Tides of Faith: Travail of The Dark Mage Book Two (2 page)

“James?”

Shaking the shoulder a second time
produced an intake of breath, a stretch, and the cracking open of
one eyelid.

“About time you awoke.”

When his gaze focused and he saw who
it was leaning forward, the second eye flew open. “Miko?” He tried
coming to an upright position, but his head spun and he sagged back
down.

“Yes, James. It is me.”

“How…?” Glancing to where Jiron and
Jira lay, he saw their chests rising and falling and knew they
lived. “How did we come to be here?” He returned his gaze to
Miko.

“Morcyth thought you might need help
in the crossing.” Morcyth’s High Priest grinned the grin James had
seen so many times before. “We searched the ether and found you
lost. It was but a simple matter to direct you here.”

“Simple?” James laid an arm across his
forehead in an attempt to still the pounding.

“Well, simple when you have the aid of
a god.”

“I suppose.”

“What happened to you?” That was the
question that had nagged answering since the trio appeared days
before.

“That’s a long story. Suffice it to
say, my island was attacked, and I went home.”

“Home? You mean, The Ranch?” The Ranch
being the first place James had lived after coming to this world.
It had been a base of operations during his “war” with the
Empire.

James shook his head. “No,
I mean
home
.
Earth.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “The
place of your birth?”

“The same. You know how I was working
on the teleportation pads?”

Miko nodded.

“Well, the battle culminated in an
exchange of magic, it somehow tripped, and there we
were.”

“What about Meliana and Kenny? Did
they go as well?”

“No. As far as I know, they were
either taken by the invaders, killed, or remain on the island. They
took shelter in the manor during the attack.” He seriously wanted
to find them magically, but wasn’t up to it despite the grave
danger his and Jiron’s loved ones might be in. With head pounding
and feeling as if he was about to pass out at any moment, he dared
not make the attempt.

Miko nodded. He well knew the
safeguards James had put in place to protect that
refuge.

“You haven’t heard anything, have
you?”

“No, but I shall send someone that way
to find out.”

“Don’t bother. If the attackers failed
to take them, then Kendrick would have picked them up when he
arrived. Unless the attackers took him out, too.”

Leaning back in his chair, Miko grew
thoughtful. “Was it the Empire?”

“The soldiers wore armor of the
Empire, but the mage…” trailing off, he recalled the yellow glow of
the mage’s magic. “He was not a warrior-priest. I doubt if he was
part of Dmon-Li’s priesthood.”

“A mercenary mage?”

“Perhaps. Though a mage of that power
could take over a country.” It had been staggering the amount of
power the man had fielded.

“Then why come after you?”

James turned his eyes back toward the
young man before him. Few knew that Miko was much younger than he
appeared. Years had been stolen by the magic of the Fire, Dmon-Li’s
focal point on this world. Now safely hidden in a cave deep beneath
the Merchant’s Pass, it could no longer be used to spread the god’s
foul influence.

“I don’t know. None of it makes any
sense. Years of quiet solitude, then this. I’ve tried to come up
with a good reason, but can’t think of one. The only one that makes
even the smallest amount of sense is that forces within the Empire
were seeking vengeance.”

He glanced back to Jiron and his
daughter. “How are they?”

“She will be up soon. Her
father….”

James returned his gaze to
Miko.

“Jiron was dead when you
arrived.”

“Dead?”

Miko nodded. “With Morcyth’s help, I
was able to heal his body and return him his spirit. He will be
weak for some time.”

“Thank you.”

“I was glad to help. Now, tell me what
happened and how you came to be lost in the void between
worlds.”

Miko sat in rapt attention during
James’ narrative. Most of what he heard meant little to him. James
had often spoken of his world after the time when that knowledge
had been entrusted to him. Miko found it all very interesting, if a
bit confusing. When James told of his ability to work magic on his
home world, he grew interested, for James had always stated his
world had no magic. He had no idea what a mental block was, or how
it had inhibited James’ magical abilities. During the part played
by the Little Brothers and the crossing, he became keenly
interested.

“They actually helped you?”

James nodded. “Surprisingly
enough, they knew of me. Or rather, of
The
Gardener
.”

“Still, that raises some questions
does it not? Like, is there a way between worlds that any can
cross, or is it just for them?”

“They tried to show me the way and it
almost killed me. I doubt if either you or I could traverse their
pathways and survive.” Fatigue began asserting itself once again
and James sagged back into the cot.

“It might be best if you kept my
presence here quiet.”

Miko grinned. “Already done. None but
my priests and Kip know you are here.” He gestured with his hand to
include the entire room. “This place is sealed. It would take a
mage of great power, or a god, to breach it.”

“Have any tried?”

“Constantly. But worry not, such
attempts are quite normal. Other High Priests are curious about
what I am doing. I have become quite the focal point of their
attention of late.”

Eyes moving to the sword at the High
Priest’s hip, he added, “No wonder, especially now that you and
your priests are training with swords.”

“Jiron tell you that, did
he?”

James nodded. “Are you merely keeping
in shape?” His expression grew more solemn. “Or is there more to
it?”

“A little bit of both I am afraid.” He
then explained the latest news from Illan, and the sense of
forebodings that have come over him of late.

Listening, James couldn’t help but
feel a shudder upon hearing of the massacred village. Strange
things indeed were afoot. “Dmon-Li stirring up trouble
again?”

“Illan is not sure and I have yet to
hear anything in that regard.”

“What has Perrilin to say about it?”
Being a bard who was also an agent of the Cardri royal house,
Perrilin was often sent into the Empire to ferret
information.

“He has not been heard from for two
years. He used to stop off at the Hawk’s Nest when passing through,
but Illan says he has not been there for some time.”

Such information wasn’t necessarily
bad, in and of itself. Perrilin has been known to disappear from
time to time during periods of undercover work deep within the
Empire. He thought about the significance of his disappearance
coinciding with the attack on his island and the destruction of the
village. It could be a coincidence. He hoped that it would
be.

A period of quiet settled over the
pair while James digested the news.

Miko watched as his friend slowly
closed his eyes and slipped away into slumber. “Sleep, my friend. I
shall see what can be discovered.”

He remained in his chair until Kip and
Father Keller returned with a trio of broth-filled bowls and a
single loaf of bread, suitable fare for those recuperating. “Kip,
attend to their needs.”

His young Novice nodded.

“Father Keller, we have work to
do.”

The Father fell in behind Miko as he
left the room. He remained silent until the door had closed and
they moved down the hallway toward the Inner Sanctum. “Things are
bad, aren’t they?”

Miko glanced to the man beside him and
nodded gravely. “They very well could be,” he replied, keeping his
voice low. “His island was attacked and very nearly lost his
life.”

Father Keller gasped. “Who could have
done such a thing?”

“That is the problem. We do not know.
To be honest, I did not think anyone could stand toe-to-toe with
him and prevail.” Taking a left at a smaller, branching corridor,
he hurried forward. “His wife and child are missing, as is Aleya.”
Aleya being Jiron’s wife who had been in attendance on the island
at the time of the attack.

Coming to the entrance of the Inner
Sanctum, Miko paused before a blank wall. Intoning arcane, priestly
words and passing his hand across the wall’s surface, he made an
opening appear. Once they were through to the other side, the
opening automatically sealed itself.

This had been where he and his priests
had drawn James, Jiron and Jira from the ether on that fateful
night. To his right, a narrow archway led to a small room wherein
sat a mirrored table remarkably similar to what James had back on
the island. Perhaps the most important lesson Miko had learned
during his travels with James, had been the need for good
intelligence. Between this table, and his itinerant priests going
out to spread the word and searching for likely candidates, he had
a pretty good idea of the happenings in the world.

Standing opposite Father Keller, Miko
called forth the power of Morcyth and the flat surface answered his
call. No longer a glassy, reflective field, it fluxed as he sought
Meliana. Figuring her to be the one he could most readily find, he
sent his senses southward. If James was correct in his assumption,
then her father would have collected them and returned with them to
his home in Corillian, a major port city on an island south of the
Empire.

He would never tell James, but since
he drew his magic from Morcyth, he had an easier time at this.
James often complained that the farther away the target was, the
more magic had to be expended. Miko on the other hand, felt no such
additional draw. He put it down as one of the many benefits given
him for his life of dedication.

Shortly, he felt something familiar as
the magic narrowed its focus, the familiarity being the presence of
Meliana and Kenny. They sat in an atrium upon a stone bench. She
wore black as befitted a widow, Kenny had on dark
browns.

“They’re alive,” commented Father
Keller.

Miko nodded. “That will make James
happy.” With a mental directive, the image changed to that of a
kitchen where half a dozen women busily worked at various cooking
functions. The image settled upon one woman wielding a knife as she
shed tubers of their skins. She too dressed in black.
Aleya.

Returning the image to Meliana one
last time, he watched her for several moments before giving the
magic another directive. This one was easy. In a flash, the image
of James’ island appeared; a familiar view he indulged in from time
to time.

Settling over the manor house, it
revealed the structure intact with no sign the enemy mage had
attempted to breach its defenses. “Strange.”

Father Keller flicked a glance toward
his superior. “How so?”

“Why would the mage not make an
attempt to capture or slay James’ family?” He looked up from the
image.

“Perhaps he was only interested in
destroying The Dark Mage.”

Miko remained silent.

Shifting once again, the image now
showed the devastation surrounding where James’ workshop had once
stood. Only one, seriously charred wall remained. The entire area
was black, a huge swath of trees that once ringed it were but
shattered remains of their former glory.

“A duel of such power. It is
surprising he survived.” Of the teleportation pad that his friend
had been working on there was no sign.

The image began scrolling along the
path of destruction that went from the workshop area to the
dock.

“What do you think he will
do?”

Miko glanced again to Father Keller
and shook his head. “I do not know. We shall have to wait until he
awakens. In the meantime, see what our contacts on the streets
know.”

“As you wish.”

While Father Keller departed to
implement Miko’s orders, the image once again returned to Corillian
where the mother and son sat in quiet sadness. He was glad they
lived, for had they not, The Dark Mage would have turned the world
asunder to wreak vengeance. With a thought, the table went blank
and he left the Inner Sanctum.

The feeling of being watched drew him
from the nether reaches of slumber. Cracking open an eye, he was
met by a pair of baby blues.

“Uncle! Mama lives!”

Engulfed by a pair of arms that
elicited no small amount of pain in their exuberance, her words
brought him fully awake. “She lives?” Glancing about the room, he
caught sight of Kip and Miko sitting not far away playing a game of
Bones and Daggers, a more ruthless form of chess popular among
those of the streets.