Trail of the Gods: The Morcyth Saga Book Four Read Online Free

leave?”
    Shaking his head, Jiron says, “That guy
simply would not listen. It wouldn’t sink in that no amount of
money could sway you.” Cracking a grin, he adds, “So I finally had
to chase him off.”
    Returning the grin, James says, “Yeah, I saw
that.”
    “The problem is,” explains Roland, “is that
word about you is getting around. People are talking I’m
afraid.”
    “Oh?” he asks. “And just what are they
saying?”
    “Mainly that you’re a mage and that you’ve
helped some people out,” answers Roland.
    “Great, notoriety,” sighs James. “That’s
just what I wanted.” Glancing at Jiron, he continues, “Would you
mind going into town tonight and find out just what they’re saying?
I’d like to know.”
    “Sure,” he says. “I can take a couple of the
guys and down a few at the Squawking Goose.” Then he smiles and a
short laugh escapes him.
    “What?” James asks.
    “Did you ever hear why the place is called
the Squawking Goose?” he asks.
    He sees Roland start to grin as he shakes
his head and says, “No.”
    “Well, it’s rumored that the owner’s wife
never shuts up, and, well that’s it,” he replies.
    “He named it after his wife?” James asks
incredulously. “Doesn’t she get mad?”
    “This is the funny part,” says Roland. “The
wife doesn’t know, she thinks it’s because they serve goose a lot.
But she does talk more than most.”
    All three start to laugh. Roland grabs his
axe from where he’d set it down and heads back to the wood pile.
They can hear his laughter as he walks away.
    “Going back to the crystals?” Jiron
asks.
    “I think so,” he replies. “I might have had
it, if it wasn’t for that pest.”
    “I’ll keep an eye out and make sure you’re
not disturbed again,” he assures him.
    “I’d appreciate that,” James says. He turns
to go through the house and out the kitchen door as Jiron exits
through the front door. Giving Ezra and Arkie a quick nod, he
leaves the house and makes for his workshop.
    Once inside, he closes the door and relishes
the peace and quiet of it. Before resuming his tests, he sits at
the workbench and tries to calm himself and to get his mind to stop
churning about the interruption.
    Picking up another of the crystals that lay
on his workbench, he rolls it between his fingers absentmindedly as
he recalls the spell he used the last time. When he thinks he’s
remembered it exactly and his mind is better able to focus, he
takes the crystal and places it on the table after clearing a spot
for it among the shattered remains of his previous experiments.
    He moves back to where he was before and
then concentrates only briefly before letting the magic flow. This
time he lets it go quickly and braces himself for the crystal to
shatter, but it remains intact.
    The leeching of magic from him begins and
the reddish glow can be seen growing within it as it holds more
power. When it darkens to a deep crimson, he backs a few more steps
away nervously, just in case. But, as before, the crystal reaches a
certain point and the leeching diminishes until it’s almost
imperceptible.
    He watches it for several minutes, giving it
time to explode if it was going to and then starts toward the table
where he picks up the crystal. The deep crimson color isn’t a
light, it’s simply a part of the crystal. The leeching of power
suddenly stops altogether. Must’ve reached its limit so it shut
down.
    Satisfied, he sets the crystal down on the
workbench. He picks up another of the crystals and takes it over to
the test table to see if he can duplicate the results. Setting it
down, he moves away from it and casts the spell again.
    This time, the leeching of power is much
less. Odd, he thinks to himself. I would’ve thought it
would be the same.
    He watches the crystal and the reddish glow
begins to form within, just as the previous one. As it reaches the
deep crimson color, it begins subsiding again as if it’s losing
power.
    The