“I understand that milord,” the second voice replies.
“You have the antidote?” the first one asks.
“Yes, right here,” answers the second.
“Can you give the one called James enough for him to answer questions, yet not enough to allow him to use his powers?” asks the first one.
“Yes, milord,” he replies.
The two men round the corner of the stairs as they begin to move down the hallway toward the double doors. One is dressed richly with the trappings of rank and has a commanding presence. The other is dressed finely as well, though is obviously the other’s subordinate. Looking to the one with the trappings of rank, he thinks, Must be the Councilman Rillian.
He waits until they pass into the hallway and begin moving down to the doors before coming back to the landing. He peers around the corner and watches as they move toward the double doors. The guard standing in front sees them coming, straightens up and opens one of the doors for them. He stands at attention while they pass into the room. Jiron suddenly realizes this is his chance. The guard is standing at attention and is facing away from him.
As the guard begins to close the door, Jiron sprints forward on the balls of his feet to avoid making any noise the guard might hear. He reaches him just as the door swings shut. Before the guard even realizes what’s happening, Jiron grabs his head and slides a knife across his throat, silencing him.
Jiron holds the guard as he gasps out his last breaths, preventing him from falling to the floor with a clatter and announcing his presence to those within the room. When the guard at last becomes still, he drags his lifeless body further down the hallway away from the door, and then quietly lays him down.
Moving back to the double doors, he puts his ear to them but the thickness of the doors muffles the voices from within.
Suddenly, one of the doors opens up and the Councilman’s underling begins to say, “Go down to the…” Then he realizes Jiron is there and tries to slam shut the door.
Throwing his shoulder against it, Jiron pushes the door into the room and follows right after. He grabs the underling and places a knife against his throat as he looks over to where Councilman Rillian is seated in a chair next to James.
The Councilman looks to Jiron in shock as he sits there. When he looks to draw a knife from his belt, Jiron says, “Don’t! I have no problems with killing you both if you try anything.”
Looking haughtily at Jiron, Councilman Rillian says, “Do you even know who I am?”
Nodding, he replies, “You’re the Councilman Rillian. A traitor to your people and a spy for the Empire.”
“Harsh words from someone intruding upon what he aught not to,” replies Councilman Rillian. He gestures to the window he’s sitting next to and says, “I can but call for help and a hundred men will be here in moments.”
“You could,” agrees Jiron. “But then you’d have to explain why you have friends of Lord Pytherian tied up and drugged here. I don’t think you could talk your way out of that.”
He narrows his eyes at Jiron and says, “It seems we are at an impasse. Surely we can work this out somehow?”
“All I want are my friends there,” he tells him, nodding over at the two comatose forms on the couch. “Then I’ll leave.”
“Just like that?” he asks. “I don’t think I can let any of you out of here alive.”
Then Jiron notices his eyes flick for only a brief moment to the hallway behind him. He suddenly kicks out with his foot and connects with a guard that had been sneaking up behind him. Glancing back quickly, he watches as the guard stumbles back a few paces and then draws his sword.
Jiron pushes the man he’s holding further into the room as he turns to shut the door before the guard has a chance to prevent him. With a bang, the door slams shut and Jiron turns the lock. The guard on the outside begins to beat upon the door, his cries coming through the door asking if Councilman Rillian is safe.
“It seems you’re trapped young man,” the councilman says from where he’s still sitting in the chair.
The beating on the door finally stops as the guard begins running down the hallway to get help. Jiron turns to the underling and says, “You! You have an antidote for the drug, right?”
The man looks to the councilman and then shakes his head as he says, “No, I don’t.”
“Don’t lie to me!” Jiron hollers at him. “I heard you say you did when you two were coming up the stairs.” Pointing at James he says, “I want you to give it to him. If he dies, you both shall die.” Drawing his knife he puts the point to the man’s throat as he stares into his eyes.
From the corner of his eye, he sees Councilman Rillian begin to reach for the knife at his belt. Pushing the underling away, he rounds on the councilman and before he’s able to grip the knife, he takes hold of his arm. “Don’t even think about it, milord,” he says.
“Stop!” he yells to the underling when he sees him moving toward the door. “One more step and your boss here is dead. Understand?”
Turning his attention back to the councilman, he says, “I’m sorry to have to do this to you milord.” He removes the outer coat of Councilman Rillian and with his knife cuts it into strips which he then uses to secure him to the chair. All the while casting glances over to his underling to make sure he gets no closer to the door.
When at last the councilman’s secured and his knife rests with the others in Jiron’s belt, Jiron turns to the underling and asks, “What’s your name?”
“Stephen,” the man replies.
“Well, Stephen, get over there and administer the antidote,” Jiron demands. When he hesitates, Jiron places a knife at Councilman Rillian’s throat and says menacingly, “Now!”
Pulling a small crystal vial from within his jerkin, Stephen moves over to where James lies on the couch. “Don’t do anything stupid,” Jiron warns him.
Suddenly from the door, more banging can be heard as the guard returns with help. It sounds like they’re using a battering ram or perhaps a bench in an attempt to break the door down.
Jiron moves to the window and looks out over the courtyard. The soldiers in the courtyard below remain oblivious to the events taking place within the Councilman’s offices. He moves back over to the councilman, indicates the door and says, “So those are just your own personal guards eh? What, don’t you want everyone to know what’s going on in here?”
The councilman just glares at him, keeping silent.
Stephen has finished administering the antidote to James. When Jiron looks over to them, Stephen says, “It’ll take a few minutes to work.”
“How many?” asks Jiron as the pounding on the door increases. A crack begins forming in the heavy door.
Shrugging, Stephen replies, “I’m not sure. The instructions I was given wasn’t that clear.”
“What did they tell you?” Jiron demands to know.
“That a few drops would bring him out of it,” he explains.
“How much did they say would restore his powers?” Jiron asks.
He glances over to Councilman Rillian and says, “Half again as much.”
“I assume you didn’t give him that much?” he inquires.
Shaking his head, Stephen says, “No, I didn’t.”
Jiron puts a knife to the councilman’s throat and says, “Do it!”
“Don’t!” Councilman Rillian orders.
“But he’ll kill you!” cries Stephen.
“If they get out of here, we’re dead anyway!” he exclaims then cries out as Jiron gently punctures the side of his neck, allowing a small drop of blood to trickle down his neck.
“Smash it!” orders the councilman.
As Stephen raises the vial high, Jiron screams, “Don’t!” He rushes toward Stephen to try and prevent the vial from being smashed, but is too late. With a crash, the vial is thrown to the floor and smashes into a thousand pieces, the precious antidote splattering across the floor.
“Damn you!” Jiron curses as he
lashes out with his knife in anger.
Stephen cries out as the knife strikes his chest and pierces his heart. Jiron kicks out with his foot, knocking him off his knife. Eyes beginning to glaze over, he trips over a chair behind him and hits the ground with a grunt. His blood begins to spread across the floor as his life quickly leaves him.
Jiron bends down over the spilled antidote as Councilman Rillian begins to laugh. “Too late,” he cries out in glee. “Without his magic, you’ll never get out of here alive.” He pays no attention to the councilman’s words as the looks down at the shattered remains of the vial. In the center of the shards, he finds a small pool of antidote. Bending over, he dips his finger into it, gathering as much as he can upon its tip.
Getting up, he moves quickly over to James’ side all the while trying not to allow the liquid to drip off his finger. James opens his eyes as he inserts the antidote covered finger inside his mouth. Once he’s felt James suck the antidote off his finger, he says, “You okay now?”
James nods his head and says, “Better.” He tries to sit up, but the spinning of the room causes him to fall back down on the couch. “Not perfect, it seems.” The antidote hasn’t reversed the effects of the poison completely. Hopefully it won’t take longer than they have.
Just then, the door bursts open and they see four men holding a wooden bench as a battering ram come through the broken remnants of the door. The bench is dropped as one guard kicks out with his foot and clears the remaining portion of the broken door out of the way. Then the guards begin moving into the room.
Jiron moves to Councilman Rillian’s side and places a knife at his throat as he says, “Stop! Or he’s dead!”
The guards come to a quick stop, just feet within the room. They take in the scene as the lead one says, “Milord, are you okay?”
“I’m alive” the councilman assures him.
“Now,” Jiron says to the guards, “Get out or I slit his throat.”
“Milord?” asks the guard as he looks to the councilman.
“Stay right where you are,” he orders. “If they kill me, then you kill them. Understood?”
“But…” the guard stammers.
“You heard me!” shouts Councilman Rillian.
The guards glance among themselves and remain where they are.
“I said leave the room!” Jiron hollers at them.
James finds his head is becoming clearer by the second. Whatever that stuff was that Jiron had given him seems to be doing the trick.
From the hallway, a crossbow bolt flies through the door past the guards in the room, and strikes Jiron in the right shoulder. The force of it knocks him backward and away from the councilman. He stumbles for a few feet before falling to the floor.
“Kill him!” Councilman Rillian shouts.
The guards begin rushing forward. A lit candle sitting upon a table before them suddenly flares up and a roar can be heard as fire shoots in their direction, halting their advance.
“It’s the mage on the couch!” he cries out, indicating James with a nod of his head.
The guards see James sitting there on the side of the couch and start to move toward him. The flame from the candle becomes greater as it forms a fiery barricade between them.
“Milord!” cries the lead guard, the heat from the fire too hot for him to come any further into the room.
Attempting to ignore the throbbing pain in his shoulder, Jiron gets back up as he sees the flame from the candle shoot out to block the guards. Leaving the councilman where he is, he moves over to James.
“Can you walk?” Jiron asks him.
Nodding his head, he continues concentrating on the flame as he moves it to force the guards back out of the room. His head is still fuzzy, but is able to maintain the spell as the antidote continues to remove the effects of the drug.
The temperature in the room is rising from the heat of the flames. Everyone begins sweating and a nearby candle begins to droop as the heat softens the wax.
Jiron checks Fifer who’s barely conscious. With his shoulder the way it is, there’s no way he’ll be able to carry him.
By directing the flame, James is able to push the soldiers back out the door. A couple brave souls bear burns from when they didn’t move back fast enough to avoid the flame’s touch.
When the guards are all once more outside the door, James erects a wall of force within the doorway which prevents them from regaining the room. He extinguishes the flame and then realizes he’s quite light headed and short of breath. Thinking it’s the use of magic in his current state, he sits back down.
Looking around, he realizes everyone in the room is having a hard time breathing. Oxygen! I used up most of the oxygen in the room in sustaining the flame. He gasps over to Jiron, “Open the window, we’ve got to get some fresh air in here.”
With the bolt still sticking out of his shoulder, he makes his way over to the window and throws it open wide. A breeze from outside begins circulating within the room bringing much needed oxygen to its occupants.
The men behind the invisible wall pick up the bench they used previously as a battering ram and begin smashing it against the invisible wall. Each time the bench hits, James feels a brief increase in the amount of power being used to sustain it.
“Even with your magic, you’ll never make it out of here,” Councilman Rillian warns.
“We’ll see,” James says to him. Turning to Jiron he asks, “How’s the shoulder?”
Jiron gives him a look that says, ‘That’s a dumb question’, and replies, “Hurts. But I’m not going to pull this thing out until we’re out of here.”
“Good idea,” says James. “I suppose the entire area is up in arms over this?”
Shaking his head, Jiron says, “Actually, other than the men in the hallway, it looks like no one else even knows what’s going on.”
“Really?” James asks as he turns his attention over to Councilman Rillian.
“My men can handle the likes of you,” he says confidently to James.
“I wonder,” he says as he moves over to the window.
“What do you plan to do?” asks Jiron.
From his position on the couch, he replies, “Maybe I’ll just let everyone know that we’re here.” Pausing a moment, he says, “What do you say to that, milord?”
“What do I care what a bunch of thugs do?” he states. “When they learn how you came in here and tried to force me to help you open the gates for the Empire, you’ll get what’s coming to you.”
“Oh, by the way,” Jiron says, “Miko said to tell you that ‘One Eye’ is in the city. Said you’d understand.”
“He’s here?” he asks incredulously. Turning on the councilman, he asks, “Is that why that army is sitting out there waiting? For Korgan to open the gates like he did back at the City of Light?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replies nonchalantly.
“If he’s here, we’ve got to get to Lord Pytherian now,” James states matter-of-factly.
“And how are you to do that when you can’t even get out of this room?” asks Councilman Rillian smugly.
“Like this,” replies James. Moving to the window, he creates his orb and tosses it out, causing it to increase in size as it slowly descends to the ground.
As soon as the orb passes through the window, the soldiers below become aware of it. They back up as a murmur begins to grow as more and more of the waiting escorts come over to see what’s going on.
Once the orb is on the ground, he has it flare to intense brilliance before disappearing abruptly. Framed in the window, James looks out over the faces gazing up to him. “Please inform Lord Pytherian that James is here and would like to meet with him. And ask him to hurry!”
His words produce another round of muttering and then one of the faces breaks off and runs for the castle.
“What are you doing up there?” demands one of the faces.
“I’ll tell that to Lord Pytherian
and Lord Pytherian only,” James announces to the crowd.
James continues looking out over the crowd and finally sees a group of people coming out of the castle’s gates. Striding in front of them is Lord Pytherian himself. The crowd of onlookers parts as they allow him to come before James.
When he’s at last close enough to hear him well, James says, “Greeting milord.”
“This is a strange way to come for a visit,” Lord Pytherian says.
“Unavoidable, milord,” James replies from the window. “If you would come up here with some of your own guards, I’ll tell you all about it.”
“Very well,” he says. “I’m coming up.”
Chapter Twenty Seven
_________________________
James watches as Lord Pytherian begins moving toward the entrance of the building. He calls out to guards in the area who fall into line behind him. The men he’d come from the castle with begin to follow him as well, but he pauses a moment to talk with them. When he again moves toward the building, they remain in the courtyard. Once he’s moved out of view, James goes over to a chair near Councilman Rillian and sags into it.
Jiron moves over to Fifer and attempts to bring him back to consciousness with little success. The throbbing from the bolt in his shoulder flares up periodically as he moves around.
From where he sits in his chair, James glances over to the councilman and is amazed at how calm he appears. “Aren’t you worried?” he asks him.
“Not especially,” he says. “You are the trespassers. You’re the ones who’ve spilled blood this night, not I.”
“But you lured us here and drugged us,” James accuses.
“It’s your word against mine,” he tells him. “And who are the people here going to believe?”
Just then, the beating upon the invisible wall blocking the doorway stops. James turns his attention to the doorway and watches as the men there put the bench down and begin backing away.
Lord Pytherian appears in front of the doorway and James removes the invisible barrier. “It’s clear now, milord,” James tells him.
Nodding, Lord Pytherian glances to his right and says, “Let no one in.”
Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three Page 38
