The Mists of Sorrow_ Book Seven of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [126]
“Need some room,” he says to Scar as he taps him on the shoulder.
Scar nods and moves out of his way.
Just as before, James moves to take position just behind Jiron and Potbelly. Holding the sphere in his hand, he says “Watch out,” to the pair as he extends his hand forward. Knowing what is about to happen, they quickly disengage and take a step back. The two men they were fighting think they are fleeing and with a yell, charge forward just as James yells, “Incinerate!”
The force of the blast knocks them backward as the fire surging out of the sphere engulfs them. The narrowness of the stairwell focuses the power and the flame roars forward. Screams and yells of men in pain come to them from further down the stairs. Then James tosses the sphere so it will roll down the stairs and says, “Leech times a hundred.”
Men on fire that had but a moment before been shrieking in pain, suddenly grow quiet as they flop to the floor. The smell of burnt flesh and hair is nauseating.
Potbelly is about to move forward when James stops him. “Not yet,” he says. The last thing he wants is for Potbelly to enter the leech radius of the sphere. He didn’t make it very wide for safety’s sake, but should you move one inch into it, you’ll feel the full effect.
“Cancel,” he says and then indicates they can move forward.
Jiron is the first one down the stairs followed closely by Scar and Potbelly. They make it to the second floor landing and continue down to where the stair turns back on itself. The bodies of the men slain by the leeching of the sphere end halfway down to where the stairs turns back on its way down to the ground floor. Just as Jiron moves to turn to where the stairwell continues down, three crossbow bolts barely miss him as they slam into the wall inches away. Backpedaling quickly, he moves back around the corner.
“They’re not coming up this time,” he tells Scar.
“Looks like they finally learned their lesson,” Scar replies.
Jiron glances back toward the second floor landing where James and the others are searching for his sphere. When at last they find it, James picks it up and joins him at the turn in the stairwell. Jiron then apprises him of the situation.
James moves to the turn and peers around to look down at the assembled men on the lower level. He gets a flight of crossbow bolts fired at him for his trouble. He then opens the palm of his hand and looks at the deeply glowing sphere. If he tries leeching again, it might reach critical mass and explode. Going to have to release some of the bottled up power before he does.
To Stig and Shorty he gestures down the second floor hallway and says, “See if there’s another way out. Also check to see if the windows on the other sides of the building are being watched.”
“You got it,” Shorty replies and they quickly move down the hallway checking the rooms.
“I doubt if there is one,” Jiron says, “or they would have come at us from that way too.”
“I know,” James tells him. “I was sort of hoping that they were all down below and we could sneak out a window or something without them knowing.”
“Doubt it,” he replies.
“Me too,” admits James. Then he shrugs and says, “But you never know.”
“That’s true,” agrees Jiron. “Though keep in mind, the longer we wait, the more soldiers will arrive.”
Shaking his head, James says, “I don’t think there are that many more here in Morac.” When Jiron looks to him, he adds, “They weren’t expecting an attack so there would have been no reason to have a large garrison here.” Indicating the men lying dead on the stairs both here and above, he then nods toward those waiting down below and says, “Frankly, I’d be surprised if there were many more than what’s already showed up.”
“You got a point there,” admits Jiron.
Down below, it has grown fairly quiet. Jiron moves to where the stairs turn and takes a peek around the corner. He darts back as several bolts fly