Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (13 page)

He and James are making their way through the
streets of Lythylla toward the gate which faces across the river to
the enemy camp. In Jiron’s hand is a ten foot pole with a white
flag. Lord Pytherian assured him that this is the accepted custom
when one wishes to speak with an enemy without fear of attack. To
be honest, James about laughed when they told him that. He couldn’t
believe that on two different worlds, the same method would be used
to initiate a parley.

Illan walks beside them as they approach the
gates. When they reach them, he says, “We’ll stand by to open them
quickly should the need arise.” Henri, Lord Pytherian’s aide is
there to facilitate the opening of the gate should it become
necessary.

Behind them, the remainder of Ceadric’s men
ride. James didn’t feel they were necessary, but Illan insisted
saying it was best to be prepared for all contingencies.

At the gates James nods to Henri who shouts
to a man stationed along the wall above the gates, “Is it
clear?”

“Yes, sir!” the man replies.

“Open the gates!” he hollers to those in the
gatehouse.

With a clack and a creak, the gates begin
opening. They part just enough to allow the two men to walk
through. “Good luck,” Illan says before they begin moving out to
face the enemy.

“Thanks,” replies Jiron. James is frankly too
nervous to make much of a reply.

“Let’s go,” he says and steps through the
gate. Jiron follows a half step behind with the flag raised
high.

As they make their way the short distance to
the edge of the bridge, the gate swings closed behind them,
shutting with a deep thud. Before them, they see activity arising
from the enemy encampment.

The gate of the palisade is open and troops
are beginning to spill forth. Soldiers, crossbowmen and a company
of Parvati’s take their position on either side of the gate,
leaving an avenue through which James and Jiron can pass.

Crossing the bridge takes a large amount of
will to force his legs to make the journey across to the other
side. “What idiot came up with this idea?” he exclaims under his
breath. “He should be shot.”

Jiron chuckles as he says, “You did.”

Once past the bridge, they have to cross
several hundred feet before reaching the enemy’s lines. When they
reach the halfway point, a single individual exits the palisade’s
gate and moves to intercept them.

“Doesn’t look like anyone of much
importance,” observes Jiron.

“Maybe not,” he says. “Probably wants to see
what we want before deciding if it’s worth being taken before the
commander of their army.”

The man is undeniably a soldier, and by the
looks of his armor and the insignia upon it, one of high rank. When
the two parties are five feet apart, both sides come to a halt. As
the bearer of the white flag, it’s customary for James to make the
first declaration.

“We wish to parley with the leader of the
host,” he states.

“Are you giving your surrender?” the soldier
asks.

“No,” James replies. When the man looks
questioningly at him, he adds, “Rather to discuss the removal of
the Empire’s forces from within Madoc’s borders and the cessation
of hostilities between the two nations.”

The man looks in absolute disbelief at him.
“Take your foolish notions away before we kill you!” he exclaims,
his disbelief turning into annoyance at being bothered by such
stupidity.

“You would violate the sanctity of the Flag
of Truce?” he asks.

“The Flag does not grant you immunity
indefinitely,” the man explains. “Only so long as the talk is in
progress and a short time afterward to allow you to return to your
side.”

“I am not leaving until I speak with the
leader of the Empire’s forces,” James insists.

“Go back,” the man says. “This talk is at an
end.” Turning his back on James and Jiron, he begins walking back
to his line.

“What should we do now?” Jiron asks quietly
once the man has passed beyond where he could overhear the
question.

James glances to him and says, “We wait.”

“But they’ll attack shortly,” he tells him.
“He as much as promised that.”

“I know,” he replies. “We need them to.”

He and Jiron stay standing there before the
assembled soldiers of the Empire. The man who had talked with them
stops when he reaches their ranks and turns to observe James and
Jiron still standing there.

“How long do you expect them to give us?”
James asks.

“Don’t know,” he replies. “But the longer it
takes, the more time Delia and the others will have to get into
position.

Five minutes go by before the man runs out of
patience. A command is given and the crossbowmen move to the fore
and take aim on the two men standing alone before them. “I guess
time has run out,” observes Jiron.

“It would seem so,” he replies. “I hope this
works.”

“So do I,” admits Jiron quietly.

Another command and the crossbowmen release
their volley of bolts toward the pair. The soldiers watch in
amazement as the two men stand their ground despite the bolts
flying toward them. Just before the bolts connect, a shimmering
shield springs to life surrounding them. The bolts are deflected to
the side.

A gasp ensues from the gathered soldiers as
they realize a mage stands before them. Another command and a
second volley speeds toward them. Just as the first had, the second
volley strikes the shield and is deflected away.

From the defenders manning Lythylla’s wall
behind them, a cheer erupts and James glances backward to see the
battlement from one end to the other packed tight with observers.
Seems the entire garrison and most of the civilians are up there to
observe the encounter.

“My turn,” James says, more to himself than
anything else. He brings his hands close together and then slowly
brings them apart. A myriad of small red orbs flow outwards from
between his hands toward the enemy soldiers. The orbs dance and
zoom all the while emitting white sparks that sizzle through the
air.

Moving quickly, the orbs soon near the
assembled Empire soldiers. Before the orbs have a chance to reach
them, panic erupts within their ranks and the men begin moving
quickly back through the gate to avoid the oncoming orbs. Another
cheer erupts from the defenders atop the walls, as well as a little
bit of laughter.

As the orbs reach the fleeing men, they begin
zinging them with small shocks. Each one doing little harm, but
extremely irritating. “Are they going to kill them?” asks
Jiron.

“Hardly,” James says with a grin. “It’s just
to get their attention.”

“I think it did that,” he agrees.

Suddenly, James causes a starburst of immense
proportions to spring into being overhead, bathing the entire
countryside in light. It begins descending toward the enemy camp
and before it has a chance to descend very far, James feels the
tingling sensation which always accompanies another doing magic.
Then just as quickly as the glowing orb appears, it winks out.

He turns to Jiron and says, “I guess that
ends the question of whether or not they have a mage with them.
They do.”

Jiron nods his head in understanding. The
orbs don’t last very long once they encounter the soldiers and
quickly dissipate.

Then, from within the palisade, the man who
had greeted them before once more makes an appearance. James
maintains his shield around himself and Jiron as they await his
approach.

The man stops several feet from the edge of
the shimmering field and says, “The commander has agreed to your
proposal for a meeting.”

“Thought he might,” James tells the man.

“Are we to be granted safe passage?” asks
Jiron.

“Of course,” he replies. “Feel free to lower
your shield at any time should you so desire.”

Jiron snorts at the idea and James says, “If
it’s all the same, I would just as soon not.”

Shrugging the man says, “Suit yourself. If
you’ll follow me?”

As they move to follow the man, Jiron lets go
the pole bearing the white flag letting it fall to the ground. No
point in carrying that any longer, both he and James know they’ll
not be let go so easily. The man pauses but a moment when the pole
hits the ground, then casts a quick glance at the flag lying in the
dirt before he resumes his progress toward the palisade.

James follows along behind, Jiron at his
side. When at last they pass through the gate, it shuts behind
them.

“That’s the signal,” Delia says when the
starburst lights the sky. She sees Ceadric nod and then opens one
of the pouches hanging at her belt. Taking out a round object, she
places it in her sling and moves to the edge of the river.

The moonlight overhead gives her barely
enough light to see the far bank as she takes position. Winding the
sling over her head for a second, she let’s the object go and it’s
soon lost in the darkness. Holding her breath, as does everyone
else there for if it goes into the water their plans are ruined,
she silently prays there isn’t a splash.

A second and then two passes without the
telltale splash indicating the object went into the water. “Good
job,” Shorty says from his position further back.

Everyone visibly relaxes, the success of what
they do here at the river is paramount if they are to accomplish
their mission. She reaches in and takes out another crystal which
had been in with the object she just sent to the other side.

‘
You only have a count of one hundred
before they lose power,’ James told her when he gave her the pouch.
‘Fifty for the way across and fifty for the way back.’

With James’ words on her mind, she takes the
crystal to the river’s edge. She sets it down three feet from the
water and then returns to the others. Mounting her horse, she says
quietly to the others gathered there, “We must cross swiftly if we
are to be able to return this way.”

“We understand,” Ceadric says. The other’s
nods are barely perceptible in the moonlight.

“Very well,” she says and then edges her
horse toward the water. When she gets there, she recalls the words
James told her would activate the spell embedded within the two
crystals. The object she had sent to the other side was a clay
encased crystal, so encased to have enough weight to make the
journey to the other side. Without the clay, the crystal would have
been too light to make it.

“Golden Gate,” she whispers. The crystal on
the ground before them flares briefly, an answering one can be seen
on the opposite side of the river. Then, a shimmering ‘bridge’
forms between the two sides, ten feet wide and reminiscent of the
shields she has seen James use to protect himself from arrows.

“Let’s hurry,” she says as she kicks her
horse into motion. She begins silently counting,
one…two…three…
as her horse steps upon the shimmering
surface. Worried that her horse’s hoof might sink through, she
braces herself. But her horse steps upon the bridge and quickly
passes across to the other side.

Thirteen…fourteen…fifteen…
she sits
there as the others hurry across, two at a time. As the last one
reaches the far shore, she reaches forty-five and says the word to
cancel the spell to save its power for their return crossing,
“Earthquake.” When James had told her the words of command she
commented about how they didn’t relate to a bridge at all. He had
chuckled and said they referred to a city back home, San Francisco.
That a famous bridge there was called the Golden Gate and the place
was prone to earthquakes which destroy bridges.

With the utterance of ‘Earthquake’, the
shimmering bridge disappears and the crystals grow dark. Getting
down from her horse, she removes another crystal from one of the
pouches and places it in roughly the spot where the bridge crystal
lies on this side of the river. This crystal will light the way
when the word ‘Beacon’ is uttered in its vicinity. Without it, they
would be hard pressed to find the exact spot where the bridge lies
in the dark.

Mounting back onto her horse, she turns to
Ceadric and says, “Now for the catapults.”

He gives her a nod and they quietly make
their way to the lights of the enemy camp in the distance. The rear
of the encampment is a couple miles away and they ride quickly
toward it in silence.

As they near, they’re able to see the makeup
of the enemy’s forces as well as the layout of the camp. Behind the
palisade is a large open area, currently crammed with soldiers,
most likely congregating there because of James. Delia worries for
him but sees that his plan is working.

The massive light explosion in the sky
earlier has drawn most of the forces away from the rear of the
encampment where the siege engines lie. There is still a presence
there, but they should be able to handle them.

Twenty catapults and ten long bridges sit at
the rear of the encampment. Each of the bridges has a protective
covering built over them that will shield the attackers from any
arrows fired from the walls by the defenders. The top of the
covering is reinforced with leather that looks as if it may have
been treated to withstand fire.

When they’ve ridden as close as they dare,
Delia and the slingers dismount from their horses as well as Errin
and Aleya. Ten of Ceadric’s men, those who had brought bows,
dismount as well. Ceadric and the rest wait there with the horses.
Should problems arise, they’ll come quickly to the rescue.

Campfires dot the area around the catapults,
giving Delia and her group ample light for targeting. From behind
her, she hears Moyil quip, “Nice to light the area for us.”

“You know it,” answers Terrance.

“Quiet! Both of you!” she whispers
firmly.

If it was broad daylight there would be no
way in which they could possibly get away with this. No cover with
which to speak of, all of the trees in the area have been cut down
either for the palisade wall or the soldier’s campfires. They feel
rather exposed there in the moonlight, and if the soldier’s
attention wasn’t riveted on the events transpiring by the main
encampment, they most likely would have already been
discovered.