Tides of Faith: Travail of The Dark Mage Book Two (75 page)

“Will she make us a cake with berries
on top?” she asked.

“Wouldn’t be surprised, Jira,” he
replied. “Anything for you.”

Once dawn’s light shone upon them,
they gathered close together at the forecastle where James sat
cross-legged before his mirror. There he brought into view first
Meliana and Kenny who walked along the shoreline, then Aleya who
they caught changing for the day. Jira giggled and James quickly
canceled the spell and returned the mirror to normal.

Jiron wore an amused expression when
he said to James, “We probably shouldn’t mention this to
her.”

“Probably not,” James agreed with a
chuckle. Then to Jira, “Give it a minute and we’ll try
again.”

She giggled some more.

In a few minutes, her image once again
appeared in the mirror. This time she walked down a quiet
corridor.

“Where is she going?” Jira
asked.

“From the looks of the corridor, I
think she is heading to the kitchen,” James replied. “Most likely
getting breakfast.”

A nudge from behind was followed by
Shorty’s whisper, “Captain’s coming.”

James nodded, canceled the spell, and
slipped the mirror into his pack. He then rose to his
feet.

“Everything all right,
Captain?”

“All is as to be expected.” He glanced
to those before him, his expression unreadable. “There are six
bunks below you can take turns at.”

Scar looked less than pleased. “Take
turns?”

“Thank you, Captain,” Miko said before
Scar exacerbated the situation. “I’m sorry if we’ve inconvenienced
anyone.”

“You’ve paid your coins,” he said.
“Six bunks is only your due.”

“Think there should be one for each of
us…” mumbled Scar.

James cast him a stern look and the
Pit Master kept quiet. When he returned his gaze to the captain,
found the man to be staring intently at him.

After a moment, the captain asked,
“Have we sailed together?”

“Don’t think so,” James replied
cautiously. “I’m rarely down in this area.”

“Still,” the captain continued,
“there’s something about you that strikes me as familiar.” A few
more moments of contemplation, then he broke eye contact. “We eat
twice a day. You’ll eat same as we.”

“Would expect nothing
else.”

Captain Anyn nodded, paused a moment
to briefly look at James one more time, then turned and headed for
to his quarters.

“Nice fellow,” Shorty commented
sarcastically.

“So long as he gets us there,” replied
Jiron.

Later that evening, long after land
had vanished into the horizon, Kip was losing at a game of Bones
and Daggers.

“Come on, Kip,” Father Vickor chided.
“Are you going to let a girl beat you?”

Jira had three long daggers to Kip’s
solitary one and she was maneuvering him toward the kill. The
conclusion was foregone.

The novice turned an aggravated gaze
upon his superior, “Think you can do better?” he spat.

The priest shook his head and laughed.
“Not in the slightest. She’d carve me up and feed me to the dogs
for sure.”

“No shame in losing to a better man,”
Shorty said, then added “or a better girl.”

Jira beamed, Kip shrunk in on himself
and the others laughed.

Jiron laid a hand on the novice’s
shoulder. “You play a good game, Kip. It’s just that she plays a
better one.”

“It is in her blood,” Miko
stated.

“My blood?” she asked, then turned to
her uncle.

James smiled at her. “It just means
you are your father’s daughter.”

“Oh,” she replied, though failing to
glean understanding.

Pieces moved and as everyone but Kip
had known, his long dagger soon fell to hers and the game was
over.

The first day at sea passed
uneventfully. Kip and Jira played Bones and Daggers, with the
others taking their turns from time to time. Most held their own
with Jira while her father won more than he lost. Kip tried his
luck against Scar and lost three consecutive games while with
Shorty he won two out of three.

Eddra drifted in and out of
consciousness. At times she would seem coherent though she failed
to respond to all attempts at conversation. Azhan managed to get a
few sentences out of her after the midday meal.

“She wanted to know where Gahz had
gone to,” he explained.

“Gahz?” James questioned. “Who’s
that?”

His apprentice shrugged. “She did not
elaborate, Master.”

Her eyes were closed and it was plain
to see she had fallen asleep yet again.

“She is gaining strength,” Miko said.
“Her wounds are healing as one would expect of someone her age. The
swelling around her eye is half the size as when she first joined
us. She may even be able to open it in a day or two.”

That night when they gathered at the
forecastle, James brought out the mirror and they again watched
their loved ones going about their evening business. These viewings
were the high point of their day. He couldn’t wait to hold them in
his arms.

“Master?”

He turned from a scene of Meliana,
Kenny and Aleya walking through Kendrick’s flowers, to
Azhan.

“Yes?”

“Could you show us how you do
that?”

James paused for a moment as if giving
the question due consideration. He looked from one apprentice to
the other, then shook his head. “This is neither the time nor the
place for such instruction.”

Azhan bobbed his head. “As you wish,
Master.”

With any luck, such instruction would
be postponed for a very long time. He could see the fire burning in
Azhan’s eyes, the fire to learn and prove himself. But until he had
an idea as to the kind of mage Azhan would become, James planned to
keep much of his knowledge to himself; and as for that which was
due to his learning from Earth, that he never planned to share. He
gestured for his apprentices to accompany him over near the rail
away from the others.

“What can you two do?”

“I am a strong mage of the Second
Circle,” Azhan replied as if that said it all. Gesturing to his
friend, he added, “Hikai was raised to the Second Circle less than
a year ago.”

“That’s all well and good,”
James said, “but that tells me little. What can you
do
? Where do your
strengths lie?”

“Would you like us to show you?” Azhan
asked.

James shook his head. “Not here. Just
tell me.”

“All mages of the First Circle are
trained in rudimentary combat skills. Both Hikai and myself can
hold our own against non-mages.”

“Heard of the earthen berm you raised
at Tapu.”

“Yes,” Azhan said, beaming. “Working
with the earth has always come easy to me.”

James turned to Hikai. “And you?
Anything you do exceptionally well?”

Looking afraid to even speak, Hikai
shook his head. “No, Master.”

“I see…”

Seeing James being more or less
disappointed, Azhan said, “He can bring down the
lightning.”

“Oh? Just a single bolt or can you
summon many at one time?”

“In one battle two months ago,” Hikai
replied, “I brought down three in less than a heartbeat. Killed
seven bandits.”

“Impressive.”

Hikai beamed.

“Our skills are meager compared to
yours, Master,” Azhan said. “We were given just enough training to
aid the patrols, and then we were sent off.” He glanced to Hikai
who nodded agreement. “I’m sure under your tutelage, our skills
will improve to where we can be worthy of you.”

“That remains to be seen.”

Azhan’s exuberance waned. “Yes,
Master.”

“Captain!” hollered a sailor high up
in the rigging. “Smoke off the port bow!”

Moving to the bow, Captain Anyn
removed a spyglass and directed it toward the wisp of smoke rising
off in the distance.

James immediately produced his mirror
and an image of a ship aflame appeared.

“Helmsman,” the captain said, “make to
intercept.”

“Aye, Captain,” the helmsman replied
and the ship turned.

Everyone crowded around him as he
zoomed the image outward.

“Any survivors?” Scar
asked.

When signs of life failed to
materialize in the broad view, he zoomed in closer and panned it
from bow to stern.

The deck showed evidence of charring
in multiple places. The mizzenmast had been shorn in twain four
feet from the deck, its main body hung off the starboard
side.

Bodies lay strewn across the deck;
many held swords.

“There was a fight,” Jiron
observed.

“No doubt,” agreed Scar.

James turned to Azhan.
“Pirates?”

“I do not know, Master. It is
certainly possible.”

“Or slavers,” offered Hikai. “I have
heard tales.”

After scanning the burning ship a
moment longer, James canceled the image, placed the mirror back in
his pack then walked over to the captain.

Captain Anyn lowered the spyglass and
turned at his approach.

“What’s happening,
Captain?”

“Ship in distress,” he replied. “We’re
going to see if we can lend aid.” He paused a moment and checked
James’ face for signs of displeasure at having to be delayed. Not
finding any, he returned his attention to the spyglass and the fast
approaching ship.

A moment later he turned to the man
high in the rigging and hollered, “Any survivors?”

“None that I can see,
Captain.”

“Damn pirates,” he mumbled.

“This happens often?” Miko
asked.

The captain shook his head. “No. Quite
rare for these waters in fact. But it does happen.”

All the sails had been consumed by the
fire. The bulk of the smoke emerged from the hold though several
other places still smoldered.

“Doesn’t look like pirates,” the
Captain announced as they drew near.

“What makes you say that?” Jiron
asked.

He pointed toward four boxes secured
with rope near the tiller housing. The top one was badly singed and
broken open; rods of a dark metal lay spilled on the deck. “Pig
iron. Pirates would have taken that. Very valuable.”

Putting the spyglass in his tunic,
Captain Anyn turned to his crew and commenced shouting orders.
Sails were furled and as they came abreast of the derelict, the
anchor was released. Grappling hooks sailed across to take hold of
the ship’s side and the two were pulled together.

The captain turned to James, “You and
your people remain aboard while we check for survivors.”

“Aye, Captain.”

A score of sailors hopped the rails
and proceeded to make a methodical search of the ship. Another
dozen headed for the pig iron and worked to transfer the valuable
iron to their ship along with other crates and barrels containing
unknown items.

“Sami!”

Azhan’s holler and subsequent hop to
the other ship took them by surprise.

“Come back here!” Tinok yelled as he
sprinted after the young apprentice.

He stopped and knelt next to a
lifeless young boy lying in a pool of blood. The boy had been
stabbed several times.

James came to his apprentice just as
Azhan reached out a hand and smoothed a swath of hair from the
young boy’s face.

“Who was he?”

Looking up at his master with sadness
in his eyes, he replied, “A friend from the School.”

“A mage?”

Azhan shook his head. “Not
exactly.”

“Master,” Hikai said, “Sami was
brought to the school while we were still of the First Circle. Not
everyone has what it takes to be mages. He had some skill, but was
unable to master more than the most rudimentary spells.”

He came to kneel next to Azhan. “He
was deemed not a threat to himself or others and so was released a
year ago.”

“I thought they killed the rejects,”
Scar stated.

“Not always.”

The approach of Captain Anyn drew
James’ attention. He turned toward him.

“Everyone’s dead.”

“Any idea who did this?” James
asked.

He shook his head. “No,” then paused a
moment. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“How do you mean?”

The captain motioned for him to follow
and led him to the forecastle housing. He pointed to a large
charred section that began three feet from the deck. “What do you
make of this?”