Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (4 page)

“Who?” he asks, not sure just who he’s
talking about.

“Qyrll,” Jiron clarifies. Qyrll is a Parvati
they met earlier in Cardri where Jiron saved him from an ignoble
and dishonorable existence bound to one who used him as a fighter
for sport. Though his people are part of the Empire, he and Jiron
had become fast friends. Qyrll had decided to travel with them
until he could repay the Shynti in kind.

During the battle for the Star in Ironhold,
he saved Jiron’s life and considered the debt paid. Just before
James and the others left for Madoc, he began heading back to his
homeland, deep within the Empire.

“Don’t see why not,” James replies. “Cardri
isn’t at war with the Empire, and though relations are strained, he
isn’t considered an enemy. He should be able to just walk across
the border with little problems.”

“I hope so,” he says. Jiron holds an odd
position with the Parvatis. He is a Shynti, which is a rare
designation they give to only the best and bravest of warriors. It
basically makes him one of them.

“With what’s coming ahead, you know we are
going to have to do battle with Parvatis at some point,” James
reminds him. The last time they were at Lythylla, the Parvatis were
a sizeable force within the Empire’s army.

“I know,” he replies. He hates to think they
may kill friends and relatives of those they met while in the
Parvati homeland, but such is the fortunes of war. Though the fact
that he was a Shynti worked to their advantage the last time they
were in Lythylla, he seriously doubts if it would have the same
effect as before.

They ride on until close to dark before
setting up camp. With this many, it takes some doing to get
everyone in their proper position. Illan was most adamant that each
of the groups set their tents together in the same area. But as the
journey has progressed, so has the ease with which everyone finds
their place. It’s almost reached the point of becoming routine.

In the hour before they stopped, they passed
one of those traveler’s stopovers with an inn. Though most were
hoping for the comfort of a bed, it was decided to pass it by.
James doesn’t want to let on, but he’s afraid one might talk while
among other people. He would like to minimize their contact until
the battle is joined. Less chance of a spy or rumor alerting the
enemy of their intentions.

A quick meal and then right to sleep, with
sentries posted. James, Illan and Delia are no longer part of the
sentry routine, they have plenty of others for that role. Mainly
it’s been the recruits with the old timers here and there keeping
an eye on them.

Early the next morning before the sun has
even crested the horizon, they’re preparing to get underway. By the
time the sun shows itself, they are already a mile further down the
road.

“Should reach Pyrtlin by this evening if we
keep a brisk pace,” Illan announces during one of their breaks to
rest the horses.

James nods that he heard while watching Delia
working with her slingers. During most of their breaks she cycles
through them, working with two or three at a time. Right now she
has Devin, Orry and Terrance. Devin and Orry have taken to the
sling with skill and are continuously improving both their
marksmanship and their range. Terrance on the other hand struggles
with just getting the bolt to go in the right direction.

“Again,” Delia says after all three of their
stones find their marks. Two hit dead center the tree a hundred
feet away while the third flew wide by a good two yards.

As Terrance sets the next stone in the pocket
of his sling, Delia comes over and says, “Stay loose. Never take
your eye off the target, not even for an instant.” Taking hold of
one of his legs, she moves it away from the other. “Keep yourself
balanced at all times,” she explains to him. “If you become
unbalanced while you twirl your sling, the shot will not fly
true.”

“Yes ma’am,” Terrance says as he grits his
teeth and takes hold of his sling. Terrance, a younger son of a
farmer had been excited when he became part of the new recruits at
The Ranch last year. Oh sure, there was a lot he didn’t care for,
such as the incessant drills and Illan yelling at you when you
didn’t do it perfectly. But he feels like he’s found his place in
the world. Farm life had always been pure drudgery to him, unlike
his other two brothers who were able to find satisfaction in
tending the crops.

Placing his feet just as Delia instructs him,
he takes sight of the tree they’re currently using for a target. He
takes a deep breath to relax and then starts twirling the sling
over his head. All the others have managed to achieve the whining
noise when the sling reaches a certain speed. Try as he might, he
just can’t seem to get it.

“Just relax and let it go when the time is
right, not before,” Delia says behind him.

He lets the sling twirl another second before
sensing the time was right and releases the stone. The sling opens
up and the stone flies rapidly toward the tree. He holds his breath
as he watches the stone arc through the air only to fly a foot to
the right of his intended target.

“Damn!” he curses under his breath.

Delia pats him on the back and says, “Better.
You keep yourself balanced at all times and keep practicing and
you’ll get it.” When he turns to look at her, she adds, “Four more
tries then we’ve got to go.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says and then reaches down
for another stone.

Delia turns to the two others and says, “Four
more.”

“We heard,” Devin replies.

Leaving her trainees to their practice, she
walks over to where Illan and James are standing, watching her.

“How are they doing?” Illan asks as she
approaches.

“Better,” she says. “I just wish we had more
time to practice.”

Thunk! Thunk!...............Poof!

At the sound of the stones hitting the
target, they turn to watch just as Terrance lets fly. His stone
again flies wide, this time by a good four feet.

Delia sighs, “He’s simply not getting
it.”

“He’ll be good enough for what I want him to
do,” James assures her.

“I hope so,” she says. “In an actual battle
it might be better to have him watch the horses.”

“We’ll see,” Illan says. “He definitely has
the determination.”

They watch the next pass, and again he misses
the target, this time by only a narrow margin. He turns to see them
watching and James gives him a thumb’s up. Grinning, he bends over
to pick up another stone.

When they began their practices on the road,
they complained about not using the slugs in their belts. Delia had
explained that she wanted them used to different sizes and weights.
“What are you going to do in the heat of battle when all your slugs
are used up?” she asked them. After that there was no more
complaining.

“Time to go,” Illan says after the slingers
have sent their final volley toward the tree. Out of the four
tries, Terrance had managed to strike the tree once.

“Alright!” Delia hollers to her slingers.
“Time to go!”

It takes but a minute for everyone to return
to the saddle and begin heading down the road. The rest of that
day, with the sun shining overhead in a cloudless sky, they make
good time and reach Pyrtlin before nightfall.

Finding a suitable spot outside of town, they
set up camp. Once all is settled in for the night, James turns to
Delia and says, “Take a couple of your slingers and see about
buying some rations.”

“Not a problem,” she says. Raising her voice,
she hollers, “Moyil, Jace and Caleb, bring your packs, we’re going
into town.”

Devin comes to James and says, “Your tent is
all set up.”

“Thanks Devin,” he replies.

Delia picks up her own pack as well as
several others and with the boys in tow, heads into town. Being a
trader, she is the logical choice for this particular duty.

As she heads into town, James walks over to
his tent. “You lyin’ piece of horse dung!” Scar’s voice reaches him
from where the fighters are bivouacked. He glances over to where
his voice came from and sees him standing with hands on hips facing
Uther. He pauses a moment to see what’s going on.

“I ain’t lyin’!” Uther insists. “We really
were asked by the High Lord of Jearinan to go on a hunting trip
with him. You see, it was after we had rescued his daughter
from…”

James shakes his head and continues on to his
tent.
Will that ever end?
He has no clue where Jearinan is
or if there is even a high lord. Someday he’s going to investigate
some of their outrageous claims, just to see if they are in fact
true.

As he enters his tent, their bickering
continues. At least it’s good natured, neither takes the insults
and accusations of the other seriously. James assumes it’s just
part of the fun. Inside he finds his cot already put together but
not much else. The first night Devin was assigned as his helper, he
had practically unpacked everything he brought with him. It took
almost two hours before everything was repacked securely. From that
point on, he told Devin to only put up the tent and cot, that if he
wanted something more, he would get it himself.

Lying down on his cot, he passes the time
until dinner has been prepared by thinking of what lies ahead. He
seems to have ample time to do nothing but think lately. Since he’s
the one in charge of this expedition, no one is letting him do
anything. He supposes they would even delegate someone to wipe his
butt if he let them. Well, perhaps not that but he’s been removed
from cooking detail, sentry duty and all the other daily little
chores which must be done. All he has to do is get on his horse in
the morning and off at night.

He has a fair idea of how to convince the
Empire to leave Madoc. With any luck it will actually work. First
order of business is getting Pytherian and the Ruling Council of
Madoc to agree to reconstruct the High Temple of Morcyth on the
exact spot where it had resided before. That shouldn’t be too hard,
if the agreement was to expel the Empire from the borders of
Madoc.

The last time he was within the city of
Lythylla, Councilman Rillian who was a member of the Ruling Council
had worked with the Empire to open the gates for their army. Little
love is lost between the councilman and James. He knows that should
he still be a member, he will work to prevent any agreement against
the Empire to come to fruition.

That is but one hurdle, the other is what the
Empire may throw at him once he joins the fray. Aside from the
mages and the priests of Dmon-Li which play a prominent part in
their forces, there could be more of those creatures he faced in
the pass on the way to Ironhold last fall. With any luck, there
won’t be all that many of those available or even something worse.
He does have some ideas on how to deal with them should they show
up again.

He must have dozed off for he’s startled
awake when Miko sticks his head in the tent to say, “Dinner’s
ready.”

“Be right there,” he says as he sits up. The
interior of the tent is dark, the sun must have gone down already.
Miko holds the flap open for him while he gets up and makes his way
outside.

From the entrance to his tent, he has a
commanding view of the Sea as it stretches eastward to the horizon.
A few boats are still upon its surface, the lights from their
lanterns visible in the deepening gloom of twilight as they make
their way home.

“Is Delia back yet?” he asks.

“Not yet,” replies Miko. “Illan said if she
wasn’t back soon he was going to send someone to find her.

“She should have been back by now,” he says
worried. He spies Illan over to the side near the campfire getting
a plate of food from Nerrin who pulled cook duty this evening. Son
of an innkeeper, he tends to cook better than most and pulls it
more often than the others. Miko they won’t allow to perform this
particular duty. Uther said he tried to poison them all the last
time. James had to admit the stuff he put in that concoction he
called stew didn’t go well together.

Walking over, he accepts a plate from Nerrin
and walks with Illan off to the side. “She’s not back yet?” he
asks.

Shaking his head, Illan replies, “No, she’s
not. Give her another half hour and we’ll send Scar and Potbelly to
find her.”

“Alright,” he agrees, concern in his
voice.

Jiron is eating with his sister Tersa near
the slingers’ area, Aleya and Errin are with them as well. Those
four tend to be together more than the others. A bond has grown
between Aleya and Errin, and it seems Tersa has begun to join their
group. Perhaps because they’re the only girls among all the men.
Delia, though a woman as well, is in a position of authority which
puts her at some distance from them.

“Finally!” Miko exclaims from the side of the
camp closest to Pyrtlin.

James looks up to see Delia returning with
the three lads in tow. The packs they’re carrying are bulging from
the food they acquired. He finishes the last of his food quickly
and hands his tray back to Nerrin on his way over to greet her. “We
were getting worried about you,” he says.

“Now don’t be fretting,” she says. “I ran
into someone I knew from back before the City fell and we got to
talking.”

Behind her James sees Moyil grinning and
gesturing with his hand, moving the fingers to the thumb over and
over while mouthing ‘yackity yackity yackity’. She glances over her
shoulder at him and he stops, all the while putting on an innocent
face. James can’t help but smile.

She must have caught what he was doing out of
the corner of her eye because her lips curl into a slight frown.
Turning back to James, she says, “We bought as much as we could
carry. The prices are more than we thought, things around here are
scarce. If we succeed, I may start trading between Cardri and
Madoc. There’s a profit to be made here.” Despite having put her
trading career on hold for the time being, she still sees things as
a trader would.