The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian S. Pratt [185]
“I’ll try,” James says and then tries to concentrate but the throbbing in his head makes it nigh on impossible. He tries something simpler and concentrates on one of the torches on the wall that’s situated over many old crates and broken containers. The area looks to have been the dumping spot for anything that broke or was unusable.
As James concentrates on the torch, it slowly rises and begins to leave its sconce. He’s concentrating hard, focusing his will through the pain and inch by inch it continues to rise higher until the bottom is no longer inside the sconce. Gasping from the effort, he has it move a little to the side and then releases the magic, allowing it to fall amidst the crates and boxes below.
At first it looks like nothing is happening but then the beginnings of smoke start to rise from where the torch fell. “Now what?” Miko asks, watching as the smoke grows thicker and thicker.
“We wait,” he replies. Soon the flames are rising above the broken wooden crates.
One of the guards comes alert as he takes notice of the smoke. Turning toward the growing flames he yells, “Fire!” The other guard turns and sees the flames are licking the sides of the wall now and both run over to try to prevent it from spreading further.
James tries once more to wield the magic to break their bonds but his head is too muddled with the pain to adequately concentrate. When he sees Miko looking at him, he just shakes his head no.
Miko, realizing that James has done all he can, begins to rock his chair back and forth until he topples over. He then squirms around and eventually works the ropes off of him. Keeping an eye on the guards, who by now are fighting a roaring fire, he begins untying James from the chair. Once he’s free and they see that the guards are still preoccupied with the fire, they hurry to the table where their belongings lie and retrieve them.
The door on the far side suddenly swings open and ol’ One Eye comes in, coming to a surprised stop at seeing them there with their belongings in hand. “The prisoners!” he yells, drawing his sword and races toward James and Miko. The guards turn and join the chase, giving up on the fire which by this time is beginning to burn out of control. It now covers most of the wall and has almost reached the rafters.
James and Miko race for the far door in the opposite side of the warehouse and reach it before anyone can get close. Bolting through it, they quickly lose themselves in the crowd of people outside. They don’t get far before the fire consuming the warehouse is noticed by the crowds on the streets around it.
“Fire!” they hear someone shout and then it becomes total pandemonium. The crowds of people suddenly surge in panic as they try to get away from the flames now engulfing the warehouse. People begin shouting, and those that fall are trampled to death by those behind.
James glances back to the warehouse and sees ol’ One Eye standing at the door they just vacated looking through the crowd for them. “Move!” he hollers when Miko suddenly pauses in front of him to avoid being trampled by a group of frightened people running by. Pushing him forward, they race down the street away from the warehouse behind them, dodging through the panicking crowd. After putting some distance between themselves and the fire, James grabs Miko by the shirt and pulls him through a door into a dark and empty warehouse. They shut the door and sink down against the wall to rest as they listen for any pursuit.
Miko scoots closer to James and whispers, “Maybe we should rest here for awhile, at least until you’re a little better.”
James nods his head and leans against the wall, trying to get comfortable. The adrenalin rush he experienced when escaping from the warehouse is quickly wearing off.
“I’ll keep watch if you want to get some sleep,” he offers.
Closing his eyes, James lies down on the floor and soon soft snores are telling Miko that he’s fallen asleep.
Miko worries about his friend as he sits there in the dark. He listens to the noise outside, the sounds of people running and screaming.