The next soldier to come through is carrying a shield along with a sword and closes with Jiron. Jiron deflects the thrust of the sword with one knife as the shield comes and crashes into his chest, pushing him back further into the room. The soldier advances on him when all of a sudden one of his legs goes out and he crashes to the floor. Tinok had hamstrung him from behind as the soldier was closing in on Jiron. Jiron presses the soldier as he lies there on the ground, blocking a cut from the sword and avoiding the shield. He gets inside the man's defenses and slits his throat. He looks up to see Tinok battling another one.
"Don't need any help," Jiron says to Tinok with a grin.
"Sorry," Tinok replies, "I'll try not to save your life next time." His knives flash and another soldier falls to the floor.
Suddenly there's a pause as no more soldiers come through the opening. Tinok turns to James and says, "Alright Mr. Mage, you got any ideas?"
James suddenly realizes that he had been watching the fighting, awestruck at the relative ease in which they've been taking out the soldiers and not thinking about the situation at all. Red faced, he begins pondering the situation instead of wool gathering.
Another soldier enters, a veritable giant of a man. Standing easily a head taller than either Jiron or Tinok, covered in armor from head to toe, with a long shield on his left arm, he enters the room and immediately engages Jiron.
The man's sword is enormous and Jiron is unable to get inside his defense. The blows from his sword pack enormous power and when Jiron blocks a slash aimed at his midsection, his knife is knocked out of his hand, leaving it tingling.
Tinok is unable to go to his aid as he is fighting with another soldier, this one of a more regular size but carrying a shield. The soldier begins pushing Tinok back as another soldier enters the room.
James makes his mind up and releases the power. The ground begins to shake and from the passage leading from the room, they can hear a roar as the ceiling of the passage crashes down on those still within it. A cloud of dust fills the room as Tinok and Jiron battle the three soldiers that had made it in before the collapse.
The bull of a man is pressing Jiron, who now only has one knife and is reluctant to close with him. He's trying to stay just out of reach and stall for time, hoping that Tinok can finish with his two and come to his aid.
James scans the room but the only stones he can find to use are the ones near the collapsed passageway, and he is unable to reach them due to the fighting.
He tries to think of some sort of a spell he can use when he sees Jiron fall to the ground and the man raise his sword to finish him off. Cassie screams.
Seeing his chance, he releases the power and the man is picked up and thrown against the wall. Bones can be heard breaking as he connects with it. He slides to the ground, the tapestry that had once hung on the wall, falls with him, covering him as if it's his death shroud.
James looks to Tinok as one of his attackers falls to the ground, the man's tunic under his left arm, now red as his life's blood flows from him. Tinok easily parries a series of attacks from the remaining soldier, before slicing him across the forearm, causing him to drop his sword. He twists and with his other knife, comes in and thrusts between the ribs, piercing his heart.
As the last attacker falls, Tinok turns and looks at Jiron, "You okay?"
"Yeah," he replies, "my arm's a bit numb but it's beginning to get its feeling back. You?"
Shrugging, he says, "Got a couple cuts, but nothing major." He turns to James and says, "Now what? With the passage blocked we got nowhere to go."
"I don't know," he admits, "let me rest a second and we'll see what I can come up with."
They sit down while James considers the options. Jiron walks over to the large man, looking closely at him. "I've never seen someone so big," he says to the rest of the group.
"I thought he had you for a second there," Tinok says. He picks up Jiron's knife from the floor and hands it to him.
"Me too," agrees Jiron as he takes the knife. Turning to James he says, "That was sure some spell you used. Why did you wait so long?"
"I am new to this magic business and as long as you were in close contact with him, I couldn't do it without possibly hurting you as well."
Nodding, Jiron glances back at the giant. Then his eye catches something on the wall, behind where the tapestry had hung. "Look at this!" he says, waving everyone over.
On the wall is an indentation in the form of the Star of Morcyth. When James sees it, he unconsciously grabs the medallion through his shirt.
"Wonder what it is?" Cassie asks.
"I don't know," admits Jiron. "Strange how we never noticed it before."
"It's the Star of Morcyth," James explains.
They all turn toward him and Delia asks, "The star of what?"
"The Star of Morcyth," repeats James. He reaches in and takes out the medallion, showing it to them. Looking around as if for the first time, he says, "And this must be part of the High Temple of Morcyth that was destroyed centuries ago."
He removes the medallion from around his neck and goes over to the wall, placing it within the indentation. It's a perfect fit.
From behind them, they hear the sound of stone scraping on stone. Turning around, they are surprised to discover a section of the floor sliding over to reveal a staircase leading down.
"I'll be damned," Tinok says.
"Maybe it's a way out," suggests Cassie.
"Don't know," says James as his glowing orb appears in his hand. "But there's only one way to find out." He goes over and begins to descend the steps.
The rest glance at each other and then follow him down.
Chapter Two.
Fourteen steps take them down to a hallway that runs for a hundred feet before ending at a door. James can see another indentation, similar to the one found in the room above them, carved into the door. Taking the medallion, he places the face of it within the indentation and the door begins to silently swing open.
The first thing they notice when the door swings open is a four foot high white marble pedestal standing in the center of the room. Centered on top of it is a small, raised platform which looks to be made entirely of crystal.
James is the first to enter the room and a soft light springs to life, growing until it illuminates every corner. It seems to come from the very walls themselves. The room is octagonal in shape, with no discernible exit except the doorway he just passed through. The walls are unadorned, just plain ordinary stone, the floor is simply dirt. The only thing of interest in the room is the pedestal.
"James," Delia asks as she crosses into the room after him, "just what is this place?"
"I don't know," he replies. "I've never been here before."
When Cassie enters the room, she goes over and comes close to the pedestal, looking closely at the crystal platform on top of it. She runs a finger over it and says, "Remarkable."
"What?" Jiron asks as he comes over to her.
"Oh, just never saw such a large piece of solid crystal before," she replies, still fascinated by it.
Jiron turns to James and asks, "Do you think there may be another way out of here?"
Shrugging his shoulders, he says, "Maybe, after all the High Priest would have wanted a way to get out in emergencies." He starts to examine the walls and floor. Remembering the last time back in Merchant's Pass, the ceiling as well, but to no avail.
"It looks like something at one time rested upon this platform," she announces.
They all come over and she explains. "Here in the middle," she indicates the center of the crystal platform, "it looks as if something could have rested in there."
James closely inspects it and can see a place where something might have at one time rested upon it. There's an open space within its center in the shape of an inverted pyramid. "Wonder what it could have been," he wonders. Pressing down on the platform, he halfway expected something to happen and is disappointed when nothing does.
He turns away from the pedestal and once more resumes the search for a hidden door.
"What are we looking for?" Delia asks.
"Something that will trigger a release and open a secret door," explains James. "Of course, there's no guarantee that there will be one."
Cassie, still intrigued by the crystal platform, tries to lift it up and it easily lifts off the pedestal. "Look!" she cries excitedly.
Everyone turns at her cry and sees her there with the crystal platform in her hand. James rushes over and looks where the platform once rested. There again is the indentation in the shape of the Star of Morcyth. Removing his medallion once more, he sets the face of it within the indentation.
The pedestal begins to sink silently into the floor, while at the same time a section of the walls across the room from where they entered, begins to rise up into the ceiling. The opening reveals a crudely formed tunnel leading away into darkness.
To Cassie, James says, "Replace the platform." To everyone else he says, "Let's hurry, no way to know if it will close again on its own."
They all hurry toward the tunnel and when Cassie replaces the platform, the section of the wall begins to slide once more back down toward the floor as the pedestal begins rising. She runs quickly to get to the passageway before it closes completely and has to duck her head in order to clear it as she passes through.
Once the wall closes, leaving them in total darkness, James makes his glowing orb which gives them ample light to see their way down the passageway. Taking the lead, he follows it for several hundred feet, until it comes to an end. An old wooden ladder is there, leading up out of sight, into the darkness above.
Jiron says, "Let me check it out," as he elbows James aside and climbs the ladder. He disappears into the darkness above while everyone waits at the bottom of the ladder for his return. A minute passes and then from above they hear him say, "Come on up, it's safe."
James begins to climb the steps of the ladder, with the girls following and Tinok bringing up the rear. Upon reaching the top, James finds that they are now in another deserted basement. He looks around as the rest make their way up, and sees Jiron over at a door fiddling with the lock.
Coming over to him, he says, "Locked?"
Without halting what he is doing, Jiron says, "Yeah, but I should have it open in a sec."
James sees him using two small, thin, metal tools on the lock. Just after everyone gets up from the tunnel below, he hears a 'click', and Jiron opens the door as he turns to James with a satisfied smile on his face.
"Good job," congratulates James.
"Thanks," he replies. Opening the door, Jiron steps through, followed closely by James.
On the other side, they find themselves in a small, deserted alley, wedged in tightly between two buildings. "Do you know where we are?" James asks him.
"I think so," replies Jiron. "If I'm right, it isn't far to where we can get out of the city."
"I hope you're right," James says as he follows him down the alley.
Following the alley, they soon come to where it opens upon another, slightly larger one. Jiron holds up his hand for them to wait as he peers around the corner. He steps out into the larger alley and signals for them to follow.
He turns left down the new alley, hugging the side as they make their way carefully and quietly to where the alley intersects with a main thoroughfare. He has everyone stop and then motions for James to come closer. "Look down there," he whispers to him, pointing down the thoroughfare.
James looks where he's indicating and sees a gate. "Yeah?" he asks.
"Earlier when I was out, I saw some workmen trying to repair it," he explains. "I think they damaged it during their attack and may not have had the time to repair it. If we act quickly, we should be able to get through before anyone realizes we're no longer in our hideout back at the park."
"You may be right," James acknowledges. "Once they realize we're loose, we won't stand a chance of sneaking out." He looks down the road toward the gate and doesn't see any guards.
"They don't have any guards posted," Jiron says. "I think they're arrogant in their own superiority. They probably don't believe anyone would be foolhardy enough to try to sneak out with thousands of troops stationed around the city."
"What's on the other side of the gate?" he asks.
"A large courtyard that separates this gate from the one leading out of the city," he explains.
"What if that gate is shut and locked?" James asks.
"Last night they left it open," Jiron tells him. "I guess they see no reason to keep it closed because there is no one to keep out."
"Yeah, who would be stupid enough to come visit?" James reasons.
"Exactly," Jiron agrees. "Last night, there were horses picketed in the courtyard that we may be able to appropriate if they're still there."
"Alright," James says, "you sold me. Let's not spend the night here jabbering. Let's get the heck out of here!"
"Follow me," Jiron says as he takes one last look around and then cautiously makes his way over to the gate. The rest of them quickly follow until they're all huddled by the gate. Jiron pulls on the gate and it swings open, squeaking slightly on rusty hinges.
He pulls it open just far enough to allow them to squeeze through and holds it open until everyone else has made it to the other side. He follows the last person through and closes it again until it once more appears shut.
James looks around the courtyard but the horses that Jiron had mentioned are no longer there. The courtyard is not completely empty either, there are four cook fires spaced around the courtyard, each with several soldiers hanging around them. Pulling Jiron close, he points to the enemy soldiers and says, "There's no way we're going to make it across there without them seeing us."
"Maybe we need a distraction," he suggests.
"Like what?" James asks.
"I don't know," he shrugs, "what can you do?"
"How about a big explosion with lots of fire and noise?" offers James.
Jiron breaks out into a big smile and says, "I think that may do."
"All right, you guys wait here and I'll be right back." James slips back out the gate and runs up the street several blocks and enters a vacant building.
After several minutes, Jiron sees him coming back and holds open the gate for him. "You okay?" he asks when he sees how he's not walking quite straight.
"The spell took a lot out of me," he says, pausing before passing through the gate. "I should be okay in a little bit." He then passes through to the other side and Jiron once more shuts the gate.
They wait several minutes and nothing happens. They wait several more and still nothing happens.
Jiron looks to James and asks "Are you sure you..."
Crumph!!!!!