Shades of the Past_ Book Six of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [120]
Crews begin rushing into the mountain to begin clearing the cave-in as more tremors shake the mountain. James begins to sense sections of the mine beginning to collapse as the mountain gives out with a groan. The men who had so recently entered the mine to shore it up are now running back out.
Then what he had tried to avoid happens. A massive rumble courses through the earth as the side of the mountain gives way. With a roar like a thousand giants going into battle, rocks and trees begin to slide down the side.
Recognizing the sound from the last time James had brought the mountain down on the trail back from Saragon, he grabs him by the shoulder and jerks him to his feet. “Come on!” he yells. Propelling him before him, he gets him moving quickly back to where Jared waits with the horses.
“What’s going on?” Jared yells when he sees them running toward him.
“Avalanche!” James hollers over the roar. “We got to get out of here.”
Mounting quickly, they turn their horses toward the road leading down the mountain and ride like their lives depend on it.
From behind them, a belch of dust envelopes them and blinds them to the road. Coughing from the dust clouding the air, they continue racing blind down the road. A sudden flare of light and James’ orb appears overhead to help them keep to the road.
When the roar of the mountain falling behind them finally grinds to a halt, they slow only slightly to prevent an accidental misstep by their horses. “Go!” James yells when Jared begins slowing down even further. “We’ve got to get out of here, they know where I am and will be coming.”
Jared nods and then picks up speed again. The dust cloud diminishes the further away from the mine they go.
Lights appear out of the darkness ahead as citizens of Ki come to investigate what happened. Hundreds of people are hurrying up the road, those on horseback leaving those on foot behind in their haste to reach the mine. James cancels his orb and plunges them back into darkness.
“Don’t stop for anything,” Jiron yells to the others as the riders come near. The lead rider slows down at their approach and starts speaking to them as they fly by. The man yells something but then is left behind. Moving to the edge of the road, Jiron takes the lead as they race past worried and fearful townsfolk.
As James rides past, he can’t help but see the worry and fear on the faces of many women. He knows they aren’t likely to find their men alive when they get there. Sadness comes over him a moment then he swallows it down and tries to concentrate solely on keeping his horse behind Jiron and not on what he just did to these people. Riding fast in the night, they soon leave Ki behind as they race westward.
Sweat streaming down his face, Kerith-Ayxt faces Aekion where he’s bound within the pentagram. Twice the height of a man, Aekion towers over the High Mage. Wreathed in flame, the heat coming from him is almost to the point of being unbearable. He can feel Aekion working against the spells holding him.
Tendrils of power come to him from the other mages within the Great Hall. Several have already fainted away from the exertion despite the power being taken from the slaves. They started with a hundred and twenty two slaves, now only forty four remain with a couple dropping every minute. And the spells that are to bind Aekion to hunt for the mage have yet to be completed.
Aekion’s form shifts as he stands within the pentagram. First the shape of a man aflame, then that of a wildfire and then something even more bizarre. But Aekion always returns to the humanoid form.
Kerith-Ayxt wrestles to place spell after spell upon the creature before him. Another mage sags to the floor, and then another. This is taking more than I thought. The errant thought comes to him, disrupting his concentration for a split second before he banishes it. Concentrating