Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (54 page)

“I’ve already lost two brothers,” Brother
Willim states. “You’re the Gardener, do something.”

Gardener?

Turning back to the mages, he lets the magic
surge forth and the ground begins to rumble. Suddenly, the earth
cracks open but then slams shut again as opposing magic works
against him.

A cloud of birds swoops down from the sky
toward the mages. Bolts of energy fly from the assembled mages and
begin taking them out before they can close. Explosions of fire
light up the sky as whole groups of birds are incinerated in
massive fireballs.

James reaches to the clouds to pull them in
but magic again works against him and his effort goes to naught.
The dust from when the ground exploded is beginning to settle and
he looks across to see one of the mages, an older one, staring at
him. It almost seems as if time pauses as the two stare at each
other. Then the mage raises his hand and the onslaught begins.

When the ground erupted, Kerith-Ayxt felt it
was slightly different than the magic of those he faced when the
attack first began. Then when he stared across the battlefield and
saw the mage he couldn’t believe his eyes. Never has anyone
succeeded in escaping Baerustin.

It must have been he who had attempted to
crack open the earth beneath them and to summon a storm. The High
Lord Magus had easily countered such basic magics. He is amazed at
the lack of finesse this mage has in what he tries to
accomplish.

Now to finish it. Raising his hands above his
head, he summons the magic. And with the knowledge of centuries of
mages behind it, lets it loose.

The tingling sensation flares worse than ever
as the mage raises his hands. Pouring more of his reserve power
into the barrier, he extends it to encompass Miko and the rest of
the Hand. When the full force of the mage’s magic strikes the
barrier, James is literally knocked backward a step and the shield
collapses. Reinstating the shield again, his mind boggles at the
amount of magic that was just used against him.

Miko and the Hand continue to counter what
the rest of the mages are throwing at them; fireballs, lightning,
and many other types of destructive magic. All they’re able to do
is simply keep them at bay without any opportunity of using
offensive magic of their own.

Again the mage sends a wave of magic toward
the barrier. A blinding light flares when it connects and James is
momentarily blinded as the barrier again falls. His nerve endings
tingle and he staggers back again. Miko catches him with the hand
not holding the Star.

It’s a struggle to replace the barrier once
more. Another attack like the last one and he may not have anything
left in him, it’s taken the rest of his reserves to bring it back
up this third time, he doubts if he’ll be able to do it for a
fourth.

Miko glances to his friend and sees the
strain showing on his face. “You okay?” he asks though he already
knows the answer.

“I’m about wiped out,” he admits.

“We can’t win this can we?” Miko asks.

Shaking his head James says, “After the
mage’s next attack, I’ll be used up if not dead.” He nods to the
Star blazing in his Miko’s hand and adds, “Then it will all rest on
you.”

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
having 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.