day, maybe two and they’ll have this whole town searched.
On the way down, Miko asks, “Why don’t you use your magic in the search?”
“For some reason, the thought of doing magic here bothers me,” he explains. “Can’t really explain it more than that. If after we’ve thoroughly searched the entire town and come up empty, then maybe I will.”
“What about the mines?” Jiron asks. When James glances back at him he clarifies, “Maybe what Ellinwyrd meant were the mines and not the town at all.”
“You may be right,” James concedes. “We’ll begin searching there after we’ve finished with the town.” There is one small road, hardly wide enough for a single wagon which they saw earlier, leading away from town to the west. One of Ironhold’s mines could lay down there.
By the time they get to the starting point for the day’s search, the traffic from the north and south begins rolling through. At first the quicker riders appear and then shortly after them roll in the caravans, only two it looks like today. One is heading north and the other south. Some of the travelers take note of them dismounting but none stop to offer a greeting, merely shaking their heads as they hurry on their way.
“Just like yesterday,” he says. “Comb the town in pairs and stick together. We don’t need anyone getting lost or separated.” Glancing to the jokesters of the day before he says, “No fooling around today. Got it?”
“Sure,” assures Jorry, the others nod their agreement.
“Alright then,” James says.
Jorry and Uther give Miko and Jiron a sidelong glance which is returned. James notices and sighs. Why do I even bother?
“We’ll be okay,” offers Fifer. Giving James a nod, he and Qyrll head off as they begin searching the buildings leading into town. Dave and James take the buildings going to the left and Jiron and Miko to the right. Jorry and Uther head further into town past where Fifer and Qyrll are searching.
Building after building, they search but to no avail. No sign indicating Morcyth or anything else is discovered. They continue to check back in by the horses every hour. Jiron suggests they could cover more area if they didn’t have to come back all the time but James says he would rather it take longer than have something happen to one of them.
During the last hour before they have to return before noon, Miko and Jiron are leaving a home where it looked as if a large family had lived. Within were many rooms, some still containing the remnants of fine furniture.
“I don’t think this town has what James is looking for,” grumbles Miko.
“Either do I,” agrees Jiron.
“Then why are we here?” he asks.
Sighing, he turns to Miko and says, “Because James says to. He’s proved us wrong before when we thought what he was doing didn’t make any sense.”
“True,” he agrees.
At one point Miko asks him if he plans on continuing the jokes on Jorry and Uther but Jiron shakes his head. “James is right, we need to finish this and get out of here.” He pauses a moment and says, “Of course if they do something then we should hardly just take it without retaliation.”
Miko likes the sound of that. So not only is he looking for signs of Morcyth but is keeping on the lookout for the next prank Jorry and Uther may pull.
Walking back onto the street, Jiron gestures to a rundown building across the street and says, “Should we try this one before heading back?”
“Alright,” agrees Miko just before his stomach sounds off with a loud rumble, “but let’s not take too long.”
Jiron gives him a grin and they cross the street. The door is closed but opens readily enough when Jiron turns the handle. It’s a three story residence and Jiron offers to check the upper floors while Miko searches the ground floor.
The one part of this Miko likes is opening all the old chests and boxes lying around. So far he’s found quite a number of interesting objects, not to mention the odd coin or two. As Jiron hits the stairs to search above, he leaves the front room and enters the kitchen area.
Opening the various cabinets he finds them all empty. A door is set in the far wall, and he walks over to it. Grasping the handle he pulls it open and finds a walk-in pantry on the other side. Old rotted containers still line the shelves, whatever they had once contained is long gone. He moves inside as he checks for anything which may have been left behind. He’s become quite the scavenger.
Not finding anything he turns to leave and takes two steps before coming to stop. A cold chill runs through him and his heart skips a beat at what he sees in the other room. Standing there, looking directly at him is a figure of a man, gaunt and pale. The skin is pulled tight to his bones and his hair is scraggly, looking like it has fallen out in patches. Clutched in one hand is a pickaxe such as a miner would use.
The instant of fright leaves him as he says, “Alright guys, enough is enough. You’re not fooling anyone.”
When the figure makes no reply and continues to stand there staring at him, his feelings of unease return. Fear begins to take him again as he comes to realize this isn’t Uther or Jorry.
Standing there frozen in fear, Miko is speechless as they both gaze upon the other. Then the miner’s mouth begins to move but nothing comes out as he turns slightly toward Miko. Taking a step forward, he reaches out his other hand as if to grab him.
The movement of the miner breaks the spell fear had over him and Miko lets out with a god awful inarticulate scream of fear as he backpedals into the pantry. Reaching out in panic, he takes hold of the pantry door and pulls it closed behind him.
Moving as far back as he can, he stands there in the dark, eyes locked to the door afraid the miner will open it and come for him. The darkness of the pantry does nothing to alleviate the terror that continues to rifle through him.
Suddenly, the door swings open and he sees Jiron standing there, knife in hand. “What happened?” he asks. Then he sees the wide eyed, pale expression on Miko’s face.
“He was standing there!” Miko says, pointing to the other room.
“Who?” Jiron asks. “Who was standing here?” Looking around the kitchen, he doesn’t see anything.
“A miner,” he says. “I think he was dead.”
Reaching his hand out to him, Jiron asks, “Were they playing another joke on you?”
Shaking his head vehemently, he says, “No, it wasn’t them.”
“Come on, let’s go tell James,” he says.
Nodding, Miko takes the hand and leaves the panty. Reentering the kitchen, his eyes dart around for the gaunt miner but other than him and Jiron, the kitchen is empty. Coming to where the miner had stood he says, “He was standing right here!” He takes hold of Jiron’s shirt and says, “He was reaching for me.”
“Calm down,” Jiron says as he leads him out of the building. “He’s not here now.”
On their way to find James, they run across Fifer and Qyrll who join them. Jiron gives them a brief rundown of what happened as they continue moving toward where James and Dave are hunting. Jorry and Uther are nowhere in sight.
When they reach the area, he calls out “James!”
From an upper window of a nearby building, they hear a “What?”
Looking up, they see James peering down at them. “Miko saw something!”
“It was a miner!” he hollers. “I think he was dead.”
“I’ll be right down,” he says and then ducks back inside. A moment later, he and Dave leave the building and join them in the street. Coming to Miko he asks, “What happened?”
He relates to him his encounter with the dead miner, as now he’s sure that’s what it was. “He was reaching for me and I panicked,” he concludes. “I slammed the door closed as I fled into the panty. When it opened again, Jiron was standing there and the miner was gone.”
“And you’re sure it wasn’t them playing another joke on you?” he asks.
When Miko shakes his head no, he says, “Take me there.”
Together they hurry along back to the building where the dead miner had been encountered. When they approach, James says, “You all stay here, Miko you come with me.” With Miko right beside him, he goes up to the open door leading into the kitchen and stops before entering.
