The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven (71 page)

“What makes you say that?” asks Miko.

Jiron indicates the slop bucket. “What’s in
there hasn’t been in there very long,” he explains. Looking around,
he says, “He must have been held here.”

“You sure?” Miko asks.

“Yes,” he replies. “Unless you would like to
come over and examine it for yourself?”

Shaking his head a bit more vigorously than
intended, Miko says, “No, that won’t be necessary.”

“Then he can’t be too much further,” James
says encouragingly. Already the sphere has moved further down the
corridor. It hovers at the edge of the orb’s light as it waits for
them to follow.

Jiron again takes the lead as they hurry to
catch up with the sphere. Once they’ve come within ten feet of it,
it resumes its progress down the corridor. After following it for
another twenty feet or so, a red glow begins to be seen ahead of
them. Motioning for the others to come to a stop, Jiron moves ahead
to check it out.

The sphere continues to proceed down the
corridor toward the red glow, then it reaches the top of a
stairwell and begins to descend. The stairwell is where the glow is
originating.

Jiron immediately comes to a stop and
hurries back to the others. “That glow is coming from a set of
stairs leading down,” he tells them.

“Did you hear anything?” James asks and
Jiron shakes his head in reply.

“I think when we find the source of the
glow, we’ll find your friend,” Brother Willim says. “We’re very
close to whatever is going on.” Beside him, Miko nods in
agreement.

“Then we don’t need the sphere anymore?”
James asks.

“I doubt it,” replies Brother Willim. “And
if we’re close, it could give us away prematurely.”

Canceling the sphere, James says, “It’s
gone.” Then to Jiron he says, “Lead on.” Giving James a nod, Jiron
moves to return back to the head of the stairs.

A growing sense of fear and doom has been
developing within James since before they found the cells back
behind them. And when the red glow first appeared, the sensation
increased. Now standing at the top of the stairs, he feels the fear
become an almost palpable force.

“You okay?” asks Brother Willim.

“I don’t know,” he replies.

Brother Willim glances from James and Jiron
and can see the fear James is feeling reflected in Jiron’s eyes.
“Wait a moment,” he says. Then he reaches into his robe and pulls
forth a small crystal vial.

“What’s that for?” asks Jiron.

“It will help with the fear you are
feeling,” he explains.

“I’m not feeling any fear,” Miko says.

“No, I wouldn’t think you would be,” replies
Brother Willim. “You are after all a High Priest. The power of
Morcyth shields you from such things.” He removes the stopper and
pours out a single drop of the liquid contained within the vial
upon his finger. “This is Asran’s Tears,” he says. When James looks
questioningly, he adds, “Holy water in the simplest term.” He then
takes the drop of holy water and rubs it across James’ left eyelid.
Pouring out another drop, he does the same to his right eye.

As soon as both eyes have been treated, the
fear that was threatening to take the heart from him subsides to a
more tolerable level. “I can still feel it,” he tells Brother
Willim.

Administering the holy water to Jiron’s
eyes, he says, “It won’t remove all fear, just help you not be
overcome by it.” When he finishes with Jiron, he stoppers the vial
and replaces it within his robe.

Next to him, a Little Brother is beginning
to behave in a most excitable manner. He looks at the earth spirit
and says, “We need to hurry.”

“Why?” asks Jiron. Then all at once, a wave
of evil rolls over them.

“It’s happening,” Brother Willim says as he
races for the stairwell.

“What’s happening?” James asks as he rushes
to follow.

Jiron beats him to the stairs right after
Brother Willim and they move quickly down the steps. The further
they descend, the more intense the red glow becomes. Moving down
the steps, they finally come to a place where the wall on their
right suddenly ends and opens up onto a large cavern.

Brother Willim comes to a stop just past
where the wall ends and stares down at the cavern floor. “Lord
Asran!” he exclaims.

James comes to a stop next to him and looks
down. His eyes are immediately drawn to a massive red, somewhat
dome shaped area with traces of black running through it. Seeing it
there in the center of the cavern floor, he knows beyond a shadow
of a doubt that this is where the wave of evil had originated.

A dark figure, dwarfed by the size of the
dome, stands before it. The unmistakable sight of two warrior
priests stands behind the dark figure. Cowled figures, similar to
those he encountered the last time he and Jiron were here are
spaced in twos around the edge of the red dome.

“Look there!” Miko says in a hushed whisper.
Pointing down below where they stand on the stairs, he indicates
eight figures moving across the cavern floor toward the dark figure
standing before the dome. Four of them are warrior priests, each of
whom has hold of a man dressed in slave rags.

Jiron recognizes one of the men. “Tinok!” he
breathes. He looks down at his lifelong friend as he is being
brought forward toward the dark figure.

“Ozgirath,” says Brother Willim. When James
glances to him he indicates the dark figure and says, “Ozgirath,
the High Priest of Dmon-Li.”

Miko moves his hand to the pouch containing
the Star of Morcyth but James stops him. “Not yet,” he says. If he
brings it out of the pouch now, its light will flood the cavern and
those down below will know they’re there. “Let’s get closer.”
Already the light from the Star feels almost like it’s struggling
to leave the pouch.

Still unobserved by those below, they start
moving the rest of the way down to the bottom. James notices that
the Little Brothers are not with them. Glancing back up to the top
of the stairs, he can see a large concentration of them there
watching. For just a moment he thinks that they have more sense
than he does, then returns his attention back to the stairs and
continues down after the others.

Ozgirath waits while the last four are
brought to him. Something tugs at the back of his mind but he
pushes it aside. Nothing can disturb what comes next. Reaching into
his robe, he pulls forth a dagger. Easily a foot and a half long,
the wicked looking weapon glows darkly from the runes inscribed
upon the hilt and blade.

To make the gate permanent, he must drench
it with blood from this world. At the same time it must be sealed
with the darkest of magic. He motions for the first of the men to
be brought forward. Unable to draw from the magic being sent by the
temples as that is being fed directly to the dome area, he instead
draws it from the twelve cowled figures. As soon as he begins
absorbing their magic, they buckle and collapse.

When the warrior priest brings the first man
before him, he plunges the knife into the man’s breast, spearing
the heart. The man makes no sound as the knife is withdrawn. Blood
begins to pump forth from the wound as the warrior priest turns and
lays the man down at the gate’s base. The dark magic of Ozgirath
keeps the man alive as his heart continues to pump out the needed
blood.

The next warrior priest brings forward the
next man and again, he plunges the dagger into the man’s breast.
Soon, he too is lying at the base of the gate as his life’s blood
is leaving his body.

At the base of the stairs, the four
companions watch in horror as the first two men are sacrificed. The
third man is then brought forward to stand before Ozgirath. Tinok
is in line to be the fourth.

“Jiron,” James whispers. “You get to Tinok
and get him out of here. You’ll be no use in the fight that is to
come.”

Nodding, Jiron says, “I understand.” Moving
along the wall beneath the stairs, he starts edging closer to where
Tinok stands in the grip of the warrior priest.

James then turns to Brother Willim and asks
hurriedly, “Will the Little Brothers come and help us?”

“I can feel their fear from here,” he says.
“Against Hikuli is one thing. Against this…I don’t know.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the
third man fall and the warrior priest holding Tinok begins to move
forward. “Whatever happens,” he says, “Don’t let the knife
fall.”

Miko and Brother Willim both understand what
he’s talking about and nod.

“Miko,” James says, “it’s time to bring
forth the Star.”

Miko gives him a nod as he opens the pouch
containing the Star. At the same time, James pulls the medallion
bearing the Star of Morcyth out from beneath his shirt. Light
shines forth from both in magnificent brilliance.

Then it seems as if time stops as every eye
turns toward them. The arm of Ozgirath is poised to plunge the
dagger into Tinok’s chest as he looks to see those who have dared
to intrude upon his domain. His yellow eyes flash as he sees the
Star where it shines in Miko’s hand. Only for the space of a
heartbeat does the world seem to stop before it once again
resumes.

Kill them and take the Star!

His warrior priests draw their swords and
the prickling sensation spikes as they move toward James, Miko and
Brother Willim. Then just as he turns back and is about to plunge
the dagger in Tinok’s chest to complete the binding of the gate,
Jiron comes from behind him and kicks with his foot the hand
holding the dagger. The blow causes the dagger to fly free of the
hand and sail through the air toward the dome. When it hits the
dome’s surface, there’s a flash and the dagger is gone.

Noooooooooo!

Ozgirath turns his eyes onto the man who
cost him his dagger. A wave of energy lashes out from him and
strikes Jiron. It picks him up and throws him further back into the
cavern. The warrior priest who had brought Tinok before Ozgirath
still stands there holding him. Dmon-Li’s High Priest moves forward
and grasps the hilt of the warrior priest’s sword. Pulling it from
its scabbard, he raises it high to strike Tinok and add his blood
to the others to complete the spell.

As the sword descends toward Tinok’s breast,
a shimmering field springs up around him. The sword connects with
the shield and rebounds back. Anger erupts within Ozgirath.
Returning the sword back to the warrior priest he says,
When the shield falls, strike. There’s very little time
left.

The warrior priest nods and stands
ready.

Turning to the mage who unwittingly helped
him to reach this goal, he now turns the full might of his power
against him. Energy crackles around him as he summons the power of
his god.

When Jiron had managed to remove the dagger from the dark one’s
hand, James had almost shouted in glee. Then his jubilation left
him quickly when he saw the five warrior priests turn their
attention on him, Miko and Brother Willim.

Magic erupts from the Star as Miko begins
speaking once more in the tongue none other understands. Lances of
light shoot forth from the Star and strike the approaching warrior
priests with devastating results. Knocked backward several feet,
they quickly recover. Then a dark miasmic cloud forms before them
and rushes forward.

The green glow surrounding Brother Willim
intensifies as he works to counter the malignant magic being turned
to bear upon them. How he wishes the other members of the Hand were
with him now, he sorely needs them. Then out of desperation, he
sends forth a message,
“Little Brothers! Asran needs you this
day!”

Throwing a handful of seeds toward a dark
miasmic cloud billowing its way toward them, he prays to Asran to
give the earth spirits courage. As the seeds blossom into green
tendrils that begin absorbing the cloud, Little Brothers fill the
air as they jump from the steps above and race to his aid.

Jiron shakes off the effects of the blast
and regains his feet. A moment’s glance shows him Tinok encased in
one of James’ barriers, the Little Brothers launching themselves
from high up on the stairs, and James, Miko and Brother Willim
fighting for their lives against five warrior priests and the dark
figure whom Brother Willim named Ozgirath.

Seeing as how Tinok is in no immediate
threat from the sword held in the hand of the warrior priest so
long as James’ shield remains in effect, he rushes toward where
James and the others are under attack.

At first dozens, then scores of Little
Brothers appear and swarm toward the combatants. None go near
Ozgirath, instead they wash over the warrior priests like a tide.
Their tiny claws scratching away at any exposed skin that isn’t
covered by armor. Even the armor of the warrior priests begins to
show signs of their attack.

Four of the warrior priests bear the brunt
of their assault. Their swords move incredibly fast as they strike
out and cleave many of the Little Brothers in two. But for every
one they kill, two more take its place.

Miko holds aloft the brilliantly shining
Star which is keeping several shadows at bay while fending off a
warrior priest with his sword. The shadows had appeared shortly
after Ozgirath’s dagger disappeared in the dome. The light of the
Stair is preventing them from coming close. When they do, smoke
seems to rise from them as if the Star’s light burns them.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

Brother Willim’s staff quickly strikes the
warrior priest engaging Miko three times in quick succession but
fails to yield any results.

Bam!

One of the warrior priests blasts a dozen
Little Brothers from him and then lays about with his sword before
more attach themselves to him once again. They grip the armor and
use their hands, feet, and at times teeth, on any exposed flesh
within their reach. Two of his fellows are already completely
encased in a mass of wriggling bodies. The fourth lies still upon
the ground, the armor now holding nothing more than a grisly piece
of ripped flesh. That it had been a man is no longer apparent.