Startled awake by someone at the door, James sits up in bed. The room is dark, night has already fallen. Glancing over to the other bed, he notices that Miko is no longer there.

Getting to his feet, he goes over to the door and finds Fifer there when he opens it. Suddenly excited, James asks, "Jiron's back?"

"In a way," he replies moving into the room. He goes over to the candle on the table and quickly lights it.

"In a way?" asks James, perplexed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sitting in a chair at the table, Fifer explains. "A group of Parvatis had escorted him back to the gates," he begins, then starts to chuckle. "Apparently there was some disagreement about them doing that among the rest of their army. I thought they were going to begin fighting each other right then and there."

"But the Parvatis are a sizeable part of their army so got their way in this. I'm sure there'll be a reckoning at some time in the future about it. Anyway, as they were approaching, those of us on the wall began thinking they might be starting an attack. But then we realized the force approaching us was small and we could see Jiron among the ones in front."

"Henri, who had been stationed on the wall just for this, hollers to open the gates and let Jiron in. Everyone was ready for a surprise attack or something like that, but Jiron walked toward the gate by himself and the Parvatis just turned around and walked back to their camp."

"Where's Jiron now?" asks James.

"Henri took him up to the castle to talk with Lord Pytherian about the enemy's camp," he replies. "Said he'd be back in a little bit." Pulling out a letter with a seal at the bottom, he hands it to James and says, "This came from Lord Pytherian while you were sleeping, we didn't want to wake you."

Taking the letter, James says, "Thank you."

"Uh, one more thing," he says, looking a little embarra.s.sed.

"What?" asks James as he puts the letter in his pouch.

"It's Miko," he begins.

"What? Is he gone?" James suddenly asks, worriedly.

"No, nothing like that," he a.s.sures him. "It's just that he makes us kind of, well, nervous."

"In what way?" inquires James.

"It's just that he is changing awfully fast, growing up quicker than normal," he explains. "It's kind of weird."

"I know," replies James, "it worries me too. But I a.s.sure you that he's harmless. I know what's going on but there's nothing that can be done right now."

"He fights way better than he aught to," he says.

Nodding, James says, "I know, that's a part of it as well. Just a.s.sure everyone that Miko is harmless, just as long as we keep him away from any fighting. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure," he agrees, not sounding entirely rea.s.sured.

"By the way, where is he?" James asks.

Gesturing to the wall behind him, he says, "He's in there with the others."

Getting up, James says, "Well, we may as well all wait for Jiron's return together." Yern stands watch out in the hallway and nods to him as he leaves his room.

Fifer gets up as well and follows James out into the hallway and over to the other room. From outside the door, James can hear Miko's voice. Opening the door, he finds Miko standing with his back to him as he's talking to the others.

"...the torso came toward us and Jiron kept slicing it with his knives but nothing he did slowed it down. Then James holds up that medallion of his and a bright light shone from it. The light somehow caused the torso to die, how I haven't a clue. Then..."

Noticing the looks of his audience, he glances around to see James standing there. "Oh, you're awake?"

"Yes I am," replies James as he enters the room. Fifer and Yern follow him in.

"I was just telling them about that place we found back in the swamp," he explains.

"Yeah, I heard," he says. Looking to all of the faces gazing at him, he says, "It's called the Star of Morcyth." Pulling the medallion out of his shirt, he shows it to him.

"It's one of those things I am trying to find out about," he explains.

They come closer, looking at it and he asks them, "Has anyone seen or heard of anything like this before?"

Every one of them shakes their heads no. Once they've had a good look, he returns it to within his shirt. "How long has it been since Jiron was taken to the castle?"

"Fifer returned back ten minutes ago," replies Illan. "So it hasn't been long."

"We have the horse situation taken care of," Uther tells him. "We now have enough for all of us."

"How did you do that?" he asks.

Gesturing to Miko, he says, "After he came in here, we started talking and the conversation got around to horses. He said that there might be two where he and Jiron had left them. When he and I went to look, sure enough, they were still there."

"Great," James says approvingly. "Now we just need Jiron back and we'll be able to get out of here." Moving over to one of the beds, the others scoot over, making room for him to sit down.

Miko glances over to him with a questioning look on his face and he says, "Go ahead and continue."

"The torso fell to the floor and looked like it just melted away..."

Over the next hour they swap tales and James learns more of these people who've decided to tie their fates to his. Of course, Miko's tales of his exploits made him feel uncomfortable. He did a somewhat accurate job in relating the details, only once or twice embellishing the story for effect.

By the time Miko had launched into the tale of them working their way through the mine after rescuing Lord Pytherian, they hear a knock on the door to James' room. Everyone becomes instantly silent as they glance from one to the other. They hadn't forgotten Lord Pytherian's warning that Councilman Rillian may try something.

James gets up and motions for them to be quiet, several of them grab their swords as he makes his way over to the door. He hears the knocking again as he slowly opens the door a crack to look out into the hallway.

"Jiron!" he cries when he finally sees who it is. The page from the castle had brought him to the inn. Throwing open the door, he comes out into the hallway.

Turning in his direction, Jiron says "I thought we'd missed you."

Shaking his head, James says, "No, just in here with the others while we waited for your return." Waving him over, he says, "Come on in, we've got a lot to talk about."

"Thank you," he says to the page who then turns and heads back to the castle.

Once they are back in the room and the door is shut, James asks, "Okay, what happened."

"When I got to the gate, I held aloft the necklace," Jiron begins. Smiling, he continues, "You should've seen the look on that Parvati's face when he saw what I was holding. Shock would be too mild a word."

"Coming to a stop, I could hear 'Shynti' being said several times. He asked me how I'd gotten it and while we were there talking, the other forces behind them were screaming at them to let them by. But they just ignored them, it almost seemed like we were old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time. It was a weird moment out there by the gate."

"When I realized the gates were shutting behind us, I told the Parvati leader that I had to go back inside. He asked if I would come back to his camp. I was a.s.sured of safe pa.s.sage back and having dealt with them before, I knew they would keep their word. So I told Jorry and Uther to return within the walls before the gates closed."

"When they took me back to their camp, the other enemy forces at first thought I was a prisoner. They became quite agitated when they learned that not only was I not a prisoner, but that I was going to be honored and returned unharmed. The others almost fell on the Parvati's right then and there. One poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d actually called them traitors, his head fell to the ground before he took another breath. After that, there was no more talk of them being traitors."

"We had a feast together, and I told them of our time in their homeland. Many of them haven't been back for quite a long time. When it was over, they walked me back to the gates amid loud protests from the other groups. I asked them why they were doing this and possibly antagonizing the Empire. They said because I was Shynti, as if that explained everything."

"Back at the gates I was wondering if they'd even let me in with a force of Parvatis standing next to me. I was sure surprised when the gates actually opened up and saw Fifer standing there."

"Then Henri showed up and said that Lord Pytherian requested my presence at the castle. I told Fifer to come back here and let you know what's going on while I was meeting with him."

"Basically, he asked me about troops, the makeup, how many, stuff like that. When he was satisfied I'd told him everything I knew, he had that page bring me here."

"What's a Shynti?" asks Uther.

"A very special person to the Parvati," he replies. "It basically means I'm one of them and that honor is seldom, if ever, given." Turning his attention to James, he asks, "What now?"

"Now we leave Lythylla," he replies. "Councilman Rillian, we hear, is making plans against us and I want to be out of here before he executes them." He brings out the letter Lord Pytherian had given him and continues, "Lord Pytherian wrote this letter for any and all to render us what aid we may require in getting to Cardri. He said to go to a city on the Sea of the G.o.ds and get someone there to ferry us across to the other side. From there we should be able to make it to Dragon's Pa.s.s in no time. Trendle isn't far from there, I understand."

"Good!" exclaims Jiron. "It's been too long since I've seen Tersa."

"I suggest we leave first thing in the morning," says James. "Let's post a watch in the hallway against unwelcome visitors."

Just then, they hear a floorboard squeak outside their door. Everyone becomes silent for a moment and then they hear it again.

Uther gets up and slams through the door. A grunt is heard from the other side as the door knocks a man against the far wall. "Get him!" Jorry cries as everyone springs into action.

The man rolls and comes to his feet fast. Without pausing, the man shoulders Uther out of the way as he races for the stairs, Uther and the rest hot on his heals.

He takes the stairs four at a time and at the bottom, makes with all speed for the front door to the inn. Ramming the closed door with his shoulder, he bursts his way through. Once outside, he dodges down a side alley and quickly loses his pursuers in the dark.

They hunt for him for several minutes before they finally give up and return to their room. "Do you think he heard everything?" Jiron asks.

"I don't know," replies James. "Maybe."

"That tears it!" Uther exclaims. "Now they're going to know our plans."

"Perhaps, but if we move quickly enough, it might not make any difference," states James. "Forget about waiting until morning, we leave now. Get your stuff together, we meet at the stables in five minutes."

Having all of his things already on him, he waits while they gather their packs. Then they go down to the stables where they begin saddling their horses. Once they're all saddled and everyone is mounted, they move out and head for the northern gate. The streets are fairly empty this late at night enabling them to reach the gate in no time at all.

The gates are closed for the night and a squad of guards is stationed there. When they approach, one of the guards comes forward and says, "Gates are closed for the night, you'll have to leave in the morning."

James produces the letter form Lord Pytherian and shows it to him. "We have urgent business and need to leave tonight."

The guard takes the letter and gazes at it for a moment then nods his head. Shouting to someone in the gatehouse, he says, "Open it up!"

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 pa.s.s through, they leave the city. After the last rider has pa.s.sed through, the guards close the gate behind them with a thud.

Chapter Thirty.

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 rea.s.suring," 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 a.s.sures 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."