Tides of Faith: Travail of The Dark Mage Book Two (40 page)

Jira laid sleepily against her
father’s side. With eyes half-lidded she could see the campfire
burning in the distance. She didn’t like sitting out in the dark
and cold, though she did have her blanket wrapped snuggly about
her.

She moved slightly to adjust an
uncomfortable position and felt her father’s arm snake around her
shoulder.

“Are you okay?” he
whispered.

“I wish we were by the
fire.”

“I know. So do I.”

Sleep had come and gone twice before
she felt her father move from her side and stand. The sound of
approaching hoof beats banished all traces of sleep.

“Stay here, Jira.”

She could feel more than see her
father looking down at her.

“I will.”

Then he was gone.

As the riders approached, she pulled
her blanket tighter about her shoulders. Before long, over a dozen
riders entered the fringe of campfire light.

Scar stood as the riders slowed and
came to a stop. His gaze quickly swept over the eight swordsmen and
six crossbowmen arrayed behind an older soldier bearing a
battle-worn countenance that had to be the leader. To the leader’s
right rode a robed man of youthful appearance; the mage.

Moving more to the leader’s left, Scar
stepped forward and said, “Good evening, gentlemen.” Out of the
corner of his eye, he saw Potbelly edging to the right…and the
mage.

Behind Scar nearer to the fire lay
James, with Miko, his two priests, Kip and Azhan. Somewhere out in
the darkness Tinok, Shorty and Jiron should be moving into
position.

With features set in perpetual
disapproval, the leader nodded. “And to you.” His eyes flicked to
those by the fire and settled upon the prone figure of
James.

“What business brings you into the
Empire?”

“Looking for talent, my friend,” Scar
replied. “Men looking to make their fortune with blade, knife or
knuckle.”

“Knuckle?”

Scar nodded. “I run a specialized
entertainment venture where patrons come to watch demonstrations of
skill and daring in the field of combat. It’s called The Pits,
maybe you have heard of it?”

The leader failed to respond. He was
about to speak when the robed mage next to him suddenly exclaimed,
“Azhan!”

Potbelly brought the small pipe
secreted in his hand up to his lips and blew.

The mage plucked a small dart from the
skin of his neck. A moment later, he slumped forward against his
horse’s neck.

Chaos erupted among the crossbowmen.
The two in the middle fell from Shorty’s knives. Jiron struck the
horses of the two on the left and their rearing threw the riders’
shots wide. Then grabbing the cloak of one, he pulled him to the
ground. A quick stab and it was over. Another of Shorty’s knives
took the other and to the right, Tinok’s knives flashed and the
remaining two crossbowmen fell lifeless. Not a crossbow bolt had
found a mark.

The leader reached over to his mage
and grabbed him by the robe. Shouting something in Empire, he
pulled the boy up and gazed into the mage’s glassy eyes. Not seeing
a response, he let him go.

He shouted to his men as he drew his
sword. Knives continued flying from the darkness and men
fell.

Tinok and Jiron were now among the
soldiers. Their knives flickered in the firelight as blades found
marks. Potbelly joined them. In less than a minute, the leader had
lost all but two men.

Turning his horse, he aimed straight
for Scar and charged. His two men followed.

Scar’s two swords were held at the
ready as the three riders came for him.

Shorty took out one before the leader
could close with Scar. Not even slowing, the leader hacked down and
Scar easily deflected the attack to the side with one
sword.

As the leader raced by, Scar struck
out with his other and scored along his side. Though blood flowed
freely, the leader continued racing out into the night.

A thud behind him caused him to turn
to see Potbelly standing over the last of the soldiers.

“Shorty!”

“I’m out, Jiron.”

“Damn! He’s getting away.”

He turned to Miko.

Miko shook his head. “We are not
battle mages. That is not where our power lies.”

Restraining the curse threatening to
be unleashed upon the High Priest, he turned back to where the
night had swallowed the leader. The sound of hoof beats faded into
the night.

Suddenly, the screaming of a horse
broke the night followed by the sound of thrashing.

“I slowed him down for
you.”

Jiron turned to see Azhan looking at
him. Giving him a questioning glance, he nodded and was about to
head out when he saw Tinok disappear into the night.

“Thanks.”

As Jiron turned to assess the battle’s
aftermath, Azhan said, “The mage is a friend. Please spare his
life.”

Jiron saw the pleading upon the young
mage’s face. “I can’t let an enemy mage live.” He then nodded over
to where James lay unconscious. “Not while the Dark Mage remains as
he is.”

“I will vouch for him.”

“You forget yourself, Azhan. You are
only alive because the Dark Mage has said it is to be so. You can
vouch for no one.” Removing his knife, Jiron walked toward where
the enemy mage lay upon the ground, his intent to end his life
crystal clear.

Azhan watched as Jiron walked toward
one of the few friends he had in this world. Glancing anxiously to
the Dark Mage, hoping beyond hope for his master to awaken and
forestall the murder of Hikai. But such was not to be.

Fear for his friend warred with fear
for what the Dark Mage would do should he intervene. With every
step Jiron took, the chance that Hikai would be spared diminished.
When Jiron stopped and reached down to take hold of Hikai’s hair so
as to raise his chin for a clean strike, Azhan knew that though he
may well die in ways most unpleasant, he knew also that he could
not do nothing and allow his friend to die.

Summoning magic to him, he slammed a
blast of air into Jiron. At the same time, he sprinted forward. So
unexpected was his act that Jiron was knocked ten feet
backward.

Air swirled around him as he ran. A
knife blown off course by the gale sailed before his face. Dust
filled the air as he closed the distance to his friend. Then he
leapt forward.

Pain erupted in his thigh as he hit
the ground next to Hikai. Maintaining concentration as had been
drilled into him time and again by harsh masters, he kept the
magic. Now sending it down, he caused the ground to shake as earth
rose around them. Upward it rose to thrice the height of a man,
then he brought the upper edges together until he and Hikai were
safely cocooned.

It was at that point that he relaxed.
A knife hilt protruded from his thigh and his first impulse was to
remove it. But first he tore a strip of cloth from the bottom of
his shirt. Then with teeth gritted, he pulled the blade from his
leg. Immediately, blood gushed forth. He used the strip of cloth to
bind the wound closed.

There was little more than room enough
to move in his earthen cocoon. Air was going to be a problem, but
as long as he held the magic, he could tell where those outside
were, then it was a simple matter to form a small opening on the
opposite side to allow fresh air in.

Hikai remained out. All he could do
now is lay back, relax, and pray his master awakened
soon.

“Do something!”

Jiron faced off with Miko at the side
of Azhan’s cocoon.

Miko remained calm. “And what would
you like me to do?”

Gesturing to the wall of earth, Jiron
said, “Bring this down so we can get in there.”

“I and my priests can only act in ways
that would cause harm to another when it would prevent hurt to
either ourselves, or others. I sense no threat here. And should we
bring this down, harm would befall those within.”

“No threat?” exclaimed Tinok. Coming
to stand by Jiron, the knifer glared at Miko. “How about two enemy
mages that would sooner kill us than look at us?”

“I do not believe they will seek our
ruination.”

Tinok cursed and spat on the
ground.

“We can’t just leave them in there,”
Scar added. “Nor would it be advisable for us to remain here until
James awakens so he can deal with it.”

Shorty took a knife’s hilt and scraped
a furrow in the side of the cocoon only to watch the dirt shift and
remove the knifer’s handiwork.

After Azhan sealed himself within the
earth mound with the other mage, they had tried digging into it.
Each time, the dirt would reform and all their effort came to
naught.

“I think we should stay.”

All eyes turned to Kip.

“Why is that, young
novice?”

Kip met Miko’s gaze. He felt slightly
unnerved being the center of attention. He cleared his throat
nervously then said, “Ever since we left the temple, the one thing
above all else that we have striven for was to keep the Dark Mage’s
presence a secret.” He gestured to the earthen cocoon. “If we leave
here without dealing with this, then his presence will assuredly
become known.

“Azhan said the only patrol in this
area was this one, so we should have time before another shows up
to investigate. They have no water, no food, and the sun is going
to make it feel like an oven on the inside before much
longer.”

“He does have a point,” agreed Shorty.
“I know I would feel better if we waited until James came out of it
before going deeper into the Empire.”

“We don’t know if he’s right,” argued
Scar. “As far as we know, another is about to appear at any
moment.”

“Then we take them out as we did the
two before,” Potbelly said. “I don’t foresee a problem remaining
here a day or two longer.”

Miko nodded. “I am certain it would
speed his recovery if travel could be postponed.”

Jiron looked less than satisfied with
the current state of events. But seeing no alternative other than
leaving the two mages behind, he finally nodded. “We
stay.”

To Scar he said, “I want you and
Potbelly to keep an eye on…” he pointed to the earthen cocoon,
“this. Should an opening present itself, hit ‘em with
darts.”

“You got it,” the Pit Master
replied.

When the sun was high in the sky on
the third day, James opened his eyes.

“Uncle?”

Head aching like a party of demons
dancing on the inside, he turned to see Jira staring at him with
wide eyes.

“Wh…what happened?”

“Father!” she exclaimed. “Uncle’s
awake!”

“Praise the gods,” Jiron said as he
came to kneel by his friend’s side. “Thought you would never
awaken.”

James squinted against the glare and
used his arm to shield his eyes. His efforts did little to diminish
the pain.

“How bad was it?”

Scar laughed. “Tapu is gone, my
friend. You nearly took us with it when it blew.”

Miko nodded. Kneeling next to James,
he laid his hand upon his forehead and the pain subsided to a more
tolerable level. “If not for the quick thinking of your uh, slave,
only you and I would have survived.”

“Sla…, oh, you mean Azhan.”

Again, Miko nodded.

James glanced around at the faces
staring at him but failed to see the young mage. “Where is
he?”

Jiron pointed off to the left.
“There.”

At first, James couldn’t make out
exactly what it was that he saw. Then the massive cocoon grew to
clarity.

“He’s in there with another mage,”
Jiron explained. “Claimed he was a friend. A patrol came by and we
took them out. But before the mage could be dealt with, Azhan
attacked and raised the ground to form that.”

“Azhan attacked? With
magic?”

Jiron nodded. “He hit me with a gust
of wind.”

Miko held out a water flask and James
drank greedily, then sat up. The motion restored some of his
headache, but it remained tolerable. “How long has he been in
there?”

“A little over two days,” answered
Scar. “Might be dead for all we know.”

“No,” Shorty replied. He took his
knife and again made a furrow in the side of the cocoon. Even
before he finished, it began filling itself in. “He’s still
alive.”

“And
using magic,” Tinok asserted. “You forbade him the use of
magic.”

“If he hadn’t used magic during the
blast,” argued Father Vickor, “none of us would be here. Also, we
practically forced him to use magic a second time to create a
bridge so we could remove the Reverend Father and the Dark Mage
from their precarious perch. He didn’t want to, but we argued him
into it.”

James took another long drink of water
as he listened.