“That going to be a problem?” he asks, afraid of the answer.
James shakes his head and then returns to what he came for. He takes his time in examining the stone encompassing the mine. What he’s looking for are points where he can take advantage of unstable sections of rocks to collapse the mine.
As he searches, his mind keeps returning to the slaves still within the mine. It doesn’t look as if they are doing anything, might be sleeping. From what Miko had told him of his time as a mine slave, these slaves may be undergoing punishment for one thing or another and that’s why they are still in there.
Then an idea comes to him. Searching for just the right spot, he begins weakening support beams and widening cracks in an area further into the mine than where the slaves are. If he creates a cave-in, they may just run out.
After a few minutes, he can feel the rock above the tunnel shift and begin to rumble. Then suddenly, rock begins falling as the ceiling caves in. Moving his senses to the slaves, he’s relived to discover they are now further toward the entrance.
When Jiron initially had returned and described the box canyon, he thought about bringing the side of the mountain down to block the mine. But then when he came and saw the complex in his mirror, he realized that if he did it would bury the entire place and kill everyone. Sometimes he wishes he was a bit less concerned with the welfare of others, sure would make life easier. But he is, so now he’s trying to bring it down from the inside.
They begin to hear noise coming from the other side of the wall as the cave-in is reported. He realizes he has to work fast before more slaves and workers are sent in to clear it. Again sending his senses deep within the mountain, he works on reducing the strength of the stone.
Crews begin rushing into the mountain to begin clearing the cave-in as more tremors shake the mountain. James begins to sense sections of the mine beginning to collapse as the mountain gives out with a groan. The men who had so recently entered the mine to shore it up are now running back out.
Then what he had tried to avoid happens. A massive rumble courses through the earth as the side of the mountain gives way. With a roar like a thousand giants going into battle, rocks and trees begin to slide down the side.
Recognizing the sound from the last time James had brought the mountain down on the trail back from Saragon, he grabs him by the shoulder and jerks him to his feet. “Come on!” he yells. Propelling him before him, he gets him moving quickly back to where Jared waits with the horses.
“What’s going on?” Jared yells when he sees them running toward him.
“Avalanche!” James hollers over the roar. “We got to get out of here.”
Mounting quickly, they turn their horses toward the road leading down the mountain and ride like their lives depend on it.
From behind them, a belch of dust envelopes them and blinds them to the road. Coughing from the dust clouding the air, they continue racing blind down the road. A sudden flare of light and James’ orb appears overhead to help them keep to the road.
When the roar of the mountain falling behind them finally grinds to a halt, they slow only slightly to prevent an accidental misstep by their horses. “Go!” James yells when Jared begins slowing down even further. “We’ve got to get out of here, they know where I am and will be coming.”
Jared nods and then picks up speed again. The dust cloud diminishes the further away from the mine they go.
Lights appear out of the darkness ahead as citizens of Ki come to investigate what happened. Hundreds of people are hurrying up the road, those on horseback leaving those on foot behind in their haste to reach the mine. James cancels his orb and plunges them back into darkness.
“Don’t stop for anything,” Jiron yells to the others as the riders come near. The lead rider slows down at their approach and starts speaking to them as they fly by. The man yells something but then is left behind. Moving to the edge of the road, Jiron takes the lead as they race past worried and fearful townsfolk.
As James rides past, he can’t help but see the worry and fear on the faces of many women. He knows they aren’t likely to find their men alive when they get there. Sadness comes over him a moment then he swallows it down and tries to concentrate solely on keeping his horse behind Jiron and not on what he just did to these people. Riding fast in the night, they soon leave Ki behind as they race westward.
Sweat streaming down his face, Kerith-Ayxt faces Aekion where he’s bound within the pentagram. Twice the height of a man, Aekion towers over the High Mage. Wreathed in flame, the heat coming from him is almost to the point of being unbearable. He can feel Aekion working against the spells holding him.
Tendrils of power come to him from the other mages within the Great Hall. Several have already fainted away from the exertion despite the power being taken from the slaves. They started with a hundred and twenty two slaves, now only forty four remain with a couple dropping every minute. And the spells that are to bind Aekion to hunt for the mage have yet to be completed.
Aekion’s form shifts as he stands within the pentagram. First the shape of a man aflame, then that of a wildfire and then something even more bizarre. But Aekion always returns to the humanoid form.
Kerith-Ayxt wrestles to place spell after spell upon the creature before him. Another mage sags to the floor, and then another. This is taking more than I thought. The errant thought comes to him, disrupting his concentration for a split second before he banishes it. Concentrating on the task at hand, he steadily works to bind the creature.
When all but the final spell has been laid upon the creature, the power coming to him begins to diminish. Casting a glance toward where the slaves are being held, he finds there are no longer any left to supply power. Panic begins to ensue as he realizes he’s not going to have the power to finish what he began.
Out of desperation, he yells to the mage who had been draining the slaves, “The Novices!”
Nodding understanding, the mage rushes from the Great Hall and shortly afterwards, the flow of power is restored.
Returning to the flaming creature before him, The High Magus completes the task at hand and lays the final spell of binding upon the creature. When at last it is complete, the glow of the pentagram fades and Aekion stands free before him. If any of the spells he laid this night was not done with perfection, the creature will kill him.
What would you have of me, master?
“A mage walks the Empire,” he tells it. Between them a shimmering image begins to form and then solidifies into an exact replication of the rogue mage. “Find this man and kill him.”
Yes master.
The flames wreathing his body suddenly flare to twice their brilliance and then Aekion is gone. Thus begins the hunt.
Chapter Twenty
After leaving Ki behind them, they ride for several hours after taking the southwest road out of town. Wanting to put as much distance behind them as they can, they push their horses almost to the point of exhaustion before they decide to pull off the road and make camp.
Throughout the ride, James was expecting whoever tried to find him magically several days ago to attempt it again. What he did at the mines had to have been a beacon telling anyone where he is. Why they haven’t yet makes him wonder. No matter the reason, he’s glad he didn’t have to fend off another of their probing attacks.
Jiron tells him to sleep through the rest of the night while he and Jared take turns at watch which suits him just fine. Twice during the night, riders could be heard moving in the direction of Ki. Neither time did the riders notice their camp set back off the road.
Jared was on watch when the first band of riders appeared and woke Jiron who prevented him from waking James. “I doubt if they will even know we’re here,” he explains. They don’t have a campfire and are not very close to the road. Sure enough, the riders went on by without even slowing.
When the sound of the riders disappears in the distance, Jiron returns to his blanket. Before settling in he tells Jared to only wake him when ‘Riders slow down and approach the camp’. The second set of riders passes by during Jiron’s turn at watch. Keeping an eye on them in the moonlight, he watches while they race past.
