Brian Pratt - Fires of prophesy

“I agree,” replies Jiron.

Turning off the road, Jiron leads them a hundred yards from the nearest building, to a place where pits for campfires are available. Once the wagons and horses are set for the night, Delia, James, Jiron and Roland go over to the buildings to investigate. Cassie, Ezra and the two boys remain behind with the wagons.

There are only four buildings, one has a sign of a cracked egg and another one with crossed shovels. Deciding to try the one with the cracked egg, they go over and enter through the front door.

Inside, they find a large room with a central hearth containing many tables. A man comes over as they enter and says, “Welcome. How may I serve you today?” Heavy with accent, but understandable.

“We just arrived and were looking around, seeing what is available here,” James explains.

“Ah, first time here?” the man asks.

“Yes,” Delia pipes up.

“Here at the Broken Egg, you can get a meal and a room if you desire,” he tells them. “The other shop across the street has many goods that a traveler may require.” He pauses for a response and when none is forthcoming, asks, “Would you care for a room, or perhaps a bite to eat?”

Shaking his head, James says, “Not right now, we may come back later though, thank you.”

“You’re welcome sirs,” and then with a slight nod to Delia he adds, “ma’am.”

They turn to leave and once outside Jiron says, “Nice place.”

“Maybe we could take turns and come here for dinner this evening,” suggests James.

“That would be an excellent idea,” agrees Roland. Jiron and Delia nod in agreement.

Crossing over to the store, they enter and find a small man, almost a midget, asleep behind the counter. They all look at each other wondering what they should do and then Jiron closes the door loudly, startling the man awake.

He sits up and looks around, rubbing his eyes. Seeing them standing there and recognizing them for northerners, he greets them in their tongue. “Hello,” he says from his chair, not bothering getting down. “How may I help you today?”

“We just arrived and are looking around to see what’s available,” Delia says.

“Of course,” the man says sleepily as a yawn escapes him. He settles back down in his chair and watches them as they browse through his merchandise.

It looks to be just an ordinary, traveler supply store. Just the same old things as are in every other one. James does see a kit with a small mirror, a comb and a pair of scissors. Thinking of his unruly hair and how it’s been too long since it’s been properly taken care of, he picks it up and asks the man, “How much for this?”

The man looks over, squinting as if he can’t see it very well and replies, “Two silvers.”

James takes a single silver out and says as he holds it up, “Give you one for it.”

“Alright,” the man says as he holds out his hand for the coin.

Taking the coin over to the lazy man, James drops it into his hand. He immediately takes the mirror and looks at himself in it. What’s looking back is almost unrecognizable. His hair is an unruly mess, obviously running his fingers through it has been ineffective. Stubble, actually a scraggly beard that’s not completely growing in everywhere, now covers his face, his dirty face. “GAH!” he exclaims as he looks at himself, rubbing his free hand over his patchy beard. I knew it was coming in, but my goodness!

“What?” Delia asks.

Putting the mirror away, he says, “Nothing.” Looking around he tries to find a shaving kit, but such a thing doesn’t appear to have been developed in this world yet, or at least there isn’t one here.

Seeing a small knife, he buys it for three coppers, thinking that later he might try to put a spell on it that will enable him to shave without scraping all his skin off in the process.

“Anyone else getting anything?” he asks.

Roland looks around and picks up a small piece of cloth, saying, “Ezra would like this.” He haggles briefly with the man and then hands over the coins.

Delia and Jiron just shake their heads, not interested.

They look around for a few more minutes and then turn to leave. James glances over to the man to say goodbye but he’s already fallen back asleep.

Once they’ve returned to the caravan, they tell everyone about their plan to have dinner at the Broken Egg. James stays at the caravan with the two lads as everyone else goes over for dinner. “I’ll send one of the boys over if there is a problem.”

“There shouldn’t be,” Jiron replies.

“You never know,” he says.

After everyone has left for the Broken Egg, he takes a bucket and fills it with a little water from one of the water barrels and then sits down by the fire. Taking out the little knife, he holds it up in front of him and contemplates a spell that will enable it to shave the hair off his face while at the same time, leaving his skin intact.

After about five minutes of working it out, he turns his concentration on the knife and lets the magic flow. After completing the spell he feels the edge of the knife with his thumb, it doesn’t seem to have changed at all. It’s barely sharp and it would take a whole lot of pressure to cut anything with it. But then, that wasn’t what the spell was supposed to accomplish.

Taking out the mirror, he holds it up so he can see his scraggly looking face in it. Then taking the knife, he very carefully runs it down along his cheek. He can feel a slight drawing of magic from him by the knife, must be taking the magic it needs to work from him. To his delight and amazement, the hair is scrapped off like frosting from a cake. Excited, he continues until all the stubble has been completely removed and then splashes his face with the water from the bucket to get all the residual hair and dirt off. Holding up the mirror, he’s pleased to see the familiar face that had been hidden by that horrible, scraggly beard.

Next he takes the comb and begins to run it through his tangled hair as he attempts to restore it to its proper look. Painful as it is, he gets the job done and then realizes his hair is getting a little bit long, especially over the eyes. Taking the ‘hair’ knife as he calls it now, he begins to very carefully cut off the ends, making them as even as possible. What barber wouldn’t pay a lot for this? he thinks to himself as the hair comes off so easily.

Looking in the mirror when he’s done, he once again resembles the man he was oh so long ago. Quite pleased with the results, he starts whistling as he cleans up and then puts away his shaving kit. That’s when he notices the two lads watching him, whispering to one another.

When they realize he’s noticed them watching him, they smile at him and then resume the game they’ve been playing, a game with sticks and dice.

A half hour later, the others return and when Delia sees James, she says, “My, don’t we look nice.”

Cassie takes a closer look and ads, “You do look good.” At which Tinok gives her a look of annoyance.

“Couldn’t stand it any longer,” he tells them. “How was the food?”

“Pretty good,” answers Roland. “But don’t have the goat, it’s a bit tough.”

As James prepares to head over there, he says, “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Leaving them behind, he walks over and enters the Broken Egg. The place isn’t that crowded, probably since only one other caravan is here. Having his pick of seats, he takes one by a window overlooking the road outside.

A girl comes over and asks what he would like.

“What is there?” he asks her.

“There’s roast goat or our specialty which is eggs and ham with a spicy sauce,” she explains.

“I’ll try your specialty and some ale if you have any,” he tells her, remembering what Roland had said about the goat.