Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (40 page)

“It’s not iron ore,” Miko says when he gets
close enough to the wagon to see its contents.

“Are you sure?” Fifer asks.

Grimly, he replies, “Very.”

They move on, the torch still indicating a
breeze moving toward the back of the mine. Suddenly, a crossbow
bolt strikes the wall right next to James. He whirls around, points
the torch behind them and lets the magic flow.

A cone of fire shoots from the end of the
torch like a flame thrower, Jiron has to dive out of the way as the
flame sizzles past. It expands as it goes until it’s wide enough to
touch the sides of the mine. Screams can be heard from the soldiers
who’re caught in the fire as their hair and clothes burst into
flame. As quickly as the cone of fire started, it stops.

Back down the tunnel, they can see several
men running away, their clothes and hair aflame. As an added
concern, some of the support beams used to keep the ceiling from
caving in have caught fire as well.

Turning back, James says, “We better
hurry.”

Fifer gazes at James, awe in his eyes as
well as a little bit of fear. “How did you do that?” he asks.

“Oxygen will burn, but it needs to be in a
purer form than what we breathe,” he explains. “I just changed
it.”

“Oh,” he says, not really understanding,
“right.”

James grins at him and continues down the
tunnel. He glances back occasionally and finds that the soldiers
have made no attempts to put out the fires consuming the old
timbers shoring up the mine.

Another branching and he determines the
breeze is continuing down the right, they turn to follow it.
Shortly after taking it, the unmistakable sounds of men chipping
stone away from the walls can be heard from up ahead.

A torch begins to be seen and soon three men
are visible in the light as they use pickaxes to remove the stone
from the wall. When they approach the miners, the men take notice
of them and at first take them for their fellows, but soon realize
their mistake.

“We don’t want to hurt you,” James says to
them, holding up his hands. “Do you understand?”

They begin talking in the Empire’s tongue,
not responding to what he just said.

“I guess they don’t,” says Jiron. He draws
his knives and advances upon them, Fifer joins him with his
longsword. Miko moves to join them but James stops him by grabbing
him by the arm. When he looks at him, James just shakes his head,
no.

As Jiron and Fifer approach the miners with
their weapons held in a threatening manner, they make sure to leave
open an avenue of retreat for them.

The miners stare in fright at them as they
approach. When they realize there’s a way to flee, they don’t even
hesitate as they throw down their picks and race past them to the
front of the mine.

After they’ve disappeared down the mine,
Jiron moves to the wall where they were mining and closely examines
the stone. He takes the torch from the wall and holds it close.
“Silver,” he announces, pointing to a silver vein. “They’re mining
silver.”

“Too bad we can’t take some with us,” Fifer
says, longingly.

“Come on,” James says to them, “we need to
get out of here.”

Moving further down the mine, they come to a
section where the breeze seems to intensify and suddenly the flame
of the torch looks as if it’s being sucked straight up. James looks
up to the ceiling and can see a dark hole extending upward. “I
think this is it,” he announces as he tosses the torch to the
ground.

“But how do we get up there?” Miko asks as
he looks up.

Jiron tosses his torch up into the hole and
the light illuminates a slanted narrow opening, about four foot
square, ten feet above their heads. “If we can get up there, it
looks like we can brace ourselves along the sides as we make our
way up,” he tells them.

He looks to Fifer and says, “Lift me up.” He
hands his torch to Miko.

Fifer comes over and cups his hands together
to give Jiron a step up. When Jiron puts his foot in his hands, he
lifts him up to the hole.

Jiron reaches up and is able to get a solid
handhold within the hole. Getting a solid purchase with his foot as
well, he begins to slowly move further up into the vent. They hear
his voice coming down to them, “It’s not too steep, the sides are
rough and give ample places to grip.”

They see him beginning to come back down but
stops when he gets to the edge. “James, can you make an orb for me
to use?” he asks.

A small circle of light forms in James’
hands and then begins to rise up to Jiron. It floats up until it
comes to rest on his right shoulder. “Thanks,” they hear him say as
he works his way back up the vent.

“Miko, you’re next,” James says as he cups
his hands to give him a boost.

“I’m not so sure about this,” he says. He
glances up to the vent, the light from the orb clearly showing the
opening.

“You can do it,” James says. “I’ll be right
behind you.”

Not looking too excited about the prospect
of the climb, he tosses the torch to the ground. Coming over, he
steps into James’ cupped hands and reaches for the opening as James
grunts with the effort to lift him. Jiron is there and takes his
hand as he maneuvers into the vent.

“Fifer, you better let James go next,”
Jiron’s voice comes down to them. “He’d never make it on his
own.”

Coming over to James, Fifer cups his hands.
James places his foot in Fifer’s cupped hands and reaches for the
opening as Fifer lifts him up.

Jiron has already moved further up the vent
and Miko is slowly following him. James grabs hold of outcroppings
and places his other foot in a crack in the wall. Lifting his foot
out of Fifer’s hands, he begins to follow Miko as he moves up into
the vent.

He goes another foot up before pausing. “How
are you going to get up?” he hollers back to Fifer.

“Not a problem,” he hears him say from
below. James hears several of the picks being moved around and then
all of a sudden, Fifer’s head appears at the opening. Using
handholds, he brings himself up into the vent.

From further toward the front of the mine,
they hear a loud rumbling and the vent begins to shake. “Cave-in!”
hollers Miko.

When the vent stops shaking, James says,
“The beams that caught fire must have given way.”

“Or they collapsed the mine entrance,
figuring to trap us here until we die,” suggests Fifer.

“It’s a possibility,” agrees James.

Moving slowly, they continue their way up
the vent. Each holds with hands while they find a solid purchase
for their feet and then brace their feet as they reach further up
for another handhold. Back and forth from handhold to foothold,
they continuously work their way up the vent. After what seems a
long time, the vent begins to move more vertical and the handholds
and toeholds become more difficult to manage.

Aaaah!

From up ahead, they hear Jiron exclaim
loudly. “What’s wrong!” hollers James.

He then hears Miko cry out as he loses his
grip and begins to slide down toward him. Falling for several feet,
he finally manages to grab a hold of an outcropping just in time to
stop himself before crashing into James.

“Sorry!” they hear Jiron holler from up
above.

James is wondering just what is going on
when a dead snake falls across his shoulders. Startled, he loses
his grip and begins sliding back down the vent. Trying to stop his
fall, all he manages to do is scrape some skin off his arms and
legs. Fifer sees him coming toward him and braces himself for the
impact. Holding tight to his handholds and having one good solid
purchase for one of his feet, he’s able to maintain his grip when
James slides into him.

“What’s going on?” Fifer hollers after James
once more has a secure purchase on the sides of the vent.

“A snake,” James says to him. “Jiron must’ve
killed one and dropped it on us.” Yelling up the shaft, James says,
“Warn us next time!”

From way up he can hear a chuckle come down
to him.

As Fifer maintains his hold, James begins to
work his way further up. A few minutes later they hear Jiron holler
down to them, “We got a problem!”

“What?” they all three ask at the same
time.

“I gotta pee!” Jiron says.

“Don’t you dare!” Miko yells back up to
him.

They hear his laughing as he replies, “Just
kidding, I couldn’t help myself.”

James begins laughing too, as does Fifer.
Even Miko begins chuckling at the thought.

They continue up for a while longer, just
how long James has no idea. The pain in his hands, arms and legs is
growing by the minute. The raw scrapes from his earlier slide down
the vent throbs with every handhold and toehold.

Finally, they hear Jiron holler down to
them, “I’ve reached the end! It’s not much further.”

Knowing the end is near gives them an added
burst of energy and they climb with renewed vigor.

Another ten minutes finds Fifer finally
climbing out of the hole and collapsing upon the ground under the
stars next to the others. Night had fallen since they entered the
mines and it was getting cold. They find themselves high in the
mountains, far off to the west below them, they can see the lights
from the village.

Around the village they can see hundreds of
fires from the soldiers camped in and around it.

They set up a watch schedule for the night,
James takes first watch. He manages to get a fire going, a small
one so as not to attract attention, so they won’t freeze during the
night. The others lie down and quickly fall asleep, the rigors of
the climb leaving them weak and tired.

When the sun begins to rise the next
morning, Jiron, who’s taken the last watch, allows everyone to
sleep in. He’s kept an eye on the activities of those in the town
below and it doesn’t look as if they’re coming in their direction.
Must think we’re still trapped in the mine.

Smiling in satisfaction, he returns to the
camp and sees James coming back from where he’d answered nature’s
call. Speaking softly so as not to wake the others, he says, “It
looks like they don’t even realize we’re out of the mines yet.”

“Good,” replies James. “Let’s hope they hold
to that belief for a long time.”

“We’re going to need something to eat pretty
soon,” he says. “There’s not much left.”

Nodding, James says, “Build up the fire a
little more, and use the driest wood you can and no leaves. That
way there shouldn’t be much smoke and from this distance it’s
unlikely they’d notice it.” He begins making for the edge of camp
as he continues, “I’ll see if I can’t scare up some rabbits or
something.”

Jiron gathers wood that looks fairly dry and
takes them back to camp. By the time James returns, he has the fire
going well enough to roast the three small animals he’s returned
with. They soon have them dressed and roasting over the flames.

The smell of the roasting meat wakens Miko,
just as James thought it might. He comes over and joins them. He
holds up his right arm and showing them the long scratches from his
wrist to his elbow as he gives Jiron an accusing glare.

“I said I was sorry,” Jiron apologizes.
“That snake startled me and when I killed it, it fell.”

By this time, Fifer had awakened as well and
had joined them by the fire. “Hope Lord Pytherian made it through
the lines by now,” he says.

“If he pushed on through the night, he’d be
pretty close,” agrees James. “At least from what Miller said.”

“What’s our plan?” Jiron asks James.

“Keep on as we have been,” he replies. “Once
we’re down off the mountain, try to nab us some horses and then
ride like hell to the north.”

“Won’t they know we’re not in the mountain
when we steal the horses?” Fifer asks.

Nodding, James says, “Most likely, but at
least we’ll be on open plains and should be able to keep ahead of
them. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to make it through the lines
before those at the lines know we’re there.” Turning to Fifer, he
adds, “That’s where you come in.”

“Me?” asks Fifer.

“Yes, you,” James tells him. “We don’t know
the area, you do. Also, if we run into Madoc patrols, it’ll be your
job to convince them not to attack.”

“What if they don’t know me?” he asks.

“Then we have a problem,” answers James.
“But let’s just hope that isn’t going to happen.” He checks the
roasting meat and finds it ready. Cutting off hunks, he distributes
them to the others. Wrapping his in a leaf to prevent his hands
from being burned, he walks over to the edge of the cliff and gazes
down at the village below.

The army seems to be pulling out. He can see
columns of men marching back along the road as they make their way
out from the mountains. A sizeable force still remains within the
village, probably on the off chance they somehow manage to make it
out of the mine.

After they’re done eating, James has them
dig up dirt to smother the fire, so it won’t produce a lot of smoke
and alert everyone to their position. With Jiron again in the lead,
they begin heading north as they make their way across the
mountains.

They stay in the higher elevations as best
they can, going down one side only to come up the next. Crossing
streams and forging through ravines, they spend the day pushing on
to the north. By the end of the day, they’ve managed to come a fair
distance, the mountain they started from earlier in the day is far
behind them.

Before the sun completely goes down, James
takes down a large deer like animal, giving them plenty of meat
that should last a couple of days. They cut strips off the carcass
and cook them so it’ll be ready to take with them when they leave
in the morning.

All through the night, the one on watch
continues to feed the fire and cook the meat. By morning, they have
most of the meat cooked, some of it cooked too much, but enough to
last them several days.