Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (15 page)

“Damn!” Jiron says as he gets back to his
feet. “What did you do?”

“Explain later,” replies James. He glances
over to the palisade and sees there are still about a thousand men
between here and there. Behind him, all traces of magic have
disappeared. Hopefully he got the warrior priest with that but he
finds that rather unlikely. If Abula-Mazki can survive a mountain
falling down on him, this one will probably survive as well.

The pouches at his waist are nearly empty. He
actually hasn’t used much of his own power as yet. Like he told
Jiron back when they first met, if he has time to prepare, he
doesn’t get tired. And he’s had all winter to prepare.

They make a break for the gate in the
palisade, bolts rain down upon them but each is protected in their
own protective shield. Jiron only has another eight minutes or so
and then he’ll be at their mercy. Before they reach the leading
edge of soldiers, James removes one of the two remaining crystals
and throws it ahead of him toward the approaching troops.

“Down!” he yells to Jiron.

Jiron sees him fall to the ground and drops
as well.

The crystal flies through the air and hits
the ground just in front of the troops. Suddenly, a dozen soldiers
drop to the ground as the crystal leeches a hundredfold. A fraction
of a second later, six red beams like lasers shoot out from the
crystal, at an upward angle reminiscent of search lights. They
slice through whatever it touches and then the beams rotate
forty-five degrees. A cry erupts all over the field of battle as
men are cut in two, literally sliced apart by the beams. Then after
the beams come to rest, they blink out.

Boom!

The crystal explodes in a deafening roar,
leaving a four foot crater where it had lain.

“Come on!” cries James as he gets to his
feet. The number of soldiers between them and the gate has been
reduced by almost two thirds, the rest are fleeing for their lives
after witnessing the devastating attack.

“James, the gate is closed,” hollers
Jiron.

Looking toward the palisade, he sees the gate
standing closed. “See if you can open it,” he says as the tingling
sensation again comes to him. Glancing back, he sees the warrior
priest coming fast, whatever damage the massive explosion earlier
had done to him is no longer apparent.

Turning to face the warrior priest, he lets
loose the magic…

Crumph! Crumph! Crumph!

…but it doesn’t even faze the man. As the
ground erupts around him he continues moving quickly toward him,
seemingly unaffected by the blasts. When he spies James there
before him and the sea of dead behind, a hellish grin comes to him.
Raising his hands over his head, he speaks words which are painful
to hear.

Each word seems to go through him like a
knife. Standing there before the warrior priest, James
instinctively covers his ears as the words continue to set his mind
and nerves afire.

Then from around him, among the dead a black
mist begins to arise, the sight of which brings a horror which nigh
on paralyses him. As the warrior priest continues speaking the
words, the mist coalesces in many different areas among the
dead.

Through strength of will alone, he manages to
get his feet once more moving toward the palisade. Ahead of him he
sees that Jiron is still some distance from it as he, too is
overcome by what is transpiring around him.

Step by step, he progresses toward the gate
in the palisade. Not very far from him is one of the points where
the black mist is coalescing. It starts to take on a distinct shape
of a bipedal humanoid roughly three foot in height. When the
warrior priest utters the last word, the form solidifies and a pair
of red eyes stare out from the black, demonic head.

To James’ horror, the head turns in his
direction and the mouth twists into a malignant grin. The lips pull
back to reveal a row of jagged pointed teeth. A quick glance
reveals numerous of these creatures are upon the battlefield, each
point where the black mist coalesced now contains one. Then
suddenly they’re in motion.

James lashes out with the power at the one
closest to him and has the satisfaction of seeing it lifted off its
feet and thrown backward a dozen yards. The lethargy he experienced
while the warrior priest was casting his spell ends and he’s able
to once again race toward the gate where Jiron is attempting to
lift the bar keeping it closed.

A cry that sends a shiver down his spine
pierces the night from behind and he glances over his shoulder to
see another of the hell spawn running awkwardly to catch him. Again
he lashes out with the power and the creature is thrown
backward.

Turning his attention to the gate in the
palisade, he sees Jiron with his back to it, knives flying as he
battles two of the creatures. The shimmering of the shield
surrounding him has disappeared, the power within the crystal
having been depleted. Behind Jiron, he sees the bar keeping the
gate secured has been removed.

More of those creatures race toward him and
Jiron. Each time one gets close to him, he blasts it back with
magic. Jiron is now facing three and is at least holding his own,
the creatures shy away from the touch of the cold iron of his
blades.

Cries from the creatures sound throughout the
battlefield. James casts a glance around him and sees dozens of the
creatures closing rapidly. He’s not going to make the gate before
he’ll be swarmed by them. Not too far ahead of him, Jiron has his
back to the gate and is holding off five now, his knives moving so
fast they’re but a blur.

The last hundred feet between them is quickly
filling with more of the creatures. He blasts out with his magic
and ten are flung away only to have the space immediately filled by
others. Unable to hold them at bay any longer, he throws up a
protective barrier just as one creature leaps over the heads of his
fellows and smashes into it. The contact of the creature causes an
immediate increase in the amount of power required to keep the
barrier in effect, just as the touch of those creatures back in the
pass on the way to Ironhold had.

Must be similar in nature, though there’s
nothing of fire about these creatures.
Within the barrier,
James concentrates to maintain the barrier against the onslaught.
His forward motion stopped as more and more of the creatures bar
his way. They’re packed in so tightly around him that some are
beginning to stand on the shoulders of their fellows, creating a
wall of creatures on the outer side of the barrier.

The magic of the warrior priest has been
absent since the appearance of these creatures which has James
worried. Of course it could be that the summoning of these
creatures took all he had. He fervently hopes so.

Jiron can no longer be seen through the press
of creatures, they have worked themselves three high around his
barrier and their combined effect is draining the magic from him in
growing quantities. He’s not sure just how much longer he’ll be
able to hold it.

Miko is among those upon the battlements
keeping an eye on the enemy camp. James has been inside now for
some time. He had laughed along with the others when the enemy
soldiers were scattered by those small spheres that flashed and
zapped. Though now he’s begun to worry. It’s been many minutes
since they were escorted in through the palisade to meet with the
commander.

He glances down to the courtyard below where
Illan and the rest of his men sit on their horses awaiting the
signal to come to James’ aid should the need arise. When Illan
looks up at him, he shrugs. Turning to look back at the enemy camp,
he prays they’re alright.

Then from the heart of the enemy camp, a
flash of red and then a moment later a massive explosion rips
through the night. Fire seems to be thrown in every direction.

“What happened?” Illan hollers up at him.

Miko turns his head to face him and says, “A
large explosion in the camp. Looks like James is giving them what
for.”

Schtk! Boom!

A massive white light accompanies an intense
explosion from the same area as the earlier one. The concussion of
the blast is such that those on the battlements can feel it roll
past them. Miko strains to see what’s going on but the whole area
is one mass of moving bodies and can’t make out where James and
Jiron are.

When beams of red light shoot out into the
night, he turns and descends the steps three at a time to the
courtyard below. When he hits the bottom, he races to Illan. “We
need to go, now!” he hollers as he gets into the saddle.

“The catapults are on fire!” they hear the
cry from someone on the wall.

“Good,” Miko hears Illan grunt beside
him.

From atop the wall, Henri’s voice hollers,
“Open the gate!”

From behind them, they hear one of Illan’s
men say, “Black Hawk flies again!”

When the gates open, the cry goes up, “For
Madoc and Black Hawk!”

Illan kicks his horse and they race forward
across the bridge toward the palisade. The area between the bridge
and the palisade is devoid of enemies. Riding hard, they close the
distance quickly.

Intent on the gate before him, Miko is
suddenly struck with a feeling of unease. Exactly what the cause is
he’s not sure. The closer to the gate he rides the stronger the
feeling becomes. By the time their party nears the closed gate, the
feeling of unease has grown to one of immediate urgency.

“We’ve got to get to the other side!” he
hollers to Illan.

“Stephen, Ison, open the gates,” Illan
hollers. As two riders dismount and rush to the gate, he glances at
the empty wall above them.
Where are the crossbowmen?

One of the men behind him says, “I hope the
gates aren’t locked.”

“Could be a problem,” another replies.

Miko sits in his saddle with growing
trepidation as the two men reach the gate. Grabbing hold of the
crack between them, they pull hard and to everyone’s amazement,
begin to swing open.

Before the gates swing open more than a foot,
Miko kicks his horse into a gallop and races forward.

“Miko!” cries out Illan. “Let’s go,” he tells
his men and they race after him.

When Miko reaches the gate, he almost rides
over Jiron. He takes one look at the creatures battling him and he
realizes this is the source of the ill feeling. A blinding white
light erupts and he’s surprised to find the Star of Morcyth in his
hand. He hadn’t even been aware he took it out.

“Miko!” Jiron cries when he rides past him
into the swarming mass of creatures.

Unknown words begin issuing forth from Miko
as the light from the Star burns the creatures around him and
begins forcing them back.

“James is out there somewhere,” Jiron hollers
to him.

He looks around and sees what looks like a
pile of the creatures. The shimmering light from James’ shield can
be seen in brief glimpses under the undulating mass of creatures
covering it.

Behind him, the unmistakable sound of swords
striking flesh can be heard as Black Hawk’s Raiders wade into the
creatures. Pushing his way forward through the creatures, he draws
closer to James. Where the light from the Star touches the
creatures, smoke begins to issue.

The words continue to come forth, words of
unknown origin and meaning. Now close enough to the pile atop
James’ barrier that the light from the Star strikes them, they
begin to fall away. He looks in relief as he sees James with one
knee on the ground, an intense look of concentration on his face as
he works to maintain the barrier.

Around him, the battle is drawing to a close.
The creatures continue the attack even though the Star burns them.
They don’t come close to Miko and the Star, instead they rush
toward Illan and the others where they are cut down by the cold
iron blades of expert swordsmen.

“James!” Miko hollers as he comes to a stop
next to the barrier. The creatures surrounding James have been
driven off by the Star.

Opening his eyes, he looks up to see a rider
on horseback, a blinding sun held aloft in his hand. At first he
doesn’t realize it’s Miko, but then recognition comes. Getting to
his feet, he glances around and when he finds the creatures out of
the immediate vicinity, cancels his shield.

“Thank goodness you showed up,” he says
coming to stand beside his horse. “Don’t know how much longer I
could have withstood them.” He staggers slightly as a momentary
wave of dizziness hits him.

Reaching down a hand to steady him, Miko
says, “Come on, we need to get you back to Lythylla.”

“Did you find Jiron?” he asks as he takes the
hand and swings up behind him once his head clears.

“Yes,” replies Miko. Indicating the fighting
going on by the gate, he adds, “He’s back there with Illan and the
rest.” He turns his horse and with the Star held aloft, rides back
to where the battle still rages.

The number of creatures has been
significantly reduced, Illan and the rest are finishing taking care
of the last few. Several of his men have fallen to the creatures,
but both he and Jiron have survived with but minor injuries.

They arrive just as the last one falls. Illan
glances to James and then the sea of dead bodies. “You never do
anything halfway do you?” he asks.

“No,” he replies a touch sad. He hates the
killing as much as anything, but what else can he do but allow them
to kill him?

Off in the distance the glow from where the
siege equipment burns is visible. “Looks like Delia and her crew
managed to take them out.”

With no more of the creatures to worry about,
the light from the Star goes out and Miko puts it back into his
pouch. He glances to Illan, “Guess we won’t have to worry about an
attack for awhile.”