The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (57 page)

The soldier faces Miko and then launches
into a series of blinding attacks which he meets and counters. His
skill, having been augmented by his time with the Fire, is superior
to that of most and this opponent is no exception. He takes the
man’s measure and after a few passes begins working to bring his
sword into just the right angle. When at last the moment is at
hand, he feints an attack to his head which causes the soldier to
bring his sword up to just the right place, creating a hole. With
speed the eye can barely see, Miko brings his sword around and
thrusts through the hole, taking the man just to the left of the
breastbone and puncturing his heart.

As the man sags to the ground, Miko pulls
his sword free and looks around. The crossbowman which had almost
killed Uther with his bolt lies dead on the ground, head blown
apart by one of James’ stones. Glancing around, he sees the battle
is over.

Jorry is tending Uther, the wound is serious
but not life threatening. Packing the wound with a spare shirt, he
rips cloth from another and ties it tight much to the chagrin of
his patient.

“Would you be careful!” admonishes
Uther.

“Shut up you old woman,” Jorry replies back
as he ties the last knot.

“Is there anyone alive?” James asks as he
and Jiron come forward.

“Over here!” Fifer yells. One soldier who
sustained a cut to his sword arm lies on the ground at his feet,
Fifer holds his sword threateningly to keep him quiet.

James rushes over and asks, “Do you
understand me?”

The soldier glares at him and doesn’t reply.
James glances to Qyrll who speaks to the man in his own language.
The soldier replies back and Qyrll says, “He understands me.”

“Ask him what happened to Dave,” he says.
“I…I need to know.”

Qyrll turns back to the man and for several
minutes they exchange words. The soldier’s face gets a weird look
to it as he talks to Qyrll. When at last the soldier finishes
speaking, Qyrll turns back to the others.

“Well?” asks James.

The soldier had originally been a part of a
mission to hit The Ranch and attempt to capture the rogue mage. But
after the incident in the pass, all their plans changed. They had
followed James’ group until they reached Ironhold and then settled
in to wait and watch while he and the others combed the town.

Word was eventually given that they were on
the move and so they began the task of following them. He and the
others were never given a reason why an attack had not been
launched upon the mage and his companions during their time at
Ironhold. Some believed it because none wanted to face the magic
which has ended some of the most powerful mages of the Empire.
Others felt they were waiting for reinforcements.

After reaching the foot of Kiliticus, they
were amazed to see two people on a poorly constructed raft paddle
out into the middle of the lake and then sit there all day. At
first they thought something would happen but were
disappointed.

Finally, the two people came to shore and
the group climbed up the side of the mountain and lights sprung to
life on the darkened slope. It was at that time word was given for
all units to converge on the lighted area.

Before they reached the area with the
lights, they went out. Using lanterns, they continued the rest of
the way and found the opening in the side of the outcropping. The
mage in charge of the group, along with two other men began talking
about the ramifications of what is happening.

They were there several minutes before the
mage starts barking orders and has them make ready to enter. Then
suddenly, a blinding white light erupts from the opening and a man
stumbles forth.

The ground began to shake as the mage raises
his hands and then the mountain caved in. Dust belched forth from
the opening and when it cleared, there on the ground lay a man.

The mage and the civilians were next to him,
the rest of the soldiers kept their distance. Clutched in the man’s
hands was the source of the blinding light. In the light, they saw
the man’s face contorted in some agony, maybe horror, later none
could say for sure. An inarticulate cry began to emerge from him as
the mage and the other two backed away.

The skin of the man began turning dark and
his cries became more feral, less human. Spreading from where his
hands gripped the object, the darkness spread quickly. Soon the
man’s skin where it began had turned black as coal. The man’s cry
was cut off when the black spread up his neck. By the time it
covered his entire face, the man had stopped moving and lay
frozen.

The light from what he clutched in his hands
finally diminished completely and the only light left was that
coming from the lanterns. The mage glanced to the others for a
moment and then picked up a stick. Moving forward, he quickly
struck the object and it broke free, as well as the man’s hands.
They simply broke off at the wrists.

As the gem-like object hit the ground, the
man began to crumble in on himself. After a couple minutes, only a
pile of dark, fine dust was left. The mage picked up the gem with a
cloth and put it into one of his belt pouches. Then they began
moving out of there.

Qyrll glances to James as he says, “They
discovered we were following them and laid a trap hoping to slow us
down. The others are moving with all speed to reach the
Empire.”

The horror of Dave’s fate is almost too much
for him to believe. His best friend, life long companion. Good
times, bad times, Dave had always been there for him.

The Empire!
Anger, the likes of which
he’s never experienced before erupts.
The Empire took his
friend, tortured him and in the end twisted him to their own
ends.
The Empire!

Looking down at the soldier at their feet,
he says with barely controlled rage, “Kill him.”

Fifer looks to James who yells, “I said kill
him!” He then glances to Jiron who nods. Striking out with his
sword, he ends the life of the soldier.

Turning around abruptly, James goes to where
Jiron is holding his horse and mounts. The others quickly get on
their horses and then he takes off as fast as the terrain will
allow him. When they pass by the horses left by dead soldiers, they
pause momentarily while Fifer and Qyrll gather them and bring them
along. Extra mounts will enable them to cover more ground quickly
as they’ll be able to trade off from one to another.

James sits impatiently while the horses are
being tied in a line and then once they’re ready, again bolts away
down the trail. He doesn’t get too far before Qyrll comes to the
fore. “Let me take the lead,” he says.

With a glare of irritation, James acquiesces
and allows Qyrll to once more lead the way. After all, he knows the
way back better than the rest. Also, he picked up on the ambush
back there before any of the others.

They ride hard throughout the rest of the
day, only pausing once in a while for the call of nature and to
swap horses. Jorry has to help Uther down off of his and onto
another when the time to change mounts comes. When he does, he
takes notice of a growing red stain that’s gradually spreading from
the point of entry. “You okay man?” he asks, worried. His friend’s
face is pale and drawn.

Getting up onto the fresh mount, Uther
grunts and then says, “You worry too much.”

“Be right back,” Jorry tells his friend and
after receiving a nod, walks over to where James is finishing
cinching the saddle on his spare mount. “Uther’s not doing too
good,” he says.

Glancing back, he sees Uther in the saddle
sitting quiet and still, which isn’t like him. “Anything we can do
for him?” he asks.

“I don’t think so,” Jorry replies. “All this
riding is hard on his wound. It isn’t going to heal.”

“Might be a good idea if you two take it
slower,” he says.

“But you’ll need us,” insists Jorry.

“One more sword won’t make any difference,”
he explains. “Besides, Uther couldn’t defend himself now even if
his life depended on it. And in a little bit, it may. You two
follow along behind as best you can and then head back to The
Ranch.”

Glancing back to his friend who’s sitting
askew in the saddle, he says, “I hate leaving you.”

“I know,” James says in understanding. “But
at times, circumstances dictate for us to do that which we don’t
want to.”

“You be careful,” Jorry tells him.

“We will,” he assures him. “You just take
care of him.”

Jorry nods then returns to the side of his
friend.

Once Qyrll has assisted Jiron in mounting
another horse, they all mount and get going. When the others notice
Jorry and Uther not moving to keep up with them, James explains the
situation.

Making good time, they reach the shore of
the large lake. The sun is almost down but no one even thinks about
stopping. It’s going to be another clear night and they would
rather travel slow than possibly allow the soldiers to get any
further ahead of them. But they’ve all been up for over twenty four
hours now as it is.

James calls for a brief rest so they can all
get a little sleep. Catching them quickly will do them little good
if they’re all so tired they can’t take them on effectively. They
don’t stay very long, merely five hours or so before they’re off
again.

Another couple hours finds them approaching
the first river they encountered after leaving the mine area on
their way to the ruins. Qyrll takes them upriver until they reach
the ford then crosses over. On the far side, he stops and gets off
his horse.

The others come toward him as he bends over
and examines a pile of horse manure. Standing up, he says, “Looks
like they camped here last night. Might not be more than a couple
hours behind them.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Fifer says
as Qyrll gets back in the saddle.

Turning his horse to head downriver, Qyrll
leads them on.

As he follows behind Qyrll, James continues
to ruminate about Dave, their life together and the tragic end of
it all. His anger, which at first had burned like a white hot sun,
has cooled a little and he can approach this in a more rational
manner.

Last night he was all for razing the entire
Empire to the ground, destroying all its cities and citizens. But
now his need for vengeance is more directed against the ones
responsible for this, the leaders behind the Empire. He feels
slightly ashamed of himself for wishing harm on the innocents; the
women, children, those who are not part of the war machine.

Once they return to the lake, the going
becomes steadily easier and they’re able to increase their speed.
The foothills afford much more gradual terrain than the hilly,
forested region they just came from.

“The mine we passed on our way out is just
ahead,” Qyrll announces after the lake is an hour behind them.

“Good,” says James. “If the mine is just
ahead then we’ll be on roads from this point and may have a chance
of catching up with them.”

It isn’t long after that when through the
hills ahead of them the road leading from the mine to Ironhold
appears. Qyrll moves onto the road and then breaks into a gallop as
he turns in the direction Ironhold lies. The others follow
suit.

Riding hard it takes a little over an hour
before they crest a hill and Ironhold appears below. “There they
are!” Miko cries out.

Just entering the town are over two dozen
riders, and they’re riding hard.

“Heya!” James says as he kicks his horse and
races down toward the town.

“James!” Jiron cries out as the rest gallop
to keep up with him.

Not heeding Jiron’s cry, James races at
breakneck speed down toward the town. All he can think of is Dave
and the Empire’s role in his demise. Red begins clouding his vision
as the pent up rage begins to take control.

The soldiers have disappeared among the
buildings before James even closes half the distance. Which way
they went is hard to tell but only one road leads out of Ironhold
to the south and that’s where they’ve got to be going.

With the others trying to catch up, James
lays along his horse’s neck in an attempt to decrease wind
resistance and increase speed. He closes the distance with the
outskirts of town rapidly and finally shoots down the street
between the outlying buildings.

Ahead of him is an intersection and when he
reaches it, crossbow bolts fly from the street to the right. He
becomes aware of his danger too late and one bolt takes him in the
leg while four others strike his horse.

The horse stumbles and throws him from the
saddle. He flies through the air and slams into the ground ten feet
away. Instantly, he erects his shield around him just as another
volley of bolts flies at him. They strike the shield and are
deflected away.

His nerve endings tingle when he begins
detecting the workings of magic. Looking around quickly, he sees
the mage emerge from the side street and come toward him. In his
hand is the Star. His troops set up a blockade to prevent the
others from coming to his aid as bolt after bolt is fired.

Jiron and the others are forced to retreat
from the deadly volley. They quickly backtrack to the edge of town
and then their group splits, Jiron and Qyrll going to the right and
Miko and Fifer going left.

James gets to his feet, his right leg from
which the bolt is still protruding barely able to support him.
Thankfully it’s only embedded in the muscle and didn’t hit the
bone, although the pain it’s inflicting is almost unbearable.

The tingling sensation suddenly spikes as
the Star pulses and a wave of force strikes him. His shield is
little protection from an attack of this magnitude and he’s thrown
backward where he strikes the side of a building. His lungs freeze
from the impact and it takes him a couple seconds to get his breath
back.