“Don’t want to take the chance of being in Ironhold when night falls,” one of the men tells him. “Most travelers who come this way stop here and continue on through in the morning.”
“One time,” another man adds, “we were coming through Ironhold and our wagon wheel broke. It was just about sunset and by the time we got it repaired, the sun had dropped below the horizon.” One of the other men nods his head in affirmation to what he’s saying.
“Before we could get all the way through a white shape appeared atop one of the old buildings and began wailing.” His eyes widen at the memory as he continues, “The sound seemed as if it was going right through you. We whipped our horse and got out of there fast. We’ll never take the chance of being caught in Ironhold when the sun goes down again.”
“Thanks,” James says.
Nodding, the men return to their meal.
Glancing back to the others, he can see fear and doubt creep into their eyes, even Uther’s. “Better find a spot and we’ll enter Ironhold in the morning,” he says.
“Might not be a bad idea,” agrees Jiron.
“Think it was a banshee?” asks Dave as they head over to an unoccupied spot near an old campfire ring.
“Who knows?” responds James. “Just don’t let your imagination get the best of you.”
“I’ll try not to,” he says.
They get the horses settled in and set about gathering enough wood to last the night. “I think we should still maintain a watch here,” he tells them once the fire is going and they’re having their dinner. “Don’t necessarily trust everyone here.”
“I agree,” Miko says.
Several more groups of travelers appear from the road to the south and join with the others in waiting for the coming of dawn. Not one person enters the pass at the other end.
Sleep doesn’t come easy for any of them that night. Thoughts of what they may encounter the next day run through their mind. During their turn at watch, each tends to pace nervously in an attempt to work out their anxiety before returning to their blankets when their turn is over and trying to go to sleep.
Another crystal blue day dawns, cold and freezing. They gather around the fire to dispel the chill which has crept into their bones through the night. The plateau is a bustle of activity as the various groups of travelers get underway.
James is in no hurry to be the first, rather he just as soon wait and be the last to leave. They have breakfast while they wait for the last few to get underway. When at last everyone has either left or is in the process of heading for the pass, James decides it’s time to go.
Mounting, they ride at a leisurely pace as they allow those few still moving toward the pass a chance to enter it first. The wagons and caravan move slowly, causing James and the rest to proceed at a pace more sluggish than he would like. But if he wishes to be the last into Ironhold then he must endure it.
“What are you planning to do there?” Jiron asks him.
“Not sure,” he says. “There has to be a reason Ellinwyrd told me to come here.”
“Are you even positive this is the Ironhold he is mentioning?” Uther asks. “It’s possible there could be another.”
“He’s right!” perks up Miko. “Maybe we should go and find out.”
Shaking his head, James dashes his hopes by saying, “No. This is the right one. I know it.”
They finally crest a hill and below them they see Ironhold, or rather what’s left of it. It looks to have once been a sizable town with many buildings. All of which now stand in ill repair, some even having collapsed.
“Oh man,” he hears Miko say from beside him when he sees the dilapidated buildings.
“Looks like a ghost town,” Dave says.
“It does, doesn’t it?” comments James.
“A ghost town?” asks a shaky Miko.
Glancing over to him, James says, “It just means a town where no one is living. There are a lot of them where I come from and not one of them have actual ghosts. So relax.”
Coming down off the ridge, they follow the caravan as it approaches Ironhold. All the other travelers have already passed through and disappeared further into the mountains. A breeze blows through bringing the cold air down off the mountains. The peaks all have snow accumulations already and James is hoping it doesn’t drop any lower until they leave.
He brings them to a halt about a mile from the outskirts of Ironhold and waits until the caravan has passed through to the other side. When the last wagon rolls out of town, he nudges his horse forward and they make their way down.
It’s an eerie feeling riding into a deserted town in the middle of nowhere. He’s sure the feeling of unease they are all feeling is being magnified by the memory of what the man told them the night before. Every shadow holds a monster, every noise a creature bent on their destruction.
The first building they come to looks to have been an inn at one time and James brings them to a stop before it. Dismounting, he says, “We should split up in order to cover more ground quicker.”
“Split up?” questions Miko. The look on his face says he’s not liking this idea at all.
“We want to be out of here by night don’t we?” James asks him. When he sees him nod his head, he says, “Alright then. I’ll take Dave. Fifer, you go with Qyrll, and Miko, you stay with Jiron.” Jorry and Uther look to him questioningly but he returns a gaze telling them he shouldn’t have to tell them they’re paired. They always are.
The pairs form up as he takes out his medallion. Holding it up before them, he says, “We’re looking for anything with this symbol on it. Understand?” He shows it to everyone and receives a nod from each in reply.
Putting it back within his shirt, he says, “Meet back here by the horses in an hour.”
“You got it,” Jiron says as he grabs Miko and heads deeper into town.
Before Fifer and Qyrll leave, Fifer says, “We’re not going to be able to search the whole town before dark.”
“I know,” he replies. “This could take a couple days.”
“Days?” he asks.
“Don’t worry, we’ll leave town before it gets dark and then return in the morning,” James assures him.
“Okay,” he says. Then he and Qyrll leave for the center of town.
Turning to Dave, James says, “Shall we?”
“Let’s,” he replies. He appears more at ease now that it’s just him and James, the others always put him on edge.
They move along the outskirts and begin checking the buildings starting with the inn where their horses are tied. The front door has long since fallen off its hinges and lies on the floor within. Dust covers everything, including the fallen door. Other than small animal tracks, there’s no sign of anything or anyone having been inside for a long time.
“Check upstairs,” he says to Dave as he nods toward the stairs. “I’ll check around down here and meet you up there.”
“Alright,” he says as he heads to the stairs.
While Dave begins searching the rooms on the floor above, James looks through the rooms on the bottom floor. Room after room, he finds nothing out of the ordinary and no indication of Morcyth.
Aaaaaahhhh!
“Miko!” he cries when he hears his scream. He rushes out of the kitchen and enters the common room just as Dave comes to the top of the stairs.
“What was that?” he asks, his voice cracking due to his nervousness.
“I don’t know,” replies James as he rushes out the door. Turning down the street toward where he heard the cry, he takes out a stone and readies it. He turns the corner and sees Jiron standing there with Miko.
When Jiron sees him running, he rolls his eyes heavenward and nods to Miko.
“What happened?” cries Fifer as he and Qyrll come running from the opposite direction.
Miko turns toward them and holds up a rat’s skeleton. “Sorry.”
“When he opened the door it fell on him,” Jiron explains.
Sighing, James flashes Miko an amused look then turns to return to the inn. He meets Dave on the way back and he explains to him what happened, at which Dave grins.