James realizes he’s right. Leaving the horses, he says “Stay close.” A barrier suddenly appears surrounding them both.
“Won’t they sense this?” Jiron asks.
“Probably,” he replies. “But I’m hoping that with all the magic they are doing themselves, they may not realize it’s me until it’s too late.”
Approving of the boldness, Jiron gives him a grin.
“Now, let’s try to get through the storm before they realize we’re gone,” James suggests. He then moves through the wall and starts to move in the opposite direction of the searchers.
Jiron puts a hand on his shoulder and says, “Wait a second. If they’re on foot, then their horses must be left behind. How about we work our way around them and steal a couple of their horses. They would have to be kept outside the worst of the storm.”
He considers the idea and nods, “Alright, we’ll do it.”
Altering their course, they begin working their way away from the searchers. Then after putting some distance between them, they alter their course to run perpendicular to the searchers. They keep an eye out for the telltale sign of men in barriers walking in the storm. Each time one appears, they quickly move back and alter course to avoid them.
A sudden increase in the tingling sensation stops James in his tracks when out of the storm a blinding white light appears and strikes the barrier. The shock of the impact stuns James for a moment and the barrier keeping the storm at bay disappears.
Instantly they are knocked off their feet as the wind strikes them with fierce intensity. Quickly recovering, the shield again springs up around them as another blinding white light strikes from out of the storm.
Ready for it this time, James manages to keep the barrier from failing but the draw of power from him was great.
“What’s happening?” yells Jiron over the roar of the storm.
Then a form appears out of the storm. An aged man easily in his fifties strides forward. Behind him appear more men encased in protective barriers.
Kerith-Ayxt expected more of a challenge from this mage. True, the mage weakened himself by building a useless storm but he still thought this fight would be more of a challenge.
Again he sends the bolt of energy hurtling toward the two men and this time he can feel the barrier drop for a second before the mage recovers. Grinning, he continues to advance.
“Run!” yells James as the effects of the third bolt dissipates. He almost lost the barrier that time but managed to bring it back. He and Jiron turn to race into the storm and away from Kerith-Ayxt.
The tingling spikes again. He grabs Jiron and they dodge to the right, barely avoiding the bolt as it flies past. Summoning the magic, James lashes out with a wave of force of his own but Kerith-Ayxt simply brushes it aside.
Then the rest of the mages arrayed against him unleash a barrage of spells. Fire, ice, waves of force, the attacks become unrelenting until all James can do is simply concentrate on maintaining the barrier. Kerith-Ayxt conserves his power while his mages throw everything they have at the pair.
“Watch out!” yells Jiron as a massive section of wall comes flying through the air toward them. Backpedaling rapidly, they barely get out of the way before the stone slab hits the ground. Slamming into the ground with a resounding thud, the impact shakes the ground like an earthquake.
All of a sudden, the ground beneath the slab gives way and it plummets down into darkness. Jiron sees the slab fall and quickly takes hold of James. “Come on!” he yells. Jumping forward, he yanks James off his feet and they both sail into the hole.
They fall briefly in darkness before James’ orb springs to life. The light illuminates the buried room seconds before they hit the ground. Seeing the floor coming up fast, they brace for impact. James hits hard and feels like he may have sprained his wrist from where he tried to cushion his landing. Jiron simply tucks and rolls, coming quickly back to his feet.
Jiron then takes a fraction of a second to survey the room and finds a doorway off to one side. Lending James a hand, he helps him up just before a blast strikes the ground where James had just lain. Running for their lives, they make the doorway just as a flaming ball of fire hurtles toward them from the opening in the ceiling.
Again the barrier flashes into being just before the fireball explodes. James falls to his knees from the drain of power, Jiron helps him back up and they move into the hallway extending from the room.
At the edge of the hole, Kerith-Ayxt looks down at the doorway through which his quarry disappeared.
“Should we go after them?” asks a mage of the Fourth Circle.
Shaking his head, he says, “No.” The wind has continued to die down due to several mages working to bring it to a halt until now it’s barely a bother. Most of the mages have already canceled the protective barriers they used to ward off the storm. “They’ve entered Baerustin.” At that the mage nods his head.
“Set up patrols through the ruins in case they somehow manage to make it out,” the High Lord Magus says. Glancing at the hole he says, “Though I doubt that they will.”
Stopping several yards from the entrance of the room they just left, Jiron eases James to the floor of the hallway. Moving back to the doorway, he glances back up to the hole in the ceiling.
“Are they coming?” James’ whisper comes to him.
Turning his head back, he replies, “No. There’s one looking through the opening but it doesn’t appear that they mean to follow.” He remains there watching for several more minutes before returning to James’ side.
Jiron takes notice of the way James is favoring his right wrist. “You okay?” he asks with a nod to the wrist.
He holds it out a little bit and flexes each of the fingers. Though he grits his teeth in pain, he at least is able to move them which indicates it’s not broken. “I think I sprained it when we landed,” he says.
“Sorry about that,” Jiron apologizes.
“Hey, don’t apologize,” James tells him. “That was good thinking. We wouldn’t have survived up there much longer.”
Jiron settles down to the floor against the wall opposite James. Sitting there across from each other in the light of the orb, their situation looks pretty hopeless.
“Any ideas?” asks Jiron after several minutes of silence.
Shaking his head, he says, “Not really. We’re in a hole in the ground with at least fifty mages who collectively can kick my butt.”
“At least we’re alive,” asserts Jiron. “Until we are dead, there is hope.”
“I like your attitude,” agrees James with a grin.
Jiron returns to his feet and says, “You stay here and rest while I have a look around.”
“Alright,” James says. Before Jiron begins moving away, another orb blossoms to life and he hands it to him. “You might need this.”
Taking the orb, Jiron says, “Thanks. Be right back.” Then with a grin he adds, “Don’t go anywhere.”
James chuckles at that then leans his head back against the wall and closes his eyes.
Again checking to be sure no one is coming through the opening in the ceiling of the adjoining room, he moves back past James then heads down the hallway. The first door he comes to opens readily and he has to jump back fast as dirt spills out into the hallway. By the time it stops, the hallway is practically choked with sand. He curses as he works his way past the newly created obstruction.
Once past, he continues down the hallway and doesn’t travel far before the light from the orb reveals an open doorway on his right. He slows as he approaches it and comes to a stop. Peering through the doorway, he finds a small room no more than thirty feet by twenty. The walls and ceiling are still intact and the room is free of sand. He steps within the room and the light from the orb reveals the room is bare. Making a quick inspection, he finds no other way out but the doorway he just passed through.
Returning to the hallway, he continues down still further. Ten feet or so from the previous room, sand again appears in the hallway. A light dusting at first but the amount grows steadily the further he progresses. Suddenly the level of the sand rises dramatically just before another doorway appears on his left. As he draws close to the doorway, he discovers the hallway ends ten feet further down. The building must have collapsed at some time or the ceiling caved in for the hallway is blocked by sand.
The doorway is choked with a great deal of sand as well but checking with the orb, the room on the other
