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Startled out of sleep, James sits up abruptly in the tub, splashing some of the now cold water onto the floor. Looking behind him he sees Jiron standing there. “You’re back!” he exclaims.

“Here,” Jiron says as he hands him the towel that was sitting next to the tub.

“Thanks.” Taking the towel, he gets out of the tub and proceeds to dry himself off. “So what did you find out?”

“The mines are a couple hours from town,” Jiron explains. “It’s situated at the end of a box canyon.”

“A canyon?” he asks.

“Yeah. A wooden fence, similar to the one back on the island where we rescued Miko and Nate, blocks the entrance. There’s but a single gate and guards patrol the top.”

Nodding, James continues getting ready for bed. “Did you get a look inside?”

“No,” he replies shaking his head. “No chance for that. We waited and watched for awhile but nothing happened, then we came back.”

Finished getting ready for bed, he lies back on top of the covers and mulls over what Jiron just told him. “Tomorrow afternoon I’d like to go up there and have a look around if you think we can avoid being noticed?” he finally asks.

“The road winds through some barren hills before it reaches the box canyon,” Jiron explains. “Not much in the way of concealing cover but we’ll see what we can do.” Going over to the burning candle he snuffs it out and then crawls into his own bed. He plans on getting a good night’s sleep this night. After tomorrow things are likely to be a little lively.

Back in his tower, Kerith-Ayxt stares out at the moon rising in the distance. Exhausted from the two days of preparation, he pauses here by the window for a few minutes as he looks out over the Great Hall.

All the safeguards have been set and the way is prepared. The only thing left is the actual summoning of Aekion. When he told the Assembly of Masters his plan to summon Aekion, few knew what he was talking about. But those who did spoke out against it for they understood the risks involved with such a hazardous undertaking.

He allowed them to speak their minds then said they were to undertake this for the good of the Empire. At that they grew silent, none would speak against an action the High Lord Magus pronounced as good for the Empire. Things often happened to those who did.

During the sealing of the Great Hall, fifty slaves were drained of their life force to power the holding spells needed to contain Aekion. Once he is summoned, those holding spells will be all that will contain him until the spells of binding are put into effect.

Another hundred slaves were used in preparing the way for Aekion to pass from his plane to here. With but two of the three stages accomplished, they have less than half of their slaves remaining. He had no idea when he started that he would already have used so many already. With the most dangerous and magic consuming part before him, he prays he has enough. But once started, you can’t simply stop something like this.

Moving his gaze from the Great Hall, he looks out to the north where the army that took Korazan lies. Slowly but surely it’s moving inexorably toward Madoc. His mages have kept a constant eye on its progress and have reported that as they reach each town along the road, they free the town’s slaves and kill the slavers. At first they thought that odd until realization set in that they were arming them with arms taken from dead Empire soldiers they defeat in battle. Now they have twice the numbers they had when they left Korazan, although most are ill equipped and lack adequate training.

Armies are currently on the move from the south to deal with them, but whether they will arrive in time to prevent them from reaching Madoc is anyone’s guess. The best guess is, maybe. Not only that, but as they move they destroy every bridge they come to, no matter how small.

Still further to the north, Lord Pytherian with the help of the Alliance is beginning to push their remaining forces back toward the Empire. Some reports even state that Cardri forces have been sighted among the Alliance, though those reports