Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (39 page)

More people enter the hallway to see what the
commotion is and promptly turn around to flee when they see fire
racing toward them.

Jiron comes to a very sturdy wooden door.
Smashing into it with his shoulder all he manages to do is bruise
his shoulder. “Damn that’s a sturdy door,” he says to himself. Then
as he places the point of a knife in the lock he yells to James,
“Can you hold it off a moment?”

“I’ll try,” he says. Stopping in the
corridor, he says to Jared, “Go help Jiron.” He then turns to face
the creature and lashes out with magic. The force of the blow slows
the creature only slightly but doesn’t stop it. Next he encloses it
in a barrier which manages to halt it but at a staggering cost of
magic. His reserves are being depleted at an alarming rate.

“I can’t hold it much longer,” he shouts back
to Jiron. Sweat running down his face, he holds the barrier despite
the dots dancing in front of his eyes.

“Got it!” Jiron yells as the door swings
open.

“Come on!” hollers Jared as he and Jiron race
into the room.

Backing up quickly, James makes it to the
open doorway. Just as he begins to pass through, a man from further
down the hall yells, “Not in there!” Ignoring the man, he releases
the creature and then bolts inside.

Jiron slams the door shut and throws the bar
across the door to hold it secure. They are plunged into complete
darkness when the door shuts. Suddenly, James’ orb springs to life
revealing a room containing dozens of barrels stacked across the
floor and against the walls. Along every wall are shelves lines
with neat stacks of tubes.

“What is this?” asks Jared. “A
storeroom?”

“But why would they need such a secure
storeroom?” comments Jiron. “This place looks like it’s more suited
for a treasure room than somewhere you store your goods.”

Then suddenly there’s pounding on the door as
the creature tries to gain entry. “That’s not going to last very
long,” James tells the others.

“So what are we going to do?” Jiron asks.
Aside from the door through which they entered, there’s no other
way out.

James thinks hard to come up with a solution.
Then his gaze settles on the tubes. Roughly four inches in diameter
and anywhere from a foot to three feet long, they look oddly
familiar. Then a memory comes to him.

“Jiron,” he says, a slightly nervous edge to
his voice. “Do you remember that time back in Trendle when Miko
thought that woman and her guards were assassins?”

“Yeah,” he says. “We still kid him about…” He
comes to a stop when he realizes what James is talking about. Those
tubes on the shelves look an awful lot like the ones the woman had
carried with her. “Do you mean…?”

“Yes I do,” he replies. He suddenly feels
like Yosemite Sam in an old Buggs Bunny cartoon when he tunnels
into a dark room full of dynamite and lights a match to see by.
Pointing to one of the barrels, he says to Jiron, “Smash that
open.”

Taking out his knife, he smashes into the lid
with the pommel. Breaking open the top, he knocks it to the ground
and black powder spills out.

“Oh my god,” breathes James as he looks
around at the kegs and kegs of black powder surrounding them. Then
the door begins to smolder and smoke as the heat from the creature
begins to set the wood of the door on fire.

“Quick!” yells James. “Jared!” he then points
to the corner of the room furthest from the door. “Move those
barrels out and clear us a space.”

“Right,” he says and hurries to carryout the
order.

“Jiron!” he yells getting his attention.
“Start smashing open containers, as many as you can.” With that
James begins lifting the smaller kegs and smashing them on the
ground.

Keg after keg they smash on the ground until
a dozen keg’s worth of black powder is scattered across the floor.
Smoke is beginning to fill the room from the door as the smoldering
increases.

“That’s enough!” he yells to Jiron. “Now,
everyone in the corner.” As he races to the corner, James removes
one of the two remaining crystals and holds it in his hand. When
all three are in position, he has them sit on the floor. He uses
the power of the crystal to create a shield around them. Stronger
than any shield he’s ever used before, he’s not really sure if it
will be enough.

“Close your eyes,” he says with a final
glance toward the door. No sooner than he shut his eyes than the
door flies open and the creature enters the room.

Ka-Boom!!!

Blinding white light sears through their
closed eyelids as the fire from the creature ignites the black
powder. The ground beneath them rocks violently from the explosion
and even within the barrier they are tossed around.

James channels more power to the shield as
the force of the blast almost rips it to shreds. He has a fleeting
thought, ‘Captain, the shields aren’t going to hold much longer’
then the concussion wave rolls past and the ground calms down.

“Dear lord,” Jared breaths in awe when he
finally opens his eyes. The ceiling as well as the upper three
stories of the building is gone. Massive sections of stone can
still be seen in the air as they fall back to the ground. A gaping
hole now lies where the floor of the room had been. Even the floor
upon which they sat within the barrier is now two feet lower than
it had been. The shield had protected them but still the force of
the blow had ripped away two feet of ground below them.

Jiron comes to his feet and turns to James.
“You okay?” he asks as he offers a hand to help him up.

Taking the hand, James replies, “Sort of.”
Getting to his feet, he hears Jared groan as he makes it up as
well.

“We need to get out of here,” Jiron says.

Nodding, James indicates for him to lead the
way. The only problem with climbing out of the hole is the fact
that the ground is still rather hot from the explosion. Thinking of
the heat, he quickly glances around for the fiery creature that had
been pursuing them. “Do you see it?” he asks.

The others look around as well and Jared
says, “There it is!” Pointing off through the broken remains of the
bottom floor, he directs their attention to a flaming, man-shaped
form lying still amidst the rubble.

Taking out his remaining crystal, James
begins to head toward it.

“Let’s get out of here,” suggests Jared.

“I need to finish this,” James tells him.
“Keep an eye out.”

Even as he makes his way toward the creature,
he sees how flames from burning pieces of wood seem to leap toward
the creature and be absorbed by it.
It’s regenerating!
Knowing this may be his only chance, he uses the magic of his sole
remaining crystal to encase the creature in a barrier of ice before
it has a chance to regain its strength.

As soon as the barrier forms, the creature
responds. Fighting against the cold searing it, it lashes out with
power of its own. To his surprise, James is able to hold the
barrier. Augmenting the barrier with his own power, he begins to
shrink it in upon the creature.

Weakened by the blast, the creature’s efforts
are not nearly as effective as they were before. Though it
struggles, it is unable to prevent the barrier from imploding. Inch
by inch, the diameter slowly grows smaller.

Pouring more and more power into the barrier
as it shrinks, James can feel the opposition within the barrier
diminishing. Finally, the barrier completely implodes and the
creature is no more.

Sagging with exhaustion, Jared catches him
before he hits the ground and puts an arm under his for
support.

Jiron glances back at them and Jared gives
him a nod. Beginning to make their way out of the wreckage that
once had been the Illuminator’s Guild, Jiron comes to a stop.
Citizens surround them as well as several of the town’s guards.

None look particularly threatening and he
draws his knife. “Get out of our way,” he says, the threat of
imminent violence in his voice.

Either due to the fact they are stunned by
the destruction of the building, or having watched James destroy
the creature, whatever the reason they back away and clear an
avenue out.

Jiron nods with his head indicating for Jared
to follow. As they walk from the rubble, the people stand in
silence and watch them go. They walk steadily and surely through
the ring of people and down the street. He glances back once he’s
past the onlookers and sees they are still watching him, some have
begun to poke around the rubble.

The city itself has caught fire in several
districts from the flaming debris that fell back to earth after the
explosion. As they make their way further from the site of the
explosion, the town becomes much more of a flurry of activity as
people rush to put out the fires that threaten to consume their
town.

Walking with a purpose, they arrive at an inn
where Jiron leads them to the stables. He and Jared saddle three
horses while James sits on a barrel and rests. “You okay?” Jiron
asks while cinching on one of the saddles.

“Just tired,” he replies. “I’m out of
crystals.”

“That’s not good,” comments Jiron. “Still
going to hit that other place before we go?”

James sits there and thinks a moment before
replying. “It’s on the way out of the Empire,” he tells him. “Let’s
see how I feel when we get there. If I’m up to it we’ll take it
out.”

“Fair enough,” he says. It takes but another
minute to saddle the remaining horse then he comes to help James
into the saddle. He finds a stash of water bottles which he fills
and attaches to their saddles. Then once they are mounted, they
leave the stables.

Smoke rises in the air from the fires. Riding
quickly through the streets, they make it to the western gate and
with luck find it open with no guards. They are all busy fighting
the fires.

Once through the gates, Jiron takes them off
the road and cuts across the desert.

“Milord!” Aezyl cries as he throws open the
door to his chambers and rushes in.

Snapping awake, Kerith-Ayxt’s anger flares at
the gross breach of decorum, not to mention the fact that he’s
completely exhausted from the ordeal of summoning Aekion. With a
harsh reprimand on his lips he turns eyes red and full of anger on
his aide.

Before he has a chance to speak, Aezyl
suddenly realizes what he just did and comes to a stop. “Forgive me
my lord,” he cries as he drops to his knees. “But the mage has been
found!”

“What?” exclaims the High Lord Magus as he
sits upright in bed. “Where?”

“Just to the southeast of us milord,” replies
Aezyl. “In the city of Taerin-Alith.”

“Taerin-Alith?” he asks.

“Yes, milord,” his aide replies. “And he has
vanquished Aekion!”

“Impossible!” he cries out. “You must be
mistaken.”

“No, milord,” he insists. “Inyi had the duty
to search for the mage and all of a sudden the mage’s protection
was gone.”

Getting out of bed, all thoughts of
reprimanding his aide gone, he says “Tell me everything.”

Aezyl then proceeds to tell him of
discovering the mage in a destroyed building, the subsequent
destruction of Aekion, and how the citizens of Taerin-Alith seemed
to simply let him go. “Of course the city was awash in flame, most
likely due to the battle between the mage and Aekion,” he suggests
for the reason they let him go.

“Where is he now?” the High Lord Magus
asks.

“In the desert,” he replies. “I think he may
be coming this way.”

“Here?” he asks.

“Maybe not here,” his aide replies. “But the
direction he’s going will definitely have him pass nearby.”

Pacing and thinking furiously, Kerith-Ayxt
begins to formulate a plan. Turning to his aide he says, “He can’t
have much left in him after overcoming Aekion. Which of our masters
has recovered most from the summoning?”

“Inyi has milord,” he replies. “He has since
been keeping an eye on the rogue mage,” he replies.

“Have him take a score of the more powerful
from the lower Circles and destroy the mage,” he explains. “Tell
him the mage is weakened and to move fast before he can
recover.”

“Yes, milord,” says Aezyl as he comes to his
feet. Giving his lord a bow, he quickly leaves to carry out his
lord’s command.

Defeated Aekion! Unbelievable!
Kerith-Ayxt paces his chambers as he tries to come to grips with
the impossible.

Shortly after leaving the town behind, James
realizes his protection against magical detection is no longer in
operation. Bracing for opposition, he reinstates his protective
shield and waits while they ride. Immediately, he feels them try to
break through but the attempt is half-hearted at best, not nearly
what he experienced the time before. When it finally stops, he
wonders why they didn’t try more. Whatever the reason he’s happy
about it, confused, but happy.

Riding through the desert under the hot sun,
they stay just out of visual range of the road to the south. He
knows the magical school isn’t more than a day down the road. It’s
entirely likely that they will send someone to investigate what
happened back at the town.

With the light beginning to fade and James
being exhausted from the battle, they move even further into the
desert to find a spot to camp for the night. “Maybe you could use
that mirror of yours to find a place where we could water the
horses,” Jiron suggests.

“Can’t,” he replies. “It melted when the
creature of fire appeared.”

“Oh yeah, right,” he says, a little
embarrassed for having forgot.

Before the sunlight completely disappears, a
stand of trees appears to the north, the kind normally found near
watering holes. Relived to have stumbled upon an oasis, they alter
course and make their way quickly toward it.