Trail of the Gods_ The Morcyth Saga Book Four - Brian S. Pratt [40]
Checking all four of them shows the same result. Each has absorbed magic from their surroundings in such small, micro amounts that they haven’t significantly affected any living thing near them. Nowhere near capacity yet because of the slow process, James is confident that given enough time, they will be able to reach and sustain full power.
Standing up from where he had been examining the last of the crystals, he gives Jiron a wide grin. “Things going okay then?” Jiron asks him.
“Couldn’t be better,” he says. “Let’s go have dinner.”
On the way back, James asks, “If all the kids are working during the day, what do you do at night?”
“They take two hour shifts,” he explains. “One night on , one night off. Two are patrolling at any given time during the night. Plus, Yern and I have been taking turns keeping an eye on them, at least until they’ve proven themselves.”
“I see,” James says.
They round the workshop just as Ezra opens the back door, “I was just about to holler for you two. Time to eat.”
“Thank you,” James tells her.
She opens the door wide for him as he enters. Going over to the washbasin, he cleans himself up and then takes his seat at the head of the table.
Dinner is good, as always. The kids are not eating. They inform him that Ezra sends meals out to them and they eat outside. “Too many in here if I allow them to eat with us,” she explains.
With all the additional mouths to feed, he’s glad he made provisions for a large kitchen area in the new estate house he’s having built. She may have to prepare meals for an army before too much longer. Luckily she has Tersa to help her. He may have to get even more help if the number of people here continues to rise.
After dinner, they adjourn to the front room for ale and evening conversations. Jiron and Yern remain outside with their new charges, keeping an eye on them.
James finds it hard to keep from yawning after awhile and excuses himself, saying he needs to get some sleep. Once in bed, he has a hard time falling asleep even though he’s very tired. His mind continues thinking about Lord Colerain, wondering if he’ll stop his relentless attempts to capture him. And just what is it that he’s supposed to have stolen? Will he ever know? Eventually though, exhaustion wins out and he slips away to sleep.
Chapter Eight
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“Steady now.”
A voice from outside his window wakes him up. “Hold it steady,” the voice says again. Getting out of bed, he goes over to the window and sees Illan there with the eight recruits. Each of the recruits is holding a sword in their right hand at exactly a forty five degree angle. To his surprise, one of them is a girl. As he watches for a moment, one of them lets their sword droop a fraction. Illan notices and gets right in their face.
“You will hold it steady until I tell you to stop!” he yells at the lad. The recruit grits his teeth as he strains to raise the sword to bring it back into line with the others. James can see the strain and struggle in all their faces as they attempt to keep it up and in the correct position. “You are going to learn to use your sword, and by god you’ll learn to use it well. The first thing you must learn is endurance.” Another allows their sword to droop a fraction and he’s right on top of him until it rises back in line with the others.
The girl manages to maintain the correct angle of her sword throughout the drill. The determination clear upon her face.
“In combat,” Illan continues, “the first one to lose strength, the first one who can no longer swing their sword, is the first one to die!”
“Lower them,” he commands.
James watches as they bring their swords down, relief evident upon their faces. Then Illan says, “Switch hands!”
“What?” one of the boys asks. “I don’t use my left hand?”
Illan comes over to him and says, “What if your right arm is wounded? Are you going to tell the man trying to kill you to stop attacking because