Tides of Faith: Travail of The Dark Mage Book Two (64 page)

“Is it dead?”

“Unsure,” Miko replied. “Injured
severely at the very least.” When James turned back to him, he
added, “It was loath to relinquish the Star. I convinced
it.”

“Bet it feels good to hold
that.”

“Words could never adequately express
how it makes me feel.”

Looking around at the
ruptured, vine-covered conveyance tubes, James asked, “Will it be
able to see us out of the
Waste
?”

“I believe so. I sense a great
reservoir of magic resides within the Star.”

“Coming from a god, it’s probably
inexhaustible.”

Miko considered that a moment, then
nodded. “I believe you are correct.”

“So you could take over the
world.”

“No,” Miko replied. “World domination
holds no interest for him and I do not believe that the magic would
respond should I try to use it for such a purpose.”

James slapped him on the back. “I’m
glad.” Then he glanced to the sky. There was no shimmering even
though magic was being utilized.

Miko looked up too. “Like you said,
priest magic does not appear to bring about the shimmering
field.”

“Any idea why?”

“No, though I am glad for
it.”

“Me too. Now, let’s get out of
here.”

Hands on hips, Father
Vickor stood outside the old farmhouse and stared into the
Waste
.

“We can’t wait any longer.”

He glanced to Father Keller who
nodded.

“Settle Eddra into her carriage and
let’s go.”

With Kip’s help, Father Keller carried
the old woman from the farmhouse and placed her gently upon a
pallet comprised of blankets and spare clothing within the
carriage. Kip produced another blanket and covered her.

Shorty came up to them. “What about
Scar and Potbelly?”

“They knew we would wait two days,”
Father Vickor replied.

“And they know where we are headed,”
Kip added.

Shorty glanced to the horizon in the
hopes of catching a glimpse of the pair’s return. “Can’t we wait
one more day?”

Father Vickor shook his head. “We must
be in Zixtyn before the Reverend Father’s arrival.”

Jiron laid a hand on the knifer’s
shoulder. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. Probably be there ahead of
us.”

Shorty nodded though he didn’t share
Jiron’s confidence.

Jiron grabbed the saddle and swung up.
Jira sat on her horse next to him “Let’s go.”

Three hours later and some distance to
the southeast, four horses emerged from the Waste. In the distance
lay the road running between Cyzt and Hyrryth. Potbelly brought
them to a halt as he surveyed the travelers upon the
road.

“I don’t see them.”

He glanced to Scar. Unconscious since
the ill-fated attempt to acquire an exotic creature for display in
the Pits, ropes lashed him to the saddle and maintained him in a
forward slump against several bags stacked in front of him. Shortly
after being struck by the poisoned barbs, Scar had lapsed into
unconsciousness.

His condition had neither worsened nor
improved. Potbelly worried for his friend but knew that the
affliction assailing him could be cured. Jira had been struck by
the same poisoned darts and with Brother Willim’s aid, she had been
okay. He needed to get his friend to Morcyth’s priests as quickly
as possible.

The reins of Scar’s horse were secured
behind Potbelly’s saddle; the two packhorses were similarly secured
in tandem behind Scar.

“North…” he said gazed along the road
to the horizon, then glanced the other way. “Or south…” Turning
back to Scar, he asked, “What do you think?” Scar was unresponsive.
“About what I thought, too.”

He knew they would head south, but the
question was whether they had already passed this way, or had yet
to. The last thing he wanted to do was travel along the main road.
Even though there were few travelers upon it, Scar’s condition
would assuredly arouse suspicion. After several moments of weighing
his options, he knew he had to take the risk.

Two wagons with five mounted riders
made their way from the south. Angling so as to intercept them, he
nudged his horse into motion.

A lone rider heading south took notice
of his approach, as did a trio pulling a cart on their way north.
None gave him more than a passing glance. Once on the road, his
fellow travelers made it a point of ignoring him; only the lone
rider actually met his gaze.

When the lead wagon drew close,
Potbelly came to a halt and raised his hand in greeting.

“A good day to you.”

Two riders came abreast of the wagon
as the teamster brought it to a halt, the other three took up
position along the second wagon. One of the riders, a young man in
his late twenties with a bearing of authority continued forward. He
raised his hand in similar salutation.

“And to you, sir.” The man’s gaze
turned and rested upon Scar a moment before returning to Potbelly.
“Trouble?”

Potbelly nodded. “We ran
into a creature from the
Waste
. My friend was
affected.”

“Yes,” the young man replied. “I have
heard of similar incidents. Barbs, I believe.”

“Two days ago.”

“A priest can remedy that.”

“So I understand. But that is not why
I stopped you. We were separated from our friends and hoped you
might have passed them recently. There are several men, a young
girl and an old woman in a carriage.”

The man thought a moment, then shook
his head. “I’m sorry. I haven’t seen any group fitting that
description. Been on the road since before sunup.”

Sighing, Potbelly said, “I thank you.
They may still be to the north. If on your travels northward you
should encounter them, I would appreciate it if you could let them
know that the two they are missing are on the road ahead of
them.”

“I will do that.”

“How far to the next inn?”

“If you set a good pace, you should be
there by sunset.”

“I thank you. Good
travels.”

“Good travels to you as
well.”

Nudging his horse into motion,
Potbelly soon left the wagons and riders behind.

The power of Morcyth glowed brightly
as they made their way southward through the desert. It had been
hours since leaving the ruins of Ith-Zirul behind. Ruptured
conveyance tubes made a vein-like patchwork throughout the
land.

“It really was quite
extensive.”

“Yes,” Miko replied. “It sickens me to
believe the pure power of Morcyth had been utilized in such a
way.”

James glanced to his arms every now
and then, the glow that radiated outward from them fascinated him.
There they were, walking through a radioactive wasteland without
protective gear, and they were fine. With the Star, Miko was able
to continuously heal the damage done by the radiation.

He raised his glowing arm.
“How long can you keep this up? We have a couple days until we
leave the
Waste
.”

“Not to worry,” he replied.
“Maintaining the healing power is quite easy. However….”

“Yes?”

“I do not think I can maintain it
while asleep,” Miko explained. “We need to find a safe
haven.”

James scanned a horizon devoid of
tell-tale signs indicating a patch of vines. “Great.” Far ahead to
the south, the first stalker silhouette appeared. He paused and
picked up a couple stones then glanced to the sky. “This could get
interesting.”

Nodding, Miko replied,
“Possibly.”

Another joined the first, then several
more. Off to their right, others began to appear. A glance to the
left revealed still more coming into view. Multiplying rapidly, the
horizon quickly filled with the creatures.

“They are coming back.”

“Yeah,” James agreed.

“Think it was something I
did?”

James glanced to his friend and said,
“I would say that was a safe bet.”

Dust rose behind the creatures and it
quickly became apparent that they were in a full run straight for
them.

“Can you handle them?”

“If the shimmering in the sky doesn’t
materialize,” James replied, “it will be easy.”

“Then let us pray that it does
not.”

James didn’t hold much faith in that
strategy. Instead, he busied himself with finding as many stones as
he could before the creatures closed the distance. By the time the
ground trembled with their approach, he had an armful.

Taking one in his hand, he turned to
Miko. “Keep an eye on the sky.”

“Will do.”

Summoning magic, he threw.

The stone leapt from his hand and
slammed into the lead creature. As it stumbled and fell another
stone was already on the way.

One after another in rapid fire the
stones flew across the desert.

A score of the creatures laid dead and
no tingling upon the skin.

“Any sign?”

Miko shook his head. “No. The sky is
clear.”

His collection of rocks dwindled
rapidly and still the creatures came on. Having concentrated his
fire to the south, he had managed to open a hole in their line, but
those to the east and west were coming fast.

Crumph!

Dirt and rock exploded upward beneath
those to the east.

Crumph!

Those to the west flew in the air as
the ground erupted.

His skin tingled painfully as the sky
above shimmered briefly then regained normality.

“James…”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I
know.”

Four stalkers emerged from the cloud
of dust left behind by the explosion to the east. He had ten stones
left. Taking one, he braced for the tingling, then
threw.

The sky remained calm.

He threw another.

Still the sky failed to react and no
tingling afflicted him.

Two more stones downed the last of the
creatures to the east.

Motion from the west drew his
attention. A dozen stalkers still headed their way.

He contemplated his last six stones.
The ground around them held little more than dirt and
sand.

“Damn,” he cursed.

Bracing, he concentrated on the ground
before the advancing creatures, then let loose the magic. The sky
shimmered…

Crumph!...k-Pow!

No sooner had the spell been cast than
he felt it being corrupted. Tingling pain wracked his body to the
bone as the ground beneath the stalkers erupted. Then a second
explosion nearly four times as powerful followed on the heels of
the first and tossed massive chunks of earth into the
air.

Miko cast a protective shield a
heartbeat before the concussion wave rolled over them. He wrapped
his arm around his friend to keep him from collapsing. Dirt rained
down upon them, the larger pieces broke apart as they hit the
shield, some disintegrated completely. When the rain of earth
subsided, dirt lay piled to waist height around the base of the
shield.

Beyond the shield nothing could be
seen; dust choked the air. Miko helped James to the
ground.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s getting worse,” he sighed.
“Anything the Star can do to help?”

“I do not think so.”

James sat there as the dust settled to
the ground. When it had cleared sufficiently, they saw the massive
crater. Its edge began a mere twenty feet away and spanned nearly
fifty feet. Chunks of earth littered the ground in every
direction.

“Stalker.”

Looking to where Miko pointed, he saw
one of the creatures heading their way. He readied a stone as he
got to his feet.

Miko drew his sword. “Better let me
take this one.”

James shook his head. “You need to
maintain the Star’s healing power. We can’t take the
risk.”

“Are you sure?” he asked
skeptically.

Sighing, James replied,
“Yes.”

Beyond the one Miko had pointed out,
another five ranged scattered across the desert. All were heading
their way at a quick pace.

The first one skirted the outer rim of
the crater on its way toward them.

James laid a hand on Miko’s shoulder
for support. His skin felt raw after the last tingling effect and
his muscles felt weak. Taking two calming breaths helped and he
made ready.

The stalker came round the pit and
charged.

He braced for the tingling reaction,
cast his spell and threw the stone.