Free Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two by Brian S. Pratt Page A

it may, this changes things.”
    “How?”
    The man looks to James but doesn’t answer.
He leaves the room and James can hear him mumble to himself as he
leaves, “Yes, this definitely changes things…”
    The soldier with the crossbow closes his
cell door and James is left alone to ponder what he just heard. Why does having that amulet change things? That amulet must mean
something special, even ol’ One Eye was extra curious about it. Unable to come up with any idea that makes sense, he just sits on
the floor with his back against the wall and thinks of his
options.
    The hallway door opens and then closes as
the officer leaves the cell area. Jiron whispers, “James, the guard
left with him. What are we going to do?”
    “I don’t know,” he replies. “It’s not too
long until dark, we better wait until then. Can you pick the
lock?”
    “No, they took my lock picks when they
searched me. You?” he asks.
    “Probably,” James responds. “Let me think
about it.”
    “I’m scared!” they hear Cassie cry pitifully
from her cell at the end of the hallway.
    “We all are,” Delia tells her. “Just be
patient, I’m sure we’ll be able to get out of this.”
    “I hope so,” she says, as she once again
starts to cry softly.
    “This was a stupid idea!” Tinok’s voice
rings out. “We should’ve taken ‘em out when we first met them. Now
there’s a whole lot more to deal with.”
    “We couldn’t risk the girls,” Jiron
says.
    “Think they’re any safer now?” he asks
angrily.
    “Shut up!” Delia whispers sternly. “This
isn’t doing us any good!”
    Everyone quiets down after that. James looks
out the little window that overlooks the back alley, but all he can
see is the rear of the building across from him.
    Just then they hear the hallway door open
again and the chair creaks as the guard retakes his position again
at the end of the hallway.
    They sit there for another hour in silence,
each occupied with their own thoughts. James sits by the window and
listens to the goings on outside, but aside from the sounds of the
occasional horse going by the front of the building, or
conversations in the Empire’s language, he fails to hear anything
useful. He contemplates several means where magic could facilitate
their escape and plans several contingencies.
    Outside, the sun begins to go down and the
light slowly starts to fade. Suddenly, the door at the end of the
hallway opens and two soldiers come in and begin talking to the
guard. They exchange words for several minutes, then James can hear
them chuckling. The two men begin to make their way down to the end
of the hallway and stop outside of Cassie’s door.
    He hears a click and then a squeal of rusty
hinges as they open her cell door. He hears them saying something
to her in their language, and then suddenly a cry from Cassie.
    “What’s happening?” Jiron asks.
    Tinok, who’s in the cell across from her,
says, “They’re going to rape her!”
    “Jiron, Tinok, go help her,” James says as
he releases the magic. Everyone hears an audible click as their
doors unlock.
    Without any thought but to help her, Jiron
and Tinok burst out of their cells and rush into hers. James comes
out and turns to the shocked guard at the end of the hallway.
Loosing the power, James slams the man against the wall, knocking
him out.
    He rushes down to Cassie’s cell and finds
the two soldiers dead on the ground, with Delia helping Cassie to
her feet. Jiron and Tinok are standing over the dead men, with the
dead men’s knives in their hand, dripping blood.
    As James enters, Jiron says, “Time to
leave?”
    “I would think so,” James replies. They come
out of her cell just as the doorway at the end of the hallway slams
open. The officer strides in to see what the commotion is all
about. He comes to a sudden stop when he sees the guard lying
before him on the floor unconscious. Looking down the hallway, his
eyes widen when he sees their cell doors open and