Wizards' Exile by Colin R Parsons

Author:Colin R Parsons [Parsons, Colin R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781910903186
Publisher: Pegasus
Published: 2019-08-05T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Imago Pirates

The tracks continued for a while and then disappeared again. They all stopped and stared at the ground. Rebus spoke up.

‘What do we do now?’ he asked, looking concerned. ‘We’ve no trail to follow.’

‘I don’t know, but we can’t give up.’ Rhidian was worried but adamant about continuing the search.

‘I understand you’re concerned about young Red, but the light is fading and I’ve lost his essence,’ Caleb said, pointing above.

Night was indeed slowly devouring the blue sky, adding a deep purple to the backdrop. The trees were fanned out, but the twilight still hid them from predators. The urgency of finding their friend, and the inevitability of darkness, made Caleb, Rebus and Rhidian forge on in silence and only spoke when they needed to. As it got darker, movement became more difficult.

‘Did anyone think to bring a flashlight?’ Rhidian said, realising he hadn’t.

‘Didn’t you?’ Rebus said, and tried to look into Rhidian’s eyes but it was too dark.

‘No I didn’t. I thought you did,’ Rhidian responded.

‘What about you, Caleb?’ Rebus asked.

‘Me, no, I was too busy getting the food,’ he answered.

‘So… none of us thought to bring a light?’ Rebus said with a sigh. There were shakes of the head all around, ‘I suppose things were a bit crazy back there.’

‘Hold up a sec,’ Caleb said and dipped to the ground.

‘What is it?’ Rhidian was feeling excited. ‘You found his trail again?’ he asked, his voice sounding upbeat.

‘No, just grabbing a tree branch,’ Caleb revealed. Rhidian couldn’t quite see what he was doing as the night had smothered everything and made it difficult to see anything. ‘I’m going to try and make a burning torch,’ Caleb said. ‘We’ll need light.’

‘We’re going to have to stop soon anyway, light or no light,’ Rebus grumbled. ‘It’s getting too dangerous.’ He was right of course, but Rhidian didn’t want to give up.

‘Just a little further,’ Rhidian chirped up, hoping the rest would agree. ‘Please, I’m really worried about Red.’

Caleb had found some small rocks and emptied one of the food bags into the other. He wrapped the canvas bag around the top of the branch and tied it as tight as he could to the wood. He used the straps to secure it. He smashed the rocks together and produced sparks. Soon a small flame appeared, catching the fibres of the dry cloth.

‘We have light,’ Caleb announced proudly, but that was short lived. ‘Look, there,’ he said urgently. He pointed the flame towards something, not too far ahead. There were also lights in the distance. All three were astounded.

‘Where did they come from?’ Rhidian asked. ‘I didn’t notice them before.’

‘We weren’t concentrating and we’re tired,’ Rebus exclaimed.

‘An encampment?’ Rhidian whispered. ‘Could be trouble. Do you think it’s Red?’

‘We have to get a closer look without being seen. Then we can see what it’s all about,’ Rebus replied.

‘Yeah, everyone keep their eyes peeled,’ Caleb instructed.

‘You’re going to have to put out that torch,’ Rebus insisted. ‘That’ll give us away before we get anywhere near.

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