Shades of the past ms-6

by Brian S. Pratt

  The headache has subsided to a dull throb. He feels a little bit rested and able to continue, though the thought of using magic makes his headache throb even more. “Doubt if I could do anything if we were to be attacked,” he says. Getting to his feet, he says, “But I am fit enough to walk without your support.”

  “Good,” he says as he comes to him. “Then let’s get out of here.” He moves past James and crosses over to the corridor. There he pauses and glances back to make sure James is following before leaving the room.

  He proceeds down the corridor until he comes to where another corridor crosses the one they’re in. Remembering the way from last time, he takes the corridor to the right. They don’t go far before coming to the three skeletons of the dead priests lying on the floor. The whole area of the corridor has been blackened as if by fire.

  Jiron steps over the skeletons and continues down the corridor. He stops when he realizes James isn’t following him. Looking back he finds him standing before the skeletons, staring at them. He starts back toward him when he hears James exclaim, “I got it!”

  “What?” Jiron asks as he rejoins him by the skeletons.

  Reaching into his pouch, he removes the amulet he acquired here the last time. Emblazoned with the symbol of the warrior priest, he holds it up and shows it to Jiron.

  “So?” he asks. Puzzled as to why James is standing there with a wide grin, he waits.

  “Don’t you see,” he says as he shakes the amulet slightly, “this is the key!” He looks to Jiron as if that should explain it all. When Jiron shrugs that he isn’t following him, he adds, “The dais. This is what triggered the teleportation.”

  “Still not sure I’m following you,” admits Jiron.

  “Do you remember me telling you about my time in the City of Light before it fell?” he asks. When he sees Jiron nod he continues. “Ol’ One Eye was sure interested in this when he found it in my possession, said it ‘changed things’. I didn’t understand it at the time but it makes sense now.”

  “Also, back in Mountainside when we were taken into the jail back when Tinok and Cassie were still with us, the officer there was mighty interested in it as well. I think it’s no small coincidence that the dais sent us here. After all, this is where it belonged.”

  “So…” Jiron begins as he tries to work this out. Shaking his head he says, “I still don’t understand.”

  Holding the amulet up before him he says, “This is a portal key! It activates the magic in the dais. That’s why we ended up here, it’s keyed to the dais below. When we jumped on the dais back in that other place, it sensed this key and sent us here.”

  “But, why didn’t we come here first then?” he asks.

  “I don’t know,” he admits. There his reasoning breaks down. He considers it for a minute then says, “But the fact that I found the amulet here and that we were ultimately sent here has to be connected in some way. It could be that each key is set for a specific temple and will always return the wearer to that temple.”

  He can see the doubt in Jiron’s eyes. “Of course,” he tells him, “the only way to test the theory is to take another ride through the portal.”

  Jiron laughs at that. “I don’t think so,” he says shaking his head.

  “I agree,” James states.

  “Can we go now?” asks Jiron.

  With a nod of his head, James indicates for him to lead on. As he follows Jiron, a memory of what he told Aleya during their last visit when she had asked about the amulet: “Maybe it was only given to a priest once they achieved a certain level of the temple hierarchy,” he had suggested. “Simply having one may have afforded them some privilege or it could’ve been a sign of rank or trust as well.” If that is the case, then only the higher ranking priests would have access to the portal, which would make sense.

  Jiron continues to lead until they come to where another corridor converges with the one they’re in. James shines the light of the orb down the left to reveal the cave-in they ran across last time. Knowing they are on the right path, Jiron continues straight ahead.

  Twenty feet or so they come to another cave-in. A space just large enough for a man to crawl through has been cleared at the top of the obstruction. The last time they were here, they had crawled through that hole and found themselves out among the trees on the mountainside. Taking a look at the ground on this side of the cave-in, they find impressions in the dirt from where they previously rested until it had grown dark outside.

  Jiron immediately goes to the opening and crawls a short way through before stopping. He pauses a moment before coming back inside. “It’s dark,” he says.

  “That’s fortunate,” comments James and indicates for Jiron to continue on through to the other side.

  He cancels the orb before he follows Jiron through the hole. It takes his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness before he’s able to see the moonlight filtering in through the opening. Making his way through he finds the half moon to be high overhead. Jiron offers him a hand as he crawls out and helps him to his feet.

  “Now,” he says, “let’s see about finding our way back to the others.”

  Chapter Twenty Six

  They work their way along the mountainside toward the south. Somewhere ahead in the dark lies the road running along the southern edge of the mountains which will take them toward Madoc. The last time they came this way, there was a sizeable presence of the enemy along the road.

  It doesn’t take them long to reach the road leading down from the summit, appearing in the moonlight ahead of them. Carefully looking in both directions, they determine the road is empty. With Jiron in the lead they move onto the road.

  Traveling upon the road affords them much better speed than forging their way through the forest. “We need to find a couple of horses,” James whispers.

  “I know,” comes the all but silent reply.

  The road takes them quickly down the mountainside. It isn’t long before the lights from the encampment of the Empire’s soldiers at the base of the mountain come into view. The number of campfires indicates there isn’t nearly the number of men there were the last time they passed this way. “Maybe they don’t feel a large presence is warranted here,” suggests Jiron.

  “Could be,” agrees James. “Or they could have sent most of their force to deal with Illan and the others.”

  “That would make sense,” he says with a nod.

  They continue following the road until it begins to approach the perimeter of the enemy camp before moving into the shelter of the trees. Working their way through the hills at the base of the mountain, they make their way closer to the enemy lines. Pausing a moment upon the top of a hill overlooking the enemy camp, they have a commanding view of its layout. Off to their right they see where they have their horses kept.

  A series of stables have been built to keep their steeds out of the elements. Six structures with corrals adjacent to each stand in an area to the rear of their lines. In the corrals, horses are visible in the moonlight.

  They wait several minutes before descending the hill. Jiron points out four sentries as they make their way through toward the stable area. Two remain in and around the stables while the other two continue on toward the main camp. He waits for the two continuing on toward the camp to leave the area before making his move. When only one of the two remaining sentries is close, Jiron motions for James to stay on the hill. Receiving James’ nod, he makes his way down the hill and toward where the sentry is patrolling.

  James watches as the shadow that is Jiron moves toward the closest sentry, covering the distance quickly. He gets in behind the sentry and is within a dozen yards of him when the man suddenly turns in his patrol and begins heading back in Jiron’s direction. Ducking behind a tree, Jiron waits for his approach. A glint of moonlight flashes from the knife in Jiron’s hand.

  The sentry continues to approach, oblivious to the danger poising to strike behind the tree. His path doesn’t take him directly past the tre
e, rather five feet to one side. When the sentry draws even with the tree, Jiron slips around to the other side until he’s behind him once again. Moving fast, he closes the distance silently. Grabbing the sentry from behind, he strikes with his knife and then lowers the dying man to the ground, the whole incident happening without a sound.

  Jiron wipes his knife off on the man’s clothes and then moves toward the second sentry. The nearest stable is twenty feet away with an open area easily twenty feet wide. Running quickly and silently, Jiron makes the side of the stable and then presses his back against it. Listening for the other sentry’s position, he hears the man’s footsteps approaching from the right side of the stable. Moving quietly, he works his way to the right.

  The remaining sentry calls to the other as he nears the edge of the stable. Despite the fact the man is speaking in the Empire’s language, Jiron can tell by the inflection in his voice that he’s asking a question. As Jiron reaches the edge of the stable, the sentry again asks the question with a slight edge in his voice.

  Quickening his steps, the sentry reaches the edge of the stable. Just after he passes, Jiron jumps him from behind. Clamping his hand over the man’s mouth to prevent him from alerting the rest of the camp, he runs the edge of his knife across the man’s throat. Tossing the dying man to the ground, he turns toward the hill where James waits and waves. A minute later James joins him.

  “Let’s hurry,” urges James. Jiron gives him a nod.

  Jiron moves around the edge of the stable to the entrance and peers through the doorway. When he finds it empty, he signals James to follow as he enters. A light springs to life as James’ orb appears on his hand. Not nearly as bright as it usually is, it’s just bright enough for them to find the tack and saddle for two horses.

  Along the back wall they find all the items they need stacked on shelves. While Jiron gathers the tack, James removes two fine looking stallions from their stalls. One snickers and snorts as he brings them forth. “Easy boy,” he says reassuringly as he pats the nervous one’s neck.

  Working quickly, they soon have the horses saddled. James swings into the saddle while Jiron moves to the gate. He opens it a crack and looks out to be sure no other sentry is approaching. When he finds all is quiet, he swings the stable’s gate open and returns to the horses. Taking his horse’s reins, he leads him through the gate. Once James has left the stable, Jiron closes the gate and throws the bar to keep it closed. He then swings into the saddle. Unless someone stumbles upon the dead sentries, it’s unlikely anyone will realize something has happened before dawn. James cancels his orb before heading out.

  Moving quickly away from the buildings, they head southeast. Angling through the hills, they keep their distance from the enemy camp while they make for the road that will take them toward Madoc.

  When at last the road appears before them, Jiron dismounts and leaves his horse with James while he moves to the edge of the road. Last time there had been hidden sentries along this road, but then again, the last time the Empire had known they were on the way. He comes to a stop within the edge of the forest and gazes up and down the road. Scanning both directions for several minutes for any movement he is at last satisfied the road is deserted. He then returns back to his horse and mounts. “The road looks deserted,” he says in a whisper.

  “Then let’s get going,” replies James just as quietly.

  Jiron gets his horse moving and they’re soon out of the forest. They turn eastwards once they are on the road and quickly get their horses up to a canter. James casts glances back to the enemy camp in the distance as they ride but no shout arises or any other indication that they have been discovered. After awhile, the lights of the enemy’s encampment disappear in the dark.

  They ride for an hour or two before the sky begins to lighten with dawn’s approach. So far they haven’t encountered anyone else traveling upon the road and with any luck they won’t for some time.

  When the sun begins to peek over the horizon, Jiron examines the road closely. “I think horses passed this way recently,” he observes. When James glances to him he indicates the surface of the road.

  Even James’ untrained eye can see that hundreds of horses passed this way recently. The piles of dung the horses dropped when they passed don’t look more than two or three days old. His time of being around horses has given him plenty of experience to figure that out.

  “Then they have sent men to engage Illan,” James states.

  “Looks like it,” agrees Jiron. He points out several different tracks of wagon wheels as well as the footprints of foot soldiers. “Could be a sizeable force.”

  “If this is the only one, Illan should have little trouble,” observes James. “Two days…” Picturing the map of the area in his mind he tries to estimate the position of Illan and the rest of their friends. If this army passed through here only two days ago, they may not have had the time to reach them yet.

  Glancing to Jiron he sees he’s come to the same conclusion. They kick the sides of their horses and break into a gallop. Illan needs to be warned of this new threat.

  Riding hard through the morning, they come to where the road ends at Bindles just after noon. Another road passes through the town going north and south. During their earlier sojourn on their way to find Miko, they had passed through here in the guise of merchants. Delia had even managed to secure additional cargo bound for Korazan to give them more legitimacy.

  When the town appears before them, they slow down to look for any forces in the area. Not finding any, they continue to follow the road into town. Out of water and short on supplies they stop at the trader they visited on their last trip, the one Delia had acquired the cargo from. A sign hangs above the door depicting three barrels.

  Dismounting, they head for the front door. Just as before, the people on the streets barely give them more than a cursory look. Jiron reaches the door first and opens it. Upon entering they find the same merchant they dealt with the time before.

  The merchant looks up from where he was going over a ledger and sees them enter. “Good day to you sirs,” he says with a grin. Closing the ledger he comes over to them and asks, “How may I help you?”

  James was worried that he would recognize them but looking into his eyes can tell he doesn’t. “Additional water bottles and several days’ worth of travel rations,” he tells him.

  “And a mirror if you have one,” adds Jiron. Glancing at James he gets a nod of approval. He hadn’t thought to purchase a replacement for the one lost on the road.

  “Very good,” the merchant replies. He then goes over to a table with water bottles. “How many would you require?”

  “Two bottles each,” he says.

  The merchant picks up four bottles and takes them over to the counter. He then moves to another table containing packages of dried beef and cheese. Picking up an armful, he brings them over to the counter. “Will this be sufficient?” he asks as he places the packages next to the water bottles. “I’m sorry I don’t have much of a selection to offer, the soldiers bought almost everything and the caravan carrying my goods is overdue.

  Nodding, James says, “Yes, thank you.” He gives Jiron a knowing glance. The caravan in question may very well be one of the ones he secreted the explosive seeds in. The merchant may be waiting a long time before he sees his goods.

  The merchant moves behind his counter and produces three mirrors of varying sizes. James selects one that is only six inches by three and has a plain bronze frame. The merchant replaces the other mirrors and then adds the one selected to the rest of their items.

  “I heard that an army passed through here a day or two ago,” Jiron suddenly says.

  “That’s right,” the merchant replies. “There’s a rumor going around that Black Hawk has returned. But that is hardly possible.” Finishing bundling the items together he quotes a price to James who then hands over the required coins.

  “Oh?” asks James. “Why is that?”

  “He and his m
en were slaughtered years ago,” he states.

  Jiron casts a quick look to James who asks, “Are you sure?”

  “Well, I wasn’t there of course but that was the story going around at the time,” he explains. “Supposedly his men were destroyed by the Empire’s armies after some battle or other.”

  “Oh,” Jiron says with a barely concealed grin. “So what about the soldiers who passed through here?”

  “Well like I said, a rumor had been going around town for some time that Black Hawk had returned. I never gave it much credence, rumors seldom being reliable and all. But when the men who had been stationed at Kern passed through, they said the same thing. Apparently they are on their way to take out whoever this is. Probably someone stirring up trouble and using Black Hawk as a rallying cry or some other such nonsense.”

  “Yeah,” agrees James. Taking his newly bought goods from the counter, he turns for the door. “You wouldn’t happen to know which road they took out of town would you?”

  “Why?” the merchant asks.

  “We’re heading east and if there’s a battle about to be fought, we don’t want to be anywhere nearby when it does.”

  Nodding, the merchant says, “They took the south road.”

  “Thanks,” James says as he starts moving for the door. Jiron reaches the door first and opens it for him.

  “May your travels be safe ones,” offers the merchant.

  “Thank you,” Jiron replies. Stepping aside, he lets James leave the chandlery and then follows him out.

  They secure the rations behind their saddles and James puts the new mirror into one of his belt pouches. Then taking the water bottles over to the rain barrel sitting against the building, they fill them up.

  James says, “So they are indeed going after Illan.”

  “Hope he’s faring all right,” replies Jiron. Worries for his sister and friends have been a constant companion since he and James left them.

  “With Miko and the Hand of Asran to take care of any magical foes,” James says, “it would take a large force indeed to cause him any real problems.”