Dallas could not believe Swift refused to continue south.
“Why not, Swift?”
Swift sent an image of the mute slave sleeping on the ground covered in a silvery glow.
“She is a mage?” He did not believe Joy was a mage, or she would have easily escaped Idion and the slavers by hiding her tracks when she fled the property.
Another image from Swift showed the silvery glow disappeared when Joy woke and stood up.
“What about Valda?”
Swift did not send any images.
Dallas realised she could not see or use ichur.
The midday sun shone brightly, heating the ground, and evaporating what little moisture remained in the air.
He glanced towards the western tree covered hill through a heat haze close to the ground. He wondered if the Ern river that divided the land between Morecrag and Mireland was closer than Convane’s border guards to the north. Better to lead the three to safety at the Semp crossing, than chance leading them west to Mireland. It would take him an hour, if the horses had the energy to trot, and another hour to return before he continued south.
The two girls waited patiently for Dallas to help, but Carl was not so patient. “When you finish talking to yourself, I demand you lead us north.”
“After you retrieve horses for Valda and Joy.” Dallas knew he was wasting time, but Carl needed to know who was in charge. And it was not Carl.
“How dare you speak to me like that!” Carl pulled the reins hard and his horse shied to his left. Carl was not ready for that and fell off the animal.
Dallas reached across and took hold of the reins before the animal galloped back to the other horses. “Mount!”
Carl glared at Dallas, but mounted the horse again. When he lowered his eyes, Dallas handed him the reins.
“Ride over there,” Dallas pointed towards the other horses grazing a few yards south of the bodies, “and return with two horses. We will wait here for you.”
Carl dug heels into his mount. The animal was too exhausted to fight. He walked down the road to the other horses.
Dallas turned back to the two girls. “The sooner you reach the border, the sooner you will have a meal.”
Both nodded agreement.
“Good! I will take you to the border. Valda, if your brother does not do as told, I will leave him behind.”
Valda nodded again.
Carl returned with two mounts.
The girls climbed into the saddles, and they all rode north in silence.
Carl rode next to Dallas, and the girls followed.
The silence finally got too much for Carl. “Will you ride to my property and remove the mage?”
“No!”
“Why not? You killed one mage who attacked. Once the girls are safe, I will return with you and help you kill the other mage.” Carl looked at Dallas, waiting for an explanation.
Dallas kept watching both sides of the track, but nothing moved. Not even goats or sheep. The area was empty of animals. Even insect calls silenced as they rode north.
After the rutted track veered west around a washout and again turned north up the next slope, Dallas asked a question. “Do you know the name of the mage who killed your family?”
An image of the blond haired bulky male who attacked Idion when Dallas visited filled his mind.
Dallas agreed with Swift, but knew that man was not a mage. It was a shame he did not kill the blond when he had the chance.
“No. Everyone bowed when near him, but dared not say his name.” Carl fell silent.
Dallas guessed Carl was remembering the slaughter of his family and left him alone with his thoughts.
When they reached to top of the rise, Dallas trotted down the slope.
He glanced back to check the youngsters. Joy bounced as her mount trotted, but the other two rode well.
He kept up the pace until Valda’s mount stumbled, and slowed to a walk.
Swift slowed to a walk.
Carl forced his mount closer to Swift. “I overheard one male talking to the mage. He said something about another mage not liking the fact so many slaves escaped after they arrived. I am guessing the blond mage is working for a more powerful mage.”
“Did you catch the name of the other mage?”
“Vint or Vincent. Something like that.”
“No,” Valda corrected Carl, “I thought the overseer called him Mage Crompton, when he said he was ordered to meet the second mage at the docks within days, if there were favourable winds. I was hiding in the room above when I overheard him talking,” she explained to Dallas. “He were worried about allowing a second mage onto the property.”
Mage Crompton was a name Dallas was familiar with. And what Valda heard made sense, because Mage Crompton worked with or for Mage Vince.
The last Dallas heard of Mage Crompton, he was fleeing east to Edgewood, after Swift carried Heath and Misty through the magic wall near Dead City and he rode Heath’s stallion through the wall.
Misty said Crompton was working for Mage Vince. If he was already in Mireland, Dallas needed to warn the border guards, and Mage Stantworth, because no doubt Mage Vince was using Mage Crompton to seek revenge for Misty fleeing with Dallas and Heath.
“What else did you overhear?”
“Nothing important. Things like ordering his men to ride north to capture more slaves to replace the slaves who fled. And sending men out to round up the escaped slaves before they disappeared into the bogs.” With a wave of his right hand, Carl dismissed the discussion of managing the property as minor. “Nothing really important. We were busy planning our escape, not listening to everything he said.”
“I heard the mage talking about using birds to deliver messages after capturing more slaves.” Valda rode closer. “Why would he want to know when his men captured more slaves? He would find out when they returned.”
Carl answered Valda. “Just showing his men that he knew what he was doing. Father never needed to do that. He just ordered slaves to do things and left them alone to do it.”
“One thing was unusual.” Valda looked back to check Joy was following, before she urged her horse forward. When she was level with Carl, she continued. “They were discussing only returning fast enough to keep ahead of someone following the slavers south.”
Dallas thought of Misty, following slavers south to rescue the shepherd’s family.
All the overheard conversations of slavers riding north to capture slaves fell into place. North meant in Convane.
And, preparing to meet Mage Vince when his ship arrived at Mireland’s main port meant the other mage had to be Mage Crompton.
If Jeb’s family were deliberately stolen, the slavers had to be working for Mage Crompton, who was waiting at Idion’s property for Misty to arrive.
What Carl and Valda overhead was a plan to recapture Misty!
No! Impossible!
Mage Vince purchased horses from his parent’s property because they sold the best horses to the neighbouring countries. If Mage Crompton did not already know where the property was, he only had to get one of his men to ask at the border. Every guard knew the directions to the property where they purchased their horses.
Dallas wanted to race south to warn Misty, not deliver the youngsters to the border guards.
He urged Swift to trot in the afternoon heat, hoping the other three horses had enough energy to keep up.