“What are you doing here?” Delia asks as she joins them.
“What?” asks James.
“Not you,” she replies and then points to Jiron, “him.”
James arcs an eyebrow at him and grins. He knows what she’s talking about.
“That poor girl is sitting there all alone and here you are,” she says accusingly. Turning her head, she draws Jiron’s gaze over to where Aleya sits by herself. Her head turns briefly in their direction when she takes notice looking her way, then returns to her plate of food.
“If you don’t get over there right this very minute I’m going to send Scar and Potbelly over there to keep her company,” she tells him.
“Don’t do that,” he says as he gets to his feet. “She already has enough problems without adding them to it.” With a nod to James, he leaves them and makes his way over to her.
Delia sighs after he leaves them and sits in the spot he just vacated. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with that boy!” Glancing over her shoulder, she sees Jiron has taken a seat next to her and is engaging her in conversation.
James can see the smile playing across her lips as she turns back to him. “Some of us take more effort than others,” he says.
“You got that right,” she replies. “But I think Jiron is heading in the right direction. At least he wants to do right.”
“That he does,” he agrees.
Just then he sees Devin approaching. “I laid out your things over there,” he says, pointing to an area near the center of the encampment.
“Thanks,” James replies.
Nodding his head, he excuses himself and then makes his way over to join the rest of the recruits at their meal.
He and Delia sit there and talk about inconsequential things as the light continues to fade. Before it becomes too dark, they each say goodnight and make their way to their respective bedrolls.
As James lies down upon his he thinks about what’s going to happen tomorrow and prays he thought of everything. Laying his head back, he gazes up at the stars beginning to appear in the sky above and lets his mind wander. He knows part of the reason for tackling Korazan tomorrow is in retribution for the slavers’ role in the death of his best friend Dave. The other part is simply that slavery is an evil blight upon the world and one which should be every good man’s duty to hinder and stop.
It takes awhile, but he’s able to finally subdue the thoughts running through his mind and fall asleep.
Sitting up in the dark, he looks around, unsure of what woke him. The night is peaceful, the stars overhead giving some light with which to see. Making a quick survey of the sleeping forms around him, he realizes that he is the only one awake except for the shadow of a sentry walking the perimeter. All is as it should be but here he sits, wide awake and all traces of sleep gone which is unusual.
A soft breeze blows across the slumbering forms, ruffling his hair with a gentle caress. Taking another look around, he still fails to discover anything out of the ordinary so settles back down to sleep. That’s when he notices a light emerging from an old tear in the front of his tunic. The sight of the light sends a shiver down his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Grabbing the chain holding the medallion bearing the Star of Morcyth, he pulls it out of his shirt. Light bathes the immediate area as it clears his collar. This is not good! He gets to his feet and holds aloft the medallion, turning full circle as he gazes around the camp. Light only comes from the medallion in certain circumstances, so far all of which have been bad.
Continuing to cast quick glances around the camp, he quickly moves over to where Miko lays. Kneeling down beside him, he lays a hand upon his breast and shakes him. “Miko!” he whispers urgently.
“Wha…?” Miko asks groggily until he sees the light coming from the medallion. Snapping awake, he turns his eyes on James.
“I don’t know,” he replies. He’s about to say something else when Miko suddenly grabs him and rolls to the side.
“Attack!” he yells as he rolls with James quickly. When he comes to a stop, James is behind him and the Star of Morcyth is in his hand. “Up! We’re under attack!” Holding the Star high, he gets to his feet as the Light seems to enfold the shadow.
James looks around him and sees a shadow being held at bay by the light coming from the Star. Suddenly, green light flares from the side as Brother Willim and the Hand summon their power. “James!” Brother Willim shouts, “Behind you!”
Turning, he finds another shadow almost upon him. Holding up the medallion before him, he bathes the shadow in its glow. Not nearly as effective as the Star, it slows the creature but doesn’t halt its progress. He sees one of Ceadric’s Raiders charge it with a sword. “Stop!” he calls to the man but the man pays him no heed. Striking out with his sword, the man attacks the shadow. When the sword comes into contact with it, the man spasms violently before falling to the ground where he lies still.
“Together!” Brother Willim orders the rest of the Hand as a greenish glow surrounds the shadow before him. Stopping in its tracks, the shadow begins to shrink in on itself as the glow surrounding it becomes more pronounced.
Lights spring up around the camp as men quickly light lanterns and torches. “Ceadric!” shouts Illan as he quickly gets over his shock.
“Sir!” replies Ceadric.
“Send out men and see if an attack is imminent,” he orders.
“Yes, sir!” he replies. Grabbing several men standing nearby, he begins organizing scouting parties.
The shadow before Miko also begins to shrink as the light from the Star intensifies. A ring of onlookers surrounds them as Miko and the Hand battle the shadows, both are now half their original size. For a moment the shrinking halts then all of a sudden, they wink out. As they disappear, so too does the light from the Star and the medallion. The greenish glow surrounding the Hand remains as they keep vigilant.
A blazing orb springs into life above them bathing the entire area with light. A quick look reveals no other shadows in the area. The light also reveals two lines of dead bodies, each line the path taken by one of the shadows. In their passing, they killed all they touched.
“You okay?” Illan asks as he comes to James’ side.
“I think so,” he says. “If it weren’t for Miko’s quick thinking, they may have had me.”
Illan casts a quick glance to Miko and says, “Good job.”
“Thank you,” he replies as he begins moving toward the body of the Raider who fell when he attacked the shadow. The light from the Star flares briefly but winks out a moment later. Getting up, Miko looks to them and shakes his head, then begins moving to the nearest of the unmoving men on the ground on the off chance he can still be of help.
“This wasn’t an attack on us,” Jiron says.
“No,” agrees Illan, “it wasn’t.”
The two lines of dead bodies lie in an almost straight line from the edge of the encampment. It’s quite obvious that they knew who they were after and where he was.
“From this point on,” Illan says, “you have a guard near you while you sleep.”
“My brethren and I will be honored to have that duty,” Brother Willim says.
Illan gives him a nod just as Ceadric returns.
“No one else is out there,” he reports.
“Keep the men out,” he tells him. “I want a revolving pattern around the camp in case more are on the way.”
“What should the men do if they encounter one?” Ceadric asks.
They look to James who says, “Call for help and stay away. They are helpless where these shadows are concerned.”
Nodding, Ceadric turns to begin carrying out his orders.
To the rest of the camp Illan hollers out, “Get back to sleep. It’s over.” When the men begin returning to their bedrolls he glances to the orb shining overhead and says to James, “Don’t need that anymore.”
Canceling the spell, the orb winks out. Light from dozens of lanterns continue to illuminate the area. “Weren’t those things the same as we saw in Willimet?” Jiron asks.