Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (36 page)

“How are we going to get in there?” Jared
asks.

“We’re not,” he explains. “We’ll stay here a
little while longer then return to let James know what we
found.”

They settle in and wait for over half an
hour. When nothing develops, Jiron indicates it’s time for them to
return.

Back at the inn they find James asleep in the
bathtub. A single candle is all but burnt down to nothing on a
nearby table. “Go ahead and get some sleep,” Jiron tells Jared.
“I’ll take care of this.”

Grinning, Jared nods his head and backs out
of the room, closing the door behind him.

Coming over to James, he can’t help but allow
a chuckle to escape. At first he was going to startle him awake but
changed his mind at the last moment. He places his hand upon James’
shoulder and gives it a gentle shake. “Wake up,” he says
softly.

Startled out of sleep, James sits up abruptly
in the tub, splashing some of the now cold water onto the floor.
Looking behind him he sees Jiron standing there. “You’re back!” he
exclaims.

“Here,” Jiron says as he hands him the towel
that was sitting next to the tub.

“Thanks.” Taking the towel, he gets out of
the tub and proceeds to dry himself off. “So what did you find
out?”

“The mines are a couple hours from town,”
Jiron explains. “It’s situated at the end of a box canyon.”

“A canyon?” he asks.

“Yeah. A wooden fence, similar to the one
back on the island where we rescued Miko and Nate, blocks the
entrance. There’s but a single gate and guards patrol the top.”

Nodding, James continues getting ready for
bed. “Did you get a look inside?”

“No,” he replies shaking his head. “No chance
for that. We waited and watched for awhile but nothing happened,
then we came back.”

Finished getting ready for bed, he lies back
on top of the covers and mulls over what Jiron just told him.
“Tomorrow afternoon I’d like to go up there and have a look around
if you think we can avoid being noticed?” he finally asks.

“The road winds through some barren hills
before it reaches the box canyon,” Jiron explains. “Not much in the
way of concealing cover but we’ll see what we can do.” Going over
to the burning candle he snuffs it out and then crawls into his own
bed. He plans on getting a good night’s sleep this night. After
tomorrow things are likely to be a little lively.

Back in his tower, Kerith-Ayxt stares out at
the moon rising in the distance. Exhausted from the two days of
preparation, he pauses here by the window for a few minutes as he
looks out over the Great Hall.

All the safeguards have been set and the way
is prepared. The only thing left is the actual summoning of Aekion.
When he told the Assembly of Masters his plan to summon Aekion, few
knew what he was talking about. But those who did spoke out against
it for they understood the risks involved with such a hazardous
undertaking.

He allowed them to speak their minds then
said they were to undertake this for the good of the Empire. At
that they grew silent, none would speak against an action the High
Lord Magus pronounced as good for the Empire. Things often happened
to those who did.

During the sealing of the Great Hall, fifty
slaves were drained of their life force to power the holding spells
needed to contain Aekion. Once he is summoned, those holding spells
will be all that will contain him until the spells of binding are
put into effect.

Another hundred slaves were used in preparing
the way for Aekion to pass from his plane to here. With but two of
the three stages accomplished, they have less than half of their
slaves remaining. He had no idea when he started that he would
already have used so many already. With the most dangerous and
magic consuming part before him, he prays he has enough. But once
started, you can’t simply stop something like this.

Moving his gaze from the Great Hall, he looks
out to the north where the army that took Korazan lies. Slowly but
surely it’s moving inexorably toward Madoc. His mages have kept a
constant eye on its progress and have reported that as they reach
each town along the road, they free the town’s slaves and kill the
slavers. At first they thought that odd until realization set in
that they were arming them with arms taken from dead Empire
soldiers they defeat in battle. Now they have twice the numbers
they had when they left Korazan, although most are ill equipped and
lack adequate training.

Armies are currently on the move from the
south to deal with them, but whether they will arrive in time to
prevent them from reaching Madoc is anyone’s guess. The best guess
is, maybe. Not only that, but as they move they destroy every
bridge they come to, no matter how small.

Still further to the north, Lord Pytherian
with the help of the Alliance is beginning to push their remaining
forces back toward the Empire. Some reports even state that Cardri
forces have been sighted among the Alliance, though those reports
have yet to be substantiated. Even if they were, the Empire is no
longer in a position to do anything about it.

A month ago the Empire stood on the verge of
taking the rest of Madoc. Now it’s in retreat back to its border.
The army at Lythylla which had contained the bulk of its northern
strength has been all but destroyed, an army roams at will in its
northern provinces, and a mage is loose that no one seems to be
able to find.

Sighing, he turns from the window and crosses
the room to his bed. Tomorrow night at midnight they will summon
forth Aekion and he will require all his strength for the ordeal.
Lying down, the last thing that crosses his mind is the question of
where the mage is and what he’s up to.

Sleeping in late, James and the others don’t
leave the inn until well past noon. As they make their way through
the inn, James puts on a grim expression like he’s mulling over
some unpleasant thought. One worker doesn’t see them coming until
they’re almost upon him. When he turns and realizes how close he is
to ‘his lordship’, his face turns pale and makes a hasty withdrawal
out of their way.

Leaving the inn, Jiron leads them through
town toward the road that leads up into the mountains and to the
mine. Word must have spread about his being in town for as they
make their way through town, those who take notice of their party
quickly put distance between them.

Before they turn onto the road that leads up
to the mine, Jiron notices from the corner of his eye an officious
looking man exit a building on the far side of the street. When the
man moves to cross to their side and looks to be heading directly
for them, Jiron quickly turns into an alley between two
buildings.

“What are we doing in here?” Jared asks.

Jiron gestures with his head to the man
coming up behind them. Stopping, they turn to face him.

As the man nears, Jared moves in front of the
others and waits for the man to speak first.

Ignoring Jared, the man looks directly at
James and says a brief sentence. From the tone of his voice it
sounded like a question.

Jared attempts to respond but the man barks a
command and holds up his hand. Face growing grim, he glances to
Jiron and raises his left hand to scratch behind his ear.

Seeing the signal, Jiron lashes out with his
fist and connects with the side of the man’s head knocking him
unconscious. As the man begins to fall, Jiron grabs him and quickly
pulls him to the side of the alley.

James scans the alley for anyone who may have
witnessed it and finds the alley empty. He then looks to Jared for
an explanation.

Taking his eyes from the unconscious man on
the ground, he looks at James and says, “He asked what business you
had here in Ki and why he wasn’t told of your coming. When I tried
to respond, he stopped me. He wanted to hear it from you.”

“You did the right thing,” states Jiron.
“Now, what are we to do with him?” He glances to James and asks,
“Kill him?”

“Must we?” responds James. “After tonight
they’ll know where I am anyway.”

“If he’s discovered it’s what he may do
before tonight that I’m worried about,” argues Jiron.

“He’s right,” adds Jared. “He’s the enemy and
I think is of some importance.”

Jiron begins going through his pockets and
pulls out a rolled letter secured with a piece of string. Removing
the string he opens it up and after a brief glance hands it to
James.

James takes the letter. Unable to decipher
the writing, he scans to the bottom and to the symbol inscribed
there, three dots forming a pyramid with lines running between them
yet not touching them.

Sighing, he hands the letter to Jared and
asks, “Can you read this?”

Taking the letter, Jared looks at it and
shakes his head. “No, I can only speak the language,” he replies.
Then his eyes widen when he see the symbol at the bottom. Looking
up at James he says, “This…”

“Is the symbol of the warrior priest,” he
finishes. Pointing to the man on the ground he adds, “Whoever that
is either is one, or works for one.”

“Most likely an agent,” guesses Jiron. “Never
would have taken an actual warrior priest out so easily.” Pulling a
knife, he looks to James. He can see the warring emotions play
across his face at the thought of killing the defenseless man.

James turns his back on Jiron and begins
walking down the alley away from them. He takes four steps before
hearing the man grunt as Jiron’s knife sinks into his chest,
puncturing his heart.

Jared helps Jiron to hide the body in a trash
heap further into the alley. With any luck the body won’t be
discovered until they have done what they came here for and are
long gone. When they are satisfied it’s hidden as well as they can
make it, they hurry to catch up with James.

As they reach him, Jiron pats him on the
shoulder. He knows how hard it is for him when something like that
has to happen, even though he understands the necessity. “Let’s get
to the mine and have a look around,” he says. James gives him a nod
and then they reach the end of the alleyway. Turning onto the
street, they walk a short distance before reaching the road that
will take them up into the mountains.

The road is deserted. Just as Jiron had said,
there isn’t much more than scrub brush and small trees, nothing in
which to conceal themselves should someone approach.

“It’s only about two miles or so,” Jared
tells him. They follow the road as it winds its way through the
hills until the wall of the mine complex comes into view.

On either side of the mine, the mountains
rise sheer and tall. Unlikely that anyone, especially James, would
be able to scale them to enter. Off to one side lies a pile of
stone from where the mountain had given away at some point in the
past. James points over to it and says, “Those rocks would give us
some cover while we’re here.” Moving over to them, they settle in
behind.

While Jiron keeps an eye on the gate leading
into the compound, James pulls out his mirror and brings the view
of the other side of the wall into focus. Guards patrol the wall as
well as the inner compound. Slaves move to and fro as they go about
their duties. Many buildings, similar to those found in the complex
where they rescued Miko are positioned off to one side.

At the base of the mountain at the end of the
box canyon lays the mine entrance. A hundred feet wide, there are
two sets of ore cart tracks upon which mule drawn ore carts are
brought out of the mine. From the looks of it, one is for ore carts
coming out and the other is for them to return.

The contents of one ore cart are currently
being transferred by slaves into a waiting wagon. Several other
empty wagons wait in line for their turn. While the ore cart is
being unloaded, the mules are unhitched and then rehitched to the
other side. Once the cart is empty, a switch is thrown and the
tracks shift allowing the mules to pull the cart to the other
track, the one upon which the carts return to the mine. Once past,
the switch is thrown again and the next cart waiting in line is
pulled forward.

James works the image to move into the mine
but is unable to see clearly due to the lack of sufficient light.
Having seen all he needs to, he puts away his mirror.

“So,” begins Jiron, “will we need to get in
there?”

Shaking his head, James replies, “I don’t
think so. Give me a minute while I check out something.” Jiron nods
his head as James’ eyes close.

“What’s he doing now?” Jared whispers to
Jiron.

“I don’t know,” he replies. “Maybe taking a
look inside the mine.”

Just then the gate begins to swing open and
four ore filled wagons roll through. When the last wagon passes
through the gate, it again swings shut. Each wagon has a driver and
a guard, neither look to be too worried about attack. By the time
the wagons have rolled out of sight down the road, James comes back
to them.

“There are fissures all in that mountain,” he
tells them. “We’ll come back tonight and collapse the mine.”

“Why not do it now?” Jared asks.

Before James has a chance to answer, Jiron
says, “Because the mine is full of slaves and they would all be
killed. At night they are taken out, makes them last longer.”

“Right,” agrees James.

Moving quickly they return to the road and in
no time are on the outskirts of Ki. Wary at first in case the dead
man has been discovered, they approach the town slowly. But when
they see the people moving about in a normal manner, they relax.
Going directly to the inn, they are soon back in their rooms.

“We’ll leave shortly before midnight,” James
tells them. “Get what rest you can for it may be the last for
awhile.” They have a quick lunch before they turn in for a nap.
James sits on the side of his bed as he gazes down at the sack of
crystals he brought. Within are several more of the power crystals
as well as others that have a more specific purpose. He wonders if
the power stored within will be enough to enable him to maintain
the spell that prevents anyone from finding him magically. When the
mine goes, they’ll know precisely where he is and all their power
will come to bear until they find him.