Regaining consciousness with one dilly of a headache, James shields his eyes from the light coming in through the window. The palm of his right hand is bandaged and aches.
“You okay?” Jiron asks as he comes forward from across the room.
James turns his head and sees him approaching. Upon the table in their room are stacked several plates of food as well as a pitcher and three mugs. “A little thirsty,” he says, his voice rasping slightly.
Jared takes one of the mugs and fills it with ale from the pitcher. Bringing it over, he hands it to him.
Taking the mug, he props himself up against the wall at the head of the bed and takes a sip. “Ahhhh,” he says after downing the entire mugful of ale. He hands the mug back to Jared and says, “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” he replies. Filling the mug once more with ale, he hands it back to James. This time, he drinks it more slowly.
“You had us worried there for awhile,” Jiron says with a grin.
“I was too,” he admits. After taking another swallow of ale he adds, “I don’t think they found me. I couldn’t believe the power that was being used though. It was massive. If they would have narrowed their search down any further, I couldn’t have held them off.”
“Feel up to traveling?” Jared asks.
“Worried about being found out?” Jiron asks him.
“A little,” he replies. “I’ve already had several people ask about you two. One person heard you moaning.”
“What did you tell them?” asks James.
“That you’re sick,” he tells him.
“We’ll need some sort of cover story that’s believable,” he says as he thinks about it. Getting up off the bed, he wobbles over to the table where he starts in on the food.
“Eat what you want,” offers Jiron. “We already have.”
“Thanks,” he says through a mouthful of bread.
Jiron comes up with the idea of posing as merchants again but James shakes his head. “What would we use for wagons? Goods? Not to mention a letter of travel. No, we need something that will prevent anyone from asking any questions.”
“Like what?” Jared asks.
“Like this,” he says. Reaching into the pouch attached to his belt, he pulls out a necklace with a medallion attached to it. Upon the medallion are three dots forming the ends of a triangle with lines running between them, yet not touching.
Jiron recognizes the necklace James found on the body of a dead priest in the underground temple they discovered on their way back from Saragon. The symbol is that of the warrior priests who worship Dmon-Li. Nodding, he says, “That might do it.”
“What does it mean?” asks Jared as he stares at the necklace hanging from James’ hands.
“It means that I am a servant of Dmon-Li,” he says. “On business for the temple.”
“Isn’t that sort of dangerous?” he says. Then pointing to the necklace he adds, “I mean, what if the wrong person should see that.”
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” Jiron comments.
James swallows a bite of chicken and turns to Jared. “Go down and get the horses ready. We shouldn’t tarry here too long.”
Jared glances to Jiron.
“Are you going to be able to ride?” Jiron asks. He remembers the other times when James had to be tied to the saddle after a magical effort such as he just underwent.
“I’m not feeling that bad,” he replies.
Jiron nods for him to go ahead and Jared leaves to get the horses ready.
Once Jared leaves, James holds up his bandaged hand and looks questioningly to Jiron.
“One of your crystals shattered in your hand,” he explains. “I think at the end when you began spasming was when it was cut.”
“Oh.” He finishes his meal in short order and then gets to his feet. “Shall we?” he asks.
“May as well,” Jiron replies.
They leave the room but not before giving it a once over to make sure they didn’t leave anything behind. That’s something his grandparents always instilled in him whenever they went anywhere. When the car was packed with everything from the hotel room, James was given the chore of returning one last time to check for anything left behind. Once in awhile his grandfather would leave something of James’ hidden in the room just to see if he was actually looking.
They reach the stairs and are halfway down when a man who may have been the proprietor meets them halfway up and asks a question. James feigns feeling unwell and Jiron simply shrugs as they continue on past. The proprietor continues to give them a puzzled expression even after they reached the bottom of the stairs and begin heading for the door.
“Wonder what he was trying to say?” asks Jiron as they hurry across the courtyard to the stables.
“Who knows?” responds Jiron. “Maybe just asking how you were doing.”
“Maybe,” he agrees.
At the stables they find Jared having already saddled their horses. It takes little time to secure their packs behind the saddles. Once they’re ready they waste no time in mounting and returning to the road.
When the small goat town is behind them, Jared says, “Several people asked if I had any word about what’s going on at Korazan. It appears word has already spread that something is going on there.”
“What did you tell them?” asks James.
“Just that we came the other way around the southern tip of the lake and didn’t pass by Korazan,” he explains. “And that we heard a large force had seized Korazan and were executing all the civilians.”
“Why did you tell them that?” James exclaims turning on him.
“Give them something to talk about among themselves and they won’t bother you anymore,” he relies. “It worked too.”
“Great,” sighs James.
Jiron chuckles beside him. “Don’t worry about it,” he says. “By the time we’re done the tales will be spreading far and wide, none even close to the truth.”
“I suppose so,” he says with a sigh. They ride on in silence for awhile. After mulling it over, he turns to Jared and says, “From now on, stick to the truth, okay?”
Shrugging, he says, “Sure. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“I know. But either stick to the facts or stay quiet,” he states. “I don’t want any more wild rumors circulating about me and my doings than can be helped.” He stares into his eyes until he nods then turns back to the road.
Just after noon, they come to a sizeable town sitting at a junction where a road running north and south crosses theirs. The town looks to be of some importance, buildings three and four stories high can be seen rising above the walls.
“Shall we go around?” Jiron asks as they approach.
“That would look suspicious,” replies James. “We’ll go through.”
Nodding, Jiron says to Jared, “You take the lead. If anyone approaches, you deal with it and remember, we are on business of the temple.”
“Right,” he says as he moves ahead of the others.
Two guards are posted at the gate through which their road runs, neither one appearing to be too interested in the people passing through. They both lean against the wall as they keep an eye on the overall area, probably there more to keep order than to watch for infiltrators.
As they approach the gate area, they’re forced to slow due to the number of people making their way through the gates. James’ heart skips a beat when one of the guards glances directly at him, but then his eyes dart to another as they pass through to the other side.
Moving through the throng on the street, they sense a definite feeling of heightened stress and anxiety from the locals. People are a little too intense in haggling and move along the street in a more hurried manner. Here and there pockets of people are seen talking, rarely does laughter spring forth.
One thing that James notices is the relative scarcity of guards. Most towns they passed through when they played the part of merchants had many guards walking the streets. Other than the two at the gate, none other has made an appearance. Wonder if they sent them all to deal with Illan? If that were the case, this whole area would be a sitting duck should an army show up.
The road takes them through the heart of the city where the larger and more impressive buildings lie. Before they pass the first large structure, guards begin to appear. Here at the heart of the city is where the highest concentration of guards lies.
Many well dressed people are upon the streets in this area leading James to believe this is the city’s government district. The affluent are seen coming and going from the impressive structures situated within this area.
Moving quickly but not so fast as to draw attention to themselves, they make it past the government district and reenter the city proper. Before the eastern gates are in sight, a caravan of a dozen or so wagons comes toward them from up the road.
Jiron motions for them to move to the side to give the caravan room to pass. As the first wagon comes abreast of where they have paused at the side of the road, he sees a small red flare coming from the underside of the second wagon. Casting a quick glance at James he finds him staring intently at the caravan as it passes.
Then as the last wagon rolls by, he catches sight of another flare out of the corner of his eye. Just what is he up to? Looking around, he searches the crowd for anyone else who may have noticed. The people on the street appear to be engrossed in whatever they are doing and none look to have taken notice. After the last wagon and guards pass, they resume their progress toward the eastern gate. Another pair of disinterested guards stands watch at the gate as they pass through.
The eastern road is much more crowded than the one on the other side, probably owing to the fact the western road leads in the general vicinity of Korazan. And with what’s going on there, none wish to risk an encounter with the enemy.
Dying to ask James what he was doing but unable to do so due to the other travelers on the road, Jiron remains silent until they come to a stretch of road devoid of other travelers. Coming to ride next to his horse, Jiron asks, “What did you do back there?”
“What do you mean?” James replies innocently.
“I saw what you did with those wagons,” he states.
James flashes him a grin. “Oh that. Just something I thought of back at The Ranch.”
“What?” he asks.
James shakes his head and nods toward where Jared is riding. Understanding comes to Jiron that he doesn’t want to talk about it in front of Jared. Nodding, he stops the questioning and turns his attention back to the road ahead.
Throughout the rest of the day whenever they ride past a caravan, whether it was going in their direction or not, Jiron would catch red flares flashing briefly beneath one, two, or sometimes even three of the wagons. He would glance to James only to receive a grin in return.
When the sun reaches the horizon and no inn has made an appearance, they decide to pull off the road and make camp. The cool of the evening is a welcoming relief from the heat of the day. Now that it’s summer, the days are nigh on unbearably hot.
After they’ve finished eating and are sitting around the fire, the sound of a horse comes from the road. In the light from the stars overhead, they make out the silhouette of the rider coming in their direction. Jiron nods to Jared to be ready to deal with whoever is approaching.
Jared gets to his feet about the time the rider reaches the fringe of the light cast by their campfire. It’s a man and doesn’t look to be military in nature. He brings his horse to a halt and asks a question.
Coming forward, Jared replies to the man.
Whatever he said didn’t sit too well with him, the smile that was on the man’s face quickly disappears. His eyes dart to where James is sitting and then he unconsciously licks his lips in nervousness.
Jared pauses in what he was saying a moment and when nothing further is forthcoming from the man, says one final thing. Whatever he said was more than the man could take. Turning his horse around quickly, the man kicks his horse into a fast trot as he leaves their campfire.
After the man disappears in the night and the sound of his horse’s hooves can no longer be heard, James asks, “What did you tell him?”
“That you were a servant of Dmon-Li,” he explains with a grin. “I thought that alone would have him out of here. You see those who serve Dmon-Li are an unstable bunch to be around, never know when one will get it into his head to kill you.”
“But that didn’t do it?” Jiron asks.
“No.” Then he chuckles as he says, “But when I told him you were on your way to give Dmon-Li a sacrifice, that was all he needed to hear.”
“You know,” begins Jiron. “I’ve been thinking.”
“About what?” inquires James.
Turning to Jared, he says, “When you were talking to that rider, I began wondering what if things went bad. If it had, before you could tell us to do anything, he might have had the chance to escape and warn others.”
“What are you getting at?” James asks, not sure where he’s going with this.
“There may come a time when action is called for at a moment’s notice,” he explains. “I think it would be a good idea to come up with subtle gestures Jared could use to indicate how it is going.”
“You mean like if he crosses his arm, you take out whoever it is he’s talking to?” suggests James.
“Something like that, but not crossing his arms,” Jiron states.
“Why?” Jared asks.
Jiron turns to him and says, “Because you cross your arms all the time, it’s a habit.”
Jared looks surprised, he had no idea he did it that much.
“Something else. Like say scratching your ear with your right hand.”
Nodding, James says, “That would work. Maybe there would be gestures on how I should react as well. I mean, when you are talking, a stern gaze or an amused smile could give the illusion that I am understanding what’s going on.”
“How about my right hand for you James, left for Jiron,” Jared suggests.
“Alright, but let’s keep it simple.” Over the next hour or so before they turn in, they work out some simple gestures Jared will use. For Jiron it’s fairly simple, if he scratches behind his left ear with his left hand, he attacks and takes out who he’s talking to.
For James it’s a bit more complicated. A touch of the ear and he gets indignant. Running his fingers through his hair means to act amused, etc. All of these are with the right hand of course.
They practice the gestures until they turn in. Jared has the gestures down and the other two now know how to react depending on what he does.
Jiron takes the first watch with James following after for the mid watch. When he awakens James for his turn at watch, he again asks about the red flashes and the caravans.
Bringing him away from where Jared is blissfully snoring, he puts some distance between them before stopping. He casts a quick glance over to their sleeping comrade and then in a whisper says, “Back when I first began planning for this campaign, I wanted to really hurt the Empire’s infrastructure. At first, I thought about taking all those from The Ranch and destroying factories, bridges, etc. But then I realized that wouldn’t be feasible. There was no way the Empire would sit still and allow us to do that.”
“I figured what we would be able to accomplish would be limited in nature and not do the sort of damage that I wanted. Then I started thinking about Delia and her caravan, about how they go all over. That’s when I got the idea to plant seeds of destruction in the wagons of various caravans.”
“What is that suppose to accomplish?” he asks. “Destroying more caravans isn’t going to hurt them all that much.”
“Not just the caravans, no,” agrees James. “But what if those seeds of destruction would wait until they encountered certain things?”
“Like what?” Jiron questions.
“I have it so that what I planted in the wagons will continue to draw minute quantities of power from their environment and store it,” he explains. “Now don’t worry, the draw is so small that I seriously doubt if any passing mage would detect it. The seed will continue to grow in power until it encounters one of three things, then explode.”
“The first thing is a bridge,” he says, “When it detects that it’s over flowing water it blows, hopefully taking out the bridge. And, when a bridge is destroyed, that avenue over the river will be gone. All caravans will have to find an alternate way across.”
“And each time they do…” Jiron prompts.
“Ker-Pow!” James says dramatically. Then he glances over to the sleeping form of Jared and relaxes when another snore comes to them through the night. “Eventually, most of the ways goods are transported within the Empire will be severely handicapped.”
“The second trigger will be coming into close proximity of iron, such as swords. I’m not talking about a couple hanging at the hips of guards, no. I’m talking about a company of men in armor.”
“The third trigger is if the wagon comes in close proximity to live magic, or a mage who is currently working magic.”
“That could take them by surprise,” comments Jiron approvingly.
“I hope so,” he says. “Another by product of all this is the confusion that it will bring. Bursts of power going off at different points within the Empire, none knowing just what is going on.”
“Be hard to pin down exactly where you are,” grins Jiron.
James grows somber as he nods. “True. The only problem I have is with the innocents that will be killed by the wagons.”
“But many more will die if the Empire isn’t stopped, or at least slowed down,” counters Jiron. “Don’t be sorrowful about what you have to do in war. Your intent is not malign in nature.”
“True,” replies James. “You better get some sleep. Morning isn’t too far off.”
“Alright,” he says and then they return to the campsite where Jiron climbs into his bedroll.
James paces throughout his watch. The vision of the innocents he will kill running through his mind.
The morning dawns bright, forecasting another scorcher. They make an early start to take advantage of the coolness while they can. Far on the horizon ahead of them, mountains rise out of the desert.
“That’s where we’ll find Ki,” states James. Looking up from a small map Lord Pytherian supplied him, he glances to Jiron. “Should be there by nightfall if we keep a steady pace.”
James has felt probing attacks ever since leaving the inn as someone tries to break through and find him. It doesn’t feel as if whoever is doing the probing is all that serious in finding him though. More like just checking on the off chance that the shielding cover is no longer there. The fact that they haven’t tried to punch through since the first time has him a little worried.
They continue to make good time as they ride along the road. Traffic here is steady but not heavy. Whenever they encounter a caravan, James continues to plant the seeds beneath the wagon beds. By the time the sun begins its descent to the horizon, he’s managed to plant more than two dozen in different caravans.
Late in the afternoon, another caravan approaches them and they move to the side of the road to let them pass. Just as he had with others, he plants a seed in the second wagon. The wagon rolls on for half a minute before he feels a minute tingling sensation. A cry comes from behind and he turns to find the wagon’s bottom has broken out and iron ingots are spilling through the bottom.
Jiron glances at him and he jerks his head indicating they should get out of there fast. Moving quickly, they leave the merchants to the mystery as to what happened to their wagon.
Once they’ve moved far enough along, Jiron rides close and whispers so Jared will not overhear him. “What happened?”
“It was the iron in the ingots the wagon was carrying,” he explains.
“But I thought you said it would explode,” says Jiron.
“It did,” James replies. “The spell didn’t have time to gather much power. When it gathered enough to begin seeking evidence that would trigger it, it encountered the iron. So it blew. But since it didn’t have time to accumulate very much power, all it managed to do was break the boards lining the bottom of the wagon.”
“Not very effective,” observes Jiron.
“I couldn’t make it gather power any quicker or those it was gathering from would sense something not right,” he explains. “Not to mention that any mage in the area would be sure to detect what was going on as well.”
“I see,” Jiron tells him. “Just be more selective about which caravans you do.”
“Right,” agrees James with a grin.
Directly ahead to the southeast, the mountain range that has been steadily growing all day is now rising high in the sky. Somewhere at its base lies Ki. Another hour finds them at a crossroads where their road ends at another moving north and south along the base of the mountains. Checking his map, James indicates they should take the branch to the south.
Turning onto it, they continue until the road ends at another going east and west. Here they turn to the east and it isn’t long before the road winds its way to the small town of Ki.
“Let’s get a room and then do a little reconnoitering,” suggest Jiron.
“I’m for that,” agrees Jared.
Ki, as it turns out, isn’t really much of anything. On one side of town lies a complex with many smelters belching black smoke into the air. The rest is just a smattering of homes and a lone two story building sitting at the edge of town with a sign outside depicting an iron ingot.
“Is this the inn?” James asks indicating the two story structure.
No other building in town even looks close to being an inn. They have Jared go inside to see about a room while the other two wait outside. He isn’t inside long before he returns with a smile on his lips. “Got the biggest room they have,” he brags. “It’s actually two rooms joined together and there are four beds.”
“Excellent,” praises James.
They make their way around back to the stables and soon have their horses settled in. A stableboy is there and produces a bucket of grain and another full of water for each. James flips him a copper as they turn to head for the inn. Their room lies on the second floor at the end of the hall.
Just as Jared said, the room is actually two. The first room off the hall contains two small beds, a table and two chairs, as well as a dresser. To one side is another door leading into a much larger room.
With two large beds, a larger table, wardrobe and dresser, it’s about half again the size of the first room. The feature of the second room that perks James up is the bathtub setting near one wall.
“Alright!” he exclaims when he sees it. Suddenly his whole body begins to feel dirty and the itchiness of his scalp magnifies tenfold. “Jiron you stay in here with me,” he announces. “Jared, you get the outer room all to yourself.”
“Fine by me,” he says, pleased.
“Go down and see about arranging for dinner to be brought up and a bath afterwards,” he tells Jared as he sets his bag of crystals on the floor by his bed.
“Yes, sir,” he says and leaves the room.
Laying down, James sinks into luxurious comfort. “Wonder how much this is costing us?” he muses.
“Don’t know,” replies Jiron as he sits on the other bed. When he feels the softness, he lies down too and adds, “But it’s worth it.”
“Ain’t it though,” sighs James.
“I’m rather surprised to find a room such as this here in a town like Ki,” Jiron says. “An outer room for servants and a bath here in the main room just seems odd.”
Shrugging, James replies, “I don’t care why, just glad it’s here.” They lay there for a few more minutes until Jared returns.
“They’ll have it up in a few minutes,” he tells them. “The proprietor said to let them know when you want the bath.”
“Thanks,” says James. “When the food arrives, have them bring it in here and we’ll eat together. It’s the only table large enough for the three of us.”
“Very well,” replies Jared as he returns to the outer room and leaves them alone.
Ten minutes later James is snapped awake when Jared and the servers from the inn come in with their dinner. Roast beef, tubers and two loaves of bread make a mouthwatering aroma. Getting up, he makes his way over to the table where dinner is being laid out.
As soon as the servers have everything on the table they make a hasty retreat and shut the door behind them. Jiron notices their quick exit and asks Jared, “What did you tell them?”
Gesturing to James he grins and says, “That his lordship there is a servant of Dmon-Li.”
“Lordship?” asks James.
“Added that,” he admits. “People act differently when they think they’re dealing with royalty or someone of importance.”
“Indeed,” adds Jiron as he gives himself a heaping portion of the roast beef.
They eat in silence as each savors the succulent meat and the fresh baked bread. Once they are done, Jared is sent down for servers to come and retrieve the dirty dishes. He also arranges for the bath to be filled at the same time.
“You should stay here while Jared and I take a look around,” suggests Jiron.
“But what if someone comes or one of the servers asks me something,” he counters. “What am I to do then?”
“Don’t worry,” assures Jared. “I’ll make sure they leave you alone.”
A knock comes to them from the outer door and Jared leaves the room to answer it. Several lads are there with buckets of steaming hot water. After dumping them in the bathtub, they each take some of the dirty dishes with them as they leave. Another two lads enter after the others have left and begin doing the same, one of whom brings in a cake of soap and a couple towels.
Once they have the bath sufficiently filled, James removes his clothes and gingerly enters the steaming water. In no time at all, he’s lounging back with all but his head submerged under the water. He closes his eyes and begins to feel the tension and stress melt away.
“We’ll be back,” whispers Jiron to him as he grabs Jared and leaves the room.
On their way down the stairs to the common room, they come across one of the servers on his way up with a bucket of water. Jared lays a hand on his arm and tells him something. The lad gives him a nod, turns around and hurries back down the stairs.
When they leave the inn, Jiron asks, “What did you say to him?”
Jared flashes him an amused grin and says, “Only that his lordship is relaxing and it would be unwise to disturb him. Also that the last one who did was invited to ‘attend’ a service at the temple. I doubt if anyone will so much as go near the door while we’re gone.”
Laughing, Jiron claps him on the back and they head down the street.
With the mountains to the west, the streets of Ki grow dark quickly. They wander from one end of town to another, finally finding a road that will take them up into the mountains. Deciding this is the most likely place for the mine to be, they follow it.
As they leave the town behind, the ground begins to rise as the road makes its way up the side of the mountain. About the time the lights from Ki disappear around a bend, the sound of a wagon is heard coming toward them from up ahead.
Moving off the road a ways, they wait in the shadows as it draws near. It’s actually two wagons full of ore coming from the mine, which tells them they are on the right road. They wait until the wagons pass and are further down the mountain before returning to the road.
The road continues on and finally works its way into a box canyon. They slow when lights appear coming from up ahead. A tall wooden wall, similar in nature to what James and Jiron found surrounding the mine on the island, blocks off the canyon from one side to the other. The road continues straight toward it and passes through a gate.
The wall itself is easily twenty foot high and guards carrying crossbows can be seen walking along the top. Jiron pulls Jared to the side where they crouch and watch for several minutes.
“How are we going to get in there?” Jared asks.
“We’re not,” he explains. “We’ll stay here a little while longer then return to let James know what we found.”
They settle in and wait for over half an hour. When nothing develops, Jiron indicates it’s time for them to return.