The Mists of Sorrow_ Book Seven of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [238]
Potbelly sees what he did and uses his elbow to propel the guard the rest of the way. As the guard completely loses his balance, he hits the stairs and falls. Tumbling down the stairs, he hits the bottom and doesn’t get back up.
“Besides,” resumes Scar as he readies to meet the next in line, “no one would understand us even if we tried.”
“You do have a point there,” replies Potbelly.
So side by side they continue meeting all comers. Eventually, guards from the city begin to be intermingled with those of the temple. Blades sing and blood flies as man after man meet their fate at the hands of expert pit fighters.
“Move!” urges Jiron. The weight of Miko in his arms is beginning to tire him. Brother Willim and Tinok have fallen behind and he has had to wait for them to hurry up. “James isn’t going to be able to hold off much longer.”
“We’re coming,” Brother Willim hollers back. “Don’t wait for us.”
To himself, Jiron says, “You have the medallion, I have to wait for you.” Then the other two reach him and he moves down an adjoining corridor toward the Hall of Despair. Little Brothers have been their constant companions since leaving James. Most of the time, Brother Willim has one or two who grab hold of his robe and pull him forward. Even they seem to understand the urgency of the situation.
“How much further is it?” Tinok asks. At first he didn’t have much strength, but after walking for awhile, the stamina he once had has begun to return. It must have been the time held inactive here that had done it to him.
“Not much more,” replies Jiron. In fact, the hallway they are in opens up onto the room containing the bone chair, the room that Brother Willim had called the Hall of Despair.
“Almost there,” he says. Upon entering the Hall, he’s surprised not to see bodies of Hikuli scattered across the floor. The last time they passed through here, the Little Brothers were embattled with the Hikuli that populated Ith-Zirul. The fact that the Little Brothers had come to the cavern and that no Hikuli had been seen since, seemed to say that they vanquished the little buggers.
He moves along the side wall until he reaches the entrance to the hallway leading to the dais room. “Down here and then we’re home free,” he announces. Moving into the hallway, he leaves the other two behind as he hurries to the end. Once he reaches the dais room, he lays Miko atop the dais then quickly returns to help the other two.
Lending an arm to both Brother Willim and Tinok, he practically drags them forward. “Easy my son,” Brother Willim says when he almost loses his balance. He’s still not completely over the wound to his middle the warrior priest had dealt him despite the healing he did on himself.
As they enter the room, he helps Tinok up onto the dais first, then he follows. “Now you,” he says as he turns to offer Brother Willim his hand.
Brother Willim takes his hand and steps up upon the dais. The medallion in his pocket triggers the magic within the dais and they vanish.
All his life he had read in books these wondrous tales of people who had overcome the odds. Who had gone the distance despite the obstacles that lay before them. He always wondered if he had it in him to be one of those people. When he sent the others off to safety while he stayed behind, he had his answer.
But what other choice was there?
The struggle to prevent the gate from allowing the presence from the other side from getting through grows harder by the minute. Even with the power of the Star at his beck and call he doesn’t have enough to prevent it for long. Having to put more and more of the Star’s power into holding the gate closed, he’s forced to use less in keeping the shadows away. Slowly they draw ever closer.
He has a good idea what he can do to destroy the gate, he just has to hold out long enough for the others to reach the dais and get away. If he can’t, there