The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (26 page)

From the corner of his eye, James sees the
innkeeper fall to Jiron’s knife as he reached out for him. Anger
suddenly flares up within his breast, taking a slug from his belt
he launches it toward her. Before it comes close, he feels a surge
of power erupt from the globe and his slug explodes before it even
reaches her.

The pile of bodies surrounding the men
protecting him is beginning to rise. The remaining followers who
are trying to get to him have to step over the dead which allows
the defenders to take them out more easily. From the tent opening,
more of her followers enter as they join with those already
attacking.

“James,” Jiron hollers as his knife takes a
woman through the chest. Kicking her back into the ones behind her
he continues, “Do something!”

The globe is the source of the power
here. It’s going to defend itself and Serenna against whatever I
try to do.
Just then, the darkness within the globe begins to
pulsate. A dark light seems to emerge from it and then suddenly, a
shadow is standing next to Serenna on the platform. She appears to
take no notice of it.

A shiver courses through him as the shadow
turns its head in his direction. Dread fills him when he recognizes
the shadow as being similar to the ones in that other world where
Igor found him. He can’t even begin to imagine the ramifications of
that.

Steeling himself, he summons the magic and
unleashes a wave of energy. When the wave hits the shadow it
appears to have little effect. Taking a step forward, it begins
making its way directly toward him.

Crumph!

The ground under the front edge of the
platform where the shadow stands explodes outward, causing the
platform to buckle and break. Serenna cries out as she stumbles
away from the pedestal and breaks contact with the sphere. As soon
as her hand is no longer in contact with the sphere, the pressure
on the shields around their minds disappears.

James stops maintaining the shields around
their minds which frees up a lot of power and concentration.

The shadow remains unaffected by the
explosion and continues toward him.

Crumph!

As the shadow steps off the bottom step, the
ground once again erupts. Still not being affected by the blast, it
continues on. Serenna is nowhere to be seen and the globe begins to
pulsate again as another shadow disengages itself from the
globe.

“Dear god!” Jiron exclaims when he finally
takes notice of what’s transpiring upon the platform. Serenna’s
followers begin losing the will to fight. Some continue unabated,
while others begin wandering away as if lost in a daze. Still
others seem to come to their senses and race from the tent.

The first shadow has now reached the
followers who are standing dazed and confused. When it brushes up
against someone, they cry out and fall to the floor as if they had
the life sucked out of them.

Jiron stands his ground, attempting to keep
his fear of the approach of the shadow from taking over and causing
him to flee. Both knives, red with the blood of Serenna’s
followers, are in hand as he readies himself to meet this new
foe.

“James!” Jiron yells as he kicks a follower
away from him. “The Star! Use the Star!”

The Star! Of course!
Reaching into
his shirt, he brings forth the Star which bursts into a blinding
white light. The followers who are attacking suddenly break off as
they shield their eyes from its brilliance.

“Stand your ground!” Illan cries as Qyrll
was about to step away from the group and continue the attack on
the dazed people. Qyrll glances to Illan and then resumes his place
in the circle around James.

The two shadows emit a scream as the light
from the medallion touches them. A slug flies from James’ hand and
passes harmlessly through the first one.

They have no substance! They really are
just shadows, but deadly nonetheless.
Holding the medallion
above his head, he begins moving toward the platform. The globe
begins pulsating again.

Crumph!

The section of the platform upon which the
globe’s pedestal sits suddenly explodes upward. Launched into the
air, the globe leaves the pedestal and flies for several yards
before hitting the ground. It rolls for a few more feet before
settling to a stop.

“Jiron!” James hollers. “Smash the
globe!”

“With what?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” he replies. “It’s the source
of the power.” Keeping the medallion held aloft, he continues
toward the first shadow. “But don’t touch it!” he warns.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Qyrll
making his way through the crowd toward it. His swords out and
ready but none of the followers seem to even take notice of him in
their midst. Without Serenna’s will to control them, they’re
nothing more than mindless zombies.

The shadows screech painfully as the light
from the medallion burns into them. James almost imagines he can
see smoke rising. Illan appears at his side and asks, “What is
it?”

“Not entirely sure,” replies James. “Demon
maybe. Encountered them once before.”

Fifer has joined Qyrll who has climbed up
onto what’s left of the platform. Together they’re lifting the
pedestal upon which the globe at one time sat. The second shadow
appears to be moving in their direction but the light from the
medallion seems to be affecting it so badly it can barely move.

They take the pedestal over to the globe and
raise it high. Then they bring it down as hard as they can,
smashing it onto the globe. With a crack, the globe shatters.

Kaboom!

The shattering of the globe releases a
massive explosion which lifts them off the ground and throws them
across the room. Followers fall to the ground, James and the others
are knocked from their feet by the force of the explosion.

Landing on his back, he still retains hold
of the medallion and the light still shines forth. One final shriek
and the two shadows dissolve into nothingness. The light from the
medallion goes out and the tent is suddenly quiet.

As Illan gets to his feet, he hollers to
Miko, “Go see about Fifer and Qyrll.” Turning to James he asks,
“Are you okay?”

“Think so,” he replies. “Anyone hurt?”

Illan glances around and sees Fifer and
Qyrll beginning to get to their feet. Jiron is already standing
near James as he keeps his eye on the remaining followers in the
tent. “Looks like other than some minor cuts and bruises, we’re
alright.”

“Good,” he sighs in exhaustion. Replacing
the medallion beneath his shirt, he gets to his feet and surveys
the damage. Dozens of dead men and women lie in heaps from their
ill fated attack on James and the others. Others wander aimlessly
through the tent while a few continue regaining their senses and
make their way outside.

“Where is she?” James suddenly asks. Looking
around, Serenna is no where in sight. “Damn! We’ve got to find
her!”

Raising his voice, Illan hollers, “Fan out!
Locate the woman.”

As James and Illan head toward the shattered
remains of the globe, the rest move out and hunt for Serenna.
Coming to the shards, James bends down to examine them. No presence
of magic or a malignant presence remains. He reaches out and picks
up a two inch long piece. Holding it close it appears just a simple
glass shard. Tossing it back with the others, he gets back to his
feet.

“What happened here do you suppose?” Illan
asks him.

“I don’t know?” he replies. “Maybe she
tapped into a force which got the better of her? Who knows?”

Jiron comes running back in and says,
“There’s no sign of her.”

“Continue the search,” Illan tells him. “Fan
out through the city if you have to but we must find her.”

Jiron nods his head then returns to the
hunt. Illan turns to James and asks, “Can you find her with
magic?”

“Too tired to attempt it now,” he says.
“Let’s go back to the inn.”

As they make their way back toward the
entrance, they pass by the pile of bodies lying on the floor and he
catches a glimpse of the innkeeper’s dead face where he’s wedged in
among the others. Sadness overcomes him as he realizes he’s going
to have to tell the innkeeper’s son that his father is dead.

Outside the tent, they see a group of
townsfolk at the edge of town looking toward the pavilion. “What
should we tell them?” Illan asks.

“As little as we can,” he replies. “In the
morning let’s get out of here as fast as possible. I would leave
now but I’m just too tired.”

“Understandable,” he says. “Fifer!” Illan
hollers when he sees him poking through the ramshackle houses which
have sprung up around the pavilion.

He looks up to see Illan waving him over.
Making his way to him, he asks, “Yes?”

“Tell the others to keep searching,” he
says. “We’re going back to the inn. If you can’t find her soon,
head on back as well.”

“I’ll tell them,” Fifer assures him as he
heads off to find the others.

James looks to the townsfolk as he and Illan
draw closer, each have the look of fear and uncertainty on their
faces. When he reaches them, he says, “Serenna and her followers
will no longer be bothering you.”

Seeing the blood on his clothes which Illan
acquired during the battle, one lady asks, “Did you kill them
all?”

Shaking his head, Illan replies, “No. No
more than we had to.” Gesturing back to the pavilion, he adds,
“Many are coming out of the hold she had on them and are going to
need your assistance.”

Suddenly one of the men cries out, “Hera!”
and rushes toward the pavilion. A woman is emerging from the tent
and he runs to her, wrapping his arms around her. The others begin
seeing others whom they know emerge or are already wandering around
on the outside and go to them.

“Let’s go,” James says.

He and Illan work their way through the town
until they see the inn appear down the road ahead of them. Entering
through the front door, they make their way up the stairs to their
rooms.

The door to where Dave and the innkeeper’s
son had remained is ajar. Illan places his hand on James’ shoulder
and draws his sword. Motioning for James to remain where he is, he
moves closer to the door. Placing his hand upon it, he slowly
pushes it open and gasps when he sees what’s inside.

The innkeeper’s son, or rather what’s left
of him, lies on the floor. At his gasp, James comes forward and
takes in the scene. Glancing around, he says, “Dave’s gone.”

The room is a shambles, the table is
overturned and only one chair remains. The shutters for the window
are broken and James moves to the window to find the other chair
lying broken on the ground below. “Dave!” he cries.

“Damn!” curses Illan. “Where could he have
gone?”

“I don’t know,” replies James as he turns
from the window. “If they broke in here to get them, he might’ve
made it past and escaped. Hopefully he’s holed up somewhere. When
the sun comes up and he sees the townsfolk on the streets, he
should return.”

“Let’s check the other rooms just in case,”
suggests Illan.

James nods and they begin searching the inn
room by room. Neither on the top floor nor the bottom do they find
Dave. The downstairs looks the same as when they left earlier so
whatever occurred happened upstairs.

They finally return upstairs and enter the
room across from the one with the dead innkeeper’s son. Illan
suggests leaving the door open so they can keep an eye out for the
others. James concurs.

“Get some sleep if you can,” Illan tells
him. “I’ll stay up and watch for the others.”

“Alright,” he says as he goes over to the
bed and lies down. As active as his mind is right now, he has
little hopes of falling asleep any time soon.
What happened to
Dave?
He worries about him all alone out there and hopes
someone will run across him and bring him back. The fact that he’s
here in this world at all is his fault so it makes him his
responsibility.

If he should run across her, he’s going to
kill her. Jiron made that decision the instant he saw the inside of
the tent. Miko walks beside him. It was decided that it would be
prudent if they broke up into pairs. He and Miko would search
inside the town while Fifer and Qyrll hunt her in the outer
section.

“Do you think we’ll find her?” Miko asks
while they’re checking an abandoned storehouse.

“I don’t know,” he replies. “I doubt it, the
town is simply too big.”

The townsfolk have all come out into the
streets to see what’s going on, many have made their way down to
the pavilion after hearing Serenna’s been dealt with. Crying and
wailing can be heard throughout the town as loved ones are found
either dead or with vacant eyes. Some come out of it, but for those
who were under her spell the longest, it might take longer, if
ever.

“We’ll try a few more places then head back
to the inn,” Jiron tells him.

Miko nods as he follows him to a rundown
tavern on the outskirts. The windows have been boarded up and the
shantytown of the followers has grown up around it. “This would be
a good place to hide,” he remarks.

“Does look like it doesn’t it,” agrees Jiron
as he approaches the front door. A couple boards have been nailed
across the entrance and it’s easy enough for them to rip them off.
He then tries to open the door and finds it locked. Kicking out
with his foot, he breaks the door in. It flies inside as one hinge
breaks off and lands crooked as it’s only being held by one hinge
now. Partially blocking the doorway, they have to step over the
door as they enter.

The interior is dark, the light coming in
through the broken doorway is little help in dispelling it. Moving
inside, Jiron keeps a knife in one hand while he feels his way with
the other.

Miko stays right behind him as they make
their way around the inside of the walls. Jiron keeps his hand
against it to feel for doorways. When he comes to one, he tries to
open it but finds it locked. Using the same key as he had on the
front door, he kicks it. Swinging open, it smashes into the wall
with a resounding thud.