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Behind them, the enemy riders decide not to give chase and begin giving aid to their comrades.

Chapter Fifteen

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“You’re really something you know,” Illan says when they finally rejoin the main force and tell him what happened.

“Actually most of the credit should go to Brother Willim and the Hand,” replies James. “It was the ants that caused the mages to be unable to focus well enough to control the magic.”

He barks out with laughter. “I know that to be true,” he says, still chuckling. “When I was a young lad I fell asleep in an area swarming with them. I must have moved in my sleep for they started biting me. By the time I made it to the nearest pond and dove in, I had welts from head to toe. Miserable buggers.”

From behind they can hear Scar and Potbelly recounting the events to the rest of the men. Of course from their version you would think they had killed the mages all by themselves, not to mention the hundred or more soldiers they had slain. James just grins and shakes his head, by this time no one really takes what they say as fact. He still wants to call them on one of their wild claims but so far hasn’t been able to.

Pulling out his mirror, he checks the force behind them and discovers they are still by the road where the attack occurred. From the looks of them, it doesn’t seem as if they are in any hurry to proceed. He then scans in a full circle for any enemy forces but only comes up with more desert. There are civilians traveling here and there, none likely to cross their path.

He scrolls the image as far west as he can before the drain of magic becomes too great in an attempt to find Korazan but isn’t able to reach that far. “Looks like there’s nothing close,” he tells Illan as he replaces his mirror back in his pack.

“That’s good news,” he replies. “If we move fast enough, we may be able to stay ahead of the word of our approach.”

Nodding, James rides in silence for awhile. Behind him, he can hear Jiron as he talks with Aleya.

“I took out one of the mages myself,” he boasts. Riding along beside her, he glances out of the corner of his eye for any spark of reaction to what he just said. Nothing. She simply continues riding along, pointedly ignoring him.

He never was one to boast of his deeds before. In fact, he can’t remember ever doing it before just now, at least not for the sole purpose of impressing someone. Why does this woman affect him so? He’s drawn to her but it seems as if nothing he does has any effect. Back when he and James had first encountered her in the hills near Mountainside she was friendly to him. He even felt they were growing closer. Yet here they were, separated by something completely unfathomable to him. After riding along beside her for several more minutes, he sighs and then slows to drop back.

“You okay?” Delia’s voice comes to him as she moves to ride alongside him.

“Yeah,” he says in a voice not quite convincing.

Delia takes in the way he keeps glancing at Aleya and tries to hide the grin that is threatening to come forth. She’s been watching his attempt at becoming closer to her and is pretty sure she knows what’s keeping him from achieving it. But she’s not quite sure how to tell him.

“I thought you and Aleya liked each other?” she asks.

“We do!” he blurts out with more force than he wanted. Face turning red, he turns his gaze to her and adds, “At least I do.”

“Then what’s the problem?” she asks.

“I don’t know,” he replies. “I try talking to her and all I get is silence. At first she and I hit it off, but then things began to cool until now it’s absolutely frigid.”

“What do you talk about?” she asks.

“Oh, the war. The adventures James and I have had, my time in the Pits,” he tells her.

The grin she’s been holding back is all but breaking through the barriers she’s erected in an effort not to make him feel bad. “Do you ever talk about her?”

“What?” he asks.

“Have you ever asked her a question about her life? Her thoughts?” She pauses a moment to let that sink in. “There are many