“Hand me the box,” he hollers to Jiron who takes it out of the pack and gives it to him. Setting the box within the just cleared opening, he checks a final time to make sure all is as it should be with the spells and the crystals. When everything checks out fine, he takes the warning crystal and the defensive one out of his pouch and sets them next to the box within the cavity. He activates their spells and then removes two small spikes and a small hammer from his pouch. Then taking the pack, he wedges it into the cavity next to the box, effectively blocking the opening.
Using his small hammer, he pounds one spike through the pack into the bottom of the opening, and another through the pack into the top of the opening, thereby preventing anything from inadvertently falling out.
“Ready?” he asks Jiron as he comes out of the cavity and lies back into the bottom of the boat.
Jiron removes the stabilizing oar from against the wall and flips himself over until he’s lying on his stomach. Glancing to Jiron he nods.
When he gets the nod, he cancels the orb signaling the others to let them go, and they’re suddenly rocketed through the tunnel. Lying on their stomachs with their heads facing the bow and holding onto a bench for dear life, each prays to survive this wild ride.
The boat continuously strikes not only the ceiling but the walls as well, the continuous jolting makes James nervous. His eyes suddenly widen as a crack appears in the side of the boat near him as one of the boards begins to splinter. He looks in horror at the crack and when the boat again strikes the side of the tunnel, the crack widens as the board beneath it breaks as well.
From up ahead, he can hear the sound of the water begin to change. Another strike against the side and he hears a crack from the rear of the boat and suddenly his feet are drenched as water fills the boat rapidly.
“James!” cries out Jiron as the sound ahead of them gains in volume.
“Just hold on!” he cries. “This is going to be rough!”
Suddenly, they’re airborne as they’re propelled over the waterfall. James holds his breath in anticipation of striking the water. When they do, the boat completely disintegrates.
A piece of the destroyed boat stabs him in the arm as he’s thrown into the water. The iciness of it takes his breath away as he breaks the surface, gasping for air. The pain in his arm is tremendous and when he feels with his other hand, finds a piece of wood has completely passed through and is sticking an inch out both sides.
“James!” he hears in the dark, his orb having disappeared when he hit the water and broke concentration.
“Over here!” he hollers as he treads water. Another orb springs into being and he sees Jiron swimming toward him. Not far off is half of the boat floating upside down in the water. He starts swimming as best he can with one arm toward it.
Jiron sees what he’s making for and angles his way over to reach it. He reaches the remnant of the boat first and takes hold of the side as he begins bringing it to James. When he meets up with him, he holds it steady as James works himself up onto it. “What happened to you?” he asks when he sees the piece of wood sticking out of his arm.
“Piece of the boat got me when we hit the water back there,” he explains. Legs still submerged in the water, he at last has a secure hold on the boat with his good arm and isn’t likely to sink again into the water.
“Let me look at it,” Jiron tells him. James winces in pain as he inspects where his left arm near the shoulder has been punctured. “Doesn’t look like it hit the bone, just went through the muscle.” He looks James in the eye and says, “You know it needs to come out. If you move around too much with it in there it’s going to do more damage to the muscle.”
“Okay, do it,” he says as he grits his teeth.
Jiron takes the piece of wood and slides it back out the way it had come in. James cries out from the pain and almost slips off the overturned boat before Jiron grabs him and steadies him.
When the piece of wood is out, he throws it into the water and then tears off a piece of James’ shirt which he ties tightly around the wound to prevent anymore blood loss. “You should be fine, it came out cleanly,” he tells him.
James can only nod as he becomes nauseous from the pain. Now weak and shaky, it’s all he can do just to hang onto the boat with his one good arm.
“How do we get out of here?” Jiron asks. The light from James’ orb doesn’t illuminate very far and all he sees is water.
“If we move away from the waterfall behind us,” he explains, “we’ll eventually come to where the water leaves the cavern and flows to the river outside.”
“How far is that?” he asks.
“I don’t remember exactly,” he replies.
“Just hold on and we’ll get there,” he tells him.
Nodding, James holds on tighter as Jiron begins kicking with his feet, moving them further away from the crashing of the waterfall.
When they’ve progressed enough that the sound of the waterfall begins to diminish behind them, Jiron hears the sound of teeth chattering beside him. Glancing over to James, he can see that he’s shivering badly from being in the cold water. “You okay?”
“N-n-n-o-oo,” he says, trying to control his chattering teeth. “J-just c-c-c-old.”
Cold himself, he’s even more worried about his friend. He at least has the benefit of moving to keep his body temperature up. “Kick your feet,” he suggests. “That might help keep you a little warmer.”
Shortly, splashing can be heard from where James begins kicking his feet. Suddenly, he cries out as he loses his one armed grip on the remnants of the boat and slides into the water.
Jiron lets go of the boat and quickly moves to help him keep afloat. James feels cold to the touch as he assists him in getting up on the boat again. Holding the boat with one hand, he uses the other to pull James back up to where he can again grab and hold on.
“Sorry,” he apologizes to James. “You just hold on while I try to get us out of here.”
James tries to respond but the dunking in the water has left him so cold, he can’t even talk.
Jiron begins swimming even harder, he needs to get James out of the cold water before he dies. From up ahead, the orb’s light reveals a small island. Not very big, but large enough to accommodate them and allow James to get out of the water. Turning the boat slightly, he moves them in the right direction. The boat runs aground as it comes next to the island. Grabbing hold of James, he helps him get to his feet and onto the island.
James is pointing back to the boat and says, “B-b-b-b…”
“Get the boat?” Jiron asks. When he sees James nodding vigorously, he glances back and sees the remnants of the boat beginning to slip away from the island. Moving quickly, he takes hold of it and pulls it up onto the island next to them.
Coming over to James he sees him lying there shivering. “F-f-f…”
“Fire?” he asks. “You want me to make a fire?”
James nods his head.
Looking around the island all he finds to burn is the boat and they’ll need that when they leave the underground lake. “There’s nothing to burn but the boat,” he tells him.
Shaking his head, James says, “S-s-spark!”
“Spark?” he asks and James again nods his head.
Not completely understanding, he takes out his flint and begins striking it against a rock. After the third time when sparks appear, a flame roars to life out of thin air. Hair smoking from where the fire had connected with his face, he falls backward in startlement.
Getting himself back together, he sees James has his eyes closed and is inching his way toward the fire. “How’d you do that?” he asks.
James gives a slight shake of his head and keeps his eyes closed. When he’s close to where the fire is burning, he stops and begins warming up.
Jiron comes close to the wonderfully warm flame as he thaws himself out. He had begun to be about as cold as James and even felt his teeth start chattering.
They sit ar
ound the flame for several minutes before James’ teeth stop chattering and he opens his eyes. Sitting up, he scoots a little closer to the fire.
“Better?” Jiron asks him.
“A little,” he replies, the warmth from the flame has calmed his chattering jaw. “But I can’t keep this up too much longer.”
Jiron just looks at him questioningly.
“I’m using pure oxygen to sustain the fire,” he explains. “Remember back in Councilman Rillian’s office when I had used up all the oxygen and we couldn’t breathe? Well the same thing is happening here. Since this cave is enclosed, it’s not going to have an unlimited supply. It should have plenty for awhile, but once we’re warmed up a bit, I’ll have to stop. Then we’ll need to get out, fast.”
“I hear you,” Jiron says. “Just where is the exit from here.”
Pointing back to the sound of the waterfall they sailed over, he says, “We came from that way and if I remember right, the way out is further away from it, past this island.”
“It’s going to be another cold swim,” he says.
“I know,” he admits. “But if we have a brief respite here to warm ourselves, we’ll make it.”
They sit in quiet as they bask in the warm glow of the fire. James finds that even his clothes are beginning to dry. When he finally feels warm through and through, he looks with trepidation at the water and says, “Shall we?”
“Best to get it over with,” says Jiron. “It’s not going to get any warmer.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” agrees James.
Canceling the flame, they’re once more reduced to just having the light from the orb to guide them. The coldness of the cave again begins to suck the warmth from their bodies even before they get into the water.
They push the remnant of the boat back out into the water and that first step into its icy grip takes James’ breath away. Jiron holds the boat steady while James gets as far up onto it as possible before pushing it further out into the water. Then keeping a firm grip on it, he kicks with his feet and propels them away from the island, maintaining a direction which will keep the sound of the waterfall behind them.
The coldness of the water sucks the warmth from them rapidly. “If you get rid of the orb, maybe we’ll be able to see the light shining in through the exit.”
“I doubt if there’ll be any,” explains James. “It was almost dark when we first entered the old keep. And what with the rain, it’s unlikely there would be any moonlight.”
“That’s right,” he says.
“I’ll try though.” Suddenly, the orb disappears and they’re thrown into complete and utter darkness. The sound of the now distant waterfall and the splashing of Jiron’s feet lends an eeriness to the dark. Giving their eyes a chance to adjust to the dark, they look around but no light is forthcoming.
After being in the dark for ten minutes, James again creates the orb. His teeth are beginning to chatter, though not nearly as bad as the last time. If they don’t get out of this water, they’ll both be in trouble from hypothermia.
“There!” Jiron exclaims.”
“What?” asks James. “Where?”
“Over to our right,” he says. “I saw a light?”
James looks in that direction and says, “I don’t see anything.”
“I tell you I saw something,” he insists. “It was just a momentary flash, but it was there.”
“Then let’s check it out,” says James.
Kicking to angle their boar toward where he saw the flash, he propels them with renewed vigor at the prospect of being out of the water.
“There! I saw it too,” cries out James in gladness.
As they come closer, other flashes become apparent as well. Once they’re close enough for the light from the orb to illuminate the area, they discover the source of the flashes are several gems embedded in the side of the cavern.
“Gems!” exclaims Jiron.
Red, green and yellow stones of varying sizes sparkle in the orb’s light. “There must be a fortune here!” James says.
A slight rock outcropping from the wall runs along the water’s edge, allowing them to leave the water and follow it as they continue to hunt for the exit. It extends past the limit of the orb’s light in both directions. It isn’t very flat or stable looking, but it’s still better than being in the frigid water.
Jiron moves them close to the ledge and then helps James onto it before climbing up himself. A large red gem sparkles in the orb’s light near him. Taking out his knife, he pries out the gem and holds it up to the light. Glancing to James he says, “This might be the end of your worries about coins for the Ranch.”
Giving his friend a smile, he says, “I think you’re right. Let’s take some and get them appraised. If they’re worth a lot, we’ll come back from time to time and harvest more.”
“Wonder how many are here?” Jiron asks. He then proceeds to remove several more of varying size and color, each looking to be worth quite a bit.
“Don’t know,” admits James. Looking around at all the flashes of light outside the orb’s radius, he adds, “It looks like hundreds, maybe thousands.” A serious shiver hits him and he says, “But we need to get out of here.”
“I agree,” says Jiron. The boat has begun to float away from the wall. “Should we get back in the water or try to make it along the wall?”
The thought of going back into that iciness is more than he can bear. “I say wall,” he decides.
“Then let’s go,” says Jiron. “Which way?”
Pointing to their right, he says, “I think it would be down that way, though I’m not completely sure.”
Shrugging, Jiron says, “One way’s as good as another.” He leads the way as they carefully move along the uneven outcropping of rock. The footing is treacherous, sometimes there is very little for them to cling to and at times have to step into the water in order to continue onward.
James is finding it more difficult since he doesn’t have the use of his left arm to maintain a grip on the wall during the worst areas. But with Jiron’s help, he’s able to make it.
During one rather difficult spot, James suddenly smells the scent of the forest. “We must be getting close,” he tells Jiron. “I smell pine trees.”
“I do too,” agrees Jiron as he helps him over a steep section of stone jutting up before them. Just after that, they start feeling a faint breeze, and a few more yards further down, they find the opening where the water is flowing out of the cavern.
They’ll have to wade into the flowing water in order to pass through the opening. The water is moving quickly from the cave and hidden rocks under its surface make for unstable footing. Taking it carefully, Jiron helps James as they make their way down from the outcropping of rock and into the water.
Passing out of the cave into the undergrowth beyond, they notice a slight rise in temperature. Still not warm by any means, it’s still preferable to that which was within the cave. The rain is still coming down and if anything, has actually increased since earlier in the day.
“We need to find some shelter,” James says to Jiron. “Or at least a large tree to stay under.”
The orb doesn’t give them much light to see by, the rain and trees preventing its light from extending any great distance. James is reticent to increase its brilliance, he doesn’t want to attract the attention of someone who might be in the area.
Once past the cave mouth, they climb out of the water and trudge their way through the bushes and small trees lining the edge of the water. With relief they come across a good sized tree which has a relatively dry space beneath its overhanging branches.
Thankfully, they enter the protective space it provides and then set about gathering what firewood they can. Most of it is wet, but with the help of James’ magic, they manage to get the wood burning. Jiron sets other damp pieces nearby to dry before being added to the fire.
“Good to be out of there!” says James.
Nodding, Jiron agrees. �
�Let me look at that arm of yours again,” he says. As James holds out his arm, he unties the bandage and examines it. “It’s a little red around the opening and some blood is still oozing out. I think I got all the wood out, won’t really know for a day or two.”
“I hope you did,” James says as Jiron secures the bandage tight around the wound once more. Infections are one of the things he hopes to avoid. Wounds which turn septic in this world could mean the loss of a limb if not outright fatal.
What rations that were in their belt pouches have been ruined by their trip through the water. Their packs were lost when the boat had disintegrated and are now probably at the bottom of that lake. James had kept his water bottle in his pack so all they have is the one on Jiron’s belt, which isn’t very big. But that’s the least of their concerns right now.
“How long should we stay here?” Jiron asks him.
“I’m not really sure,” he says. “We could probably make it along the river as it continues through the ravine in the daylight. But once we reach the far side, we’ll need to move at night. The Empire will most likely have patrols in the area looking for spies and infiltrators trying to sneak through.”
“Why don’t you get some sleep,” suggests Jiron. “I’ll watch the fire and wake you sometime past midnight.”
“Okay,” he says. “But make sure you do wake me. I don’t want you to be too tired tomorrow because you wanted to allow me to sleep.”
“I will,” he assures him.
Really too tired to argue very much, James lies down and is soon asleep.
True to his word, Jiron wakes him up for his shift and gets some sleep. By the time the dark of night begins to turn into the grey of morning, James wakes him up and they get on their way.
The rain is still coming down though has tapered off a bit since last night. The cloud cover remains absolute with not even a trace of blue breaking its way through. They follow the stream as it continues down to where it joins with the main river making its way into Madoc.
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