The Mists of Sorrow_ Book Seven of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [75]
Screams of the horses are heard as they struggle against the traces which drag them beneath the waters. Soon, it grows quiet as the river wins out and drags them under completely.
“Too bad for the horses,” Aleya says. The others nod agreement. The section of bridge floating upon the river continues to slowly spin as it flows downstream until it finally disappears in the distance. An hour later they come to where the bridge section was stopped in its southward voyage when it got snagged on a sandbar in a bend of the river.
“Think they’ll come get it?” asks Stig.
“Who knows,” replies Scar. Keeping a steady pace, they soon leave the broken section of bridge behind them.
Once the sun is high in the sky, they pull off the road to allow the horses a chance to rest and for them to get a quick bite to eat. Off in the distance to the south on the far side of the river lies the outline of a town.
“A day or so south of that town lies Korazan,” announces Stig. “Should be interesting to see what they’ve done to the place since we left.”
“Could your friend be there?” asks Reilin.
Jiron stops dead in his tracks. He never even thought of that. If something had happened to Tinok, he could very well be sitting in a slave pen at Korazan. Glancing to James he asks, “If he is, could you see him in your mirror?”
“A day away?” he muses. “Possibly.” Taking out his mirror, he concentrates on Tinok. Again, the mirror remains placid, the only thing he sees in it is his own reflection. “Nothing,” he says. “Still, it could be that we’re still too far away. I’ll look again before it gets dark tonight.”
“Okay,” Jiron says.
After the break, they return to the road and continue their way south. The city on the opposite side of the river they saw during the break continues to grow until they reach where a branching of the road moves toward the river.
A wide bridge once spanned the river where the road crosses over, but now it’s just two broken ends jutting from the ground on either side. Wagons and people have formed a bottleneck while they wait for their turn to cross. Two of the makeshift bridges span the water similar in nature to the one they encountered earlier. One of the bridges is used for traffic coming from the town and the other for those going the other way. A single wagon is making the crossing toward the town while a dozen people use the other on their way to the road James and the others are on.
“Wonder what would have happened if that bridge that broke loose further up had made it this far,” supposes Scar.
“I doubt if those two bridges there would have survived the impact,” James says.
“How long do you suppose it is going to take them to get the bridges we destroyed rebuilt?” asks Jiron.
“Years, I would think,” replies James.
As they move on past, they keep watching those who are there at the bridge waiting to cross. It’s obvious those in line are not happy about the speed with which the crossings are taking place. After several single wagons cross, one at a time, James tells the others that it’s probably due to the unstable nature of the makeshift bridge. Too much weight at one time could cause them to break away like the other one did earlier.
The bridge and the people waiting to cross soon disappear behind them. Not much further after that they come to where a road from the east joins with theirs. At the junction, the river bends sharply to the east and the road moves to follow it.
“I remember this place,” Potbelly suddenly announces. “I figure Korazan is only another day and a half’s ride away.”
“You sure?” asks James.
“Oh yes,” he replies. “A sharp turn in the river followed by a town on the other side. Last time we came through here I was commenting to Scar how this would be a good defensible spot if someone was trying to cross over to the west.”
“That’s right,” Scar says. “You brought it up because of the time up in Rycklin…” For the next half hour, he and Potbelly