Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (16 page)

From where Miko is lying down, they begin to
hear snores and they just smile at each other. “Hate to wake him up
but we need to get going,” says Jiron.

James groans as he gets up and limps over to
him, nudging him with his foot. It takes some doing, but he manages
to get him awake. Jiron sets a quick pace, following the river
north as they pass deeper into the forested hills. It’s not too
much longer before they are able to see the sun glistening off of a
large body of water through the trees ahead of them. It’s the lake
that the mural back at the ruins had depicted.

It’s not nestled in among the mountains like
they’d thought, but rather sits at their base. They can see how the
foothills hug its southern shore and turn into mountains on its
northern side. The lake itself is quite large and has a large
island situated out in the middle of it. The island is wooded and
looks deserted.

They turn and follow the shoreline east as
the river coming out of the lake is too wide to cross to the west.
After walking over a mile along the shoreline, Jiron points behind
them.

Coming out of the woods where the river
leaves the lake are dozens and dozens of soldiers. When they see
them ahead on the shoreline, they begin moving in their
direction.

James pauses for a second to watch them as
they pour out of the forest. It looks like nearly a hundred men are
behind them. “Dear god!” he exclaims as he watches them.

A whimper escapes Miko and Jiron says,
“Move!”

Moving quickly, they leave the shore and
enter the forest. “We’re going to have to do something,” he says to
James. “We’ll never make it with all them behind us!”

“I know,” replies James as he works to keep
his tired feet moving. His leg is on fire and feels as if it’s
about ready to buckle. Somehow his leg continues to keep going as
he keeps up with the hurried pace of the others.

As the hills become more pronounced, he
begins to get an idea of how to deal with their pursuers. He keeps
an eye out for a suitable spot for his plan, and when they come to
where a ravine passes through between two hills, he says, “Let’s
stop.”

“Why?” asks Miko.

“I intend to discourage any more pursuit,”
he tells them.

“How?” Jiron asks.

“First of all…”

From where Miko lies at the crest of the
hill where the ravine ends, he watches as the first of the men
enter the ravine and make their way toward him. Getting his
crossbow ready, he takes aim, and as they near the middle, he lets
fly.

The bolt misses the lead man and strikes the
ground in front of them. The line halts as they search for where
the bolt originated from. While they’re doing this, the rest of the
men behind them continue to enter the ravine, creating a tight
packed crowd.

When enough of them have entered the ravine,
Miko suddenly stands up and turns around as he races back over the
hill. “I hope this works,” he mumbles to himself as he hears cries
of the soldiers behind him when they see him running away.

Suddenly, he’s knocked off his feet by a
deafening explosion behind as the ravine rocks with an enormous
explosion. Glancing back, he sees a cloud of dust rising to the
sky.

He moves around to where James said to go
and meets up with him. He’s sitting on the ground, head cradled in
his hands. “You okay?” Miko asks, worried.

James just shakes his head as he sits
there.

Miko moves around to the hill where Jiron
was suppose to be waiting and watching what happens in the ravine.
He comes up behind him and asks, “Did it work?”

“Looks like it,” Jiron replies from where
he’s lying on top of the hill looking down into the ravine.

When Miko crests the hill where Jiron lies,
he can see the ravine is no more. The hills on either side have
exploded outward, coming together and crushing all that had been
between them. He looks to where Jiron points and can see maybe ten
men who are hesitantly approaching what used to be the ravine. Only
ten of the force behind them survived.

From the ravine, they can hear the cries of
the soldiers who hadn’t died in the initial explosion. The ten move
cautiously toward the ravine and when they realize nothing further
will be happening, speed their approach as they move to rescue the
survivors.

“Think they’ll continue after us?” Miko asks
Jiron.

“Doubt it,” he says. “They’ll have all they
can do just to get the survivors out of there.” Turning around he
begins to head back to James and says to Miko, “Let’s go.”

Miko glances back at the men coming to the
rescue and then follows Jiron down.

When James sees them coming, he says,
“Well?”

“Looks like you got most of them,” Jiron
replies. “Less than a dozen remain and they’ll be too busy helping
their fellows to come after us.”

Shaking his head at all the death and
destruction, he says, “Why can’t they just leave us alone?”

“They will now,” Miko says.

Saddened to have once more caused so many
deaths, James sighs, “Alright, lets go.” He gets up and Miko comes
to help him as he starts to waver a little bit. “Thanks,” he says
once he regains his equilibrium. Limping, he has to lean on Miko to
even walk, the pain in his leg is so bad.

Jiron angles them away from the scene of the
explosion and they make their way back toward the lake shore. From
there, they continue following it for several more hours until
James states that he just can’t make it any further. Jiron moves
ahead and returns shortly saying he’s found a spot along the shore
they can spend the night.

As he brings them back to the camp site, he
sees a small animal at the edge of the water. Stopping, he
whispers, “James, can you take him down?”

Removing a slug from his belt, he leans on
Miko to steady himself as he prepares to throw. When he throws the
slug, his leg gives out and he loses his balance, falling to the
ground. Despite falling, the slug flies true and strikes the
animal, killing it.

“You got him!” Jiron hollers jubilantly as
he moves over to the dead animal.

Miko helps James to his feet and then over
to a tree where he aids him in sitting down. Once James is settled
in, Miko sits down next to him and then passes out from
exhaustion.

Bringing the animal over, Jiron says, “You
just rest. I’ll gather some wood and we’ll have this cooked in no
time.”

James just nods his head before resting it
back against the tree. Closing his eyes, fatigue takes him and he
quickly falls asleep.

The smell of roasting meat wakes him up.
Glancing over to where Jiron is cooking the animal, he asks, “Do
you think it’s risky to have a fire?”

“Maybe, but I’m not eating this raw,” he
replies. “Besides, I really doubt if anyone will be coming after us
so soon after the beating they took back there.”

“I hope you’re right,” he says.

They have a hard time waking Miko when
dinner is ready. But once the mouthwatering aroma reaches him, he
perks up and readily joins in.

James wishes for more than just meat to eat.
He was never much into salads or vegetables when he was back home,
but he sure misses them now. Looking around, he’s sure there are
edible plants and roots out there somewhere, if he only knew what
they looked like. Oh, well, at least he has the meat.

When they’re done eating, they toss the
carcasses into the water and Miko is surprised when nothing comes
and eats them. “Where are the little fish?” he asks.

“The water’s probably too cold for them,”
explains James. “They most likely prefer the warmer water back in
the swamp area.”

Miko just looks curiously out at the water
and when still nothing happens, nods his head and realizes that
James is probably right. Again.

James and Jiron decide to keep watch through
the night, they don’t dare trust Miko to do it, not in his tired
state. James decides to take the first watch since he’d already
taken a short nap.

It was several hours into his watch when he
first notices it. At first he thought it was just his imagination,
it was so subtle and quiet. Then it became increasingly more
pronounced. Singing. A woman’s voice, singing a quiet song.

He quickly realizes it’s coming from the
direction of the lake. Pulling himself to a standing position, he
looks out over the water. Barely perceptible in the moonlight, he’s
able to make out a small boat coming toward their camp. A small
figure is sitting in the middle of the boat, facing his way.

The singing continues as the boat approaches
closer and James is able to see that it is indeed a woman sitting
within the boat. James begins to feel the prickling which always
indicates magic being used in the vicinity.
Must be what’s
powering the boat.

When the boat reaches the shore, he grabs it
and pulls it further up onto the beach. The lady inside says,
“Thank you,” as she gets up and steps out of the boat.

Standing only about four and a half feet
tall, she walks over to James and stops several feet away. Her
blond hair glistening in the moonlight, she looks James up and
down.

“Hello,” James greets her.

“A good evening to you sir,” she
replies.

“My name is James,” he tells her.

“You may call me, Lyria,” she says to him,
giving him a small smile.

“Would you care to come and share our fire?”
he asks.

Shaking her head negatively, she says, “No.
I had come to offer you and your companions shelter and the
hospitality of my home this night.”

Beyond all reason, he feels he can trust
her. Something about her puts him readily at ease. “Where?” he
asks.

She nods over to the island and says, “My
home.”

Jiron suddenly sits up and sees him there
talking with Lyria. “James?” he asks coming quickly to his
feet.

Turning toward him, he says, “This is Lyria
and she’s invited us to her home out on the island.”

“Why?” he asks not nearly as trusting as
James seems to be.

“Because you are in need,” she tells him.
“And I get so few visitors.”

“Aren’t you afraid of being alone with three
strangers all by yourself?” he asks her.

Laughing, she says, “No. I fear not that you
will harm me.” She glances over to where Miko is sleeping and says,
“If you will but wake up your friend there, we can be going.”

Jiron says, “James?” and then indicates with
a nod of his head that he wants to talk with him away from her.

When James comes over, he says, “What?”

“Can we trust her?” he says. “It seems odd
for a woman to be all alone in these parts, wouldn’t you
think?”

“I don’t get any ill feelings from her,”
James says. “Besides, she’s magical in nature, possibly a magic
user of some kind.”

“How can you tell?” he asks, and then says,
“Oh, right.”

“She’s offered us food and shelter,” James
tells him. “I say we take her up on it.”

“Why?” he counters.

“I don’t know,” he admits. “I just feel like
we can trust her.”

From the camp, they hear Miko cry out when
he wakes up and sees her there standing near him.

Coming back over, they reassure him all is
okay and make another round of introductions. When they tell him of
her offer, he looks dubious at best.

“I’m going,” James says as he looks at the
other two. “Who’s with me?”

Reluctantly, they agree to come and they all
pile into the boat. Once they’re all situated, she begins her song
again and the boat pulls itself off the beach and turns to head
back toward the island.

Miko gasps at the boat moving all by itself,
but then settles down when no one else seems to be upset by it. Her
song is soothing and it seems to melt all their worry and cares
away.

The boat makes the crossing in quick time
and they can soon make out a wooden cabin on the island, sitting a
couple hundred feet back from the water’s edge. A soft light shines
out of the window by the front door. Down at the edge of the water
lies a dock of sorts and the boat is heading straight for it.

Jiron takes the rope lying in the bottom of
the boat, and when they near the dock, jumps out and secures the
boat.

He holds out his hand to Lyria who takes it
as she steps out of the boat, and receives a smile of gratitude.
Then he helps James out of the boat, whose leg makes it difficult
for him. Miko hops out once James is securely on the dock and then
they follow her as she leads them up toward the house. Along the
way she says, “This is my home, you are welcome to stay here as
long as you like.”

Coming to the front door, she opens it and
precedes them inside. A small house, with but two rooms, the main
front room and a back bedroom separated by a door. She goes over to
the fireplace and coaxes the remaining coals there to life, quickly
getting a fair sized blaze.

James and the rest take seats at the table
while she’s getting the fire going.

“Why live so far away from everyone?” Miko
asks once she’s done with the fire.

“I like solitude,” she tells him as she
comes over and takes a seat at the table. “It provides me with
quiet for thinking and reflection. I do get some visitors, but none
for some time now.”

“How did you know we were there?” he
asks.

James gives him an annoying look for asking
so many questions.

She sees his look to Miko and says, “I don’t
mind, really. After all, how are we to learn if we don’t ask?”
Turning back to Miko, she says, “I saw your fire.”

“Do you invite everyone to your home who
camps on the shores of your lake?” Jiron asks.

“Good heavens, no,” she says to him with a
laugh. She gives them each a searching look before continuing,
“Actually, I’ve been waiting for someone.”