Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two (49 page)

“To the south?” he asks.

James quickly checks and replies, “Doesn’t
look like anyone’s in that direction.”

Without hesitation, Jiron turns toward the
south with James following suit. Kicking their horses into a
gallop, they race off the road, hoping to remain unnoticed by the
approaching horsemen.

James is sure they’ll be seen, the amount of
dust they’re kicking up must be visible by the riders. Checking the
mirror, he sees them continuing down the road toward the oasis, and
the caravan there. They don’t seem to see or care about the dust
their horses are throwing into the air.

“They’ll find out about us when they reach
the oasis!” he hollers to Jiron.

“Then let’s put as much distance between us
as we can before they return.” Jiron replies. They continue to
gallop for a ways before bringing their speed down to a trot,
saving their horses’ strength for later.

Checking his mirror once more, James sees
the riders have already reached the oasis and are there watering
their horses, the people from the caravan are gathered around the
riders, talking with them. As they ride, he continues watching the
horsemen and then with dread, watches as they leave the oasis and
begin moving to follow them, fast.

“They’ve left the oasis,” he announces. When
Jiron looks to him, he says, “And they’re galloping our way.”

“How far behind us are they?” he asks.

“It’s hard to tell with this,” he says,
holding up the mirror. “But I wouldn’t think much more than an
hour.”

“Great,” Jiron says.

They make quick time, alternating between
galloping and trotting to keep the horses strength up as best they
can. Jiron looks over to James who is checking the mirror again and
asks, “Well?”

“They’re still behind us, though they’re not
gaining very fast,” he replies. “To the south is another road, or
rather a continuation of the coast road we followed previously.
There doesn’t appear to be any soldiers on it, just regular
travelers.”

“Wait!” he cries out.

“What?” asks Jiron.

“Oh man,” he says. “A large force containing
men and cavalry is coming from the south along the road, there must
be over a thousand of them.” He scans the mirror some more and
says, “To the southeast is another band of horse coming in this
direction too.”

“You mean they’ve got us encircled?” Jiron
asks.

“Yeah,” he replies. “It looks like the only
way to go is toward the coast but that’s a dead end.”

“Unless we find ourselves a boat!” states
Jiron. “Is there a town to the west?”

“Let me check,” he says as he scrolls the
view further west. Excitedly, he exclaims, “Yes, there is and it
looks like it’s a port city.”

“Any ships at the docks?” Jiron asks,
hopefully.

“Four,” he replies.

Turning his horse westward, Jiron says,
“Then let’s go get ourselves a boat.”

“But,” James says, “it’s going to be broad
daylight. How are we going to sneak aboard and take a boat?”

Giving James a slightly evil grin, Jiron
replies, “Who said we were going to
sneak
!”

_________________________

Riding hard, they come to the road and move
to follow it as it continues along the coast westward to the port
city. Fellow travelers they pass along the road just stare at them
as they fly by. Some holler words at them as they rush past but are
soon left far behind.

Knowing they’ve not much time, James and
Jiron race down the road weaving around those upon it, until the
town begins to appear on the horizon ahead of them. The town
appears rather large with no wall surrounding it, for which James
is extremely grateful.

They slow down as they reach the outskirts
of town so as not to attract undue attention. Heading straight down
the main thoroughfare toward the docks, James fears that at anytime
someone is going to challenge them.

But, acting like you belong is often the
surest way of remaining unnoticed. Riding with a purpose, they make
their way through the crowded streets and no one even gives them a
second look. When they draw near to the docks, they stop in front
of an inn and dismount, tying their horses to the post out
front.

They quickly remove what they’re going to
need from their horses before continuing on foot. Before they reach
the docks, Jiron motions for James to follow him into a side alley.
Once within the alley he asks, “Can you see if any of our pursuers
are getting close to the city?”

Taking out his mirror, James looks and after
locating the armies approaching, shakes his head, saying, “It looks
like they’re all at least several miles away. We should have an
hour, maybe more, before they arrive.”

“Alright then,” says Jiron, “let’s go find
us a boat.”

They leave the alley and continue on their
way toward the docks. When they get there, they see a dozen or more
soldiers stationed in and around the dock area.

“Think they’re there for us?” Jiron
asks.

“Probably,” replies James. “Looks like
they’re covering all their bases.”

“Bases?” Jiron asks, confused at the
term.

“Sorry,” says James. “I just mean they’re
watching every avenue that we may take to get away.”

“Oh.”

They pause near the entrance to the docks as
they look at the ships tied there. One is a massive, deep sea cargo
ship and the others are smaller, but all are clearly too big for
their needs. Shaking his head, Jiron says, “I don’t think these are
going to help us any.”

“I don’t think so either,” agrees James.
Then he grabs Jiron’s arm and directs his attention further down,
away from the docks where a small, private ship is just pulling up
to a small dock. “That will do fine, don’t you think?” he asks.

“Perfect!”

They leave the dock area and head over
toward the estate where the ship just docked. The estate has a
protective wall around it and the gate is closed with a guard
posted on the outside. They walk around the estate, doing their
best not to attract attention as they look to see if there’s
another way in. The wall is high, too high to jump and grab the
top. The only way in is through the gate.

They return to a spot near the gate and
James asks, “Now what?”

“We gotta get through that gate,” he
replies. “I don’t see any other way in.”

The street passing in front of the estate is
well traveled and any attempt to take out the guard will be readily
seen by those passing by.

“We need a diversion so everyone will be
looking away from the guard at the gate,” he says as he looks to
James.

“You want me to blow up the town again?”
asks James, not entirely enthused with the idea.

“Not necessarily,” he replies. “Just
something that the people on the street will turn their attention
to.”

“Anything I do will announce that we’re
here,” he says.

“They’re going to know that soon enough
anyway,” Jiron explains. “As soon as those approaching forces meet
up, they’ll know we’re here. A few minutes earlier really won’t
make that much of a difference.”

“I suppose you’re right,” James says,
resigned to the plan. “Let’s go further into town and see what
opportunity presents itself, I don’t want to hurt innocents.”

“Alright,” says Jiron, understanding. “I’m
sure there’s something you can do that won’t hurt anyone.”

As they walk, James ponders different ideas,
trying to come up with something that will distract but not hurt.
“I think I have an idea,” he tells Jiron after they’ve walked
several blocks.

“What?” he asks.

“Well, you see…”

After getting everything ready, they return
back to the gate. Jiron glances over at James where he’s standing,
silently counting.
Three…Two…One…

From further into town, they begin to hear
people screaming and running. The people on the street outside of
the gate turn their attention toward the center of town and away
from the gate to see what’s going on.

“It’s working,” Jiron says as he begins
edging slowly toward the gate.

James just nods in satisfaction with his
solution and follows him.

When they near the gate, the guard is
looking toward the center of town as well, fear evident on his
face. James glances toward where he’s looking and smiles when he
sees the fifteen foot giant walking through town, a flaming sword
gripped in its hand.

Jiron comes to the guard and places a knife
to his throat as he says, “Open the gate!”

The guard suddenly realizes they’re there
and starts to draw his sword. Jiron presses the knife harder
against his neck, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” When the
guard relaxes his grip on his sword Jiron turns him so he’s facing
the gate. “Now, open it” he orders the man one more time. Despite
the language barrier, the guard understands what Jiron is
asking.

Shaken, the guard withdraws a key and places
it in the lock, opening the gate. James looks at the passersby who
are staring at the giant walking through town, many begin running
for their lives.

“Come on, James!” urges Jiron.

Turning back to the gate, he sees that it’s
already open and follows Jiron and the guard inside. After the
guard shuts and locks the gate, Jiron takes the key from him and
says to James, “Let’s get the boat and sail to Cardri as fast as we
can.” Then he hits the man in the head and knocks him out.

“What did you say that for?” he asks.

Grinning, Jiron replies, “When questioned,
I’m hoping he’ll tell them that we’re going to Cardri so they’ll
look for us in that direction.”

“Good idea, if he understood you,” he says.
Turning to the giant he created, he cancels the spell and it
quickly dissipates back into nothing.

They run toward the estate and see someone
run in through the front door just before it slams shut. Altering
their course, they make for the front door. Jiron’s the first to
reach it and tries to open it only to find it locked. “It’s
locked,” he tells James as he joins him at the door.

James puts his hand against it and lets
loose the power. With a crack, the door flies open and smashes into
the wall.

Jiron runs inside as he searches for whoever
it was that had slammed the door shut, but is unable to locate
anyone.

“The boat!” James says as he runs through
the house to the back where the dock lies.

Jiron joins him and they race through the
house and out the back door. Once outside, they find the man
running toward the boat, intent on getting away. He turns and sees
them leaving the house and bolts toward the boat, drawing a knife
and cutting the lines as fast as he can. Giving the boat a shove,
the man jumps aboard as the boat begins to drift away from the
docks.

As they race onto the dock, the ship is now
ten feet away and is beginning to pick up speed as the wind fills
the hastily unfurled sails. Without even hesitating, Jiron runs to
the edge and leaps across the distance, landing on the deck of the
boat.

James stops on the dock and watches as Jiron
draws his knives and advances on the man. With sword at the ready,
the man engages him, but after a few quick exchanges, his sword
drops to the deck and Jiron’s knife is at his throat. He kicks the
man’s sword away and then points back to the dock where James is
waiting.

Adjusting the sail and turning the tiller,
the man maneuvers the boat back to the dock where James climbs on
board. “Thank you,” he says to Jiron.

Smiling back at him, he replies, “Not a
problem.”

James goes to the man and says, “Take us out
to sea now, please.”

The man just looks blankly back at James as
if he doesn’t understand. “Do you understand me?” he asks. Again,
no response.

Jiron then says to James, “If he’s not going
to be any use to us, should I just slit his throat and toss his
body over the side?”

The man visibly pales and says, “I can
understand you.”

“Thought you might,” Jiron tells him. “Now,
take us out to sea.”

“What are you going to do with me?” the man
asks, not making any move to comply with Jiron’s demand.

“We merely wish to borrow you and your boat
for a short time,” he says. “If you’re helpful, we might even pay
you for your inconvenience.” When the man still hasn’t begun to get
the boat underway, Jiron says, “Now, are you going to help or
should I toss your lifeless body over the side?”

The man takes a moment, obviously deciding
between flight and acquiescing. “If you jump in,” Jiron tells him,
“I’ll jump in after you.”

As if that’s all he needed, the man turns
and begins to get the sails in order. He then turns the tiller to
angle the boat out to sea.

“Where is it we’re going?” the man asks.

“Not exactly sure yet,” James tells him.
“Maybe you can help us with that.”

“How can I be of any help?” the man asks,
confused.

“We’re searching for a friend of ours,” he
tells him. “He was taken as a slave and brought to this area. All
we know now is that he’s working underground somewhere, possibly in
a mine.”

“Then your friend is most likely at the
Sorna Iron Mines,” he tells them. “It’s an island some miles off
the coast to the south of here.”

James nods his head and says, “That sounds
right.” He thinks for a moment as the ship sails further out to sea
and away from the port. Coming to a decision, James says, “First,
we want you to take us north for a ways and then swing west out to
sea before heading to the island, understand?”

“No,” he replies, “but I’ll do it.”

“Thank you.”

As the man turns the boat to follow the
coast to the north, he asks, “Are you two the ones they’re
searching for?”