crosses theirs. The town looks to be of some importance, buildings three and four stories high can be seen rising above the walls.
“Shall we go around?” Jiron asks as they approach.
“That would look suspicious,” replies James. “We’ll go through.”
Nodding, Jiron says to Jared, “You take the lead. If anyone approaches, you deal with it and remember, we are on business of the temple.”
“Right,” he says as he moves ahead of the others.
Two guards are posted at the gate through which their road runs, neither one appearing to be too interested in the people passing through. They both lean against the wall as they keep an eye on the overall area, probably there more to keep order than to watch for infiltrators.
As they approach the gate area, they’re forced to slow due to the number of people making their way through the gates. James’ heart skips a beat when one of the guards glances directly at him, but then his eyes dart to another as they pass through to the other side.
Moving through the throng on the street, they sense a definite feeling of heightened stress and anxiety from the locals. People are a little too intense in haggling and move along the street in a more hurried manner. Here and there pockets of people are seen talking, rarely does laughter spring forth.
One thing that James notices is the relative scarcity of guards. Most towns they passed through when they played the part of merchants had many guards walking the streets. Other than the two at the gate, none other has made an appearance. Wonder if they sent them all to deal with Illan? If that were the case, this whole area would be a sitting duck should an army show up.
The road takes them through the heart of the city where the larger and more impressive buildings lie. Before they pass the first large structure, guards begin to appear. Here at the heart of the city is where the highest concentration of guards lies.
Many well dressed people are upon the streets in this area leading James to believe this is the city’s government district. The affluent are seen coming and going from the impressive structures situated within this area.
Moving quickly but not so fast as to draw attention to themselves, they make it past the government district and reenter the city proper. Before the eastern gates are in sight, a caravan of a dozen or so wagons comes toward them from up the road.
Jiron motions for them to move to the side to give the caravan room to pass. As the first wagon comes abreast of where they have paused at the side of the road, he sees a small red flare coming from the underside of the second wagon. Casting a quick glance at James he finds him staring intently at the caravan as it passes.
Then as the last wagon rolls by, he catches sight of another flare out of the corner of his eye. Just what is he up to? Looking around, he searches the crowd for anyone else who may have noticed. The people on the street appear to be engrossed in whatever they are doing and none look to have taken notice. After the last wagon and guards pass, they resume their progress toward the eastern gate. Another pair of disinterested guards stands watch at the gate as they pass through.
The eastern road is much more crowded than the one on the other side, probably owing to the fact the western road leads in the general vicinity of Korazan. And with what’s going on there, none wish to risk an encounter with the enemy.
Dying to ask James what he was doing but unable to do so due to the other travelers on the road, Jiron remains silent until they come to a stretch of road devoid of other travelers. Coming to ride next to his horse, Jiron asks, “What did you do back there?”
“What do you mean?” James replies innocently.
“I saw what you did with those wagons,” he states.
James flashes him a grin. “Oh that. Just something I thought of back at The Ranch.”
“What?” he asks.
James shakes his head and nods toward where Jared is riding. Understanding comes to Jiron that he doesn’t want to talk about it in front of Jared. Nodding, he stops the questioning and turns his attention back to the road ahead.
Throughout the rest of the day whenever they ride past a caravan, whether it was going in their direction or not, Jiron would catch red flares flashing briefly beneath one, two, or sometimes even three of the wagons. He would glance to James only to receive a grin in return.
When the sun reaches the horizon and no inn has made an appearance, they decide to pull off the road and make camp. The cool of the evening is a welcoming relief from the heat of the day. Now that it’s summer, the days are nigh on unbearably hot.
After they’ve finished eating and are sitting around the fire, the sound of a horse comes from the road. In the light from the stars overhead, they make out the silhouette of the rider coming in their direction. Jiron nods to Jared to be ready to deal with whoever is approaching.
Jared gets to his feet about the time the rider reaches the fringe of the light cast by their campfire. It’s a man and doesn’t look to be military in nature. He brings his horse to a halt and asks a question.
Coming forward, Jared replies to the man.
Whatever he said didn’t sit too well with him, the smile that was on the man’s face quickly disappears. His eyes dart to where James is sitting and then he unconsciously licks his lips in nervousness.
Jared pauses in what he was saying a moment and when nothing further is forthcoming from the man, says one final thing. Whatever he said was more than the man could take. Turning his horse around quickly, the man kicks his horse into a fast trot as he leaves their campfire.
After the man disappears in the night and the sound of his horse’s hooves can no longer be heard, James asks, “What did you tell him?”
“That you were a servant of Dmon-Li,” he explains with a grin. “I thought that alone would have him out of here. You see those who serve Dmon-Li are an unstable bunch to be around, never know when one will get it into his head to kill you.”
“But that didn’t do it?” Jiron asks.
“No.” Then he chuckles as he says, “But when I told him you were on your way to give Dmon-Li a sacrifice, that was all he needed to hear.”
“You know,” begins Jiron. “I’ve been thinking.”
“About what?” inquires James.
Turning to Jared, he says, “When you were talking to that rider, I began wondering what if things went bad. If it had, before you could tell us to do anything, he might have had the chance to escape and warn others.”
“What are you getting at?” James asks, not sure where he’s going with this.
“There may come a time when action is called for at a moment’s notice,” he explains. “I think it would be a good idea to come up with subtle gestures Jared could use to indicate how it is going.”
“You mean like if he crosses his arm, you take out whoever it is he’s talking to?” suggests James.
“Something like that, but not crossing his arms,” Jiron states.
“Why?” Jared asks.
Jiron turns to him and says, “Because you cross your arms all the time, it’s a habit.”
Jared looks surprised, he had no idea he did it that much.
“Something else. Like say scratching your ear with your right hand.”
Nodding, James says, “That would work. Maybe there would be gestures on how I should react as well. I mean, when you are talking, a stern gaze or an amused smile could give the illusion that I am understanding what’s going on.”
“How about my right hand for you James, left for Jiron,” Jared suggests.
“Alright, but let’s keep it simple.” Over the next hour or so before they turn in, they work out some simple gestures Jared will use. For Jiron it’s fairly simple, if he scratches behind his left ear with his left hand, he attacks and takes out who he’s talking to.
For James it’s a bit more complicated. A touch of the ear and he gets indignant. Running his fingers through his hair means to act amused, etc. All of these are with the right hand of course.
They practice the gestures until they turn in. Jared has the gestures down and the other two now know how to react depending on what he does.
