The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (28 page)

The others come to the inn where they
dismount and secure their horses to the front hitching post.
“James,” Jiron says from the front door, “you better come in
here.”

Coming to the door with the others
following, James sees the ghastly scene in the common room. “Looks
like the work of Serenna’s followers,” he says. When the smell hits
him, he takes out a cloth and puts it over his nose.

Suddenly from upstairs, they hear a floor
board creak as if someone is walking around. Without hesitation,
Jiron moves to the stairs and cautiously ascends to the second
floor with Fifer and Qyrll right behind.

“Be careful,” offers James.

Jiron ignores him and continues up. At the
top of the stairs is a hallway running the length of the second
floor with doors lining both sides. The noise had to of come from
either the first or second room on the left. The first door is
open, the second one is closed.

Motioning for Fifer and Qyrll to follow, he
edges toward the first door and glances through the doorway into
the room. Standing in the middle of the room is a person,
silhouetted by the light coming in through the window. The smell of
death is in this room as well.

“Are you okay?” Jiron asks the person in the
room.

Other than shifting its feet, the person
makes no reply.

“Are you hurt?” When no reply is
forthcoming, he hollers to those downstairs, “Bring up the candle,
we need some light.”

Jiron stands there in the doorway and keeps
an eye on the individual in the room as James brings the candle up
from below. The others follow as well. When the light at last
illuminates the room, they see the person is another of Serenna’s
followers. The man looks emaciated and has the same lost, dazed
look the others had when her hold over them was broken.

Illan comes behind James and when he sees
the man, turns to the others and says, “Search all the rooms, there
may be more.”

One by one they search the rooms and find
five others in the same state as the first man. “What should we do
with them?” Fifer asks.

They look to James who shrugs, “I don’t know
what we can do. They may snap out of it, or they may not.”

“Are we just going to leave them here?”
Jiron asks.

Nodding, James says, “I think that would be
the prudent thing to do. At the next town up the road we’ll tell
someone who can come back and take care of them.”

“You’re not still planning on staying here
are you?” Dave asks from where he stands at the top of the
stairs.

“Hardly,” he replies. “Let’s bury the dead
and then get out of here.”

Dave stops him at the top of the stairs and
asks, “Why?”

James looks him seriously in the eye and
says, “I can’t believe you just asked me that.” Brushing past him,
he goes downstairs to find a shovel.

They find several out back by the house and
commence digging one large communal grave. Once it’s large enough,
begin to fill it with the dead from the inn. During the process,
the mind dead wander around aimlessly, one actually falling down
the stairs and ends up breaking her neck. So they pick her up and
add her to the grave.

When at last all the dead are buried, they
have a moment of silence and then get mounted. They ride for an
hour before pulling off the road and making camp near a small
stream. Exhausted beyond measure, James finds a good spot to rest
while the others volunteer to see to his horse. He no sooner gets
his head on his pack than he falls asleep.

Early the next morning when the sun begins
to rise, he wakes to find Fifer on watch. The others are sound
asleep and snoring up a storm. He gets up and comes to the fire and
sits down next to him.

They break out some of the food which was
appropriated from the inn back in Willimet and have breakfast. It
isn’t long before everyone is up and eating. Dave is the last one
to rise.

“Are we heading home now?” Miko asks
him.

Nodding, he says, “That’s the plan. Need to
talk to Ceryn about something then may be going on another
trip.”

“So soon?” he asks.

“Yes,” he replies. “Have to find out what
Ironhold is and where. Ceryn’s been around so I’m hoping he may
know something about it.”

“We’re probably two or three days from The
Ranch,” interjects Illan.

“Can’t wait to get back,” Jiron says. “Tersa
must be worried sick about me.”

Just then from the north, they see a dozen
or so riders coming their way. When they get close enough, they see
that they’re part of the Cardri cavalry. James comes to his feet as
they approach and the officer comes forward and says, “Heard
there’s some strange happenings going on around here. Have you seen
anything out of the ordinary?”

Nodding, James says, “An hour or so to the
south is an inn. We found the occupants slaughtered and several
mindless people wandering around. Buried the dead and left the
mindless to continue wandering.”

“Slaughtered you say?” he asks.

“That’s right,” he replies. “Same thing was
happening down in Willimet. Those people down there need some help
that’s for sure.”

The officer waves over a subordinate and has
a few quiet words with him which James cannot make out. When he’s
done, he turns back to James and says, “Thanks for the
information.”

“You’re welcome,” he says.

The officer then calls for his men to begin
moving and they double time it down the road.

“Looks like those people are going to get
help after all,” remarks Fifer.

“Maybe,” says James, “if they don’t just
kill them.”

“True,” adds Illan. “At least it’s not our
problem anymore.”

James nods his head as he returns to the
campfire and finishes eating.

On the road again, they continue their
northerly course, anxious to get home. Setting a quick pace they
manage to reach the city of Guellin by the night of the second day.
The sheep ranches come into view long before they see the skyline
of the town. Shepherds are out among them, minding their flocks.
Some wave a hello while others pointedly ignore them.

As the road enters town, a large three story
building sits on their right with a sign of a sleeping sheep
hanging by the front door.

“Looks like a good spot,” says James. The
grounds are relatively free of debris and the inn has an overall
look of having been well maintained.

“Shall I see if they have any rooms?” Jiron
asks.

Getting down from his horse, James stretches
his sore muscles and says, “Sure. See if they have four. I’d like
one on at least the second floor.”

“You got it,” he says as he goes up and
enters the door.

“Just another day to Trendle,” Illan tells
him as he comes to stand next to him.

“Good. I’m tired of riding,” he admits.

Miko gets down and has the last of his tarts
in his hand. James can’t believe he’s still eating them. Last night
they seemed a bit off but Miko wasn’t swayed by the chance of food
poisoning. James tried to explain it to him but the concept was
simply too far beyond his understanding. He couldn’t see how
something which doesn’t smell or taste bad could be. So James just
shrugged and hoped for the best.

“James, look,” Says Miko as he points across
the street.

A woman walks along the far side of the
street with a small girl behind her. His eyes widen and a smile
comes to his face when he sees the little girl carrying what has to
be one of Tersa’s teddy bears. He nudges Illan and nods in their
direction.

“Guess you really had something there,” he
says.

“I’m going to go find out where she got it,”
James tells him as he steps into the street. Making a beeline for
her, the mother soon becomes aware of his approach and stops. She
puts herself in front of her daughter as he comes close.

“Excuse me,” he says and then points to the
teddy bear, “but could you tell me where you got that?”

Visibly relaxing, she replies, “Argoth’s
down the street has them.” She then points to the right.

“Thank you,” he says and gives her a nod as
he leaves.

“Be right back,” he hollers over to the
others as he makes his way to Argoth’s. He barely takes four steps
before Fifer, Qyrll and Miko join him. When he looks questioning at
them, Fifer says, “Illan doesn’t want you out alone.”

He glances back to see Dave standing with
Illan, a sullen expression on his face. “Very well then.” They
continue down the street until they see a store with a large
window. Four of Tersa’s teddy bears are displayed there. He grins
to Fifer when he sees them.

Walking in, he finds a portly man organizing
small pouches into a neat pile. As they enter, he turns to greet
them. “Good day to you gentlemen,” he says with a warm smile. “How
may I help you today?”

James gestures to the teddy bears in the
window and says, “I saw a woman with a little girl who had one of
those and wanted to find out about them.”

“We just got them in a few days ago,” he
says. “At first I didn’t really think they would do much, but so
far I’ve sold half.”

“People really like them?” he asks.

Nodding, he replies, “The kids do. The
trader lady who sold them to me suggested that I give one away and
just see what happens. I thought that a rather foolish thing to do
so before she left, she gave one to a little girl. After the girl
left, she said, ‘If you sell all those in a week, you pay me for
the one I just gave away.’ Of course I told her I would, but I
didn’t think it would work. But sure enough, I sold three more that
day just from people whose kids saw the little girl with hers.”

He looks to James and asks, “Are you
interested in buying one?”

Shaking his head, he says, “No. I was just
curious. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” the shopkeeper says as
they turn to leave.

When they’re back outside the shop, Miko
asks, “Why did you want to know about them?”

“Just doing a little market research,” he
says. He smiles at Miko’s blank look of not understanding. Who
would have thought Mr. Edward’s class on economics would have come
in handy here. Unable to stop himself, he breaks into a short
laugh.

The others look at him a bit oddly.

Back at the inn, they find Jiron has already
arranged for their rooms. Taking their horses around back to the
stables, they get them settled in for the night before returning to
their rooms.

Later on when they convene in the common
room for their evening meal, they take a large table off to one
side. The room begins to fill as other travelers as well as locals
come to have their meals. A bard sets up and begins playing by the
time the server has brought them their food.

“I doubt if they’ve given up yet,” Jiron
suddenly says.

“Who?” Fifer asks.

“The people who were interrogating Dave,” he
explains. “It still bothers me that one of them got away.”

“True,” agrees Illan. “But if we stay
together and keep alert, we should have no problem.”

“Wish they would just stop,” says Miko.

Dave gives a short laugh at that.

Turning to him, Jiron asks, “You got
something to say?”

Giving Jiron a sardonic look, he replies,
“They’re never going to stop! They will keep at him until they have
what they want.” To James he says, “Would it be so bad to give it
to them if it would mean living without the fear of being attacked
at any moment.”

Jiron gives him a look of barely disguised
disgust.

Shaking his head, James says, “Never. They
could give me no guarantee that I would believe. Besides, giving it
to them may prove more disastrous than the possibility of continued
attacks.”

Face turning into a frown, Dave glances at
the others and can see them united against the idea of returning
the Fire to the Empire. Getting up, he says, “I’m going to my room
and go to sleep.”

“Be careful and lock the door,” James tells
him.

“You needn’t point out the obvious,” he
replies then begins making his way to the stairs and up to the room
he and James share.

“Coward,” can be heard though James not sure
which one of them said it.

Turning his attention to the others, he
says, “You guys should cut him a break.”

Jiron looks at him with a serious look on
his face. “Are you sure he’s the type of person you want around?
Things are afoot and he’s just a liability.” Around the table
others nod their heads in agreement.

Sighing, James says, “I know. But where
would he go? What would he do? I’m almost as lost here as he
is.”

“But you’re handling it well,” Fifer
interjects. “And you sure don’t back down from a fight.”

Shaking his head, James says, “Given the
choice, I wouldn’t fight at all and would avoid any conflict to the
best of my ability.” He sighs then continues, “But I am not given
that choice. I know what’s right and I do it even though sometimes
it pains me. He’s just gone through a bad time, worse than any I
can imagine. Maybe he’ll find his niche here, but until then, he
stays with me.”

“As you will,” Jiron says. “I just wanted
you to know how we feel.”

“I understand full well how much you all
dislike him,” he replies.

The rest of the evening they sit and enjoy
the music and tales the bard relates. When James finally can’t
fight off sleep anymore, he heads up to his room. As he clears the
stairs and begins walking down to the door, it opens and a girl
comes out.

He freezes for a moment as she makes her way
toward him and then moves quickly down the stairs. Muffled sobs can
be heard coming from her and tears dot her cheek. Confused and
speechless, he stands there as she disappears down the stairs.

Moving quickly, he comes to the door to his
room and opens it. Dave is lying in bed and turns to look at him as
he enters the room. “What happened?” he asks his friend.