The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (20 page)

When the hatch closes, the hold is once more
plunged into darkness.

An hour or so later, he’s not sure exactly
as time down in the hold is hard to measure, the hatch again opens
and the three guards who accompanied the Ambassador earlier enter
and come down the stairs.

They approach James and in the hand of one
is a small vial. When the man holding the vial stops near, he holds
it out to him and commands, “Here, drink this.”

Not about ready to willingly consume more of
the drug, as that is what this must be, he crosses his arms across
his chest and clamps his mouth tight.

“As you will,” the guard says. Then he says
something to his two companions who grab him. Once they have him
tightly secured, the man with the vial comes to him and grabs his
hair, pulling his head back.

Keeping his jaws locked securely, James
stares at him in defiance.

The guard nods to one of the others who
pinches James’ nose closed.

Unable to breath but through clenched teeth,
the need to draw in a breath becomes greater and greater. Finally,
unable to stop himself, he opens his mouth and a piece of wood is
inserted between his teeth to keep him from closing it again.

Then he watches as the man opens the vial
and brings it to his opened mouth. He upends the vial and James
feels the liquid within begin filling his mouth. Keeping the back
of his throat closed, he tries to prevent any of the liquid from
going down. But the need to breathe becomes too strong and he
starts choking as he takes in a breath and the liquid goes
down.

They continue holding him for several more
minutes to ensure the liquid has in fact been consumed. Then the
man nods to the two holding him who promptly releases him.

James immediately bends over and puts his
finger in the back of his throat and vomits out the contents of his
stomach all over the hold’s floor.

“That won’t do you any good,” the guard
tells him. “It’s already in your system. The drug is very fast
acting.”

He looks up at the guards from where he’s
doubled over and can tell the guard’s words are true as his mind
begins clouding over. Not as bad as the other time, but bad enough
to render him incapable of summoning the magic.

As the guards leave, the drug begins taking
its full effect. Though his mind is beginning to be fuzzy, he’s at
least able to keep conscious. The effect of this drug feels like
having a bad fever without the heat.

When the guards have left and the hatch once
again closes, the older of the two girls asks, “James, are you
okay?”

“Sort of,” he replies.

“What did they do to you?” she asks.

Not bothering to reply, he closes his eyes
and leans his head against the side of the ship.

Sometime later, the hatch again opens and
the man who was with the Ambassador descends down the stairs. From
the diminished light coming in through the open hatch, James
figures it to be near dusk.

He notices that the man is carrying a sack
in his hand as he comes nearer to him. Stopping several feet from
him, he pulls a crate closer and sits down. Upending the sack on
the crate next to him, James can see it contains the things which
were taken from him.

The man holds up the slug belt and says,
“Why do you carry this?”

James smiles and says, “I was given a sling
by a friend and find that a handy way to keep the bullets for my
sling.”

He puts the belt down, nodding. The next
thing he picks up, James almost can’t even see what it is. “And
what is the purpose of this?”

Squinting, he tries to make it out in the
dim light of the hold. Then recognition hits him when he realizes
the man is holding the little round hard object he made with his
magic back in Cardri just before losing the ability to do
magic.

“Oh that’s a toy,” he says.

“A toy?” the man replies. “I don’t think so.
Tell me what it does.”

“Would you like me to show you?” James asks,
giggling slightly. The giggle surprises him, it must be the effect
of the drug.

“Yes,” the man replies, “I would.”

“Very well,” agrees James. He then opens his
mouth and says but one word, “Leech.”

The round sphere pulses slightly and the man
is about to say something when he suddenly gasps. “What?” he cries
out as he drops the pulsating sphere as if it was a red hot
coal.

The confident expression on his face turns
to puzzlement as he begins to sense something is not right. “What
are you doing?” he asks.

“Doing as you requested,” replies James. “Do
you wish to see more?”

Shaking his head, the man pulls out a knife
and says, “Stop it now!”

“Very well.” Looking to the sphere he says,
“Leech by ten.”

The man doubles over as if in pain, lines
begin forming on his face as he starts to gasp. Raising his knife
in one hand, he holds his middle with his other as he lurches
toward James in an attempt to kill him.

“Leech by a hundred,” James says.

The sphere flashes brightly as the man drops
to the floor of the hold and begins writhing. Moaning, he looks to
James as his fingers lose their grip on the knife and it flops to
the deck when his arm twitches. Shortly after that, he lies
still.

“Leech by zero,” he says and the sphere, now
the size of a golf ball, stops its pulsing and becomes still. An
amber glow comes from it, similar to crystals which contain stored
magic.

“Is he dead?” asks the older girl.

He glances over to them and sees all the
girls staring at him and the dead man with naked fear in their
eyes. Nudging the man’s body with his foot, he nods, “I think
so.”

“What did you do?” she asks.

James waves away the question as he takes
his foot and snags the dead man’s body with his heel. Dragging him
a little closer, he reaches out with his hands and pulls the dead
body next to him.

Searching the dead man’s clothes, he finds a
set of keys and as luck would have it, one fits the locks of his
manacles. He removes first his wrist restraints, then his feet.
Glancing up to the open hatch, he fears that someone up there had
heard the man’s death. But when no one comes to investigate, he
reaches over and picks up the glowing sphere, putting it in his
pocket. Taking the rest of his things, he places the slug belt once
more around his hip and then gets up, making his way over to the
girls in the cage.

“Shhh!” he says, putting a finger to his
lips. “We must be quiet.”

“How are we going to get out of here?” one
of the other girls asks.

Turning the key in the lock, he says, “I
don’t know. I wasn’t planning on being on board a ship.” Opening
the door, he lets them out and has them move as far from the hatch
as possible. They find a spot behind some barrels of tar to
hide.

“Stay there and don’t come out for
anything,” he tells them.

The girls just nod, fear on their faces.

Turning back to the hatch, he moves until
he’s once more by the cage. Unsure what to do, he stands there in
indecision as he ponders his next course of action. His mind still
fuzzy from the drug, it’s hard for him to think properly.

He takes out the sphere and absentmindedly
rolls it in his hand. When he had originally made the sphere he had
only imbued it with a few simple commands. Leech was the first one,
which would draw power from whoever it was near thereby infusing it
with power for the other commands.

It was intended to use magic in
circumstances when he was unable to, such as now. He only put one
offensive spell in it and had he known that he was going to be
aboard a ship, he never would have used that one.

Staggering slightly from the effects of the
drug coursing through his system, he begins moving toward the
stairs leading to the hatch. Suddenly from above, the light coming
through the hatch is blocked as a guard begins descending down the
stairs.

James halts his forward movement and begins
backing up as the man stops abruptly on the stairs when he sees him
there. The guard does a quick scan and takes in the scene: James no
longer in manacles, the cage empty with the door open and the dead
body lying on the floor.

The guard begins hollering up the stairs as
he draws his sword. As the guard continues down the stairs, more
guards come through the hatch.

Holding the sphere before him, he calls
forth the lone offensive spell by saying, “Incinerate!”

The sphere pulses and he can almost feel the
magic flow out of it toward the approaching guard. The guard’s
clothes, hair and it seems his very skin ignites in a fireball.
Screams of pain erupt out of the inferno as the man stumbles around
until finally coming to rest on the deck. The nauseating odor of
burnt hair and flesh permeates the hold. Within the sphere, the
glow has been greatly reduced.

James looks to the other guards who have
paused on the stairs after seeing the fate of their comrade. They
look to him in fear as they back up the stairs and return to the
deck above. Voices can be heard arguing up there and though he
can’t understand the words being said, he has a pretty good idea.
The Ambassador wants the guards to come down and subdue him while
they feel that’s a bad idea.

Finally a decision is reached as the voices
become quiet. James glances over to where the girls are hiding and
can see their faces peering around and over the barrels they’re
hiding behind. Turning his attention back to the hatch, he
waits.

The light coming through the hatch is
suddenly blocked again by several men coming down the stairs
quickly. Each is carrying a crossbow and as soon as they clear the
hatch, quickly fire.

When he realizes they are sending
crossbowmen down, he says, “Shield.” The sphere pulses and a
translucent, shimmering shield surrounds him. The glow within the
sphere diminishes still further until there’s only a barely
perceptible glow.

The first bolt fired glances harmlessly off
the shield surrounding him and he begins making his way toward the
stairs. Two more bolts are fired in rapid succession and they too
are deflected by the protective shield.

“Leech by a hundred,” he says and the
closest crossbowman falls to the stairs and suffers the same fate
as had the man before. When the other two crossbowmen see their
comrade fall, and him advancing they beat a hasty retreat up the
stairs, slamming the hatch closed. “Leech by zero,” he says when
the crossbowman at last lies still.

At the base of the stairs, he glances back
to the girls and says, “Stay down here. No matter what happens,
stay down here.”

An ‘okay’ comes from the girls and he begins
making his way up the stairs. At the top, he finds the hatch has
been secured to keep him from escaping the hold and gaining the
ship’s deck.

Leech, shield and incinerate as well as the
degree to which it does those commands, i.e. by ten and by a
hundred are the only commands which he had imbued the sphere with
when he created it. And until he regains the ability to do magic,
those are all that he has at his command. If he ever gets out of
here, he’ll work on creating something which he can carry that will
be more flexible in differing circumstances.

The sphere glows with stored power once
again as he tries to figure out what to do. The longer he remains
aboard this ship, the closer and possibly further into the Empire
he will go. He has to act and act now.

Holding the sphere before him, he gazes at
the hatch and says, “Incinerate.” Nothing happens. He really didn’t
think that would work, the spell had been intended for enemies, not
inanimate objects.

Coming close to the hatch, he tries to hear
what’s happening on the other side, but other than muted voices in
a language he doesn’t understand, he can’t tell.

“Shield by zero,” he says and the shield
surrounding him disappears.

Returning down the stairs, he stares at the
grisly sight of the burnt corpse and shudders. He hates what these
people make him do. The girls have come out of their hiding place
and are coming toward him. “Now what?” one of them asks.

“I’m not sure,” he says. “But I’ll think of
something. Try not to worry.” Looking around the hold, he sees many
boxes and other paraphernalia which is useful on board a boat. A
spare sail, some rope and a box full of tools!
If only the
A-Team were here!
Laughing in spite of the gravity of the
situation, he begins rummaging around the box of tools.

He finally comes up with a small five pound
sledgehammer and takes it with him back to the hatch.

“What are you going to do with that?” one of
the girls asks.

“Smash through the hatch and see about
getting us off this ship,” he explains.

“What if they won’t let us?” Gwynne asks
him.

His expression turning grim, he says, “Then
I’ll have to convince them.”

“How?” Daria asks.

James glances at her but doesn’t reply. Then
he resumes moving toward the stairs and up to the hatch. The angle
is awkward and his arms aren’t all that strong to begin with.
Balancing himself as best he can, he swings the sledgehammer with
all his might and strikes the hatch with a resounding thud. The
other side of the hatch becomes quiet as he brings the sledgehammer
back for another strike.

Wham!

He hits the hatch again and begins to hear
those on the other side running around.

Wham!

This time he has the satisfaction of seeing
a crack begin to form on one of the slats of the hatch.

Wham!

The crack widens and suddenly the hatch is
pulled open from the other side. “Shield!” he cries out as three
crossbows fire simultaneously. The sphere pulses and the shield
forms just as the bolts are released, causing them to bounce off
harmlessly.

“Incinerate!” he cries out and one of the
crossbowmen bursts into flame, the other two turn and run. The one
on fire begins screaming and falls to the deck where he writhes in
pain until finally becoming still.