“What do you mean?” James asks.
“Is this it, two of you and a boy?” he asks. “How do you plan to get us out of here?”
“I assure you,” James tells him, “we are more than enough to get you out of here.”
Lord Pytherian doesn’t look convinced.
James looks at him and asks, “Are you coming?”
He starts to leave the room when from outside the window of his cell, they hear a great commotion coming from below. They all move to the window and look down to the courtyard below. Several figures are moving quickly across the open area as they head for the gate leading out of the keep. Soldiers are moving to intercept them and soon they’re engaged in battle.
“Are they part of your group?” Lord Pytherian asks.
“No,” replies James, mystified. “I don’t know who they are.”
“I do,” replies Miko. They all turn to him as he continues, “They’re those prisoners in the cells down in the dungeon.”
“But how did they escape?” asks James.
“They must’ve gotten a hold of the guards we killed and managed to escape their cells,” figures Jiron.
“That tears it!” exclaims James. “They’ll be here to check on him,” he says as he points to Lord Pytherian, “once they’ve dealt with them. If they’re not already on the way.”
“Then let’s move!” Jiron says as he heads for the stairs.
They follow him as he quickly moves down the stairs. When they reach the guard room, Lord Pytherian pauses a moment to remove a scabbard from a fallen guard and buckle it around his waist. As they hurry through, he takes out the sword and tests its balance. Satisfied, he returns the sword to its scabbard and hurries after them.
Almost running down the stairs, they reach the bottom just as the double doors open up and a squad of eight soldiers enters, led by a man richly dressed. Both groups pause momentarily in stunned silence at seeing the others before the soldiers draw their swords and charge.
James hears a strange cry behind him as Miko rushes past, sword in hand. He meets the lead soldier and in two passes of his sword, the man lies dead at his feet.
Jiron and Lord Pytherian follow and the battle is joined.
Deflecting a sword thrust with a knife, Jiron follows through with the other and is able to stab the man in the exposed armpit. When the knife is pulled out, blood flows quickly from the artery that was severed.
Lord Pytherian, with a war cry, wades into the soldiers. He deflects one sword thrust and quickly brings around his sword and slices into the man’s leg, practically severing it. Another soldier engages him and he blocks a downward hack as he kicks out at the man’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to stagger back.
The man staggers back near Miko who almost absentmindedly swings his sword in that direction and takes the man’s head off. The head flies and bounces off the wall as the torso falls to the floor, blood spraying everywhere.
Then all of a sudden it’s over. James glances over to see Miko looking around. His eyes catch sight of Lord Pytherian standing there and begins moving toward him to attack. “Miko!” he yells.
Lord Pytherian sees him coming and backs away from him, sword at the ready.
“Miko!” he cries one more time.
Miko slows and then suddenly comes to himself. He looks around at the dead bodies and almost without thinking, reaches down and cleans his sword on a fallen soldier before replacing it in its scabbard.
Lord Pytherian glances from Miko to James and back again. “What’s wrong with him?” he asks.
“No time to explain,” replies James. “Just stay away from him when he’s fighting.”
He nods and then looks around at the dead, “Where’s the other guy?”
“What other guy?” Jiron asks.
“The one that was with them, the one in the fancy clothes,” replies Lord Pytherian.
They look around but fail to find him among the dead. “He must’ve gotten away,” James says.
“Then we’re out of time,” Lord Pytherian says. “He’ll bring the whole army to hunt for me.”
“He’s got to find us first!” Jiron cries as they hurry out through the double doors. A couple servants can be seen in the hallway, looking around confused. But when they see them burst through the double doors, all covered in blood, they begin to scream and yell as they run away down the hallway.
Jiron leads them down to where they left the girl and opens the door. He looks in but finds her gone.
“Where to?” asks Lord Pytherian as he continues glancing down the hallway.
James looks to Jiron and says, “Back the way we came?”
“As good a way as any,” he replies as he moves toward the banquet hall. Before they come very close to it, a group of soldiers enters the hallway from there, the fancy dressed man in the fore.
He hollers to the soldiers and they rush to attack.
Turning around, they run back the way they’d come and turn down the other hallway at the double doors. Racing with a dozen soldiers at their back, they fly down the hallway until it suddenly opens up onto an inner garden.
They run along the walkway, past many types of flowering bushes and benches where people could rest while enjoying them. “Do you guys know where you’re going?” Lord Pytherian asks.
“No,” replies James. He hears a curse from Lord Pytherian behind him.
They exit the garden through another door and they swing it closed. The room they’re in is not too large, several benches sit on either side.
“Give me a hand!” hollers Jiron as he indicates one of the benches. Lord Pytherian moves to help him and they pick it up, carrying it over to in front of the door, blocking it somewhat.
A door on the opposite side of the room stands open, James moves toward it and looks out. “Another hallway,” he hollers back. “Doesn’t look as if anyone is in it.”
Their pursuers suddenly hit the door on the other side and the door swings open a little before Lord Pytherian puts his weight against it and closes it once more. “I can’t hold this very long,” he hollers to them as the soldiers on the other side continue throwing their weight against it.
James comes over and places his hand against it as he casts a spell of holding. When he’s done, he says, “You can let go now milord, it won’t open.”
Lord Pytherian gradually reduces the pressure he’s exerting and the door continues to hold even with the soldiers hitting it from the other side. He looks to James and raises an eyebrow, “Mage?”
James nods his head.
“Then we do stand a chance,” he says with a grin.
“Come on!” cries Miko from where he stands next to Jiron. “We’ve got to get out of here!”
Lord Pytherian and James run across the room as the soldiers continuously beat upon the door behind them. As they reach the others, Jiron moves down the hallway to the right. Running quickly with no pretense of being quiet, they turn left when the corridor does and see more soldiers coming toward them.
As Jiron stops next to a door on their left, a cry goes up from the advancing soldiers as they break into a run to attack. Throwing his weight against the door, he bursts into the room. The rest follow, Lord Pytherian closes the door behind them. The dark room blossoms with light as James’ orb springs to life.
Lord Pytherian’s eyes widen slightly and James shrugs and says, “It’s useful.”
A slight smile breaks out upon his face as he says, “I would think so.”
“Here!” Jiron hollers as he tosses a poleaxe toward Lord Pytherian who uses it to brace the door. James comes over with another and they get them wedged in just as the solders begin pounding upon the door from the other side.
Miko comes over and says, “This might work better.” He reaches up and pulls an iron bar from the door jamb and sinks it into a recess on the other side. With the added strength of the bar, the door will hold a long time.
They turn to look at the room they’ve found themselves in and discover they’ve run into an armory. Racks of swords, pole arms, bows, and every other type of weapon imaginable are lined in racks along all the walls.
“James, come here,” Miko hollers from where he stands next to a large barrel.
When James comes over, he sees the barrel is filled with the lead slugs he’s been using. Giving Miko a pat on the back, he proceeds to refill his belt as well as filling a pouch that was lying on a nearby table. It may weigh a
