“We could pass by over there,” Jiron suggests, pointing to an area west of town.
James looks where he’s pointing and sees just a few buildings. The whole area is fairly dark, just some light escaping through several of the windows. Nodding, he says, “Looks like our best bet, let’s go.”
With Jiron in the lead, they stay as close to the sides of the hill as they can. They’re forced to pass close by one of the buildings and as they move past, the door suddenly opens and a man steps out.
The light from within the house illuminates them as they sit there on their horses, frozen in the man’s back yard. They stare at each other a moment when suddenly the man calls out and two dogs begin barking.
James sees two dogs run around the house and head straight for them as the man goes back in the house, shutting the door. He takes a stone from his pocket and throws it at one of the dogs, taking it through the head.
Jiron jumps down from his horse as his knives flash in the moonlight. The dog jumps for him and he twists as his knives strike the dog as it flies past. It falls to the ground and begins whimpering as blood flows from the wound in its side. The dog tries to get up but is unable and soon lies still as its life leaves it.
From the other side of the house, they hear the man running into town, raising the alarm. “That tears it!” exclaims Jiron as he gets back on his horse.
No longer trying to remain quiet, they race toward the north side of town and the road. Lights begin springing up as people fill the street to see what’s going on.
From up ahead of them, they see a dozen soldiers moving to block their escape. Kicking their horses to greater speed, they race to beat them to where the road moves back into the hills.
“They’re going to make it first!” cries out Jiron.
Crumph!
The ground under the running soldiers erupts, tossing them every which way. The few that remain, turn around and run back toward town.
Suddenly, James feels the prickling sensation of someone doing magic. “They’ve got a mage here!” he hollers at the others.
A wall of flame springs into being ten feet in front of them, the heat searing their skin. The horses cry out and come to a quick stop. James hears Miko yell, “James!” Turning to look, he sees Miko’s panicked horse running directly toward town, nothing he does seems to be able to alter its course.
“Miko!” he cries out as he turns to follow. The heat behind him increases and he realizes the wall of flame is moving quickly toward him. He concentrates and the wall begins to decrease in size as it slows in its approach.
Seeing James occupied with the wall of flame, Jiron says to him, “I’ll get Miko!” Without waiting to see if he’s been heard, he turns his horse and races into town.
James finally gets the wall of flame to vanish and he looks around, trying to find the mage. He locates the brown robe off to his right. Taking a stone from his pocket, he launches it at the mage and watches as the stone hits him, blasting out the back.
When the mage falls to the ground, he turns his horse toward town and moves to follow Jiron.
Jiron, upon reaching the edge of the town, is thrown from his horse when a crossbow bolt strikes it, knocking it out from under him. Jumping clear, he rolls and comes to a crouching position as he surveys the area.
Another crossbow bolt strikes the ground near his foot, he looks back along its trajectory and sees the crossbowman pulling the wire back. Without hesitation, Jiron sprints toward the crossbowman to engage him before he can get it ready again.
The crossbowman sees him approaching and throws the crossbow at him as he draws his sword. He thrusts at Jiron who deflects the sword with one knife and then follows through with the other, sinking the blade three inches into the man’s side.
The man falls to the ground and begins coughing up blood as his lungs fill from where Jiron’s knife had punctured them.
With him out of the way, he looks around and tries to see Miko, but can’t see him anywhere. The town is in total chaos, people running everywhere. “Miko!” he hollers, but no reply comes. “Damn!” he curses as he sets off into town on foot to locate him.
James reaches the outskirts just as the prickling sensation starts again. Looking around, he sees another brown robe just as the air between them begins to shimmer and a wave of force knocks him backward off his horse and into the side of the building.
Smashing into it with great force, James has the breath knocked out of him. As he tries to get his breath back, he takes another stone out of his pouch and throws it at the brown robe. Again, the stone smashes through him and the mage falls to ground.
Looking around, he doesn’t see anyone nearby. His horse had been spooked and is now running away out of town. Moving cautiously, he stays against the building and moves further into town. When he sees Jiron’s horse dying in the middle of the street, he momentarily fears for his friend. But when he doesn’t find his body anywhere, figures he’s already moved further into town. The streets are beginning to clear of pedestrians as they begin to realize fighting is going on.
James once more feels the prickling of magic being used. Just how many mages are in this stupid town? Unconsciously, he glances back to where the last mage had fallen, and stops in shock. The mage’s body is no longer there. He’d seen it fall after the stone had blasted a hole right through its chest, so just where is it?
Down the street in front of him, a brown robe stands as bolts of energy are fired toward him. He deflects them by creating a shield and throws one of his last stones toward the mage. The stone blasts through his chest and the mage falls to the ground.
James moves toward the building and pauses next to it as he watches the body of the fallen mage. After several moments, it shimmers and then disappears. An illusion!
He begins to look around, trying to find where the mage actually is. From up the street, a brown robe begins walking toward him. Without pausing, James launches a stone at the brown robe, and again, it falls to the ground dead.
James bends down and picks up a stick from the ground. He casts a seeking spell to find the source of the other mage’s magic and the stick begins to point to the building across from him. Canceling the spell, he searches all the windows before he catches a movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking all the way to the top, he sees a shadow moving upon the roof.
Gotcha! He begins to let the magic flow and directs it to the building the mage is on. Suddenly, cracking and snapping can be heard coming from within it as the support beams begin to break in two. A section of the building collapses and then the whole thing falls in.
A thick cloud of dust rises and a second later he sees the mage stumbling from the rubble, coughing and holding his broken left arm tight to his chest. Letting the magic flow, he strikes out with an energy wave which strikes the mage with great force. He’s propelled back into the wreckage and James can hear more boards break as the mage smashes into them.
Moving toward the collapsed building, James hunts for the mage. A prickling sensation can be felt as the mage begins a spell. James doesn’t wait for it to be completed, he lashes out with waves of force, pummeling the mage.
The prickling wavers and then stops. He creates the orb of light and moves into the rubble. He finds the mage, lying unconscious as blood oozes from her nose and mouth. A woman? Unable to outright kill her, he leaves her where she lies as he makes his way out of the rubble and back onto the street. He cancels his orb so as not to be a beacon in the night for his enemies.
Back on the street which is now empty, he moves further into town to find the others.
Jiron, meanwhile, turns a corner and is knocked down by a running, terrified woman. The woman falls on top of him and begins screaming. She claws at him, leaving red lines along his left forearm before she gets back up to her feet and runs away down the street. He gets back up quickly and looks down the way the woman had come, he can hear the clashing of swords. “Miko!” he cries out as he runs toward the sound.