Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (15 page)

They hear Miko mumble in the dark, “I knew
the forest was a bad place to be.”

Suddenly, they hear a horn sounding from
back at their campsite. “Damn!” curses James, “they’re going to be
combing the woods for us for sure.”

Jiron slows them down in the hopes they’ll
make less noise as he continues to lead them further away from the
soldiers.

Suddenly, the woods open up and the moon
above shows they’ve come out on the road. Five feet in front of
them, a horn sounds, ripping through the stillness of the night as
a soldier spots them coming out of the forest.

They stand there frozen for just a moment as
two torches burst into life along the road, one across from them
and another further to the west. Two dozen soldiers stand on the
road between them and the forest to the north, their attention now
turned directly to them. The soldiers draw their swords as one of
them steps forward and says something in a commanding tone to them
in their language.

“James,” Miko begins to say when the group
of soldiers between them and the other side of the road are
suddenly thrust aside like rag dolls by a blast of magic from
James, clearing a path through.

“Move!” he yells as he propels Miko toward
the forest on the north side of the road, through the gap in the
line of enemy soldiers he’d just created.

The soldiers not thrown aside immediately
give chase, following them into the forest. A horn sounds behind
them as their pursuers alert the rest of the force as to their
whereabouts.

The sound of pursuit is very close behind
them. James concentrates as he runs and…

Crumph!

…the ground under the pursuing soldiers
erupts, tossing them like rag dolls. When they slam back to the
ground all but a few lie still. The explosion slows the pursuit and
allows them time to move further into the trees.

“Come on!” Jiron hisses to Miko who’s
falling behind. The trees and bushes continue getting in his way as
he tries to keep up. The faint light from the stars above gives
insufficient light to navigate the forest quickly.

From out of the forest ahead of them, three
soldiers appear, one of them raising a horn to his lips. Jiron
draws his knives and rushes to intercept. He moves to take out the
one about to sound the horn when the soldier abruptly flies
backward as one of James’ slugs takes him in the chest.

The other two soldiers draw their swords but
are no match for Jiron. The first one to close with Jiron thrusts
at his poorly armored chest. Deflecting the thrust skillfully away
from his body, Jiron strikes with his other knife and sinks several
inches into the soldier’s chest, piercing his heart.

He strikes out with his knee to aid in
removing the dying soldier from his knife, while at the same time
twisting to avoid a slice from the man’s comrade.

The remaining soldier attacks again, this
time with an overhand hack and Jiron catches and stops the falling
blade between his knives. While holding the sword immobile, he
kicks out and catches the man in the knee. The sound of bones
snapping can be heard as his knee breaks, causing the soldier to
cry out as he falls to the ground.

Not willing to take the time to finish him
off, they skirt around the fallen soldier and continue into the
forest. James notices that Miko has acquired a sword from one of
the fallen guards, its scabbard secured around his waist.

As they follow Jiron through the trees, they
can still hear the soldiers in pursuit not very far behind
them.

“We’re not going to lose them,” cries out
Miko.

James abruptly stops and turns toward their
pursuit.

Crumph! Crumph! Crumph!

Three more explosions, spaced fifty feet
apart, erupt under the leading edge of the advancing force. Men
scream as their bodies are flung up into the air only to fall back,
slamming into the ground with bone shattering force. Many fail to
move again while others weakly call out for help. Several trees in
the explosion area begin to topple, men cry out as they run to
avoid them. Some are crushed by the falling trees while trying to
rescue their companions who’d been injured in the explosions.

“That should slow them down some,” James
says as he rejoins the others. Setting a quick pace, they race
through the trees to put as much distance between themselves and
the soldiers.

As they continue on, the sound of pursuit
becomes more distant. Jiron continues to lead them northward,
though he soon loses exactly which way north is. Not being a
woodsman, he’s now using the sound coming from their pursuers to
determine their course. His main goal is simply to just stay ahead
of them.

Suddenly, the trees open up and the river
appears before them. Without hesitation, he immediately turns to
follow it upstream. “Won’t they think to follow it?” James asks
him.

“Most likely,” he says, “but that mural
indicated this river comes from a lake nestled in among some
mountains. I think we’d be better able to lose them in the
mountains than in here.”

“Good thinking,” James replies
approvingly.

When the sound of pursuit all but
disappears, they slow their progress, giving everyone a break from
the relentless pace. They pause near the river for only a few
moments to allow everyone to have a quick drink and to catch their
breath before continuing on.

“Let’s go,” Jiron announces as he makes
ready to resume following the river to the mountains.

Miko gets to his feet with an exhausted
groan. Jiron grins at Miko but then his grin disappears when he
sees James beginning to limp on his wounded leg.

Coming over to James, he says, “Leg
bothering you again?”

Nodding, James replies, “Yeah, a little. All
this running is putting a strain on it.”

“You going to make it?” he asks.

“I have little choice,” James says,
resigned. Then he indicates Jiron should proceed as he says, “Go
on, I’ll be fine.”

Worried about his leg, Jiron again moves
out. Following the river enables them to maintain a consistent
heading that forging through the forest hadn’t allow.

The moon appears on the horizon, giving them
some light with which to make their way. Though it’s merely a
lightning of the shadows after it filters its way down through the
canopy of leaves above them. Miko continues to jump at every sound
around him, the shadows playing tricks with his eyes, making him
see enemies around every tree.

For the next hour, they continue moving
quickly through the forest, staying close to the river. Soon the
sound of pursuit completely disappears behind them. They stop for
another few minutes by the side of the river where everyone takes a
moment’s rest.

Miko plops himself down on the ground,
exhausted. “Don’t get too comfortable,” Jiron tells him from over
by the river. “We’re not staying very long.”

“I know,” he replies, sounding very
tired.

James hobbles over and sits down with his
back against a tree near Miko, glad to have the opportunity to
rest. His leg is starting to burn and when he looks at it, can see
that blood is beginning to ooze again from the cuts. He brings his
head down to lay on his arms resting on his knees just as a
crossbow bolt embeds itself into the tree where his head had been
but a moment ago.

“Jiron!” he yells as he rolls to his side,
avoiding another bolt as it strikes the tree. Pain erupts in his
side as he feels the barely healed wound rip open. Suddenly, the
entire area is illuminated by a bright light as he creates an orb
of light in the air above them. He quickly looks around and sees
several soldiers coming toward them out of the trees. He lets loose
with blasts of energy that lifts two of them up and slams them into
the trees behind them.

Miko is getting up, trying to get his sword
out of its scabbard when a soldier appears in front of him.
Screaming, he lurches away from the attacker just as a slug strikes
the soldier in the chest, propelling him backward as it blasts out
of his back.

He at last gets the sword out as Jiron joins
the battle, engaging two of the remaining soldiers. Taking the
sword in both hands, Miko edges backward, away from the battle
knowing he’d be little use against them.

The ground erupts and five soldiers are
thrown into the air. Miko looks around and sees a soldier coming up
behind James who looks to be lost in concentration, oblivious to
the approaching danger.

Miko breaks into a run to engage the man
before he can get to James. The soldier hears him approaching and
turns, a smile on his face when he sees Miko.

Coming closer, Miko cries out as he swings
the sword with all his might. The soldier easily deflects his inept
attack and returns with a slash. Before it has a chance to connect,
the soldier is struck with a slug and thrown off balance. Miko is
sprayed with gore from the exiting slug as the man falls to the
ground dead.

Miko turns to see James looking toward him
another slug in his hand. He gives him a brief nod of thanks as he
wipes some of the man’s blood off his face, then brings his
attention to the remaining soldiers battling Jiron. Knowing he’d be
worse than useless there, he goes over to James and stands with
sword ready as he watches his back.

Jiron deflects one soldier’s blade while at
the same time elbowing the other in the side of the head, causing
him to stagger dazed for just a few seconds. He sidesteps away from
the dazed man as he engages the remaining soldier.

The man holds him at bay with his shield
while striking out with his sword. Jiron deflects the soldier’s
sword rather than taking the brunt of the attack by blocking, and
returns with a slice from his other knife, opening up a long wound
down the man’s forearm. He severs several tendons which causes the
soldier’s hand to release the sword. Without his sword, Jiron is
able to knock aside the shield and get inside his defenses. A quick
strike with his knife and he connects with a mortal wound to the
man’s neck.

Blood spraying forth as the jugular is
severed, he sees the soldier fall and then turns his attention back
to the man who’d been staggering dazed and kicks out with his foot.
Connecting with the man’s knee, he hears a satisfying ‘snap’ as the
soldier cries out and falls to the ground.

Moving away from the fallen man, he quickly
glances around the area and realizes there’re no more soldiers to
deal with. “Come on!” he cries as they resume their flight through
the forest. He notices that this time, Miko has acquired a crossbow
as well as a brace of bolts which is slung across his back. The
sword is back in its scabbard hanging at his hip.

As they hurry along, James asks, “How’d they
catch up to us so fast?”

“Moving silently,” Jiron replies. “They’re
trained for that, whereas we plow through the brush announcing our
position with every move we make.”

“No time to rest then,” James announces.

“I wouldn’t advise it,” Jiron says and then
hears a groan from Miko. Glancing back to him, he asks,
“Tired?”

He just gets a nod from Miko as he tries to
keep up with them. The added equipment he’s acquired burdens him
more than he’s willing to admit.

After another hour, the sky begins to
lighten and they can see that they’re finally approaching the
foothills of the northern range of mountains where that lake is
suppose to be. When the sun begins to crest the horizon, they
locate a somewhat hidden spot and stop for a rest break. Miko
immediately collapses to the ground, James hits the ground not too
far behind as well. “You guys rest,” Jiron tells them, “and I’ll
have a look around.”

Getting a nod in reply, he moves out and
soon disappears in the trees. “Think we lost them?” Miko asks
James.

Shaking his head no, he says, “I doubt it.
I’m sure they have trackers and we’re probably leaving a trail a
blind person could follow. It’s just a matter of time until they
find us.”

“What are we to do then?” he asks
worriedly.

“Keep going, try to stay ahead of them,” he
tells him. “That’s about all we can do.” He leans back against the
bole of a tree and closes his eyes. The pain in his leg throbbing
and he knows he really needs to get off it for a while so it can
have a chance to heal. His side has stopped burning from where he’d
agitated it earlier. He’d looked at it after the sun came up and
found some blood had begun oozing again.

Just them, Jiron returns and says, “I don’t
think they’re very close behind us.”

“Good,” says Miko as he stretches out on the
ground.

Jiron comes over to him and says, “We aren’t
going to have time for you to take a nap.”

“I know,” he replies. “Just let me know when
we’re leaving.” Then he closes his eyes as he lays there trying to
get some rest.

“We’re not going to be able to keep this
pace up,” James tells him from where he’s resting, not even
bothering to open his eyes.

“Your leg?” he asks. He can tell James is in
pain and the fatigue they’re all feeling is apparent in his
face.

“It’s getting bad,” he admits. “Not sure how
much longer I can keep going. I also opened up the wound in my side
during that last battle.”

“Can you use a puddle or something to find
out where they are?” he suddenly asks him.

“Perhaps,” James says as opens his eyes. He
gets up and walks over to the river. Using some stones and dirt, he
makes a small pool at the water’s edge and then settles down next
to it.

As the image in the pool begins to change,
they see them sitting by the pool and then he begins to expand the
image. It’s quickly apparent that the trees are going to hide
everything and that this isn’t going to work here.

“Afraid not,” James says as he cancels the
spell.

“Then we’ll just have to trudge on as best
we can and hope for the best,” Jiron says.