The Star of Morcyth_ Book Five of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [188]
A cry rips through the air and Qyrll’s opponent falls to the ground. Pulling his longsword from the dead man, Qyrll surveys the battlefield. Seeing Jiron with Fifer he moves toward them.
“Go help James!” yells Jiron as he points to the swathe of destruction the magical duel has produced.
Nodding, he wipes his swords on a dead man’s shirt and then puts them in their scabbard. He then races toward the budding inferno to see what he can do to aid against the Empire’s mage.
Jiron glances to Fifer and fears he may be dead when he sees his eyes are closed. But the rise and fall of his chest reveals he still lives.
Since this duel with the mage began, James has done little more than be on the defensive. The power of the Star gives the mage incredible power and endurance, by rights he should be all used up. Instead he acts as if throwing all that magic around has had little effect upon him.
Around him several buildings are aflame and the heat is beginning to become unbearable. Through the heat’s haze, he sees the mage approaching, the Star raised up before him. So intent on James is he that he fails to notice a figure emerge from a nearby building being consumed by fire.
The figure runs directly toward the mage and strikes out with his sword, only to encounter the shield surrounding him. His sword strikes the shield and rebounds sharply. The unexpected resistance causes the sword to fly backward out of Miko’s hand.
Turning to greet this new threat, the mage sends a wave of energy toward his attacker and tosses him backward into the burning inferno. He then turns back to James, the Star in his hand.
The Star’s light sparks a memory, one from an earlier time when he met the shade of the long dead priest of Morcyth:
The ghost nods its head and replies in a far off sounding voice, “Greetings, fellow priest of Morcyth.”
James glances at the medallion he’s holding and replies, “I’m not a priest.”
The apparition reaches out, almost touching the medallion he’s wearing. “The glow only comes from his priests, it manifests for no others,” the ghostly voice says.
And then another:
“That should hold for now,” Fifer says. “A priest could do a better job, but we’re lacking one just now.”
“You could do it,” Jiron says.
James turns his attention back to Jiron and sees him staring at him. “I’m no priest,” he protests.
“Didn’t you say that the spirit of the long dead priest of Morcyth called you one?” he asks.
“Well, yes he did,” he replies. “But he was mistaken.”
“I don’t think so,” he says. “You’re in good with Morcyth, after all you bear the
Reaching into his shirt, he pulls out the medallion and holds it up. “Morcyth! Lend me your aid!”
Just then the tingling sensation spikes again and a beam of light flares from the medallion. Shooting forth, it impacts with the Star and the spell the mage was about to cast fails to materialize. Keeping the medallion before him, the beam of light remains constant as it goes from the medallion to the Star.
The mage cries out as a glow erupts from the Star in his hand and then begins coursing down his arm. A scream of pain is torn from his throat as the glow continues to advance down his arm and to his torso, just as the darkness had moved down Dave’s.
In seconds the mage’s entire body is engulfed in the glow. One final scream, a blinding flash and the glow disappears. The Star falls to the ground. Nothing of the mage remains, no clothes or anything. It’s almost as if he vanished.
Getting to his feet, James shuffles over to where the Star lays in the street, making sure to keep his distance. He doesn’t want to suffer the same fate as Dave. “Miko!” he cries out when he remembers him being thrown into the burning building. Glancing in that direction, he sees the building suddenly collapse, the fire having destroyed its load bearing beams.
“Miko!” he cries. Leaving the Star where it lays, he moves as best