Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [28]
“What should we do?” Cassie asks.
“You and Delia go up the mountain and begin cooking the rabbits,” he says. He then points to Jiron, “You stay with me.” To Tinok he says, “You need to stay with the girls in case anyone gets past us.”
Tinok nods his head in agreement though he’s dismayed about missing the fun.
“Save some for me and James,” Jiron says, indicating the rabbits.
“We’ll see,” Tinok says, a grin playing across his face.
As Tinok and the girls begin to head up the mountain, James and Jiron start setting up the surprises. “Just what do you have in mind?” Jiron asks him.
“Well, you see…” he then explains what he plans to do as they make their way down the trail.
“Here they come,” Jiron says from where they hide behind a fallen log. The first man can be seen coming up the trail below them. “They’re following the trail just as you figured.”
“I wasn’t sure they would,” admits James. “Though I’m glad I was right.”
“Looks like they brought the whole garrison,” Jiron observes as more and more men come into view.
“Hope so,” James says, “can’t afford to miss even one.”
“You’re a bloodthirsty one, aren’t you?” Jiron asks.
James turns to him and says, “I don’t like killing, to me it’s just a waste. But if I have to, then I want to make it so they’ll never trouble me again.”
“See your point,” he says.
They watch as the men proceed further up the trail. “You ready?” James asks him.
“Yeah,” he replies with a grin, “let’s do it.”
They stand up from behind the log as James throws two stones in quick succession, killing two of the forward soldiers.
Then they yell as if scared, “Run!” and turn to race back up the trail, the soldiers immediately follow in hot pursuit.
They don’t run too far before they come to an area where the trees and plants all look like they’re wilting, dying. They continue on until they are back into the healthier part of the forest, then abruptly stop and turn to face the oncoming soldiers.
Their pursuers are following the trail for the most part, though some have fanned out into the forest alongside the trail. “We’re not going to get all of them,” Jiron says.
“Perhaps,” James agrees, “but hopefully we’ve planned well enough for that.”
They watch as the soldiers begin to enter the wilted area as they race to reach James and Jiron. When the men in the front nears the end of the wilted area James shouts, “Walls!”
Six foot high walls of force spring up around the men in the wilted area, boxing them in. The men in front run full force into the forward wall of force, coming to an abrupt halt as if they’d run into a brick wall. The men are confused at first and then panic sets in. James can see the officer who locked them up near the back of the men trapped within the invisible walls. He’s trying to keep his men under control but the fear of being entrapped by invisible walls overrides whatever discipline he’s trying to establish.
Jiron watches the men trapped inside, hitting on the invisible walls with their hands and weapons in an attempt to break free. He can hear their screams of terror.
“Shut!” James shouts and the walls slam together, pulping the men inside, abruptly silencing their cries. He can hear Jiron next to him exclaim, “Good god!”
“We haven’t gotten all of them,” James says, indicating over a dozen men, standing stunned over the fate of their comrades on the trail.
James takes out another stone and begins to head back down the trail toward the soldiers, Jiron beside him.
When the remaining soldiers see them coming forward, the men lose heart and turn to flee back down the mountain. Letting fly his stone, James takes out another one. Again and again, he lets fly with stones, striking one after another.
When the remaining men reach a certain tree with a cloth that he tied to it earlier, he says, “Fire!”
Fire erupts from the ground in a circle over a hundred feet across. The fleeing men scream as it burns and consumes them. The trees in the area burst into flame as