Rennish had carried Erust almost the whole way down the mountain. He had woken up as they started to reach the section where the ground leveled off. When he woke up he began to vomit and shake. Rennish had insisted they stop for a while until the shaking and sickness passed. Carrying him down the mountain was only possible because he was deadly still.
Ashra found them a tree that they pulled some wood from and they started a fire to warm themselves. The further they got down the mountain the colder it became. The divine power that was warming the mountain was wearing off, and the setting sun was not helping at all either.
They huddled together for the night between the tree and the fire. It wasn't comfortable but if they were to survive they needed the heat. Ashra curled her warm fur-covered body around Erust. Rennish pulled his jacket open and leaned up against the tree. Ashra laid on his chest while he slept. It wasn't comfortable for the three of them but it was warm, and without cover and something to stop the wind, they would have died through the night.
When the sun rose the next morning Ashra and Rennish got up. Ed had been sick most of the night and had passed back out again. Rennish had tried in a moment of separation to use the bag, "Instrument of binding." he whispered and imagined rope. The bag shuffled and took pity on him. When he felt inside his hand landed immediately on the end of a rope. He pulled until he started to wonder if it had no end. The bag ended the rope at that very instant.
Ashra helped Rennish lash Erust onto his back as they made the last of the trip back down the mountain. The trip into town took 4 more days of this. Erust would wake long enough to request water or food. They fed him melted snow and reindeer moss from the mountainside. It wasn't filling but it kept his stomach from growling.
Ironically up the mountain at the peak, Pirates had just finished looting the last of the temple before the cold crept up and reclaimed what belonged to mother nature. They had tried to catch them off guard and hijack the whole crew but a blowing storm off the southern face of the mountain had held them up. The divines didn't want anyone interfering with their plan.
Hadres himself had watched them come up the mountain. He enjoyed a good punishment and this was fitting giving who was leading them. Why should everything in that pirate's life be easy? He toyed with them. He would let the snow pass and let them get started up the mountain. As soon as they felt they were making headway Hadres would smile and unleash the weather again. In a place like this, there was no lack of cold and wind to throw at them.
It was only when Hadres knew that his right hand was safely away after being knocked out cold that he let the pirates have their way with the leftovers. Honestly, it saved him some work. They would get a little gold and a few trinkets, but the location had served its purpose. The corpse of the god was carried down the mountain and brought with them as a bribe. They intended to use it to blackmail the prophet as a murderer. This too played into Hadres plan. The body was going to help bolster the claim that Erust was the Prophet and the power of the gods.
When Rennish and Ashra finally walked back into town they looked nothing like when they left. There was no fanfare and heroes welcome. Instead, they came in looking like the dead. Rennish's face was red from the burn of the sun and scathing winds. Ashra's fur was matted together and filthy. Her hair was dull and the shine from it gone. The soft coat was all bristles and disheveled.
They went back to the place they had paid to store the carriage when Chester saw them. He was trying to purchase a cart to run cargo between towns. His days on the sea were done and he had money to drive between towns.
"What on earth happened to you?" Chester said seeing what the cat had dragged in through the door.
Chester ushered them to a chair. He got them warm drinks and a plate of leftover bread that he begged off the owner. They ate voraciously and sat in quiet. When finally Rennish voice came back he croaked at Chester, "Get us a room, please." That was all he could muster before his voice gave out again.
Chester arranged a room with a local family friend of his. While he hated being back here he enjoyed knowing people who weren't constantly threatening to throw him overboard. Back in the City of Ark, he was being threatened every other day. At least here he could relax a little.
Erust was put into a warm bed in the back of a storage room. It was great for visitors because it had a small stove that was used to keep the room from freezing during the night and winter.
Ashra had him curled up under blankets and was feeding him warm broth. They had money, the carriage was here and the lockbox was undisturbed. However, the town was poor and during these months when the harvest and road travel was slow food was at a premium.
The first wagon to show up from out of town was Chesters. He had made the 4-day trip and came back loaded with salted meats and bottled veggies. These would sell well but they were of lower quality so that the common people could afford them. The military-grade canned meats and vegetables would be out of the price for regular people. And these kinds of preserved food would be saved until the lean months were over and the area warmed up a bit.
Rennish was in the town's poor excuse for a tavern. The building was actually city hall but at night farmers would bring excess mead and wine from the harvests and sell it downtown. Rennish was hawking his skills with instruments and singing tales from all kinds of worlds.
Chester wandered in, flush with money from the trip, and ordered a mug of some start ale made from hardy rye. He saw Rennish singing and went and sat as close as he could get. He passed a coin across to Rennish who took it and nodded while continuing to play.
Chester sat and enjoyed the song for a while. He waited for a break in the song to interrupt him.
"So I heard you guys did it." Chester smiled while sipping his ale.
Rennish continued strumming but looked at Chester, "Yeah we did, who told you?"
Chester smiled and took out a small bottle with a piece of flesh in it. "I bought a souvenir! Someone went up and got the body and displayed it. People were trying to eat it! Something about absorbing the power of a god. They stopped when some stranger walked in and declared this was the body of a god. They are selling souvenirs."
Rennish turned pale white. The god was still alive according to Ashra when they left. He hoped he was fully dead when they started chopping him up. And who brought the corpse down? No one had been there beside the god. Maybe a follower?
"Did you hear who brought him down?" Rennish said trying to sound uninterested.
Chester smiled. "Someone said one of the Pirates followed you up to kidnap you but only found the corpse."
Rennish smiled and nodded. His cowardly side was glad they made it out safe. The other part of him was angry that someone would dare mess with them. This made getting Erust healthy again a priority. Rennish and Ashra could fight, but if they had to guard Erust whenever he collapsed it would severely hurt their abilities to hold their own.
"Thanks for the news, Chester. Name a song." Rennish smiled and played what Chester requested.
Across town, Erust was sitting up for the first time. Ashra had stripped him down and was washing him with an old piece of cloth and some warmed water. They lacked any soap but they could at least wipe off the dirt.
"How long was I out of it?" Erust asked weakly. His body had suffered under the punishment of having too much stored divine energy.
Ashra rubbed his face and then kissed his forehead, "Don't worry about that now. We are safe and we will move on when you are well." She pulled the blanket down and continued cleaning his chest.
Erust sighed and looked up at the ceiling. He was dizzy again, the movement had made his head swim again.
He laid back down and dozed off while Ashra finished cleaning him and then sat down to clean herself again. She had been working to get the sections of her body that had fur back into a soft and clean state.
Rennish came back late in the evening carrying a small crate of food with a morbid look on his face. He set everything down and pulled up a stool over to where Erust and Ashra were sitting. The wind outside was howling and blowing at the walls. Drafts of wind came through the roof occasionally and gave everyone a chill.
"They are eating the corpse," Rennish said bluntly.
Erust raised an eyebrow and looked at Rennish, "Back up, who is eating what?"
Rennish took a deep breath. "Pirates tried to attack us and showed up late. They took the corpse of the god down the hill with them and back to the City of Ark. They were selling it as food and souvenirs."
Ashra lifted her upper lip and bared her tiny fangs. "Savages..." The hair on her neck was mostly hidden by her long hair. But you could see her hair lift just a little as she bristled at the thought.
Erust shook his head, "That is worse than what I expected."
Rennish held up the bottle he had bought from Chester. "Chester bought this and brought it back. I bought it from him as proof."
Erust took the bottle and looked at it. He felt the same kind of energy coming off of it as before.
Ashra snarled, "He was still alive when we left. He wasn't fully dead yet!"
Erust sighed and tossed the bottle back to Rennish, "I hope they at least finished the job."
Rennish sighed and put it in the box. "Who knows. What do you suggest we do next?"
Erust rearranged his body so he was sitting more comfortably and thought for a minute. "We need to go get the rest of the body back. Or at least see who has it."
They all looked at each other. It seemed like the natural thing to do. The body had to be in the hands of the Pirates though. And they had been out to attack them. It was choosing to walk back into a dangerous position.