The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (27 page)

Jiron stays motionless for a few seconds,
cocking his head to the side he tries to hear if the sound of the
door slamming against the wall disturbed anyone. A slight rustling
noise can be heard coming from down the darkened hallway.

“Jiron…” Miko begins and is cut off by
Jiron.

“Shhh…” he says. Moving cautiously forward
with knife at the ready, he softly walks toward the sound. Unable
to see anything, he has to use his other senses to find the source
of the noise. Step by slow step he moves down the hallway, ears
alert for even the slightest sound.

Suddenly, a body lurches from a side room
and knocks him backward a few steps and then he hears footsteps
running away. Regaining his balance quickly, he breaks into
pursuit, the person ahead of him but a dim shadow in the dark as
Jiron races to catch him.

The person fleeing smashes through the door
at the end leading outside and they see that it’s a lad of about
twelve as he races off down the street in the moonlight. Coming to
a halt, he lets the boy go.

“That wasn’t her,” he hears Miko say from
the back.

Turning back to him, he says, “I realize
that.”

Moving down the street they come across
another dilapidated building that has seen better days. Jiron comes
to a halt as he stares at the building. “What?” asks Miko
quietly.

Pointing to the rear of the building, he
says, “There’s light coming from the rear window.”

“So?” Miko asks not sure why that would
require special attention.

Jiron glances back to him as he says, “The
building looks like it’s about ready to fall apart. I wouldn’t be
in there unless I had no choice.”

“Could be just another street kid like we
found back there,” suggests Miko.

“Perhaps but we better check it out anyway.”
Moving toward the window, Jiron steps quietly. The light is none
too bright, most likely coming from but a single candle.

They reach the edge of the building several
feet away from the window and he motions for Miko to remain there
while he goes to investigate. When he sees Miko’s nod, he moves to
the window. Peering inside, he sees four men standing around
another seated in a chair. His breath catches when he sees who it
is seated in the chair, James’ friend Dave. He has half a mind to
leave him there.

The men are saying something to Dave but
Jiron can’t quite make it out. Suddenly, Dave looks toward the
window and sees him there. “Jiron?” he asks.

The four men as one turn to see him there at
the window and they draw their swords.

“Damn fool!” he exclaims as he backs away
from the window and draws his knives.

“What?” asks Miko when he hears him curse
and sees him draw his knives.

Jiron glances back to him for just a second
and says, “Trouble.”

The door to the building crashes open as
three of the four men rush out onto the street. Jiron moves to
engage them and hears Miko’s sword leave its sheath as he too joins
the fray. “They have Dave!” he tells him.

The first man to reach him tries to bull his
way through his defenses as he hacks down with both hands on the
hilt of his sword. Jiron easily sidesteps and lashes out with a
return strike as the man passes and scores a deep cut on his left
shoulder.

The second man comes at him with a thrust
which he dodges backward to avoid. He hears the first man cry out
as Miko takes him through the chest with his sword and moves to
engage the third.

Now one on one, Jiron is able to block the
man’s attacks. After three exchanges of attacks, he has the man’s
measure. When the man thrusts as he knew he was going to, he
sidesteps the sword and strikes out with an attack so fast it’s but
a blur. His knife sinks into the man’s throat and severs the
larynx. Choking on his own blood, the man is unable to properly
defend himself and Jiron kicks out, connecting with his knee and
shatters it. Falling to the ground, the man gurgles as blood fills
his lungs.

Miko parries the third man’s attack and
follows through with one of his own. His reflexes having been honed
by his time with the Fire, his sword flies at the man horizontally
and severs his leg at the hip. As the man topples forward, he
strikes out one more time and runs his sword through his chest. His
sword gets wedged in between the man’s ribs and is ripped from his
hand.

After the man hits the ground, he puts his
foot on his ribcage and draws out his sword. Looking around
quickly, he sees Jiron wiping his blades on one of the dead men’s
shirts.

“Dave!” Jiron says and moves toward the
doorway. He stops suddenly when he sees Dave peering around the
corner.

“Are they dead?” he asks, a tremor of fear
in his voice.

“You can come out now,” Jiron tells him.
“Where’s the other guy?”

“He ran out the back,” he says. Looking at
the dead bodies, he can’t help but hide his revulsion at the
sight.

“Let’s get back to the inn,” Jiron says.

“Yes,” he says, “I’d like that.”

“Who were they?” Miko asks as they begin
moving back toward the inn.

“From the Empire, I think,” he says. “They
said they were going to kill me if I didn’t tell them where the
Fire is.”

Jiron glances to Miko who gives him a
knowing look.

“Just what is the Fire?” he asks. “They knew
I was his friend. How could they know that?”

“I don’t know, but we better hurry and tell
James about it,” Jiron says. Picking up the pace, they make their
way straight toward where the inn lies.

When they go upstairs they find Fifer and
Qyrll have already returned, having no better luck in finding
Serenna than they had.

James gets to his feet as Dave walks into
the room ahead of Jiron and Miko. “Are you alright?” he asks.

“I’m fine,” Dave replies, sinking into one
of the chairs by the table. Illan gets up so James can sit next to
him.

James turns his attention to Jiron and asks,
“What happened?”

“Found him in some old building on the
outskirts of town,” he replies. “Looked like he was being
questioned.”

Turning back to Dave, James says, “Tell me
everything.”

“Several minutes after you left, more of
those people showed up,” he tells them, a haunted look coming over
him. “They demanded us to go with them and when we refused, they
fell upon the boy and started killing him. I grabbed a chair and
smashed open the window and climbed down to the street below. I
didn’t know what to do or where to go. There were more of them on
the streets so I just starting running, I was hoping to find
you.”

“But instead, I ran into those other guys.
They recognized me as being your friend,” he says, bringing his
eyes to meet James’. “How could they know that?”

Startled at that, James glances around to
the others in the room and then says, “I don’t know. It wouldn’t
seem likely.”

“They’ve probably had spies on us for awhile
now,” offers Illan. “It wouldn’t have been too difficult for them
to find out who we all are and our relationship to you.”

Nodding, James says, “Possibly.”

Laying his hand on James’ arm, Dave says,
“They wanted to know about something called ‘The Fire’. Do you know
what they’re talking about?”

James sits back in his chair and
contemplates what he just heard.

“They haven’t given up,” states Jiron.

“No they haven’t,” he replies. Looking to
Dave, he can see the questions behind his eyes but can he afford to
give him the answers? “The Fire is an artifact of power here in
this world. I have it on good authority that should the wrong
people acquire it, this world could end. Or at least those who live
here would wish it had.”

“So you have it?” he asks.

“Not any more,” he answers. “It’s hidden
away for all time.”

“Where?” he asks.

James looks to his friend for a minute as he
considers his reply. Finally, he says, “I can’t tell you.”

“But I’m your friend!” he exclaims. “My life
is in jeopardy because of it, I have a right to know!”

Shaking his head, James says, “Dave, you are
my best friend. We’ve been through a lot together but I can’t tell
you. I can’t tell anyone.”

Indicating the others, he asks, “Do they
know?”

Shaking his head, James says, “No, they
don’t. No one does but me and it’s going to stay that way.”

Somewhat mollified at knowing he isn’t the
only one who doesn’t know, he calms down.

James hated to lie to his friend, but he’s
too vulnerable. This latest escapade shows him that not only
himself, but those around him are likely to be sought. And how did
they know he was here. Something’s afoot and he needs to figure out
what.

He gets to his feet, tired and exhausted.
Looking at everyone in the room he says, “As much as we all need to
rest, we better get out of here. If there are agents from the
Empire here, there’s no telling what they may be planning
next.”

“I agree,” Illan says. To Fifer and Qyrll he
says, “Go down to the stables and get the horses ready for travel.”
As they move to leave the room, he adds, “Be alert.”

“Count on it,” Fifer says. Then he and Qyrll
pass into the hallway and move to the stairs.

Turning back to James, he says, “Now that
they’ve tipped their hand, we’ll be on guard.”

“That’s something at least,” James replies.
Getting up from the chair, he says to Miko, “Go down to the kitchen
and fill several packs with food.”

Miko looks at him askance as he says, “Isn’t
that stealing?”

“Stealing from whom?” Jiron asks. “The
innkeeper and son are dead and we haven’t seen anyone else around
the whole time we’ve been here. Likely as not, if we leave the food
it’ll just spoil.”

“Right, I hadn’t thought of that.” Miko
grabs his bag and heads down to the kitchen.

James glances to Jiron and says, “I hope
there’re no tarts down there or that’s all he’ll get.”

Breaking out into a grin, he says, “I better
go help him.” Taking his pack, Jiron leaves the room and follows
Miko down to the kitchen.

James, Illan and Dave make their way down to
the stables where they find all but two of the horses already
saddled. Fifer and Qyrll are getting the saddles ready for the
remaining two.

Taking the reins of his horse, he leads him
out into the inn’s courtyard as does Dave and Illan. They wait
there a moment before Miko and Jiron exit the back door of the inn,
each with two bulging sacks of food for their journey back. One
small pouch hangs around Miko’s neck and Jiron nods toward it and
mouths, ‘Tarts’.

James gives him a grin and by the time they
have the food secured to the horses, Fifer and Qyrll come out with
the others. Once mounted, they follow the north road through
town.

Several townsfolk watch them as they ride
by. Whether or not they realize they were the ones who took care of
Serenna or not, they make no move toward them nor do they offer a
greeting. It’s going to take some time before this town is back the
way it was before all the unpleasantness.

They finally reach the outskirts and break
into a fast trot as they leave Willimet behind.

While he rides through the night, his mind
continues going over the events during the battle with Serenna and
her followers, mainly, the shadows which came from the globe. They
were identical in look and feel as the ones he encountered that
time Igor came to save his butt. He’s still not sure where he was.
Whether it was another plane of existence, another world or maybe
just a terrifying dream, he’s not sure. But after seeing the
shadows appear from the globe, he’s convinced it wasn’t just a
dream.

Since coming to this world, he’s encountered
several forces, malignant in nature. By far the worst experience
was the one on that other world. From the various books he’s read
back home, he has a couple theories as to why these things may be
happening, none of which will be pleasant if they’re true.

Two hours from Willimet, they come across
another of the areas catering to travelers. This one has but an inn
and one other building behind it which looks to be the innkeeper’s
home. Both buildings are dark.

Illan brings them to a halt before coming
very close. He sits there for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” James asks him.

“Doesn’t feel right,” he says. “There’s
usually always a light of some kind at an inn.” To Jiron he says,
“Go check it out.”

“Right,” he replies and then dismounts from
his horse. While the others wait there in the road, he makes his
way toward the inn.

The front door is ajar. Removing a knife
from his belt, he steps toward the door. Pausing a few feet from
the door, he looks inside but all he can see are shadows cast by
the faint light of the moon shining in through the windows. Placing
his hand against the door, he slowly pushes it open. The hinges of
the door squeal slightly, giving an eerie feel to the place.

When the door is open far enough to allow
him to enter, he releases the door and steps through. The stench
from within hits him like a wall, death has been here. Moving
inside, he tries to breathe through his mouth to minimize his
reaction to the odor. On a nearby table he sees a candle
silhouetted by the moonlight coming in through a window. Making his
way over to it, he sets his knife on the table and removes his
flint from his pouch. After two tries he manages to get the candle
lit.

The candle’s light reveals a macabre scene.
Several people lie dead on the floor, another is slumped across a
table. A quick survey shows none of the people are still alive.
“Hello?” he hollers. “Is anyone here?” Listening for a moment, he
fails to hear anything and then makes his way back to the door.

Sticking his head out, he hollers to the
others, “I think everyone here is dead!”