Stig glances at him then at the sea of glass and says, “Very well then.” Turning his attention back to James he asks, “Where are we to go from here?”
James sits there and thinks for a minute while he eats a bite of dried beef and has a drink. “We’ll skirt the edge of the glass to the east,” he finally announces. “We know there’s a main road moving north and south to the west. From the maps I went over back at Al-Ziron there doesn’t look like there is too much east of us to cause us much trouble. Just a few villages here and there.”
“We shouldn’t go too far,” joins in Miko. “You are quite tired and need to rest.”
“Let’s put distance between us and that before we stop,” he says as he gestures to the field of glass behind him. “Then we’ll rest through the night.”
“Very well,” agrees Miko. Getting up, he goes to make sure his horse and things are ready for travel.
While the others are busy with getting something to eat and seeing to their horses, Jiron comes and sits next to James.
“Don’t you want to see to your horse as well?” James asks.
Shaking his head, Jiron says, “Shorty said he’d do it for me.” Biting off a piece of dried beef, he remains silent for a second before he asks, “What do you think happened here?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” he admits. “That I played a part in it is without question.” He gazes at Jiron while he bites off and chews another piece of dried beef. “However, I do think there is more to this than just what I did at the end of the battle. A meteorite falls from the sky and happens to strike at the precise spot that would cause a rip and let in the creature? I hardly think it’s mere coincidence.”
“Then what?” Jiron asks.
“I don’t know,” he replies, “and that’s what is bothering me. Something else is going on. That discussion we had earlier where Brother Willim was saying that the gods are becoming more involved worries me.” Gesturing to the glass behind him he continues. “Something like that could hardly have just happened.”
“You think it has anything to do with Tinok?” he asks.
Shrugging, he replies, “I doubt it. Maybe if Tinok were someone like Miko who has a god interested in him, maybe.”
“So what should we do?” Aleya asks as she comes to join them.
“Listening in were you?” James asks.
Nodding, she gives him a grin. “Couldn’t help it,” she admits. “You two talk pretty loud.”
James returns her grin and says, “Continue on as we have been. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open for whatever else may be developing, but we’ll keep looking for Tinok.”
Jiron sighs. “That’s good,” he says.
Finishing up with their meal, James allows Jiron and Aleya to help him to his feet and then onto his horse. From behind him he can hear where Scar is explaining to Reilin why the creature turned to glass. “You see,” he explains, “since it wasn’t from our world, it couldn’t survive long. When James torched it with fire, it died. What you see there is simply its bones that were left behind.”
“Bones?” asks Reilin incredulously.
“Of course!” states Potbelly as he backs up his partner’s explanation. “You can’t expect something from another world to have the same kind of bones as we do.”
“I suppose not,” agrees Reilin, though he doesn’t sound entirely convinced.
James smiles to himself and doesn’t say anything.
“Is that right?” asks Miko from beside him.
“What?” asks James. “You mean what Scar said?”
Miko gives him a nod.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” he says, keeping his voice low. “When the creature entered our world, it took on the characteristics of the first thing it came into contact with.”
“The sand,” interjects Miko.
“That’s right, the sand,” agrees James. “Where I come from it’s long been known that heat will turn sand into glass. In fact, lightning striking a sandy beach can leave glass behind.”
“Interesting,” comments Miko. “So Scar is wrong?”
Grinning, James nods his head. “Of course he is, but I think we should keep that to ourselves.”
Miko turns back with a grin and glances at where Reilin is hanging onto Scar’s every word. “I suppose it would spoil it.” Then he looks back to James and they both laugh.
Scar breaks off in the middle of a sentence and turns toward them. “What?” he asks.
Shaking his head, James says, “Nothing.” Then both he and Miko laugh again.
When the rest are ready and are about to head out, Zyrn comes forward. “Thank you all again,” he says with sincerity.
“You’re welcome,” replies James. “Take care.” With that he kicks his horse and soon they are galloping across the sand on their way east.
Zyrn watches them go. Elated at the demise of the deadly grayness, yet at the same time filled with sadness over what his village has done. Can he ever go back and have things return to normal? That’s the question that has weighed on his mind ever since Khalim was sacrificed.
But, they are his people, misguided though they were. Deciding to return and try to cope, he turns back to the other villagers and with them begins working out a way to harvest the glass quickly before someone else comes and takes it. With it, his people will not have to worry for a very, very long time.
When at last the mage and his companions disappear out of sight, he returns to the work at hand.
For the next several hours James and the rest ride quickly as they circumvent the perimeter of the glass field. Upon reaching the eastern edge, they angle more to the southeast to put distance between it and them.
When the sun at last reaches the horizon and is on the verge of sinking into night, James calls a halt. Fatigued and tired, the trials of the last twenty four hours have left him on the brink of passing out. Leaving the details of camp to the others, he quickly gets his bedroll and lays it out. In no time at all, he falls asleep.
The following morning it again dawns clear and sunny, heralding another hot summer day. James is the last to get up. The others had allowed him to sleep himself out, so he woke up several hours after sunrise. A quick meal and they’re once again in the saddle.
James takes out his cloth and finds that Tinok still lies in the same general direction as the day before, to the southwest. Replacing the cloth back in his pouch, they get underway.
Cutting cross-country, they don’t make the best time but they don’t encounter anyone either. Late in the morning a village appears before them. On the eastern side of the village lies an orchard of date palms such as they’ve encountered before in the different oasis.
“Could use some dates,” suggests Potbelly.
James glances to Jiron who nods in agreement. “Very well,” he says. Angling his horse toward the orchard, he leads them there.
A farmhouse stands amidst the orchard. The farmer sees them coming and makes his way from the orchard on a course to intercept them before they reach the house. He calls out to those in the house and several lads who are obviously his sons appear and move to join him. In their hands are clutched a variety of weapons including a crossbow. Seems they’ve had problems with strangers before.
As his sons hurry to join him, the farmer holds up his hand and asks, “How can I help you sirs?” After translating for the others Reilin comes forward and begins haggling for a couple small casks of dates.
The sons visibly relax once they learn they are here to purchase dates. However, they remain where they are just in case.
As the others wait for the haggling to come to an end, Brother Willim gazes around at the date trees. “They’re quite healthy,” he says quietly to James. “This farmer is good for the land.”
“Some are bad?” he asks.
“Oh yes,” he replies. “Just because a man’s a farmer doesn’t make him a good one.” He continues to gaze around the orchard then his eyes widen and a slight gasp escapes him.
James notices his reaction and asks, “What?”
Nodding his head to indicate an area on the edge of the orchard, he says, “Look there.”
James looks but only sees a pile of leaves and dates lying on the ground. “I don’t see anything,” he tells him.
