Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (57 page)

When the gates begin to swing open, he hands
the letter back to James and says, “Good evening to you sir.”

Returning the letter to his pouch, James
replies, “You too.”

Once the gate has opened wide enough to
allow them to pass through, they leave the city. After the last
rider has passed through, the guards close the gate behind them
with a thud.

James turns to Illan and says, “Which way
would see us to the Sea?”

He points to the northwest and says, “It
lies there, about a days ride.”

As they get moving, James asks him, “Think
there’ll be any enemy patrols along this side of the river?”

Shrugging, he replies, “Always a possibility
in these times. But the bridges spanning the river in this area
have been destroyed, all but the one here by Lythylla, and there’re
very few spots where an army can ford. Doubt if the Empire would
know of them. I hear we have watchers in those areas to give the
alarm just in case.”

“That’s reassuring,” says James.

Illan glances over to James, gives him a
quick smile with a nod and then continues riding.

Dawn is still many hours away, the sliver of
a moon giving some light to dispel the dark, though it doesn’t
illuminate much.

They decide to break away from the road that
runs along the river, figuring if any enemy were to be on this
side, they’d most likely be there. James sets Illan to lead as he
knows the area around here far better than anyone else. “There’s a
town further north on the Sea at the base of the foothills called
Seastar,” he tells them. “It’s not a large city but does have a
port that merchants sailing upon the Sea use from time to time. If
we’re lucky, we’ll find a ship there that will take us across.”

“Why Seastar?” asks Jiron.

“It’s far enough north that I’m hoping it
will be free of any enemy incursions,” he replies. “Plus, I was
born there.”

“That might help,” James adds.

“Certainly couldn’t hurt,” he says.

They travel on through the night for several
hours, riding fast and making good time. The few breaks they have
to rest the horses were short ones, the memory of the man who had
been listening at the door back at the inn pushing them
onwards.

When the sky begins to lighten with the
coming of the dawn, they see a patrol riding their way out of the
north. “It’s one of ours,” Illan assures everyone as he turns
toward the approaching riders.

“Kylun!” Illan cries out as he recognizes
the leader of the patrol.

“Illan, you son of a dog,” Kylun replies as
they meet and come to a stop. “I thought you were down by
Lythylla?”

“Were, but a lot has happened,” he replies.
As James and the rest draw near, Illan gestures to them and
continues, “This here is James, Jiron and Miko. The rest you
know.”

Nodding, Kylun says, “Good to meet you all.”
Then turning back to Illan, he asks, “What brings you to these
parts?”

“We’re on our way to Seastar to see about
sailing across the Sea,” he replies. “Is the way clear?”

“Yes,” he tells him. “We have the Empire
stopped at the river, though at times it’s touch and go. I heard a
large force is camped across from Lythylla.”

“It’s still there and looks like they plan
to stay for a while,” he tells him. “An attempt was made yesterday
to open the gate from within, but it was stopped and the enemy
beaten back. Councilman Rillian is rumored to have had a hand in
it.”

“Councilman Rillian?” he questions.

“That’s right,” replies Illan. “Though Lord
Pytherian doesn’t think there’s enough evidence to move against
him, we know he was involved.”

“We’ve heard rumors too,” he says. “Though
just vague things about possible dealings with the Empire before
the war, things like that. As you say, not enough to do anything
about.”

Before Illan can say anything more, Kylun
says, “Say hello to my family for me when you get there, okay?
We’re on our way to patrol this side of the river, making sure they
haven’t managed to cross over.”

“Good to see you again,” Illan says.

“You too, and good luck.” Turning to his
fellows, Kylun says, “Move out!”

Illan sits there a moment as he watches the
patrol ride away before saying, “We grew up together in
Seastar.”

As they begin moving again, James says,
“Seems like a nice enough fellow.”

“He is,” says Illan wistfully. Then, coming
back to the present, he continues, “At least we have little to fear
as far as running into the enemy between here and Seastar is
concerned.”

“That’s reassuring,” comments Jiron from
behind them.

Resuming their previous pace, they ride
through the plains as the sun begins to peak over the horizon. As
they ride, they see other patrols moving along the plains. Every
once in a while, someone would holler a greeting to Illan as they
pass.

“You seem well known here,” comments
Uther.

“Like I said, I grew up here,” he reminds
him.

When the sun has risen a ways above the
horizon, they begin to see the glistening of the Sea ahead of them.
James reflects back to the time when he was on the other side, now
seeming so long ago. So much has happened since then.

Running north and south next to the
shoreline is a well maintained road. Refugees from the south are
plodding away on it as they seek safety to the north. Some with
carts and wagons loaded with what belongings they were able to
bring, others only having a pack on their backs. Children walk
beside parents, often as not carrying their belongings as well.

One mother had three children who were
pulling a cart with a fourth child lying within. When James comes
abreast of the wagon, he sees the poor boy sick with a fever of
some sort. Reaching into his pouch, he pulls out two gold coins and
hands them to the woman. “Here,” he tells her, “use this to help
your boy.”

With tears in her eye, she looks up at him
and takes the coins, “Thank you good sir!”

“You’re welcome,” he says as he kicks his
horse to join the others who had begun to pull away from him as
they continue following the road north.

When he catches up with them, Illan glances
from him then back at the mother and says, “That was nice of
you.”

“We do what we can,” he replies.

“True,” agrees Illan. “Though most wouldn’t
even have bothered themselves that way.”

“If you ride with James long enough,” Miko
pipes up, “you’ll learn to get used to it.”

James glances back at him and sees him there
with a big grin on his face. He returns the grin, but not for the
reason Miko thinks. It’s because Miko is beginning to become more
of his old self. It seems the effects of the Fire wear away after a
while. Not the increase in size and muscle, but the effects it has
on his spirit. It kind of dampens it, making him more solemn and
serious. To see the adolescent side again gives James hope that
Miko isn’t too far gone.

“How much further?” he asks Illan.

“Another hour, maybe two,” he replies.

Sure enough, a little over an hour later,
they begin to see the outline of a city on the horizon. “Seastar,”
Illan informs them. Several merchant ships can be seen out on the
water, one’s pulling away from the docks and there are three others
still moored there.

“Looks like we’re in luck,” Uther says when
he sees the ships at the docks. “One of those should be able to
ferry us over to the far side of the Sea.”

“I hope so,” says James.

Seastar has a defensive wall, though it’s
not very high or thick. The road travels to the southern edge of
the wall and passes through the gate there. Four guards are there,
helping to keep the traffic of refugees and soldiers moving along
quickly. Off to the east of the wall, a refugee camp can be seen.
Hundreds, maybe thousands of displaced people mill around the
makeshift camp. Soldiers can be seen in and around the area keeping
order and generally helping the people. A couple wagons are
unloading sacks and boxes of food to waiting people.

When they arrive at the gates, Illan hollers
to one of the guards, “Shoen!”

Shoen looks up from where he’s supervising
the others and breaks into a smile when he sees who just addressed
him. “Illan!” he cries as he moves toward him, extending his hand.
“Didn’t expect to see you for quite some time.”

Illan takes his hand and gives it a firm
shake before saying, “Can’t stay and talk I’m afraid. We need to
see about a ship to take us across the Sea.”

“There’s a couple at anchor, I know,” he
informs him. “But don’t know whether they’ll take you all the way
to the other side?”

“We have a letter from Lord Pytherian
requesting any and all to aid us,” he explains.

Nodding, he smiles and says, “That should
make some merchant happy.” They both begin laughing hard at that,
several others standing around who hear that join in as well. “Good
luck!” wishes Shoen. “It was good to see you.”

As Illan begins moving to pass through, he
says, “You too, Shoen.”

Shoen waves them on through, then goes back
to making sure the traffic continues to flow smoothly through the
gate.

Illan leads them through and once on the
other side, takes the street heading down toward the docks. “Let’s
see about a ship first, before they have a chance to get away,” he
tells them. “Once we have one to agree to take us, we can find an
inn should we have the time.”

“Alright,” agrees James.

You’d think Illan had returned a hero the
way everyone greets him as he moves down the street. He handles it
all well, only slowing when absolutely necessary. “He sure is
popular around here,” observes Miko as he watches Illan wave to the
people on the streets.

“He’s well liked by everyone who knows him,”
Uther comments when he hears Miko. “Never sure why he joined up
with us, but I suppose he has his reasons.” Lowering his voice, he
continues, “Some of us believe he lost his wife during the war and
wants revenge. But no one knows for sure.”

Miko stares at Uther’s back and nods.

Looking down to the end of the street, they
can see the water of the Sea and the masts of the ships at dock.
The few buildings bordering the docks have the look of warehouses
and Illan continues on past and stops at a small building sitting
at the entrance to the docks. “Dockmaster,” he tells them as he
dismounts. James and Jiron dismount as well, the others remain on
their horses.

Illan steps up to the door with them right
behind and pushes it open. Inside, they find a man sitting behind a
desk covered in a disorganized pile of papers. He looks up from
where he’s making notations on one of them and a smile breaks
across his face when he sees who it is.

Getting up, he says, “Illan! What brings you
back here?” Moving around the desk, he gives Illan a big hug,
careful not to get the ink on his fingers on the back of Illan’s
shirt.

“Marko,” he says, returning the hug, “didn’t
know you were the new Dockmaster.”

Releasing him, Marko says, “Have been for a
year now, ever since Yeurn got married to that woman from the
City.” Stepping back two steps, he continues, “It’s good to see you
again.”

“I’m afraid I can’t stay long,” he explains.
“We have need to reach the other side of the Sea and were hoping to
be able to get someone to take us.”

His smile fades somewhat as he says,
“Nothing serious I hope? The Empire isn’t on its way here is
it?”

Shaking his head, he says, “Nothing like
that. Our forces still have them on the other side of the Etterling
River.”

“That’s good news,” he says with relief. “We
haven’t had much news lately about the war. Just what the refugees
tell us as they pass through.”

Gesturing to the ships at the dock outside,
he asks, “Which one of those would be our best bet?”

“You might try the Sea Strider, it’s the one
all the way at the end,” he says. “Derrin Nellix is the captain,
and he’s leaving shortly for the far side. Don’t know if he’ll take
on passengers, but you can try.”

“Okay, we’ll do that, thank you,” he says as
he holds out his hand to his friend.

Taking the hand, Marko shakes it vigorously
and says, “You’re welcome. If you’ll be staying in town, I’d love
it if you could come and have dinner with me and Pauline.”

“We’ll see,” he replies. “Probably have to
dine with my family first, though. They’d never let me hear about
it if I didn’t.”

Marko laughs at that. “I think you’re right.
Well, good luck.”

Illan nods his head and then turns to leave.
James and Jiron back out, giving him room to pass through the
door.

“Why didn’t you tell him about Lord
Pytherian’s letter?” James asks. “Wouldn’t that have expedited it
better?”

“Why use it if we don’t have to?” he asks.
“Besides, he’s not the one we have to convince.”

Returning to where the others are waiting,
he says, “Might be in luck, you just wait here while we go down to
the ship to arrange things.”

“Alright,” Uther says for everyone. He gets
down off his horse, the others following suit. “If we’re to wait
longer, I’m not going to do it on horseback.”

“You got that right, man” agrees Jorry.

Illan leaves them behind as he, James and
Jiron walk down to the end of the docks where sailors are busy
transferring cargo from several wagons onto the ship resting
against the dock.

Coming to the wagons, he catches the
attention of one of the seaman returning from the ship for another
box and asks, “Is Captain Nellix on board?”

The sailor doesn’t even pause as he replies,
“Yes he is.” Grabbing another box, he starts to return to the
gangplank.

“Can we speak with him?” Illan asks the
sailor.

“I’ll ask him,” he says just before reaching
the gangplank.