Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (30 page)

They look to James who says, “Call for help
and stay away. They are helpless where these shadows are
concerned.”

Nodding, Ceadric turns to begin carrying out
his orders.

To the rest of the camp Illan hollers out,
“Get back to sleep. It’s over.” When the men begin returning to
their bedrolls he glances to the orb shining overhead and says to
James, “Don’t need that anymore.”

Canceling the spell, the orb winks out. Light
from dozens of lanterns continue to illuminate the area. “Weren’t
those things the same as we saw in Willimet?” Jiron asks.

“Exactly the same,” he replies.

“They could have wiped out everyone before
they were noticed,” Delia says from where she joins the group.

Nodding, James replies, “Definitely a good
portion if that had been their goal. But they were after me.” And
that’s what worries him. He feels a hand on his shoulder and turns
to find Brother Willim there.

“Don’t worry,” Brother Willim says. “Now that
we know what we’re up against, they’ll not so easily get that close
to you again.”

“That’s right,” another of the Hand
offers.

“Thank you,” he says.

“We still have several hours until dawn,”
Illan states. “I suggest we all try to get what sleep we can.” He’s
talking to everyone but his gaze is on James.

“Wylick!” Illan hollers.

“Yes, sir,” comes the reply as the tall
captain approaches.

“Get a party of men and bury the dead,” he
says.

“Yes, sir,” the captain replies as he begins
organizing the burial detail.

Nodding, James returns to his blankets,
though after such a close call he doubts if he’ll be able to sleep.
Captain Wylick and his men get busy carry the dead out of camp and
gather them in one area. Then they begin digging a large grave for
all of them.

Brother Willim and another of the Hand remain
up and as the lights from the lanterns and torches wink out, a soft
green glow can be seen emanating from them as they patrol the camp.
The glow gives comfort, allowing the mind to rest and sleep to
come.

In the early light of dawn, they make ready
to get underway for their assault on Korazan. James takes out his
mirror and checks on the force trailing them. Still over half a day
behind, they shouldn’t pose a threat. Then over to the west he
brings Korazan into view. The gates of the city remain shut, a line
of civilians stands outside waiting to enter.

Scrolling to the south, the road there
leading to Korazan has minimal traffic, none of which is military
in nature. To the north he finds two riders, each trailing a mount
as they ride hell bent for Korazan.

“Illan!” James exclaims.

Coming to his side, Illan looks at the image
in the mirror of the two riders. “They’re going to alert Korazan of
our approach. How close are they?” Widening the image, James is
able to determine they are less than a half hour away from the
city. “No way to catch them before they get there.”

“At least they’ll have little warning,”
offers James.

Illan nods. “There is that,” he says. The two
men sent into Korazan the day before have yet to report back which
worries him. “Ceadric, get the men moving.”

“Yes, sir,” he replies. “Mount up!” he
hollers and the men start climbing into the saddle. When everyone
is mounted and ready, he turns back to Illan and says, “Ready.”

“Move ‘em out,” Illan says as he nudges the
sides of his horse to get going. James does the same and as soon as
they have taken their place at the fore, Ceadric calls for the rest
to follow.

They steadily pick up the pace until the
entire company is galloping toward Korazan in the hopes of arriving
shortly after the ones riding to warn them. A half hour into the
ride, they meet up with the two men who had gone to gather
information the day before. Illan calls a brief halt while they
report.

“All they have is a skeletal garrison,” one
man reports. “Word is the rest left several days ago and headed
east.”

Illan nods in understanding as the second
rider adds, “A couple hundred men at arms and maybe fifty
crossbowmen is all we’ll have to deal with.”

“Any mages?” James asks.

Shaking his head, the first rider says, “Not
that we heard.”

“There was one there that left with the
others,” the second rider explains. “But word on the street is that
there isn’t one now.”

James glances to Illan and says, “That’s good
news.”

“Appears your plan worked,” comments Jiron.
“Most likely the mage they’re talking about lies dead on the road
behind us.”

“Let’s hope so,” agrees James.

“Any word about reinforcements heading to
Korazan?” asks Illan.

“No,” the second rider replies.

“Very good,” says Illan to the two spies.
“Grab a quick bite to eat, we’re leaving shortly.” They both give
him a salute and then move back toward where the pack animals are
held to get some food.

Turning back to James, Illan says, “By the
time we get there, they will have little time to do more than man
the walls and shut the gates.”

“I’m sure they will send out riders
requesting reinforcements from the nearby garrisons,” Ceadric adds.
“Not that they will get there in time.”

“Probably,” agrees Illan. “It’s what I would
do.”

James takes out his mirror again and they
gather round as he brings Korazan into focus. “The riders have
arrived,” he says when they find the gates closed, soldiers lining
the wall facing their approach and all signs of civilians outside
the walls gone.

“So it would seem,” breathes Illan. They take
a few moments to size up the enemy’s forces as well as the slaver
compound just within the eastern wall. When they are through, James
puts the mirror away and they get going once again. In less than an
hour the walls of Korazan come into view.

When they reach about a hundred yards from
the walls, James brings them to a stop. Illan arranges their forces
for the coming assault while James moves back to the pack horses
and finds the bag with the crystals he needs for the attack.
Removing the bag, he attaches it to his belt and returns to the
front line. Dismounting, he hands the reins to Devin who stands
there with spear in hand, the same spear James had given him during
his first time in Trendle.

“You ready?” he asks Illan as he rejoins him
at the front.

Illan nods and replies, “All set.” He motions
for one of the Raiders standing behind him to come forward. To
James he says, “Jared can speak the Empire’s tongue well.”

“Alright then,” he replies with a nod to
Jared, “let’s go.” With that he and Jared step forward and begin
making their way to the walls, if he figured it correctly, the
slaver compound should be on the other side. As they draw closer to
the walls, a shimmering field springs up around the pair. “Whatever
you do, stay close,” says James.

“I will,” Jared assures him.

Several bolts are loosed at them before a
command is hollered by someone on the wall. The bolts arc toward
them and are deflected by the barrier. James hears Jared sigh with
relief when the bolts fail to find their mark. “Nothing can get
through to us in here,” he says.

“Yeah,” replies Jared, “I saw that during the
battle at Lythylla. It’s just unnerving seeing them flying toward
you.”

James brings them to a halt when they are
within a dozen feet of the wall. Still no tingling indicating a
mage is working magic, perhaps what the spies had said was in fact
true, no mage is within the walls.

Jeers reach them from those manning the
walls. The men up there see the numbers arrayed against them and
know that such a force will stand little chance in breaching their
defenses. James glances up at them just as a wad of spittle flies
toward them and hits the barrier. “What are they saying?” he asks
Jared.

“That we should go away and not to waste our
lives,” he says, though from the redness of his face James doubts
if they’re using those exact words.

“Tell them this,” James says as he gazes up
toward the battlements. “They are to release all the slaves in the
city. Send them to us and we will leave them be.”

Jared’s bass voice booms forth with the
message to those within the city. The men atop the battlements
quiet down as the words roll forth. When he’s done, there’s a quiet
hush for a moment before the jeering continues.

A command is given and a great vat of oil
empties its contents over the side and pours over the barrier,
behind it falls a flaming brand. James notices Jared about to bolt
when he sees the torch falling to ignite the oil. Laying a hand on
his arm, he says, “We’ll be alright.”

Whoosh!

The oil bursts into flame and the outer edge
of the barrier becomes a roaring inferno. Inside, the temperature
rises abruptly and sweat begins rolling down their faces. The oil
is quickly consumed and they stand there unscathed until the fire
dies down. Atop the wall, the men are no longer jeering. They stare
down in awe at the fact they are still alive and untouched.

“Holler back up to them, ‘So be it’,” he
instructs Jared. Once he has done so, James tells him to walk with
him. Reaching into the pouch hanging at his hip, he pulls out one
of the four glowing crystals within. He wishes he would have
brought more of these but he didn’t think about it when back at The
Ranch. Making more is easy, but you need crystals and somewhere to
drain power from. He isn’t about to drain the men who came with
him, he has a hard enough time grappling with the morality of doing
it to his enemies let alone friends.

Tossing the crystal to the base of the wall
he says, “Four.” Walking along the base, he tosses down the other
three crystals at twenty feet intervals. “Three.” “Two.” “One.”
After the last crystal rests by the stone wall, he turns to return
back to their lines.

Bolts rain down upon them now as well as
stones roughly the size of a man’s head, each are easily deflected
by the barrier. Breaking into a run, he and Jared race back to
their lines. When they leave the range of the bolts, James cancels
the barrier allowing them to make even better speed.

Ke-Pow!

The magic of the four crystals is released
beneath a single section of the wall, blasting it up and out.

“Dear lord!” Ceadric breathes as he watches a
section of the wall easily twenty feet wide launch itself in the
air.

“Watch for falling debris!” Illan shouts and
the word is passed throughout the waiting men. Most of the larger
chunks fall well short, some of the smaller pieces manage to reach
them and men dance aside to avoid being hit. A few either weren’t
fast enough or not observant and are struck by the falling
debris.

The concussion of the blast knock James and
Jared to their knees as it rolls past them. By the time it reaches
where the others wait, it isn’t nearly as forceful.

“Hedry!” Illan shouts.

“Sir!” comes the reply as Hedry rides
forward.

“Take your archers and kill anything that
moves,” he orders.

“Yes, sir,” he replies. With a command to his
men, they race forward, bows in hand.

Jared is the first to regain his feet and
offers a hand to James. Taking it, they both resume their run back
to the lines.

“Ceadric,” Illan shouts. “Take your men and
begin securing the interior. After that blast there shouldn’t be
much left, most of their men were concentrated up on the
battlements.”

“Yes, sir,” he says. Turning to his men,
Ceadric cries, “For Madoc and Black Hawk!” With a deafening roar,
the Raiders charge forward.

Hedry’s force has already come within range
of the walls and has begun picking off anything that moves. A few
bolts rain down from above but the crossbowmen up there are soon
taken out. By the time Ceadric and his riders arrive, bolts are no
longer falling. Hedry gives him a grin and a salute as he races
past.

The dust is beginning to settle and the hole
that had been blasted in the wall materializes before them.
Damn!
Ceadric thinks as he sees the depth and width of the
crater the blast created. He leads his men toward it. If James had
the spot right, they should be at the slave compound.

Slowing their speed, Ceadric leads his men
through the opening, staying as far to the side as possible to
avoid the crater’s center. As they pass through the wall, the
slaver compound materializes before them on the other side. Off to
one side several slavers are lined up with crossbows and let loose
a volley.

Three of Ceadric’s men are hit and go down.
“Charge!” he yells as he and the others race for their attackers.
With swords drawn and war cries on their lips, they are a fearful
sight.

Losing their courage, the slavers throw down
their crossbows and flee across the compound to the gate leading
into the city. Cheers can be heard from the slave pens as the
slaves held within revel in their captors’ plight.

“Secure the compound,” he shouts to one of
his lieutenants. When Hedry and his archers move within the walls,
he has them post themselves on the inner wall surrounding the
compound. While normally used to keep an eye on the slaves, the
walkway will afford them a view of the surrounding city.

The
whoosh
of a passing crossbow bolt
flies within inches of Ceadric’s face. Scanning the area, he finds
the window from which the bolt was fired and directs a squad of his
men to secure it. Dismounting, the score of men break in through
the door to the building and the sound of fighting can be heard
coming from within.

“Walls are secure,” Hedry calls from his
position upon the wall of the slaver compound.