Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [164]
“What’s the plan?” he asks him.
Jiron sits and thinks for a minute before saying, “I really want to know what’s on the other side of those walls. If I knew that, I would better know from where to attempt to gain entry.”
“How about climbing a tree?” suggests James. “That should raise you high enough to see within the walls.”
His eyes widen like he never even considered the option. Nodding, he says as he looks around the forest, “You may have something there.” He gets to his feet and begins to look around for a suitable tree that’s both tall enough and placed so he will be able to see over the walls without being observed.
When he finally locates one that appears to be acceptable, he says to James, “Be right back.” Then he walks quietly through the trees until he comes to the one he spotted. The tree sits about thirty feet away from where the wall turns from the road back into the forest.
Jumping up, he grabs hold of one of the lower branches and swings himself up. James alternates between watching him climb and keeping an eye on the guards, all the while praying that he’ll remain unobserved. The guards, totally oblivious to what’s happening in the tree near them, continue talking among themselves.
James glances back to Jiron and sees that he’s reached a height that will afford him a good view of the entire compound. He settles into the crook of a branch and stays up there quite awhile before beginning his descent back to the ground. Once down, he makes his way over to where James is waiting.
“Well?” he asks when Jiron approaches.
“They have a lot of guards within the walls,” he says. “Thirty or more, I couldn’t get an exact count. That of course, doesn’t include any that are currently within the mine.”
He takes a stick and begins drawing a diagram of the compound on the ground. He draws the wall and a large pit in the middle and large rectangles around the pit. “There’s a large pit in the middle, most likely the entrance to the mines.” Pointing to the rectangles around the pit he says, “These look to be quarters for the slaves and perhaps other auxiliary buildings, similar to the ones we saw back at the smelters.”
“Did you see any of the slaves?” he asks.
“A few, but the majority must still be within the mine.” He sits back and rests for a moment. “I’ll go back up the tree and stay there till nightfall, just to see if things change. Then we can determine what we want to do.”
“Alright,” agrees James, anxious now that he’s this close to getting Miko out.
Jiron reaches into his pouch and hands some dried beef to James as he says, “Here.”
Taking the beef, James asks, “Where did you get this?”
“Found it on Kristo’s boat,” he says, grinning.
James tears off a bite and begins chewing, a little tough, but not bad. Jiron hands him another chunk and they have a quick meal before he returns to the tree to watch the compound. While they’re eating, the gate opens and another five wagons leave the compound as they begin rolling south down the road to the smelters.
“They get a lot of iron from here, don’t they?” he observes, a thoughtful look coming to him.
Nodding, James replies, “Yeah, I’ve been watching wagons leave all day. Why?”
“No reason,” he replies. Finishing up, Jiron gets back to his feet and goes over to the tree where he again climbs up to keep an eye on what’s going on inside the walls.
“Boys,” Essin announces as the last wagon of the day rolls away, “I believe that puts us close to being the best team in the mines.”
A cheer erupts from the men, Miko feels pride as Nate slaps him on the back and gives him a big grin. “Your hard efforts have not gone unnoticed and tonight you will not find the usual fare brought to your quarters. Tonight, you will have beef and wine.”
A gasp escapes some of the men at the news. For those who’ve been here the longest, beef and wine is something they have all but forgotten. Miko’s stomach begins to cramp and growl at the thought.
“If we can continue as we have,” Essin tells them, “you can expect similar feasts