The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven (74 page)

Scar moves as close to where the light is
coming from as he can. After a moment of looking, he returns to
Potbelly. “The blast must have broken the outer wall of the
temple,” he explains. “I’m pretty sure we can get out if we remove
a few of the larger pieces.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Potbelly
asks.

Nodding his head toward the light, he says,
“The grounds out there are crawling with soldiers and priests. We’d
never make it.”

Potbelly then finds a large chunk of rock
and sits down, Scar does the same. “Could use a rest anyway,”
Potbelly admits with a tired sigh. “Just have to wait until it
quiets down out there before we make our break.”

Leaning his head back against the wall, Scar
adds, “We’re still better off than we were before the blast.”

“You got that right,” agrees Potbelly. Then
after a moment of silence he says, “You remember that time…”

Sunlight on his face is the first thing he
becomes aware of. Then as consciousness continues to come back to
him he hears birds chirping, feels a slight breeze blowing, and
then realizes he’s lying on grass.

Opening his eyes, he sees the tops of trees
stretching up to a beautiful blue sky with just a trace of clouds
floating high above the earth. From nearby comes the sound of water
as it rolls along a streambed. Sitting up, he finds himself in a
clearing next to a gently flowing stream that crosses from one side
of the clearing before entering the forest on the other.

Taking a deep breath of air scented with
pine, he can hardly credit what his senses are telling him.
Reaching out he takes hold of a blade of grass and plucks it from
the ground. Rolling it between his fingers, he tries to verify if
this is real.

Then all of a sudden, the aroma of hot
pepperoni pizza hits him and his stomach begins cramping. “I must
be dead,” he says aloud to himself.

“Hardly,” is the reply from behind him.

Turning his head, he sees Igor sitting on
the same log that he sat upon when James first passed through the
door at the interview when all this began. Next to him on the log
is a large pizza box with
Mama’s Pizza
written
across the top and two plastic cups filled with pop. Igor gestures
to the pizza and says, “Help yourself.”

Getting up off the grass, James comes over
and sits on the log with the pizza between them. “How did I get
here?” he asks. Never one to turn down pizza, he takes a slice and
bites off a big mouthful.

“Always with the questions aren’t you?”
retorts Igor with a grin. “Fortunately for your curiosity, I’m in a
position now where I can answer a few of your questions.” He takes
a slice of pizza and shoves half the slice in his mouth before
biting it off.

James waits patiently for him to finish
chewing. In the meantime he finishes off his first piece and takes
a second. The pop in the cups turns out to be a favorite drink of
his and he quickly downs a third.

Finishing off his bite, Igor says, “Take it
easy. You need to make it last, there are no refills.” He gives
James another toothy grin. “As to your question about how you got
here, I brought you here.” When he sees the questions again
beginning to form behind James’ eyes he adds, “I snatched you the
instant before that sphere of yours went off.”

“Thanks,” he says, “I thought I was a
goner.”

“Well, we owed you that much,” he says.

“So can I assume that I have accomplished
all that I was brought here to do?” James asks.

“Oh yes,” Igor replies. “It couldn’t have
worked out better all things considered.”

“What happened to the Star?” he asks. “Did
it get destroyed in the blast?”

Shaking his head, Igor replies, “No. It
would take something a bit more to destroy something like that.
It’s still there beneath the rubble that once was Dmon-Li’s high
temple.”

“Once?” prompts James.

Igor grins. “The blast completely destroyed
it,” he explains, “as well as just about every other temple he has.
It’s going to take a long time for him to regain the influence that
he once enjoyed on this world, if he ever does.”

“What other temples?”

“Did you happen to notice streams of power
being directed toward the gate that was made?” Igor asks. When
James nods he says, “When your sphere exploded it sent a backlash
of power along those streams resulting in rather large explosions
on the other end.”

“Did Jiron and the others make it out?”
Picking up his third slice, he bites off a mouthful as he waits for
Igor’s reply.

Waving away the question, Igor hops off the
log. “My time is running out and there’s still one more thing to
do.”

James looks on curiously as Igor walks a
dozen feet away. Then all of a sudden an archway appears beside the
little guy. James’ eyes widen as he recognizes his grandparent’s
home on the other side.

“A choice lies before you James,” Igor tells
him. “You have but to pass through this arch to be returned to the
life you left behind.”

James comes to his feet and approaches the
arch. The feelings of homesickness that he thought were behind him
come back in force. “Can I return here if I do?” he asks.

“No James,” replies Igor. “I assure you, the
opportunity will not present itself again in your lifetime.”

Then the front door opens and his
grandmother comes outside. She takes her place in her favorite
chair on the porch and begins rocking. Emotions rise, as memories
come of the times when he used to sit in her lap as she rocked him
in that very same chair as a boy. Unbidden, a tear runs down his
cheek as he watches her rock.

Igor moves over to the pizza box and grabs
another slice of pizza.

“I…I don’t know,” James says, turning from
the arch to look back to Igor.

“I must go, James,” Igor says. “The archway
will remain for ten minutes. Then it will vanish.” Then he shoves
the entire slice into his mouth.

James turns to look at his grandmother
rocking on the porch once more. “But what…” he begins to say as he
turns his head to look back at Igor. He leaves the question unasked
when he realizes that he’s alone in the clearing.

Ten minutes to decide the rest of my
life?

He sits on the ground before the archway.
Holding out a hand he forms his orb.
Can I give this up so
readily?
But then looking back to his grandmother, he knows
that he’s all she and his grandfather have. Without him, they have
no one.

Wracked with indecision, he continues to sit
as he ponders what to do.

“
James, there comes a time when…”
A
talk he and his grandfather had months before he answered the ad
that started all this comes to mind. His grandfather had wisdom
that he didn’t appreciate at the time. He simply thought it was
just another attempt to get him motivated in finding a job. But now
that his view of the world, and life especially, has grown, he
understands just what his grandfather had been trying to tell
him.

Making his decision, he gets to his
feet.

The following spring, life is good.
Rebuilding continues to bring the City of Light back to life. Some
sections of the city that were destroyed during the siege and
subsequent occupation by the Empire have been rebuilt. One building
in particular has been given prominence in the construction effort.
Still not even a third completed, it’s going to take another year
or two, maybe even longer, before the High Temple of Morcyth is
completed.

Its walls rise in uneven levels as the work
progresses at varying speed depending on what is being built in
each particular area. It actually didn’t take that long to come up
with a blueprint for how the temple was to be laid out. One evening
Miko and a master builder went into a room at a local inn and the
next morning, the plans were formed. Only divine guidance could
have made that possible in such a short time.

Today however, all work has been suspended.
The Madoc Patriarchal Council has declared this day a holiday, that
all work must cease until the sun rises on the morrow. The city is
enjoying a party the likes of which it has rarely seen and everyone
has turned out.

Several buildings which had been built upon
the old temple site were demolished and the rubble removed over the
winter. Lord Pytherian had loaned the effort several hundred
soldiers, else it would never have been done so quickly. What will
one day be the temple’s courtyard has been decorated in festive,
spring flowers, garlands, and anything else the people could lay
their hands on.

“Are they coming?” one lady shouts to the
two men standing at the entrance to the temple.

“Almost,” one of them yells back.

“He better hurry up or there won’t be any
food left,” Scar says.

“You got that right,” replies Potbelly.
“Look at ‘em, they’re like a horde of locusts.”

“Locusts?” asks Scar.

“Yeah,” replies Potbelly, surprised he
hadn’t heard of the little beastie. “It’s a small insect that…”

Dressed in the finest attire that could be
found, they stand before where the doors to the temple will be
placed once the front wall has been made ready for them. Inside,
they hear the final words of Miko, as he finishes the ceremony.

“…together. From this day forward, you
James, and you Meliana are one. Forever bound to walk through this
life together until the end of your days.” Bent over the Book of
Morcyth, Miko looks almost comical in the ceremonial robes of the
High Priest. He found a description of what they were to be in the
Book of Morcyth and had a set made for this occasion. When he put
them on, Scar and Potbelly couldn’t stop laughing, which is why
they had the honor to stand guard at the outer door.

He pauses a moment as he scans the pages.
Silence hangs over the hall as everyone watches.

“Is that all?” asks James him quietly.

Looking up, Miko says, “Hmm?”

“Is that all?” Meliana asks.

“Oh,” he says and looks up quickly at the
assembled guests within the shell that will become the temple.
“Uh,” then he returns his eyes to the book and quickly peruses the
passage on marriage. “Yes, I do believe so.”

Then James turns Meliana toward him and
stares at her for a brief moment. Flowers in her hair and wearing a
gown of white with small blue dolphins embroidered along the hem,
she’s never looked lovelier. “I love you,” he says.

“I love you too,” she replies then their
lips meet. The people in attendance erupt in cheers and
clapping.

When he breaks off the kiss, James glances
to where Jiron stands beside him. A big smile across his face,
Jiron gives him a nod.

Aleya stands as Meliana’s maid of honor,
though she’s no longer a maid. When both she and Jiron had finally
made it back to The Ranch, they wasted no time in getting married.
Now she’s several months along on their first child.

James takes Meliana’s arm in his and turns
toward the crowd. He takes a moment to meet the gaze of those who
came to share this moment with him. Lord Pytherian stands in his
finest clothes, the rest of the Patriarchal Council arrayed on
either side of him; Illan in his Black Hawk armor that’s been
shined to mirror perfection with the surviving members of Miller’s
band, including Fifer who’s having to use a crutch due to his lost
leg,; Brother Willim and the two remaining members of the Hand of
Asran; Delia and Tersa stand with a much improved though still
solemn Tinok as well as Shorty, Stig and Reilin; the Recruits, most
of whom have their families in attendance; Roland, Ezra, Arkie, and
Aku whom they have taken into their family; and finally Ceryn who
was the first person he met after coming to this world.

Then he steps forward and the crowd parts,
creating an aisle to the front door. James and Meliana walk down
the aisle as music begins to fill the air. He glances over to
Perrilin where he and several other bards strike up a festive tune.
Perrilin smiles and gives him a nod which he returns.

Meliana’s father is there beaming with
pride. How many men’s daughters have such important people in
attendance at their marriage? James pauses a moment when they reach
his side. “Thank you sir,” he says. It took some doing in getting
all this arranged in such short order. But when he asked Meliana to
marry him, she went into high gear and got it all arranged.

“You do my daughter right now,” her father
says.

“I shall,” he replies. With a grin to his
bride, he says again, “Rest assured I shall.” Then they resume
their trek to the main entrance where Scar and Potbelly stand
guard.

“…and that’s why I said they’re like a horde
of locusts,” concludes Potbelly. Noticing that the newlyweds are on
their way, he nudges Scar in the side and they take their positions
to either side of the entrance. Standing straight and tall, they
draw their swords and hold them up with the tips touching to form
an arch that the couple will pass through.

The courtyard grows quiet in expectation as
the couple makes their way forward. When James and Meliana appear,
the crowd cheers and applauds. The couple pauses there a moment as
the cheering goes on and on. The people there know him well. His
deeds have been sung in every tavern from Cardri, Madoc, and
beyond. They know that no other person has been more responsible in
gaining Madoc her freedom.

“Hurry up man,” Scar whispers to him.

“What’s the hurry?” James whispers back.

“I’m hungry!” he replies. “Been standing
here a couple hours at least.”

James glances at him then breaks out into
laughter. Meliana can’t help but do the same. Then they begin
moving down the steps and make their way into the crowd with Jiron
and Aleya right behind. The rest of the wedding guests follow led
by Lord Pytherian and the Patriarchal Council.