Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [171]
When they enter the clearing and have covered half the distance to the docks, one of the workers sees them and gives the alarm. The twelve guards turn and draw their swords as they move to intercept them before they can reach the ship. Iron slugs begin flying toward the advancing guards, taking out five before they take a dozen strides. Using a tactic he saw in an old war movie, James takes out the ones in the rear to keep the advancing ones from realizing their number is decreasing.
Then he let’s loose more of the power as the ground erupts, throwing another five into the air.
Jiron advances upon the remaining two, knives at the ready. The first one closes with him and he deflects the sword thrust with a knife as he follows through with the other. The guard dances back as his slice misses the guard’s chest by bare inches.
The workers on the dock, having seen the guards taken out so readily, and the ground erupting before their eyes, turn to flee for their lives away from the wagons and the dock.
The ship’s captain begins barking orders as he attempts to move his ship away from the dock before they have a chance to approach.
Essin lays Nate on the ground and grabs a nearby stick as he goes to aid Jiron. He comes up behind the second man Jiron is engaged with and strikes him in the back of the head. The man staggers a few steps before dropping to the ground.
Jiron glances over to Essin and gives him a slight nod as he continues the fight with the remaining guard.
Miko sees the boat begin to pull away and hollers over to James, “The boat is leaving!”
Looking over to the boat, James realizes it’s already a good five feet from the dock and departing steadily. The magic surges out of him as he creates an invisible tether from the dock to the boat. The ship suddenly lurches to a stop, the captain shouting orders to his crew but nothing he does moves his ship one inch further. Beginning to pant with all the magical exertions, James begins to shorten the tether and the boat is slowly brought back to the dock. Spots dance before his eyes as he sinks to one knee from the effort of drawing the ship back to the dock. He glances over to Jiron and watches as the remaining guard falls to the ground.
After his remaining opponent falls, Jiron turns to find James at the edge of the dock on one knee. He runs to his side while Essin and Miko bring forward the unconscious Nate.
As the boat pulls up to the dock, James sees the captain and crew there with swords drawn ready to sell their lives dearly if they must. “Request permission to come aboard captain,” James hollers to him.
“Why should I let you?” the captain yells back.
“Because your ship isn’t going anywhere until we do,” James tells him. “This island is about to erupt in a volcanic explosion of immense proportions and we all need to be as far away as possible.”
As if to add credence to what James is saying, the ground begins to shake violently, dropping everyone to the ground. Trees in the forest are heard toppling over and from the mine area, another blast erupts into the sky.
When the ground once again calms, they return to their feet. The others gather around James as he stands there before the ship. When Essin and Miko bring Nate close, the captain sees him and says, “Nate?”
James looks over to Nate and then back to the captain, “You know him?”
“Aye,” he replies, “he’s my cousin.” Turning to his men he signals for them to lower their weapons and then returns his own sword to the scabbard on his hip.
“Permission granted,” he says, “hurry and come aboard.”
As they begin moving toward the ship, a mob exits the forest behind them. Consisting of both slaves and guards from the compound, they swarm into the clearing, hell bent on reaching the ship and safety.
“Come on!” the captain yells and then begins barking out orders to his crew as they once more get the ship ready