Moving off the road a ways, they wait in the shadows as it draws near. It’s actually two wagons full of ore coming from the mine, which tells them they are on the right road. They wait until the wagons pass and are further down the mountain before returning to the road.
The road continues on and finally works its way into a box canyon. They slow when lights appear coming from up ahead. A tall wooden wall, similar in nature to what James and Jiron found surrounding the mine on the island, blocks off the canyon from one side to the other. The road continues straight toward it and passes through a gate.
The wall itself is easily twenty foot high and guards carrying crossbows can be seen walking along the top. Jiron pulls Jared to the side where they crouch and watch for several minutes.
“How are we going to get in there?” Jared asks.
“We’re not,” he explains. “We’ll stay here a little while longer then return to let James know what we found.”
They settle in and wait for over half an hour. When nothing develops, Jiron indicates it’s time for them to return.
Chapter Nineteen
Back at the inn they find James asleep in the bathtub. A single candle is all but burnt down to nothing on a nearby table. “Go ahead and get some sleep,” Jiron tells Jared. “I’ll take care of this.”
Grinning, Jared nods his head and backs out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Coming over to James, he can’t help but allow a chuckle to escape. At first he was going to startle him awake but changed his mind at the last moment. He places his hand upon James’ shoulder and gives it a gentle shake. “Wake up,” he says softly.
Startled out of sleep, James sits up abruptly in the tub, splashing some of the now cold water onto the floor. Looking behind him he sees Jiron standing there. “You’re back!” he exclaims.
“Here,” Jiron says as he hands him the towel that was sitting next to the tub.
“Thanks.” Taking the towel, he gets out of the tub and proceeds to dry himself off. “So what did you find out?”
“The mines are a couple hours from town,” Jiron explains. “It’s situated at the end of a box canyon.”
“A canyon?” he asks.
“Yeah. A wooden fence, similar to the one back on the island where we rescued Miko and Nate, blocks the entrance. There’s but a single gate and guards patrol the top.”
Nodding, James continues getting ready for bed. “Did you get a look inside?”
“No,” he replies shaking his head. “No chance for that. We waited and watched for awhile but nothing happened, then we came back.”
Finished getting ready for bed, he lies back on top of the covers and mulls over what Jiron just told him. “Tomorrow afternoon I’d like to go up there and have a look around if you think we can avoid being noticed?” he finally asks.
“The road winds through some barren hills before it reaches the box canyon,” Jiron explains. “Not much in the way of concealing cover but we’ll see what we can do.” Going over to the burning candle he snuffs it out and then crawls into his own bed. He plans on getting a good night’s sleep this night. After tomorrow things are likely to be a little lively.
Back in his tower, Kerith-Ayxt stares out at the moon rising in the distance. Exhausted from the two days of preparation, he pauses here by the window for a few minutes as he looks out over the Great Hall.
All the safeguards have been set and the way is prepared. The only thing left is the actual summoning of Aekion. When he told the Assembly of Masters his plan to summon Aekion, few knew what he was talking about. But those who did spoke out against it for they understood the risks involved with such a hazardous undertaking.
He allowed them to speak their minds then said they were to undertake this for the good of the Empire. At that they grew silent, none would speak against an action the High Lord Magus pronounced as good for the Empire. Things often happened to those who did.
During the sealing of the Great Hall, fifty slaves were drained of their life force to power the holding spells needed to contain Aekion. Once he is summoned, those holding spells will be all that will contain him until the spells of binding are put into effect.
Another hundred slaves were used in preparing the way for Aekion to pass from his plane to here. With but two of the three stages accomplished, they have less than half of their slaves remaining. He had no idea when he started that he would already have used so many already. With the most dangerous and magic consuming part before him, he prays he has enough. But once started, you can’t simply stop something like this.
Moving his gaze from the Great Hall, he looks out to the north where the army that took Korazan lies. Slowly but surely it’s moving inexorably toward Madoc. His mages have kept a constant eye on its progress and have reported that as they reach each town along the road, they free the town’s slaves and kill the slavers. At first they thought that odd until realization set in that they were arming them with arms taken from dead Empire soldiers they defeat in battle. Now they have twice the numbers they had when they left Korazan, although most are ill equipped and lack adequate training.
Armies are currently on the move from the south to deal with them, but whether they will arrive in time to prevent them from reaching Madoc is anyone’s guess. The best guess is, maybe. Not only that, but as they move they destroy every bridge they come to, no matter how small.
Still further to the north, Lord Pytherian with the help of the Alliance is beginning to push their remaining forces back toward the Empire. Some reports even state that Cardri forces have been sighted among the Alliance, though those reports have yet to be substantiated. Even if they were, the Empire is no longer in a position to do anything about it.
A month ago the Empire stood on the verge of taking the rest of Madoc. Now it’s in retreat back to its border. The army at Lythylla which had contained the bulk of its northern strength has been all but destroyed, an army roams at will in its northern provinces, and a mage is loose that no one seems to be able to find.
Sighing, he turns from the window and crosses the room to his bed. Tomorrow night at midnight they will summon forth Aekion and he will require all his strength for the ordeal. Lying down, the last thing that crosses his mind is the question of where the mage is and what he’s up to.
Sleeping in late, James and the others don’t leave the inn until well past noon. As they make their way through the inn, James puts on a grim expression like he’s mulling over some unpleasant thought. One worker doesn’t see them coming until they’re almost upon him. When he turns and realizes how close he is to ‘his lordship’, his face turns pale and makes a hasty withdrawal out of their way.
Leaving the inn, Jiron leads them through town toward the road that leads up into the mountains and to the mine. Word must have spread about his being in town for as they make their way through town, those who take notice of their party quickly put distance between them.
Before they turn onto the road that leads up to the mine, Jiron notices from the corner of his eye an officious looking man exit a building on the far side of the street. When the man moves to cross to their side and looks to be heading directly for them, Jiron quickly turns into an alley between two buildings.
“What are we doing in here?” Jared asks.
Jiron gestures with his head to the man coming up behind them. Stopping, they turn to face him.
As the man nears, Jared moves in front of the others and waits for the man to speak first.
Ignoring Jared, the man looks directly at James and says a brief sentence. From the tone of his voice it sounded like a question.
Jared attempts to respond but the man barks a command and holds up his hand. Face growing grim, he glances to Jiron and raises his left hand to scratch behind his ear.