The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven (7 page)

“What is it?” asks James in exasperation. He
turns back to his friend on the ground all the while keeping an ear
to what Scar is saying.

“There is a way for you to help him,” he
insists. “You need to understand what is being sent and why.”

“How is he to do that?” asks Jiron.

“You must join him in his dream,” replies
Scar.

At that James turns and looks at him. “I
can’t do that.”

“There is a way,” he tells him. “When a
person is within a dream or vision sent by a god or being of power,
it is possible to join them in the dream.”

“How?” James asks.

Scar glances around to the others before
retuning his gaze to James. “Take hold of his hand and send magic
without guidance into him,” he explains. “Whatever power has hold
of him will latch onto it. If at that instance you push your
awareness into Miko along with the magic, you will be drawn
in.”

“How do you know this?” asks Jiron.

“Just believe me,” Scar insists, ignoring
Jiron’s question. “You need to get in there.”

James sees the sincerity in Scar’s eyes.
Turning to Brother Willim he asks, “Is it possible?”

“I don’t know,” he admits. “As part of the
Hand of Asran, we were more into the practical use of Asran’s
power. We didn’t spend much time on theory. It sounds plausible
though.”

James turns his attention back to Miko and
sees him thrashing about. Stig has taken hold of his arms so he
won’t hurt himself. As James reaches out his hand to take Miko’s,
Jiron grabs his arm.

“What if he’s wrong?” he asks.

“It feels right,” is the only reply he can
give. “Let go.”

Jiron removes his hand from James’ arm.

Now free of Jiron’s grip, James takes Miko’s
hand. He takes a deep calming breath then sends magic through the
connections of their hands and into Miko. Immediately it’s grasped
by whatever has hold of Miko and he thrusts his awareness along the
magical stream.

“Catch him!” hollers Jiron as James suddenly
stiffens and begins toppling to the side. Brother Willim reaches
him before he can hit the ground and then carefully lays him
down.

Indicating where James has hold of Miko’s
hand, Scar says, “Make sure the connection isn’t broken.”

“Why?” asks Jiron.

“It could be bad,” he explains.

“Bad?” exclaims Jiron. Coming to stand in
front of Scar he shouts, “What do you mean, bad?”

“
It worked!” is all he can say when he
all of a sudden is standing within a city. At a crossroads of
intersecting streets, he looks first up one and down the other.
Except for himself the place is deserted.

“
Miko!” he yells. Listening for a moment
he fails to hear a reply. Then from the far side of town a bright
light pushes back the gloom. Neither night nor day, the city seems
to be in a place of in-between.

He breaks into a run toward the light. After
what seems a very long distance, the street he’s on turns into a
broad avenue. The bright light is coming from the end of the
avenue. Hurrying toward it, he reaches the place where the street
opens up onto a large courtyard. In the center of which stands a
building, the building being the source of the light.

“
Miko!” he cries out. Again no reply. The
light coming from the building is blindingly bright but he’s able
to make out an open doorway at its base directly ahead of him.
Shielding his eyes against the light, he crosses the courtyard
quickly and passes through the doorway.

Once inside, the blinding light diminishes
to a more comfortable level. Still no discernable source for the
light, it seems as if the stones of the walls themselves are
aglow.

“
Miko! Where are you?” Still no reply.
Moving forward down the hallway he has a feeling of urgency, of
needing to find Miko and fast.

Quickening his pace, he flies down the
hallway until it opens up onto a large room. In the center of the
room is an opening revealing a stairway leading down. Feeling as if
he’s been here before, he approaches the opening and gazes down. A
flight of fourteen steps descend down to what looks to be another
level.

Taking the steps quickly, he finds himself
in another hallway extending ahead. The glow which had pervaded the
stones above is present here as well. “Miko?” he hollers into the
hallway. When no answer is forthcoming, he moves down the hallway,
a little more cautiously this time.

As he progresses down the hallway, he sees a
figure standing with his back to him. Before the figure is a door
standing ajar. “Miko?” James asks as he slows his pace even
further. When he gets closer he sees that it is in fact Miko.

“
Miko!” he hollers and rushes to his
friend.

Miko turns his head and says, “I need to get
in there.”

“
Why?” James asks as he comes to stop at
his side.

“
If I don’t, something bad is going to
happen,” he replies.

“
Something bad?” he asks. “I don’t
understand.”

“
Neither do I,” he replies.

James reaches for the door to open it and
Miko says, “Don’t.”

“
How are we to get in if we don’t open
the door?” James asks.

Miko looks at him and shakes his head. “I
have to get in there,” he repeats.

Then all of a sudden, the light that had
been constant since he first entered the building starts to dim.
Glancing behind them back down the hallway, he sees the end of the
hallway growing dark. And the darkness is moving toward them.

“
We can’t stay here,” he says. The sight
of the darkness sends a tremor of fear through him. Reaching for
the door, he again hears Miko say, “Don’t.”

“
There’s no other place to go!” he
hollers. Taking hold of the door, he pulls it open. For a brief
moment he sees the interior of the room, octagonal in shape with a
raised pedestal rising from the floor in the center of the
room.

Then, a presence comes bringing fear and
sapping their strength. The room grows dark as a wave of force
lashes into them. Knocking them off their feet, it sends them
flying backward down the hallway toward the approaching
blackness.

James summons the magic and forms a
protective barrier around them. Striking out with magic of his own,
he attacks the presence within the room but has no effect. A ripple
of laughter, more felt than heard, comes to him from the room as
the blackness which has been drawing closer finally arrives.

The stones all around them grow dim and when
the darkness touches them it burns like acid. Even the barrier
surrounding them does little to keep the darkness from them. Pain,
torturing pain erupts from every nerve ending on his body. The last
thing James sees is the door to the room slamming shut before he
blacks-out.

When James passed out after touching Miko’s
hand, they watched him closely for several minutes. Anxious that
what Scar had suggested might in some way hurt him, they were
relieved when he continued breathing and appeared as if he were
asleep. Miko too seemed to quiet down shortly after James joined
him.

“Keep an eye on them,” Jiron says to Brother
Willim.

Sitting down next to them, he gives Jiron a
nod.

“Now,” Jiron says as he turns back to Scar,
“just where did you learn this little tidbit of information?”

Scar glances to Potbelly and licks his lips.
Turning back to look into the intense gaze of Jiron, he says, “Back
in the City of Light.” When Jiron doesn’t make any comment he licks
his lips again and adds, “From Sorenta.”

“Sorenta?” he asks incredulously. From the
way he said the name it’s obvious he knows of whom Scar is
referring to.

“Who’s Sorenta?” asks Shorty.

“She’s a prostitute,” replies Potbelly.
“Worked over in Mother Chlia’s place.”

“You risked his life based on a story a
prostitute told you?” Shorty asks in disbelief.

“You don’t understand,” explains Scar. “She
wasn’t just a prostitute. She had the ‘gift’. At least that’s what
she called it.”

“That’s right,” agrees Potbelly. “There were
times when we would visit her when it happened. She said it rarely
came while someone else was around, and that since it did, it must
mean something.”

“And when it happened, she told you to have
James take Miko’s hand?” asks Jiron.

“Not exactly, no,” replies Potbelly.

“When I saw Miko there and heard what James
and Brother Willim said to each other, I knew I had to tell you,”
Scar states. “At the time she told us, she wasn’t sure why she felt
she had to only that she did. Said the information could come in
handy some day, though she was a bit vague about when.”

“Things happen for a reason,” Brother Willim
says from where he sits next to James and Miko. “Who are we to
judge their merits?”

“What should we do?” Stig asks.

“Wait,” he says. “All we can do is
wait.”

“If something goes wrong,” Jiron says to
Scar, “I’m holding you personally responsible.” He continues
staring at Scar then flicks his eyes to Potbelly before returning
to James’ side.

Several minutes pass while both Miko and
James lie there quietly. Then they all of a sudden begin spasming
and with a gasp, James opens his eyes as he sits up. Releasing
Miko’s hand he gasps, “Oh my god.”

A fraction of a second later a scream is
torn from Miko as he snaps awake as well.

James looks around with eyes wide. When he
realizes he’s back in the camp with the others he visibly relaxes.
Next to him Miko holds his arms around his chest and groans in
pain.

Brother Willim arcs an eyebrow questioningly
at James and he says, “Better check him out. I’m fine.” The pain
which was so excruciating while in the dream with Miko is now
quickly beginning to fade.

Nodding, Brother Willim moves closer to Miko
and says, “Let me have a look.”

Miko removes his arms from his chest and
Brother Willim pulls up his shirt. Beneath the shirt his chest is a
mass of burns, boils have formed and some are oozing pus. “Get the
Star,” he says to Jiron.

As Jiron removes the Star from Miko’s pouch,
Scar asks, “What happened?”

Once the Star is in Jiron’s hand he gives it
to Miko. No sooner does the Star rest in his palm than a glow
envelopes him. They watch in awe as his chest begins to return to
normal. The boils recede and the burns turn brown, eventually
flaking off to reveal the new skin that has formed underneath.

When the glow from the Star vanishes, Miko
is breathing much better.

“Now, what happened?” Jiron asks.

James begins to relate to them his
experiences within Miko’s dream. When he’s done Miko has little to
add, the memory of the dream has already begun to grow cloudy. “All
I can remember is that I needed to get into that room, but was
unable to,” he finally says.

“What was the room like?” Shorty asks. “Why
did you need to get inside?”

Miko shakes his head. “I can’t remember,” he
admits.

“I caught a quick glance within before the
door slammed shut,” announces James. “The room was of average size
and a pedestal stood in its center.”

Jiron has a thoughtful look on his face when
he asks, “Did the room have eight sides?”

Shrugging, James says, “Maybe. I couldn’t
see it all but I suppose it could have. Why?”

Jiron doesn’t answer his question, instead
he turns to Brother Willim. “You said that the same force or
presence was here both times Miko had these visions. Was the
presence malign or good?”

“It didn’t feel either way,” he replies. “It
just was.”

“Hmmm…” he says as he resumes thinking.

“Let me get this out before I lose my train
of thought,” Jiron says. “Miko has the Star which is from the god
Morcyth. Miko has now had two visions in which a temple is
involved, both times the temple radiates bright light.” Turning to
Miko he asks, “Am I correct so far?”

Miko nods.

Turning to Brother Willim he says, “In one
of the prophecy you mention that ‘the light of knowledge will be at
his side’.” Then back to the others he adds, “I believe the temples
he saw are the High Temple of Morcyth in the City of Light.”

“What makes you so sure of that?” asks
Scar.

“First, Miko holds the Star,” he says.
“Second, a temple of light. I hardly think an evil temple would
have a white light associated with it.” Turning back to Brother
Willim he asks, “Would it?”

Shrugging, the brother says, “I really
couldn’t say one way or another. But since it was Miko’s dream,
everything in it would be based upon what he believes to be
true.”

“So the light would have to be good then,”
he says. When Brother Willim nods he continues. “Third…” Turning to
James he says, “Remember just after we met and were trapped in my
hideout, before we fled the City of Light?” When James nods he
continues. “How did we get out?”

“Through a secret door my medallion opened
up,” he says. “A flight of stairs went down and we…” His eyes widen
as he remembers.

“Exactly,” continues Jiron with a nod, “we
went into an eight sided room that had a pedestal sitting in the
middle.”

“I don’t see the connection,” Shorty
says.

James turns to him and says, “At the time I
figured the room with the pedestal to be located beneath the site
of the previous High Temple to Morcyth.”

“There are too many things here that point
to that spot,” Jiron concludes. “It has to mean something.”

They look at each other until finally their
eyes settle on Brother Willim. “If all you say is true,” he begins,
“then I would have to believe Miko needs to enter that room.” He
glances to James and says, “And soon.”

“It has long been believed that dreams,
especially dreams of such power, are sendings from the gods,” he
explains. “The fact that so many have come in so short a time
cannot be dismissed as mere coincidence. James, you have had dreams
of Cassie and Tinok in that place you call a carnival. Miko, your
dreams are of a temple that is swallowed by blackness. Blackness
that you are terrified of.”