The star of Morcyth ms-5 Page 24

  Everyone in the room is watching the unfolding event to see what’s going to happen. They know Arkie is about to throw, but James appears unconcerned. Ezra is simply beside herself. She wants to stop him but had seen James’ indication to Roland to leave him alone. Hitting the master of the house with a mushy tuber simply is not to be encouraged.

  Then all of a sudden, Arkie grabs a tuber from off his plate and with a squeal, launches it at James. Just before the tuber reaches him, he feels a tingling spike as the crystal in his pocket creates a shield around him.

  Splat!

  The tuber strikes the shield three inches from his head. Everyone looks to James in surprise and he returns their gaze with a satisfied smile. Then all of a sudden, the shield disappears and the tuber, now no longer upheld by the presence of the shield, falls. Striking his shirt, it leaves a trail all the way down to his lap.

  He sees Arkie again pick up a tuber and this time he doesn’t interfere in Roland’s attempt to discipline his child.

  “What happened?” Miko asks incredulously.

  “Just something I was working on,” he replies. “I’ll not go into detail about it.”

  “It stopped the tuber,” Illan says.

  “And anything else speeding toward me,” replies James.

  “Anything?” asks Miko.

  “Anything,” confirms James.

  Miko suddenly grabs a large tuber and launches it at James.

  Surprised by the attack, he leans back in his chair as the shield suddenly springs to life and stops the flying tuber. The tuber disintegrates and plasters the shield with a large area of tuber pieces. Then, just as it had before, when there was no longer something coming at him, the shield disappears. James scoots back quickly but not fast enough to avoid being hit when the mashed tuber is no longer supported by the shield and falls.

  “Miko!” cries out Ezra. Enough is enough.

  He looks and sees the anger in her eyes. No one acts that way at her table. “Sorry,” he says in his most apologetic tone.

  “It’s nice to see I’ll have some help cleaning the dishes after the meal today,” she says, never once taking her eyes off him.

  James stands up, tuber coating him from chest to groin. The others on the table break into a laugh. Arkie looks around at everyone, thankful that the attention has been diverted from him, and joins in with a high pitched squeal of delight.

  “Guess I’ll have to work on that,” he says. Taking one more piece of meat off his plate, he leaves the kitchen and heads to his room to get a change of clothes. He’s not about to bathe twice the same day, at least not unless it’s warmer outside.

  While he changes his clothes, he thinks he may need to make it that once the shield is activated, it will need his vocal authorization to cancel itself. He remembers back to when he and Jiron were coming back from Saragon and that magical attack he fought off by the other warrior priest. There are definitely times when it would be bad for the shield to disappear, such as when a flesh eating goo is covering it. He can still recall what happened to that captain at Mountainside when the shield disappeared and the goo hit him. Wasn’t a pretty sight.

  Before he’s done, Miko appears at his door and says, “Sorry.”

  James gives him a smile and says, “I’m not mad.”

  “I didn’t think you would be, but Ezra told me to come and apologize,” he says with a grin.

  “You don’t want to be on her bad side,” James tells him.

  “Don’t I know it,” he says, rolling his eyes. “I have a whole afternoon of cleaning and other chores I’m sure.” Then his mischievous grin appears and says, “But it was worth it!”

  James laughs, claps him on the shoulder and they both return to the kitchen. On the way, he stops by the door to the room Dave now calls his own. Not much more than a walk-in closet really but at least it’s private.

  “Good luck,” Miko says as he continues on to the kitchen.

  Opening the door, he finds Dave lying curled up on his bed. His eyes open at the sound of the door opening. When he sees James standing there, he says, “Come on in.”

  James enters and closes the door. A very little amount of light enters through the cracks in the wall, giving them enough to see each other. He comes to sit on the edge of the bed as Dave sits up. “You okay?” he asks, concern in his voice.

  Dave is silent for a moment and then replies, “I just want to go home.”

  “I know,” replies James. “So do I.”

  “Do you?” he asks. “Do you really?”

  Taken aback by the question, James asks, “How can you even ask that? Of course I do.”

  “Why?” he asks. “You were nothing there. Here you are a powerful mage, have a house and many friends. I remember you always used to say how great it would be if you had magical abilities. The things you would do. Can’t imagine that you would want to give all that up.”

  James sits back a moment and thinks about what Dave said. Does he really want to go back home? Up till now, he thought the answer would be a resounding yes. But after what Dave just said, he now understands what he would be giving up if he went back.

  “Thought not,” Dave says. “If you’ll excuse me now, I’m feeling kind of tired.” Lying down in bed, he turns his face to the wall.

  James sits there a moment before getting up. “You get some rest, tomorrow we’re heading north.”

  Dave doesn’t comment just lies there quietly.

  Opening the door, James takes another glance at his lifelong friend and feels like a wall of some kind has grown between them. Saddened, he closes the door and leaves his friend to rest.

  As he passes through the kitchen he finds Miko already clearing the dishes from the table. He pauses a moment intending to tell Ezra to go easy on him, but then decides against it. She can always use the help. Arkie has been removed from his chair and is now over in the corner on a pallet nestled with his teddy bear. He often takes a nap there right after lunch.

  Leaving the kitchen he heads over to his workshop where he continues working to perfect his automated defensive device. Trying to put Dave out of his mind, he works on making it so the shield will remain active once it’s been activated even if nothing further is flying toward him.

  When at last he has it just the way he wants it and has tested it several times, there still remains one small problem. He can sense it while it is active. Of course when it is deactivated, it doesn’t work. So the problem is, if he has it active to protect him, then any mage in the vicinity will pick up on it. The tingling is slight, but there none the less.

  He then works on applying several other spells into it that may be useful in different circumstances. Not too many, the more complicated it becomes, the more chance of something going wrong. It takes awhile but he at last gets it pretty much the way he wants.

  When he finally leaves the workshop for the night, he takes it with him and puts it into his pack. He intends to take it with him on the way to Ironhold in the morning. It may come in useful. Returning to the house, he finds Dave still in his room. He joins the others in the front room as they spend their evening time together.

  The rigors of the day at last begin to catch up with him and he heads off to bed, again the first one. Once in his room, he’s quick to undress and slip under the covers. Worries of Dave and what may be found at Ironhold spin through his mind as he fades away to sleep.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The following morning dawns bright and sunny. When James leaves his room there’s a slight chill in the air despite the sun having been up for an hour. On the way to the kitchen for his breakfast, he stops by Dave’s room and finds it empty. He worries about his friend until he arrives at the kitchen and finds him there eating breakfast with the others.

  “I would like you to take Fifer and Qyrll with you as well,” Illan tells him after he’s taken his seat. “The Empire still wants you. Also, if you’re going to Madoc, there’s no telling what may happen.”

  “Sure
,” replies James. He glances over to Dave and when their eyes meet, gives him an encouraging smile. Dave’s face breaks into his familiar jovialness which greatly relieves him. Hopefully last night was simply a low ebb in his mood and he’s now out of it.

  “Where’s Jiron?” he asks.

  Roland nods his head toward the door and says, “Outside with Aleya. Seems they’ve been getting into it since your return.”

  “Nothing serious I hope?” he says.

  Shrugging, he replies, “Who knows? They’re both in love but too stubborn to admit it. At least Aleya won’t, Jiron wears his heart out on his sleeve for all to see.”

  He shakes his head. Then it dawns on him that it’s still early yet and Illan isn’t doing the morning drills with the recruits. “No drills today?” he asks.

  Illan shakes his head and says, “They need at least one day every other week away from drills. Keeps them fresh and better able to learn. Half have returned to their homes for a brief visit, the others will have their turn later this afternoon.”

  “You’re not keeping yourself too low in the event of an attack are you?” he asks worried. Already they’ve had to fend off two attacks since the founding of The Ranch.

  “Shouldn’t be a problem,” he assures him.

  For the remainder of the meal, they talk about small things having to do with The Ranch. Tersa tells him that Delia is finding wide demand for her bears and that she can’t make enough.

  “Just make what you can,” he says. “Don’t short the customer on quality and they’ll always be back.”

  “I don’t,” she says. “It’s just that Delia always wants more than what I’ve done.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he tells her. “Just means the ones you do make will sell all the better.” Finishing up the last bite of eggs on his plate, he stands up and announces, “We’re leaving in ten minutes.”

  The others quickly finish what’s left on their plates and proceed to the barn to get the horses ready for travel. James gestures for Dave to accompany him and they head out to the workshop.

  “You doing better this morning?” he asks.

  “Much,” he replies. “Don’t know what got into me last night.” They walk the rest of the way to the workshop in silence. When James opens the door and enters, Dave adds, “I’ve had bouts of depression ever since I got here.”

  “Could be just a reaction from your time in the Empire,” James suggests.

  “Probably,” he replies. “I have nightmares almost every night about what happened.” He takes James by the arm and says, “I’m sorry if I haven’t been much of a friend lately.”

  Pausing, he turns back to his friend, “Don’t worry about it. If a friend can’t help another out when they’re going through a hard time, what good is he?”

  He checks the receiver crystal and finds it still quiescent. It’s unlikely he’ll ever see it active, but you never know. Moving to his desk, he reaches down to the sack of crystals and takes out six and puts them into his belt pouch.

  “What do you need those for?” Dave asks.

  “Emergencies,” he explains. He also has the automatic shield one as well. He takes a small swath of cloth and wraps it to keep it separate from the others.

  By the time they leave the workshop and head over to the barn, the others have the horses saddled and are waiting. James and Dave come over and mount the two ready for them.

  “Be back when I do,” he tells Roland. “Not sure when that will be, though I’m hoping before winter sets in.”

  “We’ll keep things going here,” he says. “At least the house will be done when you return.”

  “That will be nice.” Turning to the others who are coming with him, he says, “Let’s go. Jiron, take the lead.”

  As they move out, Jiron moves to the fore with James right behind, Dave on one side and Miko on the other. Behind them ride Jorry and Uther, Fifer and Qyrll bringing up the rear.

  Since Kraegan said Ironhold lies in the north of Madoc, they’re going to the more northern pass through the Silver Mountains. With any luck, the war over there hasn’t reached that far and they’ll avoid any and all Empire forces. Once on the other side, he’s hoping to be able to ask the locals for directions to Ironhold.

  Keeping a brisk pace, they’re able to make it to the town of Wurt on the shores of Crystal Lake that first night. So far the trip has been uneventful and they stay at the same inn they stayed in that first night back when they were on their way to hide the Fire.

  Dave remains cheerful all day, even managing to crack a joke now and then. To James, this is the old Dave, the Dave he remembers from back home. Seeing him act this way eases the worry he’s been feeling for his friend.

  The following morning when he rises, he finds clouds moving in from the west. How he misses riding in cars. The radio, the speed and not to mention the fact that when it rains you don’t get wet. Sighing, he wakes up Dave and they head down to the common room for breakfast.

  A quick meal and they’re once more on their way. They continue along the road as it follows the shore of Crystal Lake. By noon the clouds have completely blotted out the sun and not long after that it begins to rain. Not a hard rain, but enough for them to break out their rain gear.

  James acquired a wide brimmed hat and poncho for just such an emergency. When he has it on, Dave says, “You look like some Mexican out of the old west.”

  Grinning at his friend, he says, “Better than being wet.”

  When the light begins fading with the coming of dusk, they come to a town situated on the northern shore of Crystal Lake. “Should we stay here or continue on?” Jiron asks.

  “We’re not in any hurry,” James says, “Let’s find a spot here. Beats the heck out of sleeping on the ground in the rain.”

  “Thought you might say that,” he says.

  The town as it turns out is called Crystal City. Despite such a name, it is just another fishing village, though larger than most they’ve come through since leaving Wurt. They find an inn with a sign outside depicting a fat fish lounging in a bed.

  Inside, they find the proprietress of the Fat Flounder, a rather jovial fat woman who greets them warmly. Arranging for rooms and stall space for their horses, they’re soon settled in and having dinner down in the common room.

  Outside, the sound of the rain beating against the windows tells them it’s increased in severity. James is quite glad they didn’t decide to continue on in this weather. Tomorrow will be soon enough.

  No bard makes an appearance while they eat so they make do with conversation. During the course of their meal, a serving girl is bringing over another round of ale to their table when she’s accidentally tripped by another customer who stood up from his chair abruptly.

  Two of the mugs she was carrying on her platter fall off and hit Dave in the head, dousing him with ale.

  James begins to chuckle at the sight but then it dies on his face when he sees the expression coming to Dave’s face.

  “You stupid girl!” Dave says as he comes to his feet. Red faced and dripping with ale, he turns on her and strikes her across the face. “Don’t you know how to carry a few measly mugs?”

  “Dave…” James begins to say when Jiron comes to his feet.

  “Relax,” Jiron says to Dave. “It was just an accident.”

  The room has grown silent as everyone there watches the events unfolding at their table. Face turning red from where Dave had slapped her, the girl begins to tear up as she says, “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry!” yells Dave. “I’ll show you sorry!” He makes to step toward her when Jiron grabs his shoulder. Turning around, he looks with eyes burning in anger at him and throws a punch.

  Almost without effort, Jiron blocks the attack and in two lightning fast punches has Dave on the ground. “Apologize to her,” he says as he stands over him.

  “Jiron,” James says trying to calm the situation down.

  From the kitchen the large proprietress enters the comm
on room. Upon seeing the whole room staring at Dave and Jiron, she makes her way over to their table. That’s when she sees the serving girl with tears in her eyes and face turning red from where Dave had slapped her. All jovialness leaves her as she demands, “What’s going on here?”

  “Mother, it was my fault,” the serving girl explains. “I spilled drinks on this gentlemen and he became angry.”

  “Did he hit you?” she asks her daughter. When her daughter nods yes, she turns an angry expression upon the supine Dave.

  “He was about ready to apologize to your daughter,” Jiron says. Then to Dave he asks with an edge to his voice, “Weren’t you?”

  Eyes dark from the smoldering rage bottled up behind them, he looks to James who nods his head. With absolutely no sound of feeling sorry for what he did, he says to the girl, “I’m sorry.”

  Jiron reaches down and takes Dave’s money pouch. When Dave tries to stop him, he slaps his hand out of the way. Opening it up, he pulls out two silvers and hands them to the girl. “Here,” he says to her in a kind voice, “take these as recompense for what transpired here.”

  She looks to her mother who nods. “Thank you,” she says as she takes the offered coins.

  “Go back to the kitchen,” her mother tells her and she turns and quickly disappears through the kitchen door. To their group, she says, “Any of you strikes my daughter again and you’ll be out the door. Understand?” She looks from one to the other.

  “It shall not happen again,” Jiron assures her. “I’ll see to that.”

  “Very well.” She then turns and walks back to the kitchen to console her daughter.

  Reaching down he grabs Dave by the shirt and hauls him to his feet. “You and me got to step outside,” he says and shoves him toward the door.

  James starts to get up when Fifer puts a hand on his shoulder and says, “This needs doing.”

  “But Jiron will kill him!” he exclaims.

  Shaking his head, Fifer says, “No, he won’t.”

  Looking around at the others, he can see they’re all in agreement with Fifer. Sitting back down, he watches as Jiron pushes Dave outside. After they leave, the room maintains a hushed silence for only a moment before the normal murmur of conversation resumes.