The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian S. Pratt [186]
He sits there in the dark for quite some time, the only light being that of the fire coming in through the window. He goes over and peers through the window and sees several buildings adjacent to the flaming warehouse have now caught fire as well. He watches as crews work to put out the fire and after a while they seem to have managed to stop it from spreading.
Suddenly, horns begin to sound in the night, dozens and dozens of horns. All the people out in the streets stop what they are doing and raise their heads for a moment, listening to the horns blaring all over the city. Then all hell breaks loose when the people begin racing off in different directions, bumping into each other. Some get knocked down and trampled by the panicked mob while others run and cry out in search of loved ones.
Feeling this may be too important to allow James to continue sleeping, he gently shakes his friend, rousing him. “James!” he whispers urgently, trying to wake him up.
Consciousness is slow in coming back to James. His head still throbs and he is unable to shake sleep’s hold on him.
“What?” He asks groggily, trying to retain his tenuous hold onto consciousness.
“There were horns sounding,” he whispers to his friend.
“Horns?” James asks, slurring his speech.
“Yeah, lots of them. Then it got all weird outside,” explains Miko.
James looks at him, giggles a little and then lapses back into unconsciousness.
“Damn!” swears Miko. Realizing his friend will probably be out for some time, he makes his mind up to go and get some food and perhaps find out what is going on. Making James as comfortable as possible, he slips out the door and joins with the people outside.
“What’s going on?” he asks one of the passersby.
Looking at him like he’s stupid the man asks, “Didn’t you hear the horns?”
“Yeah, but what does that mean?”
“It means the Empire’s forces have been sighted nearing the city and now the gates have been sealed and barred. Now the only way in or out is by ship but some idiot set fire to a warehouse near there and took out a good portion of the docks before it could be put out.”
“What are we to do?” Miko asks.
“What are you, stupid or something?” the man asks incredulously. “We’re under siege boy! Not much to do but wait it out and hope for the best.” Shaking his head, the man walks away, muttering about the idiots of the world.
Miko makes his way to a market of sorts that has sprung up near the docks. People are selling all kinds of stuff along with food. Miko goes to a seller of breads and purchases a loaf of bread for an exorbitant price of a silver and a half for one small loaf. When he tries to haggle, the man says, “Pay it or go away”. Knowing James will need it he buys it as well as a jug of ale for five silvers.
“Extortion, that’s what it is,” he mutters to himself as he makes his way back to the abandoned warehouse. To his relief, he finds James exactly where he left him, undisturbed and still snoring softly. He sits down next to him and eats a little of the bread for himself, drinking a small portion of the ale to wash it down. Then he settles in to keep watch for as long as he needs to.
He manages to stay awake all night, keeping watch over his friend. When the morning sun begins to lighten the sky, to his immense relief, James begins to stir.
Moaning with the pounding in his head, he sits up and puts his head in his hands in the hope of keeping it from bursting apart. “Oh my god,” he moans. “What I wouldn’t give for some aspirin right now.”
“We don’t have any of that,” replies Miko, wondering what an aspirin is. He offers the bread and ale to James and says, “But we do have this.”
Seeing what he’s offering, James takes it and slowly nibbles on the loaf and drinks the rest of the ale. “How long have I been out?” he asks between bites.
“All night,” Miko replies. “And I’ve got bad news.”
James