“Thanks,” he tells him then heads into the forest.
He finds Illan further in where he’s talking with Errin. When he sees James coming, he says one last thing to Errin before she heads off into the forest. He then turns and walks toward James.
“Jiron’s on the road, riding hard,” James informs him. “Couldn’t determine exactly where though.” As Illan comes abreast of him, James turns and walks with him out of the forest. “I’m thinking he’s coming back here to give us word about the mercenaries.”
“Most likely,” Illan agrees. “We’ll know soon enough. When he returns, we’ll have a better idea what’s going on and then we’ll know what we’re going to need to do.”
As they exit the forest, they see Ezra standing out by the kitchen door. When she sees them, she signals for them that breakfast is ready. James gives her a nod and heads over there.
“I’ll be along in a few minutes,” Illan tells him. “I just need to find Moyil and then I’ll join you.”
“Alright,” James says. Illan angles away from him to proceed around the house as they draw near. The sound of hammering can be heard from the construction sight as the builders resume working on the house. He wonders if it’s a good idea to have them here with what may be coming their way. Perhaps it’s better to give the appearance of normalcy so the attackers won’t think they’re ready for them.
Entering the kitchen, he finds Jace, Orry and Devin seated at the table, first time any of the recruits have sat there. They’re all waiting for him, Ezra must’ve already instructed them in the proper etiquette when eating at the master’s table. Once he’s seated and has begun to spoon eggs on his plate, they begin grabbing serving bowls and platters.
“Seen anything?” he asks them after swallowing his first bite.
“Nothing,” replies Devin.
“What’s going on exactly?” Orry asks.
Glancing at him, James replies, “I’ve made some enemies and we’ve gotten word some may be on their way to try to kill me.”
“That’s dumb,” Jace exclaims.
“Why is that dumb?” James asks him.
“Trying to kill a mage, I mean,” he says. “One spell from you and they’re toast.” The other recruits nod their heads at what he said.
“It’s not as easy as that,” he explains to them. Just then, the door opens up and Illan walks in. “Did you find him?” he asks him.
Illan takes his seat and while he begins filling his plate, he replies, “Yes I did, everyone’s accounted for.” He glances around the table and when he doesn’t see Miko, asks, “Is he still sleeping?
James nods his head. “He was up pretty late last night.”
Just then, they hear the sound of a horse racing down the lane toward the house. “Jiron!” he exclaims as he comes to his feet and practically runs through the front room to the door. He hurries outside as Jiron brings his horse to a stop.
Dismounting, Jiron comes over to him and says, “I found them.”
“Where?” Illan asks from the doorway before James can get the words out.
“They spent the night in Osgrin and headed out this morning,” he tells them. “It didn’t seem that they were in all that much of a hurry, though. When I saw they were taking the road to Trendle, I came back as fast as I could.”
“How many were there?”
James motions him to come inside as he answers. “Twenty one. The party that left Osgrin had eighteen men at arms as well as two wagons. Couldn’t tell what was in the wagons, but one was being driven by a single man, the other had a man and a woman.”
“A woman?” Illan asks as they return to the kitchen where they all take their seats at the table.
“Yeah,” Jiron replies as he begins helping himself to the food. “She didn’t have the look of a fighter.”
“Maybe a mage?” James asks.
Shrugging, Jiron says, “Maybe.”
“I want you and young Devin here to go back and find them,” Illan tells Jiron. “If anything develops that we need to know about, send Devin back.”
Devin gets an excited look in his eye when he hears that he’ll be going with Jiron on a ‘mission’.
Turning to James, Illan continues, “I think we should stand everyone down seeing as how an attack is not imminent.”
“You know best,” he says.
The rest of the meal goes fairly quickly, Jiron hurries and eats so he can return to find them. As soon as Devin is done, Illan has him go out to the stable and get two horses saddled and ready for when Jiron is finished eating.
After Devin’s left, James says to Jiron, “You be careful.”
“I will,” he assures him. “They’ve probably not come too far along by now, the wagons are going to slow them down. They’re most likely going to reach Trendle sometime before nightfall.” Scooping up the last of the food from his plate, he stands up and makes to leave.
“Good luck,” Illan says to him.
“Thanks,” he replies and then goes outside to where Devin sits on his horse waiting for him. Once mounted, they quickly ride down the lane to the road where they break into a gallop as they head toward the advancing party.
Chapter Eleven
They caught up with the men and wagons an hour past Trendle. Jiron and Devin continued at a gallop past the mercenaries. When they were far enough beyond them that they were no longer visible, they turned around and followed them at a discreet distance, keeping them just within visual range.
“What are we going to do?” Devin asks.
“Follow them and see what they plan to do,” he replies. “When we know, I’ll have you ride back and alert the others as to what’s going on.”
Devin nods his head, excited at the prospect of being the one to bring back word.
The group continues traveling at a steady pace, reaching Trendle several hours past noon. Without pausing they make their way through town and continue on past, crossing over the river Kelewan. At a clearing a mile past the river they pull off the road and appear to be settling in for the night.
“Don’t you think it’s too early for travelers to stop for the night?” asks Devin.
Glancing at him, Jiron nods and says, “Yes, unless you’ve reached your destination.” He looks at the group settling into the clearing, his unease growing. Once Jiron has determined that they definitely plan to camp there, he sends Devin back to The Ranch with word. Leaving his horse a good ways away, he moves closer and finds a concealed spot from which to keep an eye on them.
The clearing they’re in is one in which Delia has used on occasion with her caravan whenever she stopped for a visit. Lately though, she’s just gone to The Ranch itself with her wagons.
Tents begin to spring up and two campfires are made, one near the wagons and the tents the civilians are using. The other is further away where most of the mercenaries congregate.
After watching the clearing from the cover of the trees for several minutes, he sees Ceryn, the forest warden in these parts, walk out of the trees on the other side of the camp. Jiron immediately gets ready for trouble but none is forthcoming. The civilians hail him as he enters their camp and waves for him to come over and sit by their fire. Strange.
Ceryn shakes his head, and says something to them, but Jiron’s just too far away from them to be able to hear what’s being said. The woman suddenly stands up and gives Ceryn a hug and a peck on the cheek. A few more words are exchanged before Ceryn begins leaving the camp as he makes for the road.
Jiron quietly makes his way through the trees as he moves to intercept Ceryn. Before he even reaches the edge of the treeline, Ceryn says, “You can come out now, Jiron.”
Surprised that he even knew he was there, Jiron comes the rest of the way out of the trees and joins him on the road.
“So, what brings you out spying?” Ceryn asks as he gestures behind them to the camp. He resumes walking down the road away from the clearing with Jiron right beside him.
“We were told they mea
nt to come and kill James,” he explains.
Stopping dead in his tracks, Ceryn turns his full attention on him and asks, “Who told you that?” The expression on his face is one of slightly controlled anger.
“Miko,” he replies.
“Miko?” Ceryn asks. “James’ friend?”
“That’s’ the one.”
“Now why would he think that?” he asks.
Jiron then relates all Miko had told him of the conversations that he’d overheard back in Osgrin. When he’s done, Ceryn begins breaking out in laughter as he again continues down the road.
“What’s so funny?” Jiron asks as he moves to stay with him.
“That war party you think is encamped back in that clearing is in fact a betrothal one,” he says, smiling.
“What?” Jiron asks, now quite confused.
“They’re escorting the young lady to Wurt where she’ll be married to the son of an old friend.” He holds up his hand to stop any more questions as he continues. “She’s sort of my niece in a way, though not blood related or anything like that,” he explains. “This union has been arranged for many years.”
“But they’re from the Empire!” he states.
“True, but that doesn’t make them evil,” he says. “They’re just people.”
Jiron walks for a minute in silence as he assimilates all this information. Then he starts to laugh, “Wait until I tell them about this.”
“I’d love to go with you to see their reaction,” Ceryn tells him, “but I’m already overdue at the mayor’s home. I just had to swing by here to say hello and give her my best wishes.”
Still chuckling, Jiron says, “Thanks for telling me about them.” With a wave, he leaves Ceryn on the road as he makes his way through the forest back to where his horse is waiting. Wait until James and Illan hear about this. They’ll probably skin Miko alive! Then he starts laughing all over again.
Upon reaching his horse, he mounts up and heads back to The Ranch. He comes out of the forest and makes his way onto the road, then heads back to Trendle. Once over the bridge, he takes a short cut around the town along a little known way through the forest, finally coming out near James’ workshop.
The place seems surprisingly quiet, he looks around and doesn’t see anyone. Not wanting to take the time to unsaddle his horse, he ties it near the back door to the kitchen and goes in.
“Wait until you guys hear…” he stops what he was saying when he sees Ezra and Roland sitting at the table with little Arkie playing with the teddy bear on the floor beside them. “Where is everyone?” he asks.
“Went to find you,” Roland says.
Tersa comes in from the other room when she hears his voice. “Thank goodness you’re okay!” she cries as she runs over and gives him a hug.
He disengages from her and asks, “What’s going on?”
“When Devin came back and told everyone where the men from the Empire had camped,” Roland explains, “Illan took everyone and headed over to deal with it. He felt it prudent not to wait for the attack, but to fight while we have the advantage of surprise.”
Suddenly overcome with dread, he asks, “They’re going to attack them?” When he sees everyone’s nod, he swears and then runs out the door to his horse.
“What’s wrong?” Tersa cries out as she follows him out.
“They’re not here to attack!” he exclaims. “They’re on their way to a wedding. The woman is the bride.”
“Oh, no!” she cries out.
Jiron vaults onto his horse and races down the lane to the road. This way is much faster at a gallop than the short cut would’ve been. At the end of the lane, the ever present guard isn’t there either. Illan must’ve taken everyone with him. Don’t attack! he cries out silently. Then, from over where the clearing lies, he can see bright bursts of light exploding in the air.
James! No!
As they ride through town, James asks Illan for the third time, “Are you sure we need to attack them?” It took some convincing from Illan for him to even agree to this venture.
“If they are here to kill you, then attacking with the element of surprise is our best bet,” he explains. In fact, he’s explained this more than once since leaving The Ranch for the clearing. Everyone knows of James’ reluctance to kill, but there are times when it’s necessary.
They ride through the center of town, the locals stop what they’re doing when they see who it is. Some of them call out to their new recruits who just sit taller in the saddle, basking in the notoriety of just being in the same company as ‘the mage’.
James hates the stares, but knows there’s not a whole lot he can do about it. When word gets out about this escapade, there’ll probably be even more in the way of gawkers coming by The Ranch.
Once past the town, they increase their speed and ride quickly until they’re about a half mile away from the clearing where Devin told them the party was encamped. Illan has them stop and walk their horses a ways into the trees before tying their reins to the branches.
“This way no one will come along and ‘borrow’ our horses while we’re dealing with the assassins,” Illan explains.
They move back to the edge of the trees by the road and follow it toward the clearing. When they begin to see their campfires ahead of them, Illan has them move into the trees. Taking it slowly and quietly, they make their way through the trees toward the clearing. As the clearing begins to be visible through the trees, he has everyone stay where they are while he and James approach closer. Getting within several yards of where the trees end at the clearing, they stop and crouch down as they watch those within the clearing.
The mercenaries are congregating around the far campfire while the two men and the lady stay by the one near the wagons. They can hear them talking in the speech of the Empire, but neither James nor Illan understand it.
“They don’t look like they’re preparing an assault,” James whispers.
“No, they don’t,” Illan says.
One of the men begins preparing their dinner as he brings out a large cook pot and fills it with water from a barrel in the back of one of their wagons. Setting it on the fire, he returns to the wagon where he obtained the water and removes a large, bulging sack. Removing his knife, he opens the sack and pulls out a large tuber and then begins slicing it into the cook pot.
Over at the other campfire, similar preparations are in progress as well. Most of them actually have their armor removed and stacked on the other wagon.
“Do you think Miko could have been mistaken?” James asks Illan.
“I don’t know,” he says. “I still don’t like the fact they’re from the Empire.”
“Cardri’s not at war with them,” James reminds him. “They could just be traveling through, or even merchants.”
Illan doesn’t look convinced. They sit there a couple more minutes observing them when from behind them, they hear a twig snap as Miko approaches.
James glances to the clearing, fearful they may have heard. With relief, he doesn’t see any indication that they heard.
“Well?” Miko asks as he joins them.
“Are you sure they were coming after James?” Illan asks him.
“Yes, I am,” he replies. “Why?”
James gestures to the clearing and says, “Just look at them.” When Miko looks, he continues, “They’re not acting as if they plan to attack. I also haven’t felt anything that would lead me to believe one of them is a mage.”
“Did they actually mention James by name?” asks Illan.
Miko thinks back and then shakes his head, “No, not by name. But they said they were going to kill someone to the north. Who else could it be?”
“I don’t think they plan anything here,” James says, glancing to Illan.
“I tend to agree,” Illan says, giving Miko an annoyed look. “But to be on the safe side, we should leave someone here to keep an eye on them just in case.”
Suddenly from the campsite, the woman calls o
ut and one of the mercenaries gets up and goes over to a wagon. He reaches in and picks up a small wooden chest and begins carrying it over to her.
All talking ceases as James and the other two watch what’s going on.
The guard’s foot suddenly snags on an exposed root, causing him to lose his balance and the chest flies out of his hands. The woman gasps as the chest hits the ground, the lid flying open. A dozen small tubes spill out, three of which land in the fire.
“No!” she cries as she dives away from the fire.
James gets to his feet, his eyes riveted on the tubes in the fires. Suddenly, one of them explodes in a green flash sending embers flying in all directions. Another one goes off and they watch as a trail of sparks rises into the sky and then explodes in a brilliant yellow ball.
“Magic!” he hears someone behind him exclaim.
The trees near the edge of the camp begin to catch fire from the embers thrown by the first explosion. When the third tube explodes, it sends a yellowish-orange spray of sparks toward one of their wagons. Its canvas cover begins smoking as many pinpoint fires spring to life.
The woman scrambles back to the spilled tubes and hastily replaces them in the chest while her guards rush to remove the now burning canvas from the wagon.
Without even thinking, James runs toward the edge of the clearing and begins stomping upon the growing flames, trying to put them out before they spread. Illan and the others join him as they use feet, shirts, and water bottles to slow the fire.
The guards succeed in getting the canvas off the wagon just as it bursts into flames. Throwing it to the side, it lands in the middle of the clearing where it’s quickly consumed.
Smoke fills the clearing from the fires that are beginning to be brought under control. The woman closes the lid on the chest after the remaining tubes have been placed inside and that’s when she notices James’ group at the edge of the clearing stomping on the remnants of the fire.
She calls out and her guards, some with swords drawn, place themselves between her and James.
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