Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (14 page)

“We could try to swim fast?” James offers
much to the horror of Miko who shakes his head violently.

“Just kidding,” he says to Miko who flashes
him an ‘I’m not amused’ look.

“There’s got to be a way,” Jiron says.

“I’m sure there is,” says James. “And not
one that requires us to enter the water, either,” he adds for
Miko’s benefit.

“Could you get us there with magic?” Jiron
asks.

“I don’t know, maybe,” he says. “But if
something should happen to break my concentration, we would fall to
the river below.”

They sit there in silence for a while longer
until the animals are fully cooked. When they’re ready, Jiron hands
each of them one and they set to with a hearty appetite.

During the course of the meal, Jiron
suddenly asks, “How about a bridge?”

“That would take too long to build,” James
tells him.

“No, no, no,” he says. “I mean a natural
one.”

“That would be nice,” James says, “but I
don’t see any around here.”

Jiron glances toward him and says, “But you
could make one.”

“How?” James asks him.

He points down where the other fork of the
river continues on and says, “Look, there’s a tall tree down there
on this side of the river that might span the water.”

“How are we to cut it down?” Miko asks. “We
don’t have any axes or anything.”

Nodding toward James, he says, “He could
knock it down with magic. After what I’ve seen you do to buildings,
this shouldn’t be too hard.

Looking at the tree in the distance, he
slowly nods his head and says, “Might be able to arrange that. Give
me a moment to think about it,” he tells them as he finishes up
with his lunch.

Once he’s done, he tosses what’s left into
the river and watches as the little fish consume it. Then, with the
other two watching, he walks over to the tree and begins to figure
out the particulars of what he’s going to do.

It definitely looks tall enough to span the
water after it falls, providing it falls in the correct direction.
That shouldn’t be a problem, he just needs to direct the magic to
steer it that way. Ready to try, he motions the others to stand
back several yards behind him as he begins to concentrate.

Miko watches him as he stands there, five
feet from the base of the tree. Suddenly, the base pops as bark
flies in all directions. The top begins to topple and at first it
looks to be falling more along the river than across it. But then,
as if a giant hand grabs it, the tree swings more toward the
opposite shore. With a loud crashing, it lands with the top of its
branches well on the other side of the river.

They come over to where he’s standing,
congratulating James as he watches the water passing just under the
trunk of the tree. “Good job!” exclaims Miko.

“If we’re careful, it’s unlikely we’ll fall
in,” Jiron says as he climbs up onto the trunk. “Let me go first,
and if it’s safe, you two can follow,” he tells them.

Miko and James stay next to the trunk while
he makes his way across the water to the other side. The trunk is
fairly stable, the branches beneath it forming a secure contact
with the riverbed.

They watch as Jiron makes his way through
the limbs to the other side and finally comes to stand on the
opposite shore. “No problem!” he shouts back to them.

“Wanna go next?” James asks Miko.

Nodding, he climbs up onto the trunk and
makes his way to the other side. Once he’s there, James begins his
way across and finds carrying his stick with him will be
impossible. So he tosses his walking stick into the water and goes
on across. The multiple branches extending away from the tree give
him ample handholds with which to maintain his balance, even with
his injuries. There was one heart stopping moment when his injured
leg lost its balance and he almost fell. But by grabbing a couple
branches in a death grip, which renewed the pain in his side, he
was able to right himself and continue on.

Reaching the other side, he climbs down from
the trunk and joins them by the river. Miko hands him another
walking stick he’d found while James was crossing. He takes the
stick and says, “Thank you.”

“Should we continue following it?” Jiron
asks, indicating the main river from which the one they’d been
following had split off.

“I would think so,” he says.

Without another word, Jiron turns and begins
looking for the best path to take. With the river flowing steadily
on their left, they continue on through the swamp. By nightfall,
the swamp had begun to change from an area filled with stagnant
pools to a more pleasant, forest type area.

“I think we may be finally getting to the
edge of the swamp,” Jiron announces when they stop for the
night.

“It looks like it,” agrees James. “The air
is fresher and there’s not nearly the amount of annoying bugs to
deal with.”

They make camp at the edge of the river and
James goes into the woods, soon returning with several animals for
dinner. By this time, the others have a good fire going and they
relax around it as their dinner is cooking. The evening passes
uneventfully, each taking their turn at watch.

When the sun rises in the morning, James is
happy to find his leg beginning to itch. Knowing that’s an
indication of healing, he tries not to scratch any of the scabs
off. His side is doing better as well, some of the scabs are
beginning to flake off around the edges. The strain he put on the
wound when he almost fell into the river seems to have had little
lasting effect.

His leg barely aches when he rests his
weight on it when they’re ready to go. Not bothering with a walking
stick any longer, he’s able to keep up with Jiron. They make better
time than they had the day before.

As they continue on throughout the day, the
swamp gradually disappears and a forest takes its place. Not having
to worry about backtracking around pools of water where those flesh
eating fish might be living, they’re able to cover more
distance.

Maintaining a northerly course as they
follow the river out of the swamplands, they continue on for
several hours. The ground becomes firmer and soon the only water
they find is that of the river next to them and the few small
streams that flow into it. They all become more relaxed as they
continue on, more comfortable in the more familiar setting of the
forest.

James is feeling so good in fact, he breaks
out in song, “Zip a de do dah…”

After several choruses, Miko asks him,
“What’s that song about?”

Smiling, James explains, “Just a fun song
from where I come from. It basically means happy to be alive, or at
least that’s how it’s always made me feel.”

“Could you teach it to me?” he asks.

“Sure,” James says and then launches into
another round.

Miko has trouble at first, but then he
catches on fast and by the third iteration has the words and tune
down fairly well. Jiron even manages to join in after the second
time around and they go through the forest singing.

They’ve managed to make good speed through
the rest of the day. When it begins getting dark, they again make
camp, with James hunting for food while the others get the fire
going.

Once he’s returned with a couple animals and
they’re sitting around the fire, he says, “This is nice.”

“What is?” asks Jiron from where he’s
turning the spit.

“Just being in the forest, no one trying to
kill you,” he says wistfully. “I’ve always liked being out among
the trees, it’s always brought me peace.”

“Not me,” says Miko. “The forest gives me
the creeps.”

Laughing, James replies, “That’s because
you’re a city boy. Spend more time out here and you’ll come to
appreciate them.”

Miko looks at him doubtfully and says, “So
far, they’ve been nothing but trouble.”

“I suppose it could seem that way,” Jiron
joins in. “If we weren’t here in the Empire, at least I think we’re
still in the Empire, then it would feel different.”

“Maybe,” he says, still not convinced.

When the meal is over and they’re getting
ready to settle down to sleep, Jiron offers to take the first
watch.

Miko turns to him and says, “If the woods
are such a great place, why are we bothering with a watch?”

“Can never be too careful,” he replies.

Figuring he’d made his point, Miko turns
over and eventually falls asleep. James and Jiron sit up for a
little while longer, talking.

“He sure can be negative sometimes,” Jiron
says quietly to James.

“I know,” he replies. “Has to do with his
life I would imagine. Being alone on the streets where everyone
tries taking what you have, doesn’t tend to build trust.”

“I suppose,” Jiron says. “I was on the
streets too and am not that way.”

“True,” replies James. “But what would you
have been like if Tersa hadn’t been alongside you, or if that guy
hadn’t gotten you started in the fight pits.”

“I see what you mean,” he says. Then he
smiles and laughs quietly.

“What?” James asks him.

“Oh, I was just remembering a time after I’d
been in the pits for a while,” he explains. “Kehlan, that was his
name, was on his way to get me for another fight. He said he always
wanted to take me to them, not for us to just meet there. Anyway,
he was coming toward me when from out of nowhere, a tomato sails
toward him and hits him right in the side.”

Starting to giggle a little more, he says,
“You should have seen him, he was mad and was looking around to see
where the tomato had come from. When he saw who it was that had
ruined his blue vest, he starts yelling at them and ran toward
them. Most likely intending to beat them up or something, but he
never got the chance.”

“He didn’t take three steps before he slips
in a mud puddle.” Beginning to laugh more, he continues, “He gets
up, mud all over him and looks around for his hat. He sees it
sitting in the road a few feet away. Just as he was getting up to
retrieve it, a horse comes along and puts his hoof right on the hat
and begins walking away, with the hat still stuck to his hoof.”
Laughing so hard now, tears begin running from his eyes.

James begins laughing too as he continues,
“Finally the horse puts its hoof in a mud puddle and the hat
doesn’t come back out. Kehlan gets up, covered in mud and goes over
to retrieve his hat. When he pulls it out of the mud puddle, the
hat is completely ruined. There’s a hole in it, not to mention the
mud and other stuff stuck to it that had been in the mud
puddle.”

“He actually put the hat back on after
shaking it and getting most of the mud off,” he says, laughing
more. “He looked around but the kids who had thrown the tomato were
no where to be found.”

Laughing, James looks over to where Miko is
sleeping and is happy to find that their merriment hasn’t awoken
him. He sits there a while, listening to the fire crackle and pop
as he continues thinking about Kehlan. The picture of him walking
around in a dirty, soaked hat and a blue vest with a big red stain
on it keeps him chuckling for a while.

Then suddenly, it all stops.
Blue vest?
And a hat?
He looks to Jiron who’s poking the fire
absentmindedly with a stick.
Could it have been?
“Just what
did Kehlan look like?”

Looking up from the fire, he says, “Oh, not
much to talk about really. Looked sort of ordinary, he might’ve
come from one of the kingdoms further north, I think. He was short
though, didn’t come up to my shoulders as I recall. But that didn’t
affect his fighting abilities, never saw anyone who could fight
like him. He used to say, ‘It’s not the size of your opponent, but
his skill that will take you down’. And he was right.”

Sitting back, again lost in thought, James
considers what he’d just heard.
It had to be the little guy! But
why?
He stares over to Jiron as he tries to think things
through.
He fights like no other I’ve ever seen. Maybe Igor
arranged it so I’d have help along the way? Or is there something
more to it? Whatever the reason, I’m glad to have had him with me.
I doubt if I could ever have survived if I hadn’t.

He settles down to sleep for he’s taking the
mid watch which is the worst one for getting enough rest. You don’t
get enough before your shift and you have a hard time going back to
sleep afterwards.

Finally though, he does manage to fall
asleep.

“
James! Wake up!”

Startled out of sleep, he awakens to see
Jiron running toward the camp. “What?” he asks as he sits up,
suddenly alarmed. Night had fallen and the woods are dark, the dim
glow of the dying fire is all that keeps it at bay.

Miko wakes up and still half asleep says,
“Is it my turn?”

Jiron runs to the remnants of the fire and
begins kicking dirt on it, putting it completely out.

“What’s going on?” James asks as he gets to
his feet.

Miko comes fully awake when he sees Jiron
putting the fire out. Realizing that something’s not right, he
quickly gets to his feet.

In the last light of the fire before it’s
covered by Jiron, they see him pointing to the north as he says,
“There’s a road not fifty feet further ahead.”

As the last dying ember is covered and
they’re thrown into darkness, James can hear voices coming their
way from the direction of the road. He begins to see torches moving
their way in amongst the trees as well.

Leading them away from the camp, Jiron
whispers, “Soldiers, lots of ‘em.”

As they hurry through the brush away from
the river, James asks in a hushed whisper, “Were they looking for
us?”

“I don’t think so,” he replies as he
continues leading them further away from the river. “I had been
scouting ahead of us for when we leave tomorrow and had found the
road. They were simply marching this way, coming over the bridge
that spans the river we had been following. Then as I was heading
back, I heard one of them say something and a smaller group broke
off from the main force. They began making their way to our camp. I
think they must’ve seen the fire and were going to
investigate.”