Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li - Brian Pratt [175]
The gates finally shut with a bang and the locks again fall into place. But Jiron is still on the other side!
“Stay here!” he tells Miko. When he gets a nod in reply, he runs over to Lord Pytherian.
“Milord!” he cries out to him.
Turning to see who it is, Lord Pytherian gives him a smile and says, “We did it! With you and your friend there, we got it closed!”
“But Jiron is on the other side!” he cries out.
The smile disappears from his face and a concerned look replaces it. “I know,” he says. “I don’t know how he did it, but stopping them most likely saved us all.”
“We’ve got to get him back,” demands James.
Shaking his head, Lord Pytherian replies, “The only way is to open the gate and we can’t do that while that army is camped out there.” He turns to an aide and says, “We got a man out there with the Parvatis, make sure the archers on the walls don’t hit him.”
“Yes, milord,” the man says before running toward the stairs leading up to the walls.
Turning his attention back to James, he says, “That’s all we can do now.”
From the wall over the gate, a man cries out, “Milord! They’re pulling back!”
“Where?” he hollers up to them.
“Back to where they were before,” the man replies.
“Let me know if anything changes,” he orders.
The man salutes him and goes back to watching the enemy.
James gestures for Fifer to come over. “You saw Jiron with the Parvatis?” he asks.
“Yeah,” Fifer replies.
Pointing to the wall over the gate he says, “See if you can get up there and find out where he’s being taken.” Turning to Lord Pytherian, he says, “With your leave milord?”
When he nods, giving his permission, Fifer runs to the access stairs to the wall.
“We still have a little problem with this Councilman Rillian,” mentions James.
“I realize that,” Lord Pytherian says. “But it’s doubtful anything will be brought against you and your friends now. The soldiers here saw you take out the mage and Miko there almost turned the tide by himself. He’s quite good isn’t he?”
“Uh, yeah,” replies James, “he is.”
“So I think you’re safe from any accusations he might make about you being agents of the Empire,” he assures him. “I seriously doubt if anyone here would give credence to it.”
“But what are you going to do about him?” James asks.
“That’s for the Council to decide,” he says, “and I’m not on the Council. I figure it’ll be taken care of quietly.”
James nods, understanding. “But what about Jiron?” he asks.
“I hate to say it, but there’s nothing we can do for him now,” he replies. “We’re not going to take the fight to them for one man. Do you understand?”
“Yeah,” James says, though not very happy about it. “I understand.”
“Good. Now I’ve got to see about the men and wounded, so you’ll have to excuse me,” he says.
“Yes milord,” he replies.
As Lord Pytherian begins calling for casualty reports and status, James goes back over to where Miko and the others are waiting. When he sees Jorry and Uther there he asks them, “What happened?”
“I thought we were dead for sure when I saw where he was heading,” Jorry replies.
“Yeah,” Uther adds. “But when he showed them that necklace, they stopped right in their tracks.”
“We heard those behind them shouting and screaming for them to move,” Jorry says. “But they just ignored them.”
“What did they say to him?” James asks them.
“There was too much noise so we couldn’t hear what was being said,” explains Uther. “But before he left with them he said to tell you that he’d be okay and that he’ll be back.”
Nodding, James begins to relax somewhat. “He’s their Shynti, that’s a rare honor among them,” he says. “I doubt if they’d let anything happen to him while he’s with them.”
James glances up to the walls and sees Fifer begin to come back down. When he joins them he says, “He went with them back to their camp.”
“Is he okay?” James asks.
“Looked like it,” replies Fifer. “The other soldiers out there were upset with them but they just ignored their cries