Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 111 of 619

They rode east until dusk and made camp in a stand of pines above a dry wash. Grayson set the watch. Tucker rubbed down the horses. Marco lay flat on his bedroll and covered his eyes with his arm. He had held the woman all morning and the ride had drained him. Ajax squatted by the fire and pulled the three wrapped items from Chalam's satchel one at a time. The ring. The candle stub. The folded cloth. "I need to know what these do before we reach the coast," Ajax said. "All three. Tonight if you can. Tomorrow at the latest." Chalam set his staff across his knees. His robe hung open at the chest. He looked at the bundle, then at Ajax. "I have one vial left with anything in it. The others are dry. I cannot read three workings on a thumb of power." "Then refill first. How long?" "A night. All five will fill by dawn if I sleep clean. No scrying. No calls. Nothing pulled from me." "Sleep, then. Marco's down anyway." Chalam nodded once. He set the five vials in a line on a flat stone at the fire's edge, mouths open to the sky. He did not explain. Ajax had watched him do it enough times to know the vials drank on their own if the wizard rested near them. "The ring speaks to collars," Chalam said. "I told you that at the hearth. I stand by it. The candle calls a name when lit. I will not light it until I know whose name it carries. The cloth I still do not know. It is not hostile. That is all." "Good enough for the night." Chalam lay down on his side, one hand near the stone, and slept. Ajax took the first watch himself. He walked the edge of the camp with his father's blade loose in the sheath. Grayson joined him at the second turn and did not speak. The pines held the wind out. Marco's breathing evened. Tucker slept against his saddle. Elara sat up once, checked her wrist, and lay back down. Asher stayed at the far end of the camp under Grayson's eye, as agreed, and did not stir. At dawn the five vials on the stone glowed pale blue, full to their stoppers. Chalam sat up, wiped his face, and corked each in turn. "All five," he said. "First time out here." "Read the ring after breakfast," Ajax said. "The candle after that. The cloth last." "That is the order." Ajax looked east toward the coast. Two days out. Three unknown workings in the satchel, a wizard at full strength, and a full purse. He had traded a night for a wizard's power. Now he could spend it.