Brian Pratt: Fires of prophesy

A gasp escapes some of the men at the news. For those who’ve been here the longest, beef and wine is something they have all but forgotten. Miko’s stomach begins to cramp and growl at the thought.

“If we can continue as we have,” Essin tells them, “you can expect similar feasts in the future.”

A shout erupts from the men as he turns and leads them from the mine.

Miko is happy. If this is to be his lot for the rest of his life, well, at least it could be much worse. A good crew to work with and an understanding boss, what more could a slave ask for. True, the work is hard and at times unforgiving, but the men he works with make it bearable.

As they continue through the mines, Essin turns his head back and says, “For the number one team, they’ll give you women once a month as long as you keep being the best.”

The men give out with another cheer and promises to be the best. As they leave the mine and head over to their quarters, Miko’s jubilation is again dampened by the sight of Black Tooth carrying a water pail past on his way into the mines. But even his scowl isn’t enough to wreck this day for him.

In the back of his mind, he wonders what James is doing, how he’s getting along. He doesn’t hold ill will to him, he knows that he’s just a boy off the streets, not worth risking one’s life for. He returns to the present as they enter their room and find the food already there for them.

The older guys snatch the jugs of wine first, but Miko doesn’t care, his stomach cramps at the sight of the juicy, roasted beef sitting in heaping mounds on the platter. He grabs several thick slices and takes a big bite as he begins eating. The juices from the beef run down his chin, making tracks in the dust and dirt that coats his body.

For his crew of twelve, there are six jugs of wine, one of which has already been consumed by the others. Nate says to them, “Save some for Miko, he’s earned it too.”

“Sure thing,” says Fez, one of the old timers. He goes over and slaps Miko on the back as he offers the jug to him, “Here you go, Miko me lad.”

Miko takes the jug and has just a small drink before giving it back to Fez. He glances over to Nate who’s giving him a grin. Nate’s being moderate with the wine as well, taking only occasional sips of the wine as he concentrates mainly on the meat and loaves of bread.

When Miko finishes his fifth slice of bread, he begins to notice that Fez is behaving erratically. At first he assumes it’s due to the large amount of wine he’s consumed. But then he falls over and everyone starts laughing at his antics, thinking he has simply drunk too much.

Concerned, Miko goes over to him and tries to wake him up. “Fez,” he says, shaking his shoulder.

“Leave him be,” one of the others says. “He’ll soon sleep it off.”

But something just didn’t feel right. Shaking him harder, he calls his name louder, “Fez!”

Turning to Nate, he says, “I think he’s dead!”

As Nate goes over to him, another man cries out as he falls to the floor. Sudden pain rips through Miko’s stomach as he watches Nate stumble and fall as his stomach, too, begins to cramp with pain.

“Poison!” Nate cries out, holding his stomach as the pain again rips through him.

Poison? thinks Miko as he comes over to where Nate has fallen. Black Tooth!

James sits amidst the bushes in his spot across from the gate while Jiron keeps watch from his perch in the tree. As the sun begins to drop to the horizon, he notices Jiron perking up a little and begins gazing intently into the compound. A little after twilight, he comes down from the tree and back to where James is waiting for him.

“Looks like they have all the slaves come out of the mines at night,” he informs him. Pointing to the diagram on the ground, he says, “These buildings here are where they keep the slaves for the night.”

“You didn’t see Miko did you?” he asks hopefully.

“I was too far away to make out more than vague features,” he replies. “Can you determine which one of the buildings he’s in with your mirror?”

Removing the mirror from his shaving kit, he says, “Possibly.” In the fading light, it’s actually easier to see the image coming into focus than in broad daylight. The image coalesces and they see Miko eating with the others.

“They sure feed them well here,” comments Jiron when he sees the beef Miko is consuming.

Nodding, James expands the image and soon the exterior of the building comes into view. Once the image has zoomed far enough away to be able to see the entire compound, he points to the building where Miko is and then asks Jiron, “Recognize this?”

“Yeah, I know that one,” he tells him. “It’s on the opposite side of the pit from the gate. That one and the buildings next to it is where I saw the slaves being led.”

Replacing the mirror back into his kit, he asks, “How do we get him out?”

“We could go around to where the wall is closest to him and try there,” he says. “It’s not much better than here, but there might be less scrutiny away from the gate.”

“You may be right,” agrees James. Getting up, he nods for Jiron to lead the way and then follows him as he moves through the forest away from the gate. At the point where the wall turns back into the forest, Jiron continues on until they’ve put sufficient distance between themselves and the men walking patrol atop the wall. Then with a quick glance atop the wall to make sure the guards aren’t looking in their direction, they dart across the road quickly.

Jiron leads them deeper into the forest as they follow the wall from a distance, always keeping it in sight. He continues until the wall curves away from them and whispers to James that they’re close to the building wherein they will find Miko.

Coming to a stop, he glances at James for a second, a question on his lips. He hesitates a moment before asking, “Can you destroy the mine when we leave?”

“What?” James replies in shock, taken off guard by the request. “Why?”

“You saw how much iron ore they’ve been removing,” he says. “I was thinking that if they were no longer able to get iron from here it would seriously hurt their war machine.” He turns and looks at James square in the eyes, “It might be enough to force them to leave Madoc, or at least hurt their attempts to take more of it.”

“Possibly,” he says. “But what about all the slaves here? I might kill them all!”

“Right now they’re out and shouldn’t be affected by whatever happens to the mine,” he says.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he tells him. When he sees the look in Jiron’s eye, he adds, “I understand what you’re saying and the logic behind it. If I can, I will, okay? But not until we rescue Miko.”

He nods his head, “Thanks.”

“Now, what’s the best way to get inside?” James asks.

Jiron points to an overhanging limb that comes close to the wall. “I can climb up there and swing over to the wall,” he explains. “The only problem is the guards on watch up there.” He looks to James and says, “I need you to take them out.”

James gazes up at the wall and the guards walking there, considering the plan. He nods his head and says, “I think I can arrange that without alerting everyone to our presence.”

“Good. Ready?” he asks.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” replies James.

Jiron makes his way to the tree and begins to climb up to where the limb extends near the wall. As he climbs, he keeps as constant a watch on the guards as climbing will allow. Whenever they glance in his direction, he holds still until they once more turn away before continuing.