The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (30 page)

“Fine,” replies James. “Always feel fine
after a good night’s rest.”

“I think Illan’s going to have us out and
bring in some meat to smoke after the morning drills so may not be
around when you return,” Fifer explains. Qyrll comes around the
corner, swords swinging at his hips and stands beside Fifer. A
definite friendship has developed between the two.

“Running low are we?” James asks as he
mounts.

Looking up at him, Fifer nods. “That’s what
Ezra is telling us,” he says.

“Good luck.”

“Thanks,” replies Fifer.

Jiron mounts and then they head down the
road. As they make their way up the lane to the main road, James
glances over to the construction site of his new house and stables.
The stables are complete, except for a few of the interior walls
separating the stalls. It should be done by the end of the week.
The house still has another two or three weeks to go.

Sean the master builder in charge of the
construction sees him looking his way and gives him a wave. James
returns it.

They find Uther at the guard shack looking
bored and tired. As they approach, he asks, “How much longer do we
need to have someone out here?”

“Until we no longer get unwelcome visitors,”
James replies. “Have there been any today?”

Nodding his head, Uther says, “One. He said
he would pay you to remove a wart from his face.”

“Bad?” Jiron asks.

Chuckling, he nods and says, “Very.”

“Where are all these people coming from?”
groans James.

“Who knows?” replies Jiron. “They sure are
an irritant though.”

“Tell me about it,” he says. Then to Uther
he adds, “Be back in awhile.”

Uther gives them a nod as they leave the
lane and turn onto the road heading to town.

On the outskirts of Trendle, they find a
group of men standing and talking to one another against the outer
wall of the last building. As he draws closer he sees it’s the
mayor and a few members of the town council along with several
other men from town. Corbin is among them.

“James!” Corbin says as he approaches.

“What are you all doing here?” he asks as he
pulls to a stop. Then he asks jokingly, “Are you hiding?”

The mayor’s face flushes a little bit red
and Corbin says, “In a way.”

Then it hits him. The mayor is meeting with
his old drinking buddies his wife doesn’t want him to associate
with. Feels he’s above that now. “I understand,” he says not
pursuing the matter. “Do you know if Ceryn’s around anywhere?”

“I think he left for a couple days,” the
mayor replies. “Seems there have been some problems on the road to
the east.”

“Nothing serious I hope,” James says,
concerned.

“We may have another band of robbers out
that way,” Corbin explains. “One man said a band of six men waylaid
him and took all his coins. Ceryn’s gone to investigate and isn’t
expected to return for a couple days. Did you need him for
something?”

“Just wanted to ask him if he knew of a
place called Ironhold,” he says. “Have any of you heard of it?”

The blank expressions they give him tell him
they haven’t. “You might try Kraegan,” suggests the mayor. “If it
has something to do with iron, being the blacksmith he may
know.”

“Thanks,” he says. “I hadn’t thought of
that.” To all of them he adds, “Good day to you.”

“Take care James,” Corbin says.

He and Jiron then turn their horses and head
into town to see Kraegan. “What will you do if he hasn’t heard of
it?” Jiron asks as they make their way through town.

“Wait for Ceryn’s return I guess,” he
says.

The sound of hammer on metal reaches them
long before the sight of Kraegan’s shop appears down the street
ahead of them. James has them stop in front and goes to the back
while Jiron waits with the horses. He finds the blacksmith
instructing an apprentice on the proper way to repair a
plowshare.

Not wishing to intrude, he stands to the
side and waits. Kraegan takes notice of him and gives him a nod but
continues working with the apprentice. After two minutes and
several rounds of hammering, he gives his apprentice a few more
instructions before leaving him to finish.

Walking across the forge area to where James
waits, he says, “Need another box made?” Grinning, he comes to a
stop.

“Not this time,” replies James. “Rather I am
looking for information.”

“What place?” asks Kraegan.

“Ironhold,” he says. “Ever heard of it?”

“Ironhold huh?” he asks, eyeing James oddly.
“Why would you be interested in that place?”

“You’ve heard of it then?” he asks
excitedly.

“Sure,” he says. “Never been to it, but my
master when I was an apprentice talked of it once in awhile. It’s
to the north, I think on the other side of the Silver Mountains
though I’m not exactly sure.”

“What is it?” he asks.

“Ironhold is an old town that once had
several iron mines,” he explains. “It used to be a large supplier
of iron but that was centuries ago. I think the mines finally
played out and the place was abandoned.”

“Abandoned?” questions Jiron.

“That’s right,” replies Kraegan. “My master
said that over the years people tried to get the mines restarted
but nothing ever came of it.”

“Thanks,” James tells him.

“Any time,” he assures him. “Is there
anything else?”

Shaking his head, James says, “No. I
appreciate the help.”

Giving him a nod, Kraegan returns to his
apprentice and the plowshare.

James returns to Jiron and the horses and
fills him in on what he learned.

“What do you think?” Jiron asks as they
mount their horses.

“Seems reasonable,” he says. “If the mines
were played out as he says, then it might be likely that the
priests of Morcyth went there.”

“Do you mean to go there?” Jiron asks.

Nodding his head, he says, “Absolutely.” He
turns to look at his friend and says, “It’s all I have to go
on.”

“Going to leave tomorrow?” he asks.

“May as well. No reason in putting it off,”
he says. “If winter’s on the way, we want to get this done and
return before it hits.”

“You have a point,” states Jiron.

As they leave the blacksmith’s shop, James
notices a woman walking with a grim expression down the opposite
side of the street. She stops at the various windows and doors,
peers inside for a moment and then continues down to the next.

“That’s the mayor’s wife,” Jiron says
amused.

“Glad I’m not married to something like
that,” James says.

“She’s nice enough though,” Jiron
states.

Nodding, James watches her as she steps in
through a door and then returns to the street a moment later. They
continue through town, eventually leaving her behind. When they get
to the edge of town where they last saw the mayor and his buddies,
James glances over and finds them still there.

“Ahem,” clearing his throat loudly, he gets
their attention. He then jerks his thumb back behind them as he
continues riding.

One of the men looks around the building and
sees the mayor’s wife coming down the street. “It’s your wife
John!” he exclaims.

“Thanks James!” the mayor hollers as he and
the others move quickly around the other side of the building to
avoid being found.

“I suppose it keeps his life from getting
dull,” Jiron says with a grin.

Laughing, James replies, “I guess so.”
Glancing back, he sees her get to the edge of town and stop after
passing by the last building. With hands on her hips, she looks
both ways and then turns around as she begins combing the other
side on her way back.

Ahead of them playing among some trees near
the side of the road are five young children, three boys and two
girls. When they see him coming, they group together and stare at
him approaching. Several of them whisper among themselves and
finally one of the younger boys is pushed forward. Glancing back to
his friends nervously, James sees the others prompting him to come
forward.

Turning back to the road and James, the boy
steps forward nervously. As James comes to him, he asks, “Are you
the mage what lives outside of town?”

Nodding, James slows down and comes to a
halt. “Yes I am,” he tells the boy. He can see he’s nervous so
gives him a reassuring grin.

Glancing back to the others, the boy sees
them nodding at him encouragingly and then turns back to James.
Shuffling his feet back and forth, he asks, “Could you do some
magic for us?”

James glances to Jiron and then looks around
to see who else may be watching. Not seeing anyone, he turns back
to the boy and nods. He holds out his hand palm up. The other kids
edge closer when it looks like he may be doing something. Suddenly,
his orb appears and the little boy says, “Oooohhhhhh!”

He throws it up into the air and it splits
into three. The three orbs hang there suspended for a moment as the
other kids approach. Slowly at first, the three orbs begin circling
above the heads of the children. Gradually picking up speed, the
swirling orbs begin looking like a circle of light above them.

Then the orbs suddenly explode in a burst of
sparkles and disappear. “Wow!” one boy says. “Do it again!” a girl
exclaims.

Grinning he says, “Sorry. I must be on my
way. Maybe next time.”

“Bye!” the kids say as he begins riding
away.

Jiron glances at him and sees the grin on
his face. “Why did you do that?” he asks.

“Just having some fun is all,” he replies.
“Why?”

“Now they’re going to spread even more
stories about you,” he warns.

Sighing, James says, “I know. But sometimes
you just have to do what you want and damn the consequences.”
Turning to him, he says, “It’s for the kids.”

“You have a soft spot for kids don’t you?”
he asks.

“I do like to make them happy,” he admits.
“I love to see their faces light up.”

“You’re a good man,” states Jiron.

“I try to be.” Glancing back, he sees the
kids still standing there watching him. One waves when he notices
James looking back. Giving them a wave in return, he then turns
back and hurries down the road.

Back at The Ranch, he finds Uther still at
the shack. “Tired of guard duty yet?” he asks.

“That’s a dumb question,” retorts Uther. “Of
course I’m tired of it. All you do is stand and do nothing. Cant’
go anywhere…”

Holding up his hand, James stops his tirade.
“Alright, sorry I asked,” he says. Moving down the lane, they leave
Uther behind and come to the house. The morning practice is already
over but he doesn’t see any of the new recruits around. Seeing
Illan over to the side where he’s sparring with Jorry, he walks
over and asks him where they are.

Stopping the sparring, he turns to James and
wipes the sweat from his brow. Nodding to the old barn, he says,
“They’re in there with Roland working on their letters.”

“Oh, right,” replies James
understanding.

“Did you find out what you wanted to know?”
Illan asks.

“Yes I did,” he replies. “It’s in northern
Madoc, used to be a mining town before the iron ore played
out.”

“Planning on going?” he asks.

“Tomorrow,” says James. “I would like to
find it before winter hits.”

“Should be a month or more before you have
to worry about any real bad weather around here,” Jorry says.

“It’s not around here I’m concerned with but
where I’m going,” he explains. “Not sure how far north it is or how
long it will take.”

“Who are you planning on taking with you?”
he asks.

“Dave for sure,” he replies. “Don’t think I
could leave either Miko or Jiron behind.”

“You got that right,” says Jiron from where
he stands behind him.

“Also I was thinking of taking Jorry and
Uther as well,” he says.

Jorry brightens up when he hears that,
“About time we get to get in on some of the fun!”

“Are the recruits improving?”

“Little by little,” replies Illan. “Some
will never amount to much more than sword fodder in a real
conflict. But I think they’ll suffice for here.”

“Good. Keep up the good work,” he says as he
leaves them to return to their sparring. Moving toward the barn, he
says to Jiron, “I’m going to check in on Roland.”

“Alright,” he says and then moves toward the
house.

The barn is surprisingly quiet as he nears
the door. Stepping through he finds Roland’s ‘students’ sitting on
benches bent over a shingle on their lap. The thin slice of wood
seems to be what they’re practicing writing on. Each of them has a
thin, blackened stick with which to write and are currently shaping
letters.

Roland looks up from where he was examining
Errin’s work when he enters and hands her back her shingle. Heading
over to James, he rolls his eyes.

“Everything alright?” he asks. Every head
immediately turns at the sound of his voice.

“Get back to it please,” Roland tells them.
“I have you little enough as it is.” They all return to their
writing with only the occasional, brief glance his way.

Sighing, he indicates for James to follow
him outside. Once outside, he keeps his voice low so as not to be
overheard by those within the barn. “Some are doing fine. Others
not so.”

“That’s to be expected,” replies James,
nodding.

“It’s slow going,” he says. “They’re fairly
tired out from the hours of practice they’ve put in with Illan
before they get to me.”

“Just do what you can,” offers James.

“I do, and they are improving,” he states.
“Some have their letters down and are moving onto whole words.
Errin is the brightest, I think Miko may be the next brightest in
this but he’s not here enough to keep up with the others.”

“I know and we’ll be leaving again tomorrow
too.”

“Off again?” he says. “You don’t like to
stay in one place very long.”