Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two (27 page)

“If we keep buying stuff,” James observes
when he sees the water wagon is beginning to be filled with their
things, “we’ll need to get another wagon just for belongings.”

“Probably,” Delia admits.

Shortly after the sun crests the horizon the
following morning, James, Jiron and Roland are again heading back
into town for the auction. Before leaving, James fills his money
pouch once more from the chest and realizes that they’ve spent
almost all of it. He mentions the fact they’re running out of money
to Delia and she says, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Alright,” James replies.

As they leave, Delia hollers out, “Don’t get
into any fights this time!”

When they arrive at the slaver’s compound,
people recognize Jiron from the day before. Many come up and
congratulate him on his victory over the Parvati. Due to his
notoriety, they are allowed to proceed to the front of the crowd
for the auction.

After a wait of about fifteen minutes, they
begin to see slavers coming onto the platform and shortly
afterward, the first line of slaves is brought out. These are men
this time and they look as if they are all from the fall of the
City of Light. Their ages range anywhere from fifteen to fifty,
some look to have had an exceptionally hard time if the number of
bruises covering their bodies is any indication.

“Recognize any of them?”

“A couple,” Jiron replies, “though none of
the ones we’re interested in.”

The auctioneer begins and they quickly go
from one to the next until the entire line has been sold. “They’re
going for a lot less than the girls had,” Roland tells them.

“Wouldn’t be surprised,” James comments.

When they bring the next batch out, Jiron
says to Roland, “I see Yorn. He’s the third in line.”

Roland nods and waits until the first two
have been sold and then joins in the bidding for Yorn. Whether it’s
because he’s with Jiron or because no one wants him, the auction
lasts only a few rounds. Having outbid everyone else, Roland moves
forward and pays for him. Leading Yorn by his tether, Roland brings
him over to the waiting group. Upon seeing Jiron there, he smiles
briefly before resuming the stoic look of a slave.

Jiron gives him a nod and then turns his
attention back to the auction. The rest of the line is auctioned
off quickly and then another batch of slaves is brought out. “There
are Scar and Potbelly,” he tells Roland.

“Which ones?”

“Scar’s the first in line and Potbelly is
the fifth,” he points them out. “Did you tell them about me?” he
whispers to Yorn.

He shakes his head and whispers back, “You
asked me not to. But they saw you fighting here yesterday, so when
they mentioned it to me, I let them in on it.”

Jiron nods his head as he turns back to the
auction. When Roland goes up to get him, Scar gives him a look that
says he’s dead and gets a lash across the shoulders for it. When
he’s led back to the group, he begins to smile when he sees Jiron
and Yorn standing there, then remembers himself and again dons the
look of a dejected slave. They wait for Potbelly’s turn and in just
a few minutes, he’s standing there amongst them too.

When the next line is brought out, James
hears Jiron gasp. “What?”

“See that little guy there,” he says,
“second in line?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s another of the knife fighters, not as
good as Tinok and me, but good,” he explains. “He used to show me
how he could hit an apple thrown in the air with his throwing
knives, though of course he was never allowed to use them in the
pits.” Turning to Roland, he says, “We want him and number
five.”

Roland nods and commences to bid for them
when their turn comes.

“Number five’s name is Stig, he’s good with
mace and shield,” he explains.

Soon, they’re standing with the group as
well. Jiron has to silence them on more than one occasion when they
begin to talk amongst themselves.

The next line doesn’t contain anyone that
they’re interested in, although Jiron gets a satisfied look on his
face when they’re brought out. James notices his expression and
asks him about it.

“The third guy in line,” he says, pointing
him out. “He once tried to accost Tersa and had to spend two weeks
recovering when I was through with him. Glad he’s up there.”

He gets bought by a farmer whom they hear
needs help on his farm. “Back breaking labor,” Jiron says. “Good!”
He watches with great satisfaction as the man is taken by the
farmer and led out of the compound.

The next line finally yields the last one
they’re here for, a young man of average build, who Jiron says is
very deadly with the quarterstaff. Once he’s bought, they lead
their newly acquired slaves out of the courtyard and back to the
caravan.

After they arrive at the caravan, Jiron
removes their tethers and says, “You guys are expensive.”

They all laugh at that, “Thanks, man,” Yorn
says to Jiron.

“Don’t thank me,” he says, “thank James,
he’s the one who paid for you.”

They all express their thanks to him. Delia
begins to hand out the clothes that they bought for the ones they
knew about and they quickly remove their slave clothes and don the
others.

While they’re changing, Jiron explains
what’s going on and that they’re still searching for James’ friend,
Miko. How they’re going to act as a caravan and that they’ll be
playing the part of the guards.

“You know,” Scar says after he hears about
Miko, “an official came through and took a whole bunch of them the
morning after the escape attempt.”

“Yeah,” says the little guy whose name,
accurately enough, is Shorty. “The slaver in charge seemed really
unhappy about him coming and taking them all away.”

“It seemed like he had no choice in the
matter,” adds Potbelly. “Your friend is most likely in that
group.”

“Think we could find out where they’re
headed?” James asks. “I do know they are at least headed
south.”

“Maybe,” Jiron says.

“We still need some weapons, too,” Shorty
pipes up.

“We got enough left for that?” Jiron asks
James.

“Might have,” he says.

“Let’s go back in and get the rest of it
then,” he says.

“May as well,” James replies as he grabs
Roland and with Jiron, head back into town. The newly acquired
‘guards’ are more than happy to stay behind and catch up on what’s
going on with Tinok and the others.

Their first stop is to the clothier to pick
up James’ belt for his iron slugs. He’s managed to have the belt
ready and James tries it on, a perfect fit. Taking a slug out of a
pocket, he tries sliding it in. It’s a firm fit and is unlikely to
fall out on its own. Using his finger, he presses against the slug
through the slit in the side of the pouch and is able to slide it
out with little difficulty.

“Perfect,” he tells the man as he hands over
the remaining three silvers he owes.

“I’m glad,” the clothier says as he takes
the coins. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“Common where I come from,” he says,
thinking of gun belts. “Thank you,” he says as he makes ready to
leave.

“You’re very welcome,” the clothier says.
“Do come again.”

After leaving the clothier’s shop, they
complete the rest of their shopping quickly, this time carrying
their belongings with them since there isn’t quite as much as
before.

When they return to the caravan and
distribute the clothes and weapons, Shorty is absolutely ecstatic
about the set of throwing knives they bought him. Taking one out,
he throws it at nearby tree where it strikes point first and embeds
itself three inches into the trunk. He runs over and removes it,
replacing it back in the belt with the others.

James takes in the newly dressed men and is
satisfied that they should now be less likely to stand out, as well
as better protected.

“James,” Delia says to him as she
approaches.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think it would be possible to find
out where your friend Miko is heading?”

“Why?”

“I’ve found out there are two main roads to
the south and if I knew which one we’ll be taking, I may be able to
arrange for cargo to help replenish our depleted supply of
coins.”

“Maybe,” he says as he gets up to retrieve
the mirror from his shaving kit. Settling on the ground with the
mirror cupped within his hands, he concentrates on Miko.

Delia sits down next to him and watches as
Miko appears, still riding in the wagon. “Can you expand the image?
Try to see more of the surrounding area,” she asks. “One of the
roads follows the river that flows out of the lake.”

Nodding, he concentrates and they watch as
the view expands and sure enough, the road is following the river.
“Does that help?” he asks her.

“Yes, it does,” she says. Getting up, she
signals Roland and Tinok and they follow her as she heads back to
town.

He relaxes the rest of the afternoon,
watching as the men get familiar with their new weapons, sparring
with one another. James is amazed at the speed with which they move
their weapons, also surprising is that no one is even nicked by a
blade during it all.

The lad with the quarterstaff works
primarily by himself, whirling and twirling the staff until it
begins to whine. He sees James watching him and gives him a nod,
smiling, before resuming the practice.

Several hours later, when the sun begins to
dip toward the horizon, Delia returns. Tinok is carrying a large
sack full of food, “I thought everyone could use one last good meal
before we hit the road tomorrow,” she explains.

“Good idea,” he says.

“I did manage to acquire a couple
consignments, nothing major, that are to be delivered at a few
towns along the road,” she tells him. “They’ll be bringing them out
to us in a little while.”

When the smell of the roasted meat contained
within the sack hits the guys practicing, all practicing halts as
they hurry over to get some. Ravenous for some real food, they
pretty much consume it all, but not before everyone else was able
to get some for themselves.

Over the next hour, three different wagons
come and deliver the goods for transport, transferring them to
their wagons.

Delia comes over to James and sits down,
saying, “I neglected to mention to you that the road your friend is
traveling on leads to the capitol of the Empire.”

“Oh?” he replies.

“Doesn’t that make you nervous?”

“A little,” he admits, “but there’s not much
I can do about it, is there?”

“No, I suppose not.”

When they all settle down for the night,
there is one thing that James realizes that he forgot to get for
the new arrivals, bedrolls. But they don’t seem to mind, sleeping
free is good no matter what.

_________________________

The next morning they begin rolling with the
rising of the sun, everyone is anxious to leave Korazan and the
slave market behind.

With Jiron riding lead, the rest of the
guards space themselves along the caravan with Potbelly at the
rear. Getting them into the saddle that morning brought back the
time when he first started riding back in Trendle. Smiling at the
memory, he watches as Jiron and Tinok attempt to show them the
proper way to mount a horse.

After several attempts, which remind James
of an old Three Stooges’ episode, they manage to get everyone one
into the saddle. The first couple of miles are the worse as the
novice riders begin to get the hang of commanding their horses, as
well as staying upon them. By the end of the first day, they’re all
sore and stiff; oh the complaining that was heard around the
campfire that night. You would’ve thought they had just fought a
hard and long campaign and suffered grievous wounds.

“You poor little babies,” Tinok says
mockingly as they sit and moan about their sore posteriors. “Do you
want me to rub your bum bums for you?”

“Shut up!” Scar says to him.

“Yeah, or we’ll beat your head in,” adds
Potbelly as he gingerly sits down near the campfire.

Tinok just laughs and says, “By this time
tomorrow, you should be really stiff and sore.”

They just give him an ugly look and say
nothing.

“It takes a few days for you to get use to
sitting on a horse,” Jiron assures them. “It does get better, once
your muscles become accustomed to it.”

“I hope so,” says Qynn, the
quarterstaffer.

Delia sees James sitting a little ways off
by himself and goes over to him. “You okay?” she asks him.

“Just worried about Miko is all,” he tells
her.

“Did you check the mirror again?” she asks
when she sees it lying next to him.

“Yeah, it just shows him still traveling,”
he replies. “I think they’re making better time than we are.”

“Not too surprising since they don’t have
wagons slowing them down,” she reasons.

“It just seems like we’re getting further
and further behind,” he says despondently. “Sometimes I feel like
I’ll never be able to catch up with him.”

“They’ve got to stop some time,” she assures
him.

Sighing, he says, “I know, it just gets to
me once in a while.”

“Come on over to the camp and join the rest
of us,” she suggests. “It’ll take your mind off your worries for a
time.”

Nodding his head, he gets up and comes back
over to the campfire, where Scar and Potbelly are regaling everyone
with their exploits at the fall of the City of Light.

“…and then when the last one fell,” Scar is
saying, “we ran, trying to find a way out of the City.”

“Yeah,” Potbelly joins in, “by that time
there was only four of us left. We didn’t get far before Hinck and
Olin bought it.”