The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian S. Pratt [43]
“Maybe we shouldn’t stay here any longer,” Corbin says nervously. There’s a definite tremble indicating fear in his voice. “It doesn’t look like we’re going to find them here.”
“Perhaps.” Glancing at his compass, James is surprised to see the pointer going round and round in a clockwise direction. “That’s weird,” he says as he shows it to Corbin.
“What does it mean?”
Shrugging, James replies “Haven’t a clue. I told you I was new to magic.” Discontinuing the spell, he places the compass back in his backpack. He then looks to Corbin and is about to suggest they search elsewhere, when a slight flicker from the pentagram is caught from the corner of his eye. He quickly turns his head, but it’s gone.
Corbin notices his sudden movement. “What?” His eyes dart around the room.
“Thought I saw something,” James replies. Turning his head so the pentagram is again just at the edge of his peripheral vision, the flickering reappears. This time he holds his head steady and continues looking at the pentagram out of the corner of his eye. After a few moments, he begins to realize what he originally took as a flash is actually a steady, slow pulse; barely discernable in the shadows.
“Curious.”
“What is?” Corbin glances agitatedly between James and the pentagram.
“I can see a slight pulsing coming from the pentagram. Though I can only see it when it’s in my peripheral vision.”
“Pulsing?” fear is evermore apparent in the farmer’s voice. “Let’s get out of here.” He edges toward the exit.
His feeling of foreboding is quite strong now. “Yeah, that might be a good idea.”
Corbin leads the way, and enters the hallway. James follows closely. The foreboding is growing worse. They pass the stairway leading to the second floor, then come to where the hallway ends at the outer room.
Just before Corbin passes from the hallway into the outer room, James grabs his arm and jerks him back.
“Look.” Whispering softly, he directs the farmer’s attention out the front door.
Two silhouettes approach the door. Unable to make out any distinct features, they can only tell that one is adult size while the other is smaller. Moving his mouth next to Corbin’s ear, he whispers, “Let’s return to the stairs and hide.”
Corbin nods and starts backing down the hallway.
Being as quiet as they can, they return to the stairs and ascend a short ways until they can no longer see the hallway. Holding still, they await the approach of whoever it may be.
James is sure that the sound of his heart, which feels like it’s trying to beat out of his chest, will surely give them away. They don’t have long to wait before two sets of footsteps enter the hallway from the outer room. He holds his breath, his heart beating wildly in fear as the footsteps draw closer, and pass by, the front of the stairwell. They then continue to the room at the end of the hallway wherein the pentagram lies.
James whispers to Corbin as they return to the hallway, “Stay here, I’m going to see what they’re doing.”
“Are you crazy? I’m getting out of here. If you’re smart, you will too.” With that he brushes past James, quickly moves down the hallway and exits through the front door. Once outside, he breaks into a mad dash as he races away from the house.
Knowing logically that he should leave too, James has an undeniable need to know what is going on in there. Slowly and quietly, he makes his way through the rubble to the entrance of the room. As he approaches, a subtle, pulsing, dark blue glow begins emanating from the room. Steeling himself, he peers around the corner.
Two individuals stand motionless before the pentagram. A small vortex pulsates with a dark blue radiance in the air above it. A feeling of horror washes over James, yet he’s unable to turn away.
The taller of the two begins to chant; the unfamiliar words painful to the ears. The smaller one, which looks to be a young girl, snaps out of her lethargic trance at the utterance of the