Tides of Faith: Travail of The Dark Mage Book Two (50 page)

Azhan shrugged. “Not having been the
one to post them, I am in no position to tell you where they are.
All I understand is that they are posted within sight of each other
and that there is little chance of passing beyond the safe area
without seeing them.”

Scar was little impressed. After all,
what one man could put up, another could take down. Should James’
whereabouts been discovered, someone could quite easily have
deduced their destination, especially after leaving Gyr. Then it
would have been a simple task of getting ahead of them and remove a
warning sign or two. But as was the case of most worrying, it was
for naught. Late the second day, the crossed-spar sign bearing a
human skeleton came into view.

“There it is,” Azhan
announced.

“Hope that poor fellow was dead
first,” muttered Kip.

“That would depend on who
placed the warning here, and who that fellow nailed to it used to
be,” Azhan replied. “As I understand it, mostly they used those who
succumbed to the
Waste
.”

“I guess that would be fitting,”
Shorty said. “Make their death mean something and all.”

James left them to their arguing and
went to the carriage.

The priests had jury-rigged a canopy
of sorts out of blankets and lengths of branches acquired along the
way. Not the most fashionable, but it kept the sun, what there was
of it, off Eddra.

She had yet to waken. Her injuries
were on the mend and looked to make a full recovery.

“I would dearly love to speak with her
before we part ways.”

Miko nodded. “As would I.”

“We’ll give it until
sunup,” James decided. “If she’s not awake by then we will make for
the ruins of
Ith-Zirul.”

“And these suits of yours will protect
us from this… uh… radiation.”

“Yes they will,” James assured him.
“We shall don them before we depart and not take them off again
until we return. I wish the Geiger Counter hadn’t broke.” When Miko
arched an eyebrow questioningly, James said, “These suits weren’t
designed to be worn for days on end.”

“I don’t see how that
matters.”

“If we are in a high concentration of
radiation…” he said leadingly, “and we got to pee…”

Light dawned and Miko smiled. “Could
be interesting.”

Scar and Potbelly laughed.

James glared at them. “Glad you think
it’s so funny. I’ll have you clean them when we get
back.”

Scar just laughed more.

A weak sound coming from the carriage
stilled another retort. Father Keller bent low and the glow of
Morcyth surrounded him and the woman. After a moment the glow faded
and he said, “I think she may be coming round.”

Everyone crowded around the carriage
until Miko shooed all but James and himself away. “We do not wish
to scare her.”

“Then just send Potbelly away,” Scar
quipped.

Potbelly swiped at his friend
playfully and they went to check on their supplies.

First the muscles of her face moved a
bit and then an arm twitched. A deep intake of breath and her good
eye cracked open. Her face remained swollen around her other eye;
it being puffy and all but closed.

“Eddra?” Miko said
soothingly.

Her eye moved to and fro slowly and
seemingly without purpose.

“Eddra,” he said again, “you are safe
now.”

Lips cracked open and a small sound
came out.

“Water,” Miko said and a flask was
handed to him.

Placing the opening to her lips, he
dribbled water into her mouth very slowly. First just to quench her
tongue, then a little more when it looked like she would be able to
swallow the liquid.

“Eddra,” Miko said yet again, “How are
you feeling?” When she failed to respond, he gestured for Azhan to
join them. “Ask her how she is doing?”

He spoke in the Empire’s tongue and
received no more of a response.

Her eyes closed again and she drifted
back into unconsciousness.

James looked worriedly to
Miko.

“She is old and recovery from the
stoning may require more time for someone of her advanced years,”
he said. “Or she may never recover.”

“I understand.”

“Either way, it is in the gods’ hands
now. It might be best to have Azhan and Hikai remain nearby in the
event she regains consciousness.”

James turned to his apprentices and
saw their nods.

“We shall remain vigilant,
Master.”

“Thank you.”

“We wish to be helpful,” assured
Hikai.

“In the meantime,” James said to Miko,
“let’s see about these suits. I’ve never worn one, but how hard
could they be?”

It took until the sun went down and
everyone’s help, useful and otherwise, before they figured out how
to accurately wear them. More than once James had mumbled how it
would have been nice had an instruction book been included. But
getting stuff from the surplus store isn’t like buying it off the
shelf at the local outfitters.

Standing in their dark
camouflage suits with the bulky mask with two large eyes made them
seem as if they were creatures right out of the
Waste
.

“You look like a bug, Uncle,” Jira
giggled.

His laugh was muffled behind the mask.
“I bet,” he replied. “I’m just glad we’re not doing this in the
heat of summer. Doubt if we’d survive.”

“I would have to agree,” Miko said,
pulling off his mask.

“Take plenty of water, Reverend
Father,” Father Vickor advised.

“That’s the plan,” James said.
Removing his mask felt so good even after just a few short minutes.
How will it be after three days or more? He tried not to think
about it.

“You two get a good night’s sleep,”
Scar said. “We’ll take care of the watch.”

“Indeed,” agreed Father
Keller.

In a low voice so as not to be
overheard, Father Vickor leaned close to James and said, “We’ll
keep an eye on your apprentices while you are gone.”

“I appreciate that.”

Removing the suits were a whole lot
easier than getting them on. Once off, James had dinner then laid
down in his bedroll near the fire. The others busied themselves
with sharpening weapons, mending clothes, and many other sundry
tasks required when on the road. He listened to their efforts,
their conversations until sleep finally took him.

It was just past midnight when a
little head poked itself out of its bedroll and looked around. Kip
and Father Keller had the watch; their silhouettes could be seen
against the greater dark of the desert as they walked the
perimeter. Scraps of their conversation drifted to her when their
path brought them close.

Jira would huddle down into her
blankets, feigning sleep until they passed. Then when they had
moved far enough away, she slipped from her bedroll. Moving with
all the stealth she could muster, she threaded her way past her
snoring father, stepped over her uncle’s apprentice, Azhan, and
then tip-toed beyond the reach of the light of the
campfire.

She held still for a moment, afraid
that she had been discovered. But when none woke and the two on
watch failed to react, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Moving into the night, she pulled out
the sliver of dried apple saved from dinner. She wouldn’t go far,
just far enough so her Little Brother would appear. Moonlight
guided her feet and the camp fell farther in the distance. The
campfire could still be seen so she knew she hadn’t gone too far.
Figuring she was far enough away so as not to be detected, she sat
cross-legged on the ground, set the piece of dried fruit on the
ground, then began to hum softly.

Her Little Brother never took long to
come and she had little time to wait before movement in the
darkness signaled he had come.

“Come here, Little Brother,” she said
softly. “I got a nice bit of apple for you tonight.” Reaching
forward, she nudged the apple slice forward. “It’s good…” Then she
resumed her humming.

The shadow moved closer and she
giggled in anticipation. But then her giggle died when the shadow
grew in size. A scream rose in her throat as a monstrous shape
rushed from the darkness. Before she could make a sound, four sharp
needles struck her in the neck; their poison paralyzed her vocal
chords and quickly spread to the rest of her body.

Unbeknownst to those at the camp, Jira
was dragged off into the dark.

“Now, young Kip,” Father Killer
continued, “Morcyth further tells us that knowledge is the true
power in the world.”

“That doesn’t make sense, Father.”
Kip’s response was filled with skepticism. “How can knowledge
overcome a man with a sword? Or an army?”

“The true power of knowledge lies in
its subtlety. If a man comes at you with a sword, and you know how
to use a bow, the swordsman dies. If a man comes at you with a bow,
and you know how to use a shield, the bowman dies. And think on
this, if knowledge is utilized to its fullest potential, you would
have found a way to prevent the man with the sword from coming
after you in the first place.

“Maybe he is coming after you for your
money? If so perhaps you could find him suitable employment to meet
his needs. Is he coming after you for a slight he perceived you
gave him? Then an apology or other recompense could alter his
desire to kill you. Never underestimate what a man with knowledge
is capable of.”

Still not entirely convinced, Kip
said, “Like the Dark Mage?”

Father Keller chuckled. “Yes, like the
Dark Mage. He has a fount of knowledge we could only dream of
sharing. Or so our Reverend Father has indicated.”

“I don’t know…”

The priest pats him on the shoulder.
“Understanding will come. It’s often a dish best seasoned with
age.”

From out of the darkness an
animalistic screech sounded. Kip and Father Keller spun around to
face it.

“What was that?” Kip asked.

Father Keller shook his head. “Never
heard the like before.”

It sounded again.

“Wake the others.” Taking Kip’s arm,
he added, “Quietly.” As Kip returned to camp, Father Keller drew
his sword.

Father Vickor was the first to join
him. Mace in hand, the one-time brawler stared out to the
darkness.

The screech sounded again.

James then Scar came to stand with
them. Jiron was next.

“Jira?”

Kip’s voice held an edge as it said
her name.

Jiron turned to find Kip standing with
her empty bedroll in hand.

“Jira!”
her father shouted.

Those still asleep snapped to full
wakefulness at the sheer force of his cry.

Turning to Father Keller, Jiron pulled
his knife and made a step toward the priest. “Where is
she?”

Miko stepped between them just as
another screech sounded further away in the distance.

“We did not see her leave,” Father
Keller said.

“Jira!” More than one voice now split
the quiet of the night. Between each series of shouts, they paused
to listen; the desert was silent.

“Spread out,” Scar said. “She couldn’t
have gone far. Maybe just to answer nature’s call.”

Visions of the mutilated creature’s
carcass found several nights ago flashed through Jiron’s mind. When
the screech sounded yet again, he bolted from the camp in the
direction from which it came.

Tinok took off after with Scar and
Potbelly close behind.

James grabbed Shorty’s arm. “Stay with
the camp and see to the old woman.”

The knife-thrower nodded.

He then bolted out with his two
apprentices hot on his heels. Miko joined him as did Father Vickor.
Father Keller and Kip remained behind with Shorty.

Jira remained fully conscious as the
creature carried her through the night. She wanted to scream and
have her father come rescue her, but the poison coursing through
her system prevented all but the most rudimentary bodily functions.
Lungs worked, heart pumped and she could see and smell.

The creature was like nothing she had
ever seen before. Large as a horse, part animal and part something
else, it ran on four legs like a horse yet it possessed two rubbery
appendages with which it gripped her to its underbelly. Instead of
a horse’s head it had one more rounded with two pair of antennae
like a bug. In her worst nightmares she could never have imagined
something so frightening.

From far off she heard another of
those frightening screeches. They only added to her terror. Were
they more of these creatures? Or something worse? She didn’t know.
All she hoped for was that either her father would arrive to save
her, or the poison would wear off so she could get to her knives.
They remained in their sheathes on her belt.