Eight hands fly into the air and he says, “In case you’re going to ask me about whether or not I’ve captured evil spirits or not, I haven’t.” Seven hands lower and only one remains, Errin’s. “Yes?” he asks her.
“Is it true that the Empire sent a mage and fighters here to kill you?” she asks.
Nodding, he says, “Yes, that’s true. I have made some enemies and they may come here seeking revenge for wrongs they may feel I have done them. But I assure you, that I never sought them out, nor did I ever instigate anything with any party. My general philosophy is live and let live, be nice to all and to help those you can.”
“Anything else?” he asks. When no questions are forthcoming, he says, “Then I’ll let you resume your training.”
“Thank you, sir,” Illan says to him.
“You’re welcome,” he replies and then begins moving back toward his workshop. From behind him, he hears Illan say, “Alright now! Pair up and we’ll practice the techniques you’ve just been shown.”
Glancing over his shoulder, he sees the recruits picking up the wooden swords lying beside them on the ground. Then they get up and begin pairing off. He sees Devin has managed to be paired with the dark haired Errin.
Finally back in his workshop, he closes the door and takes his seat at the workbench. They all look so young, none can be over fourteen. He fervently hopes none come to harm while they’re here.
Turning back to the matters at hand, he decided to go into town after lunch to take care of his business with Alexander. What is he going to do for funds? He’s not going to be able to put that off indefinitely, not from what Roland said.
He hears a wagon rolling toward the house from down the lane so he gets up and looks out the window. Ezra is returning with Miko and Fifer from town. James sighs when he sees the amount of food stacked in the back of the wagon. Expensive.
These people go through food like a horde of locust. Returning to his seat at his workbench, he decides to shelve that worry for awhile. His main concern now is the ‘Fire’ and getting it hidden away. In a day or two, the box he’s commissioned will be completed and he will need to have everything in readiness so he can move fast to hide it for good.
He’s already come up with the general idea of where to hide it. Now he just needs to figure out how to hide it from searches, especially those magical in nature. The first problem, how to supply the power for the spells needed to hide it, seems to have been solved. On the chest, he’s having five crystals embedded, one on each side. Four can be responsible for the gathering of magic, the fifth needs to be able to draw on the stored power of the four to empower the spells of hiding.
What he needs to figure out now, is a way for magic to hide the ‘Fire’. He finally decides to take something out into the forest and then try to locate it by magical means. All the while he’ll be focusing on how the magic is locating it and try to come up with a way to counter it.
He takes one of the stools from the workshop and etches an ‘X’ in the top of it. Then he leaves the workshop and carries the stool about ten yards into the forest. After setting it down, he returns to the workshop and then takes out his mirror as he begins trying to locate the stool…
“Lunch!” he hears Ezra calling. Canceling the spell, he puts his mirror down in frustration. He understands better now how the magic is locating it, he just hasn’t come up with a good way to actually counter it. This is harder than I thought.
As he gets up from the workbench, he realizes he’s quite tired from all the magic he’s been doing. His head aches a little and when he leaves his workshop, he has to shade his eyes to keep the sun from hurting him. Once in the kitchen, he washes up and then takes his place at the table.
“How’s it going?” asks Jiron.
“Frustrating,” he replies. “Just when I feel I understand, I realize that I don’t.”
“I’m sure you’ll get it,” Tersa says encouragingly. “This will just take time.”
“I know,” replies James. “Just not sure how much time we’ll have.”
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“Oh, nothing,” Turning to Illan, he asks, “How’s the training going?”
Shaking his head, he says, “I doubt if anyone will kill themselves with their sword, but they’ve just had no experience at this sort of thing. A couple are good marksmen with the bows, especially Errin, but they’re hopeless with swords. Given enough time, I’m sure we can shape them up.”
“It’s only been a few days,” Jiron says.
“True,” admits Illan.
“I’m going into town today,” he announces to everyone.
“I better come with you,” Jiron states.
“Me, too,” Miko pipes up.
“Alright,” he agrees. “We’ll leave right after lunch.”
James is quiet during most of the meal, his mind on the problem with the spells as well as the funds needed for this place. There’re lots of gadgets he could introduce into this world from his own that would turn a profit, like the steam engine or the printing press. But revolutionary ideas like those usually bring turmoil and strife among those trying to control them. This world already has enough to worry about. Maybe his trip into town will bring an idea or two.
When they finish eating, they go out to the barn and saddle their horses. On the way down the lane, James looks over to the construction site and sees they’ve managed to get the walls to the house up and have begun to finish the roof.
At the end of the lane, red haired Moyil stands guard, the horn hanging at his side. “Do me a favor,” James says as they approach him.
“Yes, sir?” he asks.
“Don’t blow the horn when we return,” he tells him.
Giving him a nod, he replies, “I won’t sir, promise.”
“Thank you, Moyil,” he says as he leaves the lane and turns onto the road.
“You know,” says Jiron, “since we’ve gotten the extra lads, we’ve been bothered by fewer people.”
“Good,” states James. “They’re a nuisance we can do without.”
Once in town, they make their way to Alexander’s where he arranges for Roland to be able to withdraw funds. He also withdraws another two hundred golds. Leaving Alexander’s shop, he then heads over to the blacksmith to check on the status of his box.
They find Kraegan again at the anvil working on some kind of iron bar. When they pull up, one of his apprentices tells him of their arrival. Glancing over to them, he hands the iron bar to his apprentice who continues working the metal while he goes over to greet them.
“Ah, master blacksmith,” James greets him.
“Here to see about your box?” he asks.
“That’s right,” he replies. “Just wondering if it was ready yet?”
“About two more days,” he says. “All but the interior lining is completed and the man who will be doing that gets back in town this evening. Tomorrow at the earliest, but most likely the day after.”
“Excellent,” exclaims James. “I appreciate the update and I’ll not keep you from your work any longer. Good day to you.”
“Good day to you, too,” Kraegan says. Then he returns to where his apprentice is working the bar.
“Are we heading back now?” asks Miko.
Shaking his head, James says, “One more stop first.”
He takes them down to where Burl the chandler’s shop is located and stops in front of it. As he gets down from his horse he sees Mary, Devin’s mother, coming out the door carrying a bundle of goods.
“Good day, Mary,” he greets her.
“Why, James,” she says to him, a smile on her face. “It’s so good to see you. How is Devin doing?”
“He’s taking well to it,” he says. “He seems to be enjoying it.”
“Good,” she says, almost breathing a sigh of relief. “He’s always been a quiet boy and I was worried about him.”
“He’s doing fine,” he assures her.
“He never did much care for the farm,” she says. “Oh, he did well and I believe he would’ve made a good farmer, but his heart never was in it. I remember when you first came to us, his eyes lit up at the things you talked about. And then after you faced the demon, or whatever that was, I knew he’d never again be satisfied with farming.”