“Another secret door?” asks Miko.
“Maybe,” replies James. Could the final set of annotations tell them how to get through here? He hopes that’s what it could mean. When he sees Jiron move to approach the wall he says, “Be wary of traps.”
“After that room upstairs,” he replies, “you can believe I will be.”
James joins him as he goes to the wall. “Looks fairly normal,” Jiron says. They both begin running their hands over the wall in an attempt to find something that will allow them to gain access to the room containing the dais.
Miko and Brother Willim stand back about ten feet from the end of the corridor. Miko can feel the deaths of the guards as they fight Scar and Potbelly above them. He’s pretty sure neither one of their friends has fallen yet. Elsewhere in the temple, the untimely death of slaves rips through him every so often as the priests of Dmon-Li continue their dark ritual.
His eyes wander and finally settle on a minor imperfection in the stone of the wall next to him. Not sure why it caught his eye, he moves closer for a better look. “I think I found it,” he announces to the others as he runs his finger across an indentation similar in size to the medallion James has been carrying ever since finding it in the underground temple near Kern.
James immediately rushes over with his orb to see. “That’s it!” he exclaims. Pulling out the medallion bearing the warrior priest’s insignia, he places it against the indentation. Not exactly a perfect match, but it works.
A vibration comes to them as the end of the corridor begins to drop down in sections. When the rumbling ceases, the light of the orb reveals that the end of the corridor has dropped and created a set of steps leading down.
“Yes!” exclaims Jiron. Moving forward, he leads them down to the bottom where a short corridor connects the stairs with a room. The light from the orb shines through the doorway into the room and they see the dais sitting there before them.
Moving forward, they enter the room and find that it’s round just as the diagram had depicted. “There it is,” James says as they move to the dais.
“It seems odd that the room containing this dais was only reachable by going though two secret doors and a room full of spikes,” comments Jiron. When James glances to him he adds, “The dais in the underground temple was right where anyone could get to it.”
James shrugs. “Maybe they were built in different times,” he says. “The one in the underground temple could have been constructed when they didn’t feel the need to protect it.”
“Could be,” agrees Brother Willim. Turning to James he says, “Now what?”
“Now we get on the dais and let it take us to the High Temple,” he says.
“Sounds easy enough,” Miko states.
“Seeing as how I hold the medallion, it might be best if you three were to get on first,” James suggests. “It wouldn’t be a good idea for me to get on first and have it activate before the rest of you have a chance to join me.”
“May have a point there,” Jiron says. Moving forward, he hops onto the dais.
Lending Brother Willim a hand, Jiron helps him up then is followed by Miko. “What’s going to happen when you get on?” Miko asks.
“If it works as I think it will,” he replies, “we’ll appear at the High Temple of Dmon-Li.”
“Then things will get interesting,” Jiron says with a grim grin.
James sighs and says, “You could say that.”
“Come on,” Jiron prompts when he sees him hesitating. Holding out his hand, he offers to help him up.
Taking the hand, James steps up onto the dais. A second later, they’re gone.
Chapter Thirty Eight
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Tinok’s stomach grumbles. The time when they should have received their third meal of the day has come and gone. Still within the cell, the ever present fear remains with them. He and Esix sit against the back wall side by side. They talk of their times together, family and friends whom they’re sure they’ll never again see, all the while trying to banish the fear that has become an ever present, unwelcome guest.
How long they’ve been down here now isn’t clear. The ever pervasive darkness outside their cell prevents the possibility to accurately judge the passing of time. During a time when Tinok was listening to Esix talk of an experience with a neighbor’s daughter that turned into a bad situation with the girl’s father, his eyes begin to detect a growing red glow some distance away from their cell.
“Look!” he says as he rises to his feet.
Esix stops talking and turns his attention toward the red glow. He, as well as the others in the cell with him, get to their feet. The red glow continuously brightens and the light coming from it casts eerie shadows about the cavern. For as the light brightens, they see that they are in fact in an underground cavern.
The ceiling vaults into darkness high above them, a few stalagmites dot the outer edge of the cavern floor. As the glow brightens still further, they come to realize that it comes from an object seeming to float in mid air two feet off the floor.
Beneath the glowing object, the floor of the cavern has been smoothed. The smoothed area encompasses a good portion of the cavern floor. It’s rather hard to make out, but it appears there are six similar patterns marked out upon the floor spaced evenly in a circle around the glowing object. Each of the patterns is ringed itself by many symbols, symbols that hurt the eyes if you stare at them too long. A lone circular pattern, larger than the others, is situated not too far outside the ring of six. Twice the number of intricate symbols encompasses that one than the ones in the ring of six.
“What is going on?” Esix asks.
“Man I don’t know,” replies Tinok.
Then his eye catches a movement and he turns his gaze toward a shadow. But the shadow is not remaining motionless as a shadow should. Rather, it is moving across the floor and through the light the way a shadow shouldn’t be able to. The sight renews the terror that Tinok had been working to banish to the back of his mind.
“There’s another one!” exclaims Esix, the fear making him speak more earnestly than is his want. More than a couple of the shadows are seen moving about out there. At last they now know the source of their fear. All the while the red glow of the object continues to intensify and deepen in color.
One of the other prisoners cries out and faints when a figure appears at the bottom of the stairway. The figure walks slowly yet steadily toward the larger circle of symbols outside the ring of six. Little more than a shadow itself, the figure seems to almost suck the light from the cavern as it moves into it.
Behind the figure marches six men in armor, all can only be warrior priests. Tinok recognizes the armor of the one who had led them here through the Mists. Then come a dozen of the cowled figures.
When the dark figure that is leading them reaches the larger circle, he comes to a stop. The six warrior priests fan out behind him, and the dozen cowled figures do the same behind them.
Raising arms that can only be called skeletal, the figure begins speaking. Each syllable sends fear through the prisoners, their heads throb painfully as the words seem to cut into their minds. Tinok finds that he’s put his hands over his ears in an attempt to keep the sound out, but it does no good.
At last, the figure stops speaking. Breathing a sigh of relief as the pain stops, Tinok then is filled with fear the likes of which he has never felt before, primal fear that threatens to take his very sanity. For from the darkness of the deepest part of the cavern come six monstrous monstrosities, more terrifying than anything his imagination could ever hope to match.
More of the prisoners faint dead away. Esix slumps to the ground next to him and he’s unable to move to help his friend. Incapable of tearing his eyes away, he grips the bars of the cell in a grip so tight that his knuckles have turned incredibly white from the strain.
The six monstrosities move toward the circle of six surrounding the red glowing object. Each takes its place
within one of the patterns surrounded by symbols. Once they are in place they come to a stop, turn to face the glowing object in the center, then become motionless.
At that point, the cowled figures suddenly start to move. Tinok watches as they turn and begin to cross the cavern toward the cell wherein he’s held. Realizing they mean to come for them, he’s at last able to let go the bars and moves to the very rear of the cell. All the prisoners who are still conscious do the same.
The cell door swings open even before the first cowled figure reaches it. When they enter, each one takes hold of a prisoner. Starting with the unconscious ones at first, they begin removing men from the cell. When Tinok sees Esix being taken by one, he is unable to do anything other than watch.
Having taken all the unconscious men lying on the floor, the remaining four cowled figures move on the men cringing at the rear of the cell. Pandemonium erupts as each man tries not to be the one taken. One man is shoved toward the approaching cowled figures by another. When one of the cowled figures reaches out and touches him, the man goes limp. Picking him up, the cowled figure carries him from the cell.
Fists fly as the others try to move someone else in position to be taken by the approaching figures. Tinok, to his shame, is no better. Using the skill honed in the Pits, he works to get others to go instead of him.
When the last cowled figure leaves with a man, Tinok remains within the cell along with three other men. The cell door shuts and the cowled figures carry the men toward the circle of six, places two on the ground before each of the monstrosities. Tinok moves again to the bars of the cell and looks out. He sees Esix where he lies at the feet of one of the monstrosities. A single tear rolls down his cheek.
Then pairs of the cowled figures move to stand behind the monstrosities. Once the last cowled figure is in place and has grown still, the dark one raises his arms and the glowing object seems to pulse twice. Words, painful, fearful words, begin to issue forth from the dark one. Then, Tinok looks on in horror as the monstrosities once more begin to move.
“Are we here?” asks Jiron.
No sooner had James completely stepped upon the dais then they were suddenly elsewhere. The light from the orb in his hand dispels the darkness of the room they suddenly find themselves in. The room itself is rather small, barely two feet wider than the dais. The only exit from the room is a single corridor that extends into darkness past where the light from the orb ends.
“Yes, we are,” replies Brother Willim. “There’s a feeling of wrongness here the likes of which I have never before felt.”
The prickling associated with the working of magic is very strong upon James’ skin. “They’re doing the rite here too,” he says in a hushed voice. Stepping down from the dais he moves to the mouth of the corridor.
“We’ve been here before,” Jiron says to him.
“I know,” replies James. They both look around for those little creatures that proved such a nuisance the last time they were here. Both are relieved that they are absent.
“See if you can locate Tinok,” urges Jiron. When he sees him hesitate he says, “They’ll know we’re here soon enough.”
“Right,” nods James. Pulling forth the cloth, he casts his spell and they are elated to see it begin to move and then point to someplace below them and to the right.
“Yes!” exclaims Jiron.
“Can you see if he’s still alive?” he asks.
Putting the cloth back in his pouch, he removes his mirror. Concentrating on Tinok, he tries to bring him into focus. They all gather around and watch the surface of the mirror as it begins to shift. Then it clarifies and Tinok’s image appears. He’s gripping what looks like iron bars as he stares out at something beyond the image in the mirror. His face is bathed in a red glow.
“Try to see what he’s looking at,” Brother Willim tells him.
He works to move the image away from the bars and just when something begins to appear, the mirror shatters in his hand. A drop of blood wells from his thumb where one of the glass shards impaled it.
“What happened?” asks Miko.
Eeeeeek!
They turn to see one of the little creatures James and Jiron had met before hovering not more than two feet away. Its shriek sends a chill down James’ spine. Jiron pulls his knives as Brother Willim exclaims, “A Hikuli!”
“You know these things?” Jiron asks him.
“Oh yes,” he replies. “We’ve known about them for some time, only we didn’t know where they were.”
Eeeeeek!
Screaming again, the creature disappears.
“Come on,” James urges the others. “We haven’t much time.” The prickling sensation suddenly intensifies, whether due to the creature that just vanished or for some other reason, he can’t tell. He sends forth the magic and creates a translucent floating sphere. He’s used similar ones before when trying to locate someone. As it moves down the hallway, he says, “Let’s go.”
Jiron takes the lead with James right behind. Miko and Brother Willim follow closely.
“Do you feel it?” Brother Willim asks Miko.
“I feel something,” he replies. “Never felt it before.”
“This temple resonates with evil,” he explains. “What you feel is the signature of evil. Remember it.”
Miko glances to him and says, “I doubt if I’ll ever be able to forget it.”
Following the sphere, they hurry down the corridor. The coldness of where they are increases the further they go until their breath begins misting in the orb’s light. And still the temperature drops. As they approach the end of the corridor, they see it open up onto a very large room. Jiron pauses a moment before entering.
“Why did you stop?” James asks as he comes to stand besides him. Then he looks to where Jiron is pointing.
Across the room from where they stand, lies a seat made entirely out of bones, some human, others not. On either side of the dark throne are two braziers burning with a purplish glow which seems to suck the warmth from them even from halfway across the room.
“It’s the seat of Ozgirath,” Brother Willim states, “the High Priest of Dmon-Li. We are in the Hall of Despair.”
“Where is he?” Jiron asks.
“I would think he would be wherever Tinok is,” he replies.
Eeeeeek!
All of a sudden the air is filled with Hikuli. They screech as they swoop down and begin raking them with their razor sharp claws. Each strike brings pain like acid.
Miko draws his sword and begins attempting to strike them out of the air, but they move so fast, that even with his speed he misses as often as not.
“The Star!” yells James as he pulls forth his medallion. “Use the Star!”
As Miko pulls forth the Star, its light shines brilliantly. For the first time in time unknown, light dispels the dark in the Hall of Despair.
The creatures pull back some distance and hover. Chittering among themselves, they shriek and hiss at the companions they are no longer able to come near.
James sees Brother Willim kneeling on the floor and is arranging a circle of leaves. “What are you doing?” he asks.
“Making a Vyrilyzk,” he replies. Once the leaves are in their proper position, he begins talking softly and quietly.
“What’s he doing?” asks Jiron. “We have to get to Tinok.”
James turns back to Brother Willim to tell him that they have to move on when he sees a small creature that looks remarkably like a garden gnome standing within the Vyrilyzk. “An earth spirit?” he asks in surprise. Brother Willim ignores the question. Instead he keeps his attention focused on the earth spirit and points to the Hikuli hovering in the air.
The earth spirit looks up and sees them there. The expression on the earth spirit’s face changes to what can only be called hate. Disappearing for only a second, it reappears a moment later. Launching itself upward, it grabs hold of a Hikuli and the two creatures start clawing each other as the earth spirit drags the Hikuli to
the ground. Then from out of the Vyrilyzk more earth spirits begin boiling into the room, each one launching itself at a Hikuli. The Hikuli in turn screech as they attack the earth spirits.
Brother Willim stands up and turns to the others. “Their enmity for the Hikuli is older than time,” he explains. Soon the air is empty of Hikuli as scores of battle-locked creatures writhe upon the floor. Still more of the earth spirits boil forth from the Vyrilyzk to join the fray.
“Let’s go,” he says to James and Jiron. “They’ll take care of them for us.”
Jiron gives him a grin and a nod. Then turns to follow James’ sphere where it is again moving across the Hall of Despair toward the opening of another corridor.
Ozgirath stands before the crystal that’s aglow with power being channeled to it from temples both within the Empire and without. Every temple is sacrificing slaves and sending the power here to Ith-Zirul, for what he’s about to do requires an incredible amount of magic.
The time for his lord to come has arrived. Ages have been spent in preparation of this moment. Plans that began centuries past have at last come to fruition. All is in ready. The six Gygnai from the home plane of Dmon-Li stand within the circles of power, two slaves who will give their lives to complete the ritual lie before each of them.
As he summons the enormous reservoir of power within himself, Ozgirath sends it forth. One by one he envelopes the Gygnai with the power and activates the magical symbols engraved in the floor about them. The symbols flare with a dark radiance as they begin absorbing power contained within the glowing crystal. When all six of Gygnai are fully intertwined in his magic, they bend down and grab the men lying before them, one in each hand. Then, they come erect again and await his command.
In the back of his mind he senses the presence of an age old enemy, but so engrossed in the ritual is he that it is soon pushed to the back of his mind and is lost. Once more bending the power to his will, he signals the Gygnai that it is time.
The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven Page 53