Trail of the Gods ms-4

by Brian S. Pratt

  The next place happens to come along an hour later. Just a bunch of buildings along the side of the road, not much more than a place catering to travelers who weren’t able to reach the next town.

  No sign hangs out in front of the inn and the place looks a little worse for wear. Several horses, along with a small caravan are tied around back. This place doesn’t even have a decent stable for the horses. If it wasn’t for James’ need for a good night’s rest, Illan would’ve passed this place by.

  “Uther, go in and see if they’ve got at least three rooms for us.”

  Nodding, he gets down from his horse and enters through the front door. Returning shortly, he says, “They’ve got the rooms, cheap too.”

  “Jorry, take the horses around back and stay with them,” he says. “I don’t trust a place with no stable.”

  Not looking happy about it, he says, “Alright.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll all take turns watching the horses,” he assures him.

  As he leaves with the horses around back the rest go in through the front door. Uther and Jiron carry the unconscious James between them. Illan goes and confers with the innkeeper while the others stay near the front door. An exchange of silvers produces three keys for rooms upstairs. When they carry James through to the stairs leading up, the innkeeper gives them a curious look but otherwise says nothing.

  Once in their rooms, they lay James out on one of the beds. Illan sets the box on the floor next to him before leaving to make sure the rest get squared away properly. He returns a short time later and says, “I’m arranging for all of us to eat in our rooms. I’ll have something sent up for you two.” When Jiron nods from where he sits next to James on the bed, he asks, “How is he?”

  “Don’t know,” Jiron replies, worried. “He’s still breathing.”

  “That’s something,” says Illan. “There’ll be someone posted outside your rooms all night. So if you need anything, or if there’s any change, let us know.”

  Nodding, he says, “Sure.” After Illan has left, he looks to his friend and wonders just what’s going on in there.

  A smoky haze covers a landscape burnt and dying. Unseen, the desolate wailing of tortured people comes to him as he walks through what once must’ve been a beautiful forest. Broken and charred trees lie scattered about, dark shapes move through them.

  The dim light coming through the smoke hanging over him gives an unholy feel to his already dismal surroundings. He jumps and starts at every slight shadow and sound, ducking behind burnt out husks of trees when he catches a glimpse of shadows moving in the distance.

  Moving cautiously, he makes his way through the dead forest and comes across what looks to have been a cabin of some sort. Some of the walls are still standing though the roof has long since collapsed from a long ago fire.

  The fear which has been his constant companion ever since coming here now grows even stronger. Compelled, almost against his will, he begins moving toward the cabin. As he draws closer, a shadow moves across the doorway and then is gone.

  Pausing only a moment, he continues on his way to the doorway. Wanting to stop, fighting the need to continue, his steps are sluggish but still he comes closer. At the doorway, he somehow manages to overcome his overpowering need to enter the cabin and comes to a stop. Fear. Fear the likes he’s never experienced cuts through him like a knife, sapping his will, his strength.

  Again, the shadow moves within, this time further back from the doorway. The sight of the shadow spikes his fear and he longs to turn and run, if only his legs would obey him.

  The muscles of his leg begin to contract as they move his leg forward against his will, passing through the doorway. He watches as his foot touches the floor within the cabin. Cold hate suddenly washes over him as he looks up at the shadow, now aware of him. Evil, pure evil radiates from the eyes within the shadow. The yellow, glowing eyes.

  He senses, more than sees the shadow reaching out for him. His will all but gone, he can no longer withstand the compelling need to come to the shadow, even though he knows it’s to his doom.

  Stepping through the doorway, he’s suddenly grabbed from behind and yanked out of the cabin. A screech erupts from the shadow as its prey escapes from its clutches.

  James stumbles backward and turns to see Igor there. A resounding slap across his face and he comes back to his senses. “Come on!” Igor yells at him as he turns and begins running away from the cabin.

  The presence of evil behind him suddenly grows and a quick glance back shows the shadow is moving quickly to take him. Fear again erupts within him but is no longer overpowering as it had been before. With renewed strength, he runs to follow Igor.

  A white light flashes from Igor and slams into the shadow, producing another hellish scream. To James’ horror, answering screams can be heard coming from all around them.

  “What are they?” he shouts to Igor as he catches up with him.

  “You’d call them demons,” he explains. “Not exactly what you think, but it’s the closest comparison that you’ll understand. Now shut up and run. There’s only one place we can leave here and there’s a chance we may not be able to reach it in time.”

  “Why?” James asks.

  “We don’t belong here,” he replies. “Me especially. The gate won’t last forever.”

  From behind them, he can see several shadows have now joined with the first in pursuit. Igor suddenly stops and turns to confront them. White light again shoots out and strikes the shadows, generating wails of pain and outrage.

  Igor grabs him again and propels him onward. “These are relatively harmless, but all this commotion could attract something we would really rather avoid.”

  “Like what?” James asks.

  Igor ignores him as they continue running. Periodically he stops and slows down their pursuers with another flash of light before resuming their flight. “There it is!” he says.

  Ahead of them, James can see a bright arch shining in the darkness. Surprisingly, there’re no shadows close to it. “Won’t that attract them?”

  “No. They’re unable to see it,” he says. “If they’re close enough, they might feel it though.” He glances to him as he says, “Especially the more powerful ones.”

  The wailing behind them increases as more of the shadows join their fellows. Suddenly, a deeper growl can be heard. Materializing before them is a ten foot tall figure of horror. Roughly man shape, but that’s where the similarity ends. Its body writhes and ripples as it continuously changes form. It has no head, just two protrusions sprouting up from its main torso, like horns or tentacles.

  A scream of fear erupts from James as he comes to a stop, terror freezing him into immobility. Igor gasps when he sees it. Turning back to James, he quickly rubs his thumbs over James’ eyes and says, “You’ve got to make it through that arch. Do you understand?”

  Glancing behind Igor, he sees the monstrosity advancing toward them. A stinging slap brings his eyes back to Igor. “Don’t look at it. Concentrate on the arch and only the arch! Make for it, it’s your only chance.”

  Sudden realization strikes him, “What about you?”

  “You’ve got to make it through!” he yells. “Now go!” Turning, Igor faces the monstrosity as he moves to intercept it. A white light flashes and strikes it, causing it to slow its pace momentarily, but then it resumes. The light seems to have less of an effect on this creature than it did on the shadows.

  James looks to the arch, the sight of it giving him renewed determination. Getting his legs moving, he runs toward the arch. He feels the presence of the monstrosity, its gaze upon him when another blinding flash of light, this time brighter and more intense than before, strikes it. A roar of pain and hate reverberates through the air as it stumbles backward a step.

  He quickly glances to Igor who’s now wielding a blindingly bright sword as he strikes out and slices into the creature. A wave of dark power comes out of the creature, striking Igor, throwing him back a step. Igor
sees him pausing there. “Get through the arch!” he yells as he moves to strike out at his opponent.

  Again, James runs as fast as his legs will move toward the arch. As he reaches it, he can feel a calming aura emanating from it. He looks back at the fight just as the monstrosity connects with Igor and knocks the shining sword from his hand. “Flee! NOW!” he hears as bolts of white strike the creature.

  Suddenly on the other side of the arch, he sees another monstrosity approaching. In terror he dives through the arch.

  A scream rips through the night, jarring Jiron out of sleep. The door bursts open and Jorry comes in, sword in his hand. They both look to find James sitting up in bed, the look of absolute terror on his face.

  “James!” cries out Jiron as he comes to his side. To Jorry he says, “Get Illan.” As he leaves the room, Jiron sits next to James and says to him, “James, you’re okay. You’re safe.”

  His eyes begin to focus on Jiron and his surroundings as they start to lose the wild look they had. “Oh my god!” he exclaims as he lies back down on his bed. Slowly, his pulse calms down and the fear he experienced begins to subside. He looks again to Jiron sitting there on the bed next to him and then to the door as Jorry returns with Illan.

  “What happened?” Illan asks.

  “A dream, I hope” croaks James. Then to Jiron he says, “Got any water?”

  Getting up, he goes over to their packs and brings him a water bottle. James takes it and almost downs the whole thing. “Thanks,” he says as he returns the near empty bottle to him.

  “Are you okay?” Illan asks, concerned.

  “I think so,” he replies. “Just tired.”

  Illan turns his attention to where Jorry waits in the hallway and says, “He’s okay.” Jorry nods his head then closes the door as he keeps watch in the hallway.

  “Where are we?” asks James.

  “Somewhere to the west of Trendle,” replies Illan.

  “We started to head to Trademeet,” explains Jiron. “We thought it best to not be seen passing through town so are taking a more roundabout way.”

  “Good,” James says, nodding. “Has the box been glowing any while I’ve been out?”

  Shaking his head, Illan replies, “No, nothing.”

  “That’s good news,” he says. “I doubt if I could counter another attempt so soon.”

  “Who was trying to find it?” asks Jiron.

  “I don’t know, probably one of Dmon-Li’s followers I’d expect. Whoever it was used an awesome amount of power. It was all I could do just to maintain the concealment spells.”

  “Just get some rest,” Illan says as he begins heading for the door. “Are you going to feel up to traveling in the morning?”

  Nodding, he says, “Whether I do or not, we need to get this done.”

  “Alright,” he says, opening the door. “See you then.” He passes through the door and they can hear him saying something to Jorry before his footsteps are heard going down the hallway to his room.

  Jiron gets up from the bed but James grabs his arm and says, “Jiron, I don’t think it was just a dream.”

  Sitting back down, he says, “Why do you say that?”

  James then relates to him the events as transpired on that other world, about the shadows, Igor and finally the monstrosities. “I don’t know what it was, but it felt too real to be a dream,” he concludes.

  “It sounds too farfetched to be anything but a dream,” states Jiron. “But you would know better than anyone else. What could it mean?”

  “I don’t know and that’s what’s bothering me,” he replies. “If it wasn’t a dream, was it a foretelling of the future? Or maybe I entered another level of existence? But what really has me worried is what happened to Igor. He was losing the battle when I passed through the arch. Is he gone?”

  Jiron just sits there with him as he works through it. “Maybe you should try to get some sleep,” he finally says. “It’s not going to be answered tonight and you’ll need your rest tomorrow morning.”

  Stifling a yawn that suddenly tries to break loose, he says, “You’re right.”

  Jiron gets up off the bed and goes over to the other. Lying down, he blows out the candle on the nightstand.

  James can hear his breathing relax as he slips into slumber, but he is far too worried to be able to fall asleep quickly. His mind continues wrestling with what happened and the implications of it as well. Finally though, exhaustion wins out and he falls asleep.

  The morning finds him rested and feeling better, the terror of the night before all but gone. His memories of that time are no longer as sharp and clear as they had been when he originally came out of it. Pushing it to the back of his mind, he focuses on the task at hand.

  He notices the box on the floor by his bed and picks it up, placing it next to him. A close examination of the crystals reveals no cracks and that they have a glow to them showing they still have power. Hoping not to go through the struggle he went through in the forest, he places the blanket back over it.

  Jiron is still sleeping so he gets dressed quietly and opens the door. Jorry is standing there on the other side of the door and is startled when the door opens behind him.

  “Are you okay?” he asks as he steps aside to let James by.

  “Better, anyway,” he replies quietly with a grin. “Just going to go downstairs and see about getting something to eat.”

  “Alright,” says Jorry.

  He makes his way downstairs to the common room and finds a table near an open window. The morning breeze feels good as he waits for the serving girl to finish with two men at another table. Looking outside, he sees Uther out by the horses. Doesn’t look like he’s doing much more than just hanging out next to them. Curious.

  By the time the serving girl finishes with the other two men, he’s joined by the rest of his crew. Jiron carries the blanket covered box and takes the seat next to him, placing the box on the floor between them.

  After breakfast has been ordered, James asks, “Exactly where are we?”

  “Somewhere east of Trendle, as best I can figure,” Illan explains.

  “Hmmm…” James thinks a moment and then says, “If we head due south, we’ll come to the river. We’ll just need to find a spot to cross and then make our way to Trademeet.”

  “What are we going to do there?” asks Jorry.

  James taps the box and says, “Get rid of this.”

  “How?” he asks.

  “You let me worry about that,” he tells him.

  Once breakfast comes, they eat quickly, Illan has an order of eggs and tubers sent out to Uther by the horses. When James asks, he tells him he didn’t trust a place without a stable so stationed a man out there to keep an eye on them all night.

  When they’re done, they leave the inn and go out to their horses where Jiron helps James secure the box behind his saddle. Once secured, they mount and head out of the small collection of buildings. They leave the road as they make their way cross country to the south.

  The day passes fairly uneventfully, those traveling behind James continue casting glances toward the box to see whether the glow will return or not. Much to the relief of everyone, especially James, the crystals remain dormant.

  As the sun begins its descent toward the horizon, they see the river coming up ahead of them. James has them continue to follow it as it flows to the south. “If Bearn is up ahead, we can cross there.”

  “Aren’t you worried about running into Lord Colerain?” Jiron asks.

  “I don’t plan on taking us through the city, just around the outside of it,” he explains. “It’s doubtful if we’ll encounter him or anyone else who knows us.”

  “Let’s hope not,” Uther says.

  The skyline of Bearn appears ahead of them a couple hours before nightfall. He forgot the bridge sits in the middle of town. They’ll not be able to circumvent the city as it sprawls on both banks of the river.

  “Guess we have to go through,” Illan states.
“Or continue further downriver to the next one.”

  “There is a ferry we might take,” he tells them. “Not sure just how far it is though.”

  “What do you want to do?” Jiron asks him.

  James pulls out a hooded cloak from his baggage and slips it on. A little hot but at least it covers his features well enough. “That might work,” says Illan. “As long as no one takes a close look, you should be fine.”

  “Lead on,” James says.

  They approach the outskirts of town and pass through the outlying buildings before coming to the gate. A brief questioning by the guards and they’re waved on through. “Just head straight through,” James tells Illan. “I believe this road leads directly to the other side.”

  Riding their horses at a walk through the crowded city streets, it takes them a little over an hour to reach the gate in the eastern wall. The sun is almost to the horizon as they draw near the gate. Just before they reach the eastern wall, they can see the guards beginning the process of closing the gates for the night. “Let’s hurry!” Illan says to the others as he kicks his horse into a trot.

  “Hold the gate!” he hollers to the guards there. One of them looks their way and cries, “Hold!” to his fellows. They wait for them to ride through the gate before closing it.

  “That was close!” Jorry exclaims.

  “Yeah!” agrees Uther.

  Riding along the road through the outlying buildings, they eventually leave the edge of town. Another hour and they find a spot to make camp.

  During the night, James is awakened by Uther who’s on watch. The box is again glowing as someone seeks to find the Fire contained within. James immediately casts out his senses to aid the crystal but finds the power behind the search is lessened quite a bit.

  The others are awakened by Uther while James is concentrating on the box. He glances to them and says, “It isn’t nearly as strong as it had been the last time. It almost feels fainter, like it’s only the fringe of the spell.”

  “Maybe it’s being directed elsewhere,” suggests Illan.

  “That’s possible,” agrees James. “If so, it looks like this might actually work. You guys go ahead and get some rest, I’m going to keep an eye on this until whoever is trying to find it stops.”