Early the next morning when the sky is just beginning to lighten with the coming of the dawn, they set out. Same as the day before, they run parallel with the road while maintaining a discreet distance.

Jiron rides point a hundred feet ahead of James and Jared. The sun no sooner begins to crest the horizon before he makes out the silhouette of a rider almost directly ahead. The rider is sitting there staring in their direction. Jiron comes to a stop and waits for the others to join him.

Indicating the rider he asks James, "What do you make of that?"

Staring through the glare of the rising sun, he sees the rider just sitting there. "I'm not sure," he replies.

"Could he be a scout?" suggests Jared.

"Seems a little young for that," replies Jiron.

"Probably a farm lad out and about early in the morning," decides James. "Pay him no attention."

"Alright," says Jiron as he gets his horse moving.

They don't travel very far before James feels the tingling sensation of magic. "He's a mage!" he exclaims. They look and find the lad with arms raised and sitting still.

"What's he doing?" Jiron asks.

"I'm not sure but we better find out," he replies. Kicking his horse into motion he races toward the boy with the other two right behind. Seeing them charging forward, the lad turns his horse and begins racing away.

They begin to gain on the boy when from the west and north, other riders make an appearance as they angle toward the fleeing rider. "d.a.m.n!" curses James. With their position now known, it's unlikely they'll be able to make an attempt on the School's library.

More tingling is felt as the riders each summon magic. "They're all mages," James tells the others. "We better get out of here before more come." Turning his horse, he heads north.

"Are they from the School?" asks Jared as he swings in to follow.

"Have to be. Since they couldn't locate me by magic, they sent riders out to find me," he speculates.

"But they still aren't going to be able to track you though, right?" Jared asks nervously.

"They don't need to track me specifically now," he explains. "They can simply watch the stretch of desert that we are on and keep track of us that way."

"So what do we do?" Jared replies.

"Wait for dark and try to lose the watchers then," he says, though with the riders keeping an eye on them that will be hard to do. With Jiron again in the lead, they race north through the desert, all thoughts of tackling the library gone. Following behind them are five riders, each able to wield magic.

"Finally!" exclaims Kerith-Ayxt as the beacon comes to them. The master in charge of the Table soon has the desert in view where the First indicated. They see the First sitting there staring off across the desert. The master scrolls the image and soon has three riders in view.

"That's them milord," the master says.

"Excellent," breathes the High Lord Magus. Staring at the three, he's able to easily pick out the mage. To a Mage of the Fourth standing there with him he says, "Gather the Circles. We're going to ride forth and take care of this mage once and for all."

"Yes, milord," the Fourth says with a bow then leaves the room.

To the master in charge of the Table he says, "I shall leave you a couple Firsts and Seconds to aid you. When the slaves come, you know what to do?"

"Yes milord," the master says with a nod, never taking his eyes off the mage's party.

Kerith-Ayxt glances one last time at the image of the riders riding hard before leaving to make ready to ride. When he had been selected to be the High Lord Magus, he thought his days of battle were behind him. Relishing the thought of again being able to wield magic in battle he hurries from the room.

The five riders continue to follow. For two hours, James, Jiron and Jared have been fleeing northward and still the five riders continue to pace them. Once they tried to turn and confront them, but they simply ran away. Apparently they are only there to keep them in sight.

At one point they stop to rest their horses while James digs a shallow hole in the desert. Within the depression, he places one of his pouches and opens it as wide as it will go. Taking out one of their few remaining water bottles, he pours the contents into the pouch.

"What is he doing?" Jared asks Jiron.

"He's trying to figure out which is the best way to go," he says. "Without his mirror, he needs a flat reflective surface to do it."

Jared keeps an eye on the five riders behind them who came to a stop when they did. He's glad all they wish to do is observe.

Once the water fills the pouch, James waits a moment for the surface to stabilize then releases the magic. Aside from the five riders behind them, there aren't a whole lot of others in the area. To the west lies a road running north and south. All that's on the road is a slave caravan heading south.

"Is there a town where we could acquire fresh horses?" Jiron asks. "We could outdistance them over time if we could."

"Let me check," he says as he returns to the image upon the water. Northward lies nothing but desert. To the west along the road a little north of the caravan sits a small town. There's an inn as well as several other businesses situated along the road.

"I think I found one," he says and then relates what he saw.

"That will work," states Jiron. "How far?"

Checking the image again, he says, "Half an hour give or take ten minutes." Carefully removing the pouch, he pours as much of the water as he can back in the water bottle. Once the pouch and water bottle are again secured behind his saddle, he mounts.

Indicating in which direction the town lies, James nods for Jiron to again take the lead. Flying across the desert they make good time, all the while the five riders remain behind them. Less than a half hour later, the town appears ahead of them.

Slowing his horse, Jiron indicates their pursuers then says, "Deal with them and I'll get us some horses."

"Very well," replies James. To Jared he says, "You stick with me."

As Jiron gallops toward the town in search of fresh horses, James and Jared turn to face the oncoming hors.e.m.e.n. When the riders see them halting, they slow their pace.

"Come on!" yells James as he kicks his horse into a gallop. Jared follows close behind.

Upon seeing them charging, the riders turn to flee. James summons the magic and the ground near the fleeing riders erupts in explosions. One explosion erupts under a horse and throws the rider to the ground. The remaining four riders stop and return to their fallen comrade.

Removing a slug from his belt, James launches it at the nearest rider and feels the tingle of magic as it's deflected to the side. The tingling sensation increases as the riders begin summoning magic.

James throws up a barrier around himself and Jared as a ball of fire appears and arcs toward them. "Hold still!" orders James when he sees Jared try to turn to flee.

Not heeding his command, Jared kicks his horse into a gallop and smashes into the shield. His horse rears backward and crashes into James', throwing both riders to the ground.

The barrier winks out as James. .h.i.ts the ground. Rolling onto his back, he sees the fireball about to strike and another barrier springs into being, coc.o.o.ning him a second before it strikes.

A scream of pain is ripped from Jared's throat as the fireball slams into him. James is surrounded by fire as it envelopes his coc.o.o.n, rapidly raising the temperature within.

Lashing out with magic of his own, James blasts the fire off the barrier and gets back to his feet. Next to him lies the twitching burnt body of Jared. The flame of the fireball continues to burn him, his cries of pain echo across the desert. His eyes flash open and look pleadingly to James.

Swallowing hard, James acquiesces to his request and removes a slug from his belt. With the force of magic behind it, he throws it and ends Jared's torment. Turning back to the mages, he finds three are still on horseback while the other is on the ground seeing to the fallen rider.

Another fireball is arcing toward him and he envelopes it with a barrier, dragging it to the ground. Unleashing magic of his own, the ground begins to shake. The rider's horses begin to neigh and rear from fright. Two riders are bucked off while the third hangs on for dear life as his horse takes flight across the desert.

Suddenly, the ground beneath the remaining four mages opens up. Two immediately fall in, the others grab onto the edge and hang on. The shaking of the ground continues causing one of the remaining two to lose his grip on the edge and falls.

Magic springs to life from the four as they work to counter what he's doing. But whatever they are trying is insufficient to stop him. With a clap, the two sides of the pit slam shut upon the lads inside. The one hanging onto the lip of the opening is caught as the shutting of the hole crushes his lower half. After a moment's agony, he grows still.

Stopping the flow of magic, the ground begins to settle down. The rider whose horse bolted on him pauses several hundred yards away for only a moment then turns and races away in the desert.

Beginning to feel drained from the magical endeavors, James returns to where Jared and the horses lie dead upon the ground. Everything they had on the horses is now a charred mess. He feels bad for Jared, emotions almost getting the better of him. Putting the carnage behind him, he runs toward the town.

Before he even gets halfway there, Jiron races from between two buildings on the outskirts, the reins of two other horses held in his hands. Galloping fast, he sees James and angles toward him.

James starts to wave to him when he sees a dozen other riders emerge from between the same two buildings as had Jiron. Their angered cries reach him as they chase after Jiron.

James sighs and readies himself as Jiron and his pursuers approach.

Crumph! Crumph! Crumph!

Three explosions throw dirt and sand before the charging riders causing them to come to a brief halt.

Jiron reaches James as the dirt begins falling back to the ground. Grabbing the saddle of one, James quickly mounts.

He glances back to the scene of battle. "And where's Jared?" he asks.

"Dead," replies James.

Jiron's pursuers have halted behind the blasted earth. James creates his...o...b..and launches it toward them.

Seeing the glowing orb flying toward them after having the earth erupt and almost kill them is more than they can stand. Three horses aren't worth tangling with a mage of such power. Turning back to town, they flee for their lives.

Once they are on their way back to town, James cancels the orb. Turning their horses westward, they quickly get to a gallop and race past the town. James fills Jiron in on what happened and how Jared came to die.

Chapter Twenty Two.

"d.a.m.n!" curses James.

"What?" asks Jiron as he walks over to where James is kneeling over a small pool of water. While Jiron was watering the horses from the spring, James had dug a hole and filled it with water to use to scan for hostiles. Looking over his shoulder, he sees over fifty hors.e.m.e.n riding through the desert. "So?"

"Take a closer look," James says as he moves aside to allow Jiron to take his place.

The riders whom he had first thought were soldiers turn out to be mages. He glances to James and asks, "How far away?"

"Can't be more than an hour," he figures. He lets the water's surface return to normal as he says, "I don't think I can handle that many. I took a closer look and several have gray hair."

"Meaning we are about to be hit by mages with experience?" he asks.

Nodding, he adds "And with power I would imagine."

"What should we do?" Jiron asks.

"I don't know," he replies. "To the north I saw some old ruins but nothing there that could even begin to protect us against them I'm afraid."

Walking over to where the horses are drinking from the spring, they quickly get back in the saddle. Jiron gets a thoughtful look and asks, "Could you raise another sandstorm? Turned out to be quite effective the last time. We could ride north and take shelter in those ruins you saw."

"Maybe," he says. "It might work if the storm could be raging when they get to it. Else they may be able to stop it before it even gets started."

"Then what are we waiting for?" he asks. Kicking his horse in the flanks he bolts away from the spring with James right on his tail.

They keep a hard pace, trading off on the spare horse to maintain the horses' strength for as long as possible. Little over an hour later, the first sign of the ruins comes into view, a single broken wall jutting straight out of the sand.

"We're getting close," comments Jiron as they pa.s.s by the broken wall. Up ahead are still more jagged walls jutting out of the sand. Most rise vertically while others leave the ground at an angle.

"Strange," breathes James as he glances at the walls around them. As they progress further into the ruins of what is beginning to appear to have once been a city, the number of walls steadily grows. Again, some of the walls are vertical while others are slanted in one direction or another.

As they pa.s.s through, they hunt for a structure that will afford them some protection against the storm James intends to summon. Several minutes after pa.s.sing the first broken wall, a series of more sizeable structures appears ahead of them.

"Find us a place in which to shelter," James tells him indicating the structures ahead. Dismounting, he hands his reins to Jiron and adds, "I need to begin this storm before they come any closer."

"Right," he says. Taking the reins, he leaves James to summon the storm and makes his way further into the ruins. He pa.s.ses sections of walls that once had been buildings. Some are practically whole with but a single wall missing or a portion of the roof. The wind begins to pick up and he glances back at James who's lost in concentration. Take your time, Take your time, he thinks as he hurries to find shelter. he thinks as he hurries to find shelter.

Working his way through the ruins, he comes across a stone dome rising several feet from the ground. At first thinking it was resting on the ground, he's soon to realize that most of the dome is still beneath the ground with only the uppermost section visible. That gives him a better appreciation of the scale of the buildings that used to be here. He had thought the broken walls they've come across were from the first floor of the buildings. But taking into account the dome, these walls must be what remains of the upper stories. No telling just how far down the buildings actually extend.

Finally, he comes across a building with most of the walls and good portion of the ceiling still intact. Taking the horses through the hole in the wall, he walks them over to the far side. Leaving them behind, he returns to tell James what he's found.

On his way back to James, the wind begins to pick up. Sand starts flying through the air as the wind whips it up off the ground. Pulling his shirt over his head to protect his face, he hurries through the ruins.

He finds James exactly where he left him. Eyes squinting tight to ward off the flying dust, he has a hand over his nose and mouth in an attempt to keep the sand out.

"They're fighting me!" he shouts to be heard over the wind as Jiron comes to a stop before him.

"Can you hold it?" he asks.

"I doubt it," replies James. "There are too many working against me."

"I found some shelter," he tells him. "I left the horses there."

Nodding, James turns to look at him. "We better get them. This storm isn't going to last much longer."