"Seems we've gotten ourselves in a situation," he says. "We're going to die out here if we don't find some water soon, not to mention the horses."
"What are we to do?" Jiron asks. "We're miles away from anywhere and," he glances around the horizon, "it doesn't look like there's any water to be found."
"There's always water," he tells them, "it's just a matter of getting to it."
"I don't see any water around here," Tinok says as he looks around the horizon.
"It's beneath us," he explains, pointing to the ground. "Under the surface."
"How are we going to get it?" Tinok asks.
"Magic?" Delia guesses, looking questioningly toward James.
He nods his head, "Magic. Now what I plan to do is to search with magic beneath the ground and when I've found it, get it to come up to the surface."
"Neat," Cassie exclaims.
"Just stay here and watch for anyone coming," he says to them. He then turns and walks away from their camp, looking for a depression or hole where the water would be able to pool once he managed to bring it up. It wouldn't do to spend all that time and energy to bring it up only to have the water run off and be absorbed back into the ground.
He eventually comes across a place not thirty feet from camp that will suffice, and then sits down next to it. He begins concentrating and the magic flows out of him, down below the surface as he searches for water.
Surprisingly, he finds water not very far below the surface, only about twenty feet or so. He sends his senses further down and discovers that there's a sizeable reservoir there. Coming back to himself, he gets up and walks back over to the group, informing them of what he's found. His head is dizzy from the heat and the effort it took to find the water.
Incredibly hot and thirsty after the ordeal, he asks "Cassie, could I have the rest of your water?"
She nods and then hands him her water bottle which he drains completely. "Thanks," he says as he hands it back to her.
"Now what?" Jiron asks.
"Give me just a few minutes to rest and I'll attempt to bring it up." He goes over and sits down on a wagon, taking advantage of the shade the newly acquired covering gives. Even though the sun is about to go down, it's still fairly hot.
Once he's rested and no longer feels dizzy, he gets down from the wagon and walks back to the area where he will attempt to bring up the water. Standing next to the depression he begins to summon the magic, sending it below the surface to where the water lies.
He takes his time, finding fissures and cracks, weak spots that can be loosened and widened, making a way for the water to reach the surface. Little by little, as he widens a crack here and breaks through stone there, he begins to sense the water being forced to the surface by the pressure below.
Once he's created a fissure halfway to the surface the ground begins to shake, breaking his concentration and ending the spell. He stumbles as the shaking increases, cries of confusion come from the others who are watching him from over near the wagons.
Suddenly, the ground cracks open and water geysers out of the ground, shooting twenty feet in the air before falling back down into the depression. The area rapidly fills with water as it continues surging out of the ground.
Jiron reaches James' side and claps him on the shoulder as he says, "You did it!"
The others come to his side, congratulating him. They watch as the water fills the depression to capacity and begins creating a small pond, thirty feet in diameter. Then the water starts spilling over the side and is quickly absorbed by the ground.
Tinok kneels down by the water and cups his hands, tasting it. He looks over to the others and shouts, "It's good, and cool!"
They all come over and drink their fill from the pool of cool water. The horses smell the water and begin straining against their tethers in an attempt to reach it.
Jiron runs over and releases them, allowing them to come and drink their fill. Everyone fills their water bottles before returning to the wagons.
"We were lucky there was no one around," James says as he lies there near the campfire, relaxing.
"Why?" Cassie asks.
"Don't want anyone to know I can do magic," he explains. "They may still be on the lookout for the rogue mage that caused the destruction back at the City. I really don't want them to begin putting two and two together."
"What does two and two have to do with anything?" asks Tinok.
"Sorry, that's just an expression from where I come from," he replies. "It just means they might connect me with the things I did at the City. If they knew I was a mage, that is."
"Oh," he says.
"Maybe the next town we come to, we should buy several water barrels to carry with us," Jiron suggests.
"That may be a good idea," agrees James. "We should have plenty of money left in the chest."
"What is the next town?" Cassie asks.
"Haven't a clue." James admits. "I've never been here before."
"How do you know that we're even going in the right direction, then?" Jiron asks.
"I figure Korazan should be further south," he replies. "A major slave market would hardly be on the edge of the Empire. They would want it accessible to a large number of their people, so it stands to reason that it would be further into the Empire. Thus, south."
As they relax around the campfire, James absentmindedly reaches for his backpack, but then remembers that they left it back in Mountainside when they broke out of jail. Thinking of the things that are now lost to him, he gets sad and then mad. This place is just going from bad to worse This place is just going from bad to worse, he thinks to himself. Now I've gone and lost my backpack. Now I've gone and lost my backpack.
"Oh my god!" he suddenly exclaims, sitting up abruptly.
"What?" Jiron asks.
"My backpack!"
"What about it?" Tinok inquires as he joins the conversation.
"It's back at the jail."
"So?" says Tinok. "We all lost some things when we left there. We were in a little bit of a hurry."
"You don't understand," exclaims James "I had some papers in there, notes I had been keeping about magic and other important stuff."
When he sees that he's not getting through to them, he says, "My notes will make them realize that a mage was there. If they assume I'm the same mage as was at the City of Light, then they will know we're heading south."
"And the only reason we would be heading south," continues Delia, "would be to rescue someone from the slavers that had been taken when the City fell."
"That's one reason," James agrees. "And if they come to that conclusion, they'll be waiting for us there."
"What do we do?" Cassie asks.
James looks to Jiron and says, "Someone needs to go and retrieve it. Or at least destroy it and the papers it carries."
He flashes James a dark look, "You mean go all the way back there, on the chance that no one has yet looked inside and seen them?" He shakes his head, "I don't know."
"You're the only one who can do it," James urges.
He sits and thinks for a few minutes, everyone else remains quiet, waiting for his response. "Alright, I'll do it," he finally says. Getting up, he goes over to his horse and begins putting the saddle and tack back on.
"Shouldn't you wait till morning," Cassie asks.
Shaking his head, he says, "No, I better get started now. The sooner I get there, the less likely someone will have read the papers."
James comes over and gives him some coins. He looks at them and James tells him, "For traveling expenses."
He takes the coins, putting them in a pocket. Once he has the horse ready for travel, he mounts and says, "Where shall I meet up with you?"
"Well continue down the road and stop at the next main town," James explains. "We'll stay there for a day, and if you don't show up we'll continue on to Korazan."
"Alright," he says. "I'll meet you there."
"Be careful," Delia and Cassie say at the same time.
"I will," he assures them. "See you in a couple days." He then heads his horse back down the road to the north and kicks it into a gallop as he races for Mountainside.
"Hope he'll make it back," Cassie says, worry in her voice.
"He will," Tinok says with confidence. He looks into the night where Jiron had disappeared and says again, "He will!"
Chapter Eight.
Jiron leaves them quickly behind as he races through the cool of the night. As frustrated as he is at James for having to go back and retrieve his stupid backpack, he finds it refreshing to ride in the cool of the night, on his own.
Making very good time, it's not long before the lights of Arakan appear in the road ahead of him. Remembering the soldiers stationed there, he swings wide to avoid being spotted. As he rounds the town, he spies one of the townsfolk standing outside one of the outermost buildings, his form silhouetted by the light coming through an open doorway. The man must've heard the sound of his horse, for he turns in his direction and peers intently, but is unable to see him in the darkness. Sensing no threat, the man returns to what he was doing. Jiron finishes bypassing the town and then returns to the road, soon leaving Arakan far behind.
Continuing to race north, another hour finds him at the quiet village of Bindles. Only a few lights can be seen amongst the buildings, the rest are dark as the inhabitants are asleep in their beds for the night.
He swings wide around the town and reaches the juncture of roads on the far side, where he follows the road eastward. The mountains now loom large on his left as he races down the road. He begins to detect the faint odor of burnt wood, testament to the forest fire they escaped from some time earlier.
Once he's several miles east of Bindles, he gets down from his horse and walks for a while, giving his horse a break. Ten minutes later, he's back in the saddle and riding hard.
As he continues north, the odor of smoke becomes stronger and stronger. After another two hours, he begins to see a glow coming from far ahead, where the fire is still raging upon the mountain. As he rides, the glow becomes more and more pronounced, until he's finally able to see the flames themselves as they arc into the sky.
Off to the east, the sky begins to lighten with the coming of dawn, enabling him to see an incredibly large cloud of smoke extending for miles in every direction.
Down the road ahead, a town comes into view amidst the smoke. The fire is within a mile of the outskirts and at first looks to be deserted. As he comes closer to the town, he sees that it isn't as deserted as it had first appeared. A few people are seen passing from building to building and they all have cloths tied about their faces to protect them from the smoke.
Realizing an opportunity when he sees it, Jiron pulls up to one of the houses at the outskirts of town. He ties his horse to a tree out back before going up to the backdoor. Finding it locked, he moves to a window and looks inside, the place looks deserted. Going back to the door, he looks around quickly to make sure no one is near and then kicks it open. Entering quickly, he shuts the door behind him.
The house is quiet, the people most likely having fled the approaching fire long ago. He quickly finds a cloth and ties it around his face, effectively disguising himself. Coming back out to where his horse is tied, he remounts and tries to find where the jail had been.
He passes several people moving along the streets as he makes his way through town, but no one gives him a second thought. Up near the fire, he sees dozens of people trying to halt the advancing flames with axes and shovels, doing their best to save their homes but it doesn't look as if they're being too successful. Just as a group has a space cleared in the hopes of preventing it from spreading, a tree engulfed with flame falls across the cleared area, starting new fires past the fire break. People rush to beat them out before they have a chance to spread but are having limited success.
None of the firefighters on the mountain look to be soldiers, though from this distance and with all the smoke it's hard to be sure. As he continues toward the jail, he doesn't come across any soldiers here in town either. Guess we got them all up on the mountain.
Out of the smoke ahead of him, the jail suddenly comes into view. Cautiously, he slows down as he takes a good survey of the surrounding area for any soldiers. Not finding any, he makes his way toward the jail all the while continuously scanning for anyone approaching. But with all the smoke in the area, they would have to be really close before they would even know he was there.
Upon reaching the jail, he secures his horse to the rail outside and goes up to a window to look in. A quick look reveals the jail to be empty, a lucky break. Off to one side of the main room a table had been overturned, most likely during their jail break. Spilled on the floor beside it is James' backpack along with their knives and other belongings.
Surprised and pleased to see all their stuff still there and apparently untouched, he glances around to make sure he's unobserved and then enters the jail. Hurrying over to where his knives lie on the floor, he picks them up first and belts them on, feeling good now that he has them again. Stuffing Tinok's knives into the backpack, he then slings the backpack over a shoulder and proceeds back to the front door. The sound of approaching horses stops him before he opens the door.
Moving to a window, he looks out and discovers twenty enemy soldiers approaching on horseback. He watches them for a few seconds, and when he realizes they're on their way to the jail, he runs to the cells in the back and slips through the hole in the wall James had made during their escape. By the time he's reached the alley behind the jail, the sound of them talking can be heard from where they've stopped out front. What they are saying is unknown as Jiron doesn't speak the Empire's language.
He slips around the back to the side alley and moves to the end where he can peer around to observe the riders out front. The majority of the soldiers are still upon their horses, one lone horse stands without a rider. Jiron's horse sits in the middle of the group and it doesn't appear as if anyone is paying it any attention. Shortly, a soldier's voice can be heard calling out to the others from within the jail.
The one whose attire marks him to be an officer barks out orders and half of the remaining men dismount, as does he. The others remaining on their horses turn and proceed to move quickly in different directions through the town, as if they're looking for something. Then he hears another soldier's voice from inside shout excitedly as he finds the hole in the cell.
Jiron looks longingly at his horse sitting there amidst the others for a moment and then begins to hurry back to the alley running behind jail. When he reaches it, he turns to follow it away from the jail. Just as he reaches the end of the alley, he pauses a moment and glances back toward the jail. A soldier sticks his head out of the hole in the wall, looking first one way then the other.
He quickly slips around the corner to avoid being seen by the soldier. Not hearing any outcry from him, he breathes a sigh of relief at not having been spotted. He continues down the side alley until he comes to a door. Finding it unlocked, he slips inside and closes it behind him.
This one looks to be another residence, the room he finds himself in has two tables, four chairs and a one long couch. It was probably where the lady of the house would greet guests and have tea. He moves to a window and keeps a lookout on what the soldiers are doing.
They appear to be searching for something, maybe he and the others. The riders seem to be combing the streets while the officer stays within the jail with several of the others. He hopes they'll just up and leave so he can retrieve his horse. He'll never make it back to the others without it.
The entrance to the jail is barely discernable through the thick smoke that envelopes the town, but he's able to see the officer come out, obviously upset and angry. He barks out more orders and several of the men on foot climb back into their saddles, racing off to the south. The officer stands there a moment as he looks at the fire and the people trying to halt its course.
Jiron continues to watch as two of his men appear out of the smoke with a man held between them. They bring him over to the leader and when they're five feet from him, force the man to his knees.
The officer asks the kneeling man in the northern tongue, "Where are the men that were stationed here?"
The man on his knees just shakes his head.
The officer signals and one of the men twists one of the man's arms, making him cry out. "I said, where are my men?"
"I don't know!" the man cries out.
"Something happened here," the officer says and then comes forward. Grabbing the man's hair, he yanks his head back and stares into his eyes. "What!" he demands.
Gasping through the pain in his arm, the man exclaims, "I don't know! They brought some people in and had them imprisoned in the jail."
"Who were they?" the officer snaps.
"We never found out!" the man cries, tears rolling down his face from the pain he's experiencing.
The officer lets go of the man's hair and then nods his head to his man who releases his grip on the man's arm. "Then what?" he asks.