The mists of sorrow ms-7

by Brian S. Pratt

  They wait a moment to see if a cry arises, but the night remains quiet. “Now for the other two,” James says as they make their way over to the section of the roof opposite the remaining two men in the windows. And then just as before, they get into position and wait for the man on the roof to again turn away. When he does, slug and knife fly.

  Jiron joins them just as the two men are struck and killed.

  James nods to the man on the roof. “When he looks away, I’ll create the ramp and you two get up there fast,” he tells them.

  “You got it,” Jiron says. Removing one of his knives, he crouches there ready to go.

  James modifies the spell in his mind. Creating the shield that will be the bridge is a piece of cake, however to make the surface have better traction so they won’t slip on the way up, that takes some doing. When he thinks he’s got it right, he turns his gaze to the man on the roof. Seconds go by and still the man continues to look out. Then just as James thinks he isn’t going to look away again, he does.

  “Now!” James whispers as one of his softly shimmering barriers appears. Beginning just in front of them, the barrier slants upward until it touches the roof’s edge of the Eye’s Court.

  Without hesitation, Jiron leaps up and begins racing toward the man on the roof, Shorty is right behind him. They make it a third of the way when the man turns back and sees them coming toward him. Only the shock of seeing them where it is impossible for them to be prevents him from immediately sounding the alarm. Just as he comes to his senses, a knife flies and takes him in the upper chest, right at the base of the neck.

  Jiron makes the roof as the man falls, and disappears as he moves to engage the other three men up there. When Shorty reaches the edge, James sees him throw another knife then disappears further onto the roof.

  Motioning for the others to follow, James hits the barrier ramp running. When he reaches the section of the ramp that extends past the roof’s edge and over the alley below, he gets a touch of vertigo as he looks below. Three stories down, the ground almost seems to beckon him. He can see the guards down there stationed at intervals all along the edge of the building. If one were to look up, the element of surprise would be gone.

  Miko nudges him back into motion. Startled, he hadn’t realized he had come to a stop. Resuming his run, he catches up to the others who have already made it to the top. Jiron and Shorty have already dispatched the guards stationed up here and Shorty is in the process of reclaiming his knives, plus adding the ones of the four dead men as well. Once everyone has reached the top, James cancels the ramp.

  “Over here!” Stig hollers quietly from where he’s found the trapdoor leading into the building.

  Everyone quickly moves to join him and Jiron says, “We have to be fast. It won’t take them much longer before they discover what happened.” Turning to James he asks, “Do you know where she is yet?”

  Shaking his head, James says, “I haven’t had time to find her.” Removing his mirror, he concentrates on her and soon her image appears in the mirror. Looking the worse for wear, she’s sitting in a small room with light coming in through a window in the door. Though alone and looking afraid, she’s at least not being tortured.

  Then James slowly moves the image upward and she suddenly disappears as the view moves to the level above her. The area is dark and nothing but indistinct shadows show in the mirror. Moving upward yet again, the image suddenly changes and they see the roof. “She’s on the fourth floor,” he tells the others.

  “Where on the fourth floor?” Jiron asks.

  Taking out his cloth, he casts his finding spell and the cloth moves to point down and to the left. Moving in the direction indicated, he walks that way until the cloth bends and points straight down. “She’s directly below,” he says as he puts the cloth away.

  Jiron gets her position in relation to the trapdoor set in his mind and nods. “Alright,” he says, “let’s go get her.” Moving quickly to the trapdoor, he nods for Stig to open it.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  When Stig throws open the trapdoor, a strong odor wafts out. Rather unpleasant but bearable, he asks, “What is that?”

  Brother Willim comes forward and smells it. “I think it comes from the berac plant,” he says. Glancing to James he adds, “The leaves when burned produce a smoke that will prevent a mage from using his powers.”

  “Orrin did say this Eye knew how to deal with mages,” Jiron states. “Guess he doesn’t want you in there.”

  “What are you going to do?” asks Shorty.

  “It’s too late,” he says, “I’ve already inhaled it.” Even now he can feel his mind growing numb. Holding out his hand, he creates a small sphere the size of a marble before his magic fails altogether. Similar in nature to the one that he made in a similar situation back in Cardri, only this one will be slightly more versatile. It won’t be limited to just three commands, he’s worked on expanding its capabilities ever since the incident on the boat. Now, it should prove much more effective.

  “Don’t worry about me,” he says to Jiron. “Aleya has to be our first concern.”

  Nodding, Jiron moves to the opening and starts climbing down the ladder. The hallway is dark with just a small amount of light with which to see. Once off the ladder, he moves quickly in search of the stairs down and finds them at the other end of the hallway. Scar and Potbelly have already made it down and are now beside him. The others are still making their way down from the roof.

  “Go on!” Stig hollers as he makes it down the ladder from the roof. “We’ll catch up.”

  Jiron nods then turns back to the stairs. With Scar and Potbelly right behind, he descends the stairway slowly. Light from the fourth floor illuminates the stairwell, and voices can be heard in conversation. He motions for Scar and Potbelly to wait as he continues down to where the stairs reach the fourth floor. There’s a small landing from which the fourth floor hallway extends further into the building before the stairs continue their way down to the third floor.

  Keeping his shoulder against the edge of the stairwell, he takes the steps slowly until he’s on the second step from the bottom. He listens to the two men talking, one breaks out in laughter at something the other has said.

  According to where James’ cloth indicated Aleya to be, she should be in a room near the end of this hallway. He turns his head back to where the others are waiting, already Stig and James have joined Scar and Potbelly on the stairs. Behind them, he can see Miko coming to join them. Gesturing for them to come down and join him, he holds up two finger indicating that there are two men in the hallway. He then moves his hand across his throat. Scar nods understanding.

  With knife in hand, he turns back to the hallway and suddenly charges around the corner. Behind him, the others race after.

  When he turns the corner, he sees two guards standing in the middle of the hallway ten feet down. Running into them he knifes one while kneeing the other in the stomach. Scar and Potbelly soon join him and the guards lie dead on the floor.

  “Stay right where you are,” a voice comes to them from further down the hallway.

  Jiron looks to find a black man standing before four guards who have crossbows aimed at them. “Pretty clever to make it this far,” the black man says. He shouts something in the Empire’s language and footfalls can be heard as many men begin to climb the stairs from below. The doors on the side of the hallway open up and more soldiers appear with swords bared.

  “Discard you weapons,” he says. “This is over.” A smug smile comes over him as he sees victory at hand.

  For a moment the world becomes silent as the two sides stare at one another. Then, the silence is pieced by the sound of something rolling along the floor of the hallway. The black man looks down as a small round spherical object the size of a marble rolls past Jiron’s feet on its way toward him.

  “What’s this?” he asks as the round object approaches.

  From where he stands in the hallway, James watches the object
roll nearer to the black man. When it comes to within a foot of him, he says, “Leech times a hundred!”

  The round object flashes, then the black man and the four crossbowmen drop to the floor as the object sucks them dry.

  Jiron lashes out with his knife at the man in the doorway nearest him and sinks it to the hilt in the man’s chest. At the rear, Stig kicks out at the man on the top of the stairs and sends him and all but one of the others tumbling back down the stairs to the third floor. Drawing his mace, he engages the remaining man on the stairs.

  Then pandemonium erupts as the soldiers in the side rooms move to attack. Scar and Potbelly stand side by side as they stem the tide coming from one of the rooms, Reilin faces off with another and Miko has drawn his sword as he protects Brother Willim and James.

  Brother Willim throws something in the air and it bursts into a massive cloud of gnats which engulfs three men. Each breath they take draws hundreds of the creatures into their mouths, throat and lungs. Fits of coughing leave them unable to either attack or defend themselves.

  ”Get me to my sphere,” James says to Miko.

  “You got it,” he says. Moving next to Jiron, Miko lays into the soldiers with deadly speed few on this world can match. Behind him he hears James say, “Cancel,” and the sphere becomes quiet once again. The men at the end of the hallway lay still, what life they had having been absorbed by the sphere.

  “Jiron!” Aleya’s voice cries out from behind the door where she’s being held.

  Sending the remaining soldier before him to the floor, Jiron moves down the hallway toward her voice. “Which one are you in?” he hollers.

  “Right here!” she says, her voice coming through the door next to him.

  Coming to a halt, he tries the door and finds it locked. Using his knife, he works on the lock and hears a click as the lock’s tumblers shift. Opening the door, he almost falls backward from the impact of Aleya’s embrace.

  James moves past the couple and reaches his sphere. He has to move the black Eye’s arm in order to pick it up. “Black Eye,” he mumbles to himself. In other circumstances he would be able to appreciate the humor in that more. The sphere is glowing a dark crimson with stored power, it almost feels like it’s vibrating. “Now to get out of here,” he says.

  Stig and Shorty are holding the top of the stairs, the sound of the fighting coming to them. Brother Willim exits from one of the rooms and says, “Those in the streets have been alerted.”

  “Great,” James says. The fumes from the drug have really messed with his abilities. He tries to summon the magic but it will not come. “How many are down there?” he asks.

  “Several score,” he replies. “Most I would think are here in the building…”

  “And on the way up the stairs,” finishes James with a nod. “Very well then. Shield.” With that, a shimmering barrier springs up around him and he begins walking to the top of the stairs. Bodies of those who had been stationed in the adjoining rooms litter the hallway. The fighting is now isolated to the stairwell where Jiron has taken Shorty’s place next to Stig. Together, they make a deadly wall that none can breach.

  When he comes to stand behind Jiron and Stig, he grasps the sphere in his hand and holds it out past Jiron and Stig. “Incinerate!” he says. A burst of flame explodes outwards, engulfing those unfortunate enough to be standing on the stairs. As the men begin to burn and cry out in pain, he tosses the sphere down the stairs. After making sure it isn’t too close to where he, Jiron, and Stig stand he says, “Leech times a hundred.” Continuing its forward motion, it rolls down the stairs, leeching from everyone it nears.

  The cries still as the burning men no longer have the strength for it and James advances among them, stepping carefully. At the landing of the third floor, he finds bodies stacked one atop the other. There had been many soldiers standing there waiting their turn to attack. James has to move them with his foot in order to find a secure spot for his feet. “Cancel,” he says to make his sphere dormant.

  Behind him he hears Aleya’s voice exclaim, “What do you mean you don’t have my bow?”

  “I was a bit more concerned with finding you” replies Jiron.

  “My father gave me that bow,” she says in a rather accusing manner.

  “You would think someone who was a prisoner a moment ago would have a little more appreciation,” he retorts. Then he appears at James’ side.

  To Jiron he says, “Somewhere around here is my sphere.” Looking at the pile of bodies he shakes his head. From the stairs leading up from the second floor, footsteps are heard as more men move to attack. “I need time to find it,” he says.

  Jiron nods. “Scar! Potbelly! We got company,” he hollers behind him. Pulling his knives he makes his way through the pile of bodies and moves further down the stairs. He can hear Aleya say, “Sure would be handy to have my bow right about now.” As the first man appears around the turn in the stairwell, he puts her out of his mind and moves still further down to engage them. Scar and Potbelly arrive just as more appear and soon all three are battling with the enemy. Between the unevenness of the stairs and the bodies piled on them, the footing is quite treacherous.

  “Give me a hand,” James says to the others as he tries to ignore the clash of metal on metal. Pulling a limp body up, he realizes that the man isn’t dead. “Be careful, some of them aren’t dead,” he announces. Then he looks under the body and doesn’t see his sphere. Laying the man on top of another, he begins pulling up another in search of his sphere.

  All but the three fighting in the stairwell begin moving bodies as they hunt for his sphere. “Here it is!” Brother Willim exclaims. Three steps down from the third floor landing, he finds it lying on a step under one of the dead men.

  “Don’t touch it!” yells James when he sees the priest reaching down to pick it up. “Might not be a good thing to do.” Coming over to where the glowing sphere lies, he picks it up and then begins making his way down where Jiron, Scar and Potbelly are holding off the soldiers.

  Jiron and Potbelly stand next to each other as they hold off the attackers. Scar with his double swords is forced to stay behind them as there isn’t enough room for all three of them to fight side by side. They’ve actually been able to push the Empire soldiers down several steps and have reached where the stairs make a turn back on themselves as it continues down to the second floor.

  “Need some room,” he says to Scar as he taps him on the shoulder.

  Scar nods and moves out of his way.

  Just as before, James moves to take position just behind Jiron and Potbelly. Holding the sphere in his hand, he says “Watch out,” to the pair as he extends his hand forward. Knowing what is about to happen, they quickly disengage and take a step back. The two men they were fighting think they are fleeing and with a yell, charge forward just as James yells, “Incinerate!”

  The force of the blast knocks them backward as the fire surging out of the sphere engulfs them. The narrowness of the stairwell focuses the power and the flame roars forward. Screams and yells of men in pain come to them from further down the stairs. Then James tosses the sphere so it will roll down the stairs and says, “Leech times a hundred.”

  Men on fire that had but a moment before been shrieking in pain, suddenly grow quiet as they flop to the floor. The smell of burnt flesh and hair is nauseating.

  Potbelly is about to move forward when James stops him. “Not yet,” he says. The last thing he wants is for Potbelly to enter the leech radius of the sphere. He didn’t make it very wide for safety’s sake, but should you move one inch into it, you’ll feel the full effect.

  “Cancel,” he says and then indicates they can move forward.

  Jiron is the first one down the stairs followed closely by Scar and Potbelly. They make it to the second floor landing and continue down to where the stair turns back on itself. The bodies of the men slain by the leeching of the sphere end halfway down to where the stairs turns back on its way down to the ground floor. Just
as Jiron moves to turn to where the stairwell continues down, three crossbow bolts barely miss him as they slam into the wall inches away. Backpedaling quickly, he moves back around the corner.

  “They’re not coming up this time,” he tells Scar.

  “Looks like they finally learned their lesson,” Scar replies.

  Jiron glances back toward the second floor landing where James and the others are searching for his sphere. When at last they find it, James picks it up and joins him at the turn in the stairwell. Jiron then apprises him of the situation.

  James moves to the turn and peers around to look down at the assembled men on the lower level. He gets a flight of crossbow bolts fired at him for his trouble. He then opens the palm of his hand and looks at the deeply glowing sphere. If he tries leeching again, it might reach critical mass and explode. Going to have to release some of the bottled up power before he does.

  To Stig and Shorty he gestures down the second floor hallway and says, “See if there’s another way out. Also check to see if the windows on the other sides of the building are being watched.”

  “You got it,” Shorty replies and they quickly move down the hallway checking the rooms.

  “I doubt if there is one,” Jiron says, “or they would have come at us from that way too.”

  “I know,” James tells him. “I was sort of hoping that they were all down below and we could sneak out a window or something without them knowing.”

  “Doubt it,” he replies.

  “Me too,” admits James. Then he shrugs and says, “But you never know.”

  “That’s true,” agrees Jiron. “Though keep in mind, the longer we wait, the more soldiers will arrive.”

  Shaking his head, James says, “I don’t think there are that many more here in Morac.” When Jiron looks to him, he adds, “They weren’t expecting an attack so there would have been no reason to have a large garrison here.” Indicating the men lying dead on the stairs both here and above, he then nods toward those waiting down below and says, “Frankly, I’d be surprised if there were many more than what’s already showed up.”