"Two of the others are still caught in the crystals,” Dagtar said as everyone crawled onto their sleeping spots.

The group rested and ate repeatedly several times that afternoon. Most of them recovered fairly quickly from the fight, but Ladi struggled. She had taken a lot of hits. So had Sidi, Dagtar told Jal. “Put her in as a support person tomorrow.”

“She’ll be disappointed.”

“Better disappointed than dead,” the Protector told him.

That night everyone slept while Mavdite and Dagtar watched over them. The two woke up the humans just before the sun came over the horizon. After eating and doing a bit of personal cleanup, the group donned their fighting gear and took their places.

They watched as the two Gimorans landed on the grass by the pool. “Draw their fire, Sage Elvan,” Jal spoke quietly into its communicator. Nothing happened. “Sage Elvan, is your communicator working?”

“He’s right here,” Morti acknowledged.

“Sage Elvan,” Jal’s tone changed. “Please step to the back of the cave. Cirus, please take the first shot.”

The Gimorans were struggling when Cirus used a hard slam spell against one of them. “Vermolz!”

“Hemmev! Hemmev!” Morti shot two lightening bolts at the same sphere. It blew apart into small shiny pieces.

“Let’s see if we can deflect the last one's shots onto the crystal pillars,” Jal proposed. As the sun came up, the Gimoran gained energy and began to shoot beams of energy in what seemed to be a pattern. Left and right, left and right. “It's got a pattern going. Badas and Sidi, this one’s yours. Can you tilt your shields?” The beam was redirected but missed the pillars.

“Luminary and Dr. Gyasi, this will hit you.”

As Jal directed them, the shields were adjusted accordingly. Morti and Cirus used fire arrows which continued to draw its fire. Slowly the beams’ angles moved toward the pillars. Finally, one cracked open loudly. Something black flew up and went out of sight.

When Morti and Cirus ran out of energy, Jal sent Verle and Tomau to shoot spells that would draw the Gimoran’s fire. Sidi and Badas were exhausted by the number of hits they had taken. Golsho and Ladi stepped forward. Sidi and Badas showed them the last angles they had tipped the shields, then stepped back.

It wasn’t long before the Luminary and Dr. Gyasi said they had no energy left to hold the shields. “Kir? Can you take a shield for a few hits?”

He stood with the shield ready. “I’m set,” he said quietly. The beam that hit his shield slammed him back into the wall. “I’ve been hit,” Kir said as he fell to the floor of the cave.

“Lallo, can you get him out of that cave and into the center one?” Jal asked. “Golsho and Ladi, would you go to the cave that Dr. Gyasi is in please?”

“I can try.”

Golsho responded, “Ladi was hit. She’s dead.”

“Dr. Gyasi and Sage Elvan, come to the center cave please?”

“Where are you going, Jal?” Sage Elvan saw it running through the caves.

“Luminary, we can do this! If we move our shields just a bit to the left…” A hard hit nearly knocked them over. It hit the last crystal and the pieces flew through the air.

“End the last Gimoran! If you have any shots left, please step forward to the center cave. I’m on my way.”

Golsho, Kir, Cirus, the Luminary, and Jal took turns firing lightning bolts and freezing shots at the Gimoran. Tired of playing games, the four lined up across the front of the cave. “One, two, three, Vermolz!”

The remaining sphere turned blue, then black, and floated to the ground.

A few minutes later, everyone gathered in the center cave. “Who’s not here?” Jal demanded.

“I couldn’t save Sidi or Kir,” Lallo said sadly. They sat down and leaned against the wall, exhausted and sad.

“I’m sorry, Lallo,” Jal murmured, and it put its arm around her shoulders. “I know you did your best.”

“Badas is exhausted, and I think he should be transported for emergency care.”

“I just checked on him, Lallo,” Sage Elvan spoke. “He’s dead.”

“We’re all free!” Mavdite came into the cave.

“Yes, you’re free,” Jal said angrily. “But at what cost? I started on this journey with thirty people. Only sixteen of them are still alive. Two were sent home and four chose to leave before this last fight.”

Mavdite was shocked at Jal’s response. “You should rejoice with us!”

“You should grieve with us! Our friends are dead!”

Dagtar pushed past Mavdite. “You’re quite an emotional young thing, aren’t you, Jal?”

“If I weren’t, you wouldn’t be walking around now, would you?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“It means that I was trying to get to the west coast to the Stafriez there. If we wouldn’t have stopped here, you would still be in those crystals. You could at least say ‘thank you!’”

“We don’t tell people thank you,” Mavdite said pompously.

“Well don’t expect me to worship you then,” Jal said curtly. It spoke to the others, “Let’s get our people out into the open.”

The fighters slowly carried their dead comrades out of the cave and down to a level place nearby. Jal returned to the cave behind the waterfall and gathered Zalim’s pieces. Jal sobbed as it carried the body parts down to the gathering spot.

“Luminary, would you please take care of our friends?”

“Of course, Jal. I’m sorry for these losses.”

“I am, too.” Jal looked at the Luminary as it blinked over and over.

“Where are those gods and goddesses?” Jal wanted to know.

“They’re gone,” Sage Elvan answered.

“Where?”

“They were flying around here a bit ago. It looked like they were playing.”

Jal looked at its friends. “I never should have put you all into such danger. You don’t know how deep my sadness is.”

“Jal, let’s finish our journey,” Dr. Gyasi said.

“I don’t want to,” Jal responded.

“Let’s rest a few days. Then you’ll feel better about things.”

***

After several days of rest, and two weeks of walking straight west, the small group encountered the first Stafriez families on the western coast of Shifos. They were bewildered by the motley crew that trudged down a hill toward them.

“We greet you,” an adult said.

“We greet you, too,” Jal and Dr. Gyasi spoke simultaneously.

“We are from the world past the mountains,” Jal tried to explain. “Would you take us to your leaders?”

“No. We’re busy. It’s harvest time. We need to get our crops in.”

As the ten hikers reached a small village, they looked for a local place to eat. “What do you have on your menu?”

“Menu?”

“What do you cook for travelers?”

“We have fish. Yesterday, fish. Today, fish, Tomorrow, fish.”

“We’d like three meals, please.”

“What are you carrying that you will trade for a meal?”

“Trade?”

“That’s how we do business. You trade for a meal. What will it be?”

Jal pulled out a ruby. “I’ll give you a ruby.”

“No, no trade,” the businessman said. “What do you have in your pack? A fur? Maybe some food?”

“No, I don’t have anything like that.”

“A hammer or a saw?”

“No.”

The businessman continued to name items, but Jal had none of them. Tired and hungry, the three went out the door, put up their tents and ate dried jerky. They slept soundly, knowing that they were amongst the Stafriez.

That night, Jal could hear the voices of the Stafriez. They told it where they were and how to get there. The following day, the ten packed up their gear and set out for the city called “Sta.” It was an easy walk. There were roadways and fields marked along the way. Tall buildings stood along the street that Jal had been told to come to.

Jal went to the door and knocked. No one responded, so it walked in. “Here, here are the names of those who live in the building.” The letters were undecipherable.

A woman came off the elevator. Jal stopped her. “Would you tell me how to find Lioun Fortia?”

“Five floors up, on the right side.”

“Thank you!” Jal looked at her as she strode away. It had never seen a female Stafriez before.

“Come on, Jal!”

The ten rode up to the fifth floor in groups. Jal knocked on the door. “I’m looking for Lioun Fortia.”

“That would be me,” Lioun said. “And you are…?”

“Jal Jomari.”

“Jal! Jal Jomari!"

“We are here from Trazene. May my friends and I come in?”

The group filled the entire room as they stood waiting to be introduced. Lioun Fortia was thrilled to see Jal, and when Lioun paused to take a breath, Jal introduced its travelling companions. “Perhaps you could explain to us how currency works here and point us to a hotel and eating place?”

“Currency?”

“Yes. How you pay for goods and services?”

“Ah. Tocs. Sta-toc, mu-toc, and so forth.”

“A mu-tok buys a meal?”

“Yes. Twenty mu-tok for a room overnight.”

“Would you show us your currency?” Jal asked.

“Certainly.” Lion went to a cabinet and brought a handful of currency.

“It looks just like what we use,” Jal said to the Luminary.

“Perhaps you could suggest a place to stay,” Luminary Dev spoke to Lioun.

“Oh, no! People will never let you stay if you look like that. You need to be dressed as the locals are.”

“We need to clean up, Lioun. We’ve been travelling for nearly a year. We need haircuts, clothing, shoes.”

“You will stay with me,” he declared. “And I will introduce you to our friends. The ones you have talked to for the past seven years.” He clapped his hands. “Show our friends to the rooms that we’ve had waiting for them.” The travelers were given rooms, where they cleaned up and found fresh clothing. The following morning, Lioun introduced the travelers to his friends as his friends from over the mountains.

***

“Was the end result of our journey what you had hoped for, Jal?”

“I don’t know. It wasn’t very satisfying.”

“Were you hoping for accolades and cheering?”

“No. I guess I hoped there would be some recognition for all the effort that so many people had made so that we could get there. Lives were lost. And for what? For releasing some stuck-up beings that wouldn’t even take the time to say thank you.”

“You’re still angry.”

“Of course, I am. Nothing can bring those people back. Efforts will be made to create the filters that will remove the xenon from the air. I’m glad those documents contained the instructions for them. The Stafriez can continue to live and thrive here on Zuphreon. But, not a single thank you from the Protectors!. Vitos, the god of love and life, is too busy playing games and flying around to stop and talk to a human. What kind of god is that?”

Vitos appeared in the sitting room of Ridali Tower. “Jal Jomari, are you mocking me?”

“Yes! Yes, I am. You and your powerful friends never bothered to say, hello, good-bye, or thank you. What a bunch of pompous…”

“Jal, we didn’t realize what had happened. We didn’t know what year it was and we didn’t know why you were there.”

“That’s because no one stayed around to ask! I hope you don’t treat your true followers that way! People have been praying to you for over a century and being faithful to you. How are you going to acknowledge that? By flying away? Being too busy to get to know people?”

Vitos sat silently. His wings stopped moving, and he looked sad. “I had no idea that you thought we were rude.”

“Of course you didn’t!” Jal exclaimed. “You took off like a tiljeekik that saw fresh prey!”

“It sounds like you have a lot of growing up to do, Jal.”

“It sounds like you have a lot of growing up to do, Vitos.”

“How do you suggest I do that?”

“You’re an adult. You’re a god, for goodness’ sake! I’m sure you can figure it out! Maybe you should read some of your own speeches that you gave to people.” Jal walked over to the bookshelf, pulled a book off, and tossed it at the god. It went through his body and landed on the chair.

“This could be complicated,” Vitos muttered.

“You’d better get busy then, you have a lot to learn. You could start by cleaning up Nik. You know, get rid of the riff-raff.”

“I’ll be back for more of your advice, Jal.”

“Don’t bother. I won’t be here. I’m headed for the university.”

“You’ll sell the magic bowls and make lots of currency.”

“No, I won’t. If I do anything with the bowls, it will be to make them and give them to people who have no food.”

Vitos stared at Jal. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I care about people. You might want to check your interest level in doing the same for the people who supposedly believe in you.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then this world that you are supposed to be protecting is going to fall apart.”

“I don’t know what to do!”

“Then I suggest that you find someone to talk with. Figure out what kind of help you need, than ask for it. Wait, wasn’t that one of the things you taught? Goodnight. I’m off to bed.”

As Jal lay in its bed later it thought to itself, “What a screwed-up, mixed-up world! Gods that don’t know how to be gods!”

“I heard that, Jal!” Vitos’s voice rang out.

“Good.”

THE END