Chuckling, he nods and says, “Very.”
“Where are all these people coming from?” groans James.
“Who knows?” replies Jiron. “They sure are an irritant though.”
“Tell me about it,” he says. Then to Uther he adds, “Be back in awhile.”
Uther gives them a nod as they leave the lane and turn onto the road heading to town.
On the outskirts of Trendle, they find a group of men standing and talking to one another against the outer wall of the last building. As he draws closer he sees it’s the mayor and a few members of the town council along with several other men from town. Corbin is among them.
“James!” Corbin says as he approaches.
“What are you all doing here?” he asks as he pulls to a stop. Then he asks jokingly, “Are you hiding?”
The mayor’s face flushes a little bit red and Corbin says, “In a way.”
Then it hits him. The mayor is meeting with his old drinking buddies his wife doesn’t want him to associate with. Feels he’s above that now. “I understand,” he says not pursuing the matter. “Do you know if Ceryn’s around anywhere?”
“I think he left for a couple days,” the mayor replies. “Seems there have been some problems on the road to the east.”
“Nothing serious I hope,” James says, concerned.
“We may have another band of robbers out that way,” Corbin explains. “One man said a band of six men waylaid him and took all his coins. Ceryn’s gone to investigate and isn’t expected to return for a couple days. Did you need him for something?”
“Just wanted to ask him if he knew of a place called Ironhold,” he says. “Have any of you heard of it?”
The blank expressions they give him tell him they haven’t. “You might try Kraegan,” suggests the mayor. “If it has something to do with iron, being the blacksmith he may know.”
“Thanks,” he says. “I hadn’t thought of that.” To all of them he adds, “Good day to you.”
“Take care James,” Corbin says.
He and Jiron then turn their horses and head into town to see Kraegan. “What will you do if he hasn’t heard of it?” Jiron asks as they make their way through town.
“Wait for Ceryn’s return I guess,” he says.
The sound of hammer on metal reaches them long before the sight of Kraegan’s shop appears down the street ahead of them. James has them stop in front and goes to the back while Jiron waits with the horses. He finds the blacksmith instructing an apprentice on the proper way to repair a plowshare.
Not wishing to intrude, he stands to the side and waits. Kraegan takes notice of him and gives him a nod but continues working with the apprentice. After two minutes and several rounds of hammering, he gives his apprentice a few more instructions before leaving him to finish.
Walking across the forge area to where James waits, he says, “Need another box made?” Grinning, he comes to a stop.
“Not this time,” replies James. “Rather I am looking for information.”
“What place?” asks Kraegan.
“Ironhold,” he says. “Ever heard of it?”
“Ironhold huh?” he asks, eyeing James oddly. “Why would you be interested in that place?”
“You’ve heard of it then?” he asks excitedly.
“Sure,” he says. “Never been to it, but my master when I was an apprentice talked of it once in awhile. It’s to the north, I think on the other side of the Silver Mountains though I’m not exactly sure.”
“What is it?” he asks.
“Ironhold is an old town that once had several iron mines,” he explains. “It used to be a large supplier of iron but that was centuries ago. I think the mines finally played out and the place was abandoned.”
“Abandoned?” questions Jiron.
“That’s right,” replies Kraegan. “My master said that over the years people tried to get the mines restarted but nothing ever came of it.”
“Thanks,” James tells him.
“Any time,” he assures him. “Is there anything else?”
Shaking his head, James says, “No. I appreciate the help.”
Giving him a nod, Kraegan returns to his apprentice and the plowshare.
James returns to Jiron and the horses and fills him in on what he learned.
“What do you think?” Jiron asks as they mount their horses.
“Seems reasonable,” he says. “If the mines were played out as he says, then it might be likely that the priests of Morcyth went there.”
“Do you mean to go there?” Jiron asks.
Nodding his head, he says, “Absolutely.” He turns to look at his friend and says, “It’s all I have to go on.”
“Going to leave tomorrow?” he asks.
“May as well. No reason in putting it off,” he says. “If winter’s on the way, we want to get this done and return before it hits.”
“You have a point,” states Jiron.
As they leave the blacksmith’s shop, James notices a woman walking with a grim expression down the opposite side of the street. She stops at the various windows and doors, peers inside for a moment and then continues down to the next.
“That’s the mayor’s wife,” Jiron says amused.
“Glad I’m not married to something like that,” James says.
“She’s nice enough though,” Jiron states.
Nodding, James watches her as she steps in through a door and then returns to the street a moment later. They continue through town, eventually leaving her behind. When they get to the edge of town where they last saw the mayor and his buddies, James glances over and finds them still there.
“Ahem,” clearing his throat loudly, he gets their attention. He then jerks his thumb back behind them as he continues riding.
One of the men looks around the building and sees the mayor’s wife coming down the street. “It’s your wife John!” he exclaims.
“Thanks James!” the mayor hollers as he and the others move quickly around the other side of the building to avoid being found.
“I suppose it keeps his life from getting dull,” Jiron says with a grin.
Laughing, James replies, “I guess so.” Glancing back, he sees her get to the edge of town and stop after passing by the last building. With hands on her hips, she looks both ways and then turns around as she begins combing the other side on her way back.
Ahead of them playing among some trees near the side of the road are five young children, three boys and two girls. When they see him coming, they group together and stare at him approaching. Several of them whisper among themselves and finally one of the younger boys is pushed forward. Glancing back to his friends nervously, James sees the others prompting him to come forward.
Turning back to the road and James, the boy steps forward nervously. As James comes to him, he asks, “Are you the mage what lives outside of town?”
Nodding, James slows down and comes to a halt. “Yes I am,” he tells the boy. He can see he’s nervous so gives him a reassuring grin.
Glancing back to the others, the boy sees them nodding at him encouragingly and then turns back to James. Shuffling his feet back and forth, he asks, “Could you do some magic for us?”
James glances to Jiron and then looks around to see who else may be watching. Not seeing anyone, he turns back to the boy and nods. He holds out his hand palm up. The other kids edge closer when it looks like he may be doing something. Suddenly, his orb appears and the little boy says, “Oooohhhhhh!”
He throws it up into the air and it splits into three. The three orbs hang there suspended for a moment as the other kids approach. Slowly at first, the three orbs begin circling above the heads of the children. Gradually picking up speed, the swirling orbs begin looking like a circle of light above them.
