bad and they left. Other times ore carts are found broken apart, things come up missing. I even heard one time several miners disappeared for several days only to be found wandering around in the forest days later.”
“The whole place is cursed,” he warns. “You might wish to reconsider going there.”
James sits there a moment as he digests what he just heard. Then he says, “Nevertheless, I have to go.”
Getting to his feet, the senior Renlon says, “Then be careful.”
“I will,” replies James as he, too, gets to his feet. “I appreciate the warning.”
The door opens and Jiron’s head pops in. “James, we’ve got to go.”
“Be right there,” he says. Turning back he holds his hand out as he says, “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Renlon says, shaking his hand.
Moving quickly to the door, he joins Jiron outside and they mount. He turns to the sound of the door opening and waves to the senior Renlon standing there as Jiron kicks the horse into motion and they bolt away into the night.
As soon as they leave Renlon’s Iron, they turn and ride around the edge of town until they meet up with the others on the eastern side. “Any trouble?” asks Fifer.
Shaking his head, James replies, “No.” He dismounts from behind Jiron and moves over to mount his own steed.
“Did you find out what you wanted to know?” Dave asks.
“Yes I did,” he says. “If we follow the north road out of town, we’ll come right to it.”
“Excellent,” Uther states. “How far is it?”
James’ enthusiasm dampens somewhat when he replies, “I forgot to ask.”
“No matter,” interjects Jiron. “We know where it lies.”
They get their horses in motion and circumvent the town until they reach the north road then turn to follow it. James doesn’t inform them about the strange occurrences at the mines. He figures they have enough to worry about right now. Besides, they could be the overactive imagination of miners left too long alone. Somehow that idea doesn’t bring him any consolation.
Riding through the night, they decide to put many miles behind them before they stop and rest until morning. The road moves through the foothills for the first couple of hours but then finally leaves them behind as it moves into open plains. No inns in sight, they pull off the road and make a camp some ways from the road.
Bellies grumbling from lack of food, they settle into their blankets. The stars are bright overhead which on the one hand is good as there’ll be no rain. But bad on the other as what warmth there is in the air will be gone by morning, escaping back into space.
In the morning as the sun breaks over the horizon, they awaken to find frost covering the grass and their breath fogs in the cold air of a fall morning. Shivering, they break camp and return to the road.
“I’m starving,” complains Dave as they make the road and turn to follow it north.
“We all are,” assures James. “We’ll get something to eat at the next town.”
“If there is a next town,” he hears his friend grumble under his breath.
Sighing, James rolls his eyes and tries not to worry about his friend. Frankly he has too much on his mind. He worries whether or not Orlander will be coming after him, if the Empire has more forces in the area, not to mention those creatures.
Also on his mind is what that crazy guy back in Illion had said. The temple must rise. Then he went and contradicted himself by saying the temple had to fall. He would completely dismiss it if it weren’t for the other things the man had said about shadows and fire. He could’ve been just a crazy man and his ramblings nonsense, but he doesn’t think so. And finally ahead of them is a place he’s been told strange occurrences have been happening for some time. Altogether too much to worry about.
Dave rides next to him as does Miko, one on either side. Two hours after leaving camp, a farmstead appears off to their right, quite a ways off the road. People are seen working the fields around it, probably bringing in the last of whatever crop they had.
“Fifer,” he says coming to a stop. “Take Miko and go over there to see if we can buy some food.” He pulls out the pouch he acquired at Orlander’s and removes some coins which he hands to Fifer.
“Sure,” he says, taking the coins. He and Miko then leave the road and begin making their way to the homestead.
James sits there with the others as they watch them approach. When the farmers notice them approaching, they hurry from the fields to the house. Fifer and Miko come to a stop near the house and look to be talking with the locals. After a few moments, one of them is seen going to the house and returning with several sacks and gives them to Miko. Several more words are exchanged before they turn about and return to the others.
As they approach, he sees Miko giving him a big smile as he holds up one of the sacks the farmers gave him. “We got food!” he exclaims once they’re close enough.
“Should be enough for a day or two,” Fifer says.
“Good,” says Dave coming forward.
Miko begins handing out some bread, cheese and dried beef to the others before they resume their northward trek. Once everyone has their share, James is gratified to see that the sacks still contain quite a bit of food.
They continue on for the rest of the day, the sun doing little to warm them. A cold breeze feels like it’s blowing down off the mountain. “Might be an early snow,” Uther announces at one point.
“Let’s hope it holds off until we get back over the mountains,” Jorry says.
“Amen to that,” James adds.
The proximity of the mountains probably has a lot to do with the drop in temperature. Of course a cold northern could be on its way down to make life a misery for the travelers. Either way, they pull their jackets closer together and do their best to keep warm.
Throughout the rest of the day, the riders fight off the cold as they steadily progress northwards. By the time night again falls there have been no sign of inns or anything else which would provide them some comfort through the cold of night.
Finding a place near a few lone trees on the plains, they make their camp. At least they’re fortunate enough to find enough wood for their campfire to last through the night. They again rotate the watch, the threat of the Empire still very real. With any luck, Orlander has remained back in Illion.
Another cold morning, even colder than the last has them shivering before the fire roars to life. They take just enough time to warm up and eat some of the rations acquired yesterday before they set off again.
The sky is a crystal blue without a hint of clouds. They ride for several hours before the sun has managed to warm the air enough so their breath no longer fogs. James is thankful for what warmth the sun gives them.
Trees begin to appear with more frequency and ahead it looks like the road enters a forest. Close to noon a town appears straddling the road ahead of them. As it turns out, it sits at a crossroads just within the forest.
“Let’s get something to eat and find out which way Ironhold lies,” James announces when the town first appears.
“I’m for that,” agrees Miko enthusiastically.
The town looks to be not very large, mainly servicing the traffic moving along the two roads which converge there. Off to one side sits a large sawmill with piles of stripped logs awaiting their turn.
“Be interesting to see how they do it here,” Dave says to his friend.
“Sure would,” agrees James.
They approach the town and find an inn sitting on the outskirts. Looking it over, James nods and says, “Let’s try this one. Looks clean.” Pulling up, they dismount and secure their horses to the rail out front and make their way inside.
Over to one side is a table large enough to accommodate them so they make their way over and take their seats. Shortly a serving girl comes over and takes their order. Instead of regular ale, James and the rest opt for mulled ale with a hint of spice to better warm themselves from the cold of the road.
“Wonder how far Ironhold is from here?” Miko asks.
“I don’t know,” replies James. Turning to the table next to them where a man and a woman are sitting, he says, “Excuse me.”
They both turn to look his way and the man asks, “Yes?”
“Do you know which road to take to reach Ironhold?” he asks.
