Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [41]
Not having reached the next town by the time the sun begins to near the horizon, they decide to pull over and make camp off the road a ways. The wagons are pulled in close to one another and the horses are picketed in a group nearby. They set about making camp when Tinok comes over to James with his water bottle and asks, “Have you got any extra water? Mine’s all gone.”
“A little,” he replies. “I was trying to make it last.”
“Can I have some?”
“Sure,” he says, handing him his bottle.
As Tinok drinks the last of his water, he begins to realize they may be in trouble. Out in this heat, they’re not going to last long without water. Then he glances over to the horses and realizes they’ve not had any water since the blacksmith’s earlier in the day. They must be really thirsty by now.
He looks around the horizon for a source of water, but only scrub brush can be seen. This could be bad, he realizes. Calling them all together, he asks, “Who has water left?”
Cassie and Jiron raise their hands, while Tinok and Delia shake their heads.
“Seems we’ve gotten ourselves in a situation,” he says. “We’re going to die out here if we don’t find some water soon, not to mention the horses.”
“What are we to do?” Jiron asks. “We’re miles away from anywhere and,” he glances around the horizon, “it doesn’t look like there’s any water to be found.”
“There’s always water,” he tells them, “it’s just a matter of getting to it.”
“I don’t see any water around here,” Tinok says as he looks around the horizon.
“It’s beneath us,” he explains, pointing to the ground. “Under the surface.”
“How are we going to get it?” Tinok asks.
“Magic?” Delia guesses, looking questioningly toward James.
He nods his head, “Magic. Now what I plan to do is to search with magic beneath the ground and when I’ve found it, get it to come up to the surface.”
“Neat,” Cassie exclaims.
“Just stay here and watch for anyone coming,” he says to them. He then turns and walks away from their camp, looking for a depression or hole where the water would be able to pool once he managed to bring it up. It wouldn’t do to spend all that time and energy to bring it up only to have the water run off and be absorbed back into the ground.
He eventually comes across a place not thirty feet from camp that will suffice, and then sits down next to it. He begins concentrating and the magic flows out of him, down below the surface as he searches for water.
Surprisingly, he finds water not very far below the surface, only about twenty feet or so. He sends his senses further down and discovers that there’s a sizeable reservoir there. Coming back to himself, he gets up and walks back over to the group, informing them of what he’s found. His head is dizzy from the heat and the effort it took to find the water.
Incredibly hot and thirsty after the ordeal, he asks “Cassie, could I have the rest of your water?”
She nods and then hands him her water bottle which he drains completely. “Thanks,” he says as he hands it back to her.
“Now what?” Jiron asks.
“Give me just a few minutes to rest and I’ll attempt to bring it up.” He goes over and sits down on a wagon, taking advantage of the shade the newly acquired covering gives. Even though the sun is about to go down, it’s still fairly hot.
Once he’s rested and no longer feels dizzy, he gets down from the wagon and walks back to the area where he will attempt to bring up the water. Standing next to the depression he begins to summon the magic, sending it below the surface to where the water lies.
He takes his time, finding fissures and cracks, weak spots that can be loosened and widened, making a way for the water to reach the surface. Little by little, as he widens a crack here and breaks through stone there, he begins to sense the water being forced to the surface by the pressure below.
Once he’s created a fissure halfway to the surface the ground begins to shake, breaking his concentration and ending the spell. He stumbles as the shaking increases, cries of confusion come from the