The Mists of Sorrow_ Book Seven of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [80]
“Did you see that?” asks Jiron excitedly.
“Yeah,” says James, “I saw.” The image flickered for a moment when he used more magic.
“Something happen?” asks Scar as he and the others come over to investigate Jiron’s outburst.
“He almost had him!” exclaims Jiron. Almost dancing with glee, he turns back to James and asks, “Can you do it again?”
“Possibly,” he says. Returning his gaze to the mirror, he opens the gate so to speak, and the magic pours from him. The image in the mirror shifts and Tinok appears.
“That’s him!” Jiron cries out.
The image is hazy, possibly due to the distance it’s coming from. Tinok is sitting in the back of a wagon with hands and feet manacled. It’s very hard to tell but it looks like the wagon is in motion.
“Where is he?” Miko asks. “Can you expand the image any?”
He tries but the drain of power is too great. Shaking his head he says, “It would require more magic than I have.”
Suddenly, he feels Miko’s hand on his shoulder. Glancing up he sees him there with the Star in his hand. “Maybe this will help?” he asks with a crooked grin and the Star flares brightly.
“Yes it will,” he replies. Casting a leech line to him, James suddenly feels the power of the Star flowing into him via Miko. As he returns his gaze to the mirror he hears Jiron say to Miko, “Thanks.”
With the added magic of the Star, the image clarifies some but the haziness remains. Expanding the image, they see that Tinok’s wagon is one of several. One man in armor on a horse rides in front of the lead wagon while a dozen others ride alongside the rest.
The haziness gradually increases despite the amount of magic he’s using. Then all of a sudden they come to the side of a large, black surface. It could possibly be a wall. A section of the wall slides open and the man in armor leading them rides inside. The wagons follow along behind, and when the last wagon passes through the wall, the mirror returns to normal.
“What happened?” asks Jiron.
“I don’t know,” admits James. Staring perplexed at the mirror, all he can see are the reflections of himself and the others as they stare down at it. The magic is still flowing, but there is no image. Stepping up the magic flow, he draws more from Miko. Steadily increasing the flow of magic he concentrates on Tinok but the mirror remains blank. With a sigh, he gradually reduces the magic flow until he stops it altogether.
“I can’t reach him anymore,” he says. When Jiron is about to argue, he adds, “I was using more magic than ever before in searching with the mirror. There’s nothing more I can do.”
“At least we know he’s alive,” offers Stig. “That’s more than we knew before.”
“That’s right,” agrees Scar.
“He’s in trouble,” Jiron says as he gets to his feet. Looking at the others he says, “What are we waiting for?” They quickly make ready for travel. Once they’re mounted, Jiron leads them back to the road and maintains a quick pace.
After they’ve been on the road for an hour, James pulls out his cloth to see if they are still going in the right direction. When he casts the spell that he’s cast every time he’s done this, the cloth remains still. A shiver runs through him as he stops the magic. Attempting to home in on Tinok, he again releases the magic and says under his breath, “Come on!” But the cloth remains still and doesn’t even twitch.
He glances over to where Jiron is watching him. “It’s not working,” he says.
“What’s not working?” he asks.
“My cloth trick,” he explains. “It isn’t pointing to where Tinok is.”
“Why not?” he asks.
Shrugging, James says, “I don’t know.”
Bringing them to a stop there in the middle of the road, Jiron moves his horse to his side and says, “Do it again.”
“I’ve already tried twice and it isn’t working,” he tells him.
“Do it again,” he insists. By this time the others have gathered around to observe what’s going on.
Holding up the hand with the cloth once more, he concentrates on Tinok then releases the magic. Just as happened the