Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six

by Brian S. Pratt

  Miko glances to the Star. An incredible source of power, but in his inexperienced hands it isn’t being used to its fullest potential. If only James could use it, his experience augmented by the power of the Star would be formidable. Only problem is, if James touches it, he dies for only those born upon this world can touch it and live. James’ friend Dave learned that at the cost of his life.

  Then suddenly, the mage lets loose the most massive attack of magic yet…

  Around them, the cries of battle rage as the Empire’s soldiers batter at the defenders. The crossbows from the former slaves continue sending wave after wave of bolts into the attackers. But for every enemy they take down, two take his place.

  Illan has joined the fighting now that the defenders have suffered losses. Rallying his men to greater valor, he uses his sword with devastating effect.

  Scar and Potbelly are suddenly surrounded by enemy soldiers and all seems lost until Jorry and Uther come to their aid. The two pairs, so at odds when telling their tales, stand shoulder to shoulder as each saves the lives of the others. Bodies begin piling up as they kill all who come.

  Atop one of the wagons, Shorty stands next to a case of knives liberated from one of the towns they passed through. One after another, his knives fly over the heads of the defenders to take out soldier after soldier.

  Aaaah!!

  James staggers back as the full force of the magic strikes the barrier, shattering it. Momentarily disoriented, he soon returns to his senses.

  Miko could feel the effect of the magic as it struck the barrier. It almost seemed as if a shockwave went through James to him from where he had his arm around his friend, helping to keep him standing. Then suddenly, a memory surfaces of an earlier battle after they just met.

  They had gone with Rylin to rescue Sheila and her mother from the bandits after they destroyed their caravan. During the battle, he had lent James his strength so he could vanquish the bandit leader. Glancing at the Star, he wonders if they could do the same thing here.

  “James!” he hollers. “Use the Star!”

  “I can’t!” he yells back. “It’ll kill me.”

  “No,” Miko counters. “Use it,” he looks James in the eyes, “through me.”

  Could it work?

  Miko stretches out his hand but James shakes his head. “Call forth the magic of the Star.” As Miko connects with the magic within the Star, James creates a leech line between himself and Miko. Immediately, the power of the Star flows into him. Such power. Such raw, primal power suffuses him.

  This magic is different than that which he had always used. Perhaps it’s the difference between priest magic which comes from the gods and regular magic found in the world around you.

  Gathering new strength from the flow of magic coming from Miko, he disengages from him and moves forward. A spike in the tingling foretells the release of the magic as the mage again sends a devastating attack. Using the magic from the Star, he erects a barrier stronger than any he’s been able to accomplish before. When the magic strikes it, an enormous, blinding flash of light explodes. Unlike the previous times, James hardly feels any effect. He looks across the battlefield at the surprised look on the mage’s face.

  Sure to have destroyed him, Kerith-Ayxt stares in shocked wonder at James standing there unfazed then quickly comes to a decision. “Aezyl!” he shouts over the roar of battle.

  “Yes milord,” his aide replies coming to his side.

  “Form the Lattice of Power,” he says.

  Aezyl’s eyes widen. “Yes my lord,” he finally replies then turns to the other mages and makes ready.

  The Lattice of Power is a means through which many mages link in order to supply a single mage with their collective magical reserves. The First Circle mages are linked to the Second who are in turn linked to the Third and so forth. It’s very similar to what they do with slaves during spells requiring more than the usual amounts of magic. The only problem is that once the Lattice is formed, it can only be undone by the one at the Lattice’s focal point, either by a conscious will or his death.

  Before the Lattice is readied, James unleashes a wave of force toward Kerith-Ayxt. Countering the blast, the High Lord Magus gasps at the sheer power of the attack. Behind him he hears, “Ready my lord.”

  Casting the spell to bring the Lattice to life, Kerith-Ayxt is suddenly suffused with power as conduits merge with him, channeling the power of the most powerful mages in the Empire. The power now at his beck and call is incredible, almost makes him feel like a god. With a grin, he unleashes a devastating attack of fire and air at James. The battle is joined…

  Between Delia’s slingers and the enemy, stands a line of Raiders mixed in with recently armed freed slaves. The Raiders are faring well but the slaves are dropping fast. Delia has her slingers target the enemy as they appear in gaps of the lines to aid the fighters but there are simply too many.

  Taking one of the four crystals from the last remaining sack of crystals in their possession, she sets it to sling and sends it far over the heads of the enemy. A minute later, men drop as spheres appear among them. Bolts of electricity flash as the orbs begin discharging the magic that they drew from the soldiers now lying still on the ground.

  After sending more slugs into the enemy, she removes another crystal and sends it flying. Again, men drop and spheres appear firing bolts of electricity. Dozens of men are dropped by the initial leeching of their magic by the crystal and scores more are dropped by the subsequent discharges of electricity.

  She continues to do that. While waiting for the men to again group closely together, she sends slugs to fell the attackers. Once a sufficient number are together, she sends another of the crystals flying into their midst.

  When the last sphere of the last crystal has disappeared, she looks on at the still overpowering numbers of the enemy. Feeling hopelessness sapping her will, she continues felling men with slugs.

  Unfortunately, the rest of the slingers aren’t doing nearly as well as she. Terrance is hitting men primarily on parts of their body covered in armor. A dull thud and a dent is all he’s managing to accomplish.

  The others are doing a trifle better, some are connecting. Perhaps not killing blows, but enough to injure which slows down their defenses, enabling Raiders to get within their guard better.

  Off to one side, the line buckles. The Raiders who were holding are suddenly inundated by a two score of Parvatis and they go down fast. Their dual swords opening up a swath twenty feet wide, they are soon among the crossbowmen.

  The crossbowmen fall back fast, loosing bolts as they retreat. They take down over half the Parvatis before Illan, Ceadric and other Raiders move to engage them. By the time they take out the last of the Parvatis and reestablished the line, two score crossbowmen lay dead as well as half a score of Raiders.

  Ceadric and Illan hold the line while others move to assist. The defender’s line is slowly shrinking in on itself as more and more of the defenders fall.

  Ka-Boom!

  A gigantic cloud of smoke and flame reaches to the sky from where James is battling Kerith-Ayxt. He, Miko and the three remaining members of the Hand of Asran stare in awe at the flame burning on the other side of the protective barrier. Using the power of the Star, James extinguishes the flames and then concentrates on the ground before the mages.

  A rumbling begins and the earth cracks open. Suddenly, a gigantic rock hand emerges as Rocky begins climbing out of the ground. Eight feet high and made of stone, Rocky turns on the mages and lurches forward.

  Brother Willim and the other two members of the Hand work to keep the soldiers at bay. Large patches of thorny vines impede their way while others actually grasp them, constricting until they’re dead. The death of any man is a hard blow to the Brothers even though it is in defense of their lives.

  Miko sits cross-legged on the ground with the Star in his lap clasped between both hands. The funneling of power to James is taking its toll. His system is simply not used to hav
ing so much power passing through it for so long. Breathing has become labored and he’s soaked in sweat, sort of reminds him of how James gets now and then when he does too much.

  Kerith-Ayxt lashes out with power and Rocky explodes sending a myriad of rocks flying in all directions.

  Just what James was hoping for, he sends out the power and takes hold of the flying debris. Stopping it in midair, he then sends it flying back toward the mages. A shield springs to life to protect the mages from the barrage. It manages to deflect all but a couple which had already passed beyond the edge of the shield. One of the rocks manages to strike a mage in the side of the head. Staggering backward, the mage’s legs collapse and he hits the ground hard where he remains unmoving.

  A slight drop in the power coming to Kerith-Ayxt tells him the mage that was hit is dead. Putting the fallen mage out of his mind, he brings his hands together then opens them up to reveal a shimmering ball. Launching from his hands, the ball flies toward James.

  Using the power of the Star, he strikes the ball before it has a chance to close the distance and…

  Ke-Pow!

  …an intense explosion knocks him backward. A backlash of magic rips through him like a hot knife and for a moment, all his defenses are down.

  “James!” yells Brother Willim. Rushing to his side, he grabs him as he teeters on the brink of falling.

  His mind reeling, he takes hold of Brother Willim’s shoulder and rights himself just as another shimmering ball flies toward him. Summoning the magic, he attacks the ball.

  Ke-Pow!

  Again the ball explodes sending another backlash of power burning through him. His legs buckle and if it weren’t for Brother Willim, he would have hit the ground. He’s not sure if he’ll be able to survive another attack like that. Realizing that even with the Star, he isn’t going to win this battle, he mumbles something to Brother Willim.

  “What?” Brother Willim asks.

  “Tell your brethren to halt all magic, now,” he says with more strength.

  “But we’ll be killed,” he states.

  Shaking his head James shouts, “Just do it!” Pushing away from Brother Willim, he makes his way to Miko.

  “Shut it down!” he yells to be heard over the roar of the battle. “Shut it down now!”

  Miko is so caught in maintaining the flow that he isn’t paying any attention to him. Stepping back, James kicks the Star out of his hands. When the Star leaves his hands, Miko collapses into an unconscious heap.

  Another shimmering ball flies toward him, the mage grinning in triumph. Sending out his magic, he explodes the ball and once more he’s hit by what must be a backlash of power which sends him to his knees.

  Turning back toward the mages, James gazes at the mage standing there. The look on the mage’s face says he’s sure of victory as another of the shimmering spheres appears between his hands. Using the last vestiges of power, he casts one final spell. A shimmering bubble leaves his hand and floats its way toward Kerith-Ayxt. As his sight fades to blackness James sees the look of victory again on the face of the High Lord Magus, then passes out.

  “Is that the best you can do?” Kerith-Ayxt asks.

  With a thought, he sends the sphere to destroy the bubble. Instead of being destroyed, the sphere appears to be absorbed by the bubble. Then suddenly something latches onto the flow of magic coming from him and begins drawing magic.

  The High Lord Magus tries to cancel the flow but realizes in panic that he is unable to. Growing in intensity, the bubble begins drawing more and more power from him. Behind Kerith-Ayxt, mages fall as the Lattice pulls ever more magic from them to replenish his reserves that are being drained by the bubble.

  Sparkles begin dancing within the bubble from the accumulation of magic stored within. Brother Willim and the two remaining followers of Asran watch in awe as the bubble glows with growing intensity, the sparks within it increasing in number and intensity.

  From across the battlefield, Jiron blocks a soldier’s downward hack with the crossed blades of his knives and kicks him backward. Momentarily free of attackers, he glances around the battlefield and sees the light coming from where the bubble is growing. Suddenly, another soldier appears before him and thrusts with his sword.

  Deflecting the blade to the right, he lashes out with his other knife and takes him in the side of the neck. As the man falls, his eyes are again drawn to the now blindingly white light. “Oh no,” he breathes as recognition comes.

  “What?” asks Stig from where he’s parrying a series of attacks.

  “We’re all dead,” he says with finality. Memories of the explosion that rocked the night when they escaped the City of Light play through his mind. Casting one more glance to the growing doom behind him, he turns back to the battle at hand.

  The High Lord Magus, the most powerful mage in the Empire, is on his knees as magic continues to flow from him. Unable to stop it, he watches as the bubble before him grows ever larger. At one point, the light coming from it robs him of his sight as the brightness burns his retinas away.

  As he falls to the ground he can feel his skin beginning to shrivel itself upon his bones as his life leaves him. Sadness grips him. Sadness of the loss of magical advances. Sadness over the loss of the many friends already dead behind him. But most of all, he’s sad for what the future may hold. The School of the Arcane helped control and direct those who practiced magic so the world wouldn’t have to endure atrocities. Now, without their influence, how many more Baerustin’s will there be?

  His lungs quit working and finally, his heart grinds to a stop. Kerith-Ayxt, High Lord of all the Magi, dies.

  The bubble, now brighter than the sun reaches critical mass. The magic within it too great for it to last much longer. When at last the bubble gives out…

  Schtk!

  …and time suddenly freezes just as the magic was about to explode outward.

  Men stand frozen across the battlefield. Poised to attack, their swords remain stationary in the air. Arrows are halted in midair on their way to their targets. A surreal quiet settles over the battlefield as all sound is stilled.

  Moving across the field of battle, a man winds his way through the men frozen in combat. On one side he sees a Raider with the point of a sword protruding from his back from the thrust of an enemy. On the other a head that was shorn from a nearby headless torso hovers two feet from the ground, waiting for time to start again before finishing its fall.

  The man reaches where the Star of Morcyth lies upon the ground, still pulsating with light as if in defiance of the stoppage of time. Next he comes to Miko and pauses. Bending down, he runs his hand along the side of his face, caressing it as a father would his beloved child.

  Standing up again, he continues along until coming to James. Glancing over to the bubble, frozen at the moment of detonation, the man shakes his head. “Why did you have to do that James?” he asks. “Couldn’t you see another way?” Gazing at the unconscious James, a tear wells from his eye.

  Of all the probably outcomes of bringing James to this world, this was one of the ones they feared the most. The only one they had feared more was his death before he finished what he was brought here to do. Now, the world stands upon the brink. Time, once a friend has become the enemy.

  Returning his gaze to the man in whom the hope of the world had been placed, he just shakes his head sadly. Raising his hands, he creates a protective barrier around James and the rest of the defenders, a shield against the blast. That much he is allowed to do, no more. What happens from this point on rests in James’ hands.

  Once the shield is in place, the man straightens his blue vest and pushes back his felt hat. “Good luck, James,” he says then vanishes. Once the man is gone, the passing of time resumes.

  Booooooom!

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  ______________________

  The sky turns red as fire burns across the top of the barrier in the blink of an eye. Many soldiers of the Empire are caught on the o
ther side of the barrier and are incinerated in an instant. The ground leaps and ripples causing everyone to lose their balance and hit the ground.

  Heat from the fire burning on the far side of the barrier passes through and is incredibly hot. Even with the protection the barrier affords, hair smokes and those caught at the edges suffer great burns.

  A full minute does the ground move until finally settling down. Illan is the first to return to his feet. Staring up at the blaze which is covering the top of the dome, he asks under his breath, “James, what did you do?” In every direction, the fire burns. How are they even alive?

  “What happened?” comes a voice behind him.

  Illan turns to find Ceadric approaching, his head turning this way and that as he looks at the fire.

  “I don’t know,” Illan replies. The smell of burnt hair comes to him and he looks to where the edge of the barrier touches ground and the dead men lying next to it have begun to smolder. “Get everyone away from the edges,” he says. “Everyone to the center.”

  Ceadric nods and begins gathering men. “Up you dogs!” he yells to those still on the ground. “Pull the injured to the center. Away from the flame’s edge!”

  Jiron and Scar help Potbelly to the center. During the fighting, he had suffered a severe wound to the leg. A tourniquet is tied securely around his upper thigh to stop the flow of blood. “Can’t take him anywhere,” Scar comments to Jiron.

  “Shut up,” says Potbelly weakly. “Don’t need any help.”

  Jiron sees Stig and shouts to him, “Get Miko! Potbelly needs him.”

  “Right,” replies Stig and then hurries over to where Miko was last seen. He finds Delia there with the slingers helping Brother Willim and the rest of the Hand to organize the wounded. Miko lies there with the rest of them, unconscious.