Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (31 page)

Turning south, they gallop until the city
and army are no longer visible. They then slow a little to save the
horses and again turn more easterly.

“Think that was a force coming back from
Madoc?” asks Jiron.

“Maybe,” replies James. “Of course it could
be one coming back from a battle with the Kirken Federation as
well.”

“Either way, it would be best to avoid that
city,” suggest Jiron.

“I agree,” Miko adds.

“We better head for the mountains and try to
keep as much distance from those forces as possible,” James tells
them.

“Good idea,” says Jiron.

Moving quickly, they continue pushing for
the mountains to the east. The mountains continue getting larger on
the horizon until they reach the foothills at their base.

“Man, can we stop?” James hears Miko ask in
a tired voice from behind.

“Give us a minute or two to find a good
spot,” he tells him. “And then we’ll rest until dark.”

Miko nods tiredly as they continue further
into the hills. When they finally find a spot to make camp, he gets
off his horse and in less than a minute, has laid out his blanket
and fallen asleep.

“Never seen him that tired before,” says
James. “He didn’t even eat anything, and that’s odd.”

“We have been pushing hard with little rest
the past few days,” comments Jiron. Even he is showing signs of
fatigue.

James glances over to the sleeping Miko and
says, “Let’s split the watch and let him sleep.”

Nodding, Jiron replies, “Okay with me.”

They get the horses taken care of and then
build a small fire to roast a couple rabbits that James kills. He
is surprised when Miko doesn’t wake up to the smell of the rabbits
roasting. When they’re fully cooked and ready to eat, he goes over
and wakes him up.

“Tired?” he asks him when he gets up and
comes over to the fire.

Nodding his head, he replies, “Yeah, I feel
more tired than I ever have before.”

“We’ve been on the go for a long time, it
seems,” James tells him. “I think we’re all reaching the point of
exhaustion.”

From the other side of the fire, Jiron adds,
“You’ve been taking the mid watch as well, which really plays hell
on your sleep.”

“I suppose so,” he says. He eats the
remainder of his portion of the rabbits in silence, then promptly
returns to his blanket and in no time at all, his snores can be
heard.

“He could be getting sick,” suggests
James.

“Maybe, but he seems okay, just tired,”
replies Jiron. “I don’t feel that tired actually, why don’t I take
the first watch?” The dark circles under his eyes belies that
statement.

James is more than happy to allow him to
take first watch. Lying down away from the heat of the fire, he
pulls his blanket over him to shield him from the sun. As exhausted
as he is, it takes a while before he’s finally able to fall asleep
under the heat of the midday sun.

Several hours after James had fallen asleep,
Jiron begins to hear the sound of horses coming their way through
the hills to the east. He moves to the top of a nearby hill and
looks out at the approaching riders.

There are eleven riders, all looking like
they just came from a battle. Bandages and blood soaked clothing
can be seen on each and every one. They don’t really have the look
of the Empire’s men and he lies there upon the hill, watching them
as they move closer.

Suddenly, he gasps when he recognizes one of
them. He backs down from the hill and begins to move around it as
he makes to intercept their path. When the riders are close, he
steps out in front of them.

They come to a sudden halt and begin to draw
their weapons when Jiron looks at the one he recognizes and says
loudly, “If you ain’t the sorriest piece of meat ever to be hauled
out of the pit!”

“Jiron!” the rider cries out when he
recognizes him. “He’s a friend!” he hollers to his comrades as he
gets down from his horse and rushes over. Wrapping his arms around
him, he gives Jiron a big hug.

“Easy, Fifer,” he says, “You’ll break my
back.”

“I thought you dead!” Fifer exclaims. “How’d
you escape the City?”

“That’s a long story,” Jiron replies. He
motions over his shoulder and says, “My camp is over that way,
would you and your friends care to join us?”

“Us?” Fifer asks. “Who else is with
you?”

“No one you’d know,” he explains.

When Fifer’s comrades come over, he turns to
them and says, “This is Jiron. We fought in the pits together, the
deadliest man with two knives you’ll ever see.” Then he turns back
to Jiron and asks, “Is Tinok with you?”

“He was, but we got separated some time
ago,” Jiron tells him as he begins to lead them back to where James
and Miko are sleeping.

“At least he survived the fall of the City,”
he says. Gesturing to one of his comrades, he says, “This here is
Miller, he’s our leader.”

Jiron gives him a slight bow, “Glad to meet
you.”

“You as well, Jiron,” Miller replies. “Fifer
here has constantly told us about the pits and the fighters there.
It’ll be good to have you as one of the team.”

James is awake and looking anxiously in
their direction when they round the hill. When he sees Jiron
smiling and unconcerned, he visibly relaxes and returns the rock to
his pouch.

Miko starts awake, at first disoriented but
then comes to his senses. When he sees the band of men coming
toward them he at first fears attack, but then like James, relaxes
when he sees Jiron’s calm demeanor.

“James, Miko,” says Jiron as they reach the
camp. “This here is Fifer, a friend from the pits.” He claps him on
the back and then indicating the leader of the group, saying, “And
this is Miller, the leader of this band.”

“Greetings,” James says. Miko remains quiet,
unsure how to take all this. “Just what brings you all this way
into the Empire?”

“We’re on the trail of a force traveling
south,” Miller says. “You wouldn’t have seen them, have you?”

“As a matter of fact we did, earlier today,”
replies James. “There’s a town to the east a few hours away, I
believe they were heading toward it.”

Miller and Fifer exchange glances that tell
James this news was not what they had hoped to hear.

Turning to Jiron, Miller asks, “Now that you
know our business, would you mind telling us yours?”

“We rescued James’ friend Miko here from
slavers,” Jiron explains. “Now we’re just trying to get out of the
Empire.”

“Why are you pursuing that army?” James
asks.

Fifer looks to Miller who nods his head.
Fifer turns back to them and says, “Several days ago, there was a
major battle between the forces of the Empire and those made up of
Madoc’s forces as well as allies who’d come to help.”

“Our general, Lord Pytherian, was captured
when the Empire made a bold attack on our flanks. A force of
cavalry had cut their way through the lines and before anyone could
stop them, had broken through to the command area and taken the
general.”

“And you’re trying to rescue him?” James
asks.

Nodding, Fifer says, “We must. The alliance
is beginning to fall apart without him. Most only joined because he
was in command. Without him, the opposition to the Empire in this
area will simply disappear.”

“It’s worse than that,” interjects Miller.
“Suspicion has been growing that one faction or another had a hand
in his capture. If he’s not returned, there may be conflict between
the different members of the Alliance as they begin accusing each
other of the deed.”

“Join us!” exclaims Fifer. “We must get him
back or the Empire will expand unchecked until all of Madoc lies
under its thumb!”

“What do you plan to do?” James asks.

“Now that we know where he’s been taken,”
Miller explains, “we’ll go to this city and find a way to get him
out.”

“Give us a moment,” James says as he nods to
Jiron and Miko. Moving away from the others, they talk quietly
among themselves.

“We should help them,” Jiron says. “If
things are as they say, we have no choice.”

“But we don’t know that it is,” James
replies. “We just have their word.”

“Fifer wouldn’t lie to me,” Jiron asserts.
“We’ve known each other too long.”

“Okay, let’s say what they say is true,”
James begins. “Dare we risk what we carry to help?” He points to
the pouch at Miko’s waist wherein the Fire lies.

“I know,” says Jiron.

“What do you think Miko?” James asks.

Surprised at being asked, Miko says, “I say
we risk it. The Empire is a blight upon this world that must be
hindered in any way.” He says it with such conviction that James is
taken aback by it.

Glancing from one to the other, he comes to
his decision. “Alright, we’ll help,” James tells them. “But we
stick together, agreed?”

Miko nods his head and Jiron says,
“Agreed!”

Going back over, they tell them that they’ll
help them regain Lord Pytherian.

“Great!” Miller says. “Now, show us where
this city lies.”

Suddenly, James realizes that they’ve only
gotten a couple hours of sleep and that Jiron has had none. “We
should wait until nightfall,” he says. “We are on the point of
exhaustion and need to rest before embarking on this venture.”

“Lord Pytherian may not have that much
time!” Miller exclaims. “We go now!”

“Then go!” James exclaims with impatience.
“You scout around and we’ll show up later, after sunset.”

“That is unacceptable!” blusters Miller.
“When you agreed to join my band, you agreed to follow my orders. I
say we go now!”

James gets in his face and shouts, “We did
NOT agree to join your band, and we certainly are NOT under your
orders! If you want our help, you will have to wait until this
evening, I’ll not jeopardize our lives because of your impatience!”
Standing there eye to eye with him, James can see his face
beginning to turn red, obviously he’s not used to having his orders
challenged.

James turns his back on him and walks
away.

Shhhhht!

He hears Miller’s sword leaving its sheath.
Turning around, he sees Jiron has already moved to position himself
between Miller and James. The others of Miller’s band draw their
weapons as well just as Fifer steps between them.

“Enough!” he cries out. Looking to Miller,
he says, “These are allies! And friends! They’ve agreed to help,
but even I can tell they’re dead on their feet. As they are now,
they’d be little help in rescuing Lord Pytherian.” He looks Miller
in the eye as he says in a calmer voice, “They need to rest. We can
scout the city and allow them that time. When they’re able to help
us, we’ll know better what to do.”

Getting his anger under control, Miller
returns his sword to his sheath. A second later the rest of his
band follows suit. “Very well,” he says as he turns his attention
to Jiron. “We’ll meet you to the east of the city after
sunset.”

“Agreed,” Jiron says.

Miller and his band mount their horses again
and then head west toward the city. Fifer gives Jiron a shrug and a
slight smile as he follows his leader.

“How did he ever get in charge of a band of
men,” James says.

“Probably knows someone,” replies Jiron.

“You get some rest,” he tells Jiron. “I’ll
take the rest of the watch.”

Yawning, Jiron replies, “Sounds good.” He
spreads out his blanket and lies down under the afternoon sun. Both
he and Miko slip into sleep in very short order.

As he sits there waiting for night to come,
he shakes his head.
Another city, more danger. Will it never
end?

He took an instant dislike to Miller. Fifer
wasn’t so bad, but that Miller, he could definitely do without.

Shortly after the sun sets, James gets
everyone up. After a quick meal, they get mounted and then make for
the rendezvous with Miller. It takes them a couple hours before the
lights from the city appear on the horizon.

They keep to the east of the city as they
hunt for Miller’s band, which is quite difficult in the dark of
night. The moon hasn’t risen yet, so the only light they have is
that of the stars. Off further to the east of the city, they see a
small fire burning and Jiron leaves them behind while he goes to
investigate.

He doesn’t get too far before they see the
fire being kicked out and extinguished. As he returns with Miller’s
band, James can hear Miller saying, “…long enough. What kept
you?”

“We slept till dark and then it took us a
couple hours to get here,” Jiron replies. “Relax, we’re here aren’t
we?”

“What did you discover?” James asks Miller
when they reach him.

“There are two main gates, one to the north
and one to the south,” he explains. “There are also smaller,
auxiliary gates to the east and west. Those may afford us our best
chance for entering the city.”

“Do they close them at night?” asks
Jiron.

“They closed all but the south gate once the
sun went down,” he says. “There’s a contingent of guards there
watching all who enter.”

“Perhaps someone could sneak in through the
south gate and then go over to the east gate and open it?” suggest
James.

“With those guards there?” Miller asks.

“Sure,” Jiron replies. “Just appear like you
belong and they’ll most likely not say anything to you.” He glances
to James and gives him a grin, “We’ve done it before.”

“True,” James replies, “we have.”

“Okay then,” Miller says. “You go in and
open the east gate and let us in.”

Jiron looks to James who nods agreement.
“Give us an hour once we’re inside,” he tells Miller.

Miller nods his head, “Alright.”

James, Jiron and Miko turn their horses
toward the south gate, leaving Miller and his band behind them.
Once they’ve put some distance between them, Jiron says, “Glad
they’re not coming with us.”