Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two (53 page)

The wound causes him to falter in his next
swing, leaving him open to a thrust through the breastbone.
Puncturing his heart, Jiron’s knife becomes wedged between two ribs
and is ripped out of his hands as the man falls to the ground.
Bending down to retrieve his knife, Jiron has to place his foot on
the man’s lifeless body in order to pry the knife from where it’s
trapped.

Wiping the blood from his knives on the
man’s shirt he quickly gets his bearings and then continues to lead
them through the forest toward the boat. The forest begins to fill
with smoke as more and more of the trees catch fire, the roaring of
the inferno behind them continues to grow with every passing
second.

At last they come to the cove where they
left Kristo and Jiron comes to a stop, cursing.

“What’s wrong?” James asks as he comes to
stand next to him. He looks out over the inlet and understands.

The boat is gone.

“I knew we should’ve killed him!” Jiron
exclaims. “Now he’s going to raise the alarm that the ones they
were looking for on the mainland are now here.” Behind them,
another blast erupts into the night, throwing fire and lava in all
directions. He looks to James and continues as he gestures behind
them, “As if they wouldn’t be able to figure it out with that going
on.”

“How are we to get off the island now?” Miko
asks.

“There’s still the dock over by the
smelters,” James replies. “It’s further south a ways, but it’s our
only hope.” The weight of impending doom seems to be dropping down
upon him, “I don’t think we have all that much time.”

As they get moving though the forest, Essin
asks, “Time for what?”

James glances back toward where the fire and
lava shoots to the sky, “Before the entire island goes.”

“Goes?” Miko asks.

“
Kaboom!”
he shouts
loudly, raising his arms into the air, “taking everything and
everyone with it. Apparently, this area use to be volcanically
active long ago, and I seem to have begun a series of events which
are going to bring this area back alive again.”

With renewed determination, everyone picks
up speed as they crash through the underbrush, heading to the
southern docks. James takes a turn at carrying the comatose Nate,
giving Essen’s arms a break.

When they come to the smelter area, there’s
a flurry of activity going on as the people there load what looks
like long bars of iron onto wagons. Some wagons have already been
loaded and are on their way to the southern docks.

“There must be a ship there,” figures Jiron,
“and they’re trying to save as much of the iron as they can.”

“Then we’ll just have to convince them to
take us along,” James says as they remain in the forest and skirt
around the buildings.

“Do you think they will?” asks Essin.

James just looks at him and shakes his head.
“It’ll end up being us or them,” he says.

“Oh, right,” he says.

Once around the camp and come to the road,
they no longer try to avoid being seen as they race onto the road
and make a break for it to the south. A cry goes up behind them
from the drivers of the wagons currently on the road but they are
slow and there are no guards with them. Not paying them any heed,
they continue racing toward the docks and their only chance to make
it alive off the island.

“How far is it?” Jiron asks.

“Not sure,” James replies as he begins to
get a stitch in his side, “maybe another mile or two.” Then turning
to Essin he says, “Here,” as he hands the unconscious Nate back to
Essin. “I may need my strength when we get to the docks.”

Once Nate is back upon Essin’s shoulder,
James is better able to continue running. The ground begins to once
more tremble as shockwaves ripple outward from the mine. “It’s not
going to be much longer!” he yells.

Suddenly, the road opens up on a clearing,
the dock lies on the far side over a hundred yards away. Two wagons
are being unloaded as a dozen people transfer the iron bars to the
only ship docked there. A dozen guards stand watch.

When they enter the clearing and have
covered half the distance to the docks, one of the workers sees
them and gives the alarm. The twelve guards turn and draw their
swords as they move to intercept them before they can reach the
ship. Iron slugs begin flying toward the advancing guards, taking
out five before they take a dozen strides. Using a tactic he saw in
an old war movie, James takes out the ones in the rear to keep the
advancing ones from realizing their number is decreasing.

Then he let’s loose more of the power as the
ground erupts, throwing another five into the air.

Jiron advances upon the remaining two,
knives at the ready. The first one closes with him and he deflects
the sword thrust with a knife as he follows through with the other.
The guard dances back as his slice misses the guard’s chest by bare
inches.

The workers on the dock, having seen the
guards taken out so readily, and the ground erupting before their
eyes, turn to flee for their lives away from the wagons and the
dock.

The ship’s captain begins barking orders as
he attempts to move his ship away from the dock before they have a
chance to approach.

Essin lays Nate on the ground and grabs a
nearby stick as he goes to aid Jiron. He comes up behind the second
man Jiron is engaged with and strikes him in the back of the head.
The man staggers a few steps before dropping to the ground.

Jiron glances over to Essin and gives him a
slight nod as he continues the fight with the remaining guard.

Miko sees the boat begin to pull away and
hollers over to James, “The boat is leaving!”

Looking over to the boat, James realizes
it’s already a good five feet from the dock and departing steadily.
The magic surges out of him as he creates an invisible tether from
the dock to the boat. The ship suddenly lurches to a stop, the
captain shouting orders to his crew but nothing he does moves his
ship one inch further. Beginning to pant with all the magical
exertions, James begins to shorten the tether and the boat is
slowly brought back to the dock. Spots dance before his eyes as he
sinks to one knee from the effort of drawing the ship back to the
dock. He glances over to Jiron and watches as the remaining guard
falls to the ground.

After his remaining opponent falls, Jiron
turns to find James at the edge of the dock on one knee. He runs to
his side while Essin and Miko bring forward the unconscious
Nate.

As the boat pulls up to the dock, James sees
the captain and crew there with swords drawn ready to sell their
lives dearly if they must. “Request permission to come aboard
captain,” James hollers to him.

“Why should I let you?” the captain yells
back.

“Because your ship isn’t going anywhere
until we do,” James tells him. “This island is about to erupt in a
volcanic explosion of immense proportions and we all need to be as
far away as possible.”

As if to add credence to what James is
saying, the ground begins to shake violently, dropping everyone to
the ground. Trees in the forest are heard toppling over and from
the mine area, another blast erupts into the sky.

When the ground once again calms, they
return to their feet. The others gather around James as he stands
there before the ship. When Essin and Miko bring Nate close, the
captain sees him and says, “Nate?”

James looks over to Nate and then back to
the captain, “You know him?”

“Aye,” he replies, “he’s my cousin.” Turning
to his men he signals for them to lower their weapons and then
returns his own sword to the scabbard on his hip.

“Permission granted,” he says, “hurry and
come aboard.”

As they begin moving toward the ship, a mob
exits the forest behind them. Consisting of both slaves and guards
from the compound, they swarm into the clearing, hell bent on
reaching the ship and safety.

“Come on!” the captain yells and then begins
barking out orders to his crew as they once more get the ship ready
to sail.

Suddenly a hail of hot stones falls on the
ship and those getting aboard from where they had been belched from
the belly of the emerging volcano. One stone strikes James in the
head, causing him to falter and fall to the ground. Jiron helps him
to his feet and then half carries him across the gangplank to the
ship’s deck.

Miko turns and gasps when he sees one armed
Black Tooth in the fore of the advancing mob. From somewhere he’s
acquired a sword and has it gripped in his remaining hand. When
their eyes lock, an evil grin spreads across his face as he
quickens his pace to reach Miko.

“Miko!” James yells from where he stands on
the ship. “Hurry up!”

When Miko and Essin reach the gangplank, the
captain is there and he takes Nate from them as they board the
ship. Two crewmen pull in the gangplank as the wind fills the sails
and the ship begins to back away from the dock now that James is no
longer holding it captive.

Before the ship is able to put enough
distance between them and the dock, a few of the people running
toward them try jumping the distance between the dock and the ship.
Most land in the water but a couple manages to reach the deck,
Black Tooth is one of those to make the ship’s deck.

Crying out as he lands on the deck, he turns
toward Miko who’s only a foot away and raises his sword to end his
life. Miko looks up at death coming for him and then closes his
eyes as he braces for the end.

As Black Tooth strikes down at Miko, he
suddenly gasps and falters. Miko opens his eyes and sees a crossbow
bolt sticking out of his chest, blood beginning to flow down the
front of his body. Staggering to the side, he looks down at the
bolt sticking out of him. With a cry of animal ferocity, he again
lurches toward Miko, intent on killing him with his last ounce of
strength.

Another bolt strikes him in the shoulder
causing him to drop his sword. Coming forward with the crossbow
still in his hands, Essin approaches and says, “This is for killing
my crew!” Using his right foot, he kicks Black Tooth in the butt
which causes him to stumble over the ship’s rail. Leaning over the
rail, Essin watches as he hits the water and proceeds to sink
beneath the surface.

Only one of the others who made it to the
ship still lives, another slave Essin knows and will vouch for his
good behavior.

As they continue to pull away, the others
remaining at the dock cry and plead for them to return, but the
captain orders his men to make all speed to open water. “Put this
god forsaken island behind us!”

“How is he?” the captain asks Miko as he
comes over to see how his cousin Nate is doing.

“I don’t know,” replies Miko. “He was
poisoned, the others who were poisoned are all dead, but he didn’t
drink as much as they had.”

“Guess we’ll know after awhile,” states the
captain. “Never thought to see him alive again.”

James comes over to the captain and offers
his hand. When the captain takes it, he says, “Appreciate you
allowing us on, captain.”

“Didn’t do it for you,” he says, “though
after what you did to the guards I was of a mind to allow you on
anyway. But when I saw Nate here, that clinched it.”

“We appreciate it anyway,” he assures him.
Suddenly from the north end of the island, a gigantic explosion
throws a tremendous volume of rocks and magma into the air. Several
other spots on the island begin to erupt as well.

Steam rises from the ocean off the northern
point of the island and soon, magma can be seen shooting upward
through the water.

“Damn!” the captain exclaims at the
sight.

“Full sails!” he hollers up to the men in
the rigging. To the man at the wheel he shouts, “Straight away to
open water!”

“Aye, aye captain,” the man at the wheel
replies as he alters the ship’s course accordingly.

As the ship sails away, James can see
several different areas where the magma is bursting through the
surface of the sea. A whole chain of volcanoes is being created and
the heat from them can be felt even from this distance. He feels
bad, everyone that had been left on the island is most likely dead
or will be. He can’t conceive of anyone surviving what’s
happening.

He goes over to the captain and asks, “Where
do you plan to take us?”

The captain looks at him for a second and
then says, “To the city of Corillian, it’s where Nate’s family
still resides. They should take you in and help you for saving his
life.”

Corillian,
he ponders as he watches
the volcanoes erupting in the distance.

_________________________

Standing there, staring out his window from
the highest room of the tower, he again burns with anger at the
destruction that has been wrought.

A day ago, smoke rose from the Iron Mines at
Sorna just before it was engulfed by a series of erupting
volcanoes. Shortly afterward, a great wall of water surged out of
the sea and washed away a good portion of the dock area here at
Tiru Stali.

Burning with impotent rage, unable to vent
it upon the one that had brought this into being, he stands there.
A mage!
he rages within.
A single mage and so much
destruction.
The last several days rumors have come to him of
strange occurrences to the north, some hardly credible. A demon
walks from an oasis which had dried earlier the same day and then
water pours from the ground miles away.

Even here in Tiru Stali, a giant with a
flaming sword supposedly went walking down the street.
What is
going on?

From everything he has been able to gather,
these things have been occurring since the fall of the City of
Light. He knew that venture had been ill fated, but his counsel
hadn’t been heeded.