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Moving to the edge of the house, he glances around the corner and watches as the guard continues on his rounds. When the guard passes around the far corner of the house, he runs quickly over to the workshop where he opens the door and enters. Shutting the door behind him, he glances out of the window. The shadows cast by the moonlight are all that can be seen outside. Sighing with relief, he moves over to the workbench where he sets the box.

James is relieved no one saw him remove the Fire from its hiding place. The less the others know of what he’s doing and what he’s planning, the less they can inadvertently tell somebody else. It still bothers him that he needs help in the hiding of the Fire and that those that help him will know exactly where it is. But unless he wants to be like the Pharaohs of Egypt who had everyone killed that had a hand in the building of their tombs and knew its secrets, he’ll just have to live with it.

Picking the iron box the blacksmith delivered earlier off the floor, he sets it on the workbench next to the one containing the Fire. Opening the iron box, he widens the space in the interior cushioning with his hands to receive the Fire. He then takes a small pry bar and removes the lid to the wooden box containing the Fire. As the lid comes off, he can see a barely perceptible glow coming from within. Just looking at it makes his skin crawl. He’ll be glad when this thing is secured away forever.

Remembering the warning the shade of the long dead priest of Morcyth had given him, he takes two small sticks of wood he left lying on his workbench earlier. Taking one in each hand, he places them against the sides of the Fire and slowly draws it out of the box. Holding firmly and carefully, he transfers the Fire over to the iron box and settles it within the protective covering. Once it’s in, he uses a stick to fold over the covering until the glow can no longer be seen.

Closing the lid, he locks it with the key. Picking up the iron box, he takes it over to the side of his workshop and places it under a larger box to wait until morning when he will finalize all the necessary spells before they leave.

Going back to the window, he looks out and waits until he sees the guard again move around the far side of the house. He quickly leaves his workshop and runs to the kitchen door. Slipping in quietly, he shuts the door and begins to return to his room when he sees a shadowy form, framed in the doorway leading further into the house.

“James?” he hears Miko’s voice asks in a whisper.

“Yes,” replies James. “It’s me. What are you doing up?”

“Something woke me,” he says. “It felt like I needed to do something.”

That’s when James notices he has his sword in his hand. “What?” he asks. “What did you need to do?”

“I don’t know anymore,” he says. “It’s gone.”

Coming forward, James lays a hand on his shoulder and says, “Then let’s go back to bed.”

“Alright,” agrees Miko as he turns around and allows James to escort him back to where he sleeps.

When he’s finally back to bed, James goes and wakes up Jiron. Not saying anything, he indicates for Jiron to follow him back to his room.

“What’s going on?” he asks when James’ bedroom door closes behind them.

James fills him in on what he’s just done. Of everyone there, he’s the one he trusts with this information the most. Then he tells of finding Miko, how he was acting and what he said. At the mention of the sword in his hand, Jiron says, “Was it the Fire that called him?”

“I can’t think of what else it could’ve been,” he replies. “I don’t think it would be wise to take him with us to hide it.”

Shaking his head, Jiron says, “You may be right. He won’t like being left behind though.”

“I know, but what else can we do?” he states. “Also, I’d like you to keep an eye on him tonight, just in case.”

“Alright,” agrees Jiron. “I’ll do that.”

“Good. We’re going to leave first thing in the morning after breakfast. I still have a couple things to do in