Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [132]
A sailor comes and begins removing their manacles from the eye rings in the floor. They’re then told to come up and when Miko steps out of that foul hell hole, he sees that the ship is resting next to a small pier on a heavily wooded island, at least he thinks it’s an island. At the end of the pier are several buildings as well as a guard tower upon which two guards with crossbows are standing watch.
The men are disembarked from the ship and formed into lines upon the pier. A guard steps forward and takes several papers from the captain of the ship and then turns to the slaves. After making a short speech that Miko is unable to comprehend, they begin marching along the pier toward an area with several large barrels. A slave stands with a bucket near the first barrel.
As the first of the new arrivals reaches the slave with the bucket, he pours the water in the bucket over the slave’s head who then commences to rub as much of the filth he acquired in the hold off as he can. When it’s Miko’s turn, he steps forward and feels the water flow over him gratefully, the stench from the hold of the ship at last being washed away. A faint odor still remains despite his efforts to remove it all, but nothing like what they smelled like before, a hot bath would do the trick a whole lot better. After the last of the slaves has had a bucket’s worth of water poured over him, the line begins moving again.
They march for about an hour, the fresh air and exercise is a pleasant change after the length of time on the wagon and then in the bottom of the cargo hold. From out of the forest ahead of them, a wooden palisade suddenly appears and begins running along the side of the road. Guards armed with crossbows can be seen walking along the top of the wall and look their way as they approach.
A gate large enough to accommodate a wagon swings open as they near the middle of the palisade and they’re marched through. Once on the other side of the gate, Miko sees a large open pit in front of them, with a winding road that follows the outer edge as it circles down into the depths.
Surrounding the pit are many wooden buildings, with the wall encompassing the entire area. Wagons are rolling along the road as they make their way from out of the depths of the pit. The guards march Miko and the others over toward the road that leads into the pit and then follow the road as it descends into the pit.
Chapter Twenty Three
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James awakens to the sound of waves crashing upon rocks. Though his head hurts like it’s about to split open, he sits up and sees Jiron sitting over near the entrance to a cave, staring out at the water. Their two horses are standing over by the opposite side of the cave.
A groan escapes from James as he sits up. Jiron glances back over his shoulder at him and smiles. “Didn’t think you were ever going to come back to the land of the living,” he says.
Holding his head in his hands to try and ease the pain, James replies with a raspy voice, “Not sure that I have.”
Jiron gets up and brings him a water bottle, “Like some water?”
Reaching out his hand, he takes the offered bottle and drains the entire contents. Looking around, he asks, “Just where are we?”
“In a cave near the ocean,” Jiron explains.
“How did we get here?” he asks as he hands the bottle back.
“After we left Al-Kur,” he begins to explain, “I initially took us out into the desert but ran across a patrol, they saw us and gave chase. I had to back track toward the coast, we didn’t lose them until night fell. After that, we rode all night until I saw this cave opening revealed in the moonlight.”
“Been here for two days,” he tells him. “Wasn’t sure if you were going to make it at first, but by the end of the first day you were getting less restless and began to quiet down. I was afraid the noise you were making would alert anyone passing by to our presence here. I did some scouting around and we seem to be