Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [169]
“Wait a second!” he hollers, bringing everyone to a halt. “Keep a watch out and I’ll try to arrange a slight distraction for them.” Sitting down he tries to relax as he calms himself as he summons the magic and begins to sink his senses down through the earth, to the depths where the magma flows.
Searching for fissures and cracks, he uses the magic to create a path up to the lowest level of the mines. Just like bringing the water up in the desert, he creates a pathway for the magma to travel. Widening the way here, closing off another route there, he continues to bring the magma up to the floor of the mines. The ground begins to shake violently from the pressure he’s creating, causing those on their feet to lose their balance and fall to the ground.
Finally, his senses detect that the magma has broken through and has begun seeping into the mines. He is also able to sense a continued building of pressure as more magma presses to push through the path he made. Realizing an eruption may be imminent, he gets back to his feet as the shaking finally subsides. “We’ve got to move! NOW!” he shouts to the others. Essin again takes Nate and they race through the forest until they come to the road. Without even pausing, they burst out of the trees and run to the south to where their boat is waiting for them. As they race down the road, the ground begins to shake once more. With visions of volcano movies in his head, James gets ready to live his last moments on earth.
“What did you do?” Jiron shouts at him over the roar of the earthquake.
“Let nature loose!” he replies as they continue running, doing their best to remain upright as the tremors steadily increase in intensity.
Suddenly the ground stops shaking and all becomes unnervingly quiet. “Get down!” James yells. From behind them a massive explosion rips through the night as fire and lava burst from the ground and shoots up into the sky. The shockwave rolls over them, burning them as it goes. But just as soon as the burning starts, it stops. They get up, singed and feeling like they have just been roasted over a campfire. The smell of burnt hair permeates the air.
Looking back, they watch as lava balls are shot into the air and then come to land in the forest with terrible force. Fires begin to rage wherever one of them lands.
“You can’t do anything halfway, can you?” Jiron yells at him.
James just gives him a look as he stands up. “I don’t think it’s over yet! Come on, we have to get off this island!”
They continue to race down the road as more lava balls are ejected from the mine. One arcs through the air toward them. “Watch out!” Miko cries out. Everyone pauses as they turn to watch the lava ball fly over their heads and strike the road a hundred feet ahead of them, entirely blocking the road with flame and setting the nearby trees on fire.
Immediately, Jiron leads them off the road in the direction of where they left Kristo and his boat. The sound of screams and yells come from all around as people flee the hot magma spilling out of the mine. Behind them, the sky is aglow from the numerous fires burning all across the island, the smell of sulfur infuses the air and begins causing them to cough.
Suddenly, three guards fleeing the eruption appear in the forest ahead of them, both sides surprised at seeing the others. One of the guards hollers something out and then all three draw their swords as they advance.
Jiron moves forward to meet them, both knives at the ready as one of James’ stones sails past and takes one full in the chest, spraying gore upon the one behind. As the man in front of him falls, the gore covered guard stands there in shock and belatedly recognizes the threat Jiron poses as he approaches. Jiron is able to easily dispatch him and then steps around his lifeless body as he joins with the third guard.
This remaining guard, finally able to release his pent up anger and fear by all that has happened, comes at him with a vengeance. Crying a battle cry, he wields his sword in both hands as he slashes at Jiron.
With agility gained from hundreds