Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two (45 page)

Jiron nods in agreement, “Yeah, we would
stick out all right, what with us not knowing the language. What do
you propose we do?”

Thinking a moment, he takes out a strip of
cloth and says, “I’ll keep using this to show us the way and
eventually we’ll find him.”

“Even across water?” he asks. “Remember, he
was on a ship a few days ago.”

“There’s no reason to believe he’s not on
the mainland,” James says. “They could’ve simply used it for quick
transport from one city to the next along the coast.”

Looking dubious, Jiron shrugs his shoulders
and says, “Either way, sitting here isn’t going to get us any
closer.” He tops off his water bottle and then allows his horse a
last drink from the spring before mounting. Once mounted, he waits
for James to do the same and then they’re on their way.

Jiron looks over to James and sees him
holding the piece of cloth as it sticks straight out from his hand.
It’s pointing to the southwest. “Should we head that way now or
stay south until he’s due west?” he asks.

“May as well head straight there,” he says.
“We don’t know if going south or southwest is the safest way. So we
may as well go in as straight a direction as possible.” He looks to
Jiron and then says, “Until our circumstances change that is.”

“Southwest it is then,” Jiron says as he
turns his horse in that direction. As James turns to follow, Jiron
asks him, “What do you plan to do after we find your friend?”

“First thing would be to get him out of
wherever he is,” he replies. “I still want to try to head back to
Cardri. Maybe we could get a ship and sail around the coast.”

“Maybe. Then what?” prompts Jiron.

“Oh, maybe rest for a while and perhaps
build a house.” He glances to Jiron and continues, “There are some
things I’ve been thinking about, things to do with magic that I
would like to experiment with. I want to be somewhere safe and away
from people where I can work and not be disturbed.”

“What about searching for information about
this Morcyth? Do you still plan to continue with that?”

“Absolutely,” James replies. “There are
things I still need to know, but the last few weeks have shown me
that I need to be better prepared before I set out again.” He
pauses for a few seconds then says, “But I’ll worry about that when
I get Miko back to Cardri. One thing at a time.”

They ride along in silence for a while
longer before a road appears in the distance ahead of them. The
coastline has begun to curve which has brought the road toward
them. Several travelers are upon it, none looking to be military in
nature.

Jiron looks to James who shrugs and says,
“The road might actually be okay now.”

“How do you figure?” he asks.

“Since that large force had just recently
come through here,” he explains, “it’s unlikely they would expect
us to be here.”

“Possibly,” states Jiron.

“Besides, I’m tired of slugging our way
through the desert. I want to get to Miko as quickly as
possible.

“Alright,” agrees Jiron as he leads them
toward the road. Upon reaching it, a fellow traveler on his way
north says something to them, but they ignore him as they pass.

The man turns and says something, an obvious
statement about being rude before he continues on his way.

When they are some distance away from the
closest traveler on the road, James says, “It’s going to be a
problem, not being able to speak their language.”

“I know,” replies Jiron, “but what can we do
about it?”

“Nothing, I suppose,” he says.

They follow the road for several more miles
and the only traffic they encounter is civilian in nature. James is
surprised at the lack of military presence on the roads. Maybe the
force he saw before the storm is all they are sending, or are able
to send. Hopefully the local garrisons have been depleted to make
up that force and are unable to spare any for patrols.

A town begins to appear ahead of them and
when Jiron notices it, suggests, “Perhaps we should skirt around
it. We could make camp out in the desert and I could sneak in for
some supplies after it gets dark.”

James nods agreement, “Our supplies are
getting a little low.”

So they veer to the east and continue until
they’ve reached a spot a good two miles away from the town. They
set up camp and wait for the coming of darkness. When the sun
reaches the horizon, Jiron mounts his horse and says, “I’ll be back
in a couple of hours, hopefully not longer.”

“Be careful,” cautions James.

“I will,” he assures him.

As he gets ready to leave, James stops him
and says, “How are you going to be able to find me out here in the
dark?”

Jiron looks around at the landscape and
fixes the landmarks in his mind before he turns to James and says,
“Rest assured, I’ll find you.” Then he turns his horse in the
direction of the distant town and rides off into the deepening
night.

Upon reaching the edge of town, he skirts
along the edge, keeping to the shadows. He comes across several
trees growing beyond the edge of town and stops to secure his horse
in among them. With any luck he’ll still be there when he
returns.

Removing a couple sacks from his saddle
bags, he folds them up tightly and places them within his belt
pouch. He pats his horse on the neck as he says, “Stay quiet,” and
then melts into the darkness as he makes his way to town.

The wall surrounding the town is not very
large, almost seems more for aesthetic value than for defense. A
gate stands across the road where it passes through and is being
guarded by two men. Jiron pauses for a moment to observe them as he
evaluates his chances of making it through.

Deciding not to risk detection, he moves
down the wall away from the gate. Reaching a spot where no one can
observe him, he jumps up and grabs hold of the top of the wall,
then proceeds to pull himself up. He looks over the top to the
other side and when he sees it’s clear, slips over the wall and
drops to the ground.

Keeping to the shadows as best he can, he
runs across the distance to where the first building lies. He moves
along its side until coming to a window. Glancing in through the
window, he discovers it to be some sort of carpentry shop. Not what
he’s looking for, he continues down to the adjacent building where
a light is shining out through a window. Looking in, he finds this
one to be a home, most likely that of the carpenter. It doesn’t
look as if any one is currently within, though it’s hard to be
sure.

Not wanting to take the chance where someone
could be home, he continues on from building to building. Staying
in the shadows as best he can, he finally comes across one that is
dark, yet seems to be a residence. Hoping for it to have some food,
he makes his way around the side to the alley running between it
and another building.

Finding the alley vacant, he moves into it
and continues down until he comes to a door leading into the
building he wants. A moment’s listening at the door assures him
there’s no one on the other side. He takes the handle and tries to
open it only to discover it’s locked. Taking out one of his knives,
he works on the lock until it clicks open.

Pushing open the door slowly, he makes his
way into the dark interior of the house, closing the door quietly
behind him. Much to his relief, he finds that it is indeed a
residence and begins to search the house until he comes across the
pantry. Relieved to find it containing food, he takes a loaf of
bread and puts it inside one of his sacks as well as some dried
fruit. It’s not going to be enough to last him and James for very
long, but it’s a start.

This residence contains many things of value
so he doesn’t feel obligated to leave any money this time. They
won’t suffer from the loss of a little bit of food. As he returns
to the door leading to the alley, he opens it a crack and looks out
to find the alley still remains dark and empty. Leaving the house,
he closes the door behind him and starts moving further along the
side of the alley until coming to a cross street. He sees hanging
outside of the building directly across the street from him, the
unmistakable sign of a butcher’s shop.
That’s what I
need!

Excited at the prospect of raiding a
butcher’s shop, he looks up and down the street before he crosses.
A lone man is walking toward him. Hiding in the shadows of the
alley, he waits until the man passes and continues down the street,
eventually moving out of sight. A quick scan after the man
disappears shows the street to be empty so he dashes across to the
shadows of the alley next to the butcher’s shop, where he pauses
momentarily to glance back along the street. Finding that he’s made
the dash undetected, Jiron begins searching for another entrance to
the shop, other than the one facing the street.

Around back, he finds a door that’s locked
and no amount of finagling with the lock will open it. Wishing for
his lost lock picks, he begins glancing overhead and spies an open
window on the second floor.

Searching the alley for something that might
help him reach the window, he finds a broken crate lying in the
alley several feet away. Going over to it, he checks it quickly to
be sure it’ll hold his weight, it seems sturdy enough. Picking it
up, he brings it over and sets it under the open window. Standing
upon the crate, he comes to within inches of the window. Hoping the
crate will indeed hold up under his weight, he jumps up and grabs
the window sill. He then pulls himself up so he can look through
the window.

The room looks to be someone’s bedroom, a
bed and several dressers are contained within. Snores can be heard
coming from the bed, two forms are sleeping under the covers. Not
wanting to risk disturbing them, he drops back down to the crate
which collapses under his weight with a loud crash. He quickly
rolls against the building and holds still.

The noise from the crate crashing and him
hitting the ground must’ve woke up one of the sleepers, for shortly
a head sticks out the window and looks around the darkness of the
alley.

Lying there perfectly still, Jiron watches
as the person continues to look for several seconds before pulling
his head back in. He waits for a minute and then lets out a sigh of
relief when whoever it was fails to raise the alarm.
He mustn’t
have seen me here in the dark.

As he gets up, he sees two shapes coming
toward him. They quietly say something to him but he doesn’t
understand what they’re saying. Backing up slowly, he retreats back
down the alley, never taking his eyes off the two approaching
figures. Suddenly, a noise from behind and a quick glance shows
another shadow approaching from behind.

Again, the figures say something. When he
fails to reply, he sees them draw knives and can hear the person
coming behind him do the same.

Sudden calmness comes over him as he
realizes these are just some local thieves out for a score. Drawing
his two knifes, he quickly advances upon the two approaching
him.

They’re shocked for a moment as they didn’t
expect him to launch an attack, and that moment’s hesitation is all
Jiron needed to drop one to the ground. Quickly engaging the other,
he blocks the man’s slash with one of his knives while following
through with his other.

The man cries out as Jiron’s knife
penetrates into his side, sinking five inches of steel beneath the
skin and puncturing a lung. Falling to the ground, the man begins
crying out and choking as his lung fills with blood.

Turning to the last thief, Jiron stands
ready and can see the man is about ready to flee. Then suddenly
from overhead, the person who had looked out previously now begins
shouting, raising the alarm. That’s all the other thief needed, he
quickly backs up and turns as he flees out of the alleyway.

Jiron quickly follows, deciding that the
food he has will have to be enough for now. As he races across the
street back the way he had come, another person who had stuck his
head out his window to see what the other guy is yelling about sees
him and starts to holler as well. Several guards, alerted by the
shouting, see him running and give chase.

He dodges between buildings as he tries to
throw off pursuit, all the while trying to make his way back to
where his horse is tied up. He finally throws his pursuers off by
ducking into a building and going out a side window. As they run
off in the opposite direction, he makes a beeline for the wall and
is soon over to the other side.

His horse is right where he left it.
Mounting quickly, he turns toward the desert and kicks his horse
into a gallop, putting distance between himself and the city.

Not happy with the small amount of supplies
he had acquired, he supposes it’ll have to due under the
circumstances. He tries to get his bearings in the dark in order to
locate the area where he left James.

He rides for several minutes before spotting
a light off in the distance. It looks to be a campfire.
Don’t
tell me James built a fire?
That’ll alert everyone to our
presence here!
Getting mad at James’ stupidity, he rides toward
the fire.

As he draws close enough to make out
details, he realizes that it’s not a fire but several torches. Now
much more cautious, he slows down and stops some distance away from
the light, then gets down from his horse. Leaving his horse behind,
he makes his way closer on foot and sees that the torches are held
by soldiers of the Empire. A wagon is there as well and he watches
in shock as an unconscious James is being loaded into the bed of
the wagon.

A brown robed man is directing those placing
James in the wagon and seems to be the one in charge. When James is
finally within the bed of the wagon, the brown robed man climbs up
onto the wagon seat as he gives orders to the driver. With a flick
of the reins the horses get under way and the wagon begins to
trundle back to town.