In the darkness he can hear Roland’s intake of breath before he asks, “Are you sure?”
“Very. I’m going to go check it out,” he whispers. “Wake up Illan and let him know what’s going on and that whoever it is, is probably out back. Whatever you do, don’t wake up Miko! Then take Tersa and your family into your room and lock the door. Understand?”
“Yeah,” he replies as he goes back the way they’d come.
James moves to the door and looks out the window. Several shadows can be seen moving around out there, primarily near the chicken coop. The fact that someone’s doing magic and they’re out back by the chicken coop can only mean one thing. They’re here for the Fire! For that’s where he’d hidden it, figuring the chickens would give him some alarm should someone come looking for them, which they did.
A touch on his shoulder causes him to jump. “Sorry,” he hears Illan whisper behind him. “What’s going on?”
“The Empire’s men are out there,” he tells them.
“Are they looking for the you-know-what?” he asks.
“I can’t imagine they’d be here for any other reason,” James replies. “There’s a mage with them, I can feel it.”
“That could make things interesting,” he says. Just then, Jorry, Uther and the rest show up and Illan quickly fills them in on what’s going on. When Jiron shows up, he has Uther and Jorry go around one side of the house and Yern and Fifer the other.
Before they leave, James tells them, “We can’t afford to let any leave here alive. If possible, take one alive. If not, take ‘em out. But don’t do anything until you hear the signal.”
“What’ll that be?” asks Uther.
“You’ll know it when you see it,” replies James.
“Oh yeah, right,” he says.
They keep looking out back at the shadows moving around. James knows it’s only a matter of time before they realize exactly where it is and dig it up. To Jiron he whispers, “I could use some of those crystals out in my workshop.”
“Don’t think I could get them without being seen,” he tells him. “Too many out there.”
“Hold on a second,” Illan says as he moves back into the house. Returning shortly, he hands James three crystals. “Will these do?” he asks.
“Where did you get these?” he asks as he takes them.
“I was curious about why you were interested in them,” he explains somewhat guiltily. “So while you were gone today, I grabbed a couple to take a closer look. I was going to put them back in the morning before you got up.”
“It’s okay,” James assures him. “We’ll give the others another minute to get into position and then we’ll go.”
Illan takes out his sword and stands ready.
A minute passes and James says, “Alright, let’s go.” He quickly casts the magic gathering spell, upon the crystals and slowly opens the door. The draw of the three crystals on him at once is almost overpowering, but he needs them to be charged at least a little for what he has planned.
When it’s clear between him and the coop, he throws the crystals toward those standing around the coop. A cry goes up as one of the enemy spots the three glowing crystals flying toward them. James suddenly feels a surge of the prickly sensation as the enemy mage prepares a spell.
When it’s cast, the magic of the enemy mage’s spell is immediately absorbed by the crystals, all which begin to fluctuate as they leech magic from one another as well as the mage. This time, he did not incorporate the spell to prevent them from drawing on each other. In fact, he’s counting on it.
His orb bursts to light overhead, illuminating the entire area. Along with the mage, are another dozen men in black armor who spring to attack.
Jiron and Illan move in front of James as the men rush to attack. A slug flies between them as James takes out one. From behind the charging men, they can see their four friends rushing fast to close with them from behind.
Once they’re close, Jiron and Illan move to attack. They maintain a defensive posture as they wait for their friends to join the battle from behind. As yet, their attackers are still unaware that they’re even there.
From the coop, James can feel the pulsating of the crystals as each continues to draw power from the others. The enemy mage is quickly having his power sucked from him and has fallen to the ground, all but unconscious. He can see him there in the pulsating glow of the crystals, attempting to crawl away.
When Fifer and the others join the battle, they take out three men quickly before they realize they’re among them. Now evenly matched, each attacker faces off with one defender.
With only one man now to contend with, Jiron is able to go on the attack. The enemy before him is no ordinary fighter, he quickly realizes. Every attack he tries, the man blocks and with being heavily armored, he’s finding it hard to get an opening for his knife.
The back door suddenly swings open again as Miko rushes out in just his underclothes, sword in hand. He moves to aid Illan with his opponent.
“Miko!” James cries when he sees him rushing to the fight.
Fifer’s enemy falls to the ground, his sword stuck between the man’s ribs. He reaches down and takes the other man’s sword and moves to help Yern who’s having a harder time with his.
The crystals are beginning to emit the high pitched tone, similar to the one which had been emitted by the others earlier in the day before they exploded. The mage now lies unmoving, one of the crystals less than a foot from his outstretched hand. In the light of the crystals, it looks as if his skin has been pulled in tight around his skull. His eyes look shrunken and his hands almost skeletal.
“Down!” James yells at the top of his lungs. “Everybody, DOWN!”
Those still engaged with enemies abruptly break off and fling themselves away and to the ground.
Ka-Boom!
A tremendous explosion erupts as the three crystals explode. The shockwave rolls over them and knocks down the remaining enemies who hit the ground, dazed. Those closest to them quickly move to dispatch them before they’re able to regain their senses.
Looking to where the chicken coop once had stood, James sees a small crater where the explosion had created a hole over a foot deep and six across. There’s no sign of the mage that had been there, several dead chickens can be found lying here and there.
Everyone gets back up, James searches for Miko who’s helping Illan up. “Are you okay?” he asks him.
Miko turns and says, “I’m fine.”
James looks into his eyes and sees that he is fine. He was afraid that battle might have triggered latent effects from the Fire, but he’s glad he had been mistaken.
“Everyone okay?” Illan hollers out as he gets up.
Only a few minor cuts and one on Yern’s left arm that’ll require stitching. Otherwise, they came off well.
“Is it over?” Roland asks from the doorway to the kitchen.
“Yeah,” replies Uther. “Ask Tersa to come and help Yern, he’s got a bad cut needing to be sewed.”
He turns back to those waiting in the kitchen a moment and then hollers back to Uther, “Bring him inside.”
Uther walks with Yern into the house as the others survey the scene.
“Gather the dead,” Illan tells Jorry and Fifer. Miko pitches in as well. Walking with James to the hole where the chicken coop once stood, he asks, “Is this where you hid the Fire?”
“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” he replies. “I was hoping for the chickens to let us know if someone disturbed them. It worked.” They see one of their shovels lying near the hole, the entire top half of the handle gone. Picking it up, he continues, “Guess we’ll need a new shovel.”
“Not only sightseers, now we have to worry about possible attacks by the Empire,” says Illan.
“I figured they would come, eventually,” admits James. “I just didn’t expect it this soon.”
“Are you close to having it ready to be secured away forever?” he asks.
“Getting there,” he answers. “Still a couple things I need to work on.”
Fifer comes up and asks, “What are we going to do with the bodies?”
