Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (42 page)

One building of particular importance, the
library, had been in close proximity to the blast when it went off.
Filled with tomes older than memory, the basis for which magic
works and knowledge gleaned through a millennium of research, is
now nothing more than a gaping hole. Along with the rocks coming
back to land, myriad pieces of paper blasted from thousands of
books rain down as well.

All of a sudden, the resistance to the storm
disappears. “It’s stopped,” James tells Jiron as they enter the
building where the horses were left.

“What’s stopped,” asks Jiron.

“It feels like whoever was working against me
isn’t any more,” he clarifies. Sending out the magic, he begins
working the storm once more into a frenzy.

Realizing James is once again planning on
staying and working the storm, Jiron has them move to the back of
the room where the horses are to stay. If the storm becomes as bad
as the last one James created, he wants them as far away from its
effects as they can. James slips back into deep concentration as he
resumes intensifying the storm.

After a half hour, the storm is now raging
wildly outside. The open areas of the building allow the sand to
enter and even though the force of the gale is abated by the walls
of the building, still the sand stings when it strikes them. When
he feels the storm has reached a point where it will continue on
its own, he halts the flow of magic and settles down against one
wall.

“That should take care of it,” he says.
Taking a water bottle, he drains it completely before setting it
down.

The light from the sun is greatly reduced by
the time it makes its way through the swirling dust storm outside.
With but faint light with which to see, Jiron takes a closer look
at the building they are in. The walls are rather plain and
unadorned, parts of the floor show through the mounds of sand which
has built up over the years.

“Look at this,” he says when he comes to a
depression in the floor by the far wall.

“What?” asks James too tired from creating
the storm to want to cross the room to see.

“There are stairs here,” he explains. “Choked
with dirt and sand.” He then tells him of the dome he found and how
he believes there may be more below the surface.

With scenes of movies he’s seen running
through his head, he wonders what could lie below the surface.
Treasure? A lost city? A thousand mummies hell bent on their
destruction? In this world who knows? Intrigued, he gets to his
feet and goes over to investigate.

Just then he feels the tingling of nearby
magic. Stopping halfway across the floor, he cocks his head to one
side as he attempts to discern from which direction it’s coming. He
glances to Jiron and whispers, “There’s magic nearby.”

All thoughts of the stairs vanish as they
move to the opening and look out. Shielding their eyes from the
whipping sand, they search for anyone approaching. It doesn’t take
them long before several men appear out of the swirling storm. Each
is surrounded by a dimly illuminated shield protecting them from
the storm.

“Mages?” asks Jiron.

James nods his head, never taking his eyes
off the men coming their way.

The prickling and tingling of working magic
gradually increases as the men draw closer. Soon, more forms are
seen out there among the ruins, each encased in a protective
barrier. They are fanned out in a search pattern, whenever one
comes to a wall or opening, they pause a moment to inspect it
before continuing on.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” James says as
he makes his way to the horses.

Jiron stops him and says, “Leave them. The
horses will never survive the storm outside.”

James realizes he’s right. Leaving the
horses, he says “Stay close.” A barrier suddenly appears
surrounding them both.

“Won’t they sense this?” Jiron asks.

“Probably,” he replies. “But I’m hoping that
with all the magic they are doing themselves, they may not realize
it’s me until it’s too late.”

Approving of the boldness, Jiron gives him a
grin.

“Now, let’s try to get through the storm
before they realize we’re gone,” James suggests. He then moves
through the wall and starts to move in the opposite direction of
the searchers.

Jiron puts a hand on his shoulder and says,
“Wait a second. If they’re on foot, then their horses must be left
behind. How about we work our way around them and steal a couple of
their horses. They would have to be kept outside the worst of the
storm.”

He considers the idea and nods, “Alright,
we’ll do it.”

Altering their course, they begin working
their way away from the searchers. Then after putting some distance
between them, they alter their course to run perpendicular to the
searchers. They keep an eye out for the telltale sign of men in
barriers walking in the storm. Each time one appears, they quickly
move back and alter course to avoid them.

A sudden increase in the tingling sensation
stops James in his tracks when out of the storm a blinding white
light appears and strikes the barrier. The shock of the impact
stuns James for a moment and the barrier keeping the storm at bay
disappears.

Instantly they are knocked off their feet as
the wind strikes them with fierce intensity. Quickly recovering,
the shield again springs up around them as another blinding white
light strikes from out of the storm.

Ready for it this time, James manages to keep
the barrier from failing but the draw of power from him was
great.

“What’s happening?” yells Jiron over the roar
of the storm.

Then a form appears out of the storm. An aged
man easily in his fifties strides forward. Behind him appear more
men encased in protective barriers.

Kerith-Ayxt expected more of a challenge from
this mage. True, the mage weakened himself by building a useless
storm but he still thought this fight would be more of a
challenge.

Again he sends the bolt of energy hurtling
toward the two men and this time he can feel the barrier drop for a
second before the mage recovers. Grinning, he continues to
advance.

“Run!” yells James as the effects of the
third bolt dissipates. He almost lost the barrier that time but
managed to bring it back. He and Jiron turn to race into the storm
and away from Kerith-Ayxt.

The tingling spikes again. He grabs Jiron and
they dodge to the right, barely avoiding the bolt as it flies past.
Summoning the magic, James lashes out with a wave of force of his
own but Kerith-Ayxt simply brushes it aside.

Then the rest of the mages arrayed against
him unleash a barrage of spells. Fire, ice, waves of force, the
attacks become unrelenting until all James can do is simply
concentrate on maintaining the barrier. Kerith-Ayxt conserves his
power while his mages throw everything they have at the pair.

“Watch out!” yells Jiron as a massive section
of wall comes flying through the air toward them. Backpedaling
rapidly, they barely get out of the way before the stone slab hits
the ground. Slamming into the ground with a resounding thud, the
impact shakes the ground like an earthquake.

All of a sudden, the ground beneath the slab
gives way and it plummets down into darkness. Jiron sees the slab
fall and quickly takes hold of James. “Come on!” he yells. Jumping
forward, he yanks James off his feet and they both sail into the
hole.

They fall briefly in darkness before James’
orb springs to life. The light illuminates the buried room seconds
before they hit the ground. Seeing the floor coming up fast, they
brace for impact. James hits hard and feels like he may have
sprained his wrist from where he tried to cushion his landing.
Jiron simply tucks and rolls, coming quickly back to his feet.

Jiron then takes a fraction of a second to
survey the room and finds a doorway off to one side. Lending James
a hand, he helps him up just before a blast strikes the ground
where James had just lain. Running for their lives, they make the
doorway just as a flaming ball of fire hurtles toward them from the
opening in the ceiling.

Again the barrier flashes into being just
before the fireball explodes. James falls to his knees from the
drain of power, Jiron helps him back up and they move into the
hallway extending from the room.

At the edge of the hole, Kerith-Ayxt looks
down at the doorway through which his quarry disappeared.

“Should we go after them?” asks a mage of the
Fourth Circle.

Shaking his head, he says, “No.” The wind has
continued to die down due to several mages working to bring it to a
halt until now it’s barely a bother. Most of the mages have already
canceled the protective barriers they used to ward off the storm.
“They’ve entered Baerustin.” At that the mage nods his head.

“Set up patrols through the ruins in case
they somehow manage to make it out,” the High Lord Magus says.
Glancing at the hole he says, “Though I doubt that they will.”

Stopping several yards from the entrance of
the room they just left, Jiron eases James to the floor of the
hallway. Moving back to the doorway, he glances back up to the hole
in the ceiling.

“Are they coming?” James’ whisper comes to
him.

Turning his head back, he replies, “No.
There’s one looking through the opening but it doesn’t appear that
they mean to follow.” He remains there watching for several more
minutes before returning to James’ side.

Jiron takes notice of the way James is
favoring his right wrist. “You okay?” he asks with a nod to the
wrist.

He holds it out a little bit and flexes each
of the fingers. Though he grits his teeth in pain, he at least is
able to move them which indicates it’s not broken. “I think I
sprained it when we landed,” he says.

“Sorry about that,” Jiron apologizes.

“Hey, don’t apologize,” James tells him.
“That was good thinking. We wouldn’t have survived up there much
longer.”

Jiron settles down to the floor against the
wall opposite James. Sitting there across from each other in the
light of the orb, their situation looks pretty hopeless.

“Any ideas?” asks Jiron after several minutes
of silence.

Shaking his head, he says, “Not really. We’re
in a hole in the ground with at least fifty mages who collectively
can kick my butt.”

“At least we’re alive,” asserts Jiron. “Until
we are dead, there is hope.”

“I like your attitude,” agrees James with a
grin.

Jiron returns to his feet and says, “You stay
here and rest while I have a look around.”

“Alright,” James says. Before Jiron begins
moving away, another orb blossoms to life and he hands it to him.
“You might need this.”

Taking the orb, Jiron says, “Thanks. Be right
back.” Then with a grin he adds, “Don’t go anywhere.”

James chuckles at that then leans his head
back against the wall and closes his eyes.

Again checking to be sure no one is coming
through the opening in the ceiling of the adjoining room, he moves
back past James then heads down the hallway. The first door he
comes to opens readily and he has to jump back fast as dirt spills
out into the hallway. By the time it stops, the hallway is
practically choked with sand. He curses as he works his way past
the newly created obstruction.

Once past, he continues down the hallway and
doesn’t travel far before the light from the orb reveals an open
doorway on his right. He slows as he approaches it and comes to a
stop. Peering through the doorway, he finds a small room no more
than thirty feet by twenty. The walls and ceiling are still intact
and the room is free of sand. He steps within the room and the
light from the orb reveals the room is bare. Making a quick
inspection, he finds no other way out but the doorway he just
passed through.

Returning to the hallway, he continues down
still further. Ten feet or so from the previous room, sand again
appears in the hallway. A light dusting at first but the amount
grows steadily the further he progresses. Suddenly the level of the
sand rises dramatically just before another doorway appears on his
left. As he draws close to the doorway, he discovers the hallway
ends ten feet further down. The building must have collapsed at
some time or the ceiling caved in for the hallway is blocked by
sand.

The doorway is choked with a great deal of
sand as well but checking with the orb, the room on the other side
of the doorway appears to be clear. Jiron is forced to dig some of
the sand out before he’s able to crawl through. Holding the orb out
in front of him, he wriggles through to the room on the other
side.

Another empty room of modest dimension, off
to one side he finds a winding staircase descending to the next
level. He moves over to the top of the stairs and shines the light
down. The only thing revealed by the light are the stairs as it
continues its descent. Figuring he’s seen enough, he climbs back
through the choked doorway and returns to where he left James.

When he returns, Jiron finds him fast asleep
against the wall. He moves past his sleeping friend to where the
hall opens on the room with the hole in the ceiling. Peering around
the corner, he gazes up and sees two figures silhouetted against
the sunlight as they gaze within.

Realizing they are not going to leave anytime
soon, he moves back and sits down on the hallway floor across from
James. Letting him sleep a little while longer, he thinks about
their situation.

In all the time since he first came to know
James, this is the first situation that appears hopeless. How are
they going to get out with a pack of mages watching the only
opening? He’ll let James get some sleep before waking him and
hopefully they’ll be able to figure a way out.