Trail of the Gods: The Morcyth Saga Book Four (17 page)

Before him on the workbench are two of the
crystals from his bag. He plans to use one for his warning system
and the other as a possible defensive measure against anyone other
than himself touching the box.

He infuses them with the leeching spell and
takes them out to the forest where he’ll leave them until tomorrow
in order to have them somewhat charged before he begins infusing
them with the desired spells. Spells which he still needs to figure
out.

The warning system should be fairly easy.
Reaching down to the bag of crystals, he pulls out two more. One
will be the transmitter and the other a receiver. The transmitter
crystal will be set near the box at its final destination. It will
sit dormant until at such a time as someone, or something disturbs
the box. Then it will send a burst of power which will come to the
receiver crystal.

When the burst of power enters the receiver
crystal, he’ll have it set up where a dormant spell within the
receiver crystal will activate. The crystal will then glow a
brilliant red, alerting him that the Fire has been disturbed.
Whether he’ll be able to do anything about it at the time is
uncertain, but at least he’ll know something’s going on.

He works on trying to come up with exactly
the right spells for this to work. By lunchtime they’re pretty much
finalized, he just needs to test it. He’s just imbued the crystals
with the spells when someone knocks at the workshop door.

“Come in” he hollers and Ezra enters with a
plate of sandwiches and a mug of ale.

“Thought you might be busy and I didn’t want
you missing any more meals,” she tells him as she puts the food
before him on the workbench.

“Thank you,” he says.

Giving him a brief nod and smile, she leaves
the workshop and shuts the door behind her.

Taking a sandwich in one hand, he lets each
of the crystals leech some power from him until they begin emitting
a very soft red glow. Canceling the leeching spells, he then sets
about testing his theory.

The receiver crystal has been set with a
certain signature that the transmitter will home in on when it
sends out its burst of power. When the actual crystal is placed
within the box’s final resting place, he’ll fine tune it a little
bit more so the power will flow in pretty much the right
direction.

Picking up the receiver crystal, he takes it
into the house and places it within the money chest sitting in his
room. Shutting the lid, he returns back to the workshop. He
activates the transmitter crystal and feels a brief tingle as it
sends most of the power it has to the receiver crystal. It still
has a faint glow within it, he put limits on how much can be
expelled by the crystal. Since he won’t have access to the box once
it’s hidden, he doesn’t want to run the risk of any crystal
becoming completely depleted and cracking.

Leaving the workshop, he heads back to his
room and opens the lid. The receiver crystal is now glowing, just
as he hoped it would. He cancels the spell on the crystal and the
glow disappears. Smiling with great satisfaction, he takes the
crystal and leaves his room.

Back in the kitchen he asks Ezra where Miko
is and she tells him he’s likely out back with Roland. “Thanks,” he
says to her before heading out the back door in search for him. The
unmistakable sound of wood being chopped reaches him as he steps
outside. He sees them over in the area Roland has been using for
splitting logs.

Roland puts a round section of log in front
of Miko who then takes the tool they use in these parts for
splitting logs and strikes it with all his might, sinking the wedge
half deep within the wood. The tool has a long handle just as a
regular axe but the head is fashioned differently. On one side is a
six inch piece of slightly curved, wedge shaped metal and on the
other is a flat block of metal that can be used as a sledge
hammer.

Miko lifts the log splitter with the piece
of wood still attached and then slams it back down on the stump as
hard as he can. When the wood impacts with the stump, the tool
sinks into the wood further, splitting it apart. Roland takes the
pieces and tosses them over to a large pile of wood that’s already
been split into firewood. He then places another round section of
log on the stump as Miko readies to swing the log splitter.

“Excuse me,” he says as he approaches.

Miko swings and embeds the wedge side deep
within the wood. Before lifting the wood to finish splitting it, he
looks over to James and asks, “Care to lend a hand?”

“No, but I could use your help though.”

He again lifts the wood and slams it down on
the stump which almost completely splits the piece of wood apart.
Taking the wood in his hands, he pries the two pieces apart and
tosses the smaller one over to the wood pile before setting the
larger piece back on the stump.

“How?” he asks as he strikes the wood again,
this time splitting the piece in two with one blow.

“If you can spare him Roland, I need him to
ride into town,” James says.

“Sure,” Roland replies as he comes over to
take the log splitter from Miko. “Thanks for the help,” he says to
Miko.

“No problem,” he says as he follows James
over to the stables.

“This won’t take too long,” he assures him.
“What I want you to do is ride into town or maybe even past it.”
Holding up the receiver crystal he says, “I’m going to try to have
this crystal light up from a distance. As you ride, hold this in
your hand. When you see light coming from within it, turn around
and come on back.”

Seeing the doubt in his eyes as he glances
to the crystal, he adds, “It won’t hurt you. You won’t even feel
anything.”

“What do you want to do this for?” he asks
as he hesitantly takes the crystal.

James almost laughs at the way he’s holding
it. You’d think he had a deadly snake or something in his hand.
“Just an experiment is all,” he explains. As much as he likes and
trusts Miko, there’re just some things he doesn’t need to know
about.

“Alright,” he says. “When do you want me to
leave?”

“Right now if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Sure, just let me get washed and I’ll
saddle my horse,” he tells him.

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” he says. “I plan
on letting you ride for an hour or so before the crystal begins to
glow. I want to see how well it does over a distance.” He watches a
moment while Miko walks over to the washbasin out by the kitchen to
clean up before heading back to the workshop.
Now for the
defense of the Fire.

He mulls it over back at his workbench for
several minutes before he hears Miko’s horse racing down the lane.
Glancing out the window, he sees him turning out of the lane and
heading into town. Turning back to his work, he continues
contemplating the best types of defensive spells he could put in
the crystal.

The spells can’t be such that they may pose
a risk to the box or the Fire. They need to be more selective, but
powerful enough to thwart any attempt to steal it. Of course the
spells should be tailored to the environment where the Fire will be
as well. Somehow incorporating the strengths of the area where it
will lie to aid in its defense.

Throughout the rest of the day, he comes up
with ideas and then scraps them. Nothing seems to work the way he
plans. He takes a short break for dinner but then is right back to
work afterward. When the light outside begins to fade, Ezra comes
out and places a couple candles in his workshop to give him light
to work by. So engrossed is he in what he’s doing that he barely
even realizes she’s placed the candles until long after she’s
left.

Finally, exhausted and mentally fatigued, he
looks at the defensive crystal sitting before him. All the spells
he thinks he needs are infused within. All it’ll take now is to
power the crystal and then finally activate the dormant spells
within once the Fire is properly hidden.

Getting up from his workbench, he stretches
and begins to head to his room where he intends to crash hard.
Almost to the door to the kitchen, he abruptly stops as a thought
suddenly occurs to him.
Miko! I forgot all about him!

It must be well over five hours since he
sent him off to check on the receiver crystal. Rushing back to his
workshop, he finds the crystal and activates it. He feels a short
tingle as it sends its signal to the receiver crystal.

Feelings of guilt fill him as he leaves the
workshop and heads to his room.
Poor Miko, wonder how far he’d
gotten.

The town of Osgrin had long since
disappeared behind him when the crystal finally begins emitting the
light James had told him about.
Finally!
Bringing his horse
to a stop, he pauses as he looks at the crystal in his hand. A soft
reddish glow is coming from deep within it.
Wonder how he does
that?

Putting the glowing crystal in his pack, he
turns his horse around and heads back to Osgrin.
An hour,
indeed. Been more like five!
Miko’s starving and figures James
is just going to have to wait a little bit longer. He plans on
finding an inn somewhere in Osgrin where he can have a bite to eat
before heading back. If he didn’t think James would want to know
about his crystal, he would get a room and head out in the
morning.

The lights of Osgrin appear ahead of him out
of the dark and when he passes the outskirts he comes across a two
story building with a sign depicting a pig on a spit roasting over
a fire.

A wonderfully delicious aroma is coming from
the building, roast pork is what it smells like. Stopping in front,
he ties his horse to one of the rails outside and makes his way
through the front door.

The place is packed and the only table left
to him is all the way in the back, a small table only large enough
for one or two people. He signals one of the serving girls on his
way over and she arrives shortly after he takes his seat.

“Welcome to the Cooked Hog” she greets him,
a warm smile upon her face. “My name’s Celia. Is there anything I
can get for you?”

“I’d like some of whatever it is that smells
so good,” he tells her. “And a mug of ale, too.”

“What you’re smelling is our specialty,
roast pig,” she tells him. “It’s only half a silver and comes with
some vegetables as well as a half loaf of bread.”

“Perfect,” he says as he hands over the
coins.

Taking the money, she says, “Back in a
moment.”

He sits back and looks out over the other
patrons as he waits for his meal. Sitting around the table next to
him are five men, mercenaries by the looks of them. Scattered
throughout the common room are others, perhaps ten in all. Most
likely they’re guards from some caravan who’s stopped here in
Osgrin for the night.

Celia comes out of the kitchen a minute
later bringing over his meal. She sets a large plate with sizzling
slices of roast pork before him, their juices running all over the
plate. Arrayed around the edges of the plate are several of the
favorite local tubers everyone seems to like. On the table next to
it, she places half loaf of bread and his mug of ale. “Is there
anything else you’d be requiring?” she asks.

Taking out his knife and grabbing the fork
which had been supplied, he cuts off a large slice. Shaking his
head, he stuffs the pork in his mouth as she turns and walks away.
The juice runs down his chin and he wipes it off with his arm.
Taking the bread, he discovers it’s still warm as he tears off a
chunk and dips it in the juice on the plate before eating it. He
never did that before until he saw James do it one time. Ever
since, he’s rarely eaten just plain bread.

From the table of mercenaries next to him,
he hears something that makes his blood run cold. One of them just
spoke in the Empire’s language before the mercenary sitting next to
him stops him.

“Not here,” the other man whispers. “Use
only their tongue!”

“Right,” the first man says.

Miko glances over to them while trying to
appear that he isn’t. Now that he’s paying closer attention to
them, he can easily tell they’re from the south. The slight
darkening of the skin and their facial characteristics all say
they’re from the Empire. They’re not as prominent in these men as
in others he had been around when he was in the Empire and would
most likely not be noticed with just a cursory look. But after what
he had been through, he’s not likely ever to mistake them
again.

James. They must be here after James.
He continues eating, more slowly this time and tries to listen to
their conversations. Most of what they’re saying is barely audible
and he can only make out fragments of what they’re saying.

“…just to the north of here…”

“…will kill him. That’s what…”

“…soon. Maybe tomorrow, not sure…”

“…get it done and return home where…”

They’re here to kill James!
He wolfs
down the rest of his meal quickly and takes the bread with him to
eat on the road. Getting up from the table, he tries not to make
eye contact with the men as he moves past them toward the door.

A hand grabs his arm and he almost pulls out
his sword before he realizes it’s Celia. She looks expectantly at
him as she asks, “Wouldn’t you like to stay around a little
longer?”

“What?” he asks her, confused.

“I get off in an hour,” she explains, giving
him a look that stirs his blood. “We could go somewhere if you
like.”

“Sorry,” he says as he removes her hand from
his arm. “But I really have to be going.” Turning back to the door,
he leaves a very disappointed Celia behind as he exits the Cooked
Hog. Untying his horse, he quickly mounts and gallops out of
Osgrin. He’s got to return to The Ranch and warn James!

Three and a half hours later, the lane
leading to The Ranch appears before him. In the moonlight he’s able
to make out the recently erected guard shack next to where the lane
begins. As he approaches, a shadow detaches itself from within the
guard shack and suddenly, a lantern’s shutter is opened, bathing
him in light.