Trail of the Gods: The Morcyth Saga Book Four (19 page)

“What’s so funny?” Jiron asks as he moves to
stay with him.

“That war party you think is encamped back
in that clearing is in fact a betrothal one,” he says, smiling.

“What?” Jiron asks, now quite confused.

“They’re escorting the young lady to Wurt
where she’ll be married to the son of an old friend.” He holds up
his hand to stop any more questions as he continues. “She’s sort of
my niece in a way, though not blood related or anything like that,”
he explains. “This union has been arranged for many years.”

“But they’re from the Empire!” he
states.

“True, but that doesn’t make them evil,” he
says. “They’re just people.”

Jiron walks for a minute in silence as he
assimilates all this information. Then he starts to laugh, “Wait
until I tell them about this.”

“I’d love to go with you to see their
reaction,” Ceryn tells him, “but I’m already overdue at the mayor’s
home. I just had to swing by here to say hello and give her my best
wishes.”

Still chuckling, Jiron says, “Thanks for
telling me about them.” With a wave, he leaves Ceryn on the road as
he makes his way through the forest back to where his horse is
waiting.
Wait until James and Illan hear about this. They’ll
probably skin Miko alive!
Then he starts laughing all over
again.

Upon reaching his horse, he mounts up and
heads back to The Ranch. He comes out of the forest and makes his
way onto the road, then heads back to Trendle. Once over the
bridge, he takes a short cut around the town along a little known
way through the forest, finally coming out near James’
workshop.

The place seems surprisingly quiet, he looks
around and doesn’t see anyone. Not wanting to take the time to
unsaddle his horse, he ties it near the back door to the kitchen
and goes in.

“Wait until you guys hear…” he stops what he
was saying when he sees Ezra and Roland sitting at the table with
little Arkie playing with the teddy bear on the floor beside them.
“Where is everyone?” he asks.

“Went to find you,” Roland says.

Tersa comes in from the other room when she
hears his voice. “Thank goodness you’re okay!” she cries as she
runs over and gives him a hug.

He disengages from her and asks, “What’s
going on?”

“When Devin came back and told everyone
where the men from the Empire had camped,” Roland explains, “Illan
took everyone and headed over to deal with it. He felt it prudent
not to wait for the attack, but to fight while we have the
advantage of surprise.”

Suddenly overcome with dread, he asks,
“They’re going to attack them?” When he sees everyone’s nod, he
swears and then runs out the door to his horse.

“What’s wrong?” Tersa cries out as she
follows him out.

“They’re not here to attack!” he exclaims.
“They’re on their way to a wedding. The woman is the bride.”

“Oh, no!” she cries out.

Jiron vaults onto his horse and races down
the lane to the road. This way is much faster at a gallop than the
short cut would’ve been. At the end of the lane, the ever present
guard isn’t there either. Illan must’ve taken everyone with him.
Don’t attack!
he cries out silently. Then, from over where
the clearing lies, he can see bright bursts of light exploding in
the air.

James! No!

As they ride through town, James asks Illan
for the third time, “Are you sure we need to attack them?” It took
some convincing from Illan for him to even agree to this
venture.

“If they are here to kill you, then
attacking with the element of surprise is our best bet,” he
explains. In fact, he’s explained this more than once since leaving
The Ranch for the clearing. Everyone knows of James’ reluctance to
kill, but there are times when it’s necessary.

They ride through the center of town, the
locals stop what they’re doing when they see who it is. Some of
them call out to their new recruits who just sit taller in the
saddle, basking in the notoriety of just being in the same company
as ‘the mage’.

James hates the stares, but knows there’s
not a whole lot he can do about it. When word gets out about this
escapade, there’ll probably be even more in the way of gawkers
coming by The Ranch.

Once past the town, they increase their
speed and ride quickly until they’re about a half mile away from
the clearing where Devin told them the party was encamped. Illan
has them stop and walk their horses a ways into the trees before
tying their reins to the branches.

“This way no one will come along and
‘borrow’ our horses while we’re dealing with the assassins,” Illan
explains.

They move back to the edge of the trees by
the road and follow it toward the clearing. When they begin to see
their campfires ahead of them, Illan has them move into the trees.
Taking it slowly and quietly, they make their way through the trees
toward the clearing. As the clearing begins to be visible through
the trees, he has everyone stay where they are while he and James
approach closer. Getting within several yards of where the trees
end at the clearing, they stop and crouch down as they watch those
within the clearing.

The mercenaries are congregating around the
far campfire while the two men and the lady stay by the one near
the wagons. They can hear them talking in the speech of the Empire,
but neither James nor Illan understand it.

“They don’t look like they’re preparing an
assault,” James whispers.

“No, they don’t,” Illan says.

One of the men begins preparing their dinner
as he brings out a large cook pot and fills it with water from a
barrel in the back of one of their wagons. Setting it on the fire,
he returns to the wagon where he obtained the water and removes a
large, bulging sack. Removing his knife, he opens the sack and
pulls out a large tuber and then begins slicing it into the cook
pot.

Over at the other campfire, similar
preparations are in progress as well. Most of them actually have
their armor removed and stacked on the other wagon.

“Do you think Miko could have been
mistaken?” James asks Illan.

“I don’t know,” he says. “I still don’t like
the fact they’re from the Empire.”

“Cardri’s not at war with them,” James
reminds him. “They could just be traveling through, or even
merchants.”

Illan doesn’t look convinced. They sit there
a couple more minutes observing them when from behind them, they
hear a twig snap as Miko approaches.

James glances to the clearing, fearful they
may have heard. With relief, he doesn’t see any indication that
they heard.

“Well?” Miko asks as he joins them.

“Are you sure they were coming after James?”
Illan asks him.

“Yes, I am,” he replies. “Why?”

James gestures to the clearing and says,
“Just look at them.” When Miko looks, he continues, “They’re not
acting as if they plan to attack. I also haven’t felt anything that
would lead me to believe one of them is a mage.”

“Did they actually mention James by name?”
asks Illan.

Miko thinks back and then shakes his head,
“No, not by name. But they said they were going to kill someone to
the north. Who else could it be?”

“I don’t think they plan anything here,”
James says, glancing to Illan.

“I tend to agree,” Illan says, giving Miko
an annoyed look. “But to be on the safe side, we should leave
someone here to keep an eye on them just in case.”

Suddenly from the campsite, the woman calls
out and one of the mercenaries gets up and goes over to a wagon. He
reaches in and picks up a small wooden chest and begins carrying it
over to her.

All talking ceases as James and the other
two watch what’s going on.

The guard’s foot suddenly snags on an
exposed root, causing him to lose his balance and the chest flies
out of his hands. The woman gasps as the chest hits the ground, the
lid flying open. A dozen small tubes spill out, three of which land
in the fire.

“No!” she cries as she dives away from the
fire.

James gets to his feet, his eyes riveted on
the tubes in the fires. Suddenly, one of them explodes in a green
flash sending embers flying in all directions. Another one goes off
and they watch as a trail of sparks rises into the sky and then
explodes in a brilliant yellow ball.

“Magic!” he hears someone behind him
exclaim.

The trees near the edge of the camp begin to
catch fire from the embers thrown by the first explosion. When the
third tube explodes, it sends a yellowish-orange spray of sparks
toward one of their wagons. Its canvas cover begins smoking as many
pinpoint fires spring to life.

The woman scrambles back to the spilled
tubes and hastily replaces them in the chest while her guards rush
to remove the now burning canvas from the wagon.

Without even thinking, James runs toward the
edge of the clearing and begins stomping upon the growing flames,
trying to put them out before they spread. Illan and the others
join him as they use feet, shirts, and water bottles to slow the
fire.

The guards succeed in getting the canvas off
the wagon just as it bursts into flames. Throwing it to the side,
it lands in the middle of the clearing where it’s quickly
consumed.

Smoke fills the clearing from the fires that
are beginning to be brought under control. The woman closes the lid
on the chest after the remaining tubes have been placed inside and
that’s when she notices James’ group at the edge of the clearing
stomping on the remnants of the fire.

She calls out and her guards, some with
swords drawn, place themselves between her and James.

“James,” Miko says next to him, bringing his
attention to the clearing and the gathered guards.

A quick glance shows the remaining flames
are being dealt with effectively by the others. Stepping out from
the half burnt bushes he takes three steps within the clearing and
stops. “Hello,” he says.

“What are you doing here?” she asks from
behind her guards. The guards who haven’t drawn their swords all
have their hands on the pommels in the event James’ group proves
hostile.

“Just happened by and heard the explosions,”
he tells her.

“Indeed,” she says. Her eyes flicker to the
others as they come to join him having put the rest of the fires
out. She looks to be about ready to say something when she turns
her head toward the sound of a fast approaching horse.

James is surprised to see Jiron riding hard
to the clearing. “They’re not here to attack!!” he cries out as he
enters the clearing. Coming to a stop between them, he says,
“They’re on their way to a wedding!” He suddenly pauses and takes
in the scene; burnt canvas, smoldering brush around the edge of the
clearing, and a wagon which looks to have been charred
slightly.

The eyes of the woman grow cold when she
hears that. “Attack?” she exclaims. “Is this why you are here? You
think us assassins?” Her eyes bore into James and a growling can be
heard coming from her guards.

“At first, yes,” he admits. “We’d heard
rumors that you were from the Empire and grew concerned. When we
came here and observed you, we realized the rumors were false and
were about to leave when your fire exploded.”

She stares at him a moment as she
contemplates his words, then she turns her attention to Jiron and
asks, “How is it you know we are going to a wedding?”

Jiron looks somewhat sheepish under her
glare and replies, “I ran into Ceryn and he told me.”

“Are you friends of Ceryn’s?” she asks.

“Yes,” replies James.

Her expression softens slightly, then looks
back to James, “Why did you think us here to attack you?”

“We were at the fall of the City of Light
where a friend of ours had been taken captive,” he explains. “We
freed him, but killed some slavers doing it. Hearing those from the
Empire were here, we feared your presence might indicate a
reprisal.”

Nodding her head, she says, “I see.” A few
brief words in their language to the guards and they relax. All but
two return to where they were, the remaining two staying
nearby.

“That was quite an explosion,” he comments.
“By the way, my name is James and these men are my guards.” He
gives her a slight bow.

“I am Allana,” she says. “These were meant
for my wedding. I’m glad they all weren’t destroyed.”

“What are they?” Miko asks, indicating the
chest at her feet.

“They are a gift from my uncle,” she tells
him. “They are used in celebrations by the Illuminator’s Guild.
Though I am not one of them, my uncle is a high ranking member and
allowed me these for my wedding. Since it is going to be here in
Cardri, there’s little chance of word getting out.”

“I’m sorry we intruded upon you,” James
tells her. “We shall go now, and best wishes to you and your
groom.” He indicates for Illan to get the others moving.

“Thank you,” she says.

Leaving the clearing behind, they make their
way back to where their horses are waiting. “The Illuminator’s
Guild must have powerful magic,” comments Miko.

“Not really,” replies James. “What those
tubes were would’ve been called ‘fireworks’ back where I come
from.”

“Fireworks?” asks Jiron.

“That’s right,” he explains. “It’s just
something relatively harmless that people use to make bright lights
and noise.”

“Oh,” says Miko. “Do you think we could get
some?”

Turning to Illan, James asks, “Ever heard of
anything like that before around here?”

Shaking his head he says, “No, not around
here. Though I have heard talk of something like that before, but I
didn’t really believe it.”

After reaching their horses and are riding
back to The Ranch, James considers the ramifications of what he
just learned.
The Chinese used fireworks for a thousand years
before the military aspects of gunpowder were realized. Should the
same thing happen here, it would turn this world upside
down.