“Why do you suppose they have such a large army back there?” asks Jiron once they’ve put sufficient distance between themselves and the Empire’s forces.
“I don’t know,” replies James. “It doesn’t make much sense though.”
“Think they’re planning to invade Cardri?” he asks.
“I don’t think so,” he says. “From everything I’ve seen and heard the last few weeks, I don’t believe they would be able to sustain a war with Cardri. They’re spread way too thin.”
After floating another few minutes, James indicates the north bank, “Let’s get out of the water.”
“But isn’t Saragon further south along the river?” asks Jiron.
“Yes,” he replies. “But we’re too exposed here in the river. When morning comes, anyone glancing in this direction is sure to see us.”
“Good thought,” says Jiron and they commence angling toward the northern bank. Dripping wet, they leave the river and do their best to wring the water out of their damp clothes.
“Shall we follow the river?” Jiron asks.
“I was considering it,” he says. “Though let’s stay some distance away to avoid being seen. And first chance we get, we’ll need to acquire some horses.” Looking to Jiron, he asks, “How far is it to Saragon?”
He shrugs as he says, “Don’t know. Never went very far out of the City of Light.”
Finished with emptying the water out of his boots, James laces them back on before getting to his feet. The squishing in his boots is a real problem. Besides being uncomfortable and annoying, he’s afraid of getting foot rot.
“You ready?” he asks Jiron.
“Just a moment,” he says as he goes over to their raft and begins untying the rope. Once he gets the logs untied, he pushes them back in the river where the current takes them and they soon disappear down the river. He ties the rope back around his middle again and then turns to James, “Now we can go.”
Setting out, they begin to move along the bank of the river, steadily moving away until they can just barely see it in the moonlight. Keeping the river on their right, they make their way to the south for several hours before the lights of a town appear ahead of them.
As they approach, they’re able to tell that the lights they are seeing are coming from campfires spread throughout what’s left of the city. The light reveals the city is all but destroyed. A once sizeable town has been reduced to a broken, charred remnant of its once former glory.
“Pleasant Meadows,” James tells Jiron in a hushed whisper.
“What?” he asks.
“Pleasant Meadows,” he repeats. “At least I think it is. Miko and I had come across people fleeing the Empire’s sacking of the city before coming to the City of Light. This town ahead of us could very well be it.”
“I’ve heard of it,” Jiron tells him. “They used to make good knives there, though it doesn’t look like they do anymore.”
“No,” agrees James.
Patrols are riding the perimeter and sentries can be seen positioned throughout the town. “Why would they need all that for a town so far behind their lines?” asks Jiron. “Unless there’s something there they’re protecting?”
“I don’t know, maybe” agrees James.
“Perhaps we should investigate,” suggests Jiron. “It might be important.”
“It could also prove dangerous,” counters James. “We don’t need to get ourselves killed without a good reason. Besides, how would we even get in there? They have the whole place cordoned off pretty well.”
“I don’t know,” he admits.
“Jiron, we have more important things to worry about right now,” insists James.
“Okay,” he says as he looks at the town longingly. His curiosity is definitely getting the better of him.
“Now, let’s make our way around to the other side, but keep your eyes open for an opportunity to acquire some horses.”
Moving away from the river, they circle the town, giving the patrols a wide berth. The opportunity doesn’t present itself to acquire horses by the time they’ve arrived on the other side of the town.
The sky begins to lighten as they leave Pleasant Meadows behind. “We’ll need to find some place to hole up until night again,” announces James.
“Haven’t seen anything yet,” Jiron replies.
As they continue along, the sky continues to brighten until the sun finally crests the horizon. They come across an orchard and move within the trees to better hide themselves. The fruit hangs heavy on the branches, testament to the fact that the farmer is no longer around to pick it.
James pulls one down and munches on it as they continue to move through the orchard, Jiron does the same. From out of the trees ahead of them, a blackened structure appears. Burnt down and destroyed, it probably used to be the home of the farmer whose orchard this is. Fortunately it still has two of its four walls remaining. “This could afford us some protection,” James offers.
“True,” agrees Jiron.
They advance on the house slowly, keeping a constant look for anyone who might still be in the area. Jiron draws James’ attention off to the side where three skeletons lie, their meat having been picked clean by scavengers. “Don’t think we have to worry about the farmer coming back,” he says gravely.
James nods as they continue their approach. In the corner of the house where the two remaining walls meet is a dresser which seems to have escaped the worst of the fire. The only damage it sustained was some scorching by the heat as well as some damage when a crossbeam had struck it when the ceiling collapsed.
It takes a few minutes, but they get an area cleared away in the corner large enough for them to lie down and get some rest. Taking turns at watch, they spend the rest of the day there in the corner of that burned out farmhouse.
Having taken the second watch, Jiron walks through the orchard around the farmhouse as he keeps an eye out for intruders. A noise causes him to stop in his tracks as he cocks his head, trying to locate where it had originated. The noise comes to him again. He plasters himself against the nearest tree as he looks off through the orchard.
Moving through the trees are five men on horseback, soldiers of the Empire. And they appear to be heading straight for the farmhouse where James is still sleeping. Moving quickly, he races for the farmhouse, trying his best to remain unseen by the horsemen.
Suddenly, a cry erupts as one of them catches a glimpse of him running through the trees. A glance back shows the horsemen quickly moving to overtake him. “James!” he yells as loudly as he can. Dodging between the trees, he alters his course to lead the horsemen away from the farmhouse. “James!” he cries again.
A knife appears in his right hand as he races through the orchard. From behind him, the men on the horses are calling to him in their language, but whether or not they’re ordering him to stop, he can’t tell.
His meandering flight through the trees has succeeded in leading the horsemen away from the farmhouse. One of the horsemen behind him cries out as he falls off his horse, his right shoulder blasted away by one of James’ slugs.
The remaining horsemen abruptly come to a halt as they try to discover from whence this new attack is coming from. Jiron looks back at the horsemen and can see further behind them where James is standing by the broken wall of the farmhouse, as he cocks his arm back to unleash another of his deadly missiles.
Now with both knives in his hands, Jiron turns back and races to attack the mounted horsemen. The odds improve again as another soldier is knocked off his horse by the force of a slug blasting out of his chest.
The soldiers turn as one and race toward James, intent on seeking retribution for the death of their comrades. Their swords in hand and war cries on their lips, they ride to kill this lone man standing by the burnt out farmhouse.
Jiron races behind them, falling behind as he sees them rapidly closing the gap between them and James. Another soldier is taken out as a slug exits what used to be his skull, his companions don’t even stop. Hell bent on James’ death, they kick their horses into even greater speed.
Crumph!
The ground under them suddenly erupts, horses scream in terror as they’re thrown into the air. Bones snap and break as the horses fall back to the ground, smashing their riders beneath them.
Jiron reaches the scene, but the battle is over. The soldiers lying under the horses no longer move as the animals thrash and cry out. Taking up one of the soldier’s swords, he’s quick to put the injured horses out of their misery.
He looks up to see James approaching. “You okay?” James asks him.
Nodding, he replies, “I’m fine.” Looking around at the dead men, he continues, “Wonder what brought them into this orchard?”
“Who knows?” replies James. He goes over and takes the reins of one of the remaining horses and says, “At least we have horses now.”
“True,” agrees Jiron. Going over to another horse wandering around, he takes its reins and walks back over to where James is going through the pouch of one of the soldiers. “Looking for something?” he asks.
“Never know,” he says as he gets up and moves to another lifeless body where he opens its pouch as well. “Could be something that may tell us what they were doing here.”
Jiron walks over to another one and goes through its pouch, but all he finds are some coins which he adds to the ones he’s already carrying.
When James finally stands up from inspecting the last of the dead soldiers, he says, “Nothing.”
“Really didn’t think you’d find anything,” comments Jiron.
“Me either, actually,” he admits. “I just couldn’t leave without checking.”
“Right, you never know.”
The sun is almost to the horizon, so they decide to wait until it becomes darker before they head out through the orchard. Back at the farmhouse, they have a meal of apples and some cheese they found in a sack with other food items behind one of the saddles. Each now has two canteens and some rations, though neither has much.
As twilight settles in, they mount and begin riding through the orchard, once again on their way to Saragon. Traveling by horse allows them to put miles behind them much quicker than they had been able to on foot. James worries about the soldiers killed back at the farmhouse and what that may mean when their bodies are found. Hopefully, they won’t think to look further into Empire controlled areas for the killers, but rather search in the other direction.
Throughout the night, the stars shine bright, giving them some light with which to see. The moon rises several hours later, allowing them even better visibility.
To their right, the river turns to follow a more southerly direction than it had north of Pleasant Meadows. Though the road beside it remains empty, they dare not trust that it will remain so. Keeping a wide distance from the river, they ride parallel to it as they continue south.
Several times they encounter lights ahead of them, forcing them to circle around before continuing on. Camps of soldiers, none with more than ten, are scattered about the countryside. Makes no sense to James, but who knows why anyone does anything.
Near dawn, they come across another farm that had been abandoned when the Empire entered this area. The farmhouse is still in good condition so they bring the horses into the front room to keep them out of sight. In one of the rear rooms, they find beds to sleep on while awaiting the coming again of night.
Sitting around the table in the kitchen, they have a dinner of rations and apples. They did find a loaf of bread left behind when the farmers left. But the amount of green and grey on it kept them from eating it. “How do you plan for us to get into Saragon?” Jiron asks.
James looks to him and says, “Back when Miko and I first came through the Merchant’s Pass, there was a refugee camp at the way stop for the people of Madoc who fled the coming of the Empire. We met a couple men with their families there who shared our fire and food that night.”
“One of the things they told us was how they managed to escape from Saragon when it finally fell. One said, ‘ My grandfather used to be a smuggler way back when he was a younger man and had showed me an old smuggler route into the city that he said no one, not even the Governor knew about. Silas and I found it and used it to get our families out past the walls. The tunnel came out in a pile of old stones a dozen yards from the river, almost two miles north of the city. ’”
“Think it’s still hidden?” he asks.
“Hope so, can’t imagine why it wouldn’t be,” he tells Jiron. “The problem is going to be in finding it. A pile of old stones two miles north of the city could be hard to find. At least he said it was a dozen yards from the river, which should help in narrowing it down some.” He takes another bite and then adds, “We’ll probably have to hunt for it in the daylight, I doubt if we’ll find it in the dark.”
“Which means we’ll run the risk of being spotted,” Jiron states.
“True, but we’ll try to minimize that as best we can,” he assures him.
Jiron offers to take the first watch today for which James is grateful. The magic earlier in the day had tired him out some but not nearly as bad as it used to. He must be growing stronger in magic or his body is just getting used to it and its effects.
Lying down on the bed, he’s soon fast asleep. Sometime past noon, Jiron wakes him for his turn. And then later, when the sun dips below the horizon, James awakens him and they continue on their way as twilight deepens into the dark of night.
They ride quickly once the moon rises, giving them ample light to see their immediate surroundings. Early in the evening, lights from another town appear out of the darkness ahead of them. “Do you think that’s Saragon?” Jiron asks.
“Hard to tell,” James answers. “From what I’ve heard of Saragon, it is or rather was, an important town to southern Madoc. This one doesn’t look big enough.”
“You may be right,” Jiron says. They swing wide of the town and go around it.
Halfway around, James feels the tingling which always accompanies another doing magic. In the dark it’s difficult to determine who or where it’s coming from. The tingling only lasts a minute or two before stopping. Once they’ve passed the town and its lights have long since disappeared behind them, he tells Jiron about it.
“At least it wasn’t directed at us this time,” he says.
“True,” agrees James as they continue riding on into the night.
The terrain begins to turn gradually hilly, and they find they have to move between some of the hills in order to parallel the course of the road to their right without actually riding upon it.
The moon arcs overhead as they ride hard to the south in search of Saragon. Just what he expects to find there, he doesn’t know. But to the core of his being, he knows he has to go there.
During the final conclave of the Priests of Morcyth, the High Priest had fasted and prayed for a long time. At the end of which, the priests up and left, leaving no word about where they went and taking nothing with them. It all seems rather strange to James that they wouldn’t have taken something with them. With the followers of Dmon-Li eradicating them, he can understand about not telling the world their destination. That makes perfect sense.
But Ollinearn in the City of Light had found a passage which told the birth place of the last High Priest had been in Saragon. From that time, he knew he would be going there. Somewhere in that town there has to be a clue or something to reveal where they went.
When the sky begins to lighten with the coming of the morn, a large city appears out of the distance before them. A formidable wall encircles the city, several sections or which having been reduced to rubble during an earlier battle. The city itself sprawls across several hills to the north of where two rivers meet. It looks to be entirely in the crook made by the meeting of the two rivers. From where James sits, it looks to have once been a very defensible area. The Empire must’ve brought in mages to take the walls down, that’s the only explanation.
“This must be Saragon,” states Jiron.
“I would tend to agree,” adds James.
Coming to a halt at the top of a hill overlooking the town, they scan the horizon for enemy forces. Between them and the town lies an encampment of several hundred men, riders can be seen going from one point to another.
“I sure hope you can find that entrance,” Jiron tells him. “I don’t think we would have much luck making it past all those men.”
Nodding in agreement, James indicates they should get down off the hill before they’re spotted. Moving back down to the bottom, he dismounts. Jiron follows suit.
“The man said the entrance was two miles to the north of Saragon, hidden in amongst a pile of stones by the river,” he says. “I would think that other river over there would be the one he mentioned. The one we’ve been following is more to the west.”
“That would stand to reason,” he says. “Maybe we should leave the horses here and work our way through the hills over to the river.”
“In broad daylight, that’s going to be chancy,” James replies. “But sitting here for hours would be just as bad.” Walking his horse over to a nearby tree, he secures the reins to it. Jiron brings his over and secures it as well.
“If we keep between the hills,” Jiron says, “I think we might be able to get over there without being spotted.”
“Let’s do it quickly then,” says James.
Jiron nods as he heads out with James right behind. It’s a couple miles of hills they have to work through in order to reach the river. Keeping low, they’re able to cross the distance within an hour while remaining unseen.
At the river, they look with chagrin at a stretch of broken stone over two hundred yards long. “We’ll never find it!” exclaims Jiron.
“We don’t have a choice,” insists James. “Let’s start looking, most likely we’ll find it at the base of a hill or among some trees.”
Nodding, Jiron says, “That does narrow the scope down some.”
Getting busy, they begin combing the area, concentrating mainly within the parameters set up: within a couple yards of the river, by a hill or among some trees. “I think I found it!” exclaims Jiron after a half hour of searching.
James looks over and sees him at the base of a hill that looks as if it had collapsed sometime in the past. Several trees and bushes have overgrown the area, masking the entrance. He goes over to where Jiron stands next to a large boulder.
“I can feel air moving from behind here,” he tells James as he joins him.
James checks it out and sure enough, he can smell the musky odor of the earth coming from behind the large boulder. “Can we move it?” he asks, indicating the boulder.
“I would think so,” Jiron replies. Putting his shoulder against it, he begins to push as James adds what strength he can from his one good arm. The other one has steadily improved, but remains too tender to allow him to use it for this.
The boulder begins to move and then the top rocks to the side revealing an opening with a downward slanting passage behind it. James looks to Jiron with a big smile on his face, “Told you.”
“Okay, so you did,” he admits.
Looking around, they make sure no one is in the vicinity before slipping into the passage. Once they’re both within the tunnel, Jiron manages to pull the boulder back into position, again hiding the entrance. Light suddenly floods the passage as James’ orb appears on the palm of his hand. He takes the lead with the orb held out before him.
The passage is narrow, barely wide enough for them to stand side by side let alone walk next to each other. As they move forward through the passage, they encounter water. The floor of the passage has been flooded, maybe by rains or maybe by just seeping through the ground from the nearby river.
After several yards of first encountering the water, it deepens to the point of where their boots are completely submerged in it. “This better not get much worse,” comments Jiron.
“Whoever built this should’ve anticipated something like this happening,” says James. “The river will at times overflow its banks and this place would then be completely submerged.”
Sure enough, they come to an area further ahead with a grate in the side of the tunnel where the water is draining away. “See,” says James when they come to it. “Stop worrying.”
“Wasn’t worrying,” Jiron replies defensively. “Just stating a concern.”
Continuing past the grate the water level of the passage remains constant all the way through. It’s a wonder smugglers would’ve used such a way to get their goods out of the city. Of course, back in that guy’s grandfather’s day, this passage was probably better maintained than it is now.
It seems a long time before the passage again begins to ascend back to the surface. James realizes they are again moving to the surface when the water level in the passage begins to drop. After several hundred more feet, the floor of the passage passes out of the water and they’re once more walking on dry ground.
Not too much further past where they are again on dry ground that the passage ends abruptly at a brick wall. No handle or latch is visible for opening whatever door this may be. James hunts around for loose bricks, or ones that seem loose. So confident at first of being able to solve this riddle, he soon becomes more and more worried that he’s not going to be able to figure it out as time passes.
Bored, Jiron leans against the brick wall at the end of the passage while he waits for James to finish searching the walls for the hidden mechanism. As his weight comes full against the brick wall, it suddenly swings open with a slight squeal of rusty hinges. Off balance, Jiron stumbles through the opening and falls to the ground on the other side, coming up quick with a knife in his hand.
“Found it!” he says to James with a smile.
As James leaves the tunnel, the light from the orb reveals they are inside what used to be a basement. The place reeks of charred wood, the ceiling having recently collapsed due to a fire that had raged through here, burning most of the wood.
Above them, light filters down through the rubble and wreckage that used to be a building. James extinguishes the orb, as the light filtering down gives them plenty with which to see.
Jiron holds very still as he listens for a sound that may indicate someone is nearby. “Stay right here,” Jiron tells him.
He moves carefully through the rubble, trying not to disturb anything that may cause the wreckage above them to come crashing down upon their heads. He works his way to the other side of the room where a stone stairway still stands. At the foot of it, he turns to James and motions for him to come over to him.
When James reaches his side, he whispers, “I’ll go up and see what’s going on. Just wait here and I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” James says. Waiting there at the bottom of the stairs, he watches as Jiron moves to the top and then with a quick glance back he motions for James to remain where he is.
James watches as he moves away from the top of the stairs. Several minutes pass by before Jiron reappears and comes back down to where James is waiting for him.
“Well?” asks James.
“Up there is pretty messed up,” he explains. “We are going to need to be really careful, the whole place looks unstable and about to cave in at any minute.”
Nodding, James says, “I see. We’re going to need this to remain open so we can get out of here.”
“Exactly,” agrees Jiron. Pointing up the stairs, he says, “Once to the top, we have to cross through the wreckage before we’ll be able to reach the street. I couldn’t see any better way, so we’ll just have to step very carefully.” He looks to James and asks, “Understand?”
Nodding his head, he says, “Yes.”
“Follow me and try to go where I do,” he tells him.
“Okay.”
Jiron again moves to the top of the stairs, this time with James right behind him. When he gets to the top, James understands what he was talking about. The walls near them are still partially standing and no way to leave the building. The only way out is across the broken, burnt floor to where a wall has collapsed outward when the roof had caved in.
“Ready?” asks Jiron. When he gets a nod from James, he steps out onto a blackened piece of wood that used to be a support beam for the ceiling.
James waits until Jiron has completely navigated it and is on another section before following. Piece by piece, Jiron leads them closer to the hole in the wall. Suddenly from the street outside the building, they can hear footsteps approaching and they hold still upon their precarious perches.
The footsteps come close and James watches as several soldiers pass right in front of the hole in the wall they’ve been trying to reach. Had they but looked within the hole, they would’ve seen Jiron standing there on a section of the collapsed ceiling not six feet from them.
When their footsteps can no longer be heard, Jiron resumes moving until he reaches what remains of the floor beside the hole. Jiron steps to the hole in the wall, knife in one hand, as he looks out upon the street running outside the building. When James joins him he says, “Looks clear.”
“Alright,” replies James. “Let’s go.”
The building across the street from them still looks to be in good shape. Jiron gestures with his head toward it and raises an eyebrow questioningly. James nods his head in reply and after again making sure no one is on the street, they race across the street to the doorway.
The door proves to be locked and they have a heart thumping few minutes standing there exposed in the street while Jiron works on the lock. Finally, they hear a click and the door swings open. Rushing in, they close the door behind them.