himself out of the crystals just as Yern enters the workshop with Fifer close behind.
“What did you need to see us about?” asks Fifer.
“I need you two to go on a trip,” he tells them. He then fills them in on just what he wants them to do and answers their questions as best he can without revealing too much to them. Once he’s sure they understand, he leads them back to the house and into his room where he opens the money chest and takes out two small bags of coins. Handing one to each, he says, “I’ll be meeting you there in less than a week so don’t take too long.”
“We won’t,” Yern assures him.
They then proceed to the stable where they saddle their horses and are soon heading down the lane to the road. Pausing only a moment to speak with Jiron, they then turn and gallop down the road toward town.
Back at the workshop, James is inspecting the box further when Illan walks in. “Saw Yern and Fifer leaving,” he says.
“I asked them to do me a favor,” he explains. “They’ll be gone for a while.”
“Might I ask where and what for?” he asks.
James nods and then fills him in on what he plans on doing. When he’s done, Illan asks, “Think it will work?”
“I hope so,” he says. “If it doesn’t, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“When do we leave?” he asks James.
“Day after tomorrow,” he replies. “There’re still a couple more things I need to do before I’m ready.” He turns back to the box and resumes his inspection.
“Very well,” says Illan and then turns to leave the workshop.
“Oh, one more thing,” James says quickly before he leaves.
“Yes?” Illan asks as he glances back from the doorway.
“Could you find someplace else to do the morning drills?” he asks. “They keep waking me up.”
Giving him a smile, he says, “Sure, no problem. Didn’t realize they were bothering you.”
“Thanks,” says James. As Illan walks out of the workshop, he thinks how glad he is to have good reliable people with him.
He leaves the workshop and enters the forest where he collects the crystals he’s had out there absorbing magic. They all look fully charged, each having a deep crimson glow. Taking them back to the workshop, he begins the final stage in preparing the box for the Fire.
There are five crystals embedded within the box. He endows three of them with the concealing spells, one which will leech magic from its surroundings, and the last one will be an extra reservoir of magic. His original idea of only having one concealing crystal had been scraped. After his experiment with the stool, he figures to need three so as not to lose too much power should it become necessary.
The way he has it set up, only one of the concealing crystals will be completely active at any given time. The other two will standby and only join the first when they detect someone searching for it. The concealing crystals will in turn continually draw their power from the reservoir crystal whose only function is to provide a single source of power for them to draw from.
The reservoir crystal will get its power from the leeching crystal which will continuously draw sufficient quantities from its surroundings to keep itself at the maximum, thereby powering all the rest as well.
James takes the crystals that have spent the last several days absorbing power and transfers their power into the leeching crystal, one at a time. As he begins the transfer of power, the crystals on the box each begin to emit a soft red glow as they slowly fill with power.
He hears a knock at his door but ignores it.
“James,” Miko’s voice is heard from the other side. “Lunch time.”
“Can’t right now,” he says. “In the middle of something serious.”
“But…” Miko begins.
“NOT NOW!!!” he shouts as his concentration begins to waver from the interruption. Miko must’ve gotten the idea for the knocking ceases and he is no longer bothered. He returns his full concentration to the matter at hand as the first of the crystals whose power is being absorbed into the box completely loses its glow.
He then directs the flow to draw the power from the next crystal with a deep crimson glow just as he hears a barely audible… Crack! The first crystal which he completely drained now has a hairline crack running through the middle of it. Interesting.
The second crystal’s glow steadily diminishes until it, too, is completely drained. Shortly after he’s started on the third one, again he hears a… Crack! Again, a hairline crack has appeared in the second drained crystal. By the time he’s done with all the crystals, three of them now have hairline cracks within them, while the fourth has completely split in two.
Thinking he’ll worry about the cracking of the crystals later, he turns his attention back to the box. The crystals embedded in the sides and top of the box all have a crimson glow, not quite as deep as it would be if they were fully charged.
Taking the box outside, he takes it into the forest and places it on the ground. Leaving it there with the leeching spell activated to continue charging the crystals, he returns to the workshop where he picks up the mirror he brought out earlier to replace the one he shattered the day before. Concentrating hard, he tries to find the box. But just like the last time with the stool, he’s unable to get a picture. He increases the magic usage and concentration, yet still the mirror remains blank.
Backing off, he finally cancels the spell and sits back. Exhausted and tired, yet feeling good about his accomplishments, he knows the box is unlikely to be found by magical means. Unless an incredible amount of magic is used, but that doesn’t seem too likely.
There’s one more thing he wants to do before they go and hide it. Getting up from his stool, he sees the moonlight coming in through the window. A lit candle sits on his workbench which had been giving him enough light to work by. Just when did I light that? Surprised at how long he must’ve been at it and how engrossed he must’ve been to not even remember lighting a candle, he leaves the workshop and goes into the house where Ezra provides him with a plate of leftovers from dinner.
He can hear the rest of them out in the front room where Tersa is favoring them with a song. Her voice is really quite good but it makes him realize how much he misses hearing Perrilin sing. Wonder what’s happening with him and if he’s gotten into any more trouble.
When he finishes eating, he moves into the front room with the others who just give him a concerned look. “I’m okay,” he assures them. “I was just in the middle of something requiring my undivided attention and time just sort of got away from me.”
“Here,” Tersa says to him. “Come sit by me.”
He takes a seat next to her as she begins another song, this one a fast paced ditty that he’s heard many times. It’s one of his favorites which is probably why she’s singing it now.
After another song and an improbable story of how Uther and Jorry had managed to be invited to attend a hunting party in search of a band of thieves which, according to them, they slew all by themselves, he excuses himself for bed. The rigors of the day have taken their toll and he’s barely able to keep his eyes open.
Lying in bed before sleep finally takes him, he thinks about the last thing he wants to accomplish before setting out the next day. A warning system to alert him should the box be disturbed.
Chapter Ten
The following morning finds James back in the workshop right after breakfast, fully rested. True to his word, Illan takes the training session to the other side of the house, as far away from his window as possible. For the first time in days, James is able to sleep himself out.
Before him on the workbench are two of the crystals from his bag. He plans to use one for his warning system and the other as a possible defensive measure against anyone other than himself touching the box.
He infuses them with the leeching spell and takes them out to the forest where he’ll leave them until tomorrow in order to have them somewhat charged before he begins infusing them with the desired spells. Spells which he still needs to figure out.
