Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (62 page)

He disengages from the battle and sees
Miko’s sword slow down as he moves backward. Readying himself, he
watches as Miko approaches, sword ready to resume the battle.

From the sidelines, James watches as
Abula-Mazki takes a few quick steps backward and comes to a stop.
The prickling suddenly begins to intensify and he knows the warrior
priest is about to cast a spell of mammoth proportions. He readies
the magic to counter whatever he may try to do.

Suddenly, a psychic cry of tremendous power
rips through his head like a knife.
The Fire walks
with the Star!

Everyone around him suddenly cries out from
the pain of it as they each grip their head in an attempt to ease
the pain.

Through eyes blinded with tears of pain,
James looks to the combatants and watches as Miko strikes out at
Abula-Mazki who, caught up in the spell, fails to defend himself.
His sword strikes him through the chest and the psychic cry is
abruptly silenced.

Miko pulls out the sword and hacks his sword
arm off before following through with a slice that severs his head
from his neck.

When the psychic cry stops, so does the pain
it caused. James looks up in time to see Abula-Mazki’s head strike
the ground. He hears a cheer from Hinney and Keril as they begin
running over to congratulate Miko. “Stop!” he orders
commandingly.

They both stop and turn to look at him.
“Don’t go near him yet,” he tells them. Moving past them, he brings
himself near to where Miko is standing motionless. He walks around
until he’s standing face to face with him.

“Miko?” he asks as he gazes into his eyes.
He can see more changes the Fire had wrought. All signs of Miko’s
childhood are gone. What stands before him is a man in his early
twenties at least. “Miko?” he asks again, in a soothing voice.
“It’s James.”

James can see the fires burning in his eyes,
and for the first time, he’s worried his friend may not come out of
it. “Miko, come back to me,” he says as he reaches his hand
out.

Then his eyes take notice of him there and
his sword moves to a guard position. James backs up a step and
holds his hands up, showing he’s not armed. The fires burn as the
eyes come to rest upon him.

Pointing to a sack lying in the pile that
had been removed from Miko, James yells to Jiron, “Toss me the
sack!”

Not sure at first what he is talking about,
Jiron looks down and then understanding comes. Picking it up, he
throws it to James who catches it.

“Would you like some tarts?” James asks as
he pulls one from the sack, holding it up for Miko to see.

Miko’s expression changes subtly and the
fires begin to diminish. “Tarts?” he says in a far away voice.

“Yeah,” James says, lowering his arm. “Here,
have one.” He watches some sort of internal struggle taking place
within Miko. Suddenly, the fires in his eyes go out and he knows
that it’s his friend who’s now looking out at him.

“Oh, James,” he says and takes a step
forward before collapsing to the ground.

He moves quickly to catch him before he hits
the ground. Laying him down, he waves the others to come join
him.

Upon reaching them, Illan says, “James, we
got problems.”

Looking up at him from where he kneels next
to Miko, James asks, “What?”

Pointing to the pass, he says, “Look.”

Turning his attention to the pass, James
sees the clan chiefs have returned and mounted their horses. One of
the riders with them brings a horn to his lips and two loud notes
sound. Answering horns come from all sides as the riders who had
waited patiently at a distance during the fight now begin moving
toward them in a decidedly hostile manner. Hundreds of riders are
quickly closing the gap, swords are being drawn and bows
readied.

James grabs Jiron’s arm, causing him to look
at him. “You know what I must do?”

Jiron nods his head and gathers the others
around while James prepares to defend them. “Form a circle around
James, let nothing get close to him that may disrupt his
concentration,” he tells them. Once he sees that they understand,
he continues, “We may yet live through this.”

“Arrows!” hollers Fifer as over fifty
archers release their deadly arsenal.

“Shields!” Illan hollers and those with
shields raise them to protect James. The others hide behind them as
best they can. They watch as the arrows arc in the air as they
begin to descend toward them. Then suddenly, they bounce off a
barrier that surrounds them.

“What happened?” asks Keril.

“James,” replies Jiron. “That’s what
happened.”

They still remain behind their shields as
the deadly rain continues to fall, harmlessly bouncing off the
invisible shield.

The sky begins to darken as clouds move
rapidly from all directions to merge together in the sky above.
Those guarding James look nervously out at the rapidly changing
sky, Illan calls out to them, “Stand fast!”

The front line of riders comes crashing into
the barrier that had so successfully stopped the rain of arrows.
Horses and men cry out as they strike it hard, bones of some can be
heard snapping. One man is actually thrown upward from his horse
and lands on the barrier itself. The defenders inside watch as he
slowly slides down the outer side to the ground.

Hinney cries out when a dozen translucent
orbs suddenly appear among them.

“Don’t worry,” Jiron assures him. “James has
lots of tricks.”

The orbs begin floating away from them in
various directions. When they reach the barrier, they pass
harmlessly through. The riders beating upon the barrier step back
as the orbs float harmlessly past them before resuming their
attempt to breach the barrier.

“What are those?” Yern asks.

“Something nasty for them,” replies Jiron.
“You can be sure of that.”

The riders have stopped the hail of arrows
when they realize how ineffective they are. The wounded from when
the charge hit the barrier are being taken away and the mood among
the riders is beginning to become one of unease.

In the sky above them, the cloud cover is
now dark and the wind has begun to blow in earnest. Suddenly, a
flash of lightning strikes one of the translucent orbs, blasting
over a dozen riders that happen to be near.

ZZZT! Wham!

Another bolt of lightning strikes an orb,
and more riders are thrown from the force of the explosion.

“That was bigger than the last one!” Uther
exclaims.

“Look!” Jorry says as he points to one of
the orbs. “They’re getting bigger!”

Jiron glances to James and sees he’s
beginning to pant and sweat is pouring down his face. Shouting loud
enough for all the defenders to hear him, he hollers, “Should James
lose consciousness, the barrier will fall. Then it will be up to us
to finish this.”

“Bring it on!” Jorry hollers from where he
stands shoulder to shoulder with Uther.

ZZZT! Wham! ZZZT! Wham! ZZZT! Wham!

Bolts begin striking orbs with more
frequency and more riders are thrown only to fall lifeless to the
ground.

Once the last orb has been struck, it
becomes eerily quiet. The riders outside the barrier pause in what
they’re doing as they take notice of the quiet.

“Illan!” Fifer yells as he points to
James.

James is tilting to the side and looks like
he’s barely able to remain upright. “Help him!” Illan commands and
Fifer goes over and helps support him so he won’t fall over. To the
others, Illan says, “It won’t be long! Be ready!”

From the clouds above, a swirling mass
begins descending toward the riders outside the barrier. “What in
god’s name is that?” Uther cries out.

“A tornado!” Jiron replies, remembering the
ones James used in their escape from Al-Kur.

The swirling mass of clouds smashes into the
ground not far from them, riders and horses caught within it are
thrown and broken. It starts moving toward the pass and the chiefs
waiting there.

A cry escapes James as the tornado splits in
two, the second half moving quickly in the opposite direction
toward a large congregation of riders.

The chiefs see the tornado coming toward
them and turn as they begin riding fast further up into the pass,
trying to outrun the approaching swirling mass of death.

“How is he?” Jiron shouts to Fifer.

“Not good!” he tells him. “His heart’s
beating fast and he’s having trouble breathing.”

Jiron comes over and kneels down next to him
and says, “James! You’ve done enough!” When it doesn’t look like
he’s getting through to him, he shakes him and hollers, “James! You
can stop!”

Eyes suddenly pop open and a great cry of
pain escapes him. Then he suddenly collapses into
unconsciousness.

The barrier collapses and the tornadoes
begin to dissipate. “Alright boys!” Illan hollers. “Stay together
and protect James and Miko.”

When the wind dies down and the tornadoes
are gone, they take in the destruction James has wrought. Hundreds
of men and horses lie dead or dying all around them. On the
outskirts of the devastation, over twenty horsemen can be seen
still on their horses. They’re all that remain of the host which
accompanied Abula-Mazki.

A horn from the pass announces the return of
the chiefs and their men. They pause there momentarily as the horn
blasts again. “Here they come!” Illan says to the others as both
the riders in the pass and the ones on the outskirts break into a
gallop as they move in to attack.

Two archers remain and they begin firing off
arrows but none strike their marks. One manages to hit the ground
within a foot of Miko, the other was deflected off Uther’s
shield.

“Strike the horses if you can’t get the
men!” Illan tells them as they brace for the attack. “Remain
together!”

Jiron positions himself over James and Miko
while the others form a circle around them. Knife at the ready in
his good hand, he stands firm as he watches the riders thunder
closer.

The area around where the barrier had been
is littered with the dead and provides them some cover. Also, the
charging riders have to slow when they reach it to prevent their
horses from stumbling.

Illan and the others move to attack while
the riders are trying to move through the dead bodies. “For Madoc!”
the battle cry can be heard as Uther’s sword takes out the first
rider.

Other cries are heard as the battle is
joined. Hinney and Keril stand shoulder to shoulder as they manage
to hold their own against three riders.

One horseless rider manages to break through
the ring of defenders and runs toward where Jiron is waiting. A
smile crosses the rider’s face when he sees a man with only one
good arm and just wielding a dagger at that.

Striking out at Jiron with his sword, the
man so sure of victory, is surprised when Jiron easily deflects it
to the side. Suddenly crying out in pain, the man falls to the
ground after Jiron breaks his knee with a well placed kick. Trying
to block Jiron’s next attack, he swings his sword wildly.

Jiron strikes out with his foot again and
connects with the man’s groin. Then with his other foot he kicks
the man’s swordarm, causing the sword to go flying. He then moves
in with his knife and finishes him.

Standing up, he looks around at the battles
going on around him. The defenders are taking a toll, especially
Jorry and Uther who have a ring of bodies around them. Fifer has
two dead while Illan and Yern have accounted for seven.

Keril suddenly cries out as a sword takes
him in the side. Hinney quickly engages the rider as his friend
falls to the ground. Other riders come and join the one fighting
Hinney, Jiron knows he’s not going to last long.

Suddenly, to the south, more horns can be
heard. Jiron looks and sees dozens of riders riding fast toward
them.
Damn! More reinforcements!

The horns sound again and an answering horn
can be heard coming from the pass. The riders engaging the
defenders suddenly break off and race to their awaiting horses.
Leaping atop them, they join the riders coming fast from the
pass.

Jiron can see the clan chiefs giving them an
ugly look that says this isn’t over before they race off to the
west. The large group of riders coming from the south breaks into
two groups, the larger of the two turn to follow the clan chiefs.
The smaller group approaches the scene of the battle.

“They’re ours,” says Illan when he can make
them out. “Everyone alive?” he asks as he quickly takes stock of
the situation. Coming over to where Hinney sits with Keril, he
realizes Keril isn’t going to survive much longer. He kneels down
as Keril turns his pain filled eyes to him.

“Did we win?” Keril asks.

“Yes, son,” Illan says to him soothingly,
“we did. You fought bravely which saved the day.”

A smile spreads across his face.

When Hinney looks up at him, hope in his
eyes, he shakes his head.

Illan gets back up, pats Hinney on the
shoulder and goes over to see how James and Miko are doing, leaving
him alone to share Keril’s last moments in peace.

Jiron sees him approaching and says,
“They’re alive. Not sure if they will make it, though. James isn’t
doing too well and Miko, well, I can’t even begin to guess about
him. He doesn’t respond, though he only has minor cuts and
bruises.”

“Keep an eye on them,” he says as he moves
to greet the approaching riders, Jorry and Uther join him. He
notices Uther has a blood soaked cloth tied around his arm and arcs
an eyebrow in question.

“It’s not bad,” Uther tells him. “Just a
minor cut.”

Nodding, Illan turns back to the riders.
Once they’ve come close, he holds up his hand and says, “Thank
you.”

The officer in charge says to his men, “Fan
out and see if there’re any left alive.” As they move to comply, he
gets down from his horse and greets Illan. “What the hell happened
here?” The insignia on his uniform says he’s a Madoc cavalry
captain.