James finishes eating and already his body is telling him it's time to rest. Trying to stifle another big yawn he says, "Hurry back."
"I will," he assures him. Leading the horse outside the cave, he mounts and glances back inside to James before he leaves. Already, he's fallen asleep.
Jiron quickly leaves the cave behind as he makes his way through the hills, away from the beach area. The rolling hills give him some cover as he follows the coast south, hoping to come across a town where he can acquire some food.
The light begins to fade as the sun drops below the horizon. The approach of darkness makes Jiron more at ease, in the dark is when he's most effective. Before the sun slips completely beyond the horizon, he comes across a small fishing village. A couple dozen huts and one main building is all there is to it. A small dock extends into the water and several small boats are tied to it.
Satisfied to have found a town so readily, Jiron turns around and leads his horse away from the village. He finds a place back in the hills that will keep his horse hidden while he goes in search of food. Taking the reins, he ties him to a scrub tree in a hollow between two hills. Patting him on the neck before returning to the village, he says, "I'll be back soon, boy."
Working his way back to the village on foot, he stops when he begins to see the light coming from the outlying buildings. He waits there, hidden in amongst some trees and bushes as he observes the inhabitants, thankful that there are no soldiers or guards patrolling the streets. This place is just not big enough to warrant any.
Once darkness has completely set in, he stealthily makes his way to the outskirts of town and over to one of the houses that remains dark. Hoping that since the house is still dark, there would be no one within, he creeps to a window and looks inside.
It's a small home and appears that there isn't anyone currently inside. Going to the door, he slowly opens it and slips inside, closing it behind him. Moving around in the dark, he finds the kitchen area and starts looking through the shelves and cupboards for food. Removing the sack he brought with him, he places a loaf of bread and some vegetables within it.
Moving to another shelf, he finds a few strips of dried fish and other dried meat which he takes as well. Figuring he's taken enough to last them for a few more days, he takes out two silver pieces and lays them on the table.
Stealing from those who have plenty has never bothered him. But taking from those who obviously have nothing, that's something he could never do, so he leaves the coins. Slipping back out the door, he quickly leaves town and heads back to where he left his horse.
As he approaches the area where he's sure he left his horse, he begins to see a light coming from up ahead. Wary of danger, he draws one of his knives and slips closer. Passing between the hills, he sees four teens near his horse. They're bending over where the contents of one of his bags have been emptied upon the ground.
Setting down the sack of food, he approaches them, knife still in his hand. As he enters the light, he says, "Get away from my horse and my things."
All four of the teens stand up and look in his direction. One of them says, "Back off, this is our stuff now." Drawing his knife, the teen threatens him with it as he says, "Go away if you don't want to get hurt." The others stand behind him and draw their knives as well.
Drawing his other knife, he advances upon them saying, "But I do want to get hurt."
The first teen gets an uncertain look in his eye, as if he can't believe Jiron isn't going away.
When Jiron gets to within five feet of the teens he stops and says, "Just put back everything you took and I won't have to kill any of you." Whether it's the look in his eye, or the sure way he's holding himself, the teens all back up a step.
They begin to empty their pockets and coins, as well as a few other things join the rest of the items lying on the ground. He gestures to the pile on the ground with his knife and says, "Now, please put everything back into the bag." He stands there with knives still drawn as one of the other teens complies.
Then he says, "Now everyone back up and away from the horse." He advances on them as they back up until he's next to the bag. Without taking his eyes off the teens, he reaches down and picks it up. After replacing the bag back on the horse behind the saddle, he takes the horse's reins and backs toward where he left the food sack. Reaching down, he picks it up, and then secures it to the horse as well.
He sheathes his knives before mounting. Turning his horse, he gives the boys one last look before heading out into the night. As he leaves, he goes in the opposite direction of where James lies in case the boys decide to tell anyone about meeting him. He doubts they will, though, it would make them look cowardly.
He travels through the hills for a few hundred feet before turning back to the north and to James. Finding the cave in the dark proves difficult but he at last comes across it and is relieved to find James still sleeping and undisturbed.
Securing his horse with the other, he sits back down at the entrance and keeps watch while James sleeps.
When the sun hits James' face, he wakes up and feels much improved over the day before. Lying next to him is a few strips of dried meat and vegetables. "Found some?" he asks Jiron.
"A little bit," he replies from where he's sitting at the cave entrance.
Tearing off a strip of meat with his teeth, he chews it for a bit then takes a bite of one of the veggies.
"Able to ride today?" Jiron asks.
"Yes," he replies through a mouthful of food, "I think so. My head is not hurting as bad as it was yesterday and I don't feel nearly as wobbly."
"Good," he says, "we need to get moving before we're discovered here."
"Let me see if I can find out where he is first," James says as he gets up and goes over to his horse to retrieve the mirror from his shaving kit. Stuffing the rest of the dried meat in his mouth, he pulls the mirror out and takes it over to the cave entrance where he sits next to Jiron. Cupping the mirror between his hands, he concentrates. The image begins to waver and suddenly they see Miko sitting with other people, someplace dark. He expands the picture and after watching it for a few minutes, states, "I think he's on a boat."
"You sure?" Jiron asks.
"Pretty sure," he replies. "He's somewhere dark and if you watch, it seems like the view is slowly rocking back and forth. It reminds me of being on a ship at sea."
"He could be going anywhere then," Jiron says.
"Yeah, I know," agrees James. "It'll be harder to follow him if we're going to need a boat."
"Let's worry about one thing at a time," he tells him. "Where is he?"
James thinks for a moment and then removes a short piece of cloth from his bags. He takes it outside and walks down near the water. Jiron gets up and follows him down to where the waves are crashing upon the beach.
Standing still at the water's edge, he holds the cloth by one end and extends his arm outward as he concentrates on Miko, willing the cloth to point the way. If it worked with a piece of wood, it should also work with the cloth. The cloth in his hand begins to move, not with the breeze coming in off the water, but on its own. Maintaining his concentration, he opens his eyes to see the cloth pointing south along the beach. He turns to Jiron as he terminates the spell and says, "He's to the south and I get the feeling quite a ways away."
"Then we better get going," he says.
James nods his head as they return to the cave to get their horses and leave. Once inside, Jiron asks him to use the mirror to see if the others made it safely on board the ship.
So James takes out his mirror again and concentrates on Delia and her surroundings. The image in the mirror begins to swirl until Delia appears along with several of the others, including Jiron's sister, Tersa. Widening the view, they're relieved to see them on board a boat that's at sea. From the expressions on everyone's face, it would seem they are not in distress.
"Looks like they made it," James tells him.
Sighing with relief, Jiron says, "I'm glad that Tersa is safe, that's been worrying me ever since we left."
"Me too," adds James. Putting his mirror back in his shaving kit, he places the kit in the saddlebag before mounting his horse.
Jiron quickly gets into the saddle as well and then leads them out of the cave. Turning away from the water, they head through the hills, continuing to angle away from the water.
"Why don't we follow the shoreline?" asks James.
"There's a village up ahead along the coast I visited last night," he replies. "They may be looking for someone who took some food. I did leave money, two silvers, but they still may be looking."
James nods his head, leaving it to Jiron's judgment.
As they continue to angle away from the shoreline, they come across the main road running north and south. A quick look reveals no one currently traveling upon the road so they quickly cross and enter the cover of the foothills on the other side. Staying within the hills, they're able to run parallel with the road as they continue their way to the south.
They don't ride very long before they begin to hear the sound of marching feet coming from up ahead of them. Leaving the horses between two hills, they climb to the crest of the next hill and peer over the top.
From their vantage point, they're able to see the road and the army of marching men upon it coming their way. Easily a thousand strong, the army marches north and at their head are two brown robes upon horses, as well as two others who look to be civilians. A wagon train, most likely carrying supplies, stretches behind them for as far as the road is visible. Flanking them out in the hills are several riders, most likely scouts.
"Uh, oh," Jiron says as he indicates the riders in the hills on both sides of the road. "Scouts! We've got to get out of here, fast!"
Glancing back to the brown robes, James says, "Yeah."
Rushing down the hill, they get to their horses and mount quickly. Turning their horses due east, they gallop away, hoping the scouts won't catch sight of them. "Do you think they're looking for us?" Jiron asks.
"It's likely," he replies. "We did sort of upset them back in Al-Kur."
With a short laugh, Jiron adds, "I guess you could say that."
Suddenly a horn sounds behind them and they turn to see a scout upon a horse at the top of a hill. Kicking their horses into even greater speed, they fly through the hills. The scout follows, keeping them in sight and periodically sounding his horn to alert the host behind him as to their position.
"Damn!" James hears Jiron exclaim as they race through the hills.
"At least the majority of the soldiers back there were on foot," James says.
"True, but the mages weren't," states Jiron.
They continue to ride hard and James glances behind them but doesn't see any pursuit developing, other than that annoying scout who continues alerting everyone as to their whereabouts.
"Hold up a minute," James finally says as he brings his horse around and turns toward the scout. He sees the scout holding still, two hills back as he once more sounds his horn. Reaching into his pouch, James brings out one of his remaining slugs.
"Can you hit him from here?" Jiron asks.
"We'll see," he replies as he throws the slug and at the same time, lets the magic flow.
Jiron watches as the slug flies through the air toward the scout on the distant hill. The scout must've seen the slug for he quickly moves down off the hill and out of James' line of sight. The slug alters course slightly and then disappears behind the hill where the scout went. "Did you get him?"
"Not sure. But let's not wait around to find out."
They turn their horses around and once again race through the hills. After several more minutes of riding, they slow down. "Looks like you did get him," Jiron says when the scout doesn't show himself again.
"Maybe now we can lose them in these hills," James says with relief.
The plan to escape in the hills dies as after a few brief minutes they clear the hills and are once again in the rocky desert with the scrub brush and stunted trees. Turning south, they follow the edge of the hills and only ride a short distance before they again hear the sound of the horn. Turning to glance behind them, Jiron exclaims, "Dear god!"
James turns and sees at least a hundred horsemen charging toward them from the north. Kicking their horses to a gallop they ride fast, hoping to stay ahead of the approaching cavalry. Another horn sounds to their right as they see the soldiers from the road coming into view as they crest the hills. The brown robed mages are at the fore.
Coming to the inevitable conclusion that magic will again become necessary, James takes the rope out of his saddlebag and again ties himself to the saddle. When he notices Jiron looking at him, he just shrugs and pulls the rope tighter.
He begins to feel the tingle that always heralds another mage who is working magic. Glancing back toward the mages on the hill, he sees one has his arms raised. "Fly!" he yells to Jiron as he kicks his own horse into a gallop and rides to the southeast, angling away from the two armies.
The tingles suddenly intensifies and he looks back to see a fireball flying toward them. He counters with a spell and it explodes harmlessly before it even reaches them.
The cavalry has swung to intercept them but aren't gaining very fast. James realizes he's unlikely to destroy both armies without unleashing something cataclysmic. His only hope is to hide, disappear. Suddenly, a memory surfaces of a time he and his family had vacationed in Las Vegas during the summer when a Santa Ana had come through. They had been caught out on the back roads and the flying sand was so bad, his grandfather had to pull off the road and wait it out because he couldn't see the pavement.
He yells to Jiron, "Take a cloth and cover your face!"
"What?" he yells back.
James pulls out a cloth and yells again, "Cover your face!" He then takes the cloth and ties it around his face until only his eyes are showing. He sees Jiron getting the idea and beginning to do the same. James starts concentrating on air pressure and the winds begin to increase.
They've left the armies on foot behind but the cavalry is still gaining ground. Jiron realizes that they're not going to be able to outrun them. He looks over to James and sees him there with his eyes closed. He moves his horse closer to James and grabs his reins so they won't become separated.
As they continue to gallop, the wind begins to pick up. It's almost as if the wind is slamming into the ground and drawing the dirt and sand up into the air. Before too much longer, the air is becoming hazy as more and more of the dirt and sand is being sucked up into the air.
The intensity of the wind hurls the sand into them with sufficient force to sting where it strikes exposed flesh. Jiron looks back but the dust in the air has obscured everything and the cavalrymen are no longer visible through it.
He begins to angle slightly more to the south, hoping to throw off their pursuers. The storm continues growing in intensity and he hollers to James, "That's enough! You're going to get us killed if you don't back off!"
James' eyes fly open and he looks tiredly to Jiron as he nods understanding.
When the storm doesn't subside, he yells to James, "Stop! You're going to kill us!"
Yelling back, James says, "I have! The storm has taken a life of its own. I can't control it any more!"
"Damn!" Jiron curses as they continue galloping to the south.
The winds steadily keep increasing and soon larger stones have been picked up by the winds and begin to pelt them. One stones strikes James on the thigh causing him to cry out. "Stop!" he yells to Jiron.
Coming to a stop, they both dismount. He has Jiron stay close to him as he attempts to create a barrier around them to keep the storm out. Suddenly, all is calm as the dome springs into being, the sand and wind continue pelting the outer side of the dome. The dome extends fifteen feet in diameter and ten feet high.
"How long can you hold it?" Jiron asks, retaining tight hold of the frightened horses' reins.
Considering it, James replies, "It was the initial construction that used the most magic. It's drawing what I call maintenance magic now, just enough to keep it stable. Probably for quite a while."
Jiron says, "Good."
The horses are restless, but appear they'll be okay. Jiron looks out at the swirling mass of sand and stones in awe. "Just what did you do?" he asks as he turns back to James.
"I thought I would make a dust storm to hide us in so we could escape," he explains. "But when I cancelled the spell, it continued. It seems I inadvertently triggered something that was on the verge of happening anyway, though maybe not to this degree." Indicating the storm outside, he says, "It's probably situations like these that make people hate mages, or at least distrust them."
Jiron nods his head and is about to reply when they hear a scream and turn to look as a man, at least they think it is, hits the side of the invisible dome. Most of the skin has been flayed from his bones by the storm. A ghastly appearance, they can see its skeletal mouth opening and closing and then it's picked up again by the wind and disappears.
They look to each other, James feeling very bad about the whole thing. "I guess we're not going to have to worry about pursuit when this is over," Jiron states.
Trying to fight back nausea, James replies, "You're probably right." He looks out to the storm again and then says, "Maybe you should try to get some sleep, I don't know how long this will last."
"What about you?" he asks.
"I dare not fall asleep," he replies. "The barrier might end."
Jiron unconsciously looks out at the storm and nods his head. "Alright," he says as he makes to lie down. "Though how I'm going to sleep in this is beyond me," he states.
James sits there as the storm rages outside the dome. He realizes after a while that Jiron has finally managed to fall asleep and hears soft snores coming from him. As the day progresses, the storm continues in its intensity and as night comes, the light begins to fade.
Casting his glowing orb for light, he keeps it soft so as not to awaken Jiron. The horses finally settle down as they become use to the roar outside the dome. Sitting there with nothing to do as he maintains the domes integrity, he becomes bored and tired. He's beginning to find it hard to stay awake. The events of the last few days and the continual draw of magic to keep the barrier up are starting to take its toll on him.
Getting to his feet, he paces around to keep himself awake and begins to sing songs from home. Some he knows in their entirety and others he gets through the first couple of verses before losing it. All through the night he stays on his feet, refusing to give in to the tiredness that's making his eyes droop and voice start to slur.