The unsuspecting mage ms-1

by Brian S. Pratt

  They continue south while steadily angling their way west, hopping to eventually intersect with the road. When the road finally comes into view again, they are relieved to find it deserted and head toward it.

  “How long do you think they will continue the chase?” he asks Miko.

  “I doubt if they’ll continue very far,” Miko responds. “They’re just local ruffians. Like me, they’ve seldom been out of the city.”

  “Let’s hope so,” James says. He reaches into his backpack and pulls out a couple apples, tossing one over to Miko. Once they reach the road, they continue south all the while eating apples and casting glances over their shoulders for sign of pursuit. Just what he would have done should pursuit have materialized, James didn’t know and was glad he didn’t have to find out.

  As nightfall approaches, they discover a likely place to make camp for the night sheltered within a small copse of trees near the river. Within lies a small, cleared area within which half a dozen men could camp comfortably. “I guess this spot must be used quite frequently,” he says to Miko, indicating a ring of stones encircling the charred remnants of an old campfire.

  “Must be,” Miko agrees.

  Tying the horse to a low branch, James turns to Miko. “Get a fire going and I’ll see if I can’t scare up some fish for dinner.”

  “How?” Miko asks.

  “How are you going to make the fire or how will I scare up some fish?” quips James.

  “How are you going to scare up some fish?” Miko clarifies.

  James reaches down and grabs a fallen branch from off the ground and says, “I’ll just go out to the river and get one.” He takes out his knife and begins sharpening one end.

  “Oh,” Miko says. “Uh, good luck.”

  “Thanks,” James replies. On the way to the river he tries to remember the spell he used to catch fish the last time.

  Miko gets the fire started and soon has a fair blaze going. Looking out to the river he finds James standing motionless in waist deep water, with the point of the stick held a few inches above the water. Seconds passed. Then, with a quick downward thrust, James plunges the stick into the water and holds it there for several seconds. When he brings the stick back out of the water, a large fish wriggles impaled upon the end.

  Seeing Miko watching him, he raises the fish and flashes him a grin. Then he makes his way back to camp where the fish is soon prepped and roasting over the fire. By the time it’s cooked and they’ve consumed a goodly portion, night has fallen.

  Satiated and content, James lays near the fire and gazing up at the stars in the sky. He never noticed it before, but the constellations that he knew back home are no longer up there. He lets out a big sigh as the realization sinks in that he is truly a long way from home.

  “What are you thinking about James,” Miko asks from where he too lies next to the fire.

  “Just that I’m a long way from home,” he responds wistfully. “And I may not be back for a long time, if ever.”

  “How far away are you?” Miko inquires.

  “I don’t know, farther than you can imagine,” he answers, a little sad.

  Turning toward James, Miko asks, “What made you leave?”

  “I didn’t realize I was until it was too late,” he replies.

  “What do you mean?” asks Miko.

  Before he can answer, the quiet of their camp is disturbed by the sound of a rider approaching from the road.

  “Hello the fire,” a man’s voice cries out. “Can a weary traveler share your fire this evening?”

  Coming to his feet, James tries to pierce the dark veil of night to better see who it is that approaches. “If you mean no trouble,” he shouts back, “then you are welcome, stranger.”

  As the horse and rider enter the light from the campfire, James discovers the man to be the bard they so enjoyed from the Flying Swan.

  “A bard is always welcome,” James says.

  “I’ve found that to be true, yes,” the bard agrees as he dismounts. James comes over and offers to help him with removing the saddle and tack but the man refuses, saying that he shall do it himself. Once he’s done, he secures his horse near theirs and joins them by the fire. He sits down next to the fire and James offers him some of the fish left over from their dinner.

  Taking the fish, the bard says, “Thank you sir, my name is Perrilin.”

  “I’m James,” he replies, “and this is Miko. I enjoyed your music at the Flying Swan last night and the night before. You’re an excellent musician and singer.”

  “Thank you, it’s always good to make the acquaintance of someone who appreciates music,” Perrilin says. He takes a bite of the fish and finding it to be acceptable, takes several more. The bard then reaches into his tunic and pulls out a flask. After taking a long drink, he offers it to James who declines. Miko doesn’t turn down the flask when it is offered to him and takes a small sip before giving it back.

  “Where are you heading?”

  “I have an engagement at an inn in Cardri,” replies Perrilin as he continues eating the fish.

  “We’re heading to Cardri as well, would you like to accompany us?” offers James.

  “I’d like to,” he says, “but my engagement starts the day after tomorrow and I don’t think you will be able to keep up with me since you only have the one horse between you.”

  “Perhaps not,” agrees James.

  “Which inn will you be performing at?” Miko asks.

  “The Inn of the Silver Bells,” Perrilin responds, “I’ll be there for a week at least. After that, who knows?” He continues eating the fish and soon has gleaned ever bit of flesh from the bones. Sitting back he grabs his mandolin and asks if anyone would mind if he practices. James shakes his head no, that he wouldn’t mind. Miko of course was eager to hear him play. As Perrilin begins by tuning his instrument, James places a couple more pieces of wood on the fire to keep it bright and cheery.

  The first song he plays is a fun and lively song with a quick tempo. James is soon tapping his knee and by the end of the song is singing along with the chorus. The next song is slower and a bit sad, “This one is usually for the ladies,” he explains. As the song progresses, James can see why. There’s a lot of stuff about love and sorrow, things ladies like to cry about.

  When that song is over Perrilin says, “Now, how about one of you singing a song and I will accompany you?”

  Miko shakes his head no and seems to shrink within himself.

  James considers the request and then says, “I doubt if you would know any of the songs I do.”

  Perrilin reaches into his pocket and pulls out a silver, “I know one thousand, four hundred and thirty five songs. If you can sing me a complete song that I do not know, I shall give you this.”

  Smiling, James says, “You’re on.” Settling back, he takes a couple deep breathes then begins to sing:

  “ Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play. Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day.”

  After the first verse and chorus, Perrilin begins to accompany James on his instrument and by the third, he’s singing along with the chorus. When James finishes the song, Perrilin tosses him the sliver, saying, “Here you go, I have never heard that song before. Would you mind if I give it a try?”

  Flattered, James says, “Sure, go ahead.”

  Perrilin begins to sing and from the first note uttered puts the rendition James had done to shame. He sings it straight through, never once faltering and uses the same inflections and melody that James had used with only slight modifications. When the last note fades into the night he asks, “How did it sound?”

  Miko said, “You were great.”

  “You are truly a great bard,” James exclaims. “I can’t believe you are able to repeat back the song after only one hearing.”

  “Part of the job,” Perrilin says. “Now, I’ve got just a couple of questions.”

  “Yeah?”
asks James.

  “Just what are buffalo and antelope anyway?” he asks.

  Smiling, James begins to explain what they are and also clarifies the other different words in the song that are unfamiliar to him. All the while their discussion is going on, Miko lays down near the fire and drifts off to sleep. They continue well into the night and he tries not to let on to Perrilin that he comes from a different world, just from a far away land.

  When Perrilin is finally satisfied that he understands the song, including all the words and phrases, he puts his instrument away and says, “I think it’s time for me to call it a night. Thank you for the song, maybe I’ll use it from time to time.” He lies down near the fire and soon the soft sounds of contented snoring reaches James just before he, too nods off to sleep.

  Chapter Ten

  The sun rising over the horizon awakens James to another beautiful, summer day. The spot where Perrilin slept stood empty, apparently the bard had already awoke and went on his way. Waking Miko, they begin to get their things packed and ready for travel.

  Miko takes out an apple and eats it while he’s getting ready. “He sure left early this morning,” he says, referring to Perrilin. His words are barely understood through the oversized chunk of apple wedged in his mouth.

  “I guess he was in a hurry to make Cardri this evening,” responds James. “And don’t talk with your mouth full, I can hardly understand you.”

  “Sorry,” Miko says as he swallows the last of the now much reduced piece of apple. “Hope we can make it there tonight too,” he wishes.

  “Well, from what he told us,” explains James, “I don’t think we’ll make it before tomorrow at the earliest. Maybe if we had another horse we might, but not by foot.”

  It doesn’t take them very long before they are ready to continue on to Cardri. Taking the reins of the horse, James exits the copse of trees with Miko right behind and they make their way back onto the road, heading south.

  Miko isn’t very happy at the prospect of walking for another two days, but is resigned to it as he has little choice. The day is nice, at least the weather has been cooperating, and their spirits are high since it seems pursuit is not forthcoming. It would seem that Miko had been correct about their pursuers’ unwillingness to stray too far from Bearn.

  As the morning progresses, the sun steadily climbs higher into the sky and the temperature begins to rise, forecasting the approach of a very hot summer day. Much to James’ delight, a breeze manifests out of the southwest and allays the worst of the summer heat.

  Throughout the morning they make good time, pressing onward with only one short rest break. The road is rather deserted and the only other souls they encounter are one lone traveler driving a wagon drawn by a pair of mules passes by on his way north and a couple fast riders that overtook them on their way south.

  A little after noon the skyline of another fair size town on the opposite side of the river begins to appear up ahead on the horizon. As they draw nearer, they come to an aged bridge spanning the river allowing traffic to cross to the town. Asking a traveler that had just crossed over the bridge, they discover the name of the city is Collington. Not having any money left after buying the boat back in Bearn, they continue past and Collington soon disappears behind them.

  Evening finds them still on the road with no inn in sight, nor are there even a few trees growing closely together to give their camp some shelter. So with the waning of the sun, they find a spot near the river and make camp. While Miko gets the fire ready, James searches for a stick he can use for fishing. Finally tearing off a long branch from a tree, he sharpens one end before wading into the river. Twice he enters the river and twice he emerges with a fair sized fish wriggling impaled upon the end of the stick.

  James and Miko eat one fish entirely while saving most of the second for a meal in the morning. Wrapping the left over fish in some leaves, James puts it into his backpack for safe keeping. They munch on a few apples as well, making sure to leave a couple for the next day. Hopefully they will make it to Cardri before nightfall and will be able to stay at an inn.

  As day gives way to night, another campfire springs to life some two hundred feet further north on their side of the river. A short time later, another one appears across the water, fifty feet or so to the south.

  “Must be common to make camp along the river,” states James. Straining to see who the ones on their side of the river might be, he peers through the deepening dusk but can’t quite make them out. He can tell there are more than one, perhaps six in all.

  Miko nods. “Even near Bearn,” he replies. “Some would rather avoid paying for inns.”

  “Not me,” James says, turning back to his young companion. “I would have to be pretty desperate, or short on coins, to give up the comfort of a bed.”

  Laughing, Miko gives him a grin. “I wouldn’t trade a bed for the ground if given the choice either.”

  James chuckles and returns to the fire where he and Miko spend time relaxing and getting to know one another better. “What was it like growing up on the streets?” he asks the boy.

  Miko’s face loses much of its joviality as painful memories surface. “It wasn’t easy,” he replies. “Always being hungry, the older boys would take what you have and leave you with nothing. After a while you know who your friends are, who you can count on to watch your back.” Growing quiet, he stares into the fire for several seconds then says, “You also know who to avoid.”

  “Like those boys who chased us into the sewer?” prompts James.

  Miko nods. “Yeah. You get on the bad side of the wrong people, and you’re dead.” Grabbing an end of a small stick sticking out from the base of their fire, he begins poking at the coals. “What about you?” he asks. “What’s it like where you come from?”

  “Like here for the most part,” he replies. What can I tell him that he would believe? “People are people no matter where you go.”

  “I suppose so,” Miko said.

  Another hour is spent on trading tales of their past and James discovers that he is growing to like this lad from the streets of Bearn. As he takes turn relating tidbits of his past, James speaks of his grandparents, parents, Haveston, and school. Talking of home doesn’t elicit feelings of homesickness as it had before. Rather, they comfort and bring him peace. When the fire burns itself down to coals, they ready themselves for sleep.

  The night passes uneventfully and both wake in the morning a little stiff from sleeping on the ground but all in all well rested. James gets up and walks around, trying to work the kinks out of his back and fervently hopes that come this evening he may be in a bed at an inn. Sleeping on the ground is starting to get a little old. Every time during the night when he thought he found a comfortable position, a new rock would make itself known, forcing him to change position yet again.

  As they prepare to travel, a long caravan trundles into view on its way north from Cardri. James counts fifteen wagons passing by in the early morning light with a dozen mounted guards accompanying it.

  Miko gets the horse ready while he goes to the river to refill the water bottle. He puts the bottle in the water and while he waits for the bottle to fill he glances upriver. Not far from where he squats filling his water bottle, several people stand in the water, by the looks of it doing their morning business. A feeling of revulsion overcomes him as he looks at the river flowing past those people, toward him and into his water bottle. With visions of dysentery running through his mind, he stands up completely disgusted and pours out the water.

  Looking down and across the river, he finds another group of travelers filling several earthen jugs with the river’s water, water that could very well be carrying bacteria and waste products from the people and animals further up the river. He comes to the realization that any and all water, or for that matter all things drinkable, could originate in just the same unsanitary and possibly parasitic infested place.

  Remembering a special he saw on the Discovery Channel abo
ut parasites and how they get into your system and take up housekeeping, he decides he has do something about this.

  Miko walks over to where he stands in the water and asks “Are you ready?”

  Looking at him in disgust, James replies, “Ready for what? Diarrhea?”

  “Diarrhea? What are you talking about?” asks a confused Miko. “No, are you ready to get going?”

  “I’m not going anywhere until I can figure out how to get some clean water,” James responds.

  Looking at the river, Miko says “The river is clean. Look, you can see all the way to the rocks on the bottom.” In truth, the water was flowing smoothly and the riverbed was clearly visible beneath.

  James points upstream, Miko looks in the direction he indicates and sees the people getting out of the water. “They just fouled it, and look,” he says pointing at the people filling water bottles and jugs downstream, “those people down there are unaware of the contamination that may be making its way into their drinking water.”

  “Contamination?” asks Miko. “What do you mean?” He looks at James and his expression shows that he doesn’t understand what James is trying to say.

  “It’s hard to explain,” James says. “Let’s just say that contamination is something that can make you sick.”

  “If you say so,” Miko says uncertainly.

  James once again fills the bottle with water from the river, then finds a spot several feet away from the water’s edge and sits down, resting the water bottle on the ground before him. Miko sits opposite him and waits quietly to see what he’s up to.

  A minute or so goes by then James begins casting a spell, all the while concentrating on the purity of the water and for the impurities within the water to collect on the sand beside the bottle. Miko watches and is astonished when a wet spot forms on the ground next to the bottle. An almost miniscule lump of brownish goop forms on the wet spot, giving off an unpleasant odor. When James finishes the spell, he brings the bottle up to his nose and sniffs. Seeming to be satisfied he takes a sip and a smile crosses his face. He hands the bottle to Miko who hesitantly brings it to his mouth and takes a small drink. Eyes widening, he says “Never tasted water like that before.” Taking another drink he exclaims, “Best water I ever had!”