Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (34 page)

“You’re welcome,” he replies. Filling the mug
once more with ale, he hands it back to James. This time, he drinks
it more slowly.

“You had us worried there for awhile,” Jiron
says with a grin.

“I was too,” he admits. After taking another
swallow of ale he adds, “I don’t think they found me. I couldn’t
believe the power that was being used though. It was massive. If
they would have narrowed their search down any further, I couldn’t
have held them off.”

“Feel up to traveling?” Jared asks.

“Worried about being found out?” Jiron asks
him.

“A little,” he replies. “I’ve already had
several people ask about you two. One person heard you
moaning.”

“What did you tell them?” asks James.

“That you’re sick,” he tells him.

“We’ll need some sort of cover story that’s
believable,” he says as he thinks about it. Getting up off the bed,
he wobbles over to the table where he starts in on the food.

“Eat what you want,” offers Jiron. “We
already have.”

“Thanks,” he says through a mouthful of
bread.

Jiron comes up with the idea of posing as
merchants again but James shakes his head. “What would we use for
wagons? Goods? Not to mention a letter of travel. No, we need
something that will prevent anyone from asking any questions.”

“Like what?” Jared asks.

“Like this,” he says. Reaching into the pouch
attached to his belt, he pulls out a necklace with a medallion
attached to it. Upon the medallion are three dots forming the ends
of a triangle with lines running between them, yet not
touching.

Jiron recognizes the necklace James found on
the body of a dead priest in the underground temple they discovered
on their way back from Saragon. The symbol is that of the warrior
priests who worship Dmon-Li. Nodding, he says, “That might do
it.”

“What does it mean?” asks Jared as he stares
at the necklace hanging from James’ hands.

“It means that I am a servant of Dmon-Li,” he
says. “On business for the temple.”

“Isn’t that sort of dangerous?” he says. Then
pointing to the necklace he adds, “I mean, what if the wrong person
should see that.”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” Jiron
comments.

James swallows a bite of chicken and turns to
Jared. “Go down and get the horses ready. We shouldn’t tarry here
too long.”

Jared glances to Jiron.

“Are you going to be able to ride?” Jiron
asks. He remembers the other times when James had to be tied to the
saddle after a magical effort such as he just underwent.

“I’m not feeling that bad,” he replies.

Jiron nods for him to go ahead and Jared
leaves to get the horses ready.

Once Jared leaves, James holds up his
bandaged hand and looks questioningly to Jiron.

“One of your crystals shattered in your
hand,” he explains. “I think at the end when you began spasming was
when it was cut.”

“Oh.” He finishes his meal in short order and
then gets to his feet. “Shall we?” he asks.

“May as well,” Jiron replies.

They leave the room but not before giving it
a once over to make sure they didn’t leave anything behind. That’s
something his grandparents always instilled in him whenever they
went anywhere. When the car was packed with everything from the
hotel room, James was given the chore of returning one last time to
check for anything left behind. Once in awhile his grandfather
would leave something of James’ hidden in the room just to see if
he was actually looking.

They reach the stairs and are halfway down
when a man who may have been the proprietor meets them halfway up
and asks a question. James feigns feeling unwell and Jiron simply
shrugs as they continue on past. The proprietor continues to give
them a puzzled expression even after they reached the bottom of the
stairs and begin heading for the door.

“Wonder what he was trying to say?” asks
Jiron as they hurry across the courtyard to the stables.

“Who knows?” responds Jiron. “Maybe just
asking how you were doing.”

“Maybe,” he agrees.

At the stables they find Jared having already
saddled their horses. It takes little time to secure their packs
behind the saddles. Once they’re ready they waste no time in
mounting and returning to the road.

When the small goat town is behind them,
Jared says, “Several people asked if I had any word about what’s
going on at Korazan. It appears word has already spread that
something is going on there.”

“What did you tell them?” asks James.

“Just that we came the other way around the
southern tip of the lake and didn’t pass by Korazan,” he explains.
“And that we heard a large force had seized Korazan and were
executing all the civilians.”

“Why did you tell them that?” James exclaims
turning on him.

“Give them something to talk about among
themselves and they won’t bother you anymore,” he relies. “It
worked too.”

“Great,” sighs James.

Jiron chuckles beside him. “Don’t worry about
it,” he says. “By the time we’re done the tales will be spreading
far and wide, none even close to the truth.”

“I suppose so,” he says with a sigh. They
ride on in silence for awhile. After mulling it over, he turns to
Jared and says, “From now on, stick to the truth, okay?”

Shrugging, he says, “Sure. I didn’t mean
anything by it.”

“I know. But either stick to the facts or
stay quiet,” he states. “I don’t want any more wild rumors
circulating about me and my doings than can be helped.” He stares
into his eyes until he nods then turns back to the road.

Just after noon, they come to a sizeable town
sitting at a junction where a road running north and south crosses
theirs. The town looks to be of some importance, buildings three
and four stories high can be seen rising above the walls.

“Shall we go around?” Jiron asks as they
approach.

“That would look suspicious,” replies James.
“We’ll go through.”

Nodding, Jiron says to Jared, “You take the
lead. If anyone approaches, you deal with it and remember, we are
on business of the temple.”

“Right,” he says as he moves ahead of the
others.

Two guards are posted at the gate through
which their road runs, neither one appearing to be too interested
in the people passing through. They both lean against the wall as
they keep an eye on the overall area, probably there more to keep
order than to watch for infiltrators.

As they approach the gate area, they’re
forced to slow due to the number of people making their way through
the gates. James’ heart skips a beat when one of the guards glances
directly at him, but then his eyes dart to another as they pass
through to the other side.

Moving through the throng on the street, they
sense a definite feeling of heightened stress and anxiety from the
locals. People are a little too intense in haggling and move along
the street in a more hurried manner. Here and there pockets of
people are seen talking, rarely does laughter spring forth.

One thing that James notices is the relative
scarcity of guards. Most towns they passed through when they played
the part of merchants had many guards walking the streets. Other
than the two at the gate, none other has made an appearance.
Wonder if they sent them all to deal with Illan?
If that
were the case, this whole area would be a sitting duck should an
army show up.

The road takes them through the heart of the
city where the larger and more impressive buildings lie. Before
they pass the first large structure, guards begin to appear. Here
at the heart of the city is where the highest concentration of
guards lies.

Many well dressed people are upon the streets
in this area leading James to believe this is the city’s government
district. The affluent are seen coming and going from the
impressive structures situated within this area.

Moving quickly but not so fast as to draw
attention to themselves, they make it past the government district
and reenter the city proper. Before the eastern gates are in sight,
a caravan of a dozen or so wagons comes toward them from up the
road.

Jiron motions for them to move to the side to
give the caravan room to pass. As the first wagon comes abreast of
where they have paused at the side of the road, he sees a small red
flare coming from the underside of the second wagon. Casting a
quick glance at James he finds him staring intently at the caravan
as it passes.

Then as the last wagon rolls by, he catches
sight of another flare out of the corner of his eye.
Just what
is he up to?
Looking around, he searches the crowd for anyone
else who may have noticed. The people on the street appear to be
engrossed in whatever they are doing and none look to have taken
notice. After the last wagon and guards pass, they resume their
progress toward the eastern gate. Another pair of disinterested
guards stands watch at the gate as they pass through.

The eastern road is much more crowded than
the one on the other side, probably owing to the fact the western
road leads in the general vicinity of Korazan. And with what’s
going on there, none wish to risk an encounter with the enemy.

Dying to ask James what he was doing but
unable to do so due to the other travelers on the road, Jiron
remains silent until they come to a stretch of road devoid of other
travelers. Coming to ride next to his horse, Jiron asks, “What did
you do back there?”

“What do you mean?” James replies
innocently.

“I saw what you did with those wagons,” he
states.

James flashes him a grin. “Oh that. Just
something I thought of back at The Ranch.”

“What?” he asks.

James shakes his head and nods toward where
Jared is riding. Understanding comes to Jiron that he doesn’t want
to talk about it in front of Jared. Nodding, he stops the
questioning and turns his attention back to the road ahead.

Throughout the rest of the day whenever they
ride past a caravan, whether it was going in their direction or
not, Jiron would catch red flares flashing briefly beneath one,
two, or sometimes even three of the wagons. He would glance to
James only to receive a grin in return.

When the sun reaches the horizon and no inn
has made an appearance, they decide to pull off the road and make
camp. The cool of the evening is a welcoming relief from the heat
of the day. Now that it’s summer, the days are nigh on unbearably
hot.

After they’ve finished eating and are sitting
around the fire, the sound of a horse comes from the road. In the
light from the stars overhead, they make out the silhouette of the
rider coming in their direction. Jiron nods to Jared to be ready to
deal with whoever is approaching.

Jared gets to his feet about the time the
rider reaches the fringe of the light cast by their campfire. It’s
a man and doesn’t look to be military in nature. He brings his
horse to a halt and asks a question.

Coming forward, Jared replies to the man.

Whatever he said didn’t sit too well with
him, the smile that was on the man’s face quickly disappears. His
eyes dart to where James is sitting and then he unconsciously licks
his lips in nervousness.

Jared pauses in what he was saying a moment
and when nothing further is forthcoming from the man, says one
final thing. Whatever he said was more than the man could take.
Turning his horse around quickly, the man kicks his horse into a
fast trot as he leaves their campfire.

After the man disappears in the night and the
sound of his horse’s hooves can no longer be heard, James asks,
“What did you tell him?”

“That you were a servant of Dmon-Li,” he
explains with a grin. “I thought that alone would have him out of
here. You see those who serve Dmon-Li are an unstable bunch to be
around, never know when one will get it into his head to kill
you.”

“But that didn’t do it?” Jiron asks.

“No.” Then he chuckles as he says, “But when
I told him you were on your way to give Dmon-Li a sacrifice, that
was all he needed to hear.”

“You know,” begins Jiron. “I’ve been
thinking.”

“About what?” inquires James.

Turning to Jared, he says, “When you were
talking to that rider, I began wondering what if things went bad.
If it had, before you could tell us to do anything, he might have
had the chance to escape and warn others.”

“What are you getting at?” James asks, not
sure where he’s going with this.

“There may come a time when action is called
for at a moment’s notice,” he explains. “I think it would be a good
idea to come up with subtle gestures Jared could use to indicate
how it is going.”

“You mean like if he crosses his arm, you
take out whoever it is he’s talking to?” suggests James.

“Something like that, but not crossing his
arms,” Jiron states.

“Why?” Jared asks.

Jiron turns to him and says, “Because you
cross your arms all the time, it’s a habit.”

Jared looks surprised, he had no idea he did
it that much.

“Something else. Like say scratching your ear
with your right hand.”

Nodding, James says, “That would work. Maybe
there would be gestures on how I should react as well. I mean, when
you are talking, a stern gaze or an amused smile could give the
illusion that I am understanding what’s going on.”

“How about my right hand for you James, left
for Jiron,” Jared suggests.

“Alright, but let’s keep it simple.” Over the
next hour or so before they turn in, they work out some simple
gestures Jared will use. For Jiron it’s fairly simple, if he
scratches behind his left ear with his left hand, he attacks and
takes out who he’s talking to.

For James it’s a bit more complicated. A
touch of the ear and he gets indignant. Running his fingers through
his hair means to act amused, etc. All of these are with the right
hand of course.