Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [17]
Next to him, Jiron breaks out into a laugh and nods his head.
They ride on for another hour before they begin to see a town appearing on the horizon. They keep an eye out for movement but the place appears to be abandoned. As they approach they can see why, buildings stand empty, gutted with flame and dead bodies are scattered around the area. A road passes through the center of town going from east to west, though there appears to be no one upon it.
“Do you think the Empire did this?” Cassie asks, as they stop well away from the town.
James says over his shoulder, “Most likely they did it on their way to the City.”
“Shall we go see if anyone is alive?” Delia asks.
“I think anyone who’s alive would’ve gotten away before now,” James replies. “Besides, we can’t take the chance that we will be discovered here.”
“But someone there could need our help!” she insists as she points toward the town.
“Sometimes,” he begins to explain, “you have to think of…”
She gives him a dirty look and kicks her horse, galloping toward the town before he even has a chance to finish.
“Damn!” Jiron exclaims as he races after her.
The rest hurry after, attempting to catch up with Jiron and Delia.
“Are you crazy?” Jiron yells at Delia when he catches up with her.
Getting down from her horse, she goes over to one of the bodies lying on the ground to see if they’re still alive. Not paying Jiron any attention, she moves on to the next.
He dismounts and goes over to her, grabbing her by the arm and turns her to face him. “We cannot stay here! The Empire will use this road and it’s only a matter of time before they get here.”
Staring him in the eye, she says, “Let go of my arm!” and continues staring him down until he does. When he lets go, she says, “Then help me, but I’m not leaving until I know there is no one here to help.” She turns her back on him and continues on to the next person.
James rides up and says, “We gotta get out of here.”
Jiron looks at him and says, “She won’t leave until she’s sure there’s no one to help.”
“Damn!” James curses, and then looks up and down the road, making sure no one is approaching. “Alright, everyone fan out and search for survivors. Cassie,” he says to her, “you keep a lookout and if anyone comes from either direction, you let us know, fast.”
She nods her head and then finds a position where she can keep both directions of the road in view. It’s not too hard as this is a rather small town with only a dozen or so buildings.
The others move from body to body but are only finding dead ones. Jiron goes through the buildings, but again, no one alive is found.
“Someone’s coming!” Cassie yells as she hurries back toward them.
“Where?” yells Jiron and James simultaneously.
She points off toward the west and says, “There.”
James looks and asks, “Did you see how many?”
“More than one,” she replies. “But I didn’t count, I felt you needed to know as soon as possible.”
“Delia!” James hollers over to her. When he has her attention, he points to the west and says, “We’ve got company!”
She looks west and sees the rider coming and runs over to where the others are. Tinok has already gathered the horses and they all enter one of the larger buildings, bringing the horses inside. James and Jiron take position by the window and watch. The others hold the horses, trying to keep them as quiet as possible.
It’s not long before they hear the approaching riders. James watches as perhaps a score of riders make their way through the center of town, passing right in front of where they’re hiding.
“…the dead? Seems wrong,” they hear one of them say. The man speaks with the accent of one from the Empire.
“We don’t have time to take care of it now,” another one replies with the same accent.
As the riders pass by where they