Shades Of The Past Part 33

Taking him by the hand, Jiron says, "This way." As he leads him through the raging storm, the winds that had begun to whip the sand violently begin to gradually subside.

Several mages lie unconscious on the floor around the Table of Sight. The master in charge has been fighting James' control of the winds until the High Lord Magus arrives. Still an hour behind him, they had begun to be affected by the winds.

The master retains visual lock on their quarry and watches as the other man leads him through the ruins of Baerustin. When they enter the building wherein their horses were left, he sees his chance to hold them until his lord arrives.

Just then, a First Circle mage comes hurrying through the door. "The caravan is here," he announces.

"Finally," exclaims the master. "I need them now! Hurry and bring the slaves to me."

"Yes, sir," the First says then backs out of the room. He runs down the corridor until he reaches the courtyard outside.

On the far side of the courtyard the porters of the caravan have already begun unloading the various goods purchased by the school. The First comes up to the caravan master and says, "You're late!"

"My apologies good master," the caravan master says humbly.

The First notices the pallor of his face. "You don't look too good," he states.

"Been feeling down last couple of days," he explains. "I think the cook used bad meat or something and made us all sick."

"Where is the cook?" he asks.

"Killed him for poisoning us," the caravan master replies. "Tossed his body somewhere back along the road."

"I need the slaves now," says the First.

"Let us untie them for you," the caravan master says as he begins to signal to his men.

Shaking his head, the First says, "Never mind that." Not willing to wait the minutes his men would take, the First uses one of the first spells he ever learned. Summoning the magic, he casts a spell of breaking to free the slaves all at once. The casting of the spell triggers the seeds of destruction which James had planted in the wagon beds a week before.

Ka-Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three ma.s.sive explosions of immense proportions detonate all at once. The force of it literally takes out a third of the school and collapses the room containing the Table of Sight. Taken unawares, his concentration firmly on what he was about to do to hold James, the master at the Table doesn't react in time and is crushed by the falling stone of the ceiling. The same stone which takes his life smashes through the Table, destroying it.

Stone and rock launched into the air by the blast begins to fall on the rest of the school. Ma.s.sive chunks of stone rip through roofs and cause even further damage as buildings which were already weakened by the blast are struck by the falling stone and give way.

One building of particular importance, the library, had been in close proximity to the blast when it went off. Filled with tomes older than memory, the basis for which magic works and knowledge gleaned through a millennium of research, is now nothing more than a gaping hole. Along with the rocks coming back to land, myriad pieces of paper blasted from thousands of books rain down as well.

All of a sudden, the resistance to the storm disappears. "It's stopped," James tells Jiron as they enter the building where the horses were left.

"What's stopped," asks Jiron.

"It feels like whoever was working against me isn't any more," he clarifies. Sending out the magic, he begins working the storm once more into a frenzy.

Realizing James is once again planning on staying and working the storm, Jiron has them move to the back of the room where the horses are to stay. If the storm becomes as bad as the last one James created, he wants them as far away from its effects as they can. James slips back into deep concentration as he resumes intensifying the storm.

After a half hour, the storm is now raging wildly outside. The open areas of the building allow the sand to enter and even though the force of the gale is abated by the walls of the building, still the sand stings when it strikes them. When he feels the storm has reached a point where it will continue on its own, he halts the flow of magic and settles down against one wall.

"That should take care of it," he says. Taking a water bottle, he drains it completely before setting it down.

The light from the sun is greatly reduced by the time it makes its way through the swirling dust storm outside. With but faint light with which to see, Jiron takes a closer look at the building they are in. The walls are rather plain and unadorned, parts of the floor show through the mounds of sand which has built up over the years.

"Look at this," he says when he comes to a depression in the floor by the far wall.

"What?" asks James too tired from creating the storm to want to cross the room to see.

"There are stairs here," he explains. "Choked with dirt and sand." He then tells him of the dome he found and how he believes there may be more below the surface.

With scenes of movies he's seen running through his head, he wonders what could lie below the surface. Treasure? A lost city? A thousand mummies h.e.l.l bent on their destruction? In this world who knows? Intrigued, he gets to his feet and goes over to investigate.

Just then he feels the tingling of nearby magic. Stopping halfway across the floor, he c.o.c.ks his head to one side as he attempts to discern from which direction it's coming. He glances to Jiron and whispers, "There's magic nearby."

All thoughts of the stairs vanish as they move to the opening and look out. s.h.i.+elding their eyes from the whipping sand, they search for anyone approaching. It doesn't take them long before several men appear out of the swirling storm. Each is surrounded by a dimly illuminated s.h.i.+eld protecting them from the storm.

"Mages?" asks Jiron.

James nods his head, never taking his eyes off the men coming their way.

The p.r.i.c.kling and tingling of working magic gradually increases as the men draw closer. Soon, more forms are seen out there among the ruins, each encased in a protective barrier. They are fanned out in a search pattern, whenever one comes to a wall or opening, they pause a moment to inspect it before continuing on.

"We've got to get out of here," James says as he makes his way to the horses.

Jiron stops him and says, "Leave them. The horses will never survive the storm outside."

James realizes he's right. Leaving the horses, he says "Stay close." A barrier suddenly appears surrounding them both.

"Won't they sense this?" Jiron asks.

"Probably," he replies. "But I'm hoping that with all the magic they are doing themselves, they may not realize it's me until it's too late."

Approving of the boldness, Jiron gives him a grin.

"Now, let's try to get through the storm before they realize we're gone," James suggests. He then moves through the wall and starts to move in the opposite direction of the searchers.

Jiron puts a hand on his shoulder and says, "Wait a second. If they're on foot, then their horses must be left behind. How about we work our way around them and steal a couple of their horses. They would have to be kept outside the worst of the storm."

He considers the idea and nods, "Alright, we'll do it."

Altering their course, they begin working their way away from the searchers. Then after putting some distance between them, they alter their course to run perpendicular to the searchers. They keep an eye out for the telltale sign of men in barriers walking in the storm. Each time one appears, they quickly move back and alter course to avoid them.

A sudden increase in the tingling sensation stops James in his tracks when out of the storm a blinding white light appears and strikes the barrier. The shock of the impact stuns James for a moment and the barrier keeping the storm at bay disappears.

Instantly they are knocked off their feet as the wind strikes them with fierce intensity. Quickly recovering, the s.h.i.+eld again springs up around them as another blinding white light strikes from out of the storm.

Ready for it this time, James manages to keep the barrier from failing but the draw of power from him was great.

"What's happening?" yells Jiron over the roar of the storm.

Then a form appears out of the storm. An aged man easily in his fifties strides forward. Behind him appear more men encased in protective barriers.

Kerith-Ayxt expected more of a challenge from this mage. True, the mage weakened himself by building a useless storm but he still thought this fight would be more of a challenge.

Again he sends the bolt of energy hurtling toward the two men and this time he can feel the barrier drop for a second before the mage recovers. Grinning, he continues to advance.

"Run!" yells James as the effects of the third bolt dissipates. He almost lost the barrier that time but managed to bring it back. He and Jiron turn to race into the storm and away from Kerith-Ayxt.

The tingling spikes again. He grabs Jiron and they dodge to the right, barely avoiding the bolt as it flies past. Summoning the magic, James lashes out with a wave of force of his own but Kerith-Ayxt simply brushes it aside.

Then the rest of the mages arrayed against him unleash a barrage of spells. Fire, ice, waves of force, the attacks become unrelenting until all James can do is simply concentrate on maintaining the barrier. Kerith-Ayxt conserves his power while his mages throw everything they have at the pair.

"Watch out!" yells Jiron as a ma.s.sive section of wall comes flying through the air toward them. Backpedaling rapidly, they barely get out of the way before the stone slab hits the ground. Slamming into the ground with a resounding thud, the impact shakes the ground like an earthquake.

All of a sudden, the ground beneath the slab gives way and it plummets down into darkness. Jiron sees the slab fall and quickly takes hold of James. "Come on!" he yells. Jumping forward, he yanks James off his feet and they both sail into the hole.

They fall briefly in darkness before James' orb springs to life. The light illuminates the buried room seconds before they hit the ground. Seeing the floor coming up fast, they brace for impact. James. .h.i.ts hard and feels like he may have sprained his wrist from where he tried to cus.h.i.+on his landing. Jiron simply tucks and rolls, coming quickly back to his feet.

Jiron then takes a fraction of a second to survey the room and finds a doorway off to one side. Lending James a hand, he helps him up just before a blast strikes the ground where James had just lain. Running for their lives, they make the doorway just as a flaming ball of fire hurtles toward them from the opening in the ceiling.

Again the barrier flashes into being just before the fireball explodes. James falls to his knees from the drain of power, Jiron helps him back up and they move into the hallway extending from the room.

At the edge of the hole, Kerith-Ayxt looks down at the doorway through which his quarry disappeared.

"Should we go after them?" asks a mage of the Fourth Circle.

Shaking his head, he says, "No." The wind has continued to die down due to several mages working to bring it to a halt until now it's barely a bother. Most of the mages have already canceled the protective barriers they used to ward off the storm. "They've entered Baerustin." At that the mage nods his head.

"Set up patrols through the ruins in case they somehow manage to make it out," the High Lord Magus says. Glancing at the hole he says, "Though I doubt that they will."

Stopping several yards from the entrance of the room they just left, Jiron eases James to the floor of the hallway. Moving back to the doorway, he glances back up to the hole in the ceiling.

"Are they coming?" James' whisper comes to him.

Turning his head back, he replies, "No. There's one looking through the opening but it doesn't appear that they mean to follow." He remains there watching for several more minutes before returning to James' side.

Jiron takes notice of the way James is favoring his right wrist. "You okay?" he asks with a nod to the wrist.

He holds it out a little bit and flexes each of the fingers. Though he grits his teeth in pain, he at least is able to move them which indicates it's not broken. "I think I sprained it when we landed," he says.

"Sorry about that," Jiron apologizes.

"Hey, don't apologize," James tells him. "That was good thinking. We wouldn't have survived up there much longer."

Jiron settles down to the floor against the wall opposite James. Sitting there across from each other in the light of the orb, their situation looks pretty hopeless.

"Any ideas?" asks Jiron after several minutes of silence.

Shaking his head, he says, "Not really. We're in a hole in the ground with at least fifty mages who collectively can kick my b.u.t.t."

"At least we're alive," a.s.serts Jiron. "Until we are dead, there is hope."

"I like your att.i.tude," agrees James with a grin.

Jiron returns to his feet and says, "You stay here and rest while I have a look around."

"Alright," James says. Before Jiron begins moving away, another orb blossoms to life and he hands it to him. "You might need this."

Taking the orb, Jiron says, "Thanks. Be right back." Then with a grin he adds, "Don't go anywhere."

James chuckles at that then leans his head back against the wall and closes his eyes.

Again checking to be sure no one is coming through the opening in the ceiling of the adjoining room, he moves back past James then heads down the hallway. The first door he comes to opens readily and he has to jump back fast as dirt spills out into the hallway. By the time it stops, the hallway is practically choked with sand. He curses as he works his way past the newly created obstruction.

Once past, he continues down the hallway and doesn't travel far before the light from the orb reveals an open doorway on his right. He slows as he approaches it and comes to a stop. Peering through the doorway, he finds a small room no more than thirty feet by twenty. The walls and ceiling are still intact and the room is free of sand. He steps within the room and the light from the orb reveals the room is bare. Making a quick inspection, he finds no other way out but the doorway he just pa.s.sed through.

Returning to the hallway, he continues down still further. Ten feet or so from the previous room, sand again appears in the hallway. A light dusting at first but the amount grows steadily the further he progresses. Suddenly the level of the sand rises dramatically just before another doorway appears on his left. As he draws close to the doorway, he discovers the hallway ends ten feet further down. The building must have collapsed at some time or the ceiling caved in for the hallway is blocked by sand.

The doorway is choked with a great deal of sand as well but checking with the orb, the room on the other side of the doorway appears to be clear. Jiron is forced to dig some of the sand out before he's able to crawl through. Holding the orb out in front of him, he wriggles through to the room on the other side.

Another empty room of modest dimension, off to one side he finds a winding staircase descending to the next level. He moves over to the top of the stairs and s.h.i.+nes the light down. The only thing revealed by the light are the stairs as it continues its descent. Figuring he's seen enough, he climbs back through the choked doorway and returns to where he left James.

When he returns, Jiron finds him fast asleep against the wall. He moves past his sleeping friend to where the hall opens on the room with the hole in the ceiling. Peering around the corner, he gazes up and sees two figures silhouetted against the sunlight as they gaze within.

Realizing they are not going to leave anytime soon, he moves back and sits down on the hallway floor across from James. Letting him sleep a little while longer, he thinks about their situation.

In all the time since he first came to know James, this is the first situation that appears hopeless. How are they going to get out with a pack of mages watching the only opening? He'll let James get some sleep before waking him and hopefully they'll be able to figure a way out.

True, there is the flight of stairs leading down further beneath the desert. But whether that will yield a way out is anyone's guess.

Chapter Twenty Three.

An hour pa.s.ses while James sleeps. Figuring they need to begin working their way out of this predicament, Jiron finally gets up and nudges him awake.