The High-Wizard's Hunt - By Ashley Delay Page 0,56
with a grin.
“Quit ye’r squawking or all of Rowain will know where we be.” Machai lowered his wand and stepped out from the rocks.
Kenneth looked up in surprise as the flames died out and noticed the jolly faces of both Machai and Thamas for the first time. He frowned up at them. “I think I ruined my shirt, thanks to you. What if you burned my feet, how would I be able to help stop the shipment?”
“Be assured, me friend,” he slapped him on the back, “there be no burn in me flames, unless I be intending it. What help will ye be, anyway? Ye still cannot be fighting with both of ye’r hands, if I do not be mistaken?”
“We should probably move somewhere less conspicuous before we talk about our plans.” Osric interrupted the two of them.
Machai held a hand out to help Kenneth up and turned back toward the rocks. “Aye, there be a fitting cave just over there.”
Kenneth pulled his shirt over his head, looking a bit annoyed. “Good, I’ll have a place to hide his body,” he said with a smirk.
The cave was lit with the same flame that Kenneth had frantically tried to put out on his feet. It was a small chamber with no other passages and looked like it had been home to an ursidae. Machai levitated several large rocks into the center of the cave for them to sit upon.
Osric sat and turned to Thamas. “I am glad to have you back with us. Your wisdom from your years as Contege may prove invaluable.”
“Well, I don’t know about that. Seems a wise man could have spied on Braya without getting caught. You seemed to do that well enough.” Respect for the younger man was clear on his face as he took in Osric. “I mean, look at you, a fine Contege. You’ve come a long way from the lanky recruit you once were.” Osric looked over at Thamas with surprise. He hadn’t realized that Thamas remembered him from his time as a recruit in Stanton. Thamas winked over at him. “Of course, I remember you. And that big friend of yours too.” He glanced over at Kenneth.
“A fine Contege?” Osric questioned, “I would still be in office if I had been a fine Contege. Instead, all the Vigiles are disbanded, and I can’t even go back to discover why.”
“Ah, that’s not your fault, boy.” He waved his hand in the air, nearly brushing the top of the chamber with the motion.
“Darn right, it’s not his fault,” Kenneth spoke assuredly as he joined them in conversation, “there was nothing he could have done. I’m sure they planned this all along.”
“Yes, but I bear some of the blame for this, or the Vigiles would still patrol Stanton.”
“Ye humans be doing too much of this.” Machai crossed his arms and leaned back. “When ye be done, can we be getting back to work?”
“What do you mean?” Thamas inquired.
“Eh, this be foolish talk. Ye be good men.” He leaned forward and pointed a crooked finger at each of them. “Ye should not be feeling sorry for yerselves for what be in the past. We have work to do. Ye did not be causing the trouble. Ye be wasting time professing ye’r guilt when ye should be making a plan. If ye be making mistakes, do not be dwelling on them, be learning from them. Ye be a leader, so lead.” Machai pulled out his axe and gripped it firmly, a look of determination on his face.
Osric nodded as Machai’s words began to resonate. He had no control over what had happened, and yet it had happened. All the time he had spent feeling sorry for himself added up, and his mind would have been better used if he had found some answers rather than dwelling on his mistakes. Osric fortified his heart as he lifted his head to look into the eyes of the other men.
“What do we know about the arrival of the shipment?”
“We be a day ahead of ‘em. Me kin would not be staying on a boat longer than needed. Ye cannot be trusting the water. We should be meeting ‘em on the northern road by nightfall.”
“How many will be in the caravan?”
“A dozen. Ye willn’t be needing more dwarves than that to be guarding a caravan.”
“Should we expect a fight, or do you think you can reason with them?” Osric knew his duty, and Machai was right. Their time was best spent