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Illusions
Farther down the corridor did the two companions walk. With his axe in hand, Gard kept his eye out for danger, just as much as Davaak did with a torch in hand. Then out of the darkness came something new, something that Gard did not expect. Out of the darkness came his wife Rua, who was many centuries' dead.
Rua was brown of skin, clean-limbed, beautiful and dressed in robes that were both simple and elegant. She was just as Gard remembered her. But how? How was this possible? Was she a spirit? A celestial like his brother Procyon now was, one of the virtuous dead?
Gard may have seen his wife, but to Davaak it was something altogether different. He saw a transparent shape, one that did not seem to belong to Evabon or Labinnac. What was it? An illusion most likely, if it were a ghost then Gard would have seen it just as Davaak did.
And then he saw an illusion of his own.
Standing before Davaak was a depiction of the Devilry Lord, as the Labinnac called Mumm-Ra. Never before had Davaak seen the actual Mumm-Ra, so what appeared before him was little more than some statue that he had seen at the fane long ago, resembling the Armour of Plundarr more than it did the wearer. How was Davaak to know that was simply armour? How was any Labinnac to know? How were they to know there was anything beneath it?
For a moment, Davaak cowered before the illusion before him. Upon looking it in the eye, he then stood straight and rammed the torch into the illusion's countenance.
The illusion that had appeared before him vanishing, Davaak quickly turned to the one that had appeared before Gard and thrust his torch through its head, causing it to vanish as well. Sighing, Gard looked to his Labinnac companion and inquired: "What did you see?" When he asked this, he pointed at his eyes and then where the illusion of his wife had been.
Davaak's response was one that Gard understood quite clearly, indicating that the Labinnac had some understanding of the trade language. All he said was one word: "Demon." After that he gestured at Gard, wishing to know what he had seen.
Gard was uncertain how to explain it to Davaak. What was the extent of the Labinnac's understanding of the trade language? Would he understand the words "My wife"? Instead, the Evabon merely pointed at his chest, specifically where his heart was located.
Understanding, Davaak nodded. He wished he could have seen such as that, but he who had been branded a heretic had little hope of finding such things himself.