Not stopping, the blows keep coming, and as unbelievable as it sounds, they're increasing in speed. He gasps when he sees twin fires in Miko's eyes, flames of unholy light. Light that is familiar somehow.

Then suddenly, he recognizes the truth. The Fire! It's no longer hidden and is in the hands of this infidel. Once he realizes that, he understands that he cannot win this battle. But there is one more act he must perform for his G.o.d before the end comes.

He disengages from the battle and sees Miko's sword slow down as he moves backward. Readying himself, he watches as Miko approaches, sword ready to resume the battle.

From the sidelines, James watches as Abula-Mazki takes a few quick steps backward and comes to a stop. The p.r.i.c.kling suddenly begins to intensify and he knows the warrior priest is about to cast a spell of mammoth proportions. He readies the magic to counter whatever he may try to do.

Suddenly, a psychic cry of tremendous power rips through his head like a knife. The Fire walks with the Star! The Fire walks with the Star!

Everyone around him suddenly cries out from the pain of it as they each grip their head in an attempt to ease the pain.

Through eyes blinded with tears of pain, James looks to the combatants and watches as Miko strikes out at Abula-Mazki who, caught up in the spell, fails to defend himself. His sword strikes him through the chest and the psychic cry is abruptly silenced.

Miko pulls out the sword and hacks his sword arm off before following through with a slice that severs his head from his neck.

When the psychic cry stops, so does the pain it caused. James looks up in time to see Abula-Mazki's head strike the ground. He hears a cheer from Hinney and Keril as they begin running over to congratulate Miko. "Stop!" he orders commandingly.

They both stop and turn to look at him. "Don't go near him yet," he tells them. Moving past them, he brings himself near to where Miko is standing motionless. He walks around until he's standing face to face with him.

"Miko?" he asks as he gazes into his eyes. He can see more changes the Fire had wrought. All signs of Miko's childhood are gone. What stands before him is a man in his early twenties at least. "Miko?" he asks again, in a soothing voice. "It's James."

James can see the fires burning in his eyes, and for the first time, he's worried his friend may not come out of it. "Miko, come back to me," he says as he reaches his hand out.

Then his eyes take notice of him there and his sword moves to a guard position. James backs up a step and holds his hands up, showing he's not armed. The fires burn as the eyes come to rest upon him.

Pointing to a sack lying in the pile that had been removed from Miko, James yells to Jiron, "Toss me the sack!"

Not sure at first what he is talking about, Jiron looks down and then understanding comes. Picking it up, he throws it to James who catches it.

"Would you like some tarts?" James asks as he pulls one from the sack, holding it up for Miko to see.

Miko's expression changes subtly and the fires begin to diminish. "Tarts?" he says in a far away voice.

"Yeah," James says, lowering his arm. "Here, have one." He watches some sort of internal struggle taking place within Miko. Suddenly, the fires in his eyes go out and he knows that it's his friend who's now looking out at him.

"Oh, James," he says and takes a step forward before collapsing to the ground.

He moves quickly to catch him before he hits the ground. Laying him down, he waves the others to come join him.

Upon reaching them, Illan says, "James, we got problems."

Looking up at him from where he kneels next to Miko, James asks, "What?"

Pointing to the pa.s.s, he says, "Look."

Turning his attention to the pa.s.s, James sees the clan chiefs have returned and mounted their horses. One of the riders with them brings a horn to his lips and two loud notes sound. Answering horns come from all sides as the riders who had waited patiently at a distance during the fight now begin moving toward them in a decidedly hostile manner. Hundreds of riders are quickly closing the gap, swords are being drawn and bows readied.

James grabs Jiron's arm, causing him to look at him. "You know what I must do?"

Jiron nods his head and gathers the others around while James prepares to defend them. "Form a circle around James, let nothing get close to him that may disrupt his concentration," he tells them. Once he sees that they understand, he continues, "We may yet live through this."

"Arrows!" hollers Fifer as over fifty archers release their deadly a.r.s.enal.

"Shields!" Illan hollers and those with shields raise them to protect James. The others hide behind them as best they can. They watch as the arrows arc in the air as they begin to descend toward them. Then suddenly, they bounce off a barrier that surrounds them.

"What happened?" asks Keril.

"James," replies Jiron. "That's what happened."

They still remain behind their shields as the deadly rain continues to fall, harmlessly bouncing off the invisible shield.

The sky begins to darken as clouds move rapidly from all directions to merge together in the sky above. Those guarding James look nervously out at the rapidly changing sky, Illan calls out to them, "Stand fast!"

The front line of riders comes crashing into the barrier that had so successfully stopped the rain of arrows. Horses and men cry out as they strike it hard, bones of some can be heard snapping. One man is actually thrown upward from his horse and lands on the barrier itself. The defenders inside watch as he slowly slides down the outer side to the ground.

Hinney cries out when a dozen translucent orbs suddenly appear among them.

"Don't worry," Jiron a.s.sures him. "James has lots of tricks."

The orbs begin floating away from them in various directions. When they reach the barrier, they pa.s.s harmlessly through. The riders beating upon the barrier step back as the orbs float harmlessly past them before resuming their attempt to breach the barrier.

"What are those?" Yern asks.

"Something nasty for them," replies Jiron. "You can be sure of that."

The riders have stopped the hail of arrows when they realize how ineffective they are. The wounded from when the charge hit the barrier are being taken away and the mood among the riders is beginning to become one of unease.

In the sky above them, the cloud cover is now dark and the wind has begun to blow in earnest. Suddenly, a flash of lightning strikes one of the translucent orbs, blasting over a dozen riders that happen to be near.

ZZZT! Wham!

Another bolt of lightning strikes an orb, and more riders are thrown from the force of the explosion.

"That was bigger than the last one!" Uther exclaims.

"Look!" Jorry says as he points to one of the orbs. "They're getting bigger!"

Jiron glances to James and sees he's beginning to pant and sweat is pouring down his face. Shouting loud enough for all the defenders to hear him, he hollers, "Should James lose consciousness, the barrier will fall. Then it will be up to us to finish this."

"Bring it on!" Jorry hollers from where he stands shoulder to shoulder with Uther.

ZZZT! Wham! ZZZT! Wham! ZZZT! Wham!

Bolts begin striking orbs with more frequency and more riders are thrown only to fall lifeless to the ground.

Once the last orb has been struck, it becomes eerily quiet. The riders outside the barrier pause in what they're doing as they take notice of the quiet.

"Illan!" Fifer yells as he points to James.

James is tilting to the side and looks like he's barely able to remain upright. "Help him!" Illan commands and Fifer goes over and helps support him so he won't fall over. To the others, Illan says, "It won't be long! Be ready!"

From the clouds above, a swirling ma.s.s begins descending toward the riders outside the barrier. "What in G.o.d's name is that?" Uther cries out.

"A tornado!" Jiron replies, remembering the ones James used in their escape from Al-Kur.

The swirling ma.s.s of clouds smashes into the ground not far from them, riders and horses caught within it are thrown and broken. It starts moving toward the pa.s.s and the chiefs waiting there.

A cry escapes James as the tornado splits in two, the second half moving quickly in the opposite direction toward a large congregation of riders.

The chiefs see the tornado coming toward them and turn as they begin riding fast further up into the pa.s.s, trying to outrun the approaching swirling ma.s.s of death.

"How is he?" Jiron shouts to Fifer.

"Not good!" he tells him. "His heart's beating fast and he's having trouble breathing."

Jiron comes over and kneels down next to him and says, "James! You've done enough!" When it doesn't look like he's getting through to him, he shakes him and hollers, "James! You can stop!"

Eyes suddenly pop open and a great cry of pain escapes him. Then he suddenly collapses into unconsciousness.

The barrier collapses and the tornadoes begin to dissipate. "Alright boys!" Illan hollers. "Stay together and protect James and Miko."

When the wind dies down and the tornadoes are gone, they take in the destruction James has wrought. Hundreds of men and horses lie dead or dying all around them. On the outskirts of the devastation, over twenty hors.e.m.e.n can be seen still on their horses. They're all that remain of the host which accompanied Abula-Mazki.

A horn from the pa.s.s announces the return of the chiefs and their men. They pause there momentarily as the horn blasts again. "Here they come!" Illan says to the others as both the riders in the pa.s.s and the ones on the outskirts break into a gallop as they move in to attack.

Two archers remain and they begin firing off arrows but none strike their marks. One manages to hit the ground within a foot of Miko, the other was deflected off Uther's shield.

"Strike the horses if you can't get the men!" Illan tells them as they brace for the attack. "Remain together!"

Jiron positions himself over James and Miko while the others form a circle around them. Knife at the ready in his good hand, he stands firm as he watches the riders thunder closer.

The area around where the barrier had been is littered with the dead and provides them some cover. Also, the charging riders have to slow when they reach it to prevent their horses from stumbling.

Illan and the others move to attack while the riders are trying to move through the dead bodies. "For Madoc!" the battle cry can be heard as Uther's sword takes out the first rider.

Other cries are heard as the battle is joined. Hinney and Keril stand shoulder to shoulder as they manage to hold their own against three riders.

One horseless rider manages to break through the ring of defenders and runs toward where Jiron is waiting. A smile crosses the rider's face when he sees a man with only one good arm and just wielding a dagger at that.

Striking out at Jiron with his sword, the man so sure of victory, is surprised when Jiron easily deflects it to the side. Suddenly crying out in pain, the man falls to the ground after Jiron breaks his knee with a well placed kick. Trying to block Jiron's next attack, he swings his sword wildly.

Jiron strikes out with his foot again and connects with the man's groin. Then with his other foot he kicks the man's swordarm, causing the sword to go flying. He then moves in with his knife and finishes him.

Standing up, he looks around at the battles going on around him. The defenders are taking a toll, especially Jorry and Uther who have a ring of bodies around them. Fifer has two dead while Illan and Yern have accounted for seven.

Keril suddenly cries out as a sword takes him in the side. Hinney quickly engages the rider as his friend falls to the ground. Other riders come and join the one fighting Hinney, Jiron knows he's not going to last long.

Suddenly, to the south, more horns can be heard. Jiron looks and sees dozens of riders riding fast toward them. d.a.m.n! More reinforcements! d.a.m.n! More reinforcements!

The horns sound again and an answering horn can be heard coming from the pa.s.s. The riders engaging the defenders suddenly break off and race to their awaiting horses. Leaping atop them, they join the riders coming fast from the pa.s.s.

Jiron can see the clan chiefs giving them an ugly look that says this isn't over before they race off to the west. The large group of riders coming from the south breaks into two groups, the larger of the two turn to follow the clan chiefs. The smaller group approaches the scene of the battle.

"They're ours," says Illan when he can make them out. "Everyone alive?" he asks as he quickly takes stock of the situation. Coming over to where Hinney sits with Keril, he realizes Keril isn't going to survive much longer. He kneels down as Keril turns his pain filled eyes to him.

"Did we win?" Keril asks.

"Yes, son," Illan says to him soothingly, "we did. You fought bravely which saved the day."

A smile spreads across his face.

When Hinney looks up at him, hope in his eyes, he shakes his head.

Illan gets back up, pats Hinney on the shoulder and goes over to see how James and Miko are doing, leaving him alone to share Keril's last moments in peace.

Jiron sees him approaching and says, "They're alive. Not sure if they will make it, though. James isn't doing too well and Miko, well, I can't even begin to guess about him. He doesn't respond, though he only has minor cuts and bruises."

"Keep an eye on them," he says as he moves to greet the approaching riders, Jorry and Uther join him. He notices Uther has a blood soaked cloth tied around his arm and arcs an eyebrow in question.

"It's not bad," Uther tells him. "Just a minor cut."

Nodding, Illan turns back to the riders. Once they've come close, he holds up his hand and says, "Thank you."

The officer in charge says to his men, "Fan out and see if there're any left alive." As they move to comply, he gets down from his horse and greets Illan. "What the h.e.l.l happened here?" The insignia on his uniform says he's a Madoc cavalry captain.

"We were set upon as we were about to enter the pa.s.s," Illan explains.

The officer gazes around at the hundreds of dead scattered about and the holes where the explosions had occurred. Then he turns his attention to Illan and his group. "You all there are?" he asks incredulously.

"Yes," he replies.

"How did you manage to kill all these and only lose three?" he asks.

"Actually, we only lost one," he tells him. Indicating James and Miko, he adds, "The other two are just unconscious."

"I see," the officer says. He holds out his hand and says, "Name's Captain Herril."

Taking the hand, Illan says, "Illan."

"Now, how did you do it?" he asks.

"Can't really explain it," he says. Changing the subject, he asks, "How did you come to be here?"

"Yesterday, the Empire's forces launched a major offensive against our line," he says. "This group here was seen to pa.s.s by while we were engaged with the others. Once reinforcements arrived and the line stabilized again, I was sent to track them down."

"Fortunate," Illan comments.

"Yes, it seems so," Captain Herril says. "You wouldn't know anything about why they're here would you?"