Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (44 page)

The squad leader points to James who’s
sitting crooked in the saddle and replies, “He just showed up sir,
and well, he blew up the bridge. He’s a mage!”

“A mage? And he just happened by when we
needed one the most?” the officer asks.

“Yes sir,” the squad leader replies.

Another rider comes up and salutes the
officer as he reports, “The enemy is falling back, sir. They’re
regrouping west of the river and aren’t showing any signs of
leaving.”

“Pull our men away from the river and have
them rest,” he tells him. “With the bridge gone, there’s no reason
for all the men to stay here. Have half go to Colton to aid in the
evacuation, I’ll stay here with the rest and keep an eye on our
friends over there.”

“Yes, sir,” the rider says as he salutes and
turns back to the men as he carries out his commander’s orders.

“You might want to keep all your men here,
sir,” Fifer says to him.

“Why?” replies the commander as he turns to
him. “And just who are you?”

“Fifer sir, with Miller’s band,” he
explains.

“Miller you say?” he says, thinking.

“Yes sir. We were with the alliance forces
near Lythylla when Lord Pytherian had been taken,” he adds.

Understanding suddenly dawns on him and he
states, “So, you are those guys.”

“Sir?” asks Fifer.

“Aren’t you the ones who helped Lord
Pytherian to escape from the enemy?” he asks.

“Well, yes sir,” he replies.

“He said you might be coming through the
lines,” he replies. “Also said to aid you in any way I could.”
Breaking into a laugh, he says, “Though it seems it turned out the
other way around.”

“Sir,” a man says from behind him.

Turning around, he says, “Yes?”

“All the wounded have been loaded onto
wagons and are making for Colton,” the soldier explains.

“Good,” replies the commander. “Send an
escort with them.”

Saluting, the man turns and begins to
arrange for the escort.

“Now, why should I keep the men here?” he
asks.

“To the south a force is coming around the
forest, where Captain Alerin is defending,” Fifer explains. “He is
currently harassing them, delaying their march. But they should be
here soon.”

Nodding, he signals another soldier who
comes over. “Send a rider to Captain Alerin, tell him the bridge
has been taken out and the enemy will likely be coming his way. May
be unable to send reinforcements, he’s to remain at his
discretion.”

Saluting, the soldier says, “Yes, sir.”

As the soldier moves to carry out his order,
the commander turns back to them and says, “The main battle will be
for Lythylla. The men will be needed there, that’s our first
priority.”

“Sir!” a soldier hollers over to him as he
points across the river. “The enemy is pulling out and moving
south!”

Looking over the river, they see the army
beginning to move south, keeping just out of range of Madoc’s
bowmen.

“Captain Alerin is soon going to have his
hands full,” he comments.

“Looks like it,” James says as he watches
the soldiers marching south. “What do you plan to do?” he asks the
commander.

“Follow them as they go south,” he says. “At
least until they reach the forest, then they’re Alerin’s problem.”
He turns and signals another of his aides and says, “Get the rest
ready to move, we got to keep them on that side of the river.”

The man salutes and then begins barking
orders as he gets the men ready to march.

A soldier brings the commander’s horse over
to him. Mounting, he turns to James and says, “When you see Lord
Pytherian again, tell him Commander Eathan will hold the southern
flank as long as possible. I’ll keep the bastards off them as they
march to Lythylla.”

“Good luck, commander,” James says to
him.

“You too, son,” replies Commander Eathan.
“Ride fast, the Empire has patrols on this side of the river but no
main forces north of here. So far, we’ve kept them on the west side
of the river but that’s not going to last for long.”

“Move out!” he hollers to his men as they
begin pacing the soldiers who are moving south on the other side of
the river.

James and the others watch as the commander
and his men move south, keeping the enemy from crossing over. Then
they turn their horses north, following the river. They don’t get
very far before they hear horns coming from the east. Answering
horns sound from the army across the river.

From the east marches the army that Captain
Alerin had been trying to slow down. “They’re going to catch
Commander Eathan and his men against the river!” he exclaims.

“They’ll be cut to bits!” cries out
Fifer.

They watch as the army moves toward the
Madoc defenders. Commander Eathan forms his men to meet the charge,
but from where James is sitting, he doesn’t stand a chance of
surviving it. The army across the river has stopped its southern
advance and its crossbowmen have come to the edge of the river
where they fire a volley at the men caught between them. The bolts
fall short, but if Commander Eathan is pressed backward much
further, they’ll soon be in range.

“We’ve got to help them!” Fifer says to
James. “They’re dead if we don’t!”

Jiron watches as James ties himself to his
saddle as he’s done several times before. That can only mean what
he’s got in mind is going to be rough. “Stay close to James,” he
tells the other two. “We’ve got to protect him and get him out of
here once he’s done.”

They begin moving toward the advancing
force. At first, they’re not noticed, so intent is the army on the
trapped men at the river. When they get within a mile, a force of
twenty men break off and head in their direction.

James glances to Jiron and says, “I’m
already very tired.”

“I know,” he replies. “Do what you have to,
we’ll get you out.”

Nodding, James tightens the rope binding him
to his saddle before closing his eyes.

Crumph!

The ground under the men explodes upward in
the biggest explosion James has done so far. When the dust clears,
none of the attackers are moving.

Fifer gasps as five translucent floating
balls appear before James. As if propelled by a strong wind, they
fly toward the Empire’s men. Barely seen, they reach the army and
begin moving among them before they’re even noticed.

Arrows from Commander Eathan’s men begin
felling the attackers as they come within range. Their longbows
have a greater range and force than their counterpart’s
crossbows.

As the enemy notices the orbs floating among
them, they begin stirring and move away from them as best they can.
The tightly packed formation doesn’t give them room enough to avoid
them.

Suddenly, the enemy force is lit up as red
lines flare between the orbs. The men begin crying out, all
thoughts of attack forgotten. They see one soldier run and
accidentally run across one of the lines. After he passes the line,
he stumbles for a moment and then the top half of his body slides
off the lower. The red line had cut him in two. Unable to move,
caught within the boundaries of the lines, the bulk of the army
comes to a standstill.

The arrows from Commander Eathan’s men begin
taking a terrible toll.

As the balls move, so too do the lines.
Jiron watches in fascination as two lines come together and the men
trapped between them are agonizingly cut in half before his
eyes.

James is slumped over his horse as he tries
to hold onto consciousness long enough to complete what he’s got to
do. He gives one last surge of power as he brings the balls
together in the middle of the group of men. Every last one of them
is cut in half, their cries abruptly silenced. Then he passes out
and the balls disappear.

A cry goes up from Commander Eathan’s men as
they surge forward to attack the remaining enemy soldiers who
hadn’t been caught between James’ lines of death. Arrows fall as
they rush forward to close with them.

The enemy turns tail and retreats, but is
soon overtaken by a hundred horsemen that strike them down as they
run. Some stand and fight, but don’t last long.

Jiron sees the commander waving at them. He
waves back and then says, “Let’s go. We’ve got to get him someplace
safe for a while.”

“What’s wrong with him?” asks Fifer as he
comes over to the unconscious James.

“It’s what happens when he does too much
magic,” he explains. “If he uses too much, he passes out and it
takes some time before he can even do simple things again.”

“Oh,” he says.

They move down the road and quickly catch up
with the wagons bearing the wounded and the men escorting them.
“How far to Colton?” Jiron asks one of the soldiers.

“About an hour,” he replies. “It’s not too
far.”

“Thanks,” he replies as they pull away,
leaving the wounded behind.

By the time the town of Colton appears ahead
of them, James has regained consciousness, although the dilly of a
headache makes him wish he was still out cold. The scene before
them reminds James of an anthill he’d stuck a stick into long ago,
people are swarming everywhere.

Carts and wagons, along with a multitude of
people are making their way to the north along the road. As they
approach the town, a rider comes out to meet them.

“Is Lord Pytherian still here?” James asks
when the rider nears.

“Who are you?” the man replies.

“Name’s James,” he says. “These are my
companions, we’ve just come from Commander Eathan.”

Shaking his head, the man says, “He left
some time ago for Lythylla. Captain Kurk is in charge of the
evacuation.”

James laughs in spite of his headache, and
says “Where can I find ‘Captain Kirk’?” His friends exchange
glances, thinking maybe he’s getting a little too light headed.

“You can find the Captain over at the
Seasoned Ham,” the man replies, slightly annoyed at the way James
is acting. He points into town, “You’ll find it further in.”

Still grinning, James holds up his right
hand, spreads his fingers and says, “Live long and prosper.”

“Uh, you too,” the man replies. As James and
the others ride away, the man continues watching them, and just
shakes his head.

Once past the first buildings, Jiron says to
James, “What was all that about?”

James glances over at him and begins to
grin, “I couldn’t even begin to explain it to you.” And then he
starts laughing once more. His friends look at him, worried.

Down the street they find several soldiers
who are helping a store owner with packing a wagon. James pauses a
moment as he asks one of the soldiers, “Where’s the Seasoned
Ham?”

The soldier points further down the road and
says, “Go down two more streets, then turn right. It’ll be the
fourth building on your right.”

“Thanks,” says James as he gets his horse
moving in the right direction. They continue down two streets and
then turn to the right. Sure enough, four buildings down on the
right they find a sign depicting a ham with steam radiating off of
it.

They stop in front and he leaves Jiron and
Miko with the horses as he and Fifer enter the building. Inside the
main room, they find several soldiers there gathered around a map
laid out on a table before them. A soldier stationed by the door
stops them and says, “No one’s allowed in.”

“We’ve just come from Commander Eathan,”
James says to him, “and would like to talk with Captain Kurk.”

“It’s okay,” a voice from inside the inn
says. “Let them come in.”

Stepping aside, the soldier allows them to
pass. The men that had been pouring over the map are now looking at
them as they enter the common room. James steps up to them and
says, “I bring word from Commander Eathan. I was supposed to
deliver it to Lord Pytherian but since he’s no longer here, I’ll
give it to Captain Kurk.”

One of the men says, “I’m Captain Kurk,
what’s the message.”

“He said, ‘When you see Lord Pytherian
again, tell him Commander Eathan will hold the southern flank as
long as possible. I’ll keep the bastards off them as they march to
Lythylla.’” James tells him.

“The bridge he was defending is no longer
standing, and the enemy that had been trying to cross is now
heading south,” he goes on to explain. “Another force had appeared
on his side of the river, apparently coming around the forest where
Captain Alerin’s forces are defending. They were successfully
beaten back and I believe the commander had planned to follow the
river south, pacing the enemy army, in order to prevent them from
crossing over.”

Nodding, the captain says, “Good, I was
wondering what was going on down there. The enemy has patrols on
this side of the river and they’ve been intercepting our
messengers.”

“There are several wagons of wounded coming
to Colton as well,” James tells him. “They’re an hour or so behind
us.”

Captain Kurk glances to one of the men near
him and says, “Take care of that.”

Nodding, the man turns and leaves the
room.

Turning back to James, he says, “You’re not
with our forces are you?”

“No, I’m not,” he answers.

“But I am, sir,” Fifer pipes up. “I’m with
Miller’s band, or was until we got separated from them.”

“Ah yes, the group from the City of Light,”
he says. He glances around the others at the table before
continuing, “They went with him when he moved on to Lythylla.”

One of the other men standing near the
captain asks, “Are you James?”

Somewhat surprised, James nods, “Yes, I
am.”

Pulling up the map, the captain reveals the
message he’d written in the table to warn of the approach of the
army. When he looks questioningly at James, James nods his head,
“Yeah, that was me.”