As his man falls to the ground, the Commander shouts out a command and his men, as one, draw their swords. The whisking of them all coming out at the same time makes an eerie sound.
James throws a second stone and takes out another of the advancing men. The four remaining soldiers fan out quickly, coming at them from different directions. Suddenly, he feels the prickling sensation that tells him magic is being worked just before he hears a shout from the Commander. Turning in his direction, he sees a green blob arcing through the air toward him.
Thinking fast, he creates a shield surrounding himself just before the green blob hits. It begins to spread, covering the shield in a green, sticky substance. Through the green goo, he sees Tinok being hard pressed by the man he’s fighting, with the others coming fast. His opponent is very skilled with the blade and there’s three more coming to join him.
James changes the nature of the shield and it bursts into flame, searing off the green goo, leaving him covered in a film of fine ash. Quickly, he tosses his last stone at one of the men advancing upon Tinok and catches him in the thigh, literally blasting off his leg at the hip. The man falls to the ground with a cry of pain.
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees that Roland has snuck around the oasis and is coming toward where Jiron sits tied to the horse. But then his attention is again turned to the Commander who’s drawing his sword and advancing upon him.
James readies another spell and a bolt of energy flies from his extended hand, striking the Commander full on the chest where it explodes in a shower of sparks. When the sparks clear, James sees him still standing there, untouched.
Grinning evilly, the Commander continues his advance upon him.
Another spell and the ground erupts under him. Still, he marches on.
James quickly glances over to where Jiron had been, but now only sees the horse with an empty saddle. Turning his attention back to the advancing Commander, he considers the situation. He must be protected in some way! James begins backing up, prolonging the inevitable contact, trying to come up with some sort of solution to the problem.
Catching a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, he sees Jiron coming to Tinok’s aid as he joins the fight.
If I can’t use magic on him directly…
Concentrating once more, he brings his hands together and then as he lets loose the power, he spreads them apart.
With a crack, the ground under the Commander opens wide. Losing his balance, he falls into the gaping hole. Once he’s fallen below the top of the hole, James again unleashes the power and with a clap, brings his hands back together again. The sides of the hole containing the Commander smash together, closing with finality.
He looks around quickly and sees Roland, Tinok and Jiron coming over to him, the remaining soldiers lying dead on the ground.
Jiron is covered in bruises and his clothes are stained with blood, but otherwise in high spirits. “Thanks,” he says when he approaches James.
“You’re welcome,” he replies. “Glad to see you’re alive.”
“So am I,” Jiron replies. “I didn’t ever expect to see you two again.”
“We were beginning to get worried about you,” Tinok chides him. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you when we catch up with the others,” he says. They each grab one of the soldier’s horses and mount. Riding quickly, they catch up with the girls in no time at all.
The girls stop the wagons when they see them coming. Once her wagon has come to a stop, Delia gets down and rushes over to Jiron, giving him a big hug when he dismounts from his horse.
Returning the hug, he asks her, “Miss me?”
With tears of relief running down her face, Delia replies, “A little.” And then she smiles.
Cassie runs and gives Tinok a warm hug and kiss as well. He kisses her repeatedly until Jiron finally has to break them up. A little red faced, they realize what they were doing.
“Now,” Tinok says, “what happened?”
“Well…” he begins as he relates to them all that had happened, up to the point where he ran out of the burning house and was captured. “When they took me back to the jail, the Commander had someone begin interrogating me.”
“How?” Cassie asks, wide eyed.
“The usual, I’m sure,” he replies. “Anyway, this messenger comes in and gives him a letter. When he’s done reading it, he barks out some orders and before I knew it, I was being tied on a horse and we all began riding hard to the south. We eventually stopped here, fortunately for me, and the rest you know.”
“What were they asking you?” James inquires.
“Mainly, they wanted to know what happened to the men that were garrisoned at Mountainside,” he explains. “Since I was hiding there and had killed a couple soldiers, they felt I obviously knew something.”
“Of course you did,” interjects Tinok.
“Of course,” agrees Jiron. “But they didn’t realize that.”
“What about the backpack?” James asks.
“I left it in the building that was on fire,” he says. “I saw it catch fire myself so there should be no more worries from that.”
“Thanks,” James says. “I’m sorry you got hurt, though.”
Looking at James tiredly, Jiron says, “So am I.” He then turns his attention to Roland and says, “Just who are you and why did you untie me? Not that I’m complaining or anything.”
They relate the events which led up to Roland and his family joining them. When Tinok explains the devilish monster walking out of the dried up Oasis, he breaks into a laugh, “Wish I could’ve seen that!”
Leaving Jiron with the girls and the wagons, the other three return to the oasis. There they drag the dead bodies of the soldiers out into the desert and bury them. Once they’ve hidden and removed all traces of the battle which had raged there, they return to the wagons and resume their trek to Korazan. Jiron sits in the back of the wagon with the girls and Arkie in order to rest, soon falling asleep.
Everyone becomes quiet for awhile as they let him sleep, understanding that he really needs it. For his part, James is relieved at having Jiron back. Now if we can just get Miko and Jiron’s sister!
They ride on until late in the afternoon when they begin to see the outlines of a fairly sizeable city coming up ahead. With Tinok and Roland out front, they approach the town. Off to the east they see an area where several caravans have made their camp.
“Looks to be a caravansary,” Roland says, indicating the groups of wagons.
“Should we stop there for the night?” James asks him.
“It’s what it’s there for,” he explains.
“Alright then,” agrees James. “Let’s find a spot for the night.”
As they near the caravansary, a man comes over to them and says, “Good day to you sirs.”
“You speak our language?” James replies, astonished.
“I speak many,” the man explains. “I am Ahlim, the Caravansary Master.”
“I am James,” he replies, “and we are looking for a spot to stay the night.”
“To stay here will be a silver a day,” he says.
James looks to Roland who shrugs his shoulders. Turning back to the man, he digs out a silver and hands it to him, saying, “Very well.”
Ahlim takes the coin and says, “Find any spot around here that suits you.” He then turns and hurries off toward town.
They find a suitable spot that’s not too close to any of the others and start settling in, when another man comes over. “Greetings, fellow traders.”
“Greetings,” replies James.
“Ah, I’m not one to cause trouble,” he says, “but I saw you talking to Ahlim just a moment ago?”
“Yes?” James replies, nervous.
“Did he say that he was the Caravansary Master? And that you had to pay to stay here?”
“Yes, he did,” James replies. “Why?”
The man starts laughing, “You didn’t pay him di
d you?”
“A silver,” admits James.
The man starts laughing harder.
“What’s so funny?” James asks, getting a little mad.
“He’s not any kind of a Caravansary Master,” the man explains, wiping tears from his eyes as his laughter calms down. “He’s a beggar who does this from time to time with new arrivals.”
From behind him, he hears Tinok break into laughter, “That’s funny.”
“What’s so funny about it?” James angrily turns to him, asking.
Tinok just laughs more as he shakes his head and turns to go back to where the others are getting their camp ready.
“Don’t be too hard on him,” the man says. “Ahlim that is. He’s had a bad lot.”
“We’ll just see how bad it is when I meet up with him again,” James insists.
“Well, good day to you,” the man says. As he returns back to his caravan, James can hear him chuckling to himself.
When he turns back to the others, he can see them trying to hold back smiles whenever he’s looking in their direction. Finally, unable to contain it, they all start to laugh.
“This isn’t funny,” James says, which only makes them laugh the harder.
Their laughter is infectious and soon he’s unable to stop a smile from coming to him. “Okay,” he admits, “maybe it is.”
He goes over to Roland and asks, “Would you be willing to come with me into town to see about getting another wagon and some barrels for water?”
“Sure,” he agrees.
Going back to the others, he announces, “Roland and I are going into town to see about purchasing some barrels for water. Just stay here and watch the wagons, keep everything safe.”
“Not a problem,” Tinok says with his arm around Cassie’s shoulder.
Jiron just nods his head from the back of the wagon where he’s been resting all afternoon.
“Be careful,” Delia advises.
“We will,” James assures her. Turning to Roland, he says, “Ready?”
Roland says a few things to Ezra and then turns to James, nodding his head, “Let’s go.”
James goes over to the wagon with the money box, and takes a large bag of coins out, placing it inside his shirt. Then with a nod to Roland, they begin to walk toward town.
Delia watches them go and then turns to Tinok, saying, “Could you go over and find out what town this is?”
“Why?” he asks.
“There may be deliveries here we could make to give us more coins,” she explains.
“Sure,” he replies and then makes his way over to one of the neighboring caravans.
She watches as he approaches some of the men sitting around a campfire. They exchange a few words and then Tinok returns.
“Zereth-Alin,” he tells her.
Excited, she exclaims, “There are three small packages that are marked for here.” She hurries over to the wagon loaded with the majority of their cargo and begins rummaging through it. She finally comes up with the three packages and looks to Tinok, a gleam in her eye.
“Tinok?” she says with a certain tone to her voice.
“You want me to help you deliver them?” he asks her.
“Yes!” she replies. “Will you?”
He looks over to Cassie sitting there with Ezra, longing to remain with her.
“We could get Cassie a present should we receive any money for these,” she suggests, temptingly.
“Alright,” he says, giving in. “But I want to be back fast.”
“We will,” she assures him, “I promise.” Letting the others know what they’ll be about, they take the three packages and head into Zereth-Alin.
Chapter Eleven
James and Roland enter the town, and with Roland playing the role of translator, they are directed to a place where they can buy barrels for water, maybe even a wagon to carry them.
On their way, they pass by an inn from which a mouth watering aroma emanates. His stomach growls loudly, insistent on something with more substance than what they’ve been having over the past several days. He gives Roland a grin before altering his course and making a beeline for the entrance.
“What are you doing?” Roland asks when he catches up with him.
“Getting something to eat.”
“What about the others?”
Waving away the question, James says, “We’ll get something for them on the way back.” He pushes open the door and enters the building. The aroma is even more mouth watering here than it was outside. Finding an empty table, they wait for a server, who arrives promptly.
The server says something and then Roland answers as he orders for both of them. When he’s done, he tells James that it’s going to be four coppers and waits while he digs them out of the pouch. James hands the coins over to the server, who then bows slightly and heads back to the kitchen.
“I assume you wanted whatever it is that we’ve been smelling?” Roland asks him once the server had left.
“Absolutely,” James replies.
“Good, that’s what I did,” he says.
They sit back and relax while they wait for their food to arrive. The people here, aside from their different language and attire, are really the same as those he encountered back in Cardri. Just people. People are people no matter where you go, that’s what his grandmother had always said.
He sees their server coming toward them with two plates, topped with several skewers containing meat and vegetables along with two mugs. As their server places the plates in front of them, he can still hear sizzle coming from the meats. Once the mugs are on the table, their server says something and Roland gives him a reply before going over to another table with two gentlemen.
Keeping his voice low, Roland says, “You guys don’t seem much like merchants to me.”
James looks at him with a mouth full of food and doesn’t reply.
“What is a,” lowering his voice to a whisper, he asks, “mage, doing running a caravan?”
“It’s rather complicated,” James replies and then takes another bite.
“I think I have the right to know what is going on,” he asserts quietly. “If for no other reason than I’ve brought my wife and child along. I mean, you guys take out a Commander of Ten like he was nothing!”
James glances around but no one seems to care about their conversation. Turning back to Roland he says, “We’re looking for someone.”
“Who?” Roland asks.
“A friend of mine who was taken captive at the fall of the City of Light,” he explains in a hushed tone. “As well as Jiron’s sister, who was taken at the same time.”
“How?” he asks, incredulously.
“We’ve reason to believe they’re being taken to the slave markets at Korazan,” he explains. “We mean to go there and find them, buy them if possible, rescue them if not.”
Roland sits back in his chair and just stares at James, as if he is unsure if he actually just heard what he did.
“You’re welcome to leave at any time if you think it’s too dangerous for your family,” James tells him.
“I don’t know,” he replies. He continues to eat, thinking about what James told him.
“A man back where we rescued you said that you made things?” James asks him.
Blushing slightly, Roland says, “Nothing, really.”
“What?” he asks again.
“Well, I had this idea that if you filled a bag with hot air, you can make it float,” he explains then sets himself as if he expects to be ridiculed.
“You would probably need an air tight bag of little weight,” James suggests.
Surprised at someone finally taking him seriously, Roland says, “Exactly! But I haven’t been able to find anyone able to make what I would require. All the cloth I’ve been able to afford has been too heavy.”
“That could be a problem,” James agrees. “What do you hope to do with it?”
“Do?” Roland asks as if the question had neve
r even occurred to him.
“Yeah, do,” he says.
“I’ve never really thought past getting it done, actually” he admits.
“I’m sure you could come up with something,” James says hopefully. Could think of several applications, mostly military ones in this society, he muses to himself.
Finishing the last bite of his meal, James sits back in his chair, stomach gurgling most contentedly. Once Roland is done, they leave the inn and head over to where they’ve been told they can acquire some barrels and possibly a wagon.
They come to a building with an adjacent large open courtyard containing wagons, barrels and several other various items constructed of wood. A sign outside the door shows a wagon with two barrels.
“This must be the place,” James says to Roland.
“Looks like it,” he agrees as they go up three steps and open the door.
They enter a fair sized room, with dozens of barrels of varying sizes stacked against the walls. A man is busily stacking small buckets upon a table and turns around to greet them when he hears the door open. He says something in the Empire’s language and stands there expectantly.
When Roland replies to him, explaining that James cannot speak the language, he immediately switches to the northern tongue. “Welcome to Salli’s Barrels,” he says to James. Placing his hand on his chest he continues. “And I am Salli, how may I help you fine sirs today?”
“We understand that we may be able to procure some barrels from you?” James explains. “As well as a wagon, perhaps?”
Nodding his head, Salli says as he gestures around his shop, “As you can see, I have many barrels for every need, as well as a couple of wagons available out in the courtyard.”
“We would like to purchase a wagon and about six large barrels,” James tells him. “We are taking a trip and need sufficient water to sustain us through the journey.”
“Ah,” says Salli, “I have just what you would need.” He goes over to where several large barrels sit against a wall and then says, “These barrels are made for just such a use. See,” he says as he holds up a round wooden lid, “I have even made lids, especially for these, so the water will not slosh out during your journey.” He shows them how easy it is to seal the barrel and to reopen it again.
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