Shades Of The Past Part 27

"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 pa.s.s 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 pa.s.sing 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 pa.s.s 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 pa.s.sed 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? 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. 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 pa.s.s 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 pa.s.s. 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 pa.s.ses.

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? 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 pa.s.s, they resume their progress toward the eastern gate. Another pair of disinterested guards stands watch at the gate as they pa.s.s through. 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 pa.s.s, they resume their progress toward the eastern gate. Another pair of disinterested guards stands watch at the gate as they pa.s.s 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 quant.i.ties 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 pa.s.sing 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 pa.s.s. 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 acc.u.mulate 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.