head from his neck.
When the psychic cry stops, so does the pain it caused. James looks up in time to see Abula-Mazki’s head strike the ground. He hears a cheer from Hinney and Keril as they begin running over to congratulate Miko. “Stop!” he orders commandingly.
They both stop and turn to look at him. “Don’t go near him yet,” he tells them. Moving past them, he brings himself near to where Miko is standing motionless. He walks around until he’s standing face to face with him.
“Miko?” he asks as he gazes into his eyes. He can see more changes the Fire had wrought. All signs of Miko’s childhood are gone. What stands before him is a man in his early twenties at least. “Miko?” he asks again, in a soothing voice. “It’s James.”
James can see the fires burning in his eyes, and for the first time, he’s worried his friend may not come out of it. “Miko, come back to me,” he says as he reaches his hand out.
Then his eyes take notice of him there and his sword moves to a guard position. James backs up a step and holds his hands up, showing he’s not armed. The fires burn as the eyes come to rest upon him.
Pointing to a sack lying in the pile that had been removed from Miko, James yells to Jiron, “Toss me the sack!”
Not sure at first what he is talking about, Jiron looks down and then understanding comes. Picking it up, he throws it to James who catches it.
“Would you like some tarts?” James asks as he pulls one from the sack, holding it up for Miko to see.
Miko’s expression changes subtly and the fires begin to diminish. “Tarts?” he says in a far away voice.
“Yeah,” James says, lowering his arm. “Here, have one.” He watches some sort of internal struggle taking place within Miko. Suddenly, the fires in his eyes go out and he knows that it’s his friend who’s now looking out at him.
“Oh, James,” he says and takes a step forward before collapsing to the ground.
He moves quickly to catch him before he hits the ground. Laying him down, he waves the others to come join him.
Upon reaching them, Illan says, “James, we got problems.”
Looking up at him from where he kneels next to Miko, James asks, “What?”
Pointing to the pass, he says, “Look.”
Turning his attention to the pass, James sees the clan chiefs have returned and mounted their horses. One of the riders with them brings a horn to his lips and two loud notes sound. Answering horns come from all sides as the riders who had waited patiently at a distance during the fight now begin moving toward them in a decidedly hostile manner. Hundreds of riders are quickly closing the gap, swords are being drawn and bows readied.
James grabs Jiron’s arm, causing him to look at him. “You know what I must do?”
Jiron nods his head and gathers the others around while James prepares to defend them. “Form a circle around James, let nothing get close to him that may disrupt his concentration,” he tells them. Once he sees that they understand, he continues, “We may yet live through this.”
“Arrows!” hollers Fifer as over fifty archers release their deadly arsenal.
“Shields!” Illan hollers and those with shields raise them to protect James. The others hide behind them as best they can. They watch as the arrows arc in the air as they begin to descend toward them. Then suddenly, they bounce off a barrier that surrounds them.
“What happened?” asks Keril.
“James,” replies Jiron. “That’s what happened.”
They still remain behind their shields as the deadly rain continues to fall, harmlessly bouncing off the invisible shield.
The sky begins to darken as clouds move rapidly from all directions to merge together in the sky above. Those guarding James look nervously out at the rapidly changing sky, Illan calls out to them, “Stand fast!”
The front line of riders comes crashing into the barrier that had so successfully stopped the rain of arrows. Horses and men cry out as they strike it hard, bones of some can be heard snapping. One man is actually thrown upward from his horse and lands on the barrier itself. The defenders inside watch as he slowly slides down the outer side to the ground.
Hinney cries out when a dozen translucent orbs suddenly appear among them.
“Don’t worry,” Jiron assures him. “James has lots of tricks.”
The orbs begin floating away from them in various directions. When they reach the barrier, they pass harmlessly through. The riders beating upon the barrier step back as the orbs float harmlessly past them before resuming their attempt to breach the barrier.
“What are those?” Yern asks.
“Something nasty for them,” replies Jiron. “You can be sure of that.”
The riders have stopped the hail of arrows when they realize how ineffective they are. The wounded from when the charge hit the barrier are being taken away and the mood among the riders is beginning to become one of unease.
In the sky above them, the cloud cover is now dark and the wind has begun to blow in earnest. Suddenly, a flash of lightning strikes one of the translucent orbs, blasting over a dozen riders that happen to be near.
ZZZT! Wham!
Another bolt of lightning strikes an orb, and more riders are thrown from the force of the explosion.
“That was bigger than the last one!” Uther exclaims.
“Look!” Jorry says as he points to one of the orbs. “They’re getting bigger!”
Jiron glances to James and sees he’s beginning to pant and sweat is pouring down his face. Shouting loud enough for all the defenders to hear him, he hollers, “Should James lose consciousness, the barrier will fall. Then it will be up to us to finish this.”
“Bring it on!” Jorry hollers from where he stands shoulder to shoulder with Uther.
ZZZT! Wham! ZZZT! Wham! ZZZT! Wham!
Bolts begin striking orbs with more frequency and more riders are thrown only to fall lifeless to the ground.
Once the last orb has been struck, it becomes eerily quiet. The riders outside the barrier pause in what they’re doing as they take notice of the quiet.
“Illan!” Fifer yells as he points to James.
James is tilting to the side and looks like he’s barely able to remain upright. “Help him!” Illan commands and Fifer goes over and helps support him so he won’t fall over. To the others, Illan says, “It won’t be long! Be ready!”
From the clouds above, a swirling mass begins descending toward the riders outside the barrier. “What in god’s name is that?” Uther cries out.
“A tornado!” Jiron replies, remembering the ones James used in their escape from Al-Kur.
The swirling mass of clouds smashes into the ground not far from them, riders and horses caught within it are thrown and broken. It starts moving toward the pass and the chiefs waiting there.
A cry escapes James as the tornado splits in two, the second half moving quickly in the opposite direction toward a large congregation of riders.
The chiefs see the tornado coming toward them and turn as they begin riding fast further up into the pass, trying to outrun the approaching swirling mass of death.
“How is he?” Jiron shouts to Fifer.
“Not good!” he tells him. “His heart’s beating fast and he’s having trouble breathing.”
Jiron comes over and kneels down next to him and says, “James! You’ve done enough!” When it doesn’t look like he’s getting through to him, he shakes him and hollers, “James! You can stop!”
Eyes suddenly pop open and a great cry of pain escapes him. Then he suddenly collapses into unconsciousness.
The barrier collapses and the tornadoes begin to dissipate. “Alright boys!” Illan hollers. “Stay together and protect James and Miko.”
When the wind dies down and the tornadoes are gone, they take in the destruction James has wrought. Hundreds of men and horses lie dead or dying all around them. On the outskirts of the devastation, over twenty horsemen can be seen still on their horses. They’re all that remain of the host which accompanied Abula-
