Shades of the Past_ Book Six of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [94]
A soft breeze blows across the slumbering forms, ruffling his hair with a gentle caress. Taking another look around, he still fails to discover anything out of the ordinary so settles back down to sleep. That’s when he notices a light emerging from an old tear in the front of his tunic. The sight of the light sends a shiver down his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Grabbing the chain holding the medallion bearing the Star of Morcyth, he pulls it out of his shirt. Light bathes the immediate area as it clears his collar. This is not good! He gets to his feet and holds aloft the medallion, turning full circle as he gazes around the camp. Light only comes from the medallion in certain circumstances, so far all of which have been bad.
Continuing to cast quick glances around the camp, he quickly moves over to where Miko lays. Kneeling down beside him, he lays a hand upon his breast and shakes him. “Miko!” he whispers urgently.
“Wha…?” Miko asks groggily until he sees the light coming from the medallion. Snapping awake, he turns his eyes on James.
“I don’t know,” he replies. He’s about to say something else when Miko suddenly grabs him and rolls to the side.
“Attack!” he yells as he rolls with James quickly. When he comes to a stop, James is behind him and the Star of Morcyth is in his hand. “Up! We’re under attack!” Holding the Star high, he gets to his feet as the Light seems to enfold the shadow.
James looks around him and sees a shadow being held at bay by the light coming from the Star. Suddenly, green light flares from the side as Brother Willim and the Hand summon their power. “James!” Brother Willim shouts, “Behind you!”
Turning, he finds another shadow almost upon him. Holding up the medallion before him, he bathes the shadow in its glow. Not nearly as effective as the Star, it slows the creature but doesn’t halt its progress. He sees one of Ceadric’s Raiders charge it with a sword. “Stop!” he calls to the man but the man pays him no heed. Striking out with his sword, the man attacks the shadow. When the sword comes into contact with it, the man spasms violently before falling to the ground where he lies still.
“Together!” Brother Willim orders the rest of the Hand as a greenish glow surrounds the shadow before him. Stopping in its tracks, the shadow begins to shrink in on itself as the glow surrounding it becomes more pronounced.
Lights spring up around the camp as men quickly light lanterns and torches. “Ceadric!” shouts Illan as he quickly gets over his shock.
“Sir!” replies Ceadric.
“Send out men and see if an attack is imminent,” he orders.
“Yes, sir!” he replies. Grabbing several men standing nearby, he begins organizing scouting parties.
The shadow before Miko also begins to shrink as the light from the Star intensifies. A ring of onlookers surrounds them as Miko and the Hand battle the shadows, both are now half their original size. For a moment the shrinking halts then all of a sudden, they wink out. As they disappear, so too does the light from the Star and the medallion. The greenish glow surrounding the Hand remains as they keep vigilant.
A blazing orb springs into life above them bathing the entire area with light. A quick look reveals no other shadows in the area. The light also reveals two lines of dead bodies, each line the path taken by one of the shadows. In their passing, they killed all they touched.
“You okay?” Illan asks as he comes to James’ side.
“I think so,” he says. “If it weren’t for Miko’s quick thinking, they may have had me.”
Illan casts a quick glance to Miko and says, “Good job.”
“Thank you,” he replies as he begins moving toward the body of the Raider who fell when he attacked the shadow. The light from the Star flares briefly but winks out a moment later. Getting up, Miko looks to them and shakes his head, then begins moving to the nearest of the unmoving men on the ground on the off chance he can still be of help.