Trail of the Gods_ The Morcyth Saga Book Four - Brian S. Pratt [7]
Shaking his head, Jiron says, “That guy simply would not listen. It wouldn’t sink in that no amount of money could sway you.” Cracking a grin, he adds, “So I finally had to chase him off.”
Returning the grin, James says, “Yeah, I saw that.”
“The problem is,” explains Roland, “is that word about you is getting around. People are talking I’m afraid.”
“Oh?” he asks. “And just what are they saying?”
“Mainly that you’re a mage and that you’ve helped some people out,” answers Roland.
“Great, notoriety,” sighs James. “That’s just what I wanted.” Glancing at Jiron, he continues, “Would you mind going into town tonight and find out just what they’re saying? I’d like to know.”
“Sure,” he says. “I can take a couple of the guys and down a few at the Squawking Goose.” Then he smiles and a short laugh escapes him.
“What?” James asks.
“Did you ever hear why the place is called the Squawking Goose?” he asks.
He sees Roland start to grin as he shakes his head and says, “No.”
“Well, it’s rumored that the owner’s wife never shuts up, and, well that’s it,” he replies.
“He named it after his wife?” James asks incredulously. “Doesn’t she get mad?”
“This is the funny part,” says Roland. “The wife doesn’t know, she thinks it’s because they serve goose a lot. But she does talk more than most.”
All three start to laugh. Roland grabs his axe from where he’d set it down and heads back to the wood pile. They can hear his laughter as he walks away.
“Going back to the crystals?” Jiron asks.
“I think so,” he replies. “I might have had it, if it wasn’t for that pest.”
“I’ll keep an eye out and make sure you’re not disturbed again,” he assures him.
“I’d appreciate that,” James says. He turns to go through the house and out the kitchen door as Jiron exits through the front door. Giving Ezra and Arkie a quick nod, he leaves the house and makes for his workshop.
Once inside, he closes the door and relishes the peace and quiet of it. Before resuming his tests, he sits at the workbench and tries to calm himself and to get his mind to stop churning about the interruption.
Picking up another of the crystals that lay on his workbench, he rolls it between his fingers absentmindedly as he recalls the spell he used the last time. When he thinks he’s remembered it exactly and his mind is better able to focus, he takes the crystal and places it on the table after clearing a spot for it among the shattered remains of his previous experiments.
He moves back to where he was before and then concentrates only briefly before letting the magic flow. This time he lets it go quickly and braces himself for the crystal to shatter, but it remains intact.
The leeching of magic from him begins and the reddish glow can be seen growing within it as it holds more power. When it darkens to a deep crimson, he backs a few more steps away nervously, just in case. But, as before, the crystal reaches a certain point and the leeching diminishes until it’s almost imperceptible.
He watches it for several minutes, giving it time to explode if it was going to and then starts toward the table where he picks up the crystal. The deep crimson color isn’t a light, it’s simply a part of the crystal. The leeching of power suddenly stops altogether. Must’ve reached its limit so it shut down.
Satisfied, he sets the crystal down on the workbench. He picks up another of the crystals and takes it over to the test table to see if he can duplicate the results. Setting it down, he moves away from it and casts the spell again.
This time, the leeching of power is much less. Odd, he thinks to himself. I would’ve thought it would be the same.
He watches the crystal and the reddish glow begins to form within, just as the previous one. As it reaches the deep crimson color, it begins subsiding again as if it’s losing power.
The leeching abruptly stops and he watches as the red glow within the crystal begins pulsating from light to dark. Gradually, almost imperceptible, he starts feeling a vibration in the air.