Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (53 page)

“I think you’re right,” agrees James.

He’s about ready to cancel the image when
they see the meeting breaking up and all the men there begin to
climb the stairs out of the basement. “Where’re they going?” asks
Miko.

James suddenly turns and stares at Miko and
says, “Say that again!”

“Where’re they going?” repeats Miko,
confused at James’ request.

Miko’s voice has deepened, become more of a
man’s voice than a boys. Recovering from the shock, James says,
“Who knows? Let’s get Korgan and we’ll find out what’s going
on.”

“He’s most likely heading to the castle
again,” suggests Jiron. When James turns his head in his direction,
he continues, “When Miko and I were out looking the town over as
you requested, we spotted him. We followed him until he went
through the gates to the castle.”

“Then we’ve got to get him before he makes
it there,” says James. “Which entrance did he use?”

“It was the east gate,” he replies.

“Then let’s hurry,” he says. He goes back
over to the others and says, “We think we may have a lead on him,
but we need to hurry before he makes it back within the
castle.”

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

James nods to Jiron who begins running
toward the eastern gate leading into the castle area, the rest
following right behind.

They have to duck down side streets twice to
avoid patrols. They don’t know if they’ll be looking for them or
not, but best not to take any chances.

Jiron brings them to a halt when they near
the eastern gate, keeping to a side street overlooking it.

James pulls out the mirror and the view of
Korgan appears. He’s still walking along the streets, one of the
men is accompanying him. Putting the mirror away, he says, “Spread
out and cover the streets leading here,” he says. “Let’s hope he’s
going to use this entrance again.”

“What if he doesn’t?” asks Jorry.

“Then we’ll have to try something else,” he
replies.

They quickly spread out, and station
themselves where they’ll be able to intercept anyone heading for
the gate.

James, Jiron and Miko watch the main street
while the others cover the side streets. They wait for five minutes
when, from down the street they can hear the sound of footsteps
coming toward them. It sounds like there’re more than one
person.

“Think that’s them?” Jiron whispers.

“It’s gotta be,” replies James. To Miko he
whispers, “Go tell the others to get back here.”

Miko nods his head then melts into the
darkness as he goes to get the others.

“How’s your shoulder?” James asks.

“Bad, but not much I can do about it now,”
he states.

James can see one knife in his right hand as
they wait for them to come closer. He looks back down the street,
they can hear them approaching. The minimal light from the lamps
doesn’t give enough illumination to make out more than approaching
shadows.

As the others join him, he sends them around
side streets to block off any possible avenue of escape. The two
people who’re approaching pass through a circle of light from one
of the lamps a little ways down the street. They can see that one
of them definitely has a patch over one eye.

James hides in the shadows until they’re
just about to enter the circle of light from the next lamp. Then he
steps out in front of them with his knife drawn and says, “Stop
right there!”

They take one more step before coming to a
halt, which brings them into the circle of light. A woman screams
and James can see they’re not Korgan and friend.

A middle aged lady and a gentleman who looks
to have been a veteran of battle stand before him.

The man pulls out his sword and cries,
“What’s the meaning of this.”

“My apologies,” James stammers, embarrassed.
“I thought you were someone else.” Putting away his knife, he
begins backing away from the couple.

The man keeps his sword out as they, too,
begin backing away.

“The gate!” Uther cries out.

They all turn their attention to the gate as
they watch Korgan and his friend run in through the gate. Korgan
pauses momentarily as he looks in their direction, a grin upon his
face. He says something to the guards, and one brings a horn to his
lips and begins sounding the alarm.

“Move!” cries Jiron and they all begin
running down the street past the couple James had accosted.

Ducking down a side alley, they try to lose
any pursuit that may be forthcoming. They run to the end of the
alley and break across another main thoroughfare to the alley on
the other side.

Pausing a moment, they listen for any
pursuit. When none is forthcoming, Jiron leads them further into
the alley until the darkness within completely swallows them before
coming to a stop.

“Now what?” he says as he turns to
James.

“I don’t know,” he replies. “We might try to
backtrack the way he’d come and see if we can find where that
meeting was being held.”

“Whatever we do, we need to hurry,” Illan
states. “When they come to get you out of the dungeon in the
morning for the council meeting, they’ll know you’re not there.”
Remembering the horn blast from the guard at the gate, he adds, “If
they don’t know already. And dawn isn’t very far away.” They all
glance at the sky that is beginning to lighten with the coming of
the morn.

“Hopefully we can discover their plans
before the army begins its attack,” Uther says. “Whatever they’re
planning has to coincide with that.”

“I agree,” says James. “Do you remember the
way?”

Indicating the direction with a nod of his
head, he replies, “It’s this way.” He then leaves the alley and
turns down the street in the general direction of where Korgan had
been.

“How are we going to find out which house it
is?” Jiron questions.

“Not sure, exactly,” replies James as they
continue following Uther.

In the early morning hour, they’ve
encountered relatively few people. No group has been greater than
two or three and those were usually drunk. That’s why when he sees
a group of twenty men coming their way from down a side street,
James has them duck into a side alley to avoid being seen.

“What’s wrong?” Illan asks him when they’re
within the shadows of the alley.

“Doesn’t it seem strange for such a large
group to be about so early in the morning?” he asks.

“Now that you mention it, it does,” he
replies.

“And the fact they’re in the area where all
those weapons are leads me to think they may be going to retrieve
those weapons,” explains James.

“Could be,” whispers Jiron.

They all remain quiet as the men turn onto
the street James and the others had just recently vacated. As the
men move away from them, James whispers, “My guess is, if we follow
them, we’ll find that house.”

Several of the others nod their heads in
understanding.

Letting the men move further down the
street, James and the others quickly enter the street to follow
them. They continue following the men at a discreet distance until
they come to a large house. Turning off the street, the men
approach the front door, open it, and then go in.

“That’s the house!” exclaims Jorry
excitedly. “Has to be!”

“We need to get word to Henri at the north
gate,” James says. “If they’re moving to get their weapons, then
the attack is imminent.” He turns to Yern and says, “Tell him there
are likely other spots around the city.”

Yern nods and quickly heads off down the
street.

“How’d they get so many within the city?”
asks Fifer.

“Remember all those refugees that were
pouring into the city when we got here?” James asks. When Fifer
nods, he continues, “That’s how. I bet they’ve been trickling in
over the last several days, disguised as refugees.”

“Damn!” he exclaims. “No telling how many
there are within the city now.”

James has them spread out around the
building, staying within the shadows as best they can. He’s keeping
Miko close to hand.

Suddenly the door to the house begins to
open and the men start filing out. Where they’d gone in without
swords and armor, they’re now coming out fully decked out for
battle.

James takes several slugs from the pouch at
his hip and sets them in his left hand. Taking one in his right, he
let’s the magic flow as he throws it at one of the men exiting
through the doorway.

The slug strikes him square in the middle of
the chest and gore sprays on the man behind him as the slug exits
his back. Still having momentum, the slug strikes the second man in
the chest but its force had been greatly reduced by going through
the first man, only knocking him back a step as the armor prevents
it from punching through.

“Keep them in the house!” cries James.

The others spring into action as another
slug flies toward the open doorway, this time taking out the gore
coated man. They move to the exits and begin fighting with those
attempting to leave.

James can see Miko next to him begin to
slowly pull his sword out of his scabbard and says, “Not this time,
Miko. They can handle this.”

Miko glances to him, his eyes regaining
their focus as he nods and slides the sword back in the sheath.

The fighting going on around the house is
becoming intense as those that were within begin to make their way
out to engage Miller’s band.

Cries from the neighboring buildings fill
the night as the residents take notice of the fighting going on
around the house.

Suddenly, horns can be heard coming from the
west as the Empire’s forces begin their assault.

James lets loose the power and…

Crumph!

…an explosion can be heard within the
building. Windows shatter outward from the blast and all fighting
ceases for a moment as the combatants stagger from the explosive
concussion. The building begins to shake as the sides buckle and
the entire structure collapses, burying those still inside.

The fighting resumes and the enemy that had
made it out are soon dispatched. James does a quick survey and is
pleased to note that all of them have survived. A few are bleeding
from numerous cuts and Jorry has blood running down the side of his
head.

“Come on!” he cries. “To the west wall, we
can’t let them get a foothold inside the city!”

“How do we know that’s where they’ll make
their move?” asks Uther.

“We don’t,” replies James, “but that’s where
the horns are sounding.”

As one they turn and begin racing toward the
western wall. Other soldiers can be seen running to the sound of
the horns to aid in the defense. On their way, they meet up with
Yern who decided to return once the horns began sounding. “I think
Henri will know what’s going on now,” he says when he rejoins them.
Running as fast as they can, they head to the west gate.

They find a battlefield at the base of the
west wall. Dead and dying soldiers litter the area in front of it.
A semicircle of men are holding off the defenders while several
others are over at the gatehouse attempting to open the locking
mechanism.

The men keeping the defenders from the gate
house are falling fast and soon the way is clear. Soldiers of Madoc
rush toward the gatehouse and begin beating upon the gatehouse
door. James can see the door itself is beginning to buckle under
the force of the pounding.

Suddenly, a clanking sound can be heard as
the locks on the gate are opened. James looks to the gatehouse and
sees one of the saboteurs lift a sledgehammer as he begins smashing
the locking mechanism, making it so the gates cannot be locked
again.

The door to the gatehouse finally buckles
and shatters. The defenders rush in, killing everyone, clearing the
gatehouse.

“Bar the gate!” can be heard from the
captain of the defenders as dozens of men throw their weight
against the gate, trying to prevent it from being opened.

Archers upon the walls are raining down a
barrage of arrows upon the attackers as they work to push open the
gates from the other side. The Empire returns fire with their
crossbowmen and James hears a cry as an archer plummets off the
wall, a bolt sticking out of his chest.

The prickling sensation of someone doing
magic suddenly hits him. He looks around but it doesn’t look like
anyone close is the source. Then suddenly he understands, it’s from
someone on the other side of the wall.

The feeling spikes incredibly as the gates
suddenly burst open, crushing men caught behind them as they slam
into the walls.

“Beat them back!” James looks behind him and
sees Lord Pytherian there in armor as he arrives with
reinforcements. Rallying his men, they move to beat back the
enemy.

His men surge forward as they clash with the
enemy entering in through the open gates. The fighting is fierce
and the defenders are slowly being beaten backward.

The remnants of Miller’s band begin to join
the defenders but Jiron stops them. “We must stay and protect
James. He’s our only hope!”

Yearning to join in the defense, they
understand and position themselves around James to protect him from
harm. Jiron nods to James and says, “It’s all yours.”

The prickling sensation begins again and
James climbs up on a wagon to get a better look. He sees the mage
standing upon the bridge, arrows from the defenders seem to glance
off a barrier of some sort surrounding him.

James concentrates on the bridge and meets
resistance as the mage begins to counter what he’s trying to do. A
sudden thought comes to mind from a story he had read, ‘First mage
casts a spell, second mage counters, third mage casts spell to help
the first, fourth casts spell to help the second, then the army
shows up and cuts them all to pieces.’ If he wasn’t experiencing
it, he’d laugh.