The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (45 page)

Once James and Dave are on the stairs and
out of sight, Uther gives Miko and Jiron a look saying ‘This ain’t
over yet’.

After another hour of searching, they meet
back at the inn where they have lunch before setting out once more.
The sun continues its path across the sky and begins to drop toward
the mountain peaks to the west. When the sun is close to passing
behind the peaks, they decide to go out once more before calling it
a night.

“Maybe we should stop now?” suggests Miko.
Eyeing the sun’s proximity to the top of the mountains he’s worried
about being within Ironhold when the sun disappears.

“Just a quick search,” James tells everyone.
“Check two more buildings and then return here. We’ll start in a
different area tomorrow.”

“I don’t think you’re going to find anything
here,” Dave grumbles.

Turning to his friend, James says, “There
has to be something, Ellinwyrd wouldn’t have said to come here if
there wasn’t.”

Fifer pauses on his way into town, turns
back and says, “He could be mistaken. Everyone makes mistakes.”

“I’ve considered that,” he says and then
stalks off. Dave has to hurry to keep from being left behind. Doubt
has been creeping in ever since nothing was found right away. Maybe
it’s just pride or stubbornness, but he feels to the core of his
being that this is where he needs to be.

A half hour later after another fruitless
search they reconvene by the horses. The sun by this time has
dipped behind the peaks. Though the town is now in shadow, the
peaks to the east still have the sun’s rays upon them.

Mounting, they move out and head to the edge
of town. They follow the road for a mile or so before coming to a
good spot where they can camp and still keep the town in sight.
“Don’t you think we’re a bit close?” asks a nervous Miko.

Turning his gaze upon him, James puts his
hands on his hips and vents the frustrations of the day. “I’m sick
and tired of you whining about this and complaining about that! If
you don’t want to stay here, then by all means you’re more than
welcome to move further away. I am staying here.”

Miko’s eyes reveal the hurt he feels from
the words his friend just spoke. “Didn’t mean that,” he says
softly. He then turns away and moves across to the other side of
the camp where he rolls out his bedroll and lies down.

“Kind of hard on him weren’t you?” Jiron
asks.

Sighing, James says, “Probably. But there
comes a time when a man has to grow up and stop being scared of
everything. It was cute when he was younger, but now he needs to
start facing his fears.”

“How can you say that after all we’ve been
through?” accuses Jiron. James starts to turn away and Jiron takes
him by the shoulder and pulls him back. Eyes locking, he says,
“Miko has been your stalwart companion from the beginning and he
deserves better. From what you both have told me, he’s saved your
life on numerous occasions when he was scared. He’s cautious, yes.
But don’t you ever confuse that with cowardice!”

Sighing, James nods his head and says,
“You’re right.” He glances over Jiron’s shoulder and sees Miko
stretched out on the ground turned to face out of camp. “I better
go talk with him.”

“That would be a good idea,” agrees Jiron.
“The rest of us will take care of the fire and dinner.”

“Thanks,” he says as he starts heading
toward Miko. He doesn’t take two steps when from behind him he
hears Jiron say to Dave, “Come on, we’re on wood duty.” Dave’s
complaining accompanies him all the way to where Miko lays.

“Uh, Miko,” James says as he comes to stop
next to him.

“What?” he says, face remaining turned
away.

“I’m sorry for what I said.” He comes around
to the other side. “You’re too good a friend for that.”

“It’s alright,” he says. “You’re right
though, I do complain more than I aught.”

“No it’s not,” James tells him. Sitting down
next to him, he glances at him and then says, “I’m just frustrated
by not finding anything today. I took it out on you and I shouldn’t
have.”

Giving James a crooked smile he says, “If
you can’t blow up at your friends once in a while, then what good
are they? I’m not mad. I know you have a lot on your mind.”

“Glad you feel that way,” James says
sincerely. He gives him a smile and then glances over across the
camp where Dave has just returned with an armful of wood. He’s
standing there staring at them, emotions running through his face
which James is unable to make head or tails of. The only thing he’s
sure of is that they’re not good ones.

Sighing, he says, “I’m going to help the
others.” Patting Miko on the shoulder, he gets to his feet and
comes over to where Dave is standing.

“Need any help?” he asks.

Whatever emotions had been there before are
gone now. Giving him a shake of the head, he says good naturedly,
“Naw, we got it covered.” He puts his load of wood down near the
fire and then returns to the trees for another.

He watches his friend for a second before
going over to where Fifer is working to get the fire going. Sitting
down, he glances around and then asks, “Where’s Qyrll?”

Jerking his head in the direction of
Ironhold, he replies, “Over there. Said he wanted to see if there
were any ghosts walking the streets.”

Looking in the direction indicated, he sees
him leaning against a tree as he looks out over the town. “Hope he
doesn’t find any.”

“Me too,” agrees Fifer.

They get the fire going to dispel the cold
of the mountains. If they thought it was cold down on the plains,
it’s downright frigid here at the base of the mountains. The wind
whips the cold air down from the upper elevations and with the
setting of the sun, the temperature drops rapidly.

Breaking out the rations, they have their
meal while the light continues to fade. Qyrll takes his meal over
to his position looking out over the town. The heat from the fire
doesn’t reach that far but he doesn’t seem to mind. His people live
in mountains so he most likely can take the cold better than
most.

The others come to join him from time to
time but the cold always drives them back to the fire. By the time
they determine it’s time for sleep, no ghosts or spirits have yet
to make their appearance.

Throughout the night, those on watch kept a
constant vigil on the town below. Though their imaginations played
games with them and gave several a brief scare, nothing ever
happened.

When the sun is about to crest the peaks to
the east, they’re already on their horses and heading down to
Ironhold. James takes them to another section of town away from
where they searched the day before. Another day, maybe two and
they’ll have this whole town searched.

On the way down, Miko asks, “Why don’t you
use your magic in the search?”

“For some reason, the thought of doing magic
here bothers me,” he explains. “Can’t really explain it more than
that. If after we’ve thoroughly searched the entire town and come
up empty, then maybe I will.”

“What about the mines?” Jiron asks. When
James glances back at him he clarifies, “Maybe what Ellinwyrd meant
were the mines and not the town at all.”

“You may be right,” James concedes. “We’ll
begin searching there after we’ve finished with the town.” There is
one small road, hardly wide enough for a single wagon which they
saw earlier, leading away from town to the west. One of Ironhold’s
mines could lay down there.

By the time they get to the starting point
for the day’s search, the traffic from the north and south begins
rolling through. At first the quicker riders appear and then
shortly after them roll in the caravans, only two it looks like
today. One is heading north and the other south. Some of the
travelers take note of them dismounting but none stop to offer a
greeting, merely shaking their heads as they hurry on their
way.

“Just like yesterday,” he says. “Comb the
town in pairs and stick together. We don’t need anyone getting lost
or separated.” Glancing to the jokesters of the day before he says,
“No fooling around today. Got it?”

“Sure,” assures Jorry, the others nod their
agreement.

“Alright then,” James says.

Jorry and Uther give Miko and Jiron a
sidelong glance which is returned. James notices and sighs.
Why
do I even bother?

“We’ll be okay,” offers Fifer. Giving James
a nod, he and Qyrll head off as they begin searching the buildings
leading into town. Dave and James take the buildings going to the
left and Jiron and Miko to the right. Jorry and Uther head further
into town past where Fifer and Qyrll are searching.

Building after building, they search but to
no avail. No sign indicating Morcyth or anything else is
discovered. They continue to check back in by the horses every
hour. Jiron suggests they could cover more area if they didn’t have
to come back all the time but James says he would rather it take
longer than have something happen to one of them.

During the last hour before they have to
return before noon, Miko and Jiron are leaving a home where it
looked as if a large family had lived. Within were many rooms, some
still containing the remnants of fine furniture.

“I don’t think this town has what James is
looking for,” grumbles Miko.

“Either do I,” agrees Jiron.

“Then why are we here?” he asks.

Sighing, he turns to Miko and says, “Because
James says to. He’s proved us wrong before when we thought what he
was doing didn’t make any sense.”

“True,” he agrees.

At one point Miko asks him if he plans on
continuing the jokes on Jorry and Uther but Jiron shakes his head.
“James is right, we need to finish this and get out of here.” He
pauses a moment and says, “Of course if they do something then we
should hardly just take it without retaliation.”

Miko likes the sound of that. So not only is
he looking for signs of Morcyth but is keeping on the lookout for
the next prank Jorry and Uther may pull.

Walking back onto the street, Jiron gestures
to a rundown building across the street and says, “Should we try
this one before heading back?”

“Alright,” agrees Miko just before his
stomach sounds off with a loud rumble, “but let’s not take too
long.”

Jiron gives him a grin and they cross the
street. The door is closed but opens readily enough when Jiron
turns the handle. It’s a three story residence and Jiron offers to
check the upper floors while Miko searches the ground floor.

The one part of this Miko likes is opening
all the old chests and boxes lying around. So far he’s found quite
a number of interesting objects, not to mention the odd coin or
two. As Jiron hits the stairs to search above, he leaves the front
room and enters the kitchen area.

Opening the various cabinets he finds them
all empty. A door is set in the far wall, and he walks over to it.
Grasping the handle he pulls it open and finds a walk-in pantry on
the other side. Old rotted containers still line the shelves,
whatever they had once contained is long gone. He moves inside as
he checks for anything which may have been left behind. He’s become
quite the scavenger.

Not finding anything he turns to leave and
takes two steps before coming to stop. A cold chill runs through
him and his heart skips a beat at what he sees in the other room.
Standing there, looking directly at him is a figure of a man, gaunt
and pale. The skin is pulled tight to his bones and his hair is
scraggly, looking like it has fallen out in patches. Clutched in
one hand is a pickaxe such as a miner would use.

The instant of fright leaves him as he says,
“Alright guys, enough is enough. You’re not fooling anyone.”

When the figure makes no reply and continues
to stand there staring at him, his feelings of unease return. Fear
begins to take him again as he comes to realize this isn’t Uther or
Jorry.

Standing there frozen in fear, Miko is
speechless as they both gaze upon the other. Then the miner’s mouth
begins to move but nothing comes out as he turns slightly toward
Miko. Taking a step forward, he reaches out his other hand as if to
grab him.

The movement of the miner breaks the spell
fear had over him and Miko lets out with a god awful inarticulate
scream of fear as he backpedals into the pantry. Reaching out in
panic, he takes hold of the pantry door and pulls it closed behind
him.

Moving as far back as he can, he stands
there in the dark, eyes locked to the door afraid the miner will
open it and come for him. The darkness of the pantry does nothing
to alleviate the terror that continues to rifle through him.

Suddenly, the door swings open and he sees
Jiron standing there, knife in hand. “What happened?” he asks. Then
he sees the wide eyed, pale expression on Miko’s face.

“He was standing there!” Miko says, pointing
to the other room.

“Who?” Jiron asks. “Who was standing here?”
Looking around the kitchen, he doesn’t see anything.

“A miner,” he says. “I think he was
dead.”

Reaching his hand out to him, Jiron asks,
“Were they playing another joke on you?”

Shaking his head vehemently, he says, “No,
it wasn’t them.”

“Come on, let’s go tell James,” he says.

Nodding, Miko takes the hand and leaves the
panty. Reentering the kitchen, his eyes dart around for the gaunt
miner but other than him and Jiron, the kitchen is empty. Coming to
where the miner had stood he says, “He was standing right here!” He
takes hold of Jiron’s shirt and says, “He was reaching for me.”

“Calm down,” Jiron says as he leads him out
of the building. “He’s not here now.”

On their way to find James, they run across
Fifer and Qyrll who join them. Jiron gives them a brief rundown of
what happened as they continue moving toward where James and Dave
are hunting. Jorry and Uther are nowhere in sight.