The Unsuspecting Mage (43 page)

The man hits the ground at a roll and is on his feet not far from where James is standing. He looks at James and then glances back at the cavalry rapidly approaching. The man reaches into his shirt and then puts something into his mouth. A second later he grips his stomach and falls over to the ground, not moving.

“What happened to him?” Miko asks.

“He’s poisoned himself,” says James. “Guess he didn’t want to be taken captive.” They stand still and wait until the cavalry approaches.

“Stay where you are!” one of the men commands as the riders approach. Several hold lances and lower them, covering James and Miko. The riders encircle the pair, leaving an opening to allow another rider to pass through their ranks. This rider is an older man, with hair turning slightly gray at the edges. His uniform is of better quality than those of the others.
Must be an officer,
James thinks to himself.

“Now, who might you two be?” he asks when he draws close, looking down from the back of his horse.

James answers, “My name is James and this is my friend Miko.”

When he hears their names, he nods and says to one of his men on his right, “Lieutenant, see to the dead riders and send out scouts. I want to know where they are and fast.”

“Yes, sir,” replies the man next to him who then turns and begins to bark out orders.

Turning back to James and Miko, the leader dismounts and hands his reins to another rider. “Greetings James, I am Captain Varos of the King’s cavalry.” He extends his hand and James shakes it. “So, would you happen to know someone by the name of Rylin?” he asks.

“As a matter of fact we do, Captain,” James replies. “We helped him rescue two ladies from bandits earlier.”

“Thought you might be them,” he explains. “We ran into him and the ladies back at the caravan. They said you had gone in pursuit of another group of bandits that had taken off with their horses.”

Nodding, James says, “That is correct. We found them too, but they had met up with a larger band and any chance of recovering the stolen horses was gone.”

“Oh? How many were there? Where did you see them?” he asks intently.

“There were over fifty men and their camp was further south, about ten miles or so,” James explains. “But they had begun breaking camp about the time when we began to follow them.” He gestures to the dead men. “I think the main body was probably going to head south, though I am not positive.”

”Lieutenant!” the officer bellows.

The lieutenant comes over to him, “Sir!”

“These men say their encampment was about ten miles to the south and that they broke camp not too long ago, possibly heading south. Send the scouts out in that direction and have the men ready to ride in five minutes.”

“Yes, sir, Captain!” the lieutenant salutes and proceeds to carry out the orders.

Another rider comes up and salutes, “Captain, we searched the bodies but found nothing on them. One looks like he was poisoned.”

“Very good,” the captain replies and the man goes back to his duties. “Poisoned?” the captain asks when he turns his attention back to James.

“When I knocked his horse down with a rock, the man came to his feet. He glanced at you and your men coming and then reached into his pocket and ate something. Shortly after that he fell over dead.”

“Too bad, would have liked to have questioned him,” the Captain says.

The lieutenant returns and reports, “Captain, the men are ready.”

The man who was holding the captain’s horse brings it and the captain mounts. Turning to James he says, “Thank you for your help.” To his men he says, “Let’s ride!” and they race southward at a gallop.

Watching them ride out of sight, Miko asks, “Should we follow?”

Shaking his head, James replies, “I don’t think so.” He glances over at the dead bodies and then mounts his horse, Miko does the same. “There is likely to be a battle when they meet and I would rather not be around when it happens.” Getting up to speed quickly, they head northward until the sun starts dipping below the horizon.

Once the light begins to fade, they make camp. After having a quick dinner of rations and then lay out under the stars as they watch the night sky slowly darken, until only the light from the fire is all that remains to keep the darkness at bay. The stars form a brilliant pattern in the heavens above. “Look!” Miko cries out as a shooting star leaves a blazing trail across the night sky, slowly dissipating into nothingness.

“That’s an omen,” he says.

“Hardly,” James rebuts. “That is simply a rock falling out of the sky, hitting the atmosphere and the friction caused by its speed through the air burns it up which causes a blazing trail.”

Turning on his side, James says, “Not everything has to mean something. Sometimes things occur and that is all there is to it. I am sure that something somewhere is happening to someone that could be called extraordinary. But I am sure that it would be happening even without a sign from above.”

“Don’t you believe in signs and omens?” Miko asks him.

“No, not really,” James explains. “Everything has an explanation, if you just know all the facts about it. It’s when you see only part of whatever is happening that you create mystical and often implausible meanings behind them. I know that rocks are flying through space out there all the time and that they do occasionally fall to earth, creating a blazing trail across the heavens.”

Not looking very convinced, Miko argues, “The gods are always sending omens and portents, we just have to be alert and understand them when they are happening.”

Thinking about magic and the things he’s seen since coming here to this world, he says, “Perhaps you do have a point, and I’ll concede that it may actually be a sign sent from above for a specific purpose. But since we have no way to know what, where, or who, I doubt if it’s going to do us much good.”

“I suppose you’re right about that,” Miko agrees. Changing the subject, he asks, “Are we going to see how Rylin and the women are making out?”

“I think so,” James replies. “At least we will tell them what is happening with their horses. They may get them back if the Captain is successful in battle. At least he knows who they belong to.”

“Do you really think there will be a battle?” Miko asks.

“Perhaps,” James answers. “The Captain can’t just let them get away with attacks on civilians within their borders, so if he thinks he can win the day, then I’m sure he will attack. And if not, then who knows what he will do, maybe send for reinforcements so he can launch a successful attack. We may never know.”

“Think we’ll find what you’re looking for over in Madoc around the Sea of the Gods?” he asks.

“I really don’t know,” James says, “but it is all I have to go on. Hopefully we can find out something more in Trademeet before we head through the pass. Maybe someone there will have some recollection of hearing a story or tale from their grandparents about it. We’ll see.”

Getting up, James goes over to the fire and adds a few more sticks to it then returns to his blanket on the ground. “We better get some sleep, we have a ways to go tomorrow and I’m tired.” He lies down and pulls the blanket over him to keep the coolness of the night away.

“Good night, James,” Miko says.

“You too, Miko,” replies James. They both lie there for a while, just listening to the night and slowly drift off to sleep.

_______________________

Early the next morning finds them on their way back to the road where they originally found the raided caravan. After several hours of riding, the road appears ahead of them in the distance but there is no sign of the caravan.

“Probably,” James replies, “but it might be better not to use magic for a while, I’m getting kind of worn out from doing so much of it.” Thinking for a bit, he makes his decision, “We’ll head in the direction of Trademeet and if we don’t find them, then at least we will be heading in the right direction for where we want to go.”

“I suppose we could leave a message for them there, letting them know what’s going on,” says Miko.

“Good idea, we’ll do that,” he agrees. Turning their horses east, they set off at a canter, slowly eating away the distance.

Around noon they reach the spot where the caravan had been raided. Yesterday’s rain hadn’t been able to remove all traces of the blood soaked into the ground from the bandit’s attack as yet. And a hundred feet or so off the road rose a mound of fresh turned earth.

Indicating the mound James says, “Must be where they buried the bodies of the guards and drivers.”

“Looks like it,” Miko agrees. “Guess they managed to hook the bandits’ horses up to the wagons and are already on their way to Trademeet.”

“Hope so,” says James. “It shouldn’t take us too much longer to catch up with them, I would think.”

Riding fast, they leave the area of the battle and hurry down the road. They didn’t get far before a lone rider appears on the road ahead approaching them from the east. When he draws near, James slows and greets him, “Good day to you sir.”

The man slows as well and stares suspiciously at James all the while resting his hand upon the pommel of his sword. “Good day to you as well,” the man replies, not relaxing his grip on his sword.

“We were wondering if you could tell us if you had passed a caravan further down the road, heading east?” he asks. “There would have been a man and two women in charge of it.”

“Aye,” the man replies. “I passed a caravan some time earlier this morning. It had an escort of the kings’ soldiers with it, if that be the one you’re referring to.”

“Have a safe journey,” James says to the man as he starts down the road again. Glancing back, he can see that the man remains still as he watches them depart before turning and continues on his way.

“Not a very friendly sort, was he?” Miko asks.

“Alone in the middle of nowhere is not a place to be too trusting,” James explains. “Especially not when you are outnumbered two to one.”

“I agree that she is cute. However, I believe Rylin is in love with her and you wouldn’t want him to mark you as a rival for her affections,” James cautions.

“I’ll admire her from afar,” Miko states. Seeing the look on James’ face he adds, “Silently.”

“See that you do,” he says, with a little extra emphasis on the word
do
.

They continue to make good time and shortly before sunset a large camp with many wagons and tents appears alongside the road ahead. When they draw closer, Rylin emerges from the bustle of the camp and comes forward to greet them.

“James! Miko! How glad I am to see you,” he exclaims as he comes up to James and shakes his hand with enthusiasm.

Dismounting, James says, “Sorry we were unable to retrieve your horses, but the bandits joined with a larger force and we couldn’t risk it.”

Joining the conversation, Miko says, “Captain Varos took off after them though. He may return the horses to you.”

“So you ran into the Captain, did you?” Rylin asks. “He was kind enough to offer us an escort into Trademeet and then set off after the bandits. We told him you may be around.”

Walking their horses into camp, James sees Sheila and her mother, Shawna, getting the wagons positioned and the horses taken care of. Some of the soldiers are lending their aid in getting everything situated properly. They tie their horses near the wagons and then walk over to where the ladies are busy removing the last of the tack from the horses.

“Sheila!” Rylin hollers over to her as they approach. She turns and sees him approaching with James and Miko. Placing the tack on the wagon, she turns to her mother and says, “Mother, Look! James and Miko are back.”

Pulling the saddle off the horse, Shawna looks over and gives them a smile in greeting before placing the saddle on the wagon. Giving the horse into the care of one of the soldiers, she comes over to them, saying, “We weren’t sure whether or not we would see you again. I’m glad you made it back safely.”

“We ran into some unforeseen problems,” James said.

With concern on her face she asks, “Like what?”

“The bandits had met with another group and together, were a force too strong for us to be able to do anything,” he explains. “We decided it was too risky to try to retrieve your horses.”