Part 31 (1/2)
Jiron nods with his head indicating for Jared to follow. As they walk from the rubble, the people stand in silence and watch them go. They walk steadily and surely through the ring of people and down the street. He glances back once he's past the onlookers and sees they are still watching him, some have begun to poke around the rubble.
The city itself has caught fire in several districts from the flaming debris that fell back to earth after the explosion. As they make their way further from the site of the explosion, the town becomes much more of a flurry of activity as people rush to put out the fires that threaten to consume their town.
Walking with a purpose, they arrive at an inn where Jiron leads them to the stables. He and Jared saddle three horses while James sits on a barrel and rests. ”You okay?” Jiron asks while cinching on one of the saddles.
”Just tired,” he replies. ”I'm out of crystals.”
”That's not good,” comments Jiron. ”Still going to hit that other place before we go?”
James sits there and thinks a moment before replying. ”It's on the way out of the Empire,” he tells him. ”Let's see how I feel when we get there. If I'm up to it we'll take it out.”
”Fair enough,” he says. It takes but another minute to saddle the remaining horse then he comes to help James into the saddle. He finds a stash of water bottles which he fills and attaches to their saddles. Then once they are mounted, they leave the stables.
Smoke rises in the air from the fires. Riding quickly through the streets, they make it to the western gate and with luck find it open with no guards. They are all busy fighting the fires.
Once through the gates, Jiron takes them off the road and cuts across the desert.
Chapter Twenty One.
”Milord!” Aezyl cries as he throws open the door to his chambers and rushes in.
Snapping awake, Kerith-Ayxt's anger flares at the gross breach of decorum, not to mention the fact that he's completely exhausted from the ordeal of summoning Aekion. With a harsh reprimand on his lips he turns eyes red and full of anger on his aide.
Before he has a chance to speak, Aezyl suddenly realizes what he just did and comes to a stop. ”Forgive me my lord,” he cries as he drops to his knees. ”But the mage has been found!”
”What?” exclaims the High Lord Magus as he sits upright in bed. ”Where?”
”Just to the southeast of us milord,” replies Aezyl. ”In the city of Taerin-Alith.”
”Taerin-Alith?” he asks.
”Yes, milord,” his aide replies. ”And he has vanquished Aekion!”
”Impossible!” he cries out. ”You must be mistaken.”
”No, milord,” he insists. ”Inyi had the duty to search for the mage and all of a sudden the mage's protection was gone.”
Getting out of bed, all thoughts of reprimanding his aide gone, he says ”Tell me everything.”
Aezyl then proceeds to tell him of discovering the mage in a destroyed building, the subsequent destruction of Aekion, and how the citizens of Taerin-Alith seemed to simply let him go. ”Of course the city was awash in flame, most likely due to the battle between the mage and Aekion,” he suggests for the reason they let him go.
”Where is he now?” the High Lord Magus asks.
”In the desert,” he replies. ”I think he may be coming this way.”
”Here?” he asks.
”Maybe not here,” his aide replies. ”But the direction he's going will definitely have him pa.s.s nearby.”
Pacing and thinking furiously, Kerith-Ayxt begins to formulate a plan. Turning to his aide he says, ”He can't have much left in him after overcoming Aekion. Which of our masters has recovered most from the summoning?”
”Inyi has milord,” he replies. ”He has since been keeping an eye on the rogue mage,” he replies.
”Have him take a score of the more powerful from the lower Circles and destroy the mage,” he explains. ”Tell him the mage is weakened and to move fast before he can recover.”
”Yes, milord,” says Aezyl as he comes to his feet. Giving his lord a bow, he quickly leaves to carry out his lord's command.
Defeated Aekion! Unbelievable! Kerith-Ayxt paces his chambers as he tries to come to grips with the impossible. Kerith-Ayxt paces his chambers as he tries to come to grips with the impossible.
Shortly after leaving the town behind, James realizes his protection against magical detection is no longer in operation. Bracing for opposition, he reinstates his protective s.h.i.+eld and waits while they ride. Immediately, he feels them try to break through but the attempt is half-hearted at best, not nearly what he experienced the time before. When it finally stops, he wonders why they didn't try more. Whatever the reason he's happy about it, confused, but happy.
Riding through the desert under the hot sun, they stay just out of visual range of the road to the south. He knows the magical school isn't more than a day down the road. It's entirely likely that they will send someone to investigate what happened back at the town.
With the light beginning to fade and James being exhausted from the battle, they move even further into the desert to find a spot to camp for the night. ”Maybe you could use that mirror of yours to find a place where we could water the horses,” Jiron suggests.
”Can't,” he replies. ”It melted when the creature of fire appeared.”
”Oh yeah, right,” he says, a little embarra.s.sed for having forgot.
Before the sunlight completely disappears, a stand of trees appears to the north, the kind normally found near watering holes. Relived to have stumbled upon an oasis, they alter course and make their way quickly toward it.
Other than half a dozen of the date bearing trees, the area surrounding the water is bare. The watering hole itself is barely three feet wide and not very deep. The horses eagerly approach and are allowed to drink their fill while they lay out their bedrolls.
Once settled in and they are having a bite to eat, he tells them what they are really after in the next town. As he lays it out, Jared gets a look of disbelief while Jiron just grins.
”Are you out of your mind?” exclaims Jared when he finishes laying it out. ”You are but one mage and you plan to go up against dozens, maybe hundreds?”
”I don't actually plan to fight the mages themselves unless forced to,” he explains. Glancing over to Jiron he sees the expectant look of impending battle. ”My plan is to get in there, destroy their library and get out fast.”
”And they will simply allow you to do that?” questions Jared. ”How do you plan on doing that with everyone looking for you and knowing your approximate position?”
”Haven't quite worked that out yet to tell the truth,” he admits. ”But take it from their point of view. Here I am in hostile territory, just having gone through a draining battle.” He glances to Jiron and asks, ”What would be the logical thing to do?”
”Certainly not take on a group of mages,” he says with a nod. ”They may not realize you know the School is even there. But once you do, the smartest course you could take would be to get as far away as possible. The last thing they will expect is for you to attack, one mage against who knows how many.”
”Exactly!” declares James. Turning back to Jared he adds, ”They won't expect it. Piece of cake.”
”You're going to get us all killed,” Jared grumbles.
”Likely,” he admits. ”But no guts, no glory.”
”Since when have you been interested in glory?” asks Jiron with a wry grin.
James laughs and says, ”I'm not. It seemed an appropriate thing to say under the circ.u.mstances.” They both stare at each other and then break into laughter once again. Not sure where the laughter is coming from, maybe just giddy at still being alive.