Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (39 page)

“He’s going to try to find the force that
was behind us,” explains Jiron.

Interested, Fifer comes over and watches as
the surface of the pool begins to shimmer and suddenly focuses on
an aerial view of them.

James scrolls the image westward and it
isn’t long before they see the large force of foot soldiers moving
to the northeast. The image suddenly moves further to the northeast
and they see Lord Pytherian where he’s stopped at the edge of a
forest taking a short break. If the army continues on its present
course, they’ll run right into him.

The image disappears as James stands up and
says, “It looks like they’re moving straight for Lord Pytherian.”
He glances to the others gathered around him and continues, “We’ll
need to convince that army to come this way.”

“How?” Jiron asks.

“We’ll attack,” he states.

“You’ve got to be kidding, right?” Fifer
says in disbelief. “The four of us, against that?”

“I’m not saying that we’ll wade in with guns
ablazing, no,” he tells him. “But, we could convince them to alter
their course enough to bypass Lord Pytherian. Or at least slow
their progress down.”

“How?” Jiron asks, intrigued at the
prospect.

“Come close enough so they’ll send someone
to investigate us,” he explains. “Then take them out. I’ll use
magic so if there’s any mages within the group, they’ll know I’m
here. That should give them reason enough to come after us.”

“You going to be up to that?” Jiron asks
him.

Shrugging, he replies, “It’s an hour or so
before we get to them, I should be okay for a little magic by then.
Besides, if we don’t turn them this way, Lord Pytherian may not be
able to get safely through the lines. He’ll be rushed to make it
through with this force nipping on his heals and that could prove
disastrous for him.”

“Then let’s get moving,” Jiron says as he
walks over toward where the horses are picketed. Mounting, he waits
while the others get up on their horses and then leads them along a
route which should intersect with the route the army is taking.

Once they’ve left the hills behind, it isn’t
long before they see the dust on the horizon the army kicks up as
it marches. “Let’s maintain this distance,” James says after
they’ve moved a little closer to them. “We’ll just move along
parallel with them until they take notice.”

Keeping the Empire’s forces in sight, they
maintain a leisurely pace. Their force is primarily foot with some
cavalry mixed in. It takes a full ten minutes before the army
finally realizes they’re there. Suddenly, they hear a horn blast
and six horsemen break off from the main group as they gallop
toward them.

“Seems we finally got their attention,”
Jiron states.

“Took them long enough,” replies Fifer. “I
thought we’d have to holler over to them to let them know we were
even here.” Jiron gives out with a bark of laughter at that.

“Look,” Miko says, “the foot soldiers are
beginning to move in this direction.”

“This might just work,” says James. He waits
for a minute or two to allow the riders to come closer before he
releases the magic.

Crumph!

The ground beneath the riders explodes
upward, creating a large dust cloud. When the dust cloud
dissipates, they find all six riders lying broken and still amidst
their dead steeds.

More horns sound from within the host and
suddenly the bulk of the riders break into a gallop northward as
the foot turn and begin moving directly toward them.

“Where are they going?” asks Miko as the
riders move out of sight to the north.

“Most likely trying to cut us off so the
foot will have a chance to catch up with us,” replies James.

“But aren’t they worried about you doing
more spells against them?” he asks.

He begins to feel the prickling sensation of
magic and says, “They have a mage with them, and if he’s been
following all that I’ve done, he should realize I haven’t much left
in me.”

“Oh,” grunts Miko.

“Shouldn’t we be moving now?” asks Fifer as
the foot soldiers begin closing the distance rapidly.

“Absolutely,” says Jiron as he turns back to
the east. They all break into a quick gallop, making sure not to
outrun the foot soldiers as they race for the mountains.

When they’re finally back among the hills,
they make sure to pass over a hill from time to time to allow the
pursuing army to keep track of their position. They continue this
strategy for another hour, managing to keep the army behind them at
a constant, yet safe, distance.

Suddenly from the north, horns begin
sounding. From behind them, horns can be heard answering them.
Topping a hill, they look to the north. James hears Fifer gasp
beside him when he sees a force of riders approaching, with some
foot soldiers mixed in. A force over twice the size they’d seen
break off from the pursuing army earlier. “I guess we know where
those riders had been going,” James says.

“Yeah, to get reinforcements,” adds
Jiron.

They watch as a large contingent of horse
and foot begin entering the hills from the north. Numbering over a
hundred horse and three times that number of foot, James realizes
their plan may have worked too well.

“No more piddlefarting around,” he says as
he turns his horse due east. “Let’s get the hell out of here!” The
others follow as he rides down off the hill and begins racing
through the hills.

They go no more than half a mile when a road
appears between them as it makes its way eastward. Coming onto the
road, they’re able to increase their speed as they fly toward the
mountains.

From behind them, they continue to hear the
horns of the two armies calling to one another. Scouts can be seen
behind them from time to time as they crest hills in order to
better direct the pursuing armies.

Up ahead of them in the road is a cart drawn
by two mules, making its way toward them. Without stopping, they
swing around it and continue down the road. The driver glances over
his shoulder at them as they quickly disappear around the next
hill. When he turns back, he’s startled to see the hills beginning
to swarm with the Empire’s forces as they close in.

“Maybe this idea wasn’t so smart!” James
hollers over to Jiron as they race along the road.

“It worked though,” he replies. “They’re
definitely not heading toward Lord Pytherian now.”

Behind them, they can see dozens of riders
upon the road in pursuit. To the north, horns can still be heard as
they call to those in hills to the west. The cavalry must be pacing
them as they keep them bottled up for the foot soldiers.

The hills begin to grow steadily steeper
until they finally meld into the mountains. The road now winds its
way between two steep sides of the mountain, with no way to go now
but forward.

Turning a corner, they come to a junction,
either straight ahead along the main road, or they can follow a
smaller one that winds steeply up the mountain to their right.
Deciding on speed, they continue to follow the road which continues
straight ahead.

Ten more minutes pass when suddenly a small
village appears ahead of them. They pause momentarily at the edge
of the village to determine where to go. The villagers watch them
but make no move to approach.

The village is nestled in among the sides of
the mountain, the only way to go now is to follow the road as it
leaves the village to the south. With the horns behind them getting
louder, they kick their tired horses into a gallop as they race
through town to the southern road.

From where it exits the village, the road
begins to dwindle in size as it begins to curve to the right.
Further down, the road, soon narrows into a small path with ruts
made from the many wagon wheels that have rolled through here.
They’re forced to slow their horses as the footing begins to get
uneven with all the ruts and they run the risk of a misstep.

The horns still sound behind them, almost as
if they’re trying to drive them forward. Whether they are or not,
they no longer have any choice but to go on.

Suddenly, the road ahead of them enters a
box canyon with steep sides. At the end of the road is a mine
entrance, a dead end.

“Now what?” asks Fifer, dismay in his voice.
The others pause as they consider what to do.

From the mine entrance, several men walk out
holding picks and shovels, eyeing them suspiciously. They don’t
look very friendly as they walk toward them. The one in the lead
begins shouting something to James and the others as he brandishes
his pickaxe.

On the road behind them, they hear the
clatter of horses as the riders who’ve been herding them come into
view. “Into the mine!” James hollers as he kicks his horse in
motion and rides into the lead miner, knocking him out of the
way.

The others follow him as they ride through
the rest of the miners who are attempting to stop them by striking
out with their picks and shovels. But their attacks are easily
deflected by the seasoned fighters and are soon left behind.

Upon reaching the mine entrance, they
quickly dismount and are faced with more miners coming out of the
mine. Jiron takes the lead and moves to intercept them. One of the
miners swings his pick at Jiron who grabs the handle and kicks out
with his foot, connecting with the man’s chest. The miner falls
backward into his fellows, knocking them off balance.

Fifer joins him and quickly engages a miner
with a shovel. Striking with his sword, he lops off the head of the
man’s shovel. The miners quickly realize they’re hopelessly
outclassed and break away, running down the road away from the
mine, toward the approaching riders.

“Move!” cries James as they race into the
mine entrance. Upon gaining the safety of the mine, he turns to
look back at the riders coming up the road. They’re slowing down
and finally stop when they reach the miners. The cavalry officer
bends over and asks a question and one of the miners replies,
pointing toward them.

The officer barks out an order and the
miners move further away from the mine as the riders move
closer.

From behind him, he can hear Jiron and Fifer
as they scuffle with more miners who were still within the mine.
Looking back, he sees the last of three miners fall to the ground
as Fifer pulls his sword out from the man’s chest. Giving Miko a
nudge, they move further back into the mine until its darkness
completely hides them from those outside.

When the riders reach the mine entrance, the
officer stares into the mine and shouts something, most likely
ordering them to come out.

In reply, a rock flies out of the mine and
strikes the lead rider in the chest, exploding out the back. As the
officer falls off his horse, total pandemonium erupts among the
riders. One of them charges the mine entrance only to fall as
another rock flies out and takes him through the chest. The rest of
the riders turn their horses and move a hundred feet down the road
away from the mine where they huddle together as they talk among
themselves.

James glances at the others and says,
“They’ll probably wait until that mage shows up before doing
anything else.”

“I think so too,” responds Jiron. Then he
glances at James and asks, “There’s no way we’re going to make it
out of here, is there?”

James shakes his head and says, “Doesn’t
look that way.”

“Maybe not,” says Miko.

They all turn to him as he continues, “Back
when I was in the mines, I saw shafts that they’d dug up to the
surface periodically to allow fresh air in for us. If this mine has
those too, then we could maybe use one to get out.”

“Anyone have a candle or torch?” James asks,
suddenly remembering a scene from the movie Rambo.

“What do you want that for?” questions
Jiron.

When they all shake their head no, he looks
around and finds a narrow piece of broken wood about two and half
feet long. He goes back and removes a shirt from one of the dead
miners and wraps it around the wood. Motioning for everyone to move
back away from the entrance, he concentrates and the cloth bursts
into flame.

From outside the mine, they hear the talking
increase as they see the makeshift torch come to life. Some move
forward and James throws another stone out, this time trying not to
kill. The stone strikes a man who’s knocked backward and the rest
who were moving forward come to a stop.

Seeing that they’re not in any immediate
threat of being rushed, James holds the torch steady and watches as
the flame is fanned by a breeze moving toward the rear of the mine.
Looking to Miko, he says, “You may be right.”

Miko breaks into a smile, relieved to both
have helped him and that they might be able to get out.

Holding the torch out in front of him, James
moves further back into the mine. They don’t get far before the
mine branches to the left or right. He steps down each branch and
pauses a moment to watch the flame of the torch. When he’s down the
left branch the flame flickers the most.

“It’s down this way,” he tells them. Walking
quickly, he moves further into the left tunnel.

Jiron looks back to the entrance and sees
the soldiers are tentatively moving closer. There appear to be more
out there, most likely both of the forces have met up. That means
somewhere out there is a mage as well.

He hurries to follow James as he attempts to
locate an air vent. “I think they’re starting to move toward the
entrance,” he tells James when he catches up with him.

“If they don’t move fast, we should be able
to get out of here,” he says, glancing back.

Jiron thinks this whole thing is doubtful,
but trusts in James. In the short time they’ve been together, he’s
managed to do some pretty impressive things.

The mine begins to get narrower and they
find tools and other implements scattered about. In one spot, they
come across a half filled ore wagon sitting to one side. They look
at the ore within but are unable to determine just what the miners
had been mining.