Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two (28 page)

“A squad of soldiers had come upon us and
the fighting was fierce. Me and Potbelly stood back to back, Hinck
and Olin did the same. After the last of the soldiers we were
facing fell was when we saw them lying dead,” Scar says. “From the
stack of bodies surrounding them, they must’ve taken out over a
dozen before being overpowered.”

“Those of the Pits are hard fighters,” Jiron
says.

Tinok nods his head and adds, “The
best.”

“Then what happened?” Cassie asks from where
she’s sitting next to Tinok, eyes wide at their account.

“They took us the only way you can take a
pit fighter,” Scar explains. “We rounded a corner and came face to
face with half a dozen crossbowmen and that was that.”

“Yeah,” Potbelly adds. “They bound us and
before we knew it, we’re tied in the slave lines outside the City
with the rest of them that were took.”

Jiron holds up his water bottle and says,
“Not much to toast with, but here’s to the pit fighters who didn’t
make it through the last battle.”

The others hold up theirs, pausing in a
silent toast, and then take a drink.

Suddenly Arkie begins to cry and Roland and
Ezra make their goodnights as they take Arkie to the wagon where
they bed down for the night.

Shortly after they’ve left, the rest begin
to turn in, until the only one still up is Stig who managed to draw
first watch. He begins walking a perimeter in the dark around their
camp. The sound of the crackling of the fire and his footsteps as
he walks around the camp are the only sounds James hears as he
tries to fall asleep. Worry about Miko’s fate, as well as those
traveling with him, weigh heavily upon him. Eventually though,
sleep wins out.

The next morning, Tinok takes great pleasure
in watching as his friends get up and begin to work the stiffness
and aches out of their legs.

“You all look like a bunch of old ladies the
way you’re hobbling around like that,” he informs them, smiling at
their misery.

“Leave ‘em alone, Tinok” Jiron tells
him.

“Alright,” he agrees when he sees how
serious Jiron is, “I’ll leave ‘em alone.”

They’re able to get back in their saddles,
but not without groans of pain. “You wouldn’t think they had spent
years in the pits to hear them carry on so,” Jiron whispers to
James.

“This is different,” he replies. “Besides it
may not be just the pain, but an outlet for the fear and
humiliation they’ve endured while they were slaves.”

Jiron nods his head and says, “Perhaps.”

After leaving the caravansary, they pull
back onto the road. At the gates of Korazan, they come to where the
road splits. They can either continue on through the gates and into
Korazan, or turn left to follow the road around the walls rather
than trying to forge their way through the crowded streets.

Jiron leads them to the left and around the
walls. On the far side of the city, they rejoin the main road and
follow it as it follows the shoreline of the lake. Before they
reach the southern shore of the lake, the road splits. One branch
continues following alongside the lake while the other takes a more
southeasterly direction.

James hollers to Jiron to continue following
the road by the lake. He glances back and nods as he turns his
horse to follow it. Not too long after that, they come to the
southern shore of the lake and begin to follow the river flowing
out of it to the south.

The road is quite busy with many people,
both walking and riding, passing them on their way to Korazan. At
one point, a long caravan passes them going north, James counts
twenty five wagons and almost thirty guards.

A couple of hours past midday they come
across a man on the side of the road who’s standing by a wagon with
a broken wheel. When Jiron comes abreast of him, the man says
something but he’s unable to understand what.

“Can’t understand you,” he says to the
man.

Looking frustrated, the man starts speaking
to Jiron again, and this time talking real slow. He takes extra
care to pronounce his words more carefully and clearly, as if that
would enable Jiron to understand better.

By this time, Roland rolls up in his wagon
and begins conversing with the man. With a look of relief, the man
begins talking rapidly and when he pauses, Roland says to everyone
gathered around, “He’s asking if we can take him and his cargo on
to the next town, a place called Inziala. Apparently, there’s some
kind of celebration going on there and he’s been contracted to
supply wine.”

James looks at the poor man for a second
before Roland says, “He’s willing to pay us five golds just to
transport him a few miles down the road.”

“Sure,” James agrees, “we’ve got the room.”
Turning to Stig and Scar he says, “Could you please help this
gentleman transfer his barrels into the water wagon? There should
be enough room for them.”

They get down from their horses and proceed
transferring the barrels from his wagon to theirs. The man starts
speaking again and Roland tells them he’s thanking them for their
help. He then removes his horses from their traces and ties them to
the rear of Roland’s wagon. Once his horses are secured, he climbs
up and sits on the seat next to Roland as he waits for his cargo to
be transferred.

James can hear Stig mumbling, “Lazy
merchant…”

“Yeah, he could’ve at least helped…” Scar
says to Stig.

When all the barrels have been transferred,
they get back into the saddle and their caravan continues on down
the road. Roland talks with the merchant and then says to James in
the next wagon, “It seems the celebration is a yearly festival
where people come from far and wide to just have fun.”

“Kind of like a county fair,” states
James.

“What’s that?” Roland asks.

“It’s a festival where I come from that
happens every year,” he replies.

“Oh,” he says.

“Maybe we could stop for the night there?”
Delia asks him. When he looks at her, she says, “It wouldn’t take
much time away from traveling, especially since we will need to
stop for the night anyway. Also, I have a couple deliveries to drop
off there as well.”

“You guys can go have fun,” he tells her,
“but I don’t think I’ll be in much of a mood.”

Three hours later they come to Inziala, a
large city sitting at a crossroads. To the north of the city along
the river is a large area with hundreds of tents spread out. A
crowd of people are moving in and around the tents.
That must be
the festival.

To the east of town is an area where the
caravans have all gathered while they’re enjoying the fun. Finding
a good spot near the other caravans, they set up camp while Delia
takes the merchant with his wine over to the festival. She takes
Scar and Potbelly along for protection.

After they’re settled in, Tinok, Cassie,
Jiron and Tersa along with Roland, Ezra and Arkie deicide to go and
enjoy the festival. “Do you want to come along?” Cassie asks
James.

Shaking his head, he says, “No thank you.
Someone needs to stay here and look after things. Besides, I’m not
really in the mood for fun.”

“Miko?” she asks.

He just nods his head yes.

“I’m sorry,” she says and then giggles as
Tinok takes her by the hand as they head over to the festival. Over
her shoulder she says, “Goodbye!”

“Have fun!” James hollers after them.

The four guards remaining see them walk over
toward the festival and say, “When do we get to go?”

“I’ll need four of you here at any one time
to discourage any thieves,” he replies. “When Scar and Potbelly get
back with Delia, you can draw lots and then two at a time can
go.”

“Alright,” Yorn says.

An hour later, they see Delia trundling her
way back to their camp with Scar and Potbelly riding along
beside.

“Everything okay?’ he asks as she pulls
up.

“Everything’s fine,” she assures him. “Got
the five golds and another thirty for the packages I
delivered.”

“Great,” he says.

Looking around, she says, “Just where is
everyone?”

James indicates the festival and replies,
“They left shortly after you did.”

From the group of guards, he hears several
curses and a cry for joy as they draw lots to see who gets to go.
Stig and Shorty walk over to James with happy expressions on their
faces, “So you guys get to go first?”

“That’s right,” Shorty says.

“Could we perhaps have a few coins to
spend?” Stig asks.

“Sure,” James says as he gets up and goes
over to the money box. He takes out four silvers for each of the
guards and hands them over.

“Can I come with you two?” Delia asks when
she learns they are going over to the festival.

“Sure, milady,” Stig says as he offers her
his arm. His shield is slung across his back and his mace hangs at
his hip.

Taking his arm, she says to James, “I’ll be
back later.”

“Just send your escorts back in a couple of
hours so the others can have their turn,” he tells her.

“Okay,” she replies. Then she turns to her
escorts and says “You heard that, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Shorty affirms.

They quickly make their way over to the
festival. She feels bad about leaving James back at the wagons, but
understands how he feels.

Many minstrels roam the grounds providing
music and atmosphere to the festival. There are tents and booths
set up throughout the area where festival goers can purchase a
multitude of various items. She pauses in front of one that is
selling small, wooden carvings of horses and admires the intricate
workmanship that went into them. When the merchant asks if she
would want to purchase one, he’s disappointed when she shakes her
head no and moves on.

They make their way further into the sea of
tents and come across Roland and his family. Arkie is holding one
of the wooden horses from the display she examined earlier, happily
sucking on its head.

“Where are Tinok and Cassie?” she asks
him.

“Don’t know,” he replies. “They went off
with Jiron and Tersa shortly after we arrived.”

“If you should run into them, tell ‘em I’m
here,” she says.

“Sure, no problem,” he replies. “James
didn’t come?”

Shaking her head, she says, “He didn’t feel
like it, still worried about his friend Miko.”

Roland nods his head in understanding. “Want
to stay with us?” he asks.

“Thanks, but I want to find Tinok and
Cassie,” she says as she glances around at the crowd of people,
“somehow.”

“Good luck,” he says as they move further
on, stopping at another booth selling colored bottles.

Delia and her escorts wind their way through
the people, occasionally stopping at booths to browse the items on
display.

They come to an open area where a man is
trying to entice passersby to test their skill. He has a target set
up over a hundred feet away and in front of him are several
throwing knives. It looks like you throw one of the knives and try
to hit the bull’s eye in the center of the target.

Intrigued, Shorty comes up and takes one of
the knives testing it for balanced. The man starts speaking to him
but no one understands him. “Do you understand the common tongue?”
Shorty asks him as he continues examining the knives before
him.

“Yes sir,” the man replies. “For just two
coppers, you may try your skill and if you hit the bull’s eye, you
get one of these.” He indicates a selection of jewelry and
bracers.

“Alright,” he says as he hands over one of
the silvers James had given him. The man takes it and gives him his
change. By this time a few onlookers have stopped to see how he’ll
do.

He selects the first knife he examined and
then stands with his feet a foot apart so he’s well balanced.
Taking careful aim at the target, he takes a couple deep breaths
and then throws the knife. It sails through the air and to the
amazement of the crowd, strikes the target dead center. The
onlookers cheer and the man says, “We have a winner, see how easy
it is.” To Shorty he says, “Please take your choice.”

Selecting a necklace, he turns and offers it
to Delia, saying, “I would be honored if you would accept this from
me.”

When she hesitates, he says, “You needn’t
feel it’s a commitment, I would just like you to have it.”

Taking the necklace, she puts it around her
neck saying, “Thank you Shorty.”

He smiles and blushes slightly.

As they move on, another person tries their
luck but the knife flies wide, missing the target.

“Only one of the knives is balanced
properly,” he tells them. “If you were to use the others, you’d be
in danger of hitting yourself,” he continues, laughing.

They move along and eventually find the
others sitting at a table enjoying a meal as they listen to a group
of musicians. There’s an open area in front of where the musicians
play where people can go and dance if they like, a few couples are
already out there.

As Delia approaches them, she catches
Tinok’s eye and asks, “Why aren’t you out there dancing?”

Blushing slightly, he says, “I don’t know
any of the dances they’re doing.”

Taking a seat next to Cassie, she asks,
“Need any help getting him out there?”

“Yes I do!” she says, acting as if she’s put
out. A smile on her lips tells her that she’s not really.

The musicians finish their song to a
smattering of applause and then begin another one, this time a fast
paced song.

“Okay,” Delia says to Tinok, “now’s your
chance, get moving.”

Cassie gets up and practically drags him
over to the dancing area.

“I never thought she would get him out
there,” Jiron says as he watches Tinok doing his best.

“For someone who’s graceful in battle, he’s
sure clumsy out there,” Tersa adds.