Reaching into his shirt, he pulls out the medallion and holds it up. “Morcyth! Lend me your aid!”
Just then the tingling sensation spikes again and a beam of light flares from the medallion. Shooting forth, it impacts with the Star and the spell the mage was about to cast fails to materialize. Keeping the medallion before him, the beam of light remains constant as it goes from the medallion to the Star.
The mage cries out as a glow erupts from the Star in his hand and then begins coursing down his arm. A scream of pain is torn from his throat as the glow continues to advance down his arm and to his torso, just as the darkness had moved down Dave’s.
In seconds the mage’s entire body is engulfed in the glow. One final scream, a blinding flash and the glow disappears. The Star falls to the ground. Nothing of the mage remains, no clothes or anything. It’s almost as if he vanished.
Getting to his feet, James shuffles over to where the Star lays in the street, making sure to keep his distance. He doesn’t want to suffer the same fate as Dave. “Miko!” he cries out when he remembers him being thrown into the burning building. Glancing in that direction, he sees the building suddenly collapse, the fire having destroyed its load bearing beams.
“Miko!” he cries. Leaving the Star where it lays, he moves as best he can toward the raging inferno. Suddenly from around the building, he sees Qyrll emerge with Miko. Hair singed off in two places and covered in soot, he has an arm around Qyrll’s shoulder for support and gives James a grin when he sees him standing there.
“Is it over?” he asks.
“Looks like it,” James replies.
“James!” Jiron yells.
He turns to see him there by Fifer. They make their way over to them and he asks, “Is he alive?”
Nodding, he replies, “Yes, but not much longer.” He looks pleadingly at James.
He knows what he’s going to ask but this is something he dares not mess with. Jiron can see the denial in his eyes and grows crestfallen.
“The Star could save him,” Miko suddenly announces.
“What?” Jiron asks.
“The Star,” he repeats. “It comes from the gods, it should be able to.”
Hope rekindled, Jiron looks to James. But James shakes his head, “I dare not touch it.”
“But…” he begins then once more becomes quiet. Perking up again, he glances to Miko. “You can do it!”
“Me?” he asks incredulously. “Are you crazy?”
“You’ve held one of these before,” Jiron says. “If any of us can make it work, it’s you.”
He glances to James who shrugs, “I don’t know. If we do nothing, Fifer will die. Healing comes from the gods, at least I think it does. Here on this world anyway. I can’t touch it so another must try and Jiron’s right in that of everyone here, you have the best chance of making it work.”
“But what if it kills me like it did with your friend Dave?” He glances down the street to where the Star sits in the dirt.
“It won’t,” replies James. “Of that I’m positive.”
Just then Fifer gives out with a groan and his chest stops moving. Getting up, James says, “Move!” to Jiron as he makes it to Fifer’s side. Hoping he’s doing it right, he begins CPR. A series of presses upon the breastbone and then breathe air into his lungs. After breathing into his mouth the first time, he starts pumping his chest again and looks to Miko.
Miko returns the gaze and nods. Getting up, he hurries over to the Star. Before he reaches it he slows down, fear making him hesitate. “Hurry!” he hears Jiron holler. Heart beating fast, he takes the last few steps and then reaches down. His fingers hesitate a moment before grasping the Star.
Frozen in place, he waits for death to take him but nothing happens. Sighing in relief, he turns around and hurries back to Fifer. “What do I do?” he asks as he kneels next to him.
“Grasp the Star, pray that he will live and that his wound will heal,” James says. “Be sure to invoke Morcyth’s name.” Bending over, he grabs Fifer’s nose as he breathes air once more into his lungs.
Taking the Star in both hands, he glances around at the others then closes his eyes. In his mind, he beseeches Morcyth to come to the aid of his friend, to return his life and heal his wound.
The others watch as he sits quietly with eyes closed. His lips move silently as he prays for Fifer to live. A gasp from Qyrll brings James’ attention to Miko and he stops what he’s doing when he sees a shining nimbus surrounding him.
He can feel the magic from the Star, different than that which he feels when mages summon it. The glow from the Star envelopes Fifer and they all move back as they watch what happens.
For a full minute, Miko and Fifer are surrounded by the glow. Finally Fifer’s chest begins to rise and fall as he starts to breathe on his own. The wound where his leg was severed begins to close as new skin forms over the wound.
Fifer’s eyes flutter open and the glow dissipates.
“You did it!” Jiron says excitedly. To Fifer he asks, “How do you feel?”
“Tired,” he replies softly.
“You go ahead and rest then,” Jiron tells him and he closes his eyes again.
Miko glances from one to the other. “You okay?” James asks him.
“I…I think so,” he says. “I feel good.” The patches of singed hair on his head are as new, as are the other scrapes and injuries he had before healing Fifer. The Star healed him too.
James smiles at him and then grimaces as the pain begins throbbing again from where the bolt is sticking out of his thigh. Jiron comes over and asks, “Should we have Miko fix you too?”
Shaking his head, he says, “I wouldn’t use that” pointing to the Star, “unless it was a matter of life or death.”
“It’s got to come out,” Jiron tells him.
“I know. Best do it now.”
“Qyrll, give me a hand,” he says.
The Parvati comes over and braces the leg while Jiron gets into position. “Ready?” he asks.
“No, but go ahead,” James tells him, gritting his teeth in anticipation of the pain to come.
Jiron grasps the bolt and after a quick glance to Qyrll, pulls it out which elicits a cry from James. Blood starts to flow and he tears off a strip from his shirt to pack the wound. Then he tears off more to tie it securely.
Around them, the old buildings continue to burn. The wind whips the fire from one to another as more and more become engulfed. “We better move,” James says as the smoke begins to thicken.
Qyrll lifts Fifer from the ground and Miko, after placing the Star within his pouch, does his best to help both James and Jiron to follow.
They find a building still in good shape away from the consuming inferno and one unlikely to be in the fire’s path. They bring in wood for a fire and decide to wait until Uther and Jorry show up before returning to The Ranch. While James waits for their arrival, he amuses himself by watching those passing through Ironhold as they take in the damage. He can just imagine the wild stories that are going to be circulating about this latest unexplained incident, a third of Ironhold has fallen to the fire.
The morning of the third day since their return to Ironhold, Fifer is doing much better though James and Jiron still are unable to get around very well. Miko seems his same old self, at least having the Star in his possession shouldn’t bring about negative consequences such as the Fire had. James wonders what effect having been exposed to two focal points will be to his friend.
Near noon, horses can be heard approaching and before they make it to the door to see who it is, Jorry’s voice can be heard. “…had to be here. He’s the only one who could level a town this effectively.”
“Well, maybe,” replies Uther. “But remember that time when we went…” He cuts off just as James comes walking out the door, using a long stick as a crutch. “Thought you might be around,” he says as he glances around at the devastation.
“Just waiting on you guys to show,” he says.
“Everything taken care of?” Jorry asks.