Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (28 page)

“Are you game?” he asks.

“What do you have in mind?”

Illan continues with the rest of the force
while James, the Hand of Asran, and Jiron with his fighters from
The Ranch stay behind to set up a few surprises. James was at first
annoyed by the lack of help from the Hand when he first began to
lay down what he wanted. He saw what they did against the warrior
priest back at Lythylla and expected them to do something similar
now.

“We do not kill men,” Brother Willim states
adamantly when asked if they could do something against the
approaching force. “The warrior priest was an entirely different
matter.” But they work out a few things they could do without
compromising the sanctity of life.

Now, two hours later, they wait just within
visual distance of the section of the road where the caravan lies
destroyed. Jiron figured the Empire’s men would take a few moments
to examine the wreckage before they continue the chase on the off
chance someone was left alive.

“Here they come,” says Stig as he returns
from his lookout position by the road.

The force comes into view with the three
mages riding in the lead. Coming up behind the mages is a force of
cavalrymen over a thousand strong. Their foot soldiers are still
hours behind, following as best they can.

When the mages take notice of the destroyed
caravan and the dead bodies of those who fought back, their
approach slows. Moving closer to the wagons, soldiers begin
dismounting as they search for survivors.

“Any time now,” whispers James under his
breath. To Brother Willim he says, “When it begins, that’s your
cue.”

“We’ll be ready,” he replies. He and the rest
of the Hand gather together, a subtle green glow springs into being
around them. James can feel the unmistakable tingling of nearby
magic as the Hand makes ready.

At that time, one of the mages suddenly sits
erect in his saddle as he gazes in their direction. “One senses the
magic,” he tells them. “I just hope he…”

Crumph! Crumph! Crumph! Crumph!

All along the road in the vicinity of the
wrecked caravan, crystals which James had secreted earlier, respond
with violent explosions when they detected the mage casting a
spell.

James glances over to Brother Willim and
gives him a nod indicating it’s time.

The green glow surrounding the Hand
intensifies tenfold as they summon the power of Asran. Cries are
heard from the horses as ants, millions of ants, swarm out of the
ground and up their legs. Green shoots also spring out of the
ground from the seeds which the brothers had sowed earlier, causing
even more confusion and panic.

Horses try to run but their legs become
entangled in the rapidly growing thorn bushes. Men scream as their
horses rear and throw them into the carpet of ants covering the
ground. No sooner does a man hit the ground then the ants are upon
him, crawling inside the armor and begin biting. Nothing lethal but
these are fire ants and each bite brings pain.

The dust which had been thrown into the air
by the explosions begins to dissipate. One mage lies on the ground,
the one who had initiated the blasts in the first place, and it
doesn’t look as if he’s getting back up. The other mage who was
near him at the time of the explosion is rolling on the ground, his
hands flying fast as they try to get the ants off him.

The remaining mage was bucked off his horse
when the explosion happened and managed to land without injury. He
now stands safely just outside the perimeter of the ant swarm.
James can feel the tingling spike as he works to counter the magic
wielded by the Hand.

“How long can you keep this up?” James asks
Brother Willim.

“His power is not nearly as great as ours,”
he replies. “As long as you require.”

Jiron comes to him as he continues watching
the events unfolding by the road. “Are you thinking what I think
you are?” he asks.

“One mage down, another incapacitated by the
ants, and the third locked in a duel with the Hand,” he says and
then turns his attention to his friend. “We may never have a better
chance.” The enemy force is in total chaos. Between the ants and
the thorn bushes which continue to grow, most of the force is out
of action.

Jiron gives him a grin and turns to the rest
of the riders. “Mount up!” he yells.

“Yeah!” shouts Potbelly as he jumps into the
saddle and draws his sword.

“We get in, take out the mages and then
retreat,” James says to the others when he gains his saddle. “Now
ride!”

With a whoop and holler, the fighters from
The Ranch break into a gallop and charge. The enemy mage is quick
to take notice of their attack and halts his attempt to counter the
Hand. Turning his full attention to the attackers, he raises his
hands and a greenish black globular substance forms before him.
Moving with incredible speed, the substance flies toward the
approaching riders.

James summons the magic and forms one of his
protective barriers around the airborne mass, completely
encompassing it. Nudging its trajectory slightly with another burst
of power, he has it hit the ground far to their left. Once the
barrier encased goo comes to rest on the ground, he releases the
spell and sets the goo free where it sizzles and burns upon the
ground.

He feels another spike when they are halfway
there and this time the ground shakes violently, their horses begin
to lose their balance and footing.

“We got company!” Shorty hollers out as a
force of several score enemy riders appear riding hard from the
rear of the force around the edge of the ant swarm.

A memory comes to mind and rather than
attempting a direct confrontation with the mage, he selects a point
within the swarm of ants.

Crumph!

Letting the magic go, the earth erupts in a
massive explosion sending dirt and a cloud of ants into the air. A
portion of the flying mass of dirt and ants is headed directly for
the mage. Just then, Scar’s horse loses its battle with the shaking
ground and stumbles, sending him to the ground.

When the mass of dirt and ants hit the mage,
James feels the tingling stop as hundreds of ants begin crawling
and biting all over the mages body. No one could possibly maintain
concentration while beset by hundreds of stinging fire ants.

Their horses once again pick up speed as the
ground quiets. Potbelly slows and glances back to his friend Scar
who’s already off the ground and has his horse’s reins in hand.
“You okay?” Potbelly hollers back to him.

Swinging into the saddle, Scar yells, “Of
course!” Kicking the sides of his horse, he’s soon caught up to
Potbelly and together they ride to catch the others.

“Uther, Jorry,” James yells to the pair. “You
two stay with me.” Then to Jiron he says, “Take out those mages,
we’ll slow down the riders.”

“You got it,” Jiron replies.

Turning to face the onrushing riders, James
reaches into his pouch. Pulling forth one of the two remaining
crystals, he makes a conduit from the darkly glowing crystal to
himself. Feeling the power rush into him, he immediately sends it
forth to a point directly before the oncoming riders.

Ka-Boom!!!

An explosion of massive proportion detonates
under the leading edge of the force. Riders, horses and debris are
thrown into the air, their screams and cries only silencing when
they slam back into the ground.

James glances back to Jiron’s force and find
them already at the mages. Unable to defend themselves with magic,
they fall quickly. Many of the soldiers, covered in hundreds of
welts from the bites of the fire ants, have managed to disengage
themselves from the thorns and are beginning to engage them.

A quick glance back to the settling dust of
the massive explosion, he doesn’t see anything moving. “Let’s go
and help our friends,” he says.

With a cry, Jorry and Uther turn their horses
and the three race back to the growing battle. More and more of the
soldiers are extricating themselves and are moving to engage Jiron
and the others.

All three of the mages lie still upon the
ground, their heads severed from their bodies. There can be no
doubt now as to whether they will pose a future threat. When James
comes within shouting distance, he cries out, “Disengage!
Retreat!”

As he slows down and pulls a slug from his
belt, Jorry and Uther race past him. Scar and Potbelly are faced
off against six opponents and they race to their aid. Seated upon
their horses, they are able to keep the enemy soldiers at bay but
are unable to disengage without grave risk to life and limb.

Just as Jorry and Uther reach them, a slug
flies past and takes out one of the enemy soldiers. Charging
through the enemy, they allow Scar and Potbelly the opportunity to
disengage. Scar strikes out at his remaining opponent with his
sword and severs the man’s left arm.

“Let’s go!” Jiron yells.

James launches three more slugs and then the
rest of his men are able to break away safely. A quick count shows
no one was lost, many have wounds seeping blood but nothing that
looks life threatening.

“Think that will slow them down?” Yern asks
with a laugh.

Behind them, the scene remains one of
confusion and chaos as horses and men continue in their attempt to
rid themselves of burning, biting ants.

“I would think so,” laughs Shorty.

Back at where they left the Hand, they find
them already in the saddle and waiting for them. The green glow
that was present when they left is now gone.

“Where did all those ants come from?” Stig
asks Brother Willim.

Indicating the ground he says, “In the ground
beneath our feet are countless insects and animals. They are
Asran’s creatures and will do his bidding.”

“Fascinating,” remarks Jorry. Uther nods in
agreement.

“Let’s save this for later,” Jiron announces.
“We better catch up with the others before too much longer.” With
that, he kicks the side of his horse and breaks into a gallop. The
others are quick to follow.

Behind them, the enemy riders decide not to
give chase and begin giving aid to their comrades.

“You’re really something you know,” Illan
says when they finally rejoin the main force and tell him what
happened.

“Actually most of the credit should go to
Brother Willim and the Hand,” replies James. “It was the ants that
caused the mages to be unable to focus well enough to control the
magic.”

He barks out with laughter. “I know that to
be true,” he says, still chuckling. “When I was a young lad I fell
asleep in an area swarming with them. I must have moved in my sleep
for they started biting me. By the time I made it to the nearest
pond and dove in, I had welts from head to toe. Miserable
buggers.”

From behind they can hear Scar and Potbelly
recounting the events to the rest of the men. Of course from their
version you would think they had killed the mages all by
themselves, not to mention the hundred or more soldiers they had
slain. James just grins and shakes his head, by this time no one
really takes what they say as fact. He still wants to call them on
one of their wild claims but so far hasn’t been able to.

Pulling out his mirror, he checks the force
behind them and discovers they are still by the road where the
attack occurred. From the looks of them, it doesn’t seem as if they
are in any hurry to proceed. He then scans in a full circle for any
enemy forces but only comes up with more desert. There are
civilians traveling here and there, none likely to cross their
path.

He scrolls the image as far west as he can
before the drain of magic becomes too great in an attempt to find
Korazan but isn’t able to reach that far. “Looks like there’s
nothing close,” he tells Illan as he replaces his mirror back in
his pack.

“That’s good news,” he replies. “If we move
fast enough, we may be able to stay ahead of the word of our
approach.”

Nodding, James rides in silence for awhile.
Behind him, he can hear Jiron as he talks with Aleya.

“I took out one of the mages myself,” he
boasts. Riding along beside her, he glances out of the corner of
his eye for any spark of reaction to what he just said. Nothing.
She simply continues riding along, pointedly ignoring him.

He never was one to boast of his deeds
before. In fact, he can’t remember ever doing it before just now,
at least not for the sole purpose of impressing someone. Why does
this woman affect him so? He’s drawn to her but it seems as if
nothing he does has any effect. Back when he and James had first
encountered her in the hills near Mountainside she was friendly to
him. He even felt they were growing closer. Yet here they were,
separated by something completely unfathomable to him. After riding
along beside her for several more minutes, he sighs and then slows
to drop back.

“You okay?” Delia’s voice comes to him as she
moves to ride alongside him.

“Yeah,” he says in a voice not quite
convincing.

Delia takes in the way he keeps glancing at
Aleya and tries to hide the grin that is threatening to come forth.
She’s been watching his attempt at becoming closer to her and is
pretty sure she knows what’s keeping him from achieving it. But
she’s not quite sure how to tell him.

“I thought you and Aleya liked each other?”
she asks.

“We do!” he blurts out with more force than
he wanted. Face turning red, he turns his gaze to her and adds, “At
least I do.”

“Then what’s the problem?” she asks.

“I don’t know,” he replies. “I try talking to
her and all I get is silence. At first she and I hit it off, but
then things began to cool until now it’s absolutely frigid.”