Trail of the Gods: The Morcyth Saga Book Four (20 page)

Deciding not to open that particular
Pandora’s Box, he keeps all this speculating to himself. An idea is
one of the most powerful instruments ever devised. For once an idea
gets out, there’s no going back.

By the time they get back to The Ranch,
everyone is beginning to give Miko a hard time. James listens to it
for awhile before putting a stop to it. “Leave him alone, guys. He
made a mistake, but for the right reasons.”

Miko gives him a look of gratitude as the
others quit pestering him. Once they’re back at The Ranch, James
says to Illan, “We’re leaving in the morning. See that everyone is
ready to go.”

“Will do,” he assures him.

The front door to the house opens up and
Roland and the girls come out. “What happened?”

“False alarm,” he tells them. “Seems Miko
was mistaken, they were on their way to a wedding.”

“A wedding?” Roland asks incredulously.
Laughing, he asks, “How could he make that kind of mistake?”

Shrugging, James says, “He feels bad enough
about it as it is, try not to bother him too much.”

“Alright,” agrees Roland.

“I’ll be out at the workshop for the rest of
the day,” he tells him. “I’m taking Illan and the others somewhere
for probably about a week. The new recruits will be staying here
with you.”

“Very well,” he says as James turns and
heads over to the workshop. Sitting on his desk is the crystal he’d
infused with the defensive spells the day before. He still has the
two crystals out in the woods charging, one from which he will
transfer the stored power it contains into that of his defensive
crystal.

He looks down to the sack that had once been
bulging with crystals sitting on the floor by the workbench.
Reaching down, he picks it up and only finds two crystals
remaining. Taking the larger of the two, he infuses it with the
receiver crystal spells and then places it on a shelf over against
the wall.
Have to get this set up better so it will be more
visible and less likely to get lost or broken.

The box to hold the Fire is prepared with
all the spells it will require. The defensive and warning crystals
are out in the forest charging, he just needs to transfer the power
of one and infuse the other with its spells. The receiver crystal
is ready and positioned. All that’s left is to dig up the Fire
tonight and place it in the box before they set out in the
morning.

Leaving the workshop, he sees Miko and
Roland over by the woodpile chopping more firewood. Suddenly, a
scream rips through the air as he sees Uther and Jorry come running
toward Miko.

“We’re under attack!” cries Uther.

“Oh, help! Heeeeeeeelllllllp!” wails
Jorry.

James sees Illan grinning at their antics,
but Miko has a grim look upon his face. He knows it’s him their
making fun of. Doing his best not to smile, for they are pretty
darn funny, he moves away from the workshop and goes over to
them.

“Stop that right now!” he yells at them.

They come to a stop and look his way as the
grins begin to fade from their faces.

Coming closer toward them, he continues, “I
asked you not to bother him about this and I meant it.”

“We were just having a little fun, is all,”
Uther explains.

Illan begins making his way over to where
James is confronting Jorry and Uther.

“I don’t care if you were,” he says. “It
will end, now. Do you understand?”

They both nod their heads.

James glances to Illan as he joins the
others and adds, “We are a team, all of us here. We’ve been through
too much together to treat each other in this manner. I will not
tolerate it in my presence or on my property.”

“Yes sir,” says a chastised Jorry.

“We didn’t mean anything by it,” Uther says.
Then he looks over to where Miko is standing with the axe in his
hand and says, “Sorry Miko.”

Miko just nods then goes back to chopping
wood. His next strike is a bit harder than it had been before.
James can see him working his anger at being the brunt of a joke
out on the wood.

“Now, don’t you gentlemen have something
better to do?” he asks them.

“Yes they do,” Illan tells him. “Follow me
please.” Jorry and Uther fall in behind Illan as he leads them off
to the barn. James watches them for a moment and when they reach
the barn door, Illan has them pick up a rake and shovel.

Illan glances back at him and gives him a
wink as Uther and Jorry proceed to muck out the barn. James glances
over to Miko who’s noticed where they’ve been put to work and he
sees a slight smile begin on his face. The next chop of the axe
sounds more normal as his anger begins to subside.

Heading back to the house he’s told by Ezra
that dinner is still an hour away. Not having anything pressing to
do, he sits in his favorite chair by the window in the front room
as he relaxes until it’s ready.

Tersa comes out of her room shortly after he
got himself settled and brings over a small brown object. It’s a
rabbit shaped stuffed animal. “I thought perhaps children would
enjoy something like this as well,” she tells him as she offers it
to him. “Miko caught some rabbits today, and after their skins are
ready, I’ll try using their fur as well.”

Looking it over, he nods and hands it back
to her. “Looks like you’ve really taken to this whole project.”

She sits in a chair next to his and replies,
“It gives me something to do and if it helps out, then all the
better. I like sewing, and making these lets me feel useful.”

“I know what you mean,” he says. “You’d make
a good seamstress.”

“You think so?” she asks.

“Of course,” he assures her. “The stitching
you’ve done on the teddy bears I’ve seen thus far is quite
excellent.”

“Thank you,” she says, blushing slightly.
Getting up, she adds, “I just wanted to show you what I’ve been
doing.” When she sees his nod, she returns back to her room.

James once more gazes out the window as he
lets his mind wander. He’ll be glad when the Fire is hidden, that’s
the major worry on his mind. After that, find someway to sneak into
Saragon to look for clues as to the whereabouts of a priesthood
that disappeared centuries ago. He really doubts if there is
anything left that would tell him anything, but what else does he
have to go on?
How long have I been here and I still know very
little about why I’m here?
At times he wonders if he’ll ever go
home again.

He moves through the house in the dark of
night, light from the moon overhead filters in through the windows
giving everything a surreal feel. Snores can be heard throughout
from those asleep in the various rooms. He walks softly so as not
to risk waking anyone as he makes his way to the kitchen. Moving
extra cautiously through the darkened room, he maneuvers around
obstacles by touch until his hand comes into contact with the
unmistakable shape of the door handle.

Turning the handle, he opens the door slowly
to prevent it from making any noise that might disturb those asleep
in the house. Slipping outside, he quietly closes the door behind
him. He pauses there a moment when he catches movement from the
corner of his eye. The night’s sentry is moving out in the dark,
going about his patrol. Which one of the newcomers is hard to
tell.

Whoever is walking guard duty this evening
fails to notice him as they continue on by. He holds still, barely
daring to breathe until he sees the sentry pass around the far side
of the workshop. Moving quickly, he makes his way to the barn where
he locates a shovel. Pausing a moment to make sure the guard hasn’t
returned yet, he quickly crosses over to the chicken coop.

The chickens are all roosting inside the
coop area, the outer pen is empty. Lifting the latch on the door
leading to the pen, he opens it and slips inside where he secures
the latch closed.

Moving to the center of the pen, his foot
accidentally kicks over a water trough and he can hear some of the
chickens within the coop begin to rouse from the clatter it made.
He holds still and quiet until the chickens once more settle down
and is about to start digging when he sees the guard’s silhouette
approaching.

He waits until the guard once more passes
out of sight and then places the end of the shovel to the ground.
Pressing down firmly with his foot, he digs out a chunk of dirt. He
places it next to the hole and then scoops four more times before
the guard again can be seen approaching. Remaining still, he
watches as the guard passes by no more than a dozen yards away.
After the guard again passes out of sight, he continues digging.
The pile of dirt next to the hole steadily grows as he digs deeper
until his shovel finally hits something hard.

Widening the hole a little more, he reaches
down with his hand and can feel the top of the box buried there.
Using the shovel as a pry bar, he removes the box from the ground.
It’s a small wooden box, not very big. After pausing one more time
to wait for the guard to pass by, he then fills in the hole with
the pile of dirt. He places the watering trough he had knocked over
earlier on top of the recently excavated ground to camouflage what
he’s just done. He then picks up the box.

With the box tucked under his arm, he leaves
the chicken coop and makes his way back to the side of the house
just as the guard again comes into view. Pressing himself to the
side of the house, he remains hidden in the shadows until the guard
is no longer in sight.

Moving to the edge of the house, he glances
around the corner and watches as the guard continues on his rounds.
When the guard passes around the far corner of the house, he runs
quickly over to the workshop where he opens the door and enters.
Shutting the door behind him, he glances out of the window. The
shadows cast by the moonlight are all that can be seen outside.
Sighing with relief, he moves over to the workbench where he sets
the box.

James is relieved no one saw him remove the
Fire from its hiding place. The less the others know of what he’s
doing and what he’s planning, the less they can inadvertently tell
somebody else. It still bothers him that he needs help in the
hiding of the Fire and that those that help him will know exactly
where it is. But unless he wants to be like the Pharaohs of Egypt
who had everyone killed that had a hand in the building of their
tombs and knew its secrets, he’ll just have to live with it.

Picking the iron box the blacksmith
delivered earlier off the floor, he sets it on the workbench next
to the one containing the Fire. Opening the iron box, he widens the
space in the interior cushioning with his hands to receive the
Fire. He then takes a small pry bar and removes the lid to the
wooden box containing the Fire. As the lid comes off, he can see a
barely perceptible glow coming from within. Just looking at it
makes his skin crawl. He’ll be glad when this thing is secured away
forever.

Remembering the warning the shade of the
long dead priest of Morcyth had given him, he takes two small
sticks of wood he left lying on his workbench earlier. Taking one
in each hand, he places them against the sides of the Fire and
slowly draws it out of the box. Holding firmly and carefully, he
transfers the Fire over to the iron box and settles it within the
protective covering. Once it’s in, he uses a stick to fold over the
covering until the glow can no longer be seen.

Closing the lid, he locks it with the key.
Picking up the iron box, he takes it over to the side of his
workshop and places it under a larger box to wait until morning
when he will finalize all the necessary spells before they
leave.

Going back to the window, he looks out and
waits until he sees the guard again move around the far side of the
house. He quickly leaves his workshop and runs to the kitchen door.
Slipping in quietly, he shuts the door and begins to return to his
room when he sees a shadowy form, framed in the doorway leading
further into the house.

“James?” he hears Miko’s voice asks in a
whisper.

“Yes,” replies James. “It’s me. What are you
doing up?”

“Something woke me,” he says. “It felt like
I needed to do something.”

That’s when James notices he has his sword
in his hand. “What?” he asks. “What did you need to do?”

“I don’t know anymore,” he says. “It’s
gone.”

Coming forward, James lays a hand on his
shoulder and says, “Then let’s go back to bed.”

“Alright,” agrees Miko as he turns around
and allows James to escort him back to where he sleeps.

When he’s finally back to bed, James goes
and wakes up Jiron. Not saying anything, he indicates for Jiron to
follow him back to his room.

“What’s going on?” he asks when James’
bedroom door closes behind them.

James fills him in on what he’s just done.
Of everyone there, he’s the one he trusts with this information the
most. Then he tells of finding Miko, how he was acting and what he
said. At the mention of the sword in his hand, Jiron says, “Was it
the Fire that called him?”

“I can’t think of what else it could’ve
been,” he replies. “I don’t think it would be wise to take him with
us to hide it.”

Shaking his head, Jiron says, “You may be
right. He won’t like being left behind though.”

“I know, but what else can we do?” he
states. “Also, I’d like you to keep an eye on him tonight, just in
case.”

“Alright,” agrees Jiron. “I’ll do that.”

“Good. We’re going to leave first thing in
the morning after breakfast. I still have a couple things to do in
the morning, but they shouldn’t take me too long.”

“See you then,” he says as he opens the
bedroom door and slips out.

Once the door shuts behind him, James lies
down on his bed and thinks about Miko.
It must still have some
control over him. The sooner I get rid of it the better.