Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [99]
“I don’t know,” he replies, “but I think we need to be moving.”
Waking everyone quickly, they set a new record in getting the caravan ready and moving down the road. With uneasy eyes on the fogbank, they make haste down the road. For the first couple miles the fog stays fairly close but then begins to recede again until it is once again several miles off in the distance. By the end of the day, they’re unable to see it any more, much to the relief of everyone.
Next morning, James looks to the east and is happy to still see no trace of the fog at all. After rolling down the road for two hours, they come to another town. A large congregation of people can be seen out in front of a two story building set a little ways into town.
As they come closer, they notice that the people are upset about something and are talking agitatedly among themselves. “Go see what’s going on,” James says to Roland.
Roland gives him a nod, climbs down off the wagon, and then walks over to the crowd of people. The others wait for him on the road.
James sees him moving through the crowd, talking to several different people until he finally begins to make his way back. “Well?” he asks as Roland returns.
“You’re not going to believe this,” he says. “Last night the garrison Sub-Commander was murdered.”
“So?” Jiron asks.
“He was murdered by a northerner,” he says, “and there were witnesses. Also, drawn in blood on his forehead, was a heart with two dots.” He turns to Jiron and says, “Sound familiar?”
“Cassie’s necklace?” Jiron replies. “It was a heart with two stones.”
“You mean Tinok did this?” Delia asks, not really believing it.
He turns to her, “It would appear so, but we have no real evidence, though the description of the murderer matches him fairly good.”
“What is he doing?” Jiron wonders, angry. “That fool’s going to get himself killed.” He turns to James, “He’s close, maybe we could find him and help him?”
“Let’s get a ways out of town and then I’ll look and see what I can discover,” he tells him.
Jiron nods his head and they follow the road as it passes through town. Once the town has disappeared behind them, they pull off the road and James takes out his mirror to attempt to locate him.
Settling down on the ground, he gazes into the mirror, concentrating on Tinok and then lets the magic flow. Tinok begins to appear in the mirror, he’s riding his horse fast across the desert.
“Where is he?” Jiron asks.
“I don’t know,” James says, “somewhere to the east, I think. The sun is too high for me to be able to tell for sure by the shadows.”
“How far away is he?” demands Jiron.
“I can’t tell that,” explains James.
“Damn him!” Jiron curses in frustration. He turns and stares out into the desert to the east, hoping beyond hope to be able to see him. “So close!”
Delia comes to him and says, “But he doesn’t want us to find him.”
“Why do you say that?” he shouts at her in anger. “Why wouldn’t he want to be with his friends?”
“I don’t know,” she replies, gently. “But if he did, he would be here.”
“He knows where we’re going,” Yorn tells him. “He can find us if he wants to.”
Potbelly comes over and says, “Sometimes, a man’s just got to work things out on his own. And a hurt like he’s had could take a long time, if ever.”
Jiron continues gazing out to the desert and then his head droops as he turns to walk back to his horse. “Let’s go,” he says to them despondently.
Chapter Eighteen
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That evening when they stop for the night, James takes the watch in the middle of the night. He likes that one cause it’s quiet and peaceful, giving him time to think about things. When he’s on watch, he usually goes over the magic he’s done and tries to figure out how to make it better, such as the bubble seeker spell he used in locating Jiron the other night.
This evening, he’s trying to come up with spells that will be effective against another mage. His last two trials hadn’t gone all that well, the first one at the City of Light almost killed him and ended up devastating a wide area. He needs to