At the rendezvous near the western edge of town, they find Miko and Brother Willim with the horses. The others have yet to make it back from the Wallowing Swine. “They haven’t returned yet?” asks James.
Shaking his head, Brother Willim says, “Not yet.”
“Damn!” curses Jiron. “We don’t have time to stand here and wait for them.”
“I know,” agrees Miko. When James looks to him he adds, “We heard the explosions.”
“I think everyone in town heard them,” comments Brother Willim.
“So what do we do?” Jiron asks James.
“We wait,” he replies. “That’s all we can do.”
Brother Willim asks Jiron, “Did you find out what you came here for?”
Nodding, Jiron says, “Buka said that he was taken to some place called Ith-Zirul. Ever heard of it?”
Brother Willim’s face blanches slightly at the name. Nodding his head, a grim expression comes over him. “If that is where your friend has been taken, then all hope is lost,” he says.
“Why?” Jiron asks.
“That’s what Buka said too,” says James at the same time. “What does it mean?”
Taking a deep breath, Brother Willim explains. “Ith-Zirul is the High Temple of Dmon-Li.”
“Dmon-Li!” exclaims James.
“It is said none other than those who worship Dmon-Li ever leave Ith-Zirul,” he says. “And if your friend is indeed within the walls of that cursed place, it would explain some things.”
“Such as?” asks Jiron. The hope that he experienced when he first heard of the location of his friend is slowly dying the more he learns of where he is.
“For one thing, it would explain why you can’t use magic to find him,” he explains. “The temple would be warded against such things. Also, you said the image was fuzzy when you saw him. That no matter how much magic you used, it never became better.”
“That’s right,” states James.
“You see,” Brother Willim says, “the High Temple of Dmon-Li is hidden within the Mists of Sorrow.”
James nods his head as more connections are made. “During our journey to find Miko when he was captured by the Empire,” he begins, “we passed by a wall of fog that one of our number said was the Mists of Sorrow.” Turning to Jiron he asks, “Remember?”
Nodding, Jiron says, “Yes, I remember.”
“When Delia and I went to examine it in the morning, it was so close to our camp that we saw a shadow pass through its fringe. At the time I didn’t know what it was, and frankly hadn’t thought about it until now. It was one of those hell hounds that have been set against us on several occasions.”
“You mean the Mists is guarded by those things?” Jiron asks.
“It would seem so,” he says.
“The Mists is just the first hurdle,” Brother Willim says. “After that there is trying to find the entrance. From what my brethren have been able to gather over the centuries, the temple is massive. We could be in the Mist for a long time before ever coming to the door. All the while, you can rest assured they will be throwing everything they have at us.”
“And should we make it through the Mists and enter the temple,” James says, “we still have to find Tinok.” To Brother Willim he asks, “Will my magic be able to locate him once we’re within its walls?”
“I just don’t know,” he says. “It would depend on the type of wards they have in place.”
Then all of a sudden their attention is drawn to rapidly approaching footsteps coming from further into town. From the sound of it there must be more than a couple people coming toward them.
Jiron places a hand on the hilt of one of his knives and moves toward the sound while the others remain quietly with the horses. As whoever is approaching draws closer, he can hear one of them asks, “Where the heck are they?”
He relaxes when he realizes the voice belongs to Scar. “Over here!” he calls out softly. The footsteps come to a stop and he can now see their silhouettes in the moonlight. Moving toward them, he again says, “Over here.” Then to James he hollers, “It’s them.”
“Jiron?” asks Reilin.
“Yeah,” he says, “and it’s about time you guys showed up.”
As they move to join him, Potbelly says, “We had a few people follow us out of the tavern. Took us a bit to shake them.”
“Is he alright?” Jiron asks.
“He’s fine and everyone is accounted for,” Stig assures him.
From out of the darkness appears the blonde haired Kir with a grin. “I wasn’t sure if we were going to pull it off for awhile,” Perrilin says. The front of his outfit and most of his right sleeve is coated in blood.
As Jiron leads them back to where James and the others are waiting with the horses, he says, “For a minute I thought we had actually cut off your hand. You’re quite convincing.”
“Thank you,” he says with a slight bow. “I’ve had plenty of practice faking my own death.” Then they arrive where the others are waiting and he looks to James as he adds, “But that thing with the pig’s bladder and intestine was pure genius.”
James gives him a smile and says, “Saw it on a show once about movie magic. Of course they used other material, but we made do with what was available to us.”
After they had left the slaver compound and rejoined the others, they went to an inn and dropped off the horses as well as everyone but James, Jiron and Reilin. They then asked around and found out where Kir was staying. He was quite surprised when they showed up at his door.
When told of the task Buka had set for them, that is to take his right hand, he decided that Kir had outlived his usefulness. Then together they worked out a plan that would enable them to fool Buka and allow Perrilin to make good his escape. After all, those who knew Perrilin the bard was masquerading as Kir, would hear about him losing his hand in front of the crowd at the Wallowing Swine. That alone will allow him to create a new identity without immediate suspicion.
So the following morning, they went to a local butcher shop and purchased a medium sized pig’s bladder, three feet of intestine, and a lot of pig’s blood. They sewed the end of the intestine to the bladder and filled the bladder with the blood.
Next was a visit to a communal grave where they throw dead slaves. Seems a single grave is too much work for just a single slave. So they dig a pit and when it becomes filled with dead slaves, they fill it back in. Needless to say, the pit is usually far outside of town due to the odor. But Perrilin knew that any place with a slaver compound would have one and they soon located it. The rest was easy.
During the break when they agreed he would be attacked, in the back of the kitchen, Perrilin placed the pig bladder under his left arm and strung the intestine under his shirt all the way to his right hand. Then a hand and portion of the forearm of a dead slave were extended from the end of his right sleeve.
When he was grabbed and Jiron cut the hand from the forearm, he squeezed the pig’s bladder and the pig’s blood sprayed out the end of the section of intestine. All in all it looked like his ‘stump’ was spraying blood. Then it was a simple matter for Reilin and the others to get him out of there, hide the evidence, and rejoin James.
“What will they do when they come looking for you?” asks Stig. “After all, some of the people there really cared about you.”
“They’ll find me gone,” he replies. “I’m sure they’ll hunt through the temples and when they still can’t find me, the rumors will start.”
They mount their horses and head out into the night away from town. As they leave the buildings behind them, James fills the others in on what they learned from Buka and the ramifications that go along with it. “So, we have less than ten days remaining,” James summarizes. “We know where he is. All that’s left is to go get him.”
“Oh, that’s all?” asks Aleya mockingly. “You can’t be thinking about breaking into this temple. It’s madness!”
“Now, it won’t be that bad,” Jiron tells her.
She turns a withering glare upon him and is about to launch into how stupid the plan is when Miko says in a calm but sure voice, “We must.” Her glare now turns to him. Cutting her off yet again, he says, “No matter what the cost, we must try to stop what is going to happen. Even if it means all of us die in the attempt.”
James brings them to a halt and turns to Miko. “What do you mean we have to ‘stop what is going to happen’?”
“Just what I said,” he replies. “This goes far beyond Tinok, Cassie, even you James.”
“You’ll have to explain that to me,” Scar says.
“Something’s been gnawing at me ever since you told us your last vision when you learned it was Cassie in your dreams,” he explains. “And it finally, as you say, clicked together. I don’t believe the dream was given to you for Tinok’s benefit. Rather, it was a way to get you to go to that temple in the middle of the Mists.”
Turning to Brother Willim he says, “Your dreams of late have ended with the sundering of a black, mist shrouded tree. From which a creature issues forth and destroys the garden. Am I right in saying the garden represents the world?”
Brother Willim nods his head. “I have always thought so.”
“A black tree shrouded in mist and now a black temple residing within a blanket of mist.” Glancing from between Brother Willim and James he concludes, “It’s too much of a coincidence with everything that’s been happening.”
Nodding, Brother Willim says, “I agree. I came to that conclusion a short time ago.”
“Therefore, something is going to happen within the High Temple of Dmon-Li when the moon turns black. Whatever it is, should it be successful, will destroy the world.”
They grow silent as each ponders what he just said. “Could it be possible?” Aleya asks. Gone is her stern glare to Jiron. Now a more thoughtful, perhaps even fearful expression has taken its place.
“Yes,” replies James. He remembers that other place he was in long ago, the one with the burnt trees and shadows that Igor had rescued him from. “Oh yes, I believe it can happen. That it probably has happened to other worlds, other places.”
Miko turns to face James. “Is this why I was made High Priest?” he asks.
“More than likely,” he replies with a nod. “As High Priest, you would bring more to the table than just being plain old Miko.”
“How far away is this temple?” asks Scar.
They turn to Perrilin who says, “The Mists of Sorrow lay a little over a day to the southwest, but their position fluctuates at times. Once within them, I’m not sure how much further the temple will be.”
“Then I suggest we ride for another couple hours and then rest until dawn,” Jiron says. “In the morning ride until we reach the Mists then rest until the following morning. It would be best if we were at our peak when entering the Mists.”
James nods. “I agree,” he says.
Moving on, they ride to the southwest as planned and stop after putting many miles behind them. They post a watch throughout the night while they sleep. Once the sun begins to rise once more, they’re back in the saddle and again moving southwest.
The terrain grows steadily more unforgiving the further they go. Cracked land and stunted trees for as far as the eye can see. After leaving their campsite, Brother Willim is the first to notice the lack of living things in the area. “I can’t sense any birds or beasts nearby,” he announces at one point. “I’ve never before been to an area such as this.”
“What could it mean?” asks Reilin.
“Nothing good I assure you,” the priest replies.
The day progresses hot and dry. Worries rise as they push deeper into what Scar has begun to call the land of the dead, a not too far off description considering the lack of life they’ve encountered.
Three hours before sundown, the Mists of Sorrow appears on the horizon. Just as he remembers it, a wall of fog in an area where no fog should be able to exist. As they ride forward, the wall of fog steadily grows until they come to within a mile of it. There they stop and make camp for the night.
“We’ll stay here through the night,” James tells the others as they set about making camp. “We should be safe enough here.”
Jiron looks at the wall of fog with Aleya standing next to him. “I hope so,” he mutters. He turns to her and says, “I wish you weren’t here.”
“I know you do,” she says. “But there’s no other place I would rather be.”
Putting his arm around her, he gives her an affectionate squeeze. Then they return to the others and help with preparations for the meal. A filling meal of the last of their dried beef and a few old tubers Brother Willim dug from the ground satisfies their hunger if not their taste buds. How the tubers came to be here is anyone’s guess, could be they manage to grow in the wintertime.
Once the meal is over and they are sitting around a campfire, they decided to risk one seeing as how nothing is out here, they settle in for the night. As hard as it may be, they try to put what may happen on the morrow out of their minds as they spend one last time together like they use to back at The Ranch. Stories and songs, most of which are by Perrilin, go a long way in taking away their worries and fears. But when the time comes to sleep, once again each one begins to dwell on what will happen. For some, sleep takes a long time to come.
“Where is it?” asks Stig.
The lightning of the sky with the coming of dawn revealed that the fog was nowhere in sight. “I told you it moves,” Brother Willim says. “The edge has simply moved further away from us.”
“It must be scared,” jokes Shorty. “It knows we are on the way.” A couple snickers are all he gets for his levity, not nearly what he was hoping for.
“Guess we’ll have a little more of a ride this morning than we anticipated,” James says. Climbing into the saddle, he waits for the others to mount. Then he nods to Jiron to lead the way. With Aleya riding beside him, he heads out.
The fog doesn’t take too long to makes its appearance. Less than an hour after they get underway it appears on the horizon. The sight of the fog before them affects each in their own way. Most however feel a sense of dread at the sight, one of impending doom.
Steeling their nerve, they continue on toward the wall of fog. It rises to a point high above the ground and when they at last reach its boundary, it towers far above them. “Never seen fog or mist behave this way before,” Perrilin states. “A sheer wall rising to the sky like this.”
“This is no ordinary mist,” Brother Willim states. “It differs slightly from that you would normally find in the world.”
“How so?” asks James.
“Hard to explain,” he replies. Gesturing to the mist before them he says, “This goes against the natural order of the world.”
They pause momentarily at the mist’s boundary. James gazes intently at the mist before them and tries to penetrate its murky depths. “Everyone keep a constant lookout for hell hounds,” he says to the others. “With any luck, they may not be in this area.”
“I wouldn’t trust to that if I were you,” comments Potbelly.
“I’m not,” he responds. Then with a glance to Jiron, he nods that they should enter.
“Here we go,” breathes Jiron as he nudges his horse to move forward.
As they enter the mist and it envelops them, it almost feels as if the mist is sucking the warmth right out of their bodies. The world turns hazy as the light from the sun above becomes diffused as it works its way down to where they are. Sound too, seems to be muffled in some way, the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves no longer resonates as it had when they were not in the mist.
Onward Jiron leads them. Everyone stays in a compact group, all unconsciously remain together for safety. When after a few minutes’ time nothing happens, Jiron picks up the pace.
James wants desperately to use magic to see if there is anything nearby, but realizes that if he does, those within the temple will undoubtedly pick up on it. So he resists the temptation and uses what senses are available to him; sight, smell and sound. Unfortunately, the mist allows neither one to be very effective.
Time becomes meaningless within the constant grayness of the mist. They begin jumping at imagined shadows as the monotonousness of the mist starts playing tricks on their senses. “Is there anything you can do about this?” Shorty asks Brother Willim after they’ve been in the mist for what must be over an hour.
“No,” he replies. “It’s not natural.”
“Too bad,” states Reilin.
Another few minutes pass by and Jiron suddenly comes to a stop and peers intently into the mists ahead of them.
James stops next to him and asks, “What is it?” Looking forward into the mist, he tries to see what Jiron had.
“I’m not sure,” he replies. Not taking his eyes off the mist he adds, “Thought I saw something.”
From behind them Scar pipes up and says, “Could have been your imagination. This sort of stuff can do that to a man.”
“Maybe,” he says in a tone which tells the others he doesn’t think that’s what it was.
James continues staring into the fog but fails to see anything. “I don’t think there’s anything out there,” he says. Rarely though is Jiron wrong about something like this.
Aaaah!!!
Then suddenly Stig cries out as one of the hell hounds leaps from out of the mist and slams into his horse. The creature’s claws rake the side of the horse, ripping and tearing as it bowls them both over. Stig leaps from the saddle and hits the ground hard. Rolling, he comes up and faces the creature with mace and shield ready.
The creature looks up at him and charges just as Brother Willim throws something in the air. A tangle of vines bursts into being and ensnares the creature.
Light blazes forth as Miko holds aloft the Star and speaks in a language none can understand. The mist rolls backward until a wide clearing devoid of mist surrounds them. Another of the creatures is revealed when the mist rolls back. A beam of light surges from the Star and strikes the second creature. Rearing back, the creature lets out a primal scream of pain as the light from the Star lances through it.
The first creature struggles against the vines holding it. Smoke rises as the heat of the creature chars the constricting vines. In little time, the creature breaks free and leaps. James spies the creature leaping for Stig and lets the magic flow. A barrier forms around the creature in mid leap. Stig dodges to the side as the barrier encased creature hits the ground right where he had been standing.
Increasing the magic to the barrier, James changes its nature and turns it quickly colder. Inside, the creature struggles against the barrier but is unable to break free. Then, just as he had many times before, James begins shrinking the barrier in on the creature until its life force goes out and the barrier implodes.
By this time, Miko has the second creature all but destroyed. The light from the Star is still searing into it, extinguishing its life. Soon, the creature collapses completely and erupts in a cloud of noxious black smoke, leaving a charred area upon the ground where it was destroyed.
Jiron scans the area for more of the creatures then hollers, “Everyone okay?”
“I’m fine,” replies Stig. He walks over to his horse only to find what he already knew. It’s dead. The side where the creature attacked it has been ripped to shreds.
To Miko, Jiron asks, “Can you continue to keep the mist at bay?”
“Not a problem,” he replies.
Jiron then glances to James and says, “Seeing as how they know we’re here already and all.”
Nodding, James says, “Good thinking. Better pick up the pace a bit from here on out.”
“Are we sure we’re still going in the right direction?” asks Aleya. “I can no longer tell which way is which.”
Miko points off into the mists and says, “It’s that way.”
“How can you tell?” asks Potbelly.
“Ever since we entered the mist, I have felt something,” he explains. “I wasn’t sure what it was until just now. It’s the temple. It feels like a disease.”
“Then you take the lead from here,” Jiron says. “I haven’t been sure for awhile if we were even going in the right direction.”
With a nod, Miko takes the lead and they continue on.
Stig mounts behind Shorty, he being the lightest of the group. Thus their combined weight will tire his horse less than if Stig rode with another.
Aleya stares at the charred spot on the ground where the creature Miko killed fell. She swallows hard and steels her nerves as she follows along with the others. If she still had her bow and arrows, she would definitely feel better.
Miko continues to maintain their island within the mist through the magic of the Star. Able to see more than a couple feet in front of them takes the edge off the dread that had filled them since entering the Mists. It’s still absolute quiet other than the noise that they and their horses make which lends an eerie feel to the whole thing.
“If that’s all we are going to have to face,” begins Potbelly, “we should be able to make it to the temple.”
“What are the odds on that though?” counters Scar as he gazes to the wall of mist, first to one side then the other. “There’s bound to be more of them out there.”
“Not to mention warrior priests,” adds Potbelly. “If there’s any place that would have them, it would be here.”
“Quiet!” insists Jiron. “Keep your eyes open and your mouths shut.”
Staying quiet, the riders continue to forge their way through the mist and closer to the temple. After riding for a ways, James whispers to Miko, “How much further is it?”
“I’m not sure,” he replies. “The feeling continues to grow as we draw nearer, but I’m unable to determine how close it may be.”
Then the tingling of magic being worked comes to him. “Magic!” James exclaims as he comes to a stop and throws a barrier around them.
“Where?” asks Jiron as he and the others come to a stop.
“I feel it too,” says Brother Willim and a green glow suddenly surrounds him.
“Is it strong?” asks Shorty.
“Very,” replies James.
Coming to a stop, they remain there for a short time within James’ protective barrier and still nothing materializes. Then out of the mist before them appear two forms, both heavily armored.
“Warrior priests!” cries out Brother Willim.
They raise their hands in unison and a wave of dark magic rolls toward the barrier. More felt than seen, James braces for the impact. When the dark magic strikes the barrier, James cries out as a shockwave travels back along the magic stream to him. It hits him like a lightning bolt and knocks him off his horse. The barrier winks out.
“James!” cries Stig as he vaults off his horse and comes to his aid.
The light from the Star increases tenfold as a beam lances outwards from it toward the two warrior priests. It strikes one of them, causing him to stagger. Where the beam struck the warrior priest, a sizzling hole gapes in the man’s armor, but the man himself appears unaffected. Leaping from his horse, Miko holds aloft the Star as he draws his sword and moves to engage the two warrior priests.
“Miko no!” cries out Jiron. There’s no way he’ll be able to handle two. The last time he faced off against only one he barely survived.
Just then, another of the hell hounds darts from the mist straight toward where James is lying on the ground. Stig hears him coming. Getting up from where he had knelt at James’ side, he turns and braces for the attack. Even before the hell hound closes with him he feels the heat radiating off of it. Striking out with his mace, Stig connects with the creature’s shoulder and excruciating pain burns his hand as the creature’s heat is absorbed by the metal of the mace. Then a split second later one of its forepaws strikes his shield and throws him a dozen yards away.
James regains his senses just as Stig is being swiped aside and sees the creature turn its attention back to him. Leaping for him, the creature opens its maw to rip out his throat and is suddenly entrapped by another of James’ shields. Rolling aside, James gets out of the way before the entrapped creature hits the ground right where he had lain.
As he begins shrinking the shield onto the creature, a flash of white light draws his attention over to where Miko is battling one of the warrior priests. The other one is currently entangled in a mass of vines as Brother Willim lays into it with his staff. Jiron is there giving Miko and Brother Willim what help he can. A stab here, a slash there, he’s connecting but his attacks are not being nearly effective enough.
Bam!
An explosion knocks the vines away from the warrior priest that was entrapped. Now free, he begins laying into Brother Willim with incredible ferocity and skill. Jiron, when he tries to get in a blow is knocked backward just like someone swatting a fly.
With the green glow surrounding him, Brother Willim’s staff is a blur as he counters and blocks the warrior priest’s attacks. But that is the limit he’s able to do as he faces the full force of a warrior priest’s skill. His mind is so set on blocking the blindingly fast attacks that he’s unable to do aught else.
Scar and Potbelly have reached Stig’s side and are helping him. Aleya and Shorty along with Reilin and Perrilin stand by the horses, feeling helpless in this battle.
James works to implode the shield encasing the hell hound when he sees another emerge from the mist and turn its gaze on those standing with the horses. He casts another shield around that one which causes such a drain that he’s no longer able to quickly shrink the shield around the first one. Its progress is now down to about a tenth of the rate that it was before.
Miko fortunately is holding his own against his opponent and if anything is getting the upper hand. Along with attacks with his sword, the Star in his hand lashes out with bursts of light that strike the warrior priest with devastating results. The man’s armor now shows holes in several places and a few are even beginning to ooze blood.
Then out from the mist another hell hound emerges near Miko. James sees it and before it has a chance to attack, he creates a third shield to trap it. Now the drain of magic is such that he’s totally unable to shrink the barriers even a minute amount. In fact, the magic is being drained from his so quickly that he’s not even sure how much longer he’ll be able to maintain the three shields he’s currently holding.
As if that wasn’t enough, he feels a spike in the tingling sensation. The ground starts to shake and groan as cracks appear across its surface. Then with a mighty shake which almost topples everyone, the ground splits open in a dozen places. Man shaped creatures crawl from the earth. Four feet tall and the color of fresh turned earth, they immediately move to attack whoever is closest once they are free of the ground.
We can’t win this! James suddenly realizes.
As Scar and Potbelly face off against five of the creatures, they hold them off of the unconscious Stig lying between them. Shorty, Reilin and Aleya are facing off with another two.
James sees one approaching him. They aren’t moving very fast, sort of like the loping gait of the undead in the first Night of the Living Dead movie. Taking a slug from out of his belt, he uses as much magic as he can spare and launches it at the thing.
Striking the creature in the center of the chest, he’s surprised to see a large part of its midsection dislodge and be thrust out its back. When the midsection hits the ground, it breaks apart like dirt. Taking another slug, he launches it, this time at the creature’s leg. It smashes into its upper thigh and the section from its hip to its knee comes loose. Now only on one leg, it topples to the side where it hits the ground and breaks apart.
He glances over to where Scar and Potbelly are using their swords against the creatures with little affect. Their blades cut into them but do little damage. “Scar!” he yells. “Use Stig’s mace! You have to bash them, not cut them.”
Scar glances over to him for a brief moment and then sees the one that he took out with his slugs, lying shattered on the ground. Seeing Stig’s mace on the ground at his feet, he kicks out and pushes the nearest creature back. Then in one fluid motion thrusts the sword in his right hand into the ground, bends over and picks up the mace, then strikes out at the closest creature. The mace strikes its shoulder.
He’s surprised to see the shoulder, along with the arm attached to it, come off the creature. “Bash them!” he cries out to the rest. “Cuts don’t hurt them!” Striking out with the broadside of his sword, he connects with the creature’s head and knocks it off. “Yeah!” he yells triumphantly as he begins laying into the rest.
Potbelly begins using the broadside of his sword and they soon have turned the creatures into a pile of dirt.
“We aren’t going to win this!” James yells to them. “We have to get out of here.”
They turn to see him standing there, legs shaking from the exertion of maintaining three barriers. Scar nods, then he and Potbelly go to help Reilin, Shorty and Perrilin where they are having trouble with their opponents.
The warrior priest facing off with Miko is showing mass damage to his armor and exposed skin. Miko himself has several wounds running with blood which begin to heal over rapidly as the magic of the Star works to preserve his life.
Brother Willim is not so fortunate. The warrior priest he’s up against shows very little damage form the battle and is still going strong. Jiron had to quit the battle with the warrior priest in order to deal with one of the earth creatures. But once he had it reduced to a pile of dirt he quickly returned to help him.
When the last of the earth creatures falls, James calls for the others to get into the saddle. That they have to get out of here. Just then a blinding flash of light erupts from the Star. Glancing that way, James sees Miko’s opponent fly backward and hit the ground. Another flash of light strikes the warrior priest where he lays on the ground. His body spasms, then grows still. Looking around, Miko begins moving to help Brother Willim and Jiron when Jiron hollers to him, “Help James!”
He turns and sees him there barely holding onto the barriers encasing the hell hounds. Leaving Brother Willim and Jiron to handle the remaining warrior priest, he makes his way quickly to the nearest hell hound. Holding the Star aloft, Miko envelopes the hell hound in a white glow. Between the glow and the barrier, the creature’s life force within is quickly snuffed out.
With the third barrier no longer needed, James is better able to maintain the remaining two. “Thanks,” he says to Miko.
Miko gives him a nod then moves to the next one where he repeats the process.
Brother Willim and Jiron are still not able to get the better of the warrior priest they are up against. Staff and knives are no match for the skill and speed with which their opponent attacks. Even with the power of his god, Brother Willim has received numerous wounds as he’s unable to keep up with his opponent’s speed.
Jiron tries to help, but he isn’t able to get in close enough with just his knives.
“Miko!” Scar yells urgently from where he and the others are by the horses.
Miko takes his eyes off the hell hound he’s working to destroy and sees the shadow that is even now approaching James. The magic of the Star disappears from around the hell hound as he turns it onto this new threat.
James sees the shadow approaching but there’s nothing he can do. When the glow surrounding the hell hound winks out, it appears again surrounding the shadow. Stopping it in its tracks, the glow begins sucking the life out of the shadow and sending it back to where it came from.
It’s all up to him now. James concentrates on the barrier of the hell hound Miko had all but destroyed and begins to shrink it still further. Despite the resistance he feels from the creature within, he’s able to at last implode it and destroy the creature.
The shadow encased in the glow of the Star begins shrieking as the white glow burns into its blackness. With one final ear piercing scream, it vanishes.
James now works on shrinking the barrier encasing the final hell hound. “Miko!” he hollers. When Miko turns toward him he yells, “We can’t stay. Go help Brother Willim and Jiron.”
Miko gives him a nod and rushes over to them with the light of the Star blazing forth. Drawing his sword, he joins the fray. Brother Willim disengages, his staff becoming still as Miko’s sword begins attacking the warrior priest.
“Jiron,” Brother Willim says, “Miko and I will finish here. Get to the horses.” Then from the corner of his eye he sees the first warrior priest that Miko took out beginning to stir. “Now!”
Jiron too sees the warrior priest beginning to recover. Running, he reaches the horses just as the barrier around the final hell hound implodes completely, destroying the creature. “James,” he yells. “Time to go!”
James nods his head and starts toward where the others are already mounted. Suddenly his legs give way and he falls to the ground. The strain of fighting to control three barriers against the struggle of the hell hounds took all he had. Weak as a kitten, he tries to get back up but his arms are too leathery.
Then Jiron is at his side and helps him to his feet. Scar is there a split second later and together they get him over to the horses. “Are you able to remain in the saddle?” Jiron asks as they reach the side of his horse.
“Yes,” he replies. “Just help me up.”
With Scar’s help, Jiron helps him into the saddle. A bit wobbly but he should be able to maintain his balance enough to get out of here. Tied across the back of another horse he sees the still body of Stig. “Is he alive?” he asks Potbelly.
“Yeah,” Potbelly replies. “But if we don’t get out of here and let Miko take care of him, I’m not sure for how long.”
Brother Willim is suddenly moving past James’ horse toward his own. Looking back at the warrior priest, he sees him entrapped with vines. “That’s not going to hold him long,” Miko says as he appears and mounts his horse.
“Let’s get out of here!” Jiron yells.
Taking the lead, Miko holds aloft the Star to maintain the clearing within the mist. Aleya and Shorty are riding double and Perrilin has the reins of the horse carrying Stig. James hangs on for dear life as Miko leads them back out of the mist. Bringing up the rear are Scar and Potbelly.
Then suddenly Scar cries out as his horse is struck from behind. Another hell hound has appeared and took a massive chunk out of his horse’s rear flank. Jumping clear of the saddle before the horse crashes to the ground, Scar hits the ground, rolls twice and comes up facing the approaching beast with both swords out.
The beast cries out as a shimmering field encases it and stops its forward movement. “Hurry!” yells James. Spots begin to dance before his eyes and he is leaning precariously in the saddle.
Potbelly kicks his horse and gallops back to Scar He reaches down a hand and Scar takes it, swinging up behind him. Kicking his horse, Potbelly races to rejoin the others.
“Alright?” James hollers to him as they come abreast of him.
“Just bruised,” Scar replies.
Then James feels the tell-tale prickling that always accompanies the working of magic. “They’re coming!” he hollers. Unable to spend the time to finish off the hell hound, he simply maintains the barrier as long as possible as he races away with the others.
Sagging over the neck of his horse, it’s all he can do now to simply hang on. If he had the strength he’d tie himself to the saddle, but he doubts if he can do even that little bit. As his horse runs, he begins to notice green shoots growing in the ground they’re racing over. Turning his head to look behind them, he sees brier bushes growing rapidly from the ground. A glance back to the front reveals the green glow around Brother Willim as he spreads seeds upon the ground as he rides.
Unable to hold the barrier any longer, he hopes they have a big enough lead on the hell hound to enable them to get away.
“How much further?” Reilin asks.
“I don’t know,” replies Miko.
From his position at the rear, James continues glancing back into the mist. He prays that they’ll be able to get out and away before the warrior priests or the hell hound can catch up with them.
Then all of a sudden, they’re out of the Mists. From the way the sky is beginning to darken, it has to be just before dark. “Don’t stop!” yells James. Looking back, their pursuers have yet to make an appearance.
The light of the Star fades and finally winks out. Miko no longer needs it to keep back the mist. Riding hard, they race across the ground away from the wall of mist. When no pursuit is forthcoming out of the mist, Jiron has them slow down and then come to a stop.
“Why aren’t they pursuing?” Shorty asks.
“Who cares,” Scar says. Then to Miko he adds, “You better take a look at Stig.”
Miko sees him tied across the back of his horse and says, “Get him down.” As Scar and Potbelly remove him and lay him upon the ground, Miko says to Jiron, “Let me know instantly if anything comes out of the mist.”
“You got it,” he assures him.
Miko then goes over to Stig and with the Star begins working to revive him.
Jiron dismounts and goes over to where James is all but falling out of the saddle. “Here,” he says as he reaches his side. “Let me help you.”
Allowing him to help him down, James is soon sitting on the ground. “Shorty, keep an eye on the mist will you?” he asks.
“Already doing that,” he says. “What are we to do now?”
James looks up to see Perrilin coming over to sit next to him. “I don’t know,” he replies.
Perrilin looks him up and down with a worried look on his face. “You look tired,” he says.
“I am,” James replies. Sighing, he puts his head in his hands and closes his eyes in an attempt to stop the world from spinning.
“Are we to camp here?” Jiron asks.
“I don’t think doing so within sight of the mist is a good idea,” he replies. “It does move you know.”
“We all need a break,” Jiron says. “I wouldn’t push it more than another hour or so.”
“James!” Shorty exclaims as he gets to his feet and looks back the way they came.
They turn and see two figures emerging from within the mist. They stand there a moment, obviously looking toward where they have stopped, then return back into the mist.
“They mean not to follow?” asks Shorty.
“Looks that way,” replies James. “At least not at the moment.”
“Could be they’re gathering their forces before coming after us,” suggests Reilin.
“If that’s the case,” Jiron says, “we best not be anywhere near here when they do.” Glancing over to where Miko is working on Stig, he says, “As soon as Stig is ready to travel, we leave.”
The others nod their heads. James glances back to the mist and the temple hidden within. But how are they to get inside?