him the mage is weakened and to move fast before he can recover.”

“Yes, milord,” says Aezyl as he comes to his feet. Giving his lord a bow, he quickly leaves to carry out his lord’s command.

Defeated Aekion! Unbelievable! Kerith-Ayxt paces his chambers as he tries to come to grips with the impossible.

Shortly after leaving the town behind, James realizes his protection against magical detection is no longer in operation. Bracing for opposition, he reinstates his protective shield and waits while they ride. Immediately, he feels them try to break through but the attempt is half-hearted at best, not nearly what he experienced the time before. When it finally stops, he wonders why they didn’t try more. Whatever the reason he’s happy about it, confused, but happy.

Riding through the desert under the hot sun, they stay just out of visual range of the road to the south. He knows the magical school isn’t more than a day down the road. It’s entirely likely that they will send someone to investigate what happened back at the town.

With the light beginning to fade and James being exhausted from the battle, they move even further into the desert to find a spot to camp for the night. “Maybe you could use that mirror of yours to find a place where we could water the horses,” Jiron suggests.

“Can’t,” he replies. “It melted when the creature of fire appeared.”

“Oh yeah, right,” he says, a little embarrassed for having forgot.

Before the sunlight completely disappears, a stand of trees appears to the north, the kind normally found near watering holes. Relived to have stumbled upon an oasis, they alter course and make their way quickly toward it.

Other than half a dozen of the date bearing trees, the area surrounding the water is bare. The watering hole itself is barely three feet wide and not very deep. The horses eagerly approach and are allowed to drink their fill while they lay out their bedrolls.

Once settled in and they are having a bite to eat, he tells them what they are really after in the next town. As he lays it out, Jared gets a look of disbelief while Jiron just grins.

“Are you out of your mind?” exclaims Jared when he finishes laying it out. “You are but one mage and you plan to go up against dozens, maybe hundreds?”

“I don’t actually plan to fight the mages themselves unless forced to,” he explains. Glancing over to Jiron he sees the expectant look of impending battle. “My plan is to get in there, destroy their library and get out fast.”

“And they will simply allow you to do that?” questions Jared. “How do you plan on doing that with everyone looking for you and knowing your approximate position?”

“Haven’t quite worked that out yet to tell the truth,” he admits. “But take it from their point of view. Here I am in hostile territory, just having gone through a draining battle.” He glances to Jiron and asks, “What would be the logical thing to do?”

“Certainly not take on a group of mages,” he says with a nod. “They may not realize you know the School is even there. But once you do, the smartest course you could take would be to get as far away as possible. The last thing they will expect is for you to attack, one mage against who knows how many.”

“Exactly!” declares James. Turning back to Jared he adds, “They won’t expect it. Piece of cake.”

“You’re going to get us all killed,” Jared grumbles.

“Likely,” he admits. “But no guts, no glory.”

“Since when have you been interested in glory?” asks Jiron with a wry grin.

James laughs and says, “I’m not. It seemed an appropriate thing to say under the circumstances.” They both stare at each other and then break into laughter once again. Not sure where the laughter is coming from, maybe just giddy at still being alive.

Jared just stares at them and shakes his head.

Ka-Boom!

From the southwest a light flares in the deepening gloom of night a second before the sound of a massive explosion rolls over them.

“What was that?” Jiron exclaims as they get to their feet.

James felt the distinctive tingle of magic being performed briefly with the light of the explosion. “Magic,” he says.

“Should I check it out?” Jiron asks. “It couldn’t have been more than a mile or two away.”

“It might be a trap to draw you out,” cautions Jared.

Shaking his head, James says, “I don’t think so.” To Jiron he nods. “Go find out what it was but be careful.”

“Right.” Quickly saddling his horse, it doesn’t take him long before he’s mounted and ready to go. He glances to Jared and asks, “Do you have a candle?”

“A couple, why?” he replies.

“Keep one burning so I can find my way back,” he explains.

“Okay,” he says.

James comes to Jiron and says, “Find out and come right back.”

Jiron smiles and replies, “You worry too much.” Kicking his horse in the flanks, he bolts from the oasis.

Where the explosion occurred is easily found, torches and lanterns light the scene. The area of destruction looks to have been where a caravan had pulled off the road and camped for the night. Destroyed wagons, dead horses and damaged goods are strewn all over. Dozens of bodies are being gathered by those still alive.

He slows down and stops before he enters the light. Watching from the darkness, he tries to understand just what happened. Then all of a sudden he sees a robed mage appear from around one of the few wagons left untouched. The mage’s robe is in tatters and stained with blood. Limping and holding one arm close, it appears as if he’s in a lot of pain.

That’s when he realizes many of the bodies lying across the ground are robed mages. What the hell happened? Unable to understand the language, he watches for several more minutes as the survivors scurry around, see to the wounded and stack the dead off to the side.

Other than that one mage, it looks as if all the others were killed in the explosion. Whatever the reason, at least there are now less to deal with when they go for the library. Finally deciding he’s seen all there is to see, he turns his horse back to the desert and hurriedly returns to the others.

Jared’s candle is a beacon in the night and he has little trouble in finding his way back. When he arrives, he tells the others what he saw. “It makes no sense,” he states. “Could there be another mage out there who’s fighting them?”

James shakes his head as a grim expression spreads across his face. “I don’t think so,” he replies. “You said there was a caravan there?”

“That’s right. Mages and wagons…” he begins then suddenly understanding comes. “The wagons!”

Nodding, James says, “The wagons. One must have been doing magic and got too close.”

“What does wagons have to do with it?” Jared asks.

Never having explained to him what he had done and not wanting to now, James says, “It’s complicated and I don’t want to get into it right now.”

Jared glances from Jiron to James knowing he’s the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on. A little hurt at not being trusted, he keeps silent.

“Must have been on their way to strike at you,” suggests Jiron.

“I would think so,” agrees James with a nod. “How many were there?”

“I saw over a dozen lying dead on the ground,” he tells him. “One survived but he was in bad shape.”

James sits and considers all that Jiron has told him. The idea with the wagons is working better than he had anticipated. Only the unexpectedness of the attack could explain the death of the mages. Had they had any warning at all, there would have been fewer killed.

“Blow out the candle and let’s get some sleep,” he says to Jared.

“Don’t you want to get out of here?” Jared asks.

Shaking his head, James says, “No. We need the rest and I don’t like the idea of wandering around this close to enemies in the dark unless I have too. We’ll keep a watch and make an early start.”

Jiron takes the first watch. As James settles into his blankets, he hears the soft tread of Jiron as he moves

Вы читаете Shades of the past
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