The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven (20 page)

“Does it?” he asks.

“Oh yes,” he replies. “The little brothers
appreciate one who lays out the
Vyrilyzk
. Being earth
spirits, they can help the farmer’s trees produce more. You don’t
see it much anymore. The earth spirits are shy and are rarely seen
so the farmers begin to forget.”

“Little brothers?” he asks.

“Yes,” he says. “They are of Asran and I
have seen them many times.”

“So have I,” states James.

Looking in surprise at James, Brother Willim
says, “That is a very rare thing indeed.”

“It was last year,” he explains. Then goes
on to tell about his visit on Lyria’s Island and of seeing the
spirits while they sat and listened to her song.

“Yes, they were earth spirits,” he states
after he has him describe them.

About this time the negotiations between
Reilin and the farmer have concluded. Two of his sons make their
way to the farmhouse and are soon returning, each with two small
casks tucked under their arms.

James hands over the required sum and the
casks of dates are secured behind the saddles of four of them.
“Thank you,” James tells the farmer with a grin. The farmer nods
his head in reply. Then he and his sons return to the
farmhouse.

Leaving the farm behind, James glances back
at the
Vyrilyzk.
“Do you think they worship Asran?” he asks
Brother Willim.

Shrugging, he says, “I doubt it. Mainly the
laying out of the
Vyrilyzk
has become a tradition. There are
few who even remember when it started or why. All they know is that
if they do it, they tend to have a good crop of whatever they grow
the following year.”

The rest of the day they continue their way
southwest. Once they had to angle more to the east to avoid a
column of troops heading north. “Think they’re heading to
Al-Ziron?” asks Stig.

“I would think so,” replies Scar. “They
would want to maintain a presence there strong enough to project
strength. It’s always better to barter from a position of
strength.”

“True enough,” agrees Stig.

Later in the day they see people and wagons
passing across the horizon ahead of them. “I figure that would be
the road that runs north out of Korazan,” observes Shorty.

“Do you think it wise for us to be anywhere
near here?” asks Jiron. “After all, Illan came through here not too
long ago and caused major damage.”

“With everyone’s focus on the talks going on
further north,” reasons James, “who will think twice about us?”

“Maybe those riders coming straight for us?”
Everyone turns to see the half a dozen riders coming from the east.
There’s no doubt that they mean to intercept their party. From
their armor and the Empire’s emblem on their uniforms, there’s
little question about who they are.

“Everyone stay cool,” says James. “Be on
your guard in case things go bad.”

“Look bored,” suggests Scar. “It will just
give them cause to inspect us closely if we appear like we are up
to something.”

“Good idea,” agrees Miko.

They come to a halt and wait for the arrival
of the riders. Reilin, whose outward visage projects calm and
nonchalance, puts himself between the approaching riders and the
others. Once the riders are close enough, he offers them a
greeting.

The lead soldier replies. Looking to be the
officer in charge of the group, he scans those behind Reilin. He
and Reilin exchange words several times before the officer and his
men ride off.

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief when the
riders have left. “What was that about?” asks Jiron.

“They were looking for escaped slaves,” he
explains.

“Could it have been Tinok?” Jiron asks.

“He didn’t say who or what they were,”
Reilin replies. “Just that they were loose and if we were to see
them to notify the nearest garrison as to their location.”

Jiron looks to James. “It could be,” he
says.

Nodding, James takes out his mirror and once
again tries to get a view of Tinok to appear. But just as last
time, the mirror remains quiet. “I don’t think it would be him,”
James tells the others. “If he was this close, I would get
something.”

“Unless there was magic blocking him from
being found,” offers Potbelly. “Sort of like what you did that one
time.”

“First of all, why would anyone go to the
trouble of hiding Tinok from magical searches?” asks James. “I
don’t think that would even be a possibility. Second, if he was to
be hidden in such a way, I would never even be able to use the
cloth to find him either.”

“Oh yeah,” Potbelly says. “I forgot about
that.”

“But, just to put everyone’s mind at ease…”
he pulls out the cloth and once again, it rises to point the way to
where Tinok lies. It still indicates Tinok is somewhere to the
southwest.

“So, are we going to take the road?” asks
Jiron again.

“Yes,” James replies. “Just keep Reilin out
front in case we need to deal with someone.” Indicating the native
garb they are all wearing, “And we’ll blend in.”

“It did work with the riders,” chimes in
Shorty.

“Exactly,” states James. He sees the way
Jiron is looking and him curiously. “What?” he asks.

Shrugging, Jiron says, “This seems a bit
bold on your part. Usually you like to stay away and avoid
everyone.”

“No one’s out looking for us,” he replies.
“We’re not here to cause mischief so I think this time, boldness
will be the better way to go. Besides, if we tried to avoid
everyone, our search for Tinok could take longer than we have.” So
moving like they belong here, they head over to the road and turn
to follow it south.

The people traveling upon the road barely
even glance at them as they gain the roadway, those going north
give them a cursory glance, more to break up the monotony of travel
than really caring who they are. The people they pass heading south
at times give them a greeting that Reilin returns, but for the most
part they keep to themselves.

“Sure looks different than when we came
through here earlier this summer,” observes Shorty.

Scar chuckles and says, “Yeah, everyone was
running for their lives.”

James isn’t amused at all. Fear. Any kind of
fear is a bad thing and to have been one to instigate it is nothing
to be proud of. They did what they had to for the Empire to be
pushed out of Madoc. He isn’t proud of the effect it had on the
common man, but at least it wasn’t as bad as the effect the Empire
had on the common man during their push into Madoc.

They keep a good pace throughout the day.
Twice more they are stopped momentarily by patrols on the hunt for
the missing slaves. From what Reilin gathered from the two
meetings, the slaves are vicious, armed and likely to kill you as
look at you. Numbering fourteen, they have supposedly killed dozens
of unwary travelers on the road.

“Think we should be concerned?” Miko
asks.

“They would have to be pretty desperate to
take us on,” Jiron states. “There are other more tempting targets
they could choose.”

“Just keep our eyes and ears open for
trouble,” James announces. “Keep a double watch at night just in
case.”

They fall silent as they ride, each thinking
about the significance of the escaped slaves. Some think it could
possibly be people taken from Madoc during the war trying to get
home. Others are of the belief they are criminals out for
vengeance.

From where Scar and Potbelly ride, James can
hear them talking.

“…probably some old people who got lost…”
Scar says.

“…rumors get, as it goes from person to
person it continuously gets blown all out of…” adds Scar.

James grins. If there is anyone who blows
things out of proportion, it’s those two.

By sundown they reach a town. They recognize
it as the last town Illan’s force took before heading out into the
desert to avoid the fortress of Al-Ziron. It looks pretty much as
they had left it. The few buildings which took damage during the
assault are even now being repaired.

“Best if we don’t stay here,” suggests
James.

Nodding, Jiron replies, “That would be a
good idea. Never know if someone may recognize us.”

“Not to mention they are going to be extra
leery of strangers,” pipes up Shorty.

“If memory serves,” Stig says, “we passed by
an inn not too far south of here on our way north.”

“That’s right,” agrees Scar. “Three of our
freed slaves made off with several casks of ale. That is before
Illan found out. After returning the ale, he gave the men five
lashes for ‘thieving without authorization’ or something like
that.”

“I remember,” says Shorty. “He gave them the
option of keeping the casks and sending them off on their own, or
they could return them and receive five lashes.”

Laughing, Potbelly bursts out, “You should
have seen their faces! I think one was actually contemplating
keeping his cask but the other two talked him out of it. They
didn’t relish the idea of being made slaves again for a single cask
of ale each.”

“You guys didn’t interact with the innkeeper
did you?” he asks. They all reply that they hadn’t. “Good,”
continues James. “Then let’s stop there.”

With Reilin out front, they move to enter
the town. The rest of them pull their hoods closer about them to
better hide their faces. The town has no protective wall
surrounding it, the road simply passes through the outlying
buildings.

Evidence of their recent occupation is
evident. The sight of slaves walking the street is practically
nonexistent. On his way out of the Empire, Illan stripped the towns
of their slaves, both to bolster his own army and that James had
asked it of him.

As they make their way through the city, the
people appear to have gotten over the effects of the occupation and
have returned to business as usual. A few glance at them as they
ride by but none give them more than a cursory glance. At one spot
they come to a building that must have been torched during the
occupation, the smell of char is still in the air even after so
long.

Out front of the burned out building is an
old man dressed poorly sitting cross-legged with a bowl on the
ground before him. A couple coppers rest in the bottom of the bowl.
Feeling the need to help, James removes a silver from his pouch and
flips it toward the beggar as he rides by. When the coin sails
through the air and comes close to the old man, his arm shoots up
and snatches the coin. Putting the coin quickly within his meager
clothes, he nods a thank you to James.

James returns the nod with a slight smile
and continues on his way. Before the rest of the others pass by the
old man, other coins are flipped to him as well. All toll, they
must have given the old man over two silver’s worth of coins.

“It might not help him get off the streets,”
James comments to Jiron, “but it might make his life more bearable
for awhile.”

“True,” nods Jiron. He’s come to realize
that ever since he first met James, he’s developed an appreciation
for the world and his place in it that he hadn’t had before. When
he was still in the City of Light and fighting in the Pits, he
didn’t care much for others or how they may feel. But since joining
with James and having him do ‘good things’ for no other reason than
to do them, he’s come to understand that there is more to life than
simply surviving.

Another way that James has affected him is
in the way he no longer sees killing as a solution. If the
circumstances warrant it, he will end someone’s life in the blink
of an eye. But now, he questions more closely whether he must
resort to that or not.

Continuing on their way, they finally make
it past the last of the buildings on the south side of town. “The
inn’s about an hour away,” Shorty states.

Nodding, James casts a quick look at the
setting sun. It’ll be getting dark about the time they get there,
which suits him nicely.

The sun sets and twilight begins setting in
by the time the group of buildings of which the inn is a part
appears ahead of them. Within the cluster of buildings, they see a
sign of a tankard of ale which must indicate a tavern as well as
another bearing a sign of a wagon with a load full of goods.
Obviously, this place caters to those traveling upon the road.

Stopping before the only three story
building here, they see a sign of a flowing river passing
underneath a bed. This must be the inn. They send Reilin inside to
get their rooms, who returns several minutes later.

He got five rooms with enough beds for all
of them. Around back they find the stables and after getting their
horses settled in, they head up to their rooms. As they pass
through the common room, the sound of a bard comes to them and they
see a rather young balladeer entertaining a full common room. The
song the bard is playing is one James has heard Perrilin playing on
a different occasion oh so long ago.

Moving to the stairs, they pass up to the
second floor and turn down the hallway. Two lanterns hang from
hooks in the ceiling to light their way as Reilin takes them all
the way to the end. “Thought being on the end might afford us a
little more quiet,” he says.

“Probably will,” agrees James. He and Jiron
take one room while the others divide themselves among the others.
Brother Willim and Miko take a room for themselves. Seems Miko has
taken to having discussions with Brother Willim about being a
priest as well as other things dealing with the priesthood. Aleya’s
room, which she gets all to herself, is situated in between the one
James and Jiron are in and the one Miko shares with Brother Willim.
The others are on the opposite side of the hallway.

Once settled in, Reilin goes down and has a
meal of roast goat, bread and a variety of vegetables sent up to
their rooms. After the meal they are soon to bed for they plan an
early start in the morning. James hits the bed, glad not to have to
sleep again on the ground. No matter how many times he does, he
will never find it even remotely comfortable. Jiron blows out the
candle before getting to bed and they are soon asleep.