Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two

by Brian S. Pratt

  Frustrated, he begins concentrating on ‘fresh’, drinking water. The image blurs and then focuses in on a small pool with several palm trees around the edge. “Got it!” he exclaims.

  “Where?” asks Jiron.

  Adjusting the view and scrolling the image, he determines it to be several miles off to the southeast.

  “Anyone around?” he asks.

  “Several people,” he replies, “but no soldiers. They look to be just travelers stopping to get water.”

  Jiron nods his head, “We’ll have to chance it.” He turns his horse to the southeast and they soon cross the main road. One lone traveler sees them crossing but doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to them.

  As they ride, Jiron says, “That’s a handy thing, your mirror.”

  “Yeah,” replies James. “The more I use it, the easier it is to find what I want.”

  “Can you use anything?” he asks. “I mean, like a pool of water or something?”

  “I would think so,” replies James. “It would be the same principle, so yeah, I could.”

  About that time they begin to see palm trees coming into view on the horizon. They slow their approach when they see a dozen or so people around the water. “Must be a caravan of some sort,” guesses James when he notices several wagons pulled up around the oasis. A road stretches in the distance on the other side of the oasis, going east to west.

  “Looks like it,” Jiron agrees. “Let’s be careful, get in and out quickly.”

  “I’m with you on that,” states James.

  They approach the oasis, making a beeline straight for the water. When the others see them coming, they watch, but don’t say anything.

  Upon smelling the water, their horses quicken their pace, eager to reach the pool. While their horses begin drinking, they get down and fill their water bottles. Glancing over to the others who share the oasis with them, they notice that they’ve huddled together and are talking amongst themselves, occasionally peering over to them.

  James also notices that a couple of the caravan guards have gone over to a wagon and are beginning to get out crossbows. “Jiron!” James cries out. “Time to leave!”

  Jiron looks over and sees the guards preparing their crossbows and leaps into the saddle, James mounts quickly as well. As the guards are winding their crossbows, they turn their horses and head out of the oasis as fast as their horses will carry them. They turn to follow the road westward.

  “Wonder what that was all about?” Jiron asks once they’ve put some distance between themselves and the oasis.

  “Rumors must be circulating about us by now, I would imagine,” James replies. “Two men, of obvious northern stock ride in out of the desert,” he continues. “I’d be cautious too, maybe even be looking for a reward for taking us down.”

  Jiron laughs.

  “What’s so funny?” he asks.

  “After all we’ve been through,” he says, grinning, “escaping first Azzac and then Al-Kur. The thought of us being brought down by a bunch of caravan guards, it just seems funny.”

  “I suppose,” replies James, not seeing the humor in it. He pulls out the mirror and checks for hostiles in the area, “Jiron, we got two approaching groups. A squad on foot to the northeast who’re moving due south and a dozen riders on the road ahead of us, coming our way.”

  “To the south?” he asks.

  James quickly checks and replies, “Doesn’t look like anyone’s in that direction.”

  Without hesitation, Jiron turns toward the south with James following suit. Kicking their horses into a gallop, they race off the road, hoping to remain unnoticed by the approaching horsemen.

  James is sure they’ll be seen, the amount of dust they’re kicking up must be visible by the riders. Checking the mirror, he sees them continuing down the road toward the oasis, and the caravan there. They don’t seem to see or care about the dust their horses are throwing into the air.

  “They’ll find out about us when they reach the oasis!” he hollers to Jiron.

  “Then let’s put as much distance between us as we can before they return.” Jiron replies. They continue to gallop for a ways before bringing their speed down to a trot, saving their horses’ strength for later.

  Checking his mirror once more, James sees the riders have already reached the oasis and are there watering their horses, the people from the caravan are gathered around the riders, talking with them. As they ride, he continues watching the horsemen and then with dread, watches as they leave the oasis and begin moving to follow them, fast.

  “They’ve left the oasis,” he announces. When Jiron looks to him, he says, “And they’re galloping our way.”

  “How far behind us are they?” he asks.

  “It’s hard to tell with this,” he says, holding up the mirror. “But I wouldn’t think much more than an hour.”

  “Great,” Jiron says.

  They make quick time, alternating between galloping and trotting to keep the horses strength up as best they can. Jiron looks over to James who is checking the mirror again and asks, “Well?”

  “They’re still behind us, though they’re not gaining very fast,” he replies. “To the south is another road, or rather a continuation of the coast road we followed previously. There doesn’t appear to be any soldiers on it, just regular travelers.”

  “Wait!” he cries out.

  “What?” asks Jiron.

  “Oh man,” he says. “A large force containing men and cavalry is coming from the south along the road, there must be over a thousand of them.” He scans the mirror some more and says, “To the southeast is another band of horse coming in this direction too.”

  “You mean they’ve got us encircled?” Jiron asks.

  “Yeah,” he replies. “It looks like the only way to go is toward the coast but that’s a dead end.”

  “Unless we find ourselves a boat!” states Jiron. “Is there a town to the west?”

  “Let me check,” he says as he scrolls the view further west. Excitedly, he exclaims, “Yes, there is and it looks like it’s a port city.”

  “Any ships at the docks?” Jiron asks, hopefully.

  “Four,” he replies.

  Turning his horse westward, Jiron says, “Then let’s go get ourselves a boat.”

  “But,” James says, “it’s going to be broad daylight. How are we going to sneak aboard and take a boat?”

  Giving James a slightly evil grin, Jiron replies, “Who said we were going to sneak!”

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  _________________________

  Riding hard, they come to the road and move to follow it as it continues along the coast westward to the port city. Fellow travelers they pass along the road just stare at them as they fly by. Some holler words at them as they rush past but are soon left far behind.

  Knowing they’ve not much time, James and Jiron race down the road weaving around those upon it, until the town begins to appear on the horizon ahead of them. The town appears rather large with no wall surrounding it, for which James is extremely grateful.

  They slow down as they reach the outskirts of town so as not to attract undue attention. Heading straight down the main thoroughfare toward the docks, James fears that at anytime someone is going to challenge them.

  But, acting like you belong is often the surest way of remaining unnoticed. Riding with a purpose, they make their way through the crowded streets and no one even gives them a second look. When they draw near to the docks, they stop in front of an inn and dismount, tying their horses to the post out front.

  They quickly remove what they’re going to need from their horses before continuing on foot. Before they reach the docks, Jiron motions for James to follow him into a side alley. Once within the alley he asks, “Can you see if any of our pursuers are getting close to the city?”

  Taking out his mirror, James looks and after locating the armies approaching, shakes his head, saying, “It looks like they’re all at least several
miles away. We should have an hour, maybe more, before they arrive.”

  “Alright then,” says Jiron, “let’s go find us a boat.”

  They leave the alley and continue on their way toward the docks. When they get there, they see a dozen or more soldiers stationed in and around the dock area.

  “Think they’re there for us?” Jiron asks.

  “Probably,” replies James. “Looks like they’re covering all their bases.”

  “Bases?” Jiron asks, confused at the term.

  “Sorry,” says James. “I just mean they’re watching every avenue that we may take to get away.”

  “Oh.”

  They pause near the entrance to the docks as they look at the ships tied there. One is a massive, deep sea cargo ship and the others are smaller, but all are clearly too big for their needs. Shaking his head, Jiron says, “I don’t think these are going to help us any.”

  “I don’t think so either,” agrees James. Then he grabs Jiron’s arm and directs his attention further down, away from the docks where a small, private ship is just pulling up to a small dock. “That will do fine, don’t you think?” he asks.

  “Perfect!”

  They leave the dock area and head over toward the estate where the ship just docked. The estate has a protective wall around it and the gate is closed with a guard posted on the outside. They walk around the estate, doing their best not to attract attention as they look to see if there’s another way in. The wall is high, too high to jump and grab the top. The only way in is through the gate.

  They return to a spot near the gate and James asks, “Now what?”

  “We gotta get through that gate,” he replies. “I don’t see any other way in.”

  The street passing in front of the estate is well traveled and any attempt to take out the guard will be readily seen by those passing by.

  “We need a diversion so everyone will be looking away from the guard at the gate,” he says as he looks to James.

  “You want me to blow up the town again?” asks James, not entirely enthused with the idea.

  “Not necessarily,” he replies. “Just something that the people on the street will turn their attention to.”

  “Anything I do will announce that we’re here,” he says.

  “They’re going to know that soon enough anyway,” Jiron explains. “As soon as those approaching forces meet up, they’ll know we’re here. A few minutes earlier really won’t make that much of a difference.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” James says, resigned to the plan. “Let’s go further into town and see what opportunity presents itself, I don’t want to hurt innocents.”

  “Alright,” says Jiron, understanding. “I’m sure there’s something you can do that won’t hurt anyone.”

  As they walk, James ponders different ideas, trying to come up with something that will distract but not hurt. “I think I have an idea,” he tells Jiron after they’ve walked several blocks.

  “What?” he asks.

  “Well, you see…”

  After getting everything ready, they return back to the gate. Jiron glances over at James where he’s standing, silently counting. Three…Two…One…

  From further into town, they begin to hear people screaming and running. The people on the street outside of the gate turn their attention toward the center of town and away from the gate to see what’s going on.

  “It’s working,” Jiron says as he begins edging slowly toward the gate.

  James just nods in satisfaction with his solution and follows him.

  When they near the gate, the guard is looking toward the center of town as well, fear evident on his face. James glances toward where he’s looking and smiles when he sees the fifteen foot giant walking through town, a flaming sword gripped in its hand.

  Jiron comes to the guard and places a knife to his throat as he says, “Open the gate!”

  The guard suddenly realizes they’re there and starts to draw his sword. Jiron presses the knife harder against his neck, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” When the guard relaxes his grip on his sword Jiron turns him so he’s facing the gate. “Now, open it” he orders the man one more time. Despite the language barrier, the guard understands what Jiron is asking.

  Shaken, the guard withdraws a key and places it in the lock, opening the gate. James looks at the passersby who are staring at the giant walking through town, many begin running for their lives.

  “Come on, James!” urges Jiron.

  Turning back to the gate, he sees that it’s already open and follows Jiron and the guard inside. After the guard shuts and locks the gate, Jiron takes the key from him and says to James, “Let’s get the boat and sail to Cardri as fast as we can.” Then he hits the man in the head and knocks him out.

  “What did you say that for?” he asks.

  Grinning, Jiron replies, “When questioned, I’m hoping he’ll tell them that we’re going to Cardri so they’ll look for us in that direction.”

  “Good idea, if he understood you,” he says. Turning to the giant he created, he cancels the spell and it quickly dissipates back into nothing.

  They run toward the estate and see someone run in through the front door just before it slams shut. Altering their course, they make for the front door. Jiron’s the first to reach it and tries to open it only to find it locked. “It’s locked,” he tells James as he joins him at the door.

  James puts his hand against it and lets loose the power. With a crack, the door flies open and smashes into the wall.

  Jiron runs inside as he searches for whoever it was that had slammed the door shut, but is unable to locate anyone.

  “The boat!” James says as he runs through the house to the back where the dock lies.

  Jiron joins him and they race through the house and out the back door. Once outside, they find the man running toward the boat, intent on getting away. He turns and sees them leaving the house and bolts toward the boat, drawing a knife and cutting the lines as fast as he can. Giving the boat a shove, the man jumps aboard as the boat begins to drift away from the docks.

  As they race onto the dock, the ship is now ten feet away and is beginning to pick up speed as the wind fills the hastily unfurled sails. Without even hesitating, Jiron runs to the edge and leaps across the distance, landing on the deck of the boat.

  James stops on the dock and watches as Jiron draws his knives and advances on the man. With sword at the ready, the man engages him, but after a few quick exchanges, his sword drops to the deck and Jiron’s knife is at his throat. He kicks the man’s sword away and then points back to the dock where James is waiting.

  Adjusting the sail and turning the tiller, the man maneuvers the boat back to the dock where James climbs on board. “Thank you,” he says to Jiron.

  Smiling back at him, he replies, “Not a problem.”

  James goes to the man and says, “Take us out to sea now, please.”

  The man just looks blankly back at James as if he doesn’t understand. “Do you understand me?” he asks. Again, no response.

  Jiron then says to James, “If he’s not going to be any use to us, should I just slit his throat and toss his body over the side?”

  The man visibly pales and says, “I can understand you.”

  “Thought you might,” Jiron tells him. “Now, take us out to sea.”

  “What are you going to do with me?” the man asks, not making any move to comply with Jiron’s demand.

  “We merely wish to borrow you and your boat for a short time,” he says. “If you’re helpful, we might even pay you for your inconvenience.” When the man still hasn’t begun to get the boat underway, Jiron says, “Now, are you going to help or should I toss your lifeless body over the side?”

  The man takes a moment, obviously deciding between flight and acquiescing. “If you jump in,” Jiron tells him, “I’ll jump in after you.”

  As if that’s all he needed, the man turns and begins to get the sails in order. He
then turns the tiller to angle the boat out to sea.

  “Where is it we’re going?” the man asks.

  “Not exactly sure yet,” James tells him. “Maybe you can help us with that.”

  “How can I be of any help?” the man asks, confused.

  “We’re searching for a friend of ours,” he tells him. “He was taken as a slave and brought to this area. All we know now is that he’s working underground somewhere, possibly in a mine.”

  “Then your friend is most likely at the Sorna Iron Mines,” he tells them. “It’s an island some miles off the coast to the south of here.”

  James nods his head and says, “That sounds right.” He thinks for a moment as the ship sails further out to sea and away from the port. Coming to a decision, James says, “First, we want you to take us north for a ways and then swing west out to sea before heading to the island, understand?”

  “No,” he replies, “but I’ll do it.”

  “Thank you.”

  As the man turns the boat to follow the coast to the north, he asks, “Are you two the ones they’re searching for?”

  “Maybe,” replies James. “Depends on who ‘they’ are, and who’s doing the searching.”

  “There have been rumors that spies from the north have come to the Empire to sow dissension and destruction,” he tells them. “One of them is a mage of some power, or so the rumor says.”

  James smiles at that, ‘some power’. “What’s your name?” he asks the man.

  “Kristo.”

  “Kristo?” Jiron say questioningly, “Doesn’t sound like an empire name to me.”

  “It’s not,” Kristo replies. “My parents moved us here long ago from our home further to the south.”

  “Ah,” replies Jiron.