They start to flank out, and begin encircling them.
Not waiting any longer, James lets loose with a stone, propels it with the force of his spell and strikes the approaching soldier square in the chest, blasting out the back.
As his man falls to the ground, the Commander shouts out a command and his men, as one, draw their swords. The whisking of them all coming out at the same time makes an eerie sound.
James throws a second stone and takes out another of the advancing men. The four remaining soldiers fan out quickly, coming at them from different directions. Suddenly, he feels the prickling sensation that tells him magic is being worked just before he hears a shout from the Commander. Turning in his direction, he sees a green blob arcing through the air toward him.
Thinking fast, he creates a shield surrounding himself just before the green blob hits. It begins to spread, covering the shield in a green, sticky substance. Through the green goo, he sees Tinok being hard pressed by the man he’s fighting, with the others coming fast. His opponent is very skilled with the blade and there’s three more coming to join him.
James changes the nature of the shield and it bursts into flame, searing off the green goo, leaving him covered in a film of fine ash. Quickly, he tosses his last stone at one of the men advancing upon Tinok and catches him in the thigh, literally blasting off his leg at the hip. The man falls to the ground with a cry of pain.
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees that Roland has snuck around the oasis and is coming toward where Jiron sits tied to the horse. But then his attention is again turned to the Commander who’s drawing his sword and advancing upon him.
James readies another spell and a bolt of energy flies from his extended hand, striking the Commander full on the chest where it explodes in a shower of sparks. When the sparks clear, James sees him still standing there, untouched.
Grinning evilly, the Commander continues his advance upon him.
Another spell and the ground erupts under him. Still, he marches on.
James quickly glances over to where Jiron had been, but now only sees the horse with an empty saddle. Turning his attention back to the advancing Commander, he considers the situation. He must be protected in some way! James begins backing up, prolonging the inevitable contact, trying to come up with some sort of solution to the problem.
Catching a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, he sees Jiron coming to Tinok’s aid as he joins the fight.
If I can’t use magic on him directly…
Concentrating once more, he brings his hands together and then as he lets loose the power, he spreads them apart.
With a crack, the ground under the Commander opens wide. Losing his balance, he falls into the gaping hole. Once he’s fallen below the top of the hole, James again unleashes the power and with a clap, brings his hands back together again. The sides of the hole containing the Commander smash together, closing with finality.
He looks around quickly and sees Roland, Tinok and Jiron coming over to him, the remaining soldiers lying dead on the ground.
Jiron is covered in bruises and his clothes are stained with blood, but otherwise in high spirits. “Thanks,” he says when he approaches James.
“You’re welcome,” he replies. “Glad to see you’re alive.”
“So am I,” Jiron replies. “I didn’t ever expect to see you two again.”
“We were beginning to get worried about you,” Tinok chides him. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you when we catch up with the others,” he says. They each grab one of the soldier’s horses and mount. Riding quickly, they catch up with the girls in no time at all.
The girls stop the wagons when they see them coming. Once her wagon has come to a stop, Delia gets down and rushes over to Jiron, giving him a big hug when he dismounts from his horse.
Returning the hug, he asks her, “Miss me?”
With tears of relief running down her face, Delia replies, “A little.” And then she smiles.
Cassie runs and gives Tinok a warm hug and kiss as well. He kisses her repeatedly until Jiron finally has to break them up. A little red faced, they realize what they were doing.
“Now,” Tinok says, “what happened?”
“Well…” he begins as he relates to them all that had happened, up to the point where he ran out of the burning house and was captured. “When they took me back to the jail, the Commander had someone begin interrogating me.”
“How?” Cassie asks, wide eyed.
“The usual, I’m sure,” he replies. “Anyway, this messenger comes in and gives him a letter. When he’s done reading it, he barks out some orders and before I knew it, I was being tied on a horse and we all began riding hard to the south. We eventually stopped here, fortunately for me, and the rest you know.”
“What were they asking you?” James inquires.
“Mainly, they wanted to know what happened to the men that were garrisoned at Mountainside,” he explains. “Since I was hiding there and had killed a couple soldiers, they felt I obviously knew something.”
“Of course you did,” interjects Tinok.
“Of course,” agrees Jiron. “But they didn’t realize that.”
“What about the backpack?” James asks.
“I left it in the building that was on fire,” he says. “I saw it catch fire myself so there should be no more worries from that.”
“Thanks,” James says. “I’m sorry you got hurt, though.”
Looking at James tiredly, Jiron says, “So am I.” He then turns his attention to Roland and says, “Just who are you and why did you untie me? Not that I’m complaining or anything.”
They relate the events which led up to Roland and his family joining them. When Tinok explains the devilish monster walking out of the dried up Oasis, he breaks into a laugh, “Wish I could’ve seen that!”
Leaving Jiron with the girls and the wagons, the other three return to the oasis. There they drag the dead bodies of the soldiers out into the desert and bury them. Once they’ve hidden and removed all traces of the battle which had raged there, they return to the wagons and resume their trek to Korazan. Jiron sits in the back of the wagon with the girls and Arkie in order to rest, soon falling asleep.
Everyone becomes quiet for awhile as they let him sleep, understanding that he really needs it. For his part, James is relieved at having Jiron back. Now if we can just get Miko and Jiron’s sister!
They ride on until late in the afternoon when they begin to see the outlines of a fairly sizeable city coming up ahead. With Tinok and Roland out front, they approach the town. Off to the east they see an area where several caravans have made their camp.
“Looks to be a caravansary,” Roland says, indicating the groups of wagons.
“Should we stop there for the night?” James asks him.
“It’s what it’s there for,” he explains.
“Alright then,” agrees James. “Let’s find a spot for the night.”
As they near the caravansary, a man comes over to them and says, “Good day to you sirs.”
“You speak our language?” James replies, astonished.
“I speak many,” the man explains. “I am Ahlim, the Caravansary Master.”
“I am James,” he replies, “and we are looking for a spot to stay the night.”
“To stay here will be a silver a day,” he says.
James looks to Roland who shrugs his shoulders. Turning back to the man, he digs out a silver and hands it to him, saying, “Very well.”
Ahlim takes the coin and says, “Find any spot around here that suits you.” He then turns and hurries off toward town.
They find a suitable spot that’s not too close to any of the others and start settling in, when another man comes over. “Greetings, fellow traders.”
“Greetings,” replies James.
“Ah, I’m not one to cause trouble,” he says, “but I saw you talking to Ahlim just a moment ago?”
“Yes?” James replies, nervous.
