She ducks down a side alley and Shorty follows. He casts a quick glance back to see James and Reilin not too far behind before he enters after her. The woman ahead of him shouts something into the dark as she runs and then all of a sudden several forms detach themselves from the shadows. He sees the moonlight glint off the weapon in one of their hands.
Before he’s even conscious of the decision to draw one of his throwing knives, one is in his hand. The four forms ahead of him move to block his way and call out to him. Even though he can’t understand what they are saying, he knows they want him to stop. But if he lets that woman get away, they may never find her again.
Letting fly his knife, he draws another quickly as the first one strikes home and sends one of the forms to the ground. No sooner does the first one hit the ground than another begins to fall with a knife embedded in his chest.
Suddenly, light fills the alley as an orb springs to life in James’ hand. The two remaining men stand blocking the way with swords drawn. Shorty draws his fighting knives and advances, Reilin comes up behind him to give support.
As they engage the two men, James looks further into the alley and sees a face framed by yellow hair watch the fighting from a doorway. She locks eyes with James for a brief moment then ducks into the building, slamming the door shut.
Reilin blocks his opponents thrust and then lashes out with his fist, connecting with the man’s face. Blood bursting from his nose, the man reels backward. Beside him, Shorty has managed to get within the defense of his opponent and sinks a knife to the hilt just below the man’s sternum.
Shorty shoves his man to the right and Reilin bowls over his man to the left just as James races between them toward the door where the girl had looked out. Following along behind, Reilin and Shorty keep a look out for any others who may try to impede them.
At the door, James finds it’s barred from the inside. Placing his hand against the door, he sends his senses to the other side. Finding the sliding bar that’s holding the door closed, he gives out with a micro burst of magic and splinters the bar in two. Pulling on the handle, the door now swings open and the light from the orb reveals a room on the other side.
Small and dirty, this room looks to have been the living quarters of vagrants. Possibly even that of the men they left in the alley behind them. Another door stands ajar on the far side of the room. Crossing the filthy room, James opens the door and enters the hallway extending into the building.
Dark and quiet, the hallway reveals no clues as to the whereabouts of the woman. He pulls out his cloth and with the hope that the brief glimpse he had of her will be enough, sends forth the magic to find her. Concentrating on the face he saw, he directs the magic and the cloth rises to show the way. It points down the hallway and slightly to the right.
Moving slowly with Shorty and Reilin right behind, he makes his way down the hallway. As he progresses, the cloth at first moves slowly to the right. Then as they approach the fourth door on the right, it begins to move quicker until they come abreast of the doorway and it points directly to the door.
Putting away the cloth he turns to the others and whispers, “She’s in there.”
Shorty nods and moves to the door. Placing his hand upon handle, he slowly turns it. With a knife in his other hand, he opens the door into the room. The interior of the room is dark, and when he has the door half a foot into the room, a hand wielding a knife strikes out at him.
Dodging backward, he avoids the blow and grabs the attacker’s arm. Pulling hard, he kicks the door open at the same time and the yellow haired girl is dragged from the room. With a cry, the woman loses her balance and falls to the floor. From within the room, a small child begins crying.
Shorty and Reilin wrestle with the woman and pin the arm with the knife behind her back. “Drop it!” Reilin tells her. Shorty pulls her arm up, increasing the pain until her fingers let go and the knife drops to the floor.
From up and down the hall, doors open and faces peer out only to slam shut once again when they see what’s going on.
James opens the door and says, “Bring her inside.” Keeping an eye out for any other possible attacks from within, he enters the room.
Sitting on the floor in the corner is a small boy who is the source of the crying they heard. Arms outstretched to the woman, his cries intensify when she doesn’t immediately go to him.
To Reilin James says, “Tell her that we’ll let her go to the boy if she promises not to try to run or attack us again.”
Reilin talks to the woman and receives an answer. “She says she won’t cause any trouble,” he tells them.
“Then let her go to the boy,” James says.
Shorty and Reilin release her. Running over to her son, as that is who it must be, she takes him in her arms. Putting her back to the corner, she looks at them with fear in her eyes as she talks softly to him. His cries begin to settle down now that he’s in her arms.
“Go find Jiron and bring him here,” James tells Shorty.
“Be right back,” he replies then leaves the room quickly.
Once he’s gone and the door closes, James turns back to the woman. He feels bad to have scared her and the boy. Unfortunately, the world being what it is, there is little trust in strangers. “Tell her that we don’t plan to harm her or the child,” he tells Reilin.
When he tells her that, she relaxes only a fraction. Then she says something to him. “She says she knows why we are here,” Reilin relays to him.
Turning to look at the woman he asks, “And what would that be?”
After asking and receiving her reply, he says, “She says that her sister told her of what transpired at The Split Navel. Also Jiron’s visit at her home.”
“Ask her if she knows anything about the necklace that Gryll had,” he says. When he spoke Gryll’s name, she visibly perked up.
“You know Gryll?” Reilin asks her.
“Yes,” she replies with eyes downcast.
“Do you know anything about the necklace bearing a heart and two stones?” he asks.
A tear wells in her eye as she nods her head.
Turning to James, Reilin says, “She knows. But something about this has her very upset.” After a second he adds, “And I don’t think it’s us.”
Then she starts speaking and the words just gush forth, as do her emotions. It takes her several minutes but when she’s done, she cuddles very closely with her son as sobs wrack through her. His tiny hand pats her head as if he’s trying to reassure her.
“She got pregnant with the boy before being married,” he says. “Around here that means no man can honorably marry her. She is considered ‘soiled’. The lives of such can be very bad at times, many don’t survive or wind up in brothels.”
“Then she and her sister came up with a plan. They figured that considering how beautiful she is, she might be able to win the heart of a man before he found out about the boy. While her sister kept the boy, she began frequenting places the affluent go. She met a man and worked her charms on him. Their plan had been working off and on for some weeks. During this time, the man had given her the necklace as a present, he never said where he had gotten it.”
“Deciding she couldn’t put off telling him any longer, she told the man about her son. He became enraged at her for deceiving him. He demanded the necklace back but she new it had to be worth many coins that she and her son would need. Saying that she would bring it to him, she then went and hid until her sister said the man had left town.”
“Then about a month ago she was at The Split Navel with her sister, sometimes she picks up work there to help feed herself and her son. Well anyway, she happened to be going through a rough time and needed coins. So she asked around and finally Gryll had agreed to purchase it for far lower than its value. But she didn’t argue, she desperately needed the coins. That was the last and only time she had met Gryll.”
As Reilin draws his narrative to a close, James looks at the girl huddling with her child. By t
his time her sobs have subsided and she sits there just holding her son protectively. Sadness for her situation prompts him to reach into his money pouch and remove a fistful of coins. He moves across the room toward her and she cringes back away from him. Stopping halfway, he sets the coins down upon the floor then returns to where he was.
In amongst the copper the glint of silver and gold can be seen. James had even managed to scoop up one of his few remaining gems, for a green sparkle can be seen lying at the edge of the coins.
Her eyes widen at the sight of what for her must be an absolute treasure. Just then, the door behind them opens and Shorty walks in with Jiron right behind.
“I found him several streets over,” Shorty says.
“So have you found out anything?” Jiron asks.
Not wishing to have her story rehashed again, he gives them the gist of it. Jiron starts to move toward her, but James puts a hand on his shoulder and says, “Let me. I think she’s beginning to trust me.”
Jiron looks to see the panic that has returned to her eyes when he began to approach and nods. “Alright,” he says and then backs up.
“Tell her the coins are for her and her child,” he says. When Reilin translates and her eyes light up, James nods for her to go ahead and get them.
She started to set the boy down until he began to start fussing. So with him in one arm, she goes over and scoops the coins into her tattered dress then returns back to her position with her back in the corner.
“Now, ask her if she could tell us the name of the man who gave her this necklace and where we might find him,” he tells Reilin.
Nodding, Reilin asks her and then waits for her reply. After she’s through, he turns back to James and says, “His name is Azku and the only city he ever mentioned was Morac. That was where he was going when he left here.”
“Morac,” says James. “That place sounds familiar.”
“It should,” Jiron tells him. “We went through it during our search for Miko.”
Nodding his head, he says, “Right. It’s further south of here.”
“Everything is leading us south,” observes Shorty.
“It does seem that way doesn’t it,” agrees Jiron.
“What can you tell us about him?” James asks her through Reilin.
“Not much,” she admits. “He’s slightly shorter than you, dark hair. I think he is a merchant of some kind though he was never very specific about it.”
“Did he say anything else that might help us in finding him?” Jiron asks.
“There was one thing,” she says. “He mentioned having to meet someone there when he arrived. I think the name of the place was The Cracked Ladle or something like that.”
Turning to Reilin, James says, “Tell her that we thank her for her help.” As Reilin starts talking to her, he adds, “And tell her that if she ever makes it Al-Ziron, to speak to the lord there and tell him that James would consider it a favor if he were to find her work.” It’s not much and she may not be able to make it that far, but he can’t just leave her in her present situation.
He adds the final message and her face lights up and she nods. “Now,” James says, “Let’s get out of here.”
Shorty opens the door and they file into the hallway. Just as James exits the room, a roar comes from the end of the hallway they originally entered from. Turning toward the noise, he sees the girl’s sister charging them with club in hand. “Forget her,” he hollers when he sees Jiron moving to intercept.
Racing down the other way, they flee the oncoming woman. When the roaring stops, James glances back to find the other sister standing in the hallway with her son, blocking the woman’s path.
The door at the other end of the hallway opens onto one of the streets of Inziala. “Which way is the inn?” James asks. Completely turned around, he has no idea which way to go.
“It’s this way,” Shorty says as he indicates they should move down the street to their right.
“You sure?” James asks.
“Pretty sure,” he replies.
Gesturing for him to take the lead James says, “Lead on.” With Shorty in the lead, they make their way through the dark, deserted streets until the inn finally appears before them.
Once there, they go to the stables where they find everyone but Stig asleep in the stalls. James hadn’t thought they were gone all that long.
“About time you guys showed up,” Stig says as they enter. “I was getting worried.”
The sound of his voice awakens the others and Potbelly asks, “Did you find out anything?”
“Yes we did,” replies Jiron. “I’ll tell you on the way out of town.” Even though no apparent search is going on over the incident at The Split Navel, they have no desire to tempt fate by remaining in Inziala any longer than they have to.
It takes but a minute for everyone to mount their horses. Then with Jiron in the lead, they leave the stables and make their way onto the street. The clip-clop of their horses’ hooves echo through the night. Moving quickly they reach the outskirts of town and have soon left Inziala behind as they take the road to the south.
Once past the last building, Jiron gets them up to a quick canter where they stay for an hour and then pull off the road for a brief rest stop until morning.
Chapter Seventeen
As the sun makes its way above the horizon, they break camp and make ready to ride. Jiron takes the lead with Reilin close behind in case they are approached along the road. The day goes by rather uneventfully. They pass through many small towns and when the sun begins its descent back to the horizon, the town of Jihara appears in the distance ahead of them.
“Should we stop there for the night?” asks Reilin.
Jiron gazes at the position of the sun and shakes his head. “There are still a couple hours of daylight left,” he says.
Pushing on, they reach the walls of Jihara and work their way through its streets. Once on the south side, they resume their quick pace and leave it behind. Jiron keeps the pace quick until well after the sun has set and the stars have come out. When the horses begin to droop from the steady pace he’s kept, he leads them off the road and they make camp. In the morning, they are again on the road before the sun even rises.
During the hour after they leave camp, James has Reilin ask a fellow traveler on the road how much further they have until they reach Morac. The traveler tells them they should reach it before late afternoon which greatly boosts Jiron’s moral. The sooner he gets to the bottom of what happened to Tinok, the quicker he’ll be able to track him down.
Anticipating that they will reach Morac before the end of the day, Jiron keeps them at their speedy pace. Hour after hour the miles fly by until two hours after noon when a city appears out of the horizon ahead of them. “That has to be it,” asserts Jiron.
As they draw closer to the walls, James all of a sudden starts chuckling to himself.
“What’s so funny?” asks Miko.
James glances at him and then over to Jiron. He can see Jiron’s ears burning slightly with the memory of their last visit to Morac. “Should I tell him or do you want to?” he asks.
“You can,” he replies. “This is the one story you love to tell.”
“I do don’t I,” he states with a grin. “On our way to rescue you from the mines, we passed through here. This was just after Cassie died and Jiron’s friend Tinok left. Yes,” he says, “the same one we’re searching for. Anyway, Scar, Potbelly and several others took Jiron into town to get the recent events off his mind. To make a long story short, Roland and I had to go and find them when they didn’t return. Seems they ran afoul of a woman and her old mother who somehow managed to get them into the basement of their house and tied them up.”
He pauses a moment and then looks to Jiron. “You never actually told me how you got down there,” he says.
“Frankly James,” he says, “I don’t remember.” The blush that comes to his cheeks tells him that he probably does.
“R
ight,” replies James with a little sarcastic tone to his voice.
Miko grins and Reilin actually breaks out into laughter at Jiron’s and the other’s expense. Jiron casts him a dirty look and he brings his amusement under control.
By this time they’ve come close to the gates of the city. The traffic moving in and out is quite heavy for this time of the day. They make their way closer to the gate and take their place in line. Somewhere behind the walls is a man named Azku and Jiron intends to find this man before the sun rises the following morning.
The line entering the city continues to move forward until they are but a few people away from the gate. When it’s their turn to pass through, a squad of guards exits from within the city. All of a sudden they are surrounded by guards and James is about ready to panic. Then Jiron shakes his head telling him not to worry. The guards are merely there to relieve the ones who were on duty. Paying those in line little attention, the new arrivals take position while the ones being relieved form up to march back inside. James and the others pass through the gate quickly and into the city before the changing of the guard can be completed.
“Better find an inn first so the rest of us can be out of sight while you go in search of this Azku,” suggests James.
“Very well,” he says and starts scanning the streets for any sign of an inn. When he comes across a three story building bearing a sign depicting a winged bird in flight, he comes to a stop out front. He and the others wait while Reilin enters to see about getting the rooms.
They don’t have long to wait before Reilin makes his appearance back out the front door. He holds up the keys showing them he got the rooms. Then they take the horses around back to the stables and are soon up in their rooms.
Dinner is still a couple hours away so Jiron suggests that he take Reilin and see about locating The Cracked Ladle. James tells him to take Stig along just in case and the three of them leave on their hunt.
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