Trail of the Gods: The Morcyth Saga Book Four (38 page)

Putting his arm under James’ for support,
Jiron helps him as they begin climbing the rest of the way to the
top. Aleya follows behind them, arrow knocked in her bow, more for
comfort than actually thinking it will be useful in this wind.

She grabs Jiron’s shirt and asks, “What is
going on?”

Over his shoulder, he yells to be heard over
the wind, “We got a Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li after us!”

“What’s that?” she asks, never having heard
of one.

“Tell you later,” he yells.

As they’re moving further up the steps,
James has been trying to determine which way the polarity for the
lightning is going. He finally believes he has it figured out when
the tingling spikes yet again.

Concentrating on a point twenty yards to the
side, he releases the magic and creates a severe polarity
discrepancy.

Flash! Boom!

Again, the lightning flares from the sky.
The bolt strikes the spot where James had increased the polarity to
attract it. As the concussion knocks him down, a memory comes to
him of a time back in school in Miss Anderson’s Weather and Climate
class when Dave had complained about having to learn about
polarities. He can still hear him moaning,
‘When am I ever going
to need this stuff anyway?’

Picking themselves back up, James glances
back to the mass of men swarming up the stairs. He knows the
warrior priest is down there with them and hopes he doesn’t figure
out how James is redirecting the lightning.
You’re going to have
to do better than that!

Jiron again lends a shoulder as they once
more press for the top. The stairs here for the last hundred feet
are ascending up an almost vertical slope. The sides are almost
sheer, the drop below easily over a thousand feet.

Chink!

Something strikes the steps near James’
foot. “Above us!” he hears Aleya cry out.

At the top of the stairs, a line of
crossbowmen stand arrayed, their crossbows aimed at them. Another
crossbow bolt strikes the cliff face right next to Jiron.
Fortunately the whipping of the wind is making it all but
impossible for them to maintain any sort of accuracy.

Aleya raises her bow and fires, but the wind
is blowing too hard for it to maintain a true path and her arrow is
blown off course. The crossbowmen above them have the wind going
their way, so even if they have limited accuracy, they at least
have the added speed and distance.

As one, James watches them raise their
crossbows to fire. Releasing the magic, he creates a barrier to
ward off the bolts just as another spike in the tingling sensation
occurs. Dividing his attention, he tries to maintain the barrier as
they release their bolts while at the same time creating another
disparity in the polarity to draw off the lightning.

Flash! Boom!

The lightning strikes the ridgeline further
away than the last time, yet the concussion still manages to knock
Aleya off her feet.

As the bolts fly toward them, James
maintains the barrier. Aleya looks at the barrage of bolts coming
their way, and even though the wind will reduce their accuracy,
that many on the way can’t be anything but bad. Seeing her death
coming toward her, she watches in shock as they seem to strike
something and are deflected away.

Jiron looks at the crossbowmen above them
who’re raining down bolts as fast as they can load them. Then he
glances below him where the soldiers there have already reached the
first rest stop and are closing the distance rapidly to the
second.

He turns to James and yells over the roar of
the wind, “Can you distract those on top for a moment or two?”

Aleya overhears him and asks, “How can he do
that?”

Ignoring her, James says, “Maybe. It’s all I
can do just to keep deflecting the lightning and maintain the
barrier. What do you plan to do?”

Leaning close so he can hear, Jiron lays out
his plan.

James looks at him and nods, “I think I can
help with that, just give me a moment.”

“Okay,” says Jiron. Then looking down at the
men coming up the stairs he says, “But don’t take too long.”
Turning to Aleya, he says, “Stay with him. Keep him safe, he’s our
only hope.”

“What do you mean?” she cries out.

“He’s a mage!” he explains.

Her eyes widen as they look anew at James.
Nodding her head, she takes out her knife and comes to stand near
him.

When Jiron sees the nod from James, he
begins moving to the edge of the stairs.

Flash! Boom!
Flash! Boom!
Flash! Boom!

Three consecutive bolts of lightning strike
the ridgeline, throwing the crossbowmen to the ground. A scream of
terror can be heard as one of them is knocked off the ridge and
falls past them on his way to the bottom.

Jiron begins climbing out onto the sheer
cliff face, moving quickly with hand and foot holds. He steadily
makes his way out from the stairs, moving precariously as he tests
each grip before continuing on.

Another tingling spike and James creates yet
another polarity disparity and the bolt strikes further up the
stairs. The concussion rocks them and he looks in fear at Jiron
who’s hanging a thousand feet above the valley floor.

When the bolt hit, he lost one handhold and
had hung there fearing he’d lose the other but had managed to
regain his lost handhold. Taking only a moment to calm his shaking
nerves, he again begins moving further out along the cliff face. A
quick glance back at the stairs shows James on the ground with
Aleya standing protectively over him. Bolts are cascading around
them as they strike the barrier before being deflected away.

Moving quickly, he works his way further
along the cliff face away from the stairs. The strong gusts of wind
which seem to almost be slamming into him make his grips upon the
cliff precarious at best. When he finally judges that he’s gone far
enough, he stops his lateral movement and begins climbing up,
hoping to gain the top of the ridge behind the crossbowmen.

Flash! Boom!

Another bolt of lightning flashes down and
strikes the cliff face further away from him than the last one,
this time not causing him to lose his grip. Glancing down a moment,
he sees the soldiers coming up the stairs have already reached the
second rest stop, halfway to where James lies exposed on the steps
under the barrage of bolts.

The number of crossbowmen above them had
been reduced by half when the bolts of lightning struck in their
midst, only eight now remain. Two of the crossbowmen suddenly lay
their crossbows down and draw their swords as they begin coming
down the stairs toward James and Aleya. Their fellow crossbowmen
continue firing bolts.

Aleya replaces her knife in her belt when
she sees them beginning to come down the stairs toward her.
Removing her bow from where it’s slung across her back, she places
an arrow to the string and takes aim at the two soldiers
approaching. Even with the wind whipping as hard as it is, if they
come close enough, she’s not likely to miss.

Seeing her there with bow in hand causes
them to pause. One of them runs back up to the top and returns with
two shields, one of which he gives to his partner. Holding the
shields out before them, they once more progress toward James and
Aleya.

James is panting now, the exertion of
maintaining the barrier as well as redirecting the lightning is
taking its toll. He had already been bordering on exhaustion from
the climb, and all the magic he’s had to do since is bringing him
to the brink of unconsciousness.

Another spike and he increases the polarity
disparity further up the stairs near where the two soldiers are
coming down toward them.

Flash! Boom!

The lightning strikes near them and the
concussion of it throws one from the stairs as he falls screaming
to his death below. The other is thrown off his feet and begins
tumbling down the stairs toward where Aleya waits with her bow.
When he comes within range, she lets loose her arrow and watches as
it flies straight toward him, striking him in the side. Before he
has a chance to recover, she lets loose with another, taking him
full on in the back, severing the spinal column. With a cry, he
comes to a stop and she can hear his moans and wailing from where
he lies on the steps. Paralyzed, all he can do is lie there as his
lifeblood slowly drains from him. After several minutes, his cries
cease and all that can be heard is the wind whipping the side of
the ridge.

As Jiron reaches the top of the ridge, the
ruins of the old watchtower loom above him. Only a few feet of
level ground separates the walls of the tower and the edge. Peering
over the top, he finds no one near. They’re all over by the top of
the stairs, raining bolts down upon James and Aleya.

Pulling himself up, he takes but a moment to
assess the situation before drawing his knives and advancing upon
the five remaining crossbowmen.

Flash! Boom!

Another bolt strikes further down the ridge
face as he comes up behind the men. He pushes two screaming over
the side before engaging with the third man. A quick strike drops
him to the ground, the last two crossbowmen turn to see him upon
them.

A bolt flies within inches of his face as
one quickly takes aim and releases. Throwing their crossbows to the
ground, the soldiers draw their swords and advance upon him. The
first one strikes out as the second moves to flank him.

Crossing his knives, Jiron grabs the
descending sword between them and kicks out at the soldier’s groin.
Twisting the sword at the same time as his foot connects causes his
opponent to lose his grip on the sword. A quick twist with his
knives and the sword goes flying over the side of the cliff.

The second man who was flanking him, screams
a war cry as he hacks down with an overhand strike. Twisting to the
side, he narrowly avoids being cleaved in two. As he twists, he
strikes out at the first man and catches him in the shoulder with
one knife before bumping him with his shoulder.

Crying out from the pain erupting in his
shoulder, the soldier stumbles back off balance and goes over the
cliff. His scream echoes as Jiron turns to face the final
attacker.

Having missed with his first strike, the man
again tries to bull his way through Jiron’s defenses with brute
strength. Slashing at him with both hands gripping his sword, he
knocks one of Jiron’s knives to the ground as Jiron tries to
deflect the soldier’s attack.

Barely deflecting the strike at the cost of
one of his knives, Jiron lashes out with his foot and catches the
soldier in the chest, knocking him backward. Following him, Jiron
grabs the man’s hand that’s wielding the sword and prevents him
from being able to attack.

He knees the man in the stomach hard,
causing him to bend over and then follows through with another knee
to the face. The soldier’s head snaps back as blood begins to
cascade from his now broken nose.

Jiron pauses a moment and watches as the man
staggers back a few feet. He wobbles a moment before falling
backward to the ground.

Coming over to where the man lies prone on
the ground, he sees that his neck is bent at a crooked angle and
his eyes are staring off at nothing. Nudging him with his foot to
make sure he’s dead, he then goes over and retrieves his knife
before moving to the top of the stairs.

Aleya and James are already on their way up.
He’s leaning heavily upon her as they make it up one step at a
time.

Flash! Boom!

Another bolt of lightning strikes the cliff
face near them, knocking them to their knees. Below them the
soldiers have now reached the third rest area and are pushing
upward quickly.

Taking the steps two at a time, Jiron comes
down and helps Aleya in aiding James the rest of the way to the
top. “Come on!” he hollers over the wind. “We’ve got to hurry!”

Flash! Boom!
Flash! Boom!

Two quick bolts strike near and he can hear
an audible groan from James as he works to deflect them. Falling to
their knees from the concussion of the blasts, Jiron looks to James
and sees that his face is pale and drawn from the effort to keep
them safe. Getting back to his feet, he picks him up and carries
James the remaining few steps to the top.

“Horses!” Aleya hollers, pointing over to
behind the ruined watchtower.

The crossbowmen’s horses are tied in a
group. “Thank god!” he exclaims as he carries James over to them.
He suddenly comes to a stop as he remembers how James had stopped
Abula-Mazki back at the catacombs.

Setting him down, he hollers, “James!”

Eyes opening, he’s surprised at how
bloodshot they are. “Remember back at the catacombs?” he asks.
“Remember how you brought them down on top of Abula-Mazki?” Getting
a nod from him, he continues, “Can you do the same thing here?”

A weak, “Maybe,” comes from him as he again
closes his eyes. “Get us as far away from the edge as you can.”
That last statement almost too soft to be heard over the roar of
the wind.

“Go get us some horses and meet us over
there,” he says to Aleya as he indicates a spot far from the edge.
As she nods and moves to comply, he yells, “And hurry!”

Lifting James up, he begins carrying him far
from the edge of the cliff face. Aleya soon joins them with four
horses. “We’re away from the edge,” he tells James as he lays him
on the ground. A brief nod is all the response he gets.

Taking two of the horses’ reins, he says to
Aleya, “Hold onto them tight. No matter what happens, don’t let
go!”

“Why?” she asks. “What’s going to
happen?”

Before Jiron has a chance to reply, the
ground begins to shake and the horses start neighing as their eyes
roll with fear. “Hold them tight!” he cries. “We can’t let them
go!”

Several soldiers reach the top of the stairs
and are thrown to the ground as the cliff begins shaking. A loud
crack can be heard as the ground begins trembling even harder. Then
suddenly, three feet from where they stand with the horses, the
ground splits in two. A roar the likes neither of them have ever
heard before comes from all around them as the gap grows wider,
slowly at first and then more rapidly.