when Jiron hollers to him, “Help James!”
He turns and sees him there barely holding onto the barriers encasing the hell hounds. Leaving Brother Willim and Jiron to handle the remaining warrior priest, he makes his way quickly to the nearest hell hound. Holding the Star aloft, Miko envelopes the hell hound in a white glow. Between the glow and the barrier, the creature’s life force within is quickly snuffed out.
With the third barrier no longer needed, James is better able to maintain the remaining two. “Thanks,” he says to Miko.
Miko gives him a nod then moves to the next one where he repeats the process.
Brother Willim and Jiron are still not able to get the better of the warrior priest they are up against. Staff and knives are no match for the skill and speed with which their opponent attacks. Even with the power of his god, Brother Willim has received numerous wounds as he’s unable to keep up with his opponent’s speed.
Jiron tries to help, but he isn’t able to get in close enough with just his knives.
“Miko!” Scar yells urgently from where he and the others are by the horses.
Miko takes his eyes off the hell hound he’s working to destroy and sees the shadow that is even now approaching James. The magic of the Star disappears from around the hell hound as he turns it onto this new threat.
James sees the shadow approaching but there’s nothing he can do. When the glow surrounding the hell hound winks out, it appears again surrounding the shadow. Stopping it in its tracks, the glow begins sucking the life out of the shadow and sending it back to where it came from.
It’s all up to him now. James concentrates on the barrier of the hell hound Miko had all but destroyed and begins to shrink it still further. Despite the resistance he feels from the creature within, he’s able to at last implode it and destroy the creature.
The shadow encased in the glow of the Star begins shrieking as the white glow burns into its blackness. With one final ear piercing scream, it vanishes.
James now works on shrinking the barrier encasing the final hell hound. “Miko!” he hollers. When Miko turns toward him he yells, “We can’t stay. Go help Brother Willim and Jiron.”
Miko gives him a nod and rushes over to them with the light of the Star blazing forth. Drawing his sword, he joins the fray. Brother Willim disengages, his staff becoming still as Miko’s sword begins attacking the warrior priest.
“Jiron,” Brother Willim says, “Miko and I will finish here. Get to the horses.” Then from the corner of his eye he sees the first warrior priest that Miko took out beginning to stir. “Now!”
Jiron too sees the warrior priest beginning to recover. Running, he reaches the horses just as the barrier around the final hell hound implodes completely, destroying the creature. “James,” he yells. “Time to go!”
James nods his head and starts toward where the others are already mounted. Suddenly his legs give way and he falls to the ground. The strain of fighting to control three barriers against the struggle of the hell hounds took all he had. Weak as a kitten, he tries to get back up but his arms are too leathery.
Then Jiron is at his side and helps him to his feet. Scar is there a split second later and together they get him over to the horses. “Are you able to remain in the saddle?” Jiron asks as they reach the side of his horse.
“Yes,” he replies. “Just help me up.”
With Scar’s help, Jiron helps him into the saddle. A bit wobbly but he should be able to maintain his balance enough to get out of here. Tied across the back of another horse he sees the still body of Stig. “Is he alive?” he asks Potbelly.
“Yeah,” Potbelly replies. “But if we don’t get out of here and let Miko take care of him, I’m not sure for how long.”
Brother Willim is suddenly moving past James’ horse toward his own. Looking back at the warrior priest, he sees him entrapped with vines. “That’s not going to hold him long,” Miko says as he appears and mounts his horse.
“Let’s get out of here!” Jiron yells.
Taking the lead, Miko holds aloft the Star to maintain the clearing within the mist. Aleya and Shorty are riding double and Perrilin has the reins of the horse carrying Stig. James hangs on for dear life as Miko leads them back out of the mist. Bringing up the rear are Scar and Potbelly.
Then suddenly Scar cries out as his horse is struck from behind. Another hell hound has appeared and took a massive chunk out of his horse’s rear flank. Jumping clear of the saddle before the horse crashes to the ground, Scar hits the ground, rolls twice and comes up facing the approaching beast with both swords out.
The beast cries out as a shimmering field encases it and stops its forward movement. “Hurry!” yells James. Spots begin to dance before his eyes and he is leaning precariously in the saddle.
Potbelly kicks his horse and gallops back to Scar He reaches down a hand and Scar takes it, swinging up behind him. Kicking his horse, Potbelly races to rejoin the others.
“Alright?” James hollers to him as they come abreast of him.
“Just bruised,” Scar replies.
Then James feels the tell-tale prickling that always accompanies the working of magic. “They’re coming!” he hollers. Unable to spend the time to finish off the hell hound, he simply maintains the barrier as long as possible as he races away with the others.
Sagging over the neck of his horse, it’s all he can do now to simply hang on. If he had the strength he’d tie himself to the saddle, but he doubts if he can do even that little bit. As his horse runs, he begins to notice green shoots growing in the ground they’re racing over. Turning his head to look behind them, he sees brier bushes growing rapidly from the ground. A glance back to the front reveals the green glow around Brother Willim as he spreads seeds upon the ground as he rides.
Unable to hold the barrier any longer, he hopes they have a big enough lead on the hell hound to enable them to get away.
“How much further?” Reilin asks.
“I don’t know,” replies Miko.
From his position at the rear, James continues glancing back into the mist. He prays that they’ll be able to get out and away before the warrior priests or the hell hound can catch up with them.
Then all of a sudden, they’re out of the Mists. From the way the sky is beginning to darken, it has to be just before dark. “Don’t stop!” yells James. Looking back, their pursuers have yet to make an appearance.
The light of the Star fades and finally winks out. Miko no longer needs it to keep back the mist. Riding hard, they race across the ground away from the wall of mist. When no pursuit is forthcoming out of the mist, Jiron has them slow down and then come to a stop.
“Why aren’t they pursuing?” Shorty asks.
“Who cares,” Scar says. Then to Miko he adds, “You better take a look at Stig.”
Miko sees him tied across the back of his horse and says, “Get him down.” As Scar and Potbelly remove him and lay him upon the ground, Miko says to Jiron, “Let me know instantly if anything comes out of the mist.”
“You got it,” he assures him.
Miko then goes over to Stig and with the Star begins working to revive him.
Jiron dismounts and goes over to where James is all but falling out of the saddle. “Here,” he says as he reaches his side. “Let me help you.”
Allowing him to help him down, James is soon sitting on the ground. “Shorty, keep an eye on the mist will you?” he asks.
“Already doing that,” he says. “What are we to do now?”
James looks up to see Perrilin coming over to sit next to him. “I don’t know,” he replies.
Perrilin looks him up and down with a worried look on his face. “You look tired,” he says.
“I am,” James replies. Sighing, he puts his head in his hands and closes his eyes in an attempt to stop the world from spinning.
“Are we to camp here?” Jiron asks.
“I don’t think doing so within sight of the mist is a good idea,” he replies. “It does move you know.”
“We all need a break,” Jiron says. “I wouldn’t push it more than another hour or so.”
“James!” Shorty exclaims as he gets to his feet and looks back the way they came.
They turn and see two figures emerging from within the mist. They stand there a moment, obviously looking
