Tides of Faith: Travail of The Dark Mage Book Two (69 page)

“About half a day behind,”
Father Vickor explained. “Once we learned that you had been
stricken by a creature from the
Waste
, the Reverend Father sent us
ahead to provide what aid we could.”

From the vantage point atop the slight
hill where Potbelly held vigil the night before, they had a good
view of the road where it ran off in the distance. One lone rider
was all they saw.

“I figure they’ll be along before
noon,” Tinok said.

“Provided they don’t run into
trouble,” added Shorty.

“They won’t,” Father Vickor assured
them. “Father Keller saw to that.” Then he glanced to Tinok and
Shorty, “All the hot heads are already here.”

“Hey!” Shorty exclaimed.

Father Vickor laughed.

Tinok almost cracked a
grin…almost.

Shorty went to sit next to Scar and
Potbelly. “So, did you two get your creature?”

Scar turned to Potbelly. “Did
we?”

Nodding, Potbelly replied, “We did.
Almost killed us both, but we got it.”

“Excellent,” Scar said. “Will make a
good addition to The Pits.”

“I’ve already got it figured out,”
Potbelly began. “Put it in the old Pit, the one Levryn lost his arm
in back before the war.”

Scar nodded. “It’s away from the
others… I agree. And it would be easy to set up Alexander’s
containment rods there too.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“I hate to break this up,” Father
Vickor said, “But now that you’ve eaten, you should try to get some
rest before the others arrive.”

Eyes heavy with fatigue, Scar nodded.
“You may be right.”

“Of course I’m right,” the priest
insisted. “A couple more hours would do you wonders.” Then he cast
Potbelly a look full of meaning.

The Pit Master nodded. “I’ll see to
it,” he said quietly.

Father Vickor glanced around. “Now
where is Kip?” he asked loudly. “Be a good time to instruct my
young Novice in the intricate details of the Morning Blessing
Ritual.”

From down by the horses came a groan
and the others laughed.

Sleep had been hard to come by.
Throughout the night, a steady stream of stalkers had arrived and
now there were dozens, maybe even over a hundred milling about just
beyond the fringe of the vine patch.

“How many are there?”

Miko chewed on the last piece of
jerked beef in his pack as he gazed at the herd. “Hard to
tell.”

“No,” James said, shaking
his head, “how many
are
there? You would think with the number we’ve
killed in the past few days there wouldn’t be another still alive
in the Waste.”

“Maybe these are the last?”

“I certainly hope so.”

Miko drank from his water bottle then
put it back in his pack and stood. “At least today we should pass
beyond reach of the deadly radiation.”

James nodded. “I think so too. Help me
gather stones and I’ll take care of them before we
leave.”

“You got it.”

While Miko set about gathering stones
of suitable size, James picked up the small pile he had gathered
last night. He walked to the edge of the dead, safe section of
vines and paused to gaze upon these creatures and ponder how
different they were from anything he’d ever seen before. “They
really aren’t of this world, are they?”

“I have never heard of their like
before.”

Sighing, James readied a stone, arched
his arm back, and threw. A small release of power and the stone
struck true. Slamming into the creature’s side, it exploded out the
other and the creature fell dead. None of the other stalkers paid
the death of one of their own any mind. James readied another stone
and began to systematically rid the world of these
creatures.

As the supply of stones gathered the
night before diminished, Miko would arrive with another dozen or
so, then head off to scavenge for more.

James much preferred to kill these
creatures this way rather than with his assassin spell. He didn’t
know why it bothered him so much to kill by slicing and dicing
their innards, than with stones and slugs; but it did.

After a score had fallen he could tell
he was making headway. The herd was thinning. Five more and he had
to start using the stones Miko had gathered.

Take a stone, send it flying, watch a
creature fall, then ready another. One after another he sent his
bullets of death sailing into the mass of stalkers. Between fifty
and sixty, he started to unconsciously scratch at his arms after
every throw. At sixty-five, Miko noticed and turned to look at the
sky.

Very briefly, the shimmering would
appear each time James launched his stones. It would appear for
only a brief moment, but after watching five consecutive
appearances, knew it was drawing closer. Before James launched
another, he laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“The shimmering is back.”

“What?” he said as he turned to Miko.
“How? I thought the small amount of magic throwing stones used
wouldn’t attract it.”

“I think we were wrong.” He pointed to
the sky where it had appeared. “Throw another stone and
watch.”

Sure enough, when he threw, the
shimmering field materialized.

“I don’t understand. All day yesterday
we used stones to clear stalkers from our path and nothing. Yet
today, after not having used magic for an extended time, there it
is.”

“Are you doing it differently
somehow?”

James shook his head. “Been doing it
the same way since I first came to this world.”

“Something is different,” Miko
insisted.

“We’re inside a vine patch,” James
suggested. When Miko turned a questioning eye upon him, he
shrugged. “I don’t know. It seems that is the only thing
different.”

Miko pondered the situation, then
summoned Morcyth’s power. Enveloped in the glow, he said, “Not
exactly.” The glow extended outward to envelope James. “Try it
now.”

Though dubious, James picked a stalker
from out of the mass still surrounding the vine patch, cocked his
arm back, summoned magic, and threw. Then he turned to Miko.
“Well?”

“Nothing,” he replied with a grin. “It
did not appear.”

“Let me try it again.”

Still enveloped by the glow of
Morcyth, James sent another stone flying to take out a stalker.
When again the tingling failed to afflict him and the shimmering
didn’t appear, he nodded. “You may be right. Remove the glow and
let me try it again without it.”

“Okay.”

Once the glow faded, he took out
another stalker. This time, he felt the prickling of the skin and
out of the corner of his eye, saw the shimmering appear briefly in
the sky to the north.

“It would seem that not only does
priestly magic not draw the shimmering affect, but it can shield
the workings of a mage so a mage’s magic will not attract it as
well.”

James shook his head. “When I did my
assassin spell, and when I caused the ground to erupt, it appeared
even when I was cloaked in your magic.”

“Try them again and let us see if that
is true.”

“Alright.”

Enveloped once more in the glow, James
concentrated on a spot where half a dozen stalkers milled about. As
he let the magic go, prickling ran up and down his skin and he felt
the shimmering field seek to undo his spell. Then the ground
erupted and the prickling faded.

“Interesting.”

“Now your other spell.”

James cast him a wearied glance. “I
really hate that one.”

“I understand, but we need to know if
it, too, produces the shimmering effect or if it is just the one
that erupts the ground.”

“Fine.”

Concentrating on a stalker, he
manifested his miniature killing shield within the beast’s chest.
Instantly, the shimmering field appeared and it was all he could do
to maintain the spell’s integrity. It lasted but a few seconds, but
it was a constant struggle. The beast fell dead and the shimmering
field vanished.

“So, what was it about those two
spells that is different than when you cast stones?”

Shaking his head, James said, “I don’t
know.”

”Has to be something.”

“I know it does,” he replied. “I just
don’t know…” He paused as a thought entered his head.

Miko had seen that look on his friend
before. He kept quiet so as to allow James a chance to sufficiently
grasp what had just crossed his mind.

After a moment, James held up a stone.
“When I cast these, the magic powering the spell begins and ends at
my hand. It’s like a bullet and magic is the gunpowder. Once fired,
it maintains speed and accuracy on its own. It’s only the initial
impetus and targeting that the magic does.”

“And…?” prompted Miko.

“And the magic powering the other two
spells does not remain right here with me like the stone throwing
spell. Magic travels from me to the ground to erupt it. Magic
travels from me to the creature where it creates the miniature
killing shield.”

He turned to Miko. “The magic for the
stones activates while still within Morcyth’s glow. For the other
two, it travels beyond the glow…and that is why the shimmering
field appears. Your magic no longer shields it. So, as long as the
magic does its thing while remaining within Morcyth’s glow, then
the shimmering field should not appear.”

“Shall we test your
theory?”

“Absolutely. Glow me,” he said with a
grin.

Immediately the familiar white glow of
Morcyth enveloped them both.

James held forth his hand and summoned
his orb. No prickling and the sky remained quiet. He gave Miko a
grin. Then he caused it to float up off his hand and move away from
them. No sooner had it reached the outer boundary of Morcyth’s glow
than the prickling began and the shimmering returned. He
immediately canceled the orb.

“Now we know.”

Miko nodded.

“We can work with this.”

While still shrouded in the glow, he
resumed using stones to pick off the remaining stalkers. It took
some time but when he finished, not a one remained
standing.

“Now, let’s get out of here and
high-tail it to Zixtyn.”

The sun was well past its apex when a
group of riders escorting a carriage bearing an old woman came into
view.

“There they are!” Kip hollered as he
raced from his perch atop the hill to where the others waited with
the horses.

“You sure?” Shorty asked.

He came to a stop. “Yes.”

Tinok climbed to the top and looked to
the road.

“It’s them all right.” He turned about
and came back down the hill. “Let’s go.”

Potbelly nudged the sleeping Scar with
the toe of his boot. “Time to go.”

Groaning, Scar sat up. “Man, how long
was I asleep?”

Giving him a hand up, Potbelly
replied, “All morning.”

Yawning, he said, “Feels like I just
laid down.”

“Effects of the creature’s poison,”
Father Vickor said. “I may have nullified the worst of it and
repaired the damage it did, but like I said, you are going to be
weak for a few days.”

His legs trembled and he leaned upon
his friend’s shoulder. “I’ll be all right,” he said,
gruffly.

Potbelly grinned. “Of course you
will,” he mumbled under his breath. After helping Scar upon his
horse and watching for a moment to ensure he would be able to
remain in the saddle, Potbelly mounted his own horse and moved
close to Scar’s; just in case.

Shorty and Kip took charge of the
string of horses taken from those Potbelly killed while pretending
to be cursed, and those from the vigilantes Tinok, Shorty, and
Father Vickor took care of the day before.

Tinok and Father Vickor rode ahead
while the others came at a more measured pace.

Jiron was the first to see them and
kicked his horse into a trot and go out to meet them.

“We found them,” Tinok
announced.

Standing up in the stirrups, Jiron
gazed to those following along behind and counted heads. Seeing all
were accounted for, he asked, “How was Scar?”

“Bad,” Father Vickor replied, then saw
the concern in Jiron’s eyes. “But he’ll be fine, if weak for a day
or two while his body shakes off the residual effects of the
poison.”

He saw how Potbelly hovered next to
Scar and how Scar leaned a bit in the saddle. “Can he
ride?”

“Possibly,” Tinok replied. “Should we
put him in the carriage?”

Jiron chuckled at the thought of Scar
sharing the carriage with old Eddra. “Only if we tied him
up.”