They look at each other and she asks, “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” he replies, “but I think we need to be moving.”
Waking everyone quickly, they set a new record in getting the caravan ready and moving down the road. With uneasy eyes on the fogbank, they make haste down the road. For the first couple miles the fog stays fairly close but then begins to recede again until it is once again several miles off in the distance. By the end of the day, they’re unable to see it any more, much to the relief of everyone.
Next morning, James looks to the east and is happy to still see no trace of the fog at all. After rolling down the road for two hours, they come to another town. A large congregation of people can be seen out in front of a two story building set a little ways into town.
As they come closer, they notice that the people are upset about something and are talking agitatedly among themselves. “Go see what’s going on,” James says to Roland.
Roland gives him a nod, climbs down off the wagon, and then walks over to the crowd of people. The others wait for him on the road.
James sees him moving through the crowd, talking to several different people until he finally begins to make his way back. “Well?” he asks as Roland returns.
“You’re not going to believe this,” he says. “Last night the garrison Sub-Commander was murdered.”
“So?” Jiron asks.
“He was murdered by a northerner,” he says, “and there were witnesses. Also, drawn in blood on his forehead, was a heart with two dots.” He turns to Jiron and says, “Sound familiar?”
“Cassie’s necklace?” Jiron replies. “It was a heart with two stones.”
“You mean Tinok did this?” Delia asks, not really believing it.
He turns to her, “It would appear so, but we have no real evidence, though the description of the murderer matches him fairly good.”
“What is he doing?” Jiron wonders, angry. “That fool’s going to get himself killed.” He turns to James, “He’s close, maybe we could find him and help him?”
“Let’s get a ways out of town and then I’ll look and see what I can discover,” he tells him.
Jiron nods his head and they follow the road as it passes through town. Once the town has disappeared behind them, they pull off the road and James takes out his mirror to attempt to locate him.
Settling down on the ground, he gazes into the mirror, concentrating on Tinok and then lets the magic flow. Tinok begins to appear in the mirror, he’s riding his horse fast across the desert.
“Where is he?” Jiron asks.
“I don’t know,” James says, “somewhere to the east, I think. The sun is too high for me to be able to tell for sure by the shadows.”
“How far away is he?” demands Jiron.
“I can’t tell that,” explains James.
“Damn him!” Jiron curses in frustration. He turns and stares out into the desert to the east, hoping beyond hope to be able to see him. “So close!”
Delia comes to him and says, “But he doesn’t want us to find him.”
“Why do you say that?” he shouts at her in anger. “Why wouldn’t he want to be with his friends?”
“I don’t know,” she replies, gently. “But if he did, he would be here.”
“He knows where we’re going,” Yorn tells him. “He can find us if he wants to.”
Potbelly comes over and says, “Sometimes, a man’s just got to work things out on his own. And a hurt like he’s had could take a long time, if ever.”
Jiron continues gazing out to the desert and then his head droops as he turns to walk back to his horse. “Let’s go,” he says to them despondently.
Chapter Eighteen
That evening when they stop for the night, James takes the watch in the middle of the night. He likes that one cause it’s quiet and peaceful, giving him time to think about things. When he’s on watch, he usually goes over the magic he’s done and tries to figure out how to make it better, such as the bubble seeker spell he used in locating Jiron the other night.
This evening, he’s trying to come up with spells that will be effective against another mage. His last two trials hadn’t gone all that well, the first one at the City of Light almost killed him and ended up devastating a wide area. He needs to devise spells that will be effective against a mage, yet not destroy everything in the surrounding area. He might be in a town with innocent people the next time.
Maybe a series of spells, small spells that build on each other to breach the mage’s defenses. Two things that all mages need to do magic are concentration and power. You disturb either one of those and his ability to do magic disappears.
A good mage’s concentration will not be disrupted easily, something profound or totally unexpected would be needed. James considers different methods that might work as he walks around the campsite, trying to stay awake until Stig’s turn at watch.
On his fourth trip around the camp, from off in the distance he begins to see two white lights coming toward him. As they get closer, a roar begins to be heard as well. He’s about to wake everyone when he comes to the shocked realization of just what is approaching him.
He stands there with mouth slightly ajar in shock, as a beat up Ford pickup comes rolling into camp and pulls up with the passenger side next to him. James stands there expectantly, but at first nothing happens. Then he sees the driver lean over to his side and opens the door. Looking in, he sees the little creature with the felt hat sitting behind the steering wheel.
“Get in,” he says, motioning for James to enter the cab.
He looks around at his sleeping friends and says, “I can’t just leave them, I’m on watch.”
“They’ll be fine,” he tells James.
“Are you sure?”
Giving James a look of annoyance, he says again, “Get in.”
James climbs into the cab and shuts the door. With a roar, the little creature hits the gas and they drive away into the dark. He sits there as the truck rolls on, the creature turns the radio on and a George Strait song comes on. “Where are we going?” he asks.
“Going for pizza,” the creature tells him.
“Pizza?” he asks. “There’s pizza here?”
“Just have to know where to look,” the creature smiles as he continues down the road.
Road? James looks and suddenly realizes that they’re on a blacktop highway. Up ahead he sees the lights of civilization approaching. There’re not many buildings, the one closest to them has a sign out front that says ‘Mama’s Pizza.’
The creature pulls the truck into a parking spot outside Mama’s Pizza and parks it. Shutting the engine off, he gets out. Before he closes the door, he looks back at James who’s remained in the cab and asks, “Coming?”
“Yeah,” James says, as he gets out of the truck. Theirs is the only vehicle in the parking lot out front of Mama’s. The place looks a little rundown, similar to what his grandfather would’ve called a greasy spoon. He joins the little creature where he’s waiting at the door and they enter together.
The little creature opens the door and allows James to enter first. Once inside, he points over to a fat, dark haired woman behind the counter and says, “That’s Mama.”
She looks over to them as they enter and gives them a big smile, “It’ll be ready in a few minutes,” she says. He gives her a nod and then leads James over to a table where they sit down.
An old tv is mounted to the wall over by mama who’s watching it with rapt attention. James is surprised to see she’s watching an old episode of Star Trek.
“She’s a Trekkie,” he tells him. “You should see her collection in the back room.”
James turns back to him and asks, “So why are we here?”
“For pizza, like I said,” the little guy replies. “I wanted some and I hate eating alone. It’s better with
