The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven (25 page)

Workers have already begun to rebuild the
destroyed section of the wall, a flurry of activity is taking place
in and around the base of the opening. Wagonloads of stone blocks
sit awaiting their turn to be set into the wall. It didn’t take
them long to begin the rebuilding.

Satisfied with what he’s seen, he cancels
the image of Korazan and again tries to find Tinok. After several
minutes of fruitless searching, he gives up and puts away the
mirror. Glancing over to where Jiron rides beside him, he can see
the unspoken question. Shaking his head, James says, “Nothing. I
can bring up Korazan, but not Tinok. I’m sure he’s not there.”

“We’ll see,” he says.

James continues to periodically check on the
distance to Korazan. When he figures them to be less than an hour
away, they leave the road. He feels rather conspicuous as they are
the only ones not using the road. But, keeping a steady pace
without appearing to rush, should alleviate any thoughts or
concerns the other travelers may have about them.

Once away from the road, he uses his mirror
to maintain a good distance from the city as they circumvent it.
Also, he keeps an eye out for any roving patrols which may be in
the area. They were forced to come to a stop at one point when he
sights in his mirror a score of riders that would have intersected
their path at an inopportune time. When the riders were past and
there was no danger of running into them, they resumed their
journey.

It’s not only patrols that they work to
avoid, but those living in the area as well. While unable to
completely avoid all the farmstead in the area, James is at least
able to have them thread their way through so they won’t come in
close proximity to them. They see some of the farmers out with
herds of goats, occasionally one would wave a greeting as they ride
by.

Due to the meandering path he leads them on
through the farmsteads, it takes them close to two hours to reach
the road on the south side of Korazan. At which time he takes out
his cloth to see where Tinok lies, whether it will be north to
Korazan or still to the south. Everyone holds their breath and when
the cloth rises to point south, they collectively breathe a sigh of
relief. They had been dreading having to return to Korazan.

“That settles it,” announces Stig when the
cloth rises.

“Yes it does,” agrees James. Turning to
Jiron he says, “He’s not there.”

Disappointed, Jiron nods. “Let’s get going,”
he says.

Putting the cloth back in his pouch, James
indicates for Reilin to take the lead as they continue along the
road to the south. To their right sits the lake, Tears of the
Empress. A beautiful lake, its water glistens in the sun. Many
boats of varying shapes and sizes are out upon her waters.

They follow the road south along the shore
of the lake for an hour until they reach a crossroad. Taking the
right fork, they continue to follow the shoreline until they reach
its southernmost point. There the road turns and for a brief
distance goes due west until it comes to where the waters flow from
the lake into a sizeable river. At that point, the road turns from
due west and follows the river on a more southwesterly course.

Not too far from where the road begins to
follow the river, they come to another bridge that has been
destroyed. Again as in the previous ones they came across on their
way down, this one too is in the midst of reconstruction. Two of
the makeshift wooden bridges span the river here.

“We didn’t come this far south,” states
Stig.

“No, you didn’t,” affirms James.

“One of your wagons?” asks Jiron in a
whisper.

“It had to have been,” he replies. Other
than Jiron, he hadn’t told anyone else about what he did with the
wagon and wanted to keep it that way. After splitting off with
Illan, he had planted seeds of magic in the beds of various wagons
in many caravans they had passed. The seeds were to accumulate
magic and then explode when they crossed over bridges. It looked as
if one had.

“Then how did this happen?” Stig asks.
Glancing to James he adds, “You do this?”

“Yes and that’s all I will say about it,” he
replies. The last thing he wants is to have word spread about what
he does with magic. An idea of what is possible could lead others
in the magic business into embarking upon acts that could have
serious repercussions.

The others take his lack of explanation with
equanimity. They have been with him long enough to trust that what
he does is for a reason and usually a good one.

Not too far past the ruined bridge they
decide to stop for the night. It’s been a long day and the time
spent on the road is beginning to wear on them. Before the light
fades completely, James again tries to get Tinok in his mirror but
to the extreme frustration of Jiron, comes up with nothing. “How
far away is he?” he asks when James tells him of the results.

“I don’t know,” replies James as he puts
away his mirror. “I’ll try again in the morning.”

Practically stomping in frustration back to
where he and Aleya have their blankets laid out, he fumes over
James’ inability to find him.

Sighing, James feels bad for his friend and
would do more if he could. Though he’s been able to do some pretty
amazing things, he’s not all powerful. He goes over to where Shorty
has pulled cooking duty and gets a plate of what he calls stew. Not
very good but at least it’s hot and filling.

Once they finish eating, they turn in for
the night. As James lays there under the stars he gazes up at the
full moon above them. He can’t help but think that time is running
out and running out fast. Trying to put his worries aside, he
eventually calms his mind sufficiently to fall asleep.

No sooner does James awaken the next morning
than Jiron is bugging him to look for Tinok. Making him wait until
he answers nature’s call, he then gets settled on the ground with
the mirror held in his lap. Concentrating hard, he visualizes Tinok
and sends forth the magic. Nothing. Giving more magic to the
endeavor, he sends forth a burst and for the briefest moment, the
image in the mirror flickered then disappeared.

“Did you see that?” asks Jiron
excitedly.

“Yeah,” says James, “I saw.” The image
flickered for a moment when he used more magic.

“Something happen?” asks Scar as he and the
others come over to investigate Jiron’s outburst.

“He almost had him!” exclaims Jiron. Almost
dancing with glee, he turns back to James and asks, “Can you do it
again?”

“Possibly,” he says. Returning his gaze to
the mirror, he opens the gate so to speak, and the magic pours from
him. The image in the mirror shifts and Tinok appears.

“That’s him!” Jiron cries out.

The image is hazy, possibly due to the
distance it’s coming from. Tinok is sitting in the back of a wagon
with hands and feet manacled. It’s very hard to tell but it looks
like the wagon is in motion.

“Where is he?” Miko asks. “Can you expand
the image any?”

He tries but the drain of power is too
great. Shaking his head he says, “It would require more magic than
I have.”

Suddenly, he feels Miko’s hand on his
shoulder. Glancing up he sees him there with the Star in his hand.
“Maybe this will help?” he asks with a crooked grin and the Star
flares brightly.

“Yes it will,” he replies. Casting a leech
line to him, James suddenly feels the power of the Star flowing
into him via Miko. As he returns his gaze to the mirror he hears
Jiron say to Miko, “Thanks.”

With the added magic of the Star, the image
clarifies some but the haziness remains. Expanding the image, they
see that Tinok’s wagon is one of several. One man in armor on a
horse rides in front of the lead wagon while a dozen others ride
alongside the rest.

The haziness gradually increases despite the
amount of magic he’s using. Then all of a sudden they come to the
side of a large, black surface. It could possibly be a wall. A
section of the wall slides open and the man in armor leading them
rides inside. The wagons follow along behind, and when the last
wagon passes through the wall, the mirror returns to normal.

“What happened?” asks Jiron.

“I don’t know,” admits James. Staring
perplexed at the mirror, all he can see are the reflections of
himself and the others as they stare down at it. The magic is still
flowing, but there is no image. Stepping up the magic flow, he
draws more from Miko. Steadily increasing the flow of magic he
concentrates on Tinok but the mirror remains blank. With a sigh, he
gradually reduces the magic flow until he stops it altogether.

“I can’t reach him anymore,” he says. When
Jiron is about to argue, he adds, “I was using more magic than ever
before in searching with the mirror. There’s nothing more I can
do.”

“At least we know he’s alive,” offers Stig.
“That’s more than we knew before.”

“That’s right,” agrees Scar.

“He’s in trouble,” Jiron says as he gets to
his feet. Looking at the others he says, “What are we waiting for?”
They quickly make ready for travel. Once they’re mounted, Jiron
leads them back to the road and maintains a quick pace.

After they’ve been on the road for an hour,
James pulls out his cloth to see if they are still going in the
right direction. When he casts the spell that he’s cast every time
he’s done this, the cloth remains still. A shiver runs through him
as he stops the magic. Attempting to home in on Tinok, he again
releases the magic and says under his breath, “Come on!” But the
cloth remains still and doesn’t even twitch.

He glances over to where Jiron is watching
him. “It’s not working,” he says.

“What’s not working?” he asks.

“My cloth trick,” he explains. “It isn’t
pointing to where Tinok is.”

“Why not?” he asks.

Shrugging, James says, “I don’t know.”

Bringing them to a stop there in the middle
of the road, Jiron moves his horse to his side and says, “Do it
again.”

“I’ve already tried twice and it isn’t
working,” he tells him.

“Do it again,” he insists. By this time the
others have gathered around to observe what’s going on.

Holding up the hand with the cloth once
more, he concentrates on Tinok then releases the magic. Just as
happened the two times before, the cloth remains down. Bringing his
gaze to Jiron he sees the worry and fear for his friend that he’s
feeling.

“What can it mean?” he asks.

“Something is blocking my search,” James
explains.

“Or someone,” adds Brother Willim from his
position next to him.

“Or someone,” agrees James.

“But who or what would do that?” asks
Aleya.

“I don’t know,” James admits. Casting his
eyes around the group, he looks questioningly for any ideas but
they all shake their heads. Then he remembers the image in the
mirror before he lost sight of Tinok. They had entered some
building. Whoever is inside has to be blocking him. Glancing to
Jiron, he decides to not add more worry to his mind and keeps the
thought to himself.

“What about that prostitute in Inziala?”
asks Stig. “Maybe she could shed some light on this.”

“Yes!” exclaims Jiron. “Maybe she can.”

“I doubt if she would be the one to have
done this to Tinok,” Shorty says.

“No,” agrees Jiron. “But maybe she would
have a good idea who did.”

“If nothing else, we could find out where
she got the necklace,” offers Scar.

Nodding, Jiron asks, “Anyone know how far
Inziala is from here?”

“I think it’s south of here,” Reilin finally
answers, “but I don’t know where.”

Just then from the south they see a single
wagon approaching with two men sitting on the driving seat.
“Reilin,” James says. “Go ask them if they know where Inziala
is.”

“Alright,” he acknowledges and moves to
intercept them.

Jiron waits with the others while Reilin
rides ahead to meet with the men on the wagon.

The men on the wagon are wary of his
approach. One actually pulls out a crossbow when he realizes Reilin
intends to approach them. Reilin stops ten feet away, holds up his
hand in greeting and talks. He and the two men exchange words for
several minutes then Reilin turns his horse around and rejoins
them. The two men on the wagon keep an eye on them as their wagon
rolls closer.

“They said that Inziala is only about a day
away,” he explains. As the wagon passes them on its way north,
James gives the two men a nod of thanks. The men only stare at them
as they pass, their weapons at the ready.

“Friendly pair weren’t they,” comments Scar
after they’ve resumed their trek south.

“You could say that,” agrees Potbelly.
Glancing back to the wagon, he sees the man with the crossbow
turned in his seat and is keeping an eye on them. “Wonder if
travelers run into trouble out here?”

“Who knows?” replies Jiron. “I want to make
Inziala before the sun goes down if we can.” Nudging his horse into
motion, he gets up to a quick gallop.

The rest of the day they maintain a furious
pace. They all understand that time is running out and now without
James’ ability to point the way, it could take them longer to pick
up Tinok’s trail. With only short breaks to answer the call of
nature and to water the horses, they practically fly down the
road.

When the sun begins to draw close to the
horizon, still Jiron continues the fast pace. Three hours later
when the horses are on the verge of exhaustion, the lights of a
city appear out of the dark before them. Coming across a party of
four men and two ladies, they ask them if the town is Inziala.
James breathes a sigh of relief when they say it is. His butt was
beginning to get sore from the hard pace Jiron had set.

With thanks and wishes for good fortune,
they leave the party behind and continue on toward the city.