Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six

by Brian S. Pratt

  Lord Cytok

  Kerith-Ayxt puts the letter down and takes a moment to savor the last of his wine before leaving his tent. Outside he finds his aide Aezyl standing by the fire with a mage of the First Circle.

  “…Baerustin and other places like it are the reason the School was founded in the first place,” Aezyl says to the First. “When you achieve the Second Circle you will learn in more detail the events that turned this once thriving city into what you see today.”

  “You mean a mage destroyed Baerustin?” the First asks.

  “In a way yes,” replies Aezyl. “An experiment gone wrong in a time when mages worked blind, trying to discover ever more powerful spells and enchantments. Many of the rules and laws that you have already been taught were just speculations at the time. Magic was unleashed here, magic of a most fearsome sort. Before the citizens understood the danger they were in, many were killed.”

  Kerith-Ayxt listens as his aide relates the tale of Baerustin to the First.

  “Brother beset brother, father turned on sons,” he continues. “None now recall just what the mage who unleashed this upon Baerustin was attempting to accomplish. But the magic is still active, even after a millennium.” He turns to gaze directly in the First’s eyes and says, “It turns you mad if you are exposed to it for any length of time.”

  “Then, we are to go mad?” he asks in apprehension.

  Shaking his head Aezyl says, “No. Here above the sand we are safe.”

  Kerith-Ayxt clears his throat.

  Aezyl turns and sees his lord standing there. “Yes milord?” he asks. The First bows to him and then moves away.

  “We are moving north at first light,” the High Lord Magus states. “The Emperor wishes us to deal with the invading army before it can reach friendly territory.”

  “Then we are to destroy it milord?” he asks.

  Nodding, Kerith-Ayxt replies, “Yes. To the last man.”

  Chapter Twenty Five

  ______________________

  The sudden plunge into darkness disorients Jiron just enough for James to wriggle free. “Come back here murderer!” he hears Jiron saying not too far from him.

  “I didn’t murder anyone,” replies James as he gets off the dais and moves quickly around it. He can hear Jiron’s breathing as he follows.

  The room has grown cold, very cold. He tries to formulate a spell to use against Jiron but he simply can’t concentrate well enough. The blow to his head still has him unable to summon the magic. The ring! Reaching into his pouch, he searches for the ring all the while continuing to back away from Jiron. He steps lightly so as not to announce his exact location. His fingers search the pouch but fail to find the ring.

  “Tinok told me of how you sent him away the night Cassie died,” he says.

  Tinok? Tinok was here too? A feeling that something’s definitely not right comes over him. Dave and Tinok being here at the same time? Unlikely. His mind begins to throw off the anger and rage as cool logic asserts itself.

  Vague outlines begin to appear as his eyes adjust to the darkness. “Jiron,” he says. “When did you talk to Tinok?”

  “After you fell in the water,” he replies. “I followed you and found him.”

  “You followed me?” he asks. Suddenly, his orb springs to life in the palm of his hand. It’s a strain to hold even that much magic, his head is throbbing so badly. Seeing the knife rise to strike, he says, “Wait!”

  The knife pauses. “Why should I, murderer?” Jiron asks.

  “How did you get past the monster in the water?” he asks.

  “There was no monster,” he says. “I did find where the Empire was holding Tinok. He was mutilated!” His eyes still show the intensity of emotion at what was done to his friend.

  James sees the knife begin to move and hollers as fast as he can, “If the Empire controlled this area, then why didn’t the mages follow?” He closes his eyes and braces for the knife to strike. When the attack doesn’t come, he opens his eyes to see the knife but inches from his throat. Jiron stares at him with a thoughtful look on his face. He can see the rage beginning to melt away.

  Then it all clicks together. The smell of his grandmother’s cinnamon rolls; Jiron seeing the headless torso; finding a room right out of one of his campaigns. “It wasn’t real,” he says to him. “None of it was.”

  “But…” he stammers and then looks down at the front of his shirt. The blood that had stained it from when he held Tinok is no longer there. “I held him in my arms,” he says as the hand holding the knife drops back to his side.

  “I know,” James says laying a hand on his shoulder. “I found Dave. He told me you were an agent of the Empire and had handed him over to them at Ironhold.”

  Jiron’s head comes up. “I did no such thing,” he asserts.

  “Just as I did not send Tinok away,” he states with conviction.

  “Then what happened?” he asks.

  “I don’t know,” he admits. “Maybe this place is cursed in some way, turns people against each other.”

  Jiron sheathes his knife. “I’m sorry,” he says. The rage which so threatened to consume him has now completely left him.

  “So am I,” replies James with a sad grin. “What do you say we get out of here before anything else happens?”

  “Yeah,” agrees Jiron. “Let’s get out of here.”

  The light from the orb reveals that they are no longer in the room they landed in when they fell through the floor. This one is much smaller. A raised dais sits prominently in the center of the room, the room itself is only two feet wider than the dais. It’s what’s depicted upon the dais that concerns James.

  “Jiron look,” he says as he draws Jiron’s attention to the symbol of three dots forming a triangle with lines running between them.

  “That’s not good,” he says. “But why would they have a temple here in a place that’s cursed?”

  James glances around the small room. A shudder runs through him from the cold that’s leeching the warmth from his body. “I’m not even sure we are in the same place.” Looking down at himself, he finds the front of his shirt no longer shows where the lightning bolt had struck him. He touches it to reassure himself it was never really there.

  Turning back to Jiron he starts to say something when a small creature suddenly appears in the air behind Jiron’s left shoulder. “Jiron!” he whispers as he points to the creature hovering just beyond his shoulder. Barely a foot in height, the scaly creature is roughly man-like. Hunched over as if it’s carrying too much weight, it stares at them from its gnarled head with glowing red eyes.

  When Jiron turns and sees the creature, he quickly takes two steps backward. “What is it?” he asks. The creature stays there but a moment before disappearing.

  “I don’t know what that was,” replies James. “But we better get out of here fast.” A sense of foreboding comes over him and the room all of a sudden feels smaller.

  “I’m with you there,” agrees Jiron. A single corridor extends away from the room. With knife in hand, he takes the lead. He doesn’t make it far before another of those creatures appears between them.

  This time, the creature reacts animatedly and chitters at them before disappearing. Jiron glances back at James who shrugs. Turning back, he continues down the corridor.

  James’ feeling of foreboding begins to grow into one of impending doom with every step he takes. Just then, the tingling that warns of magic being worked comes to him. Strong and powerful, the feeling is more intense than anything he’s ever felt before.

  “Jiron,” he whispers urgently. “Magic!”

  Stopping, Jiron glances back and sees the pallor of James’ face. “Close?” he asks.

  “It has to be,” he replies.

  Then Jiron’s eyes widen. “James!” he says pointing to his chest. “The medallion.”

  Looking down, he sees light coming from his beneath his shirt. Pulling out the medallion, the Star upon it bursts into brilliant ligh
t.

  A frigid wind sweeps down the corridor from further ahead bringing despair and sapping the will. James looks down the corridor to find a figure standing there. Suddenly, the air around them is filled with dozens of the tiny creatures. Chittering and shrieking, the creatures avoid close proximity to the light as they move to strike at them with their tiny claws.

  Jiron draws forth both knives and begins fighting back. The creatures move so quickly he is having little effect. A shimmer forms around them as James creates his barrier to keep the creatures at bay. But it does little good, the creatures begin appearing within the barrier.

  Jiron finally manages to impale one on his knife. The creature lets out a high pitched squeal then disappears. “James, do something!” he yells as his knives continue to dance, keeping the creatures away.

  You have come, mage.

  The light coming from the medallion keeps the creatures away from him, the effects of contact with it appears to hurt them. James stands transfixed by the figure at the other end of the corridor until one of the creatures braves the light from the medallion and scores on his right arm. Three lines of red, each several inches long burn like acid as blood begins to well. Then another scores on his leg, ripping the pant leg and baring the flesh beneath.

  The tingling sensation spikes and he throws up a barrier to seal off the corridor between themselves and the figure in the hallway. Energy, massive energy strikes the barrier and shatters it. Then all of a sudden the air is free of the little creatures as they disappear all at once.

  Jiron grabs him by the arm and hollers, “Come on!” Dragging him back down the corridor, they flee.

  James glances back and sees two other cowled figures in the corridor next to the first one. Moving around the stationary figure, they make their way down the corridor toward the fleeing pair.

  Running fast they return to the room with the raised dais. “Now what?” asks Jiron. From his position at the entrance to the corridor, he sees the cowled figures coming closer. The original one they encountered is now lost in the darkness.

  “I don’t know,” admits James. Searching the walls, he prays to find a secret door or any other way in which to escape.

  “How did we get here?” asks Jiron. “Think fast we don’t have much time.”

  “Uh, we were fighting,” he says as he tries to recall just what happened. “We were struggling and then the ceiling fell in. Then suddenly we were here.”

  “How!”

  “How…” mumbles James as he tries to figure it out. From his position in the room, he can see the two figures coming closer. Glancing around the room, his eyes settle on the dais. The dais?

  His skin crawls as the tingling sensation spikes. “Away from the opening,” he yells to Jiron.

  Jumping backward behind the wall, he narrowly misses being struck by a flash of light which strikes the far wall with a sizzle. When it’s gone, they see the surface of the wall where the light hit now has a hole, six inches wide and three deep, eaten out of it.

  “They’re almost here!” he cries.

  James feels another spike in the tingling sensation and hollers, “Watch out!”

  Jiron jumps to the side again but no attack materializes.

  “Just what is going on here?” a deep male voice asks from behind them.

  They both turn to see the armored figure of a warrior priest standing upon the dais. That’s it! Lashing out with a wave of magic, he catches the warrior priest completely by surprise. As the warrior priest is thrown backward off the dais to smash into the wall, James grabs Jiron.

  “Now!” he yells. “Dive for the dais!”

  They both jump and land on the dais at the same time. A momentary feeling of disorientation then they find themselves upon an identical dais sitting in a different, larger room. James immediately recognizes this place. They are in the underground temple they found on their way back from Saragon last year. But why did they come here of all places?

  The room is large with two rows of three wide columns, each extending all the way to the ceiling. Between the two rows of columns lies an open area where four braziers form the points of a square. Fire burns in each giving ample light with which to see. The dais they find themselves upon sits in the middle of the square formed by the braziers.

  “How is this possible?” Jiron asks as they get down from the dais.

  “I have an idea,” says James. “But I’ll tell you as we go. They may be able to track us to here.”

  No sooner do they get off the dais than one of the cowled figures appears upon it. James lashes out immediately with magic as Jiron moves to attack.

  The cowled figure is thrown backward off the dais and lands on its back. A flash of light shoots toward James only to be absorbed by the medallion, causing it to burst forth with light.

  By this time, Jiron has closed with the figure on the floor and strikes out with a knife. The blade sinks into the robes striking the flesh underneath. One hand of the cowled figure touches his shoulder and he rears back in pain. His arm goes numb and lets go of the knife still embedded in the cowled figure.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Jiron sees another cowled figure appear upon the dais. “James!” he shouts as he points to the second one. Turning back to the one on the floor, he lashes out with his foot and connects with the side of its head. The force of the blow knocks its head to the side and causes the hood to fall away.

  The sight of what’s revealed elicits a gasp of surprise from Jiron. He steps back two feet as the skeletal face turns its lifeless gaze upon him. “They’re dead!” he exclaims.

  James, now turned to face the new arrival, lashes out with a wave of force which picks up the creature and throws it across the room. His head is clearing from the earlier blow Jiron dealt him but it’s still an effort to summon the magic. He glances over to the other one on the floor and sees the skeletal head and empty eye sockets. A spike in the tingling sensation and the creature on the floor hits Jiron square in the chest with a flash of light. Knocked backward through the air, Jiron lands on his back a dozen feet away. Rolling, he quickly regains his feet.

  “Jiron!” he cries as he rushes over to him.

  “We can’t win this,” Jiron tells him, the front of his shirt smoking.

  “Maybe,” asserts James. “You okay?”

  “Not really,” replies Jiron. The front of his shirt has been burnt away and the skin of his chest is an angry red. “My left arm is numb too.”

  James turns to face the two attackers and summons the magic, encasing each within a barrier. One of the creatures reaches out and touches the barrier with its hand. Upon contact, James cries out and sinks to his knees. His head feels as if it’s about ready to explode. Releasing the power maintaining the barriers, the pain eases and then finally disappears.

  Holding aloft the medallion, its light blazing forth, he gets back to his feet and faces the approaching creatures. One sends another flash toward him but is absorbed by the medallion. Lashing out with his own magic, he knocks them off their feet. One took the brunt of the wave of force and is thrown backward several yards. It hits one of the large stone braziers before sinking to the ground.

  An idea forms quickly and James removes a slug from his belt and throws it with the force of magic behind it. The slug flies through the air and impacts with the side of the brazier directly over the creature. When the slug hits, the side of the brazier cracks open and the oil contained within pours out upon the creature. As the oil flows from the opening, James tweaks the flame burning atop with magic to ignite the oil.

  When the burning oil lands on the creature, it bursts into flames. A scream that is felt rather than heard rips through their minds like a red hot knife. It thrashes about for a minute before it finally lies still and the scream stops.

  Another flash of light from the remaining creature and the medallion flares into blinding brilliance as it again absorbs the attack.

  With one taken out of action, James can now concentrate on the
other. The creature approaching still has Jiron’s knife sticking out of its ribs. Removing another slug, he sends it flying toward the creature. The creature makes no attempt to avoid it and the slug rips through its stomach and exits out the back.

  Not even slowing, it continues to approach. Suddenly, the flames burning over the remaining braziers roar to life. A ball of flame shoots out of each toward the dais. Meeting in the air, the balls explode as they collide. When James’ eyes recover from the brilliant explosion, he sees one of the hell hounds standing upon the dais.

  Behind him, he hears Jiron get to his feet. A brief glance back shows him that Jiron has his remaining knife in hand and is preparing to sell his life dearly. Tuning back, he throws a confining barrier around the hell hound while at the same time lashing out with another wave of force to push the cowled figure backward.

  “Jiron, get me out of here if I fall,” he says.

  “Do the best I can,” he replies. Though how effective he will be with a numb arm and a chest that’s throbbing horrendously with pain, he’s not sure.

  The hell hound fights the barrier. James has to funnel more of his reserves to simply maintain the barrier while he deals with the undead creature before him. Behind the approaching creature, the oil continues to spill forth from the broken brazier, creating an ever widening area of flame.

  Lashing out again with a blast of force, he knocks the creature backward into the pool of flame. The fire instantly ignites the creature’s robes. Their heads are again hit by the mind tearing scream as the fire consumes the creature, which almost causes the barrier surrounding the hell hound to fail. Falling over into the pool of fire, the creature thrashes around for a moment before lying still.

  When the scream tearing through his brain stops, James is again able to focus his attention back to the hell hound and the barrier encasing it. As he’s done several times before, he turns the barrier cold and begins to shrink it in upon the creature.

  Struggle as it will, the barrier continues to shrink until the creature’s struggles cease and all resistance to the closing of the barrier vanishes. With a pop, the barrier implodes completely.