Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (46 page)

One time when Dave had found a ring, he
wished for a million gold pieces. So of course he had a million
gold pieces appear, only problem was that they were fused together.
Too heavy to carry, he was forced to leave all that gold behind.
Grinning at the memory, he grows sad that Dave is gone. Dave had
always been a good friend.

Suddenly, his attention is drawn to the
sphere as pulsation increases in intensity. Static electricity
crackles and a bolt of lightning surges out of the altar, narrowly
missing him as it flies past. Striking the pulsating sphere, a
deafening boom resonates within the room and then a figure steps
from the sphere.

Slipping the ring into his belt pouch, he
moves to the edge of the altar and hunches down, hoping against
hope that he won’t be discovered. It’s too far to make a dash
unobserved to one of the doors.

As the first figure leaves the sphere,
another emerges behind him, then one more after that. The first
figure is an exact replication of the idol on the altar except it
only has two arms. It’s wearing a robe and has the bearing of a
priest. The second figure is a human male and has his arms tied
behind his back. The third figure is another of the priests and is
holding a tether tied to the human’s throat.

They walk across the room to the cells and
the first one produces a key. Unlocking one of the cell doors, he
steps aside while the man’s bonds are removed and is then pushed
inside. When the cell door clangs shut, the man turns to grip the
bars of the cell door and rests his forehead against them.

James’ heart freezes within his chest when
the man turns around. His mind has a hard time crediting what his
eyes are showing him. There in the cell stands his friend Dave.
Looking the worse for wear, he’s still wearing the same clothes he
last saw him in on that fateful trek from Ironhold.

The two priests turn to move toward the
altar. Rage billows forth and James lashes out with a massive
magical attack. Realizing their danger too late, the priests fail
to react quickly enough and feel the full force of the blow. Picked
up off the ground, they’re slammed into the wall. Falling to the
ground, they hit the floor and remain motionless.

“James!” cries out Dave as the two priests
hit the wall.

Rushing over to his friend, James states, “I
thought you were dead.”

Dave stares into his eyes and asks, “Is that
what Jiron told you?”

Shaking his head, he replies, “No. We
interrogated one of the enemy soldiers and he told us what
happened.”

“Whatever he told you was a lie,” he
says.

“Obviously,” states James. Moving over to the
dead priests, he searches their robes until he locates the key to
the cell. Returning to the cell, he unlocks the door.

“Is Jiron with you?” Dave asks.

“He was. We got separated,” explains James.
“Why?”

Dave remains silent for a moment before
replying. “He’s one of them,” he finally says.

“What?” exclaims James. “That’s impossible.
He’s saved my life on more than one occasion.”

“I know it may have appeared that way,” his
friend says. “But when I left the cave with the Star, he came too.
I saw him talking with the mage before returning to you and the
others.”

“No,” argues James. Shaking his head, he
says, “I can’t believe that.” Too many times has Jiron been there
for him. For him to be an agent of the Empire is too mind-boggling
for him to come to grips with.

“Believe it!” he says. “Look, I know you’re a
very trusting person, but think about it. How do you think the
enemy always knew where you were? Remember those times you said
that while Jiron was away you got captured?”

James nods his head, “But he rescued me.”

“He’s the one who told them where you were!”
Dave hollers. “He only rescued you to gain your undying trust.”

“Why would he do that?” James asks. Doubt
begins to gnaw at him, as he begins to see the logic behind Dave’s
words.

“There’s something you must do,” he explains.
“I didn’t find out what but did hear them talking about it. He’s
there to see to it that you are in the right place at the right
time.”

“But…” he stammers as his foundation of what
he thought to be true begins to erode away. Jiron the enemy? Though
he fights the idea, things begin to fall into place. Then he says,
“The Fire!”

“They already have that,” he replies. “They
had it shortly after you and the others hid it under the mountain.
He told them where it was and how you protected it.”

Anger begins to grow. Anger at being
betrayed! Anger at being used! “I’ll kill that traitor!” he shouts
as rage gets the better of him. Never has he wanted to kill someone
like he does now. If Jiron were here in front of him, he’d kill him
on the spot.

From behind them, the sphere pulsates again
as another bolt of lightning strikes it from the altar. Then just
as before, a figure emerges. Removing a slug from his belt, he
throws it with magic behind it and strikes the creature before it
takes two steps.

Striking it in the chest, the slug blasts
through and out the other side. The creature staggers backward into
the pulsating sphere. As soon as the creature comes in contact with
the sphere, it begins to pulsate erratically. The static charges
within it become more frequent and the hair on the back of James’
neck rises.

Taking Dave by the arm, he says, “We better
get out of here.” Dave nods and they make for the door between the
cells as it’s the closest. Static charges begin erupting from the
sphere as they reach the door. Throwing it open, they hear the
sphere begin to crackle loudly.

“Move!” screams James as he propels Dave
through the door. He follows and slams the door shut. He no sooner
puts his shoulder against the door before the sphere detonates with
an immense explosion.

The concussion of the blast hits the door and
knocks it off into the hallway. James is thrown backward several
yards where he hits the floor hard. Getting to his feet, he turns
back toward the doorway and sees electrical bolts crisscrossing the
room. One enters through the doorway and ricochets down the hallway
toward them.

Unable to move in time, he’s struck full
force in the chest by the bolt. A moment’s searing pain and then he
blacks out.

“James!” Jiron yells from the shore of the
underground lake. Can’t really call it a lake, it’s not that big.
He listens but no sound is forthcoming.

It took some doing but he made it down from
the window. The rope is again coiled around his middle and he holds
the orb high as he tries to figure out which way James went.

He sees the holes in the ground James had
blasted and his footprints in the dirt. As for what he was running
from, there’s no indication of anything. Moving quickly, he follows
the footprints in the dirt until he comes to where the shoreline
ends at a stone wall. The footprints seem to end here.

James is alive, of that he’s sure. Had he
been dead, the orb would have gone out. As long as the orb exists
then James has to be alive. But where is he?

“James!” he hollers again. “Where are
you?”

Examining the water’s edge, he speculates
James could have gone into the water. But why? Didn’t make any
sense. The surface of the water is placid, only a few residuals
ripples from when he left the water after descending from the ledge
under the window work their way across.

He didn’t swim past me on my way here. So
he had to go somewhere else.
The only shore adjacent to the
water is that which he is standing on now. Which leaves the stone
wall he’s standing next to.

Remembering the secret doors James found in
the past, he begins working his fingers along the cracks and
grooves. Pushing here, pressing there, he tries to find a hidden
opening trigger. After a quarter hour he gives up, if James managed
to find and use one he can’t duplicate the feat.

He sits on the shore near the water as he
tries to figure out what to do next. While he sits there, his mind
drifts back to a time when he and Tinok had gone to recover a
broach stolen from Tersa.

It was made of silver and the only thing of
any value she owned. They had tracked the thief to one of the old
buildings on the waterfront. The front door was barred from within
and no other way was available to get in.

As it happened, one of their friends from the
fight pits walked by while they were thinking of their next move.
When he learned what they were up to he suggested going into the
water and try to come up underneath the building. Said some
buildings in the area have openings in their floor where they can
access the water without leaving their homes. Taking them around to
the side of the building, he showed them how it was built up to the
water line.

Sure enough, when they dove under the water
and swam beneath the building, they found an open section. They
soon had the broach in hand and had thoroughly taught the hoodlum a
lesson to within an inch of his life.

Returning to the present, Jiron looks at the
way the water goes to the edge of the building and how the stone
wall runs along the water a good fifteen feet. Seeing as how James’
footprints end at the water’s edge there, he takes the orb in hand
and wades into the water to see if he could have gone under the
wall.

Seven feet out, the water is now up to his
waist. Two more steps and the ground beneath him comes to a drop.
Thinking this might be the place, he dives under the water. Feeling
with his free hand, he finds where the wall ends and begins working
his way under the building. When his hand encounters the end of the
stone above, he kicks up and breaks through the surface.

Holding the orb high, he sees where the stone
is wet from where James had left the water. Tossing the orb onto
the floor of the room, he pulls himself out of the water. Feeling
mighty pleased with himself, he picks up the orb and follows James’
wet footprints to the door leading from the room.

Peering through the open door, he finds a
hallway extending directly away from the door. James’ footprints
are clearly visible indicating he had passed this way. Moving
through the doorway, he follows the footprints down the
hallway.

The footprints continue until they come to an
open door on the left. It looks like James paused here for some
time before finally entering the room. Jiron looks around the door
and finds another empty room with a door on the far side of the
room and another on the right. The one on the right is open.

Just before he passes through, he hears a
groaning coming from further down the hallway. Glancing into the
darkness, he holds up the light but it doesn’t reveal anything.
“James?” he hollers as he quickly moves down the hallway toward the
source of the sound. Again the groaning comes from further down the
hallway.

Quickening his speed, he runs toward the
sound. A light begins to be seen ahead and he’s soon to realize
it’s coming from behind a door at the end of the hallway. It’s
slightly ajar and the groaning is coming from whatever lies
beyond.

Putting the orb inside his shirt, Jiron
slowly moves to the opening and peers around the door. On the other
side is a room right out of some torturer’s dream. A man is using a
hot iron on a form lying bound upon one of the tables within.
Another table sits closer to the door and Jiron sees what looks to
be a dead body lying upon it.

The man laughs as he again presses the hot
glowing metal to the man’s side. When the hot iron hits flesh, the
man upon the table groans as smoke rises from his skin. Wracked
with pain, the man on the table thrashes about. In his thrashing,
the man turns his face toward the door where Jiron is standing.

Jiron gasps in startlement as he recognizes
the form upon the table. Without thought, he throws open the door
and rushes into the room. The man on the table cries out, “Jiron!”
before passing out.

Knives in hand, Jiron closes on the torturer
and in two lightning quick passes leaves him dead on the ground.
“Tinok!” he cries as he turns to his lifelong friend. Seeing him
lying there unconscious, he looks at what’s left of his friend. One
hand is missing three fingers, scars and burns cover most of his
body. Emaciated and thin, he looks like he hasn’t eaten anything
for days.

Untying him from the table, he picks him up
in his arms not caring that Tinok’s blood soaks into the front of
his shirt. Surprised at how thin he is, he carries him over to
where a bucket of water sits on a small table. Propping him against
the wall, he pats his face to wake him.

Tinok stirs groggily, not entirely aware of
his surroundings. Jiron ladles out some of the water and puts it to
his lips. The feel of the water trickling into his mouth brings him
closer to wakefulness and he begins to swallow. After he drinks two
full ladlefuls of water, Jiron puts it back in the bucket.

“Glad to see you,” Tinok says.

Jiron can barely contain the emotions running
through him. Alternating between rage and sorrow, he replies, “So
am I. What happened to you?”

“After James made me leave, I got captured by
the Empire…” he begins.

“Wait a minute,” Jiron says, interrupting
him. “Did you say that James made you leave?”

Nodding his head, Tinok says, “That’s right.
That night after Cassie died, he came to me and told me to
leave.”

“Why in god’s name?” he asks incredulously.
Such a thought had never even crossed his mind.

“He didn’t give me a reason,” says Tinok
weakly. “Told me to get out or he would kill us both. Said he
needed you but that I was a liability.”

All this time, he had thought Tinok left
because of his grief over the loss of his beloved Cassie. The rage
he felt at the sight of Tinok lying upon the table intensifies
tenfold.