother earlier, but - then again - it also hadn’t been right next to his face either.

Somewhere far off enough that Jysalef couldn’t see it yet through the haze currently clouding his vision, he knew that Latte and Terus had built an overly massive bonfire with which to incinerate the Arcanum of Jasmodeus. With the accursed tome’s funeral pyre now roaring mightily, the two youths had since moved on to giving the body of Miran Via a proper burial nearby in an unburned region of the surrounding woods. Although the swordsman couldn’t personally see the place where the book was being purged from existence, he could most certainly smell the truly pungent odor that was being given off.

Sitting next to Jysalef - watching the breeze slowly rip a pile of ash from his open palm - was the priestess’s equally cyan-haired brother, “Know this, Corsinthian, I still haven’t forgiven you for what you did to the corpse of Draezooh’nyawc; however, if I were to strike out against you on so auspicious a day, I don’t believe the divine Goddess would be very pleased with me.”

In response to Reoisce’lahkt’s declaration of temporary non-aggression, Jysalef flatly asked, “If I inquired as to when it is you intended to touch back upon the matter, would you be inclined to answer?”

“No,” declared the former Skrandonese soldier as he slowly tilted his gaze upwards, “but only because I do not yet know the answer myself. Much has transpired lately that I need to think about at great length before I will be able to decide what I intend to do next, but - in that regard - I guess you could say that it wouldn’t exactly be soon"

Taking note of the fact that his sibling was now returning from the burial effort, Reoisce’lahkt promptly stood up, “However, I definitely do not wish to speak with my sister right now in light of what happened during our last meeting.” As the Skrandonese man began to hurry off towards the woods as fast his legs would move him, he called back loudly over his shoulder, “Know this: if I should find that Aihr is in any way harmed the next time our paths cross, then your eventual meeting with the Lord of Ilsq will be a sweet reprieve from the manner which I shall deliver you unto him!”

As the priestess watched her brother flee the site - whom she had, in fact, wished to speak with - she sighed and muttered slowly to herself in Skrandonese, “There he goes.”

Once Reoisce’aihr got close enough to Jysalef that the swordsman could clearly make her out, he looked up to the priestess and declared, “Well, my lady, this has been twice now that you’ve saved my life. I’m terribly sorry that this whole affair interrupted your pilgrimage, so - if you’d like - I would be more than willing to escort you back to Dulsnik a second time to make up for it.”

“No,” declared the priestess with a bright smile on her face, “I don’t think I need to work on that journey anymore, I believe I have already seen all that the Goddess meant for me to witness here.”

Perhaps it had just been a trick of Jysalef’s presently agitated eyes, but the unemployed swordsman could not remember having ever seen the cyan-haired woman smile quite like that, “In that case, I guess could instead assist your passage back to the border.” Despite the fact he normally abhored the thought of making a trip to the dividing line between the two nations, the swordsman felt he had to do something for the priestess considering he wouldn’t be alive right now if she hadn’t been there.

“Actually,” replied Reoisce’aihr as she began to shake her head, “I don’t currently intend to go back home to Skrande yet either.”

With his vision finally beginning to return to some semblance of normality, Jysalef began to stand back up as he asked, “Then what exactly is it that you find yourself intending to do?”

The priestess suddenly looked sheepishly to the side before answering that particular query, “Actually, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I was hoping you would permit me to follow you for a while longer.”

First rubbing his eyes a bit to try and see if the last of his vision problems could be cleared up once and for all, Jysalef perplexedly declared, “You’re more than welcome to do that, priestess, if that is what you truly wish; but, I should warn you right now that Terus and I primarily spend the bulk of our waking hours drifting about in search of temporary work.”

Looking back over to the vagrant swordsman - her face still beaming, now perhaps even a touch brighter than before - the woman responded with a nod, “That’s fine, but - please - you can call me Aihr.”

THE END