The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian S. Pratt [177]
“No, but I’ll survive.” Giving him a reassuring grin, he assures Miko that he’ll be fine and takes the water bottle, draining most of it. Then he pops the berries in his mouth one at a time while gazing out over the water. Soon his headache has been reduced to a manageable throb.
Miko has the horse ready for travel by the time James finishes the meal and feels ready for travel. He extends his hand and aids James in getting to his feet and then onto the horse. He swings up behind him and rests his head against his friend’s back. Though exhausted from having stood watch the entire night, he feels good about not letting his friend down again.
It’s not long after they return to the road and head for the City of Light when James feels Miko slump against him and begin to snore. He does his best to make him comfortable and to ensure he doesn’t fall from the horse.
The number of travelers has dramatically increased since yesterday. More families are on the road than there were yesterday, many small children ride in the back of wagons or walk beside their parents. When asked, they tell him the City had not yet been besieged when they left.
As the day progresses, groups of riders appear to the west as Madoc riders patrol the area. The closer to the City they go, the more frequently they appear.
Miko rouses several times during the morning, but lapses back to sleep after taking a quick look around or answering the call of nature.
Prior to midday they pass through a small fishing village which was really not much more than a couple main buildings with lots of huts and houses surrounding them. The people there, though concerned about the Empire, haven’t yet evacuated their homes. Many still go about their day to day business as usual, several fishing boats are seen out on the water.
One of the buildings is a store and James decides to make a brief stop to replenish their depleted supply of rations. The only food left is dried fish and day old bread, the throngs of people coming through having bought everything else. He buys two days worth at exorbitant prices. The lady wouldn’t even haggle with him, saying that if he didn’t buy it, someone else surely would before the end of the day.
They returned to the road, eating the dry fish and stale bread as they ride, though not very tasty at least they were filling. The road passes through other villages, about one every five miles or so, and the number of closed and vacated buildings increases the closer to the City of Light they become. The number of people on the road is also steadily increasing as well with more and more refugees fleeing the approach of the Empire.
As the shadows begin growing long with the closing of the day, a great walled city nestled against the edge of the Sea begins to appear in the distance ahead. A formidable wall surrounds it and many ships are anchored in the harbor. When asked, a passerby confirms that it is, indeed, the City of Light. Hundreds of buildings spread outward from the wall, though many have the look of being deserted, likely in anticipation of a siege by the Empire.
Travel upon the road is slow as a veritable exodus of people flow from the city. In the surrounding fields many farmers work to save what crops they can. Some fields are actually on fire to prevent the Empire from benefiting from the unharvested grain.
Cavalry can be seen running patrols throughout the countryside, and the walls of the city are lined with many men. “It’s going to take a while to break this city,” James observes.
“Yeah,” agrees Miko. “It looks impressive, bigger even than Cardri.”
“It’s not just the men already here,” James says as he points over to the harbor. “But the Sea enables them to receive fresh supplies of men and equipment should they need it.”
The gates are jammed with people and wagons, going both in and out. An entire squad of the city guard is at the gates attempting to maintain what order they can. It takes a while but they make it to the gates where one of the guards questions them about their