The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven (40 page)

Indicating the end of the alley, he says to
Shorty, “Keep a lookout.” With Shorty running to the alley’s mouth,
Jiron returns to the window. He says, “Come on,” and begins helping
the others down beginning with Aleya.

Back in the room, when James saw Jiron and
Shorty take out the guards he says to Miko, “Help everyone out and
then you get out too.”

“What about you?” he asks.

“I’ve got to go help Scar and Potbelly,” he
replies. Without another word, he makes a run for the door.

Out in the hallway he discovers Scar and
Potbelly are no longer on the stairs. Instead they are now halfway
down the hallway and are slowly being pushed further back. Running
up behind them he says, “Time to go.”

Scar’s two longswords have been devastating,
as has Potbelly’s sword and knife. The hallway between where they
now fight and the stairs is littered with the bodies and body parts
of those they’ve slain.

“Get out of here,” Scar hollers to him.
“We’re not going to be able to hold them off much longer.”

James comes and stands between them, almost
getting sliced by one of Scar’s sword in the process. Holding out
the sphere, he stretches his arm between them and says, “Sealing
barrier.” All of a sudden a barrier flashes into being sealing the
hallway off between them and the enemies trying to kill them.

“Get back to the others,” James hollers.
“I’ll take care of this.”

Trusting in him, Scar and Potbelly turn and
double time it to the room where the others are going through the
window.

James gazes at the men on the other side of
the barrier who are trying to break through. He opens his hand and
looks at the sphere resting in his palm. Sighing, he says, “Delay
five. Cancel. Leach times hundred. Delay twenty. Spoilsport.”
Turning his palm over, he drops the sphere onto the floor of the
hallway.

Turning around, he races back to the room.
Just as he reaches the door, he glances back and sees the barrier
wink out and the men beginning to fall to the floor as the sphere
leeches them dry.

Moving into the room at a run, he sees Scar
beginning to pass through the window. Potbelly and Miko are still
in the room. He didn’t give them enough time! “Move!” he cries. “We
got seconds before this place blows.”

“What?” asks Miko.

“Go! Go! Go!” he yells and practically
pushes Scar out the window. Losing his grip, he falls to the
ground. “Jump or we’re all dead!” he yells to the other two.

Seeing the fear in his eyes, Miko dives
through the window and is followed a half second later by Potbelly.
Hitting the ground hard, Miko breaks his arm and Potbelly his leg.
James flies through the window a second later.

“What…?” begins Jiron as James hits the
ground and scrapes off a large area of skin from his side. “No time
to explain,” he yells as he gets to his feet. “We have to get out
of here now!”

“Over the top?” asks Jiron. James nods.
Grabbing Potbelly on either side, he and Scar carry him to the end
of the alley. Brother Willim helps Miko by carrying the pack
containing the Book of Morcyth.

Reilin and Shorty, as well as Aleya are at
the end of the alley. When they see the others coming fast, Reilin
says, “It’s clear.”

“Run!” James hollers to them. His tone of
voice tells them this is not a time for dithering. Racing from the
alley, Reilin leads them down the street away from the Eye’s Court.
They don’t get far when…

Ka-Boom!!

…the building explodes outwards.

The concussion wave rolls over them and
knocks them to the ground. A cloud of fire erupts out of the
building as the sphere explodes with power leeched from dozens of
men. Debris sails through the air, some of the larger pieces slam
into other buildings.

Getting up, they are pelted with stones,
some hitting them with bone crushing force. Aleya is hit and falls
to the ground. James is there and aids her in regaining her feet.
Her left arm hangs limply at her side.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” Shorty
hollers.

“No!” James yells. “Find a place to hole up.
We’re in no condition to escape.”

Nodding, he moves ahead and goes in search
of a suitable location. A minute later he hollers, “Over here!”

They follow the sound of his voice and see
him standing beside an open door waving for them to hurry.

Moving as fast as the injured can go, they
hurry over and pass through the door. Just as the door shuts…

Wham!

…a large chunk of the Eye’s Court slams into
the upper stories of the building they just entered. The building
shakes and shimmies but remains erect. Looking around, they see
that Reilin has led them into an abandoned building. It could
possibly have been a dye merchant’s shop at one time, but in the
dark it’s hard to be sure.

They move from the room just inside the
front door to a room further in the back. Potbelly moans as Scar
and Jiron set him on the floor against the wall. All of a sudden,
light floods the room as Miko removes the Star from his pouch and
begins healing the injuries of the others. He starts with his own
arm then goes to Potbelly. Brother Willim moves his broken arm into
proper position then the glow from the Star surrounds it as it
begins knitting the bones back together.

Jiron comes to James and says, “You cut that
a bit close didn’t you?”

“Sorry,” he replies. “The drug that infused
that place muddled my mind. When I set it to go off, I set it for
too short a time. When I realized my mistake, it was too late.”

“Well, fortunately Miko can take care of the
injuries,” he says. That’s when he takes notice of the way Aleya’s
arm is hanging limp at her side. Leaving James’ side, he rushes
over to her.

“What happened to you?” he asks.

“Got hit by something,” she replies.

“Miko!” he yells as he turns toward where
he’s still working on his arm.

“Leave him be,” she says. “He’ll get to me
when he can.”

“I’m sorry,” he tells her and gives her a
hug, all the while being careful of her injured arm.

“Don’t be,” she tells him. “There’s too much
going on for us to be fighting over a little thing like a bow.”
Then with her good arm, she takes hold of his chin and pulls his
face closer for a kiss.

“What a mess,” Shorty says from the
window.

“Bad?” Reilin asks.

“That building’s gone,” he explains. “The
streets are full of people and a couple fires have broken out in
different areas.”

“Anyone coming in this direction?” James
asks.

Shaking his head, Shorty says, “No. Looks
like they are all congregating over by what’s left of that
building.”

“Might be a good idea to wait until things
quiet down before we leave,” suggests Scar.

“As long as no one disturbs us,” adds
Reilin.

Miko and Brother Willim begin healing the
rest once Miko’s arm is again whole. Shorty continues to watch the
goings on outside from the window. They decide to get what rest
they can before making the attempt to leave Morac.

Once Miko finishes with him, James sits
against one of the walls and closes his eyes. After that blast,
everyone in the Empire is going to know exactly where he is. They
can’t afford to stay here very long, but they could all use a short
rest. It doesn’t take him long to pass into unconsciousness.

Waking up, James finds his head much
clearer. He tries to summon his orb and succeeds then cancels it.
He’s much relieved now that the effect of the drug he was exposed
to in the Eye’s Court has worn off.

Rays of light enter through cracks in the
boards covering the windows. In the dim light he sees Jiron
standing at the window gazing through to the street outside. Other
than Jiron and himself, no one else is awake.

As he gets up, his feet make a scuffing
noise across the floor. Jiron glances over at the sound and sees
him rising. Giving him a nod and a slight grin, Jiron returns his
gaze back to the street outside.

James carefully makes his way through the
sleeping forms and comes to his side. “What’s going on out there?”
he whispers.

“Seems most of the town has come by at one
time or another to see what happened,” he explains. “At first there
were but a few guards and soldiers out there sifting through the
rubble. Then about an hour ago, a force of over a hundred showed
up, cordoned off the whole area and made a sweep of the surrounding
buildings.”

Seeing the worried look in his eyes, Jiron
says, “One soldier came by and looked in through the window but
moved on his way. Can’t believe he didn’t see you guys there on the
floor sleeping.”

“Luck must be with us,” James observes.

“Must be,” he says. “I’m not sure exactly
what is going on, but the commander in charge of the men divided
them up in squads of ten and sent them through the town. It won’t
be long before they figure out what happened and who was here.”

“If they haven’t already,” adds James. He
thinks for a moment then asks, “How far away is the inn from here
do you think?”

“It isn’t close, that’s for sure,” Jiron
replies. “You’re not thinking about going back and retrieving the
horses are you?”

“You got a better idea?” he asks. “Without
them, we won’t get far.”

“I agree,” he acknowledges. “But there’s no
reason we have to have ours, any will do.” He then turns back to
the window and points through two of the boards to a building
across the street. Four soldiers stand guard by the entrance. “They
put their horses in there. There are over a score.”

James takes in the building, the guards, and
the fact that it’s across an open street. “Pretty ambitious aren’t
you?” he asks. “They’ll see us.”

“Just a thought,” he says. “Always like to
know our options.”

“What’s out the back?” James asks him.

“Not much,” replies Reilin. Having heard
them talking, he decided to get up and see what’s going on. “The
back door opens onto an alley that runs for a ways. Last night
while on guard duty I checked it out.”

“Could we make our way out through the alley
and return to the inn to get our horses?” James asks.

Shrugging, Reilin says, “I don’t know. I
didn’t explore that far.”

Turning to James, Jiron says, “You keep an
eye on what’s going on out there and I’ll find out.”

“Be careful,” James says as Jiron begins
moving toward the back door. As soon as Jiron disappears into the
back, James returns his attention to the goings on outside. Not
much is happening other than people working through the rubble in
the hopes of finding survivors.

One by one the others wake up. Miko is the
last to awaken and sits up just as Jiron returns.

“Well?” James asks as Jiron comes from the
back.

Giving him a grin, he says, “The alley out
back runs along the backside of a courtyard of another inn. And
guess how many horses are in the stable?”

“Enough for all of us?” James asks.

Nodding, Jiron says, “That’s right.”

“We should leave now,” Scar suggests, “while
everyone’s busy out there sifting through the rubble.”

“My thought exactly,” agrees Jiron.

“The gates out of the city are going to be
watched,” warns Reilin. “They’ll not let us simply leave.”

“I doubt if that will change even if we were
to wait for a week,” states James. “We go now.” To Jiron he says,
“Take Stig and Shorty with you and get the horses ready.”

“Right,” he says and indicates for the two
men to follow him. Just before he leaves the room, Jiron pauses and
turns back to face James. “When you follow, it’s to the left out
the back door.”

“Got it,” he says. Then Jiron leaves the
room.

Moving over to Brother Willim, James asks,
“How are you holding up?”

“Actually doing quite well,” he replies.

“That’s good,” James says. “There’s
something that’s been bothering me.”

“What?” the priest of Asran asks.

“Back there in the building, the drug in the
air affected my ability to summon magic,” he says. “Yet you were
able to. Why?”

“My magic comes from a different source than
yours,” Brother Willim explains. “Where you must direct and channel
the power, I have merely to ask.” He can see James is somewhat
understanding what he’s saying. “Can’t really explain it better
than that.”

“I think I understand,” states James.
“Priest magic, and that which I use, manipulates the same source of
power. Only, yours comes from your god whereas I take it from
within me and the world around us.”

“Something like that,” nods Brother Willim.
“But as priests, we are unable to do some of the things you can. We
are limited to what our god allows.”

“Checks and balances,” James says. “No
matter what, there’s always something that will limit even the most
powerful of people.”

“Never heard it put quite that way before,”
he says. “But you’re right.”

Jiron leads Stig and Shorty out the back and
down to the inn’s courtyard. Pausing at the entrance, he makes sure
the area is clear. Not seeing anyone, he waves for the other two to
follow him and they make a dash for the stables.

Once inside, they find that the horses’
saddle and tack are stored on shelves in the room at the rear of
the stable. They go and each get a saddle with associated gear and
begin to saddle the horses. Stig and Shorty finish cinching the
last belt tight on their horses at the same time and go together to
retrieve another saddle for the next horse.

While they are in the back gathering the
appropriate equipment, a man walks into the stable and stops once
he sees Jiron saddling the horse. Jiron freezes when the man begins
talking to him. When Jiron fails to reply, the man pulls his sword
and backs out of the inn.

Hoping to catch him before he can raise the
alarm, Jiron chases him out into the courtyard. Just outside the
stable he sees the man he was chasing with another dozen men.
Unable to stop in time, he dodges to the side and barely evades a
blade aimed at his head.