Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [157]
“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
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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