Pressing down firmly with his foot, he digs out a chunk of dirt. He places it next to the hole and then scoops four more times before the guard again can be seen approaching. Remaining still, he watches as the guard passes by no more than a dozen yards away. After the guard again passes out of sight, he continues digging. The pile of dirt next to the hole steadily grows as he digs deeper until his shovel finally hits something hard.
Widening the hole a little more, he reaches down with his hand and can feel the top of the box buried there. Using the shovel as a pry bar, he removes the box from the ground. It’s a small wooden box, not very big. After pausing one more time to wait for the guard to pass by, he then fills in the hole with the pile of dirt. He places the watering trough he had knocked over earlier on top of the recently excavated ground to camouflage what he’s just done. He then picks up the box.
With the box tucked under his arm, he leaves the chicken coop and makes his way back to the side of the house just as the guard again comes into view. Pressing himself to the side of the house, he remains hidden in the shadows until the guard is no longer in sight.
Moving to the edge of the house, he glances around the corner and watches as the guard continues on his rounds. When the guard passes around the far corner of the house, he runs quickly over to the workshop where he opens the door and enters. Shutting the door behind him, he glances out of the window. The shadows cast by the moonlight are all that can be seen outside. Sighing with relief, he moves over to the workbench where he sets the box.
James is relieved no one saw him remove the Fire from its hiding place. The less the others know of what he’s doing and what he’s planning, the less they can inadvertently tell somebody else. It still bothers him that he needs help in the hiding of the Fire and that those that help him will know exactly where it is. But unless he wants to be like the Pharaohs of Egypt who had everyone killed that had a hand in the building of their tombs and knew its secrets, he’ll just have to live with it.
Picking the iron box the blacksmith delivered earlier off the floor, he sets it on the workbench next to the one containing the Fire. Opening the iron box, he widens the space in the interior cushioning with his hands to receive the Fire. He then takes a small pry bar and removes the lid to the wooden box containing the Fire. As the lid comes off, he can see a barely perceptible glow coming from within. Just looking at it makes his skin crawl. He’ll be glad when this thing is secured away forever.
Remembering the warning the shade of the long dead priest of Morcyth had given him, he takes two small sticks of wood he left lying on his workbench earlier. Taking one in each hand, he places them against the sides of the Fire and slowly draws it out of the box. Holding firmly and carefully, he transfers the Fire over to the iron box and settles it within the protective covering. Once it’s in, he uses a stick to fold over the covering until the glow can no longer be seen.
Closing the lid, he locks it with the key. Picking up the iron box, he takes it over to the side of his workshop and places it under a larger box to wait until morning when he will finalize all the necessary spells before they leave.
Going back to the window, he looks out and waits until he sees the guard again move around the far side of the house. He quickly leaves his workshop and runs to the kitchen door. Slipping in quietly, he shuts the door and begins to return to his room when he sees a shadowy form, framed in the doorway leading further into the house.
“James?” he hears Miko’s voice asks in a whisper.
“Yes,” replies James. “It’s me. What are you doing up?”
“Something woke me,” he says. “It felt like I needed to do something.”
That’s when James notices he has his sword in his hand. “What?” he asks. “What did you need to do?”
“I don’t know anymore,” he says. “It’s gone.”
Coming forward, James lays a hand on his shoulder and says, “Then let’s go back to bed.”
“Alright,” agrees Miko as he turns around and allows James to escort him back to where he sleeps.
When he’s finally back to bed, James goes and wakes up Jiron. Not saying anything, he indicates for Jiron to follow him back to his room.
“What’s going on?” he asks when James’ bedroom door closes behind them.
James fills him in on what he’s just done. Of everyone there, he’s the one he trusts with this information the most. Then he tells of finding Miko, how he was acting and what he said. At the mention of the sword in his hand, Jiron says, “Was it the Fire that called him?”
“I can’t think of what else it could’ve been,” he replies. “I don’t think it would be wise to take him with us to hide it.”
Shaking his head, Jiron says, “You may be right. He won’t like being left behind though.”
“I know, but what else can we do?” he states. “Also, I’d like you to keep an eye on him tonight, just in case.”
“Alright,” agrees Jiron. “I’ll do that.”
“Good. We’re going to leave first thing in the morning after breakfast. I still have a couple things to do in the morning, but they shouldn’t take me too long.”
“See you then,” he says as he opens the bedroom door and slips out.
Once the door shuts behind him, James lies down on his bed and thinks about Miko. It must still have some control over him. The sooner I get rid of it the better.
When the sky first begins lightning with the coming of the day, James gets up and finds Jiron still sitting up in the front room looking tired. “Anything?” he asks.
Shaking his head, he says, “He stayed asleep the whole night. He’s still in his bed now.”
“Good,” replies James. “Get some sleep if you can. I’m going to finish what I need to do before breakfast.”
As Jiron goes back to where his pallet lies, James enters the kitchen and finds Ezra already there beginning to prepare breakfast for everyone. Arkie lies asleep on a blanket in the corner. “Good morning,” he says as he passes through to the door.
“Good morning,” she replies.
Leaving the kitchen through the back door, he makes his way out to the woods to collect the two crystals that have been charging the last two days. Over by the barn he sees Illan putting the new recruits through their morning drills. James has heard rumors they’re glad Illan is going to be leaving for awhile and that their morning drills will be put on hold.
The crystals are still exactly where he left them, each having a fair sized glow within them. Not exactly maxed out, but still not too bad. Taking them back to his workshop, he begins the final stages of transferring power and setting up the spells.
Taking one of the crystals, he transfers the stored power it has to the defensive crystal. The spells contained within the defensive crystal he leaves inactive. He doesn’t plan to activate them until the box lies in its final resting place. The other crystal he infuses with the spells which will light up the receiver crystal which will remain here in his workshop.
Taking the receiver crystal down, he sets the spell of the transmitting crystal to seek out this particular one and send almost all of its stored energy to it. This in turn will cause it to light, warning James that something is not right with the Fire.
When all the spells for all the crystals are just the way he wants them, he replaces the receiver crystal back on his shelf. The transmitting and receiver crystals go into his pouch and he picks up the iron box, carrying it back to the house. He takes it into his room where he sets it on the floor by the end of his bed.
A noise causes him to turn around and he sees Miko standing there. “Everything ready?” he asks James.
“Yes,” he replies as he searches for any sign that the Fire is effecting him. When he doesn’t discern any oddities about his behavior or facial expression, he says, “Sit down for a moment.” Miko moves into the room and sits on the bed next to him. “I need you to stay here while I go do this.”
“Why?” he asks, hurt already beginning to show on his face. James sometimes forgets that inside this ‘man’ is actually a young boy. Who, though he has the outward characteristics of a man, still hasn’t matured within yet.
“I feel you shouldn’t be anywhere near this,” he says, indicating the iron box, “than you have to.”
His eyes flick toward the box where they pause a moment before returning to James. He can see warring emotions going on within him until finally he says, “I understand.”
