The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven (39 page)

James moves past the couple and reaches his
sphere. He has to move the black Eye’s arm in order to pick it up.
“Black Eye,” he mumbles to himself. In other circumstances he would
be able to appreciate the humor in that more. The sphere is glowing
a dark crimson with stored power, it almost feels like it’s
vibrating. “Now to get out of here,” he says.

Stig and Shorty are holding the top of the
stairs, the sound of the fighting coming to them. Brother Willim
exits from one of the rooms and says, “Those in the streets have
been alerted.”

“Great,” James says. The fumes from the drug
have really messed with his abilities. He tries to summon the magic
but it will not come. “How many are down there?” he asks.

“Several score,” he replies. “Most I would
think are here in the building…”

“And on the way up the stairs,” finishes
James with a nod. “Very well then. Shield.” With that, a shimmering
barrier springs up around him and he begins walking to the top of
the stairs. Bodies of those who had been stationed in the adjoining
rooms litter the hallway. The fighting is now isolated to the
stairwell where Jiron has taken Shorty’s place next to Stig.
Together, they make a deadly wall that none can breach.

When he comes to stand behind Jiron and
Stig, he grasps the sphere in his hand and holds it out past Jiron
and Stig. “Incinerate!” he says. A burst of flame explodes
outwards, engulfing those unfortunate enough to be standing on the
stairs. As the men begin to burn and cry out in pain, he tosses the
sphere down the stairs. After making sure it isn’t too close to
where he, Jiron, and Stig stand he says, “Leech times a hundred.”
Continuing its forward motion, it rolls down the stairs, leeching
from everyone it nears.

The cries still as the burning men no longer
have the strength for it and James advances among them, stepping
carefully. At the landing of the third floor, he finds bodies
stacked one atop the other. There had been many soldiers standing
there waiting their turn to attack. James has to move them with his
foot in order to find a secure spot for his feet. “Cancel,” he says
to make his sphere dormant.

Behind him he hears Aleya’s voice exclaim,
“What do you mean you don’t have my bow?”

“I was a bit more concerned with finding
you” replies Jiron.

“My father gave me that bow,” she says in a
rather accusing manner.

“You would think someone who was a prisoner
a moment ago would have a little more appreciation,” he retorts.
Then he appears at James’ side.

To Jiron he says, “Somewhere around here is
my sphere.” Looking at the pile of bodies he shakes his head. From
the stairs leading up from the second floor, footsteps are heard as
more men move to attack. “I need time to find it,” he says.

Jiron nods. “Scar! Potbelly! We got
company,” he hollers behind him. Pulling his knives he makes his
way through the pile of bodies and moves further down the stairs.
He can hear Aleya say, “Sure would be handy to have my bow right
about now.” As the first man appears around the turn in the
stairwell, he puts her out of his mind and moves still further down
to engage them. Scar and Potbelly arrive just as more appear and
soon all three are battling with the enemy. Between the unevenness
of the stairs and the bodies piled on them, the footing is quite
treacherous.

“Give me a hand,” James says to the others
as he tries to ignore the clash of metal on metal. Pulling a limp
body up, he realizes that the man isn’t dead. “Be careful, some of
them aren’t dead,” he announces. Then he looks under the body and
doesn’t see his sphere. Laying the man on top of another, he begins
pulling up another in search of his sphere.

All but the three fighting in the stairwell
begin moving bodies as they hunt for his sphere. “Here it is!”
Brother Willim exclaims. Three steps down from the third floor
landing, he finds it lying on a step under one of the dead men.

“Don’t touch it!” yells James when he sees
the priest reaching down to pick it up. “Might not be a good thing
to do.” Coming over to where the glowing sphere lies, he picks it
up and then begins making his way down where Jiron, Scar and
Potbelly are holding off the soldiers.

Jiron and Potbelly stand next to each other
as they hold off the attackers. Scar with his double swords is
forced to stay behind them as there isn’t enough room for all three
of them to fight side by side. They’ve actually been able to push
the Empire soldiers down several steps and have reached where the
stairs make a turn back on themselves as it continues down to the
second floor.

“Need some room,” he says to Scar as he taps
him on the shoulder.

Scar nods and moves out of his way.

Just as before, James moves to take position
just behind Jiron and Potbelly. Holding the sphere in his hand, he
says “Watch out,” to the pair as he extends his hand forward.
Knowing what is about to happen, they quickly disengage and take a
step back. The two men they were fighting think they are fleeing
and with a yell, charge forward just as James yells,
“Incinerate!”

The force of the blast knocks them backward
as the fire surging out of the sphere engulfs them. The narrowness
of the stairwell focuses the power and the flame roars forward.
Screams and yells of men in pain come to them from further down the
stairs. Then James tosses the sphere so it will roll down the
stairs and says, “Leech times a hundred.”

Men on fire that had but a moment before
been shrieking in pain, suddenly grow quiet as they flop to the
floor. The smell of burnt flesh and hair is nauseating.

Potbelly is about to move forward when James
stops him. “Not yet,” he says. The last thing he wants is for
Potbelly to enter the leech radius of the sphere. He didn’t make it
very wide for safety’s sake, but should you move one inch into it,
you’ll feel the full effect.

“Cancel,” he says and then indicates they
can move forward.

Jiron is the first one down the stairs
followed closely by Scar and Potbelly. They make it to the second
floor landing and continue down to where the stair turns back on
itself. The bodies of the men slain by the leeching of the sphere
end halfway down to where the stairs turns back on its way down to
the ground floor. Just as Jiron moves to turn to where the
stairwell continues down, three crossbow bolts barely miss him as
they slam into the wall inches away. Backpedaling quickly, he moves
back around the corner.

“They’re not coming up this time,” he tells
Scar.

“Looks like they finally learned their
lesson,” Scar replies.

Jiron glances back toward the second floor
landing where James and the others are searching for his sphere.
When at last they find it, James picks it up and joins him at the
turn in the stairwell. Jiron then apprises him of the
situation.

James moves to the turn and peers around to
look down at the assembled men on the lower level. He gets a flight
of crossbow bolts fired at him for his trouble. He then opens the
palm of his hand and looks at the deeply glowing sphere. If he
tries leeching again, it might reach critical mass and explode.
Going to have to release some of the bottled up power before he
does.

To Stig and Shorty he gestures down the
second floor hallway and says, “See if there’s another way out.
Also check to see if the windows on the other sides of the building
are being watched.”

“You got it,” Shorty replies and they
quickly move down the hallway checking the rooms.

“I doubt if there is one,” Jiron says, “or
they would have come at us from that way too.”

“I know,” James tells him. “I was sort of
hoping that they were all down below and we could sneak out a
window or something without them knowing.”

“Doubt it,” he replies.

“Me too,” admits James. Then he shrugs and
says, “But you never know.”

“That’s true,” agrees Jiron. “Though keep in
mind, the longer we wait, the more soldiers will arrive.”

Shaking his head, James says, “I don’t think
there are that many more here in Morac.” When Jiron looks to him,
he adds, “They weren’t expecting an attack so there would have been
no reason to have a large garrison here.” Indicating the men lying
dead on the stairs both here and above, he then nods toward those
waiting down below and says, “Frankly, I’d be surprised if there
were many more than what’s already showed up.”

“You got a point there,” admits Jiron.

Down below, it has grown fairly quiet. Jiron
moves to where the stairs turn and takes a peek around the corner.
He darts back as several bolts fly by and embed themselves in the
wall.

“Still down there I take it?” asks Reilin.
Jiron simply gives him a look as if to say ‘That was a stupid
question’.

Stig and Shorty arrive shortly after that
and report that the other sides are being watched, but only by a
few. “There are only three in the back,” Stig tells them.

“The sides have a few more than that,” adds
Shorty, “but not that much more.”

“Can we take the three out in the back
quickly?” he asks.

“Probably could if I had my bow,” states
Aleya.

Jiron rounds on her. “Enough already,” he
exclaims. “I said I am sorry and this constant distraction from the
matter at hand is not helping anyone!”

She returns his look with a stern one of her
own then nods her head.

He turns back to Shorty and asks, “Can
we?”

“Possibly,” he says. “I can take one, maybe
two before they realize it. But the third?”

They all look to James. Shaking his head, he
holds up the sphere and says, “This is all I have until the drug
wears off.”

“That’s not going to start to happen until
we get out of here,” Brother Willim adds. “Even then it will take
hours.”

“Where are the men situated back there?”
Jiron asks.

Suddenly, they hear a creak from the lower
stairway. Shorty picks up one of the knives from the dead lying at
the second floor landing and moves to where the stairs turn back to
the first floor. Moving quickly, he dodges around the corner,
throws the knife then dives back just as half a dozen bolts fly
through where he had just been.

From below, they hear a man cry out from
where the knife found its mark. “We don’t have a whole lot of
time,” Shorty says. Again the creaking comes as men from below once
more begin to work their way up.

Scar and Potbelly says, “You guys go take
them out and we’ll hold them off here.”

James and Jiron glance to each other and nod
simultaneously. “Let’s go,” Jiron says then turns to Shorty. “Show
me where the guards are.”

“This way,” Shorty says as he begins running
down the hallway.

Jiron follows with James right on his heels.
Shorty turns into an open doorway and before James passes through,
the sound of Scar and Potbelly engaging the enemy comes down the
hallway. Leaving the hallway, James enters what looks like an
office of some kind. A desk with papers resting in neat stacks
dominates the room.

“Over here,” Shorty says from where he’s
looking out the window.

James crosses the room until he’s next to
him. Looking out, he sees the three men not more than ten feet
away. They have their swords out and look very alert. The window
through which James is looking is closed. They’ll have to open it
before they will be able to effectively strike out at the three
men. He moves to the window to begin opening it when Jiron stops
him and shakes his head. “What?” he asks.

Instead of replying, Jiron shoulders him out
of the way and begins to open the window himself. A little hurt
that Jiron didn’t think he could do it, James backs up and watches
him lift the window.

Inch by inch the window rises and when it is
open seven inches, it lets out with a squeal. Jiron immediately
stops and moves away from the window. Peering out from the corner
of it, he sees one of the three men looking up in their direction.
After a moment of staring their way, the man returns to looking
down the alley.

Sighing in relief, Jiron returns to the
window and manages to open it fully. From the hallway, the sound of
the fighting is growing closer, Scar and Potbelly must be having to
give ground.

Jiron turns from the window and glances to
Shorty. He then nods his head in the direction of the men on the
ground. Shorty nods as he pulls two knives from his belt.

“Wait,” whispers Brother Willim as he lays a
hand on Shorty’s arm. A subtle glow surrounds Brother Willim and
from outside, the sound of a growling dog is heard.

Glancing out the window, Jiron sees the
three men facing away from them and toward a rather large dog that
is growling most menacingly at them. He looks back to Brother
Willim who says, “Slip out the window while they are
distracted.”

Jiron nods and begins moving through the
window. Glancing to the men, he sees them with their swords at the
ready and one of them is advancing upon the dog. Swinging out the
window, he lowers his body until he’s hanging completely from the
window sill. Then he lets go and drops silently to the ground.

Pulling both knives, he stands there and
waits for Shorty to appear. Not taking his eyes from the men, he
hears Shorty land next to him. With a quick glance to Shorty to
make sure he’s set, Jiron advances behind the men. As he starts to
move, the dog begins barking intently, then turns and takes off
down the alley.

The soldiers begin talking among themselves
as they relax. Then one falls to the ground and before the other
two realize what’s happening, Shorty’s other knife flies through
the air and takes out a second. The third one barely gets his guard
up before Jiron is upon him.

One knife feints to the man’s face which
causes him to reflexively bring his sword up to block the blow,
which leaves him open for the other. Sinking his blade in the man’s
stomach, Jiron quickly pulls it out and knees him in the groin.
Falling to the ground, the man groans as Jiron lashes out with his
foot to the side of his head and knocks him out.