Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (43 page)

Setting it on the table in front of him, he
motions for the captain to stand next to him. Concentrating on Lord
Pytherian, he lets the magic flow and the image begins to form.
Suddenly coming into focus, they see Lord Pytherian in a room with
others, talking.

“Ah,” he says as he sees the image, a smile
coming across his face.

“What?” asks James.

“He’s made it to Olton,” he says. When he
sees their lack of understanding, he explains, “It’s a town to the
north of us and as far as I know it’s still in Madoc territory. The
ones with him are leaders of the town, as well as a few others I
don’t recognize.”

“Could they be members of the alliance?”
asks Fifer.

“Maybe,” he says. “It’s been a while since
I’ve been out of these woods.”

“Is Colton well fortified?” asks Jiron
suddenly. “Could it withstand an attack?”

Shaking his head, he says, “Hardly, it’s not
that big of a town. If anyone were to attack, it wouldn’t be able
to last very long. Why?”

“We saw a large force of foot soldiers
moving around this forest,” explains James, indicating the position
on the map. “If they were to surround and hit Colton, would they be
able to hold them off?”

Looking worried, Captain Alerin says, “Not a
chance. It would fall in a day.” Moving to the tent entrance he
hollers for one of his men. When the man comes close, he says,
“Send someone to Colton, warn of immediate attack by a large band
of men moving from the east around the forest.”

“Wait,” he hears James say. When he glances
back to him, James says, “There may be a quicker way.”

“Have someone stand by,” he tells the man
who runs off to carry out his orders. He turns and comes back over
to James, “How?”

“I’m not sure if it’ll work, but I might be
able to give him a message,” James explains.

Looking skeptical, Captain Alerin says,
“Alright, let’s see if it works.”

“First, let me see where exactly that army
is now,” he says as the image shifts. Suddenly, they see the forest
and the image quickly scrolls to the east. When it reaches the edge
of the forest, James moves it first southward and when he fails to
find the army, he moves it north.

“There!” Captain Alerin exclaims when the
army of foot appears in the mirror.

“Do you know where that is?” asks James.

“It’s near the northern edge of the forest,”
he tells him. “It’s several hours away from Colton.”

“Alright,” James says as he concentrates.
Again, the mirror refocuses on Lord Pytherian and they hear him
mumble, “Now to get his attention.”

“We have got to get word to the others in
the Alliance that I’m back,” Lord Pytherian says. “We must remain
united if we’re to stop the Empire. How long do you suppose the
rest of Madoc will last if we fail here?”

Suddenly, one of the men he’s talking to
gasps. There on the table before Lord Pytherian sits a round
glowing orb.

Astonished cries begin erupting in the room.
Lord Pytherian raises his arms and shouts, “Quiet!” The room
becomes quiet as he stares at the orb, something strangely familiar
about it. “James!” he whispers in sudden understanding. He glances
around the room expecting to see him there.

The orb suddenly winks out, eliciting
another round of murmuring. Where the orb had sat there begins to
appear a black mark. Lord Pytherian again calls for silence as he
leans closer to see what is happening.

The black mark begins moving until it forms
the letter ‘T’. Awed, he continues watching as the black mark
continues writing. When it’s finished, he reads aloud what it says,
“There’s an army three hours to the south, heading for you. Advise
you leave!”

He begins nodding and says, “Gentlemen, it’s
time to evacuate Olton…”

Head pounding, gasping from the effort,
James almost swoons into unconsciousness. The effort to write that
message had been harder than he’d thought.
Must’ve been the
distance.
He holds the image until he sees Lord Pytherian nod
and begin barking out orders.

When the image finally disappears, Captain
Alerin says, “Do you think he understood the message?”

“He nodded, so I think he did,” James
replies.

“Good,” he exclaims. He abruptly turns and
leaves the tent. Outside, he hollers to one of his aides, “Get the
men ready to march!” The man salutes and begins making the
preparation.

“What do you plan to do?” asks James from
the tent entrance.

“Harass that army, slow it down if I can,”
he replies. “Give Lord Pytherian and the people in Colton a chance
to flee before it arrives.” He looks to them and continues, “Could
use your help, a mage would come in handy.”

Shaking his head, James replies, “We need to
hurry north, stay ahead of the army as best we can.”

“I understand,” he says. He calls over one
of his men, “Dorrin here will lead you through the forest to the
north.” He glances to Dorrin who nods in understanding. “Now, we
must hurry to catch this force before it draws close to
Colton.”

James looks out at hundreds of men standing
ready, each armed with a longbow. “Good luck,” he says to Captain
Alerin.

“You too, James,” he replies. Then to his
men he says, “Move out!”

He and his men begin melting into the forest
and in no time at all, they’re gone.

“Grab your horses,” Dorrin says as he walks
over and mounts the only horse left in the camp. “It’s not far to
the northern edge of the forest, but we better hurry.”

They mount up and follow Dorrin as he leads
them north through the forest. The trail he takes them on isn’t
very noticeable and unlikely that they would’ve been able to follow
it on their own. Without Dorrin’s help, it would’ve taken them
twice as long to cover the same distance.

A half hour later, the trees begin to thin
as they reach the northern edge of the forest. Dorrin stops them
abruptly and signals for quiet. He points off to the east where the
leading edge of the army heading for Colton can just be seen. They
wait there a moment then horns begin to sound and they watch as the
army suddenly turns and moves quickly back the way they’d come.

“The captain just let them have it!” Dorrin
exclaims jubilantly. He turns back to the others, points to the
north and says, “Colton lies a little over an hour north of here.
Be careful, the Empire has patrols moving all along this area.”

“We will,” James assures him. Offering his
hand, he says, “Thanks for your help.”

Taking the hand, he gives it a shake and
says, “Glad to be of service.” Turning his horse back the way
they’d just come, he kicks it in the sides and he bolts away, soon
disappearing among the trees.

Looking out past the trees, they see open
plains once again. The distant sounds of fighting can be heard
coming from where Captain Alerin is attacking. “Almost there,” says
James as he glances to Jiron.

“Never thought we’d even come this far,” he
replies.

“We’re not there yet,” Miko adds.

“Come on!” Fifer urges. “This is not the
time to be sitting and talking.” Kicking the sides of his horse, he
breaks into a run as he leaves the shelter of the trees. The others
get their horses moving quickly and catch up with him.

“Which way?” asks James when he comes
abreast of him.

“There should be a road just ahead of us
that runs east and west,” he explains. “It lies on that road, where
a road from the north intersects with it.”

“Riders!” Miko yells.

Scanning the horizon, James sees a group
coming toward them from the northeast. “Are they from Madoc?” he
hollers to Fifer.

“Can’t tell,” he says, squinting in an
attempt to see better.

“Should we wait to see?” asks Jiron as he
watches the eight riders approaching quickly.

A moment later, Fifer exclaims, “No! They’re
the Empire’s men!”

“Damn!” swears Jiron as they turn to the
west and ride hard to keep ahead of them.

Riding fast, they maintain their lead but
aren’t successful in widening it. “A road!” Miko cries as he sees
it appear ahead of them.

“Which way to Colton?” James asks Fifer.

Pointing east he replies, “That way, I
think.”

If they moved down the road to the east, the
riders behind them would easily move and close with them. Giving up
on that idea, they take the road to the west.

As they race westward, a river begins to
come into view. A rather large army stands on this side of the
river, facing to the west. Easily a thousand men strong, they stand
before a bridge spanning the river.

On the other side of the bridge is another
army, one from the Empire.

Horns begin sounding from both sides as the
Empire’s troops move forward to claim the bridge, a hail of arrows
flies from the defenders, mowing down the first line.

They slow their horses, James glances back
at the riders behind them. When the riders see the army ahead of
them, they come to a stop and then quickly turn around. No longer
threatened from behind, they pause and take in the situation ahead
of them at the bridge.

Bolts and arrows fly from one side to the
other, bringing men down. The crossbowmen of the Empire outnumber
their counterparts on the other side to devastating effect. Half of
them appear to be targeting Madoc’s bowmen while the others are
being more selective, helping to clear the bridge so their footmen
can advance further across.

“I don’t think they’re going to keep them on
the other side of the river for long,” Jiron says.

“They should’ve destroyed the bridge,” James
adds.

“Probably didn’t have the equipment nor time
before they showed up,” reasons Fifer. He glances to James and
asks, “Can you do it?”

“Probably, but that would kill everyone from
both sides who’re on it,” he replies.

From the rear section of the defending army,
they see men begin pointing to where they’re sitting, watching the
battle. A squad detaches itself and makes its way toward them.

“Recognize any of them?” James asks
Fifer.

Shaking his head, he replies, “No, I don’t
think so.”

Sighing, James says, “Let’s go meet them and
hope they won’t immediately attack us.” He takes the lead, Fifer
next to him as they move forward.

The leader of the approaching group comes
close then raises a hand, indicating they should stop. “What’s your
business here?” he asks.

“Busy?” asks James as the sound of the
fighting by the river intensifies. The amount of arrows striking
the attackers is beginning to decrease as the Empire’s crossbowmen
continue taking out Madoc’s archers.

“Sort of,” the man replies. “Now, what’re
you doing here?”

“We’re here to help,” Fifer explains,
causing the man to gaze in his direction.

“Help?” the man laughs at them. “How can you
possibly help?”

“If that bridge was gone,” Fifer asks as he
points over to it, “would they be able to cross?”

Shaking his head, the man replies, “They’d
not be able to ford the river for several more miles down stream.”
He gives them a closer inspection and continues, “But I don’t see
how that can happen.”

Fifer glances to James who resignedly nods
his head and says, “You get us close and we’ll take it out.”

He points back to the bridge and says,
“Look! They’re almost on this side. We would’ve pulled out long ago
but we got word they’re evacuating Colton and need time to get
everyone out.”

“Nevertheless,” James tells him. “You get me
close and that bridge is history.”

“Do you even need to be close?” asks
Jiron.

Looking surprised like the thought had never
even occurred to him, he gives him a weary grin and replies, “I
guess not, but the closer I am the easier it will be.”

“Then let’s move closer,” Jiron says as he
starts to move forward past the squad of men.

James follows him and the squad joins them
as they move toward the river. When they reach the rear guard of
the defenders, a place where the bolts of the Empire can’t reach,
he stops.

“Now what?” asks the squad leader.

“Just wait,” says Jiron with a smile, “and
watch.”

The squad leader looks to James as he closes
his eyes. A cry erupts back at the bridge, he turns his attention
to the river and sees that the attackers have reached this side and
more are pouring across the bridge.

The defenders are being mowed down by the
bolts sailing through the air and the swords of the men. What’s
left of the order and discipline the defenders had is now gone as
they turn and begin to flee the battlefield.

Crumph!

Suddenly, the bridge explodes. A mass of men
and stones sail through the air before landing among the soldiers
on both sides.

The fighting halts momentarily as both sides
stare in startled shock at what remains of the bridge. Then, the
defenders who had been in a complete, panicked rout, erupt in a
cheer as they see the enemy’s route cut off. The once routed
defenders turn on the enemy who’d made it to this side of the river
and begin attacking them with renewed determination.

Jiron looks to James and is glad to see him
not slumping over or passing out as he usually does after such a
display.

The squad next to them stares at James in
awe and Jiron can hear “A mage!” being whispered among them.

Eyes still closed, James again
concentrates…

Crumph! Crumph! Crumph!

…three consecutive explosions on the other
side of the river rip through the ranks of crossbowmen as their
deadly hail of bolts comes to a stop.

This time, he does begin to slump over. The
past days of hard riding and little sleep is really taking its
toll.

Calls to fall back can be heard from the
other side of the river and the defending army begins to move back.
An officer rides over to Jiron and the others, the squad leader
salutes as he approaches. “What the hell happened?” the officer
asks.