The Star of Morcyth_ Book Five of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [42]
When he gets to the part about shooting a man in Reno, he hears the approach of footsteps coming down the stairs. Bringing the song to a close, he watches the stairwell as a man in the livery of Cardri comes in bearing half a dozen torches, one of which is lit.
The man’s eyes widen as he takes in the glowing orb sitting next to James on the bench. He moves along the wall and starts placing the torches in the sconces spaced around the room. After placing a torch into a sconce, he lights it with the one he’s carrying before moving to the next.
“What are you doing?” James asks.
“Seems rather obvious,” the man retorts as he places his third torch into a sconce.
“Have they finally decided that I deserve some light down here?” he asks.
The man breaks out with a short snicker as he says, “Hardly. Word is that you’ll be having visitors shortly. So I’m placing several torches around the room to give them some light.”
“Oh,” says James.
The last torch the man is putting in a sconce happens to be near James’ cell. He approaches warily, eyeing him with trepidation.
“Don’t worry,” James tells him, “I’ll not hurt you.”
Not believing him, the man comes closer, all the while keeping an eye on James in case he tries something. When he gets close to the torch sconce, he rushes past the cell and places it in, lights it and then beats a hasty retreat.
“There,” says James with an assuring smile, “I didn’t bite now did I?”
His job finished, the man moves quickly to the stairs and James is soon alone again. Shaking his head, James gives out with a tired sigh. Is that the reaction I’m always going to receive? Maybe I will go live on an island or mountaintop somewhere.
Visitors. Great, just what he wanted. Hopefully when they’re here he’ll be able to clear himself and he can get out of here. Resting his head against the wall, he tries to resume the song again but can’t quite seem to recall it. He hates it when that happens. It’s like walking into a room, knowing you’re there for a reason, but can’t recall why you thought you needed to go there.
Out of the corner of his eye, he catches the glimpse of a slight pulsating coming from the orb sitting next to him. Picking it up, he can detect a slight pulsating as if someone is quickly moving a dimmer switch back and forth. He’s never seen it do that before.
The outline of the orb suddenly begins to warp and bend as if the outer edge of it was being molded like clay. Blinking his eyes, he shakes his head and then looks at it again. He suddenly comes to realize it’s not the orb, but his vision. The whole room is beginning to turn hazy and move in nauseatingly directions.
What’s wrong? Suddenly panicking, he realizes he’s slipping into a drugged state. But how?
Ever since the last time he was drugged back in Lythylla, he’s been thinking of ways in which to counter it should it ever happen again. He’s considered various different ways to both cope and prevent it from happening.
The pulsating of the orb could be in direct response to his drugged state. His mind becoming occluded intermittently prevents the magic from going to the orb, thus the pulsing.
Canceling the orb altogether, he realizes he doesn’t have much time. Marshalling all his concentration, he creates a small sphere, no larger than a pea. Firm yet translucent and thus hard to see, he holds it in his hand as he tries to inspect it. Unable to see it clearly and afraid he’s about ready to drop it, he slowly and carefully puts it in his pocket.
When he can at last feel it securely inserted in his pant’s pocket, he removes his hand and leans his head against the wall of his cell. The last sight he has before he slips into unconsciousness is the burning torch near his cell.
Chapter Nine
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