Shades of the Past_ Book Six of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [3]
“Down boys,” he says as they jump upon his lap, tails wagging furiously in their excitement.
“They sure took a liking to you,” Roland says from his chair near the fireplace.
Ezra joins them and sets Arkie on the ground. Immediately, the pups jump to the floor and begin to wrestle with him, much to his delight. His squeals of excitement elicit barks and before you know it the front room is a veritable cacophony of noise.
Outside the sky is starting to darken. It still hasn’t come to that time of year yet when the sun stays up longer. Ezra begins humming a song they’ve heard a hundred times before. It’s one from her homeland, one that her mother sung to her as a child.
Fifer relaxes, the melody soothing him and he closes his eyes as the music flows over him and through him. Even the play of Arkie and the pups on the floor becomes slightly subdued as each is affected by her voice.
The evening progresses and times of song or stories are intermixed with times of silence. It was during one such time when Bandit’s ears suddenly become erect and he leaps to his feet. Fifer notices him looking around for a few seconds before Shiloh starts acting the same way. A growl begins to come from deep within their throats.
Just then, three flaming balls sail through the open window and land near Arkie. The balls are emitting noxious fumes which quickly fill the room.
Crash!
The front door slams open a second later from the force of someone kicking it. Men armed with swords and crossbows race within.
Ezra screams and rushes to grab Arkie from amidst the burning, smoking balls. Neither Fifer nor Roland are armed.
“Stay right where you are!” the leader of the men tells them.
With Arkie in her arms, Ezra moves to stand behind Roland who has come to his feet. Fifer remains seated, his crutch having been knocked to the floor when the dogs had jumped on him.
“What do you want?” Roland asks, fear for his family evident in his voice.
“First we want your gold,” the leader says. “Then we want your woman.”
In a voice much calmer than the situation would seem to warrant, Roland says, “I advise you to leave while you still can.”
“Ha!” a tall man with red hair says. “You can’t do anything, mage. Your powers have been taken away.”
His head does feel a little fuzzy. Glancing to the smoldering balls lying in the middle of the floor, he realizes what he’s talking about. They must emit something that renders mages unable to focus and draw upon their power. Then realization dawns on him. They think he’s James! If it wasn’t for the gravity of the situation he might have laughed.
“Where’s the gold!” a short, flaxen haired man demands. Holding a crossbow threateningly, he shouts, “Where is it!”
Roland glances to the window and sees even more bandits looking in. At least four crossbows are aimed at him and the others.
“Well?” the leader asks. “Are you going to tell us or do we start by killing the boy?”
“No!” screams Ezra as she clutches Arkie even tighter to her breast.
Before James left, Roland had expressed concern over just this sort of eventuality. What if someone came in search of James and attacked? With just he and Fifer, they would be taken out fast. So James worked it out and said if ever they were in danger here at The Ranch, Roland was to say a certain word.
Staring at the leader of the bandits, he says the word, “Phantasm!”
“What?” the leader questions. Suddenly from outside, a man’s voice cries out in pain and fear. Then more voices are heard as others join their voices with the first. A quick glance to the window shows the men who had been there are there no longer.
A red sphere blossoms to life in the middle of the living room. Bright red with bands of a darker red swirling through its middle, it hovers there for a brief moment.
Screams from outside have turned to high