Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [12]
“How about a big explosion with lots of fire and noise?” offers James.
Jiron breaks out into a big smile and says, “I think that may do.”
“All right, you guys wait here and I’ll be right back.” James slips back out the gate and runs up the street several blocks and enters a vacant building.
After several minutes, Jiron sees him coming back and holds open the gate for him. “You okay?” he asks when he sees how he’s not walking quite straight.
“The spell took a lot out of me,” he says, pausing before passing through the gate. “I should be okay in a little bit.” He then passes through to the other side and Jiron once more shuts the gate.
They wait several minutes and nothing happens. They wait several more and still nothing happens.
Jiron looks to James and asks “Are you sure you…”
Crumph!!!!!
The concussion of the blast knocks them down and a giant plume of fire reaches toward the sky. Several buildings surrounding the explosion begin to collapse from the sheer force of the blast. The soldiers in the courtyard are knocked to the ground and James can hear their cries of shock as they see the sky light up with fire. Once they regain their feet, they race off toward the sound of the explosion, leaving the courtyard empty.
“Damn!” Tinok says as he looks at the fireball reaching to the sky.
“Let’s go,” James says in astonishment as he races to the gates leading to the outside of the city. His legs are a little shaky but are able to keep up the pace. Debris begins to hail down upon them as they make for the gates, dirt and stones falling from the sky pelt them as they cross the courtyard.
Delia cries out when a sizeable stone strikes her in the left shoulder, knocking her to the ground.
Tinok comes to her aid. “Are you okay?” he asks as he helps her to her feet.
“Not really, but I can make it,” she says with determination as they hurry to follow after the others.
When they reach the gates, they discover that there’s a section still missing, allowing easy access to the outside. They hurry quickly through to the other side, where they pause momentarily as they see men racing toward the city from all over the countryside in response to the blast.
Staying close to the wall, they hide in the shadows as they begin making their way away from the gates. Jiron grabs James’ shoulder and says, “Look, over there.” He points to a section of the enemy’s camp off to the south.
Scanning the direction Jiron’s indicating, James sees several horses tied to a tree near a group of tents. Fortune! They’re all saddled. A large campfire is burning in a pit near them, bathing the entire area in light. They’ll have to make their way through some of the camp in order to get to them.
“With everyone running to see what’s up in the city,” Jiron says, “we should be able to get the horses with little trouble.”
“Let’s hope so,” James says apprehensively. “If anyone’s looking when we enter the light, we could have problems.”
“We’ve got little choice,” Tinok says when he joins them. “We’ll never get far on foot.”
Turning to Tinok, James says, “Jiron and I will get the horses, you stay and protect the ladies until we return.”
He waits for Tinok’s nod and then he and Jiron run toward the horses. When they get close, James sees that there are a total of seven horses. They slow down and approach more cautiously when they’re close to being illuminated by the fire. They edge around the fringe of the light, trying to get as close to the horses before entering the light and risk being seen.
When they’re as close as possible, James looks around and sees that no one’s in the vicinity. Signaling Jiron, they both hurry over and begin untying horses as fast as they can.
The horses begin making noises as they hurry about their work and all of a sudden, the flap of the closest tent opens up and a man peeks out. “What are you men doing with my horse?” he asks with an edge to his voice as he exits the tent and begins to approach them. He’s wearing a plain cowled robe with the hood thrown back revealing shoulder length red hair. His eyes are dark and