Tides of Faith: Travail of The Dark Mage Book Two (10 page)

He grabbed Jiron, pulled him close and
said, “Magic!”

“Who? Where?”

“Not sure. Probably one of the big
man’s people.” The magic that had affected Tinok had come from
there, though he was unable to ascertain the responsible
party.

Both turned their gaze to those
standing with the unmasked man from the Empire. Father Tullin stood
next him.

“Get the priest out of
there.”

Jiron nodded and hurriedly made his
way through the crowd and around the pit.

Again came the tingling sensation.
James immediately latched onto the magic and worked to counter it.
Whatever the spell’s affect was to be, his interference easily
nullified it. If the mage hadn’t yet been aware of the presence of
another mage, he would now.

Casting his gaze across the pit, James
saw all but one of those standing near the unmasked man and Father
Tullin with gazes locked to the battle below. The one not looking
had his features shielded by a hood and was instead staring in the
direction of James’ doppelganger. James grinned inwardly and
whispered, “Worried?”

The crowd erupted. Tinok had landed a
telling blow deep within the big man’s side. Akron was stumbling
backward, doubled over in pain, the tip of his sword dipping to the
dirt. Without the mage’s help, he was woefully outclassed.
Backpedaling quickly, the big man tried to put space in-between
himself and Tinok’s hungry blades.

The mage cast another spell to try and
help the fighter, but James easily thwarted it. This mage, similar
to the fighter in the pit below, was way out of his league. As
Tinok went in for the kill, James felt another spike in the
tingling sensation. The mage was going for a kill of his
own.

James didn’t even let him try.
Targeting the space before the opening of the mage’s hood, he
caused an orb to appear. Lasting only a fraction of a moment, it
nevertheless had the desired effect of breaking the mage’s
concentration and causing his spell to fail.

In the pit, Tinok had closed with
Akron and had again scored deep within the big man’s side; only
this time on the opposite side.

Akron screamed in pain. He tried a
backhand slice, only to have Tinok catch the blade with both knives
and twist it out of his hands. As the blade went flying, Tinok
snapped the big man’s knee with a well placed kick, then followed
through with an upward thrust that pierced the man’s lower jaw. The
blade continued up through the roof of his mouth and into the
brain.

All conversation ceased. The pit grew
ominously silent as Akron hit the ground. Then chaos erupted as men
and women cheered uproariously. Tinok raised his knives and
accepted the crowd’s adulation.

Many onlookers hurled coins into the
pit. The doors on either end of the pit opened and men entered.
From the right came men who were obviously of Empire lineage. They
lifted Akron’s dead body and carried it from the pit.

To the right, half a dozen men
entered, pit fighters by the look of them, and accompanied Tinok
from the fight area to accompanying cheers from the spectators. A
boy emerged after Tinok had departed and began collecting the coins
lying upon the blood-stained ground.

About that time, Jiron appeared at his
side without Father Tullin. James glanced across the pit and saw
him speaking with a man standing next to the mage. The priest’s
conversation appeared calm, but three others were gesticulating
wildly as they faced the man in the hood. Apparently, they were
none too happy with the outcome of the match.

“He wouldn’t come,” Jiron explained.
“Said he was having a good time and could take care of
himself.”

“I hope so.”

“Is everything okay?”

James nodded. “It is now. They weren’t
after me, just a couple of cheats trying to fix the fight in their
favor.”

Grinning, Jiron said, “I bet they
didn’t expect to have you here.”

“I doubt it. The mage was a rank
amateur.”

The proximity of others precluded
further conversation. Jiron led James from the pit and back to the
main hallway. Father Tullin remained behind to continue his
conversation with the man from the Empire.

Jiron’s intent was to find Tinok and
see what was going on with the man they had earlier seen him
walking with when James sought Tinok magically. Fate, however, had
other plans.

The hallway leading to the Pit Fighter
holding area was jammed with people wishing to congratulate Tinok
on his victory. No less than six armored Pit Fighters stood guard
before the door to keep the crowds back. The one in the lead, a six
feet, four inch mass of muscles with flowing dark hair, held a pair
of bared longswords and looked like he wasn’t about to put up with
anyone’s nonsense.

“Let’s see him!” and other
exclamations were shouted from more than one voice.

Jiron and James kept near the
back.

When the press of the crowd pushed the
forward fringe a bit too far, the twin blades arced over their
heads and were brought together in a very loud crash.
“Back!”

Quieting, the crowd’s restlessness
diminished as the ones having come too close scrambled
backward.

“Tinok is no longer in the Pits! He
has left. Get the hell out of here or heads will roll!”

Jiron pulled James back into the main
hallway and proceeded back down to one of the side passages that
led to one of the regular Pits.

“I’m sure he’s still here.”

As the crowd began dispersing, James
glanced to his friend. “Are you sure?”

Jiron nodded. “After the wounds he
received, I’d say a priest is even now attending him.”

“I doubt if we’ll be able to get in to
see him.”

“Could always use a bit of
magic.”

“Absolutely not. I’m not supposed to
be here, remember. I’m dead and I’d like everyone to continue
believing that for as long as possible.” He saw the look that came
over his friend. “Don’t even think it. If you let them know you’re
here, those that attacked the island will know I’m
here.”

Jiron considered that for a moment,
then nodded. “Fine. We know he’s okay. Maybe Father Tullin will
find out something.”

“I’m sure he will. But in the
meantime, what say we head back to the temple?”

Jiron nodded and took the lead. The
press of people had begun dying out by the time they returned to
the main hallway. Of those from the Empire and especially the mage
whose trickery James had foiled, there was no sign.

They passed from the building and
entered the dimly lit streets. Oil lamps burned at the major
intersections in an effort to provide some alleviation from the
darkness. Light coming from building windows that bordered the
street created an intermittent patchwork of light. Jiron avoided
those pockets and kept to the shadows.

Thirty feet from Morcyth’s temple, two
shadows emerged from the greater darkness of an alley. Each shadow
held a deadly looking knife that reflected the light from a nearby
window.

Jiron brought them to a halt as the
two shadows moved to bar their way.

“Here now,” a man’s voice said. “Where
would you two be going on such an hour?”

“Not your concern,” Jiron replied. His
hand moved to the hilt of the lone knife he wore. “Move
aside.”

“Uppity, aren’t you?”

The two men stepped apart, one coming
forward while the other moved to a flanking position.

James held the magic at the ready. He
waited to see how Jiron would play this. To his surprise, he saw
the one-time Pit Fighter hold up a coin. Even in the shadows as
they were, its gold color was readily discernible.

“Is that all you got?” the man who
moved to flank them asked.

“It’s all I’m willing to part with. If
you can provide some information that is.”

“Ha! We’ll take it all and leave it at
that. We ain’t no gossiping fishwives.”

Jiron held still a moment. “I would
rather talk, than kill you.”

“Hey, Mygg. This guy thinks he can
kill us both.”

“I don’t think he knows who we are?” A
chuckle came from the one before them, then abruptly stopped. “Now,
give us your coins.”

In the darkness, James saw Jiron shrug
as the gold coin disappeared back into his pouch.

“Have it your way.”

In a flurry of motion, Jiron drew his
knife and stabbed the man before them, then turned on the second
before the first had even hit the ground.

Squealing, the second man turned to
flee, but a hand took hold of his hair, yanked him back, and a
single slash across the throat sent him gurgling to the ground. It
was over in a matter of seconds.

“Amateurs.”

Jiron cleaned his blade with Mygg’s
coat, then stepped over the bodies and quick-timed it toward the
temple. He glanced to James, fully expecting him to ask if the
killing had been necessary, and was surprised when it didn’t
come.

James met his gaze. “Nothing else you
could have done.” He hated killing, even those such as Mygg and his
partner. But in a world such as this, it couldn’t always be
avoided.

Once back within the temple they were
met by Father Keller who led them to the room wherein Jira waited
with Kip. Miko was there as well. He and Kip were hunched over a
board of Bones and Daggers. Jira slept on her cot.

The High Priest of Morcyth
looked up as Father Keller entered the room. Upon spying James and
Jiron entering afterward, he nodded and grinned. “I think I have
young Kip
‘Bleeding in the
Gutter’
.”
Bleeding
in the Gutter
was a term that referred to a
player who had lost all but their last Bone. It basically meant
defeat was imminent.

Though unfamiliar with the game, he
could see how Miko had encircled Kip’s remaining Bone with five
pieces inscribed with a dagger. Kip still had two Daggers left, but
the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

“Tinok was there,” Jiron announced as
he took his seat in a nearby chair.

James sat on his cot and removed his
boots.

“So was a mage.”

At that, Miko’s grin faded only to be
replaced with a grimmer façade. He glanced from James to
Jiron.

“Don’t worry,” Jiron said,” he wasn’t
after us.”

“He was fixing the fight against
Tinok.” Once his boots were off, James sighed with relief then lay
down on his side facing the others.

“I take it you intervened?”

James nodded. “Of course. I couldn’t
very well stand idly by while Tinok was slaughtered. The mage had a
few good tricks, but that was it. Nothing like those we faced
during the war.”

Miko was quiet a moment, then nodded.
“Those with magic have been springing up here and there throughout
the Empire.”

“I had heard that too,” James replied.
“Ever since one of my ‘seeds’ took out their School of the Arcane,
they have had less control over those wielding magic. I’m sure when
the Empire was at its height, anyone that exhibited any inclination
toward magic was shunted off to the School where they could be
‘indoctrinated’ with proper obedience. Now though, people are free
to be mages.”

“We never had that problem here in
Madoc,” Jiron said. “I can’t recall ever running into any with
magical abilities other than you.” He then glanced to Miko. “And
priests of course.”

“I get the feeling in Madoc, Cardri
too, most folks don’t want anything to do with magic. I’m sure
there have been incidents where someone has been seduced by the
powerful lure of magic, but most people don’t have the proper
understanding or discipline to do more than rudimentary spells. And
after a mistake or two, most will recognize the danger and leave it
alone.”

Miko nodded. “Just last year, a young
man in a small village near Reardon killed himself and his family
with a wasting malady.”

Jiron turned a surprised look his way.
“I never heard that.”

“Not surprising. The locals hid the
evidence and don’t talk about it.”

“How did you learn of it?” James
asked.

“Brother Tye happened to be passing
through at the time. He helped purge the house and made sure the
effects would not spread. Needless to say, we now have a small
temple there.”

James grinned. “Spreading the
faith?”

“Wherever we can.”

Jiron stood and began pacing. “I wish
I could have spoken with Tinok.”

“At least you know he’s okay,” James
said. “Father Tullin may turn up something.”

“Perhaps.” Jiron turned to Miko. “How
soon until we leave?”

“Sunup, day after tomorrow. Everything
will be in readiness at that time.”

Kip reached out and moved a
double-stacked Dagger to a position that threatened one of Miko’s.
The stacked ones are able to move additional spaces, the number
being determined by the amount of captured pieces it rests upon.
When a Dagger captures an opponent’s Dagger or Bone, the captured
piece is then placed beneath the captor’s Dagger, and the Dagger is
then known as a Long Dagger. The default cap to the number of moves
a Long Dagger can make is usually three, though players can opt for
no cap at all. Such games often get rather interesting.