are all going in the opposite direction, they are the only ones foolish enough to be going south. James and Miko have little trouble making their way through the people, most move aside when they see them coming.
Once the sun is close to the horizon they stop and make camp near the water’s edge amidst a group of trees. James takes a long stick found near a tree and wades out into the lake and returns with a fish for dinner.
Both are ravenous as they haven’t had anything to eat since the rabbit the night before. Once the fire is going well and the fish is cooking over the flames, they sit back and in the fading light watch the people on the road as they pass by. A few glance in their direction but none approach.
After they eat, James has Miko take first watch tonight. When asked why he replies, “Maybe you’ll stay awake better if you take first watch.”
Miko sits with his back against a tree and sets his mind to not falling asleep again this night.
Seeing that Miko understands he continues, “Wake me around midnight, sooner if you think someone is approaching.”
Nodding his head, Miko says, “You can count on me.”
“I hope so,” James says. “Don’t let me down.”
“I won’t,” he replies. “You just get some sleep. I’ll stay alert and keep the fire going.”
Lying down, James contemplates again the wisdom of going to a city that will most likely be under siege shortly. He feels that this is something he must do, though it scares him to death. Get in, get out, he tells himself as he drifts off to sleep.
“ James! Wake up!”
Startled out of sleep, he bolts upright and quickly looks around the campsite. Miko is sitting by the tree where two men are holding him, one with a knife to his throat. A third man is coming toward him, a longsword in hand.
“Stay right there,” the man approaching him says, “and your friend won’t get hurt.”
James sits still and the man slows his pace once he sees that he is cooperating.
“Lim, get the horse,” he says to one of the two men holding Miko, while still continuing to approach James.
Lim releases Miko and walks over to the horse. The other man remains with Miko, his knife held to the boy’s throat.
The man with the longsword comes toward James and raises the point of his sword to rest against James’ chest. He then says, “Give me all your gold.”
James removes his coin pouch and hands it over to the man who opens it and looks inside. Smiling at the coins and gems he sees in there, he says over to his partners in glee, “Looks like we hit the jackpot this time!”
They both grin and laugh at their good fortune.
James begins to concentrate and forms a spell, then releases the magic. From the direction of the lake behind him, a squishing sound begins to be heard as if someone was walking in boots full of water. From out of the darkness lurches a slow moving glistening, shimmering form roughly man shaped.
The man guarding Miko sees it first and lets out with a cry of fear.
The man with the longsword looks up from examining the contents of the pouch and sees it approaching. Letting out a startled cry he backs away as it approaches, not realizing that he has just removed the sword from in front of James’ chest.
James waits until the man has backed up several feet then quickly bends over and picks up a stone. In one fluid motion he arcs his arm back and then throws it at the one guarding Miko. Distracted by the sight of the water creature the man fails to see it coming and the stone pierces his chest. The light in his eyes quickly vanishes as he slumps to the ground dead.
Rolling away from the man with the longsword, James puts distance between them, all the while maintaining his concentration on the creature. It continues its advance, steadily closing the gap.
Eyes wide in fear, the man raises his sword and strikes at the creature but it has little effect. The sword simply passes right through the water.
Seeing one of his partners lying dead on the ground and another battling a creature that is unaffected by the sword, Lim screams in terror and races off into the night, leaving his partner to his fate.
The man turns to run just as the water creature lurches forward and touches him on the arm. Unable to break the contact, the man watches in horror as the water from the creature begins to spread along his skin, moving to envelope his entire body in a thin layer of water.
Miko stares in awe as the man becomes completely cocooned by the creature. Gasping for air, the man’s mouth opens in a vain attempt to breathe. Water from the creature instead flows into his lungs and he starts to spasm as he chokes. Finally his eyes roll up in his head and collapses to the ground.
When he hits the ground, the water from the creature loses its integrity and splashes off him, running along the ground.
Gasping from the exertion of having maintained such a spell, James almost passes out but somehow retains consciousness.
Miko comes over and closely examines the man killed by the water creature. He turns to James and exclaims, “He’s dead!”
Nodding, James sits there and tries to keep the world from spinning.
Miko takes back James’ pouch from the man’s hand and brings it over to him. “The other one fled into the night,” he tells him.
“That’s okay,” says James. “I doubt if he’ll be back anytime soon.”
“What was that thing?” he asks.
“I suppose you could call it a cross between a water elemental and the blob,” James replies. “It’s something I cooked up a while back for a game a friend and I used to play. It was almost more than I could control though, it kept trying to lose cohesion and break apart.”
“Whatever it was, it sure was impressive,” Miko says. He starts to chuckle, “It sure scared the hell out of them.”
James smiles back, “That was the idea.” He lies back and can feel himself beginning to slip back into sleep. “Miko, you’re going to have to keep watch till morning,” he tells him, yawning. “I’m not going to be able to stay awake.”
“That’s okay, James,” he says. “You go ahead and rest, I doubt if I could sleep now anyway.”
James closes his eyes and quickly falls asleep.
Miko drags the dead men out of camp but not before going through their pouches and removing anything of value. Once the camp is clear of dead bodies, he begins walking around and manages to stay awake until morning.
Chapter Twenty Four
The following morning, James wakes with a terrific headache and a mouth as dry as a desert. He discovers Miko still to be awake and had remained so throughout the night.
Upon seeing James rise, Miko brings the water bottle over with some berries gathered earlier that morning from nearby bushes. “Feeling okay?” he asks his friend, concerned.
“No, but I’ll survive.” Giving him a reassuring grin, he assures Miko that he’ll be fine and takes the water bottle, draining most of it. Then he pops the berries in his mouth one at a time while gazing out over the water. Soon his headache has been reduced to a manageable throb.
Miko has the horse ready for travel by the time James finishes the meal and feels ready for travel. He extends his hand and aids James in getting to his feet and then onto the horse. He swings up behind him and rests his head against his friend’s back. Though exhausted from having stood watch the entire night, he feels good about not letting his friend down again.
It’s not long after they return to the road and head for the City of Light when James feels Miko slump against him and begin to snore. He does his best to make him comfortable and to ensure he doesn’t fall from the horse.
