Smashing sounds can be heard from far off and soon, Fifer and Qyrll come back with several long wooden pieces they broke off from the chest which had contained the Star. Using them for splints, they tear off strips of cloth from their shirts and bind the broken leg tight.
“That should hold for now,” Fifer says. “A priest could do a better job, but we’re lacking one just now.”
“You could do it,” Jiron says.
James turns his attention back to Jiron and sees him staring at him. “I’m no priest,” he protests.
“Didn’t you say that the spirit of the long dead priest of Morcyth called you one?” he asks.
“Well, yes he did,” he replies. “But he was mistaken.”
“I don’t think so,” he says. “You’re in good with Morcyth, after all you bear the medallion with his Star. And it has sprung to life for you before.”
“I know, but I don’t understand how that happened,” he counters. “I don’t even know if I can heal. Frankly it scares me to death. I just don’t know enough about cell structure and vein integrity or anything.” He looks at Jiron and finally says, “I could wind up doing more harm than good.”
“Very well,” he says.
“So, how are we to get out of here?” the miner asks. “I don’t know much about what you all are mixed up in but I do know we’ll never move that stone without more falling down on our heads.”
“Any ideas?” asks James as he glances around the assembled group.
“Blast it out,” Miko says. “Use your magic and clear it away.”
“Even if I could, there’s no guarantee that I wouldn’t bring down more on top of us,” he says. “Remember, we’re under a mountain, a really big mountain.” When he sees the lack of hope in Miko’s face, he adds, “If all else fails, I’ll try.”
They pick up Jiron and aid him in moving to the large cavern, finally stopping next to the stream. James bends over and takes a long drink as he considers the next step. He doesn’t have that long to dink around, the Star is most likely on the move toward the Empire. He’s not sure exactly what would happen should it reach Dmon-Li’s priests, but it can’t be good.
Almost absentmindedly his eyes follow the stream to where it leaves the cavern through the hole in the wall. Sudden realization hits him, the hole is large enough for them to make it through. Coming to his feet, all eyes are drawn to him as he indicates the outflow of the stream and says, “Maybe we could make it through there?”
They turn to see where he’s pointing, Uther jumps up and says, “Might work.”
“Yeah,” adds Jorry, “the lake out there has to be fed from somewhere. There was water flowing out of it so there must be water flowing in as well.”
“What about Jiron?” Fifer asks. “His leg is in no condition to be climbing around in caves.”
“Fifer,” Jiron says. “What other choice do I have other than staying here?”
“We can help him,” says James. To Jiron he asks, “Did you bring that rope with you?” The last time they traveled to Saragon, he had brought a coil of thin rope for emergencies.
Lifting his shirt, he grins as he shows them the rope coiled about his waist. “You know it,” he says.
“Alright then,” announces James. He motions for Jorry and Uther to come over and he hands the orb to Uther. “Take this and try to find a way through. We’ll be right behind you.”
Taking the orb, Uther is about to ask if he’ll need the light when another orb materializes upon his hand. Nodding to Jiron he says, “You just take care of him and we’ll find a way out.” To Jorry he says, “Come on,” and they head toward the hole in the wall.
Fifer and Miko help Jiron to his feet and they make their way to the opening. When James nears he sees the light from the orb Uther holds already yards away. He’s hunched over as he works his way along the narrow passageway.
James enters the opening and finds the footing extremely uneven and treacherous, algae covers many of the rocks and most are not stable. Stepping carefully, he works his way along.
“Easy now,” he hears Fifer say to Jiron as they begin entering through the opening. The splint on his leg allows him to put some weight upon it but not nearly enough to enable him to walk on his own.
“James!” Uther hollers to him from up ahead.
“What?” he replies. Slipping and almost falling, he catches himself on a small rock protruding from the side. Looking ahead, he sees them stopped.
“We got problems,” he says.
Moving as quickly as he can, he makes his way to where Uther is standing with the orb. When he draws close he sees what Uther is talking about. The stream they’ve been following suddenly goes over a drop-off and flows down a steep, uneven incline further than the light from the orb illuminates.
The sides of the passage end there as well so there’s no way to go around. Down is the only way to go. Shortly everyone makes it there and understands what is before them.
“How far down do you think it is?” the miner asks.
“Could be another five feet or five hundred for all we know,” Qyrll states.
“This rope is only fifty feet,” Jiron says. “Let’s hope it isn’t much further than that.”
“Maybe there’s another way?” Fifer asks.
“The only other one I can think of would be the chasm surrounding the area where we found the Star,” James explains. “I doubt if we’ll have any better luck with that.”
Looking over the side, he sees that it’s not a sheer vertical drop, rather a steep narrow incline. With luck they could possible make it. Jiron though will have a hard time, but like he said, what choice has he?
Turning to Uther and Jorry he asks, “Think you can make it?”
“Possibly,” admits Uther.
Stepping forward, Qyrll says, “Allow me to lead here.” Everyone turns his way as he continues. “Back where I come from we have many instances where we must scale cliffs and overhangs such as these. I would have little trouble with this.”
Glancing to Uther, he sees him give a nod in agreement and then says, “Alright. Uther, hand him the orb.” After Qyrll has the orb and begins to descend over the side he adds, “We’ll stay here, let us know if this way is feasible.”
“I will, worry not,” and with that he begins to descend in earnest.
James comes over to where Jiron is propped up against a rock. “You doing okay?” he asks.
Shrugging he replies, “As best as can be I suppose. I’m alive at least.” He shifts his broken leg and grimaces.
“How’s he doing?” James hollers over to where Fifer is keeping an eye on Qyrll’s progress.
“Better than I would have,” answers Uther. “He’s moving fast.”
They wait there for another five or ten minutes before Fifer turns from the drop-off and says, “He’s waving the orb. I think he’s reached the bottom.”
James gets up from beside Jiron and approaches the edge. Looking over, he sees him way down below. All that can be seen is the orb moving from side to side.
Next to him Miko asks, “Is he saying it’s clear or that he’s in trouble?”
“Maybe we should have set up a signal but I didn’t think it was going to be so far,” admits James. He gauges the distance and doesn’t figure on Jiron’s rope being able to stretch even half that distance. Coming to a decision, he gathers the others around him and says, “We’re going to have to help Jiron down in stages. Fifer, you stay with Jiron and it will be your job to aid him from stage to stage.”
“The rest of us will position ourselves in increments of fifty feet or so to hold the rope steady while you two make it down. Then once you’re past, we’ll follow. Understand?” When he gets everyone’s nod, he goes to the edge and waves his orb back and forth to tell Qyrll he saw his signal. Once Qyrll has stopped moving his orb, James turns back to the others.
“Okay Miko, you first,” he says. One by one they descend down the side of the drop-off and station themselves at poi
nts where the surface levels off slightly and they’ll be able to maintain balance while holding the rope. James has remained at the top and once everyone is in position turns to Fifer and says, “Alright, let’s do this.”
Fifer helps Jiron up and they tie the end of the rope to Jiron. Once James has a secure hold upon the rope and is properly braced, Fifer helps him over the edge. Inch by inch, James lets out slack in the rope as Jiron slowly makes it down to where the miner is waiting at the next stage.
As soon as he’s made it there, Fifer waves back to him and he releases the rope. Arms tired and aching from the constant pressure of maintaining a tight grip, he’s more than glad to send the rope down to the next person. Slipping over the drop-off, he begins working his way down while the miner holds the rope as Fifer and Jiron work their way down to the next person.
Stage by stage, Jiron and Fifer make their way down until at last they make it to Qyrll. The others arrive shortly after. They find themselves next to an underground lake, a shore of sorts runs along the outer edge in both directions. Jiron wets his finger and holds it up.
“What are you doing?” Uther asks him.
“Seeing if there’s a breeze,” he replies. After remaining motionless for a minute he shakes his head. “If there is one I can’t tell.” He turns to James and says, “It’s up to you.” When he hesitates, Jiron adds, “They already know we’re here.”
“True,” he agrees. In front of him a translucent bubble springs into existence.
“What’s that going to do?” the miner asks in wonder. Sure he’s heard of magic but seeing it up close kind of unnerves him, first the orb and now this.
“It will lead us to the way out,” replies James.
As if floating on a breeze, the bubble begins floating to the right around the lake. Fifer and Qyrll help Jiron to stand and they all begin following the bubble. Those helping Jiron along are unable to keep up, so James has Miko stay with them with one of the orbs while he, Jorry and Uther move ahead keep the orb within sight. The miner stays back with Jiron’s group.
The cavern is rather large, stalactites and stalagmites decorate the scene with many colors. Small creatures, blind and translucent, scurry out of the way as the light from James’ orb reveals them. From several places, other cascades of water flow from crevices and fissures in the walls to the lake.
Continuing its dance upon an unseen wind, the bubble floats on. It comes to an opening to their right, a dark gaping maw which extends further into the mountain. Rather than entering the opening, the bubble continues on past. James pauses but a moment to look within but the light from his orb reveals nothing.
They continue following the bubble for another ten minutes when a noise can be heard coming from up ahead. At first it sounds like the growl of some wild beast but then James realizes it’s the sound of water. The water of the lake is no longer placid but ripples as small waves course across its surface.
The further they go, the louder the sound becomes and the movement of the water along the shore becomes more pronounced, the waves coming with more frequency. Suddenly the source of the sound they’ve been hearing appears before them and James stops in stunned silence.
Illuminated by the light from the orb is a massive vortex at the end of the lake. Swirling and churning, the water is being sucked down as if through a giant funnel. “Oh my god,” he says as he realizes the bubble is moving to hover over the center of the maelstrom.
“You can’t be serious,” Uther says in disbelief next to him. He glances back to the others advancing toward them. “Oh Miko…” he says in voice loud enough to carry over the sound of the water being sucked into the maelstrom.
The others come close and when they can see why they’ve stopped, various expletives, not all of them polite issue forth.
Jorry glances to see Miko’s face frozen in extreme nervousness. “You ready for a bath?” he asks.
He looks at him and stiffens his backbone as he says, “No problem.” Then to James he asks, “Is that the way we have to go?”
“It looks like it,” he says.
“It must lead to the lake,” Qyrll says. “We may not survive it.”
“There is no other way,” James tells him. Glancing at the others, he says, “The bubble showed us the way out. It wouldn’t have led us here if we couldn’t survive.” He sees the doubts in everyone’s eyes, especially Jiron’s. How in the world will he be able to make it with his leg the way it is?
“So what do we do?” the miner asks.
“Get in the water and let it suck us down,” James tells him. Even though he knows it’s the only way, he’s not too keen on the idea either.
“But it’s freezing,” the miner says. “We’re not going to last too long in such cold water.”
“Anyone have a better idea?” asks James. “This is the way out whether we like it or not.” He stands there a moment while everyone digests that.
Jiron hobbles forward and says, “I’ll go first.”
“I don’t think so,” Uther says to him. “If anyone is going to be the sacrificial lamb, it better be someone with all their parts working properly.” To Jorry he asks, “You game?”
Shrugging in an attempt to appear nonchalant even though fear is one step away from taking over, he replies, “Sure, why not? Time for my bath anyway.”
“You got that right,” one of the others says, though who he couldn’t tell.
“Better space yourselves apart a few minutes so if it gets rough, you won’t be thrown against each other,” Qyrll suggests.
James steps toward them and says, “Once you’re through, I’ll check the lake to see if I can find you. Then I’ll start sending the rest through starting with Jiron and Fifer. Be ready to help him when he gets there if you can.”
Nodding, Uther says, “Alright.” He and Jorry begin shedding everything but their weapons and the clothes from their back. When they’re in nothing but shirts and pants Uther looks to Jorry and asks, “Odds and evens?”
“I’ll take odds,” Jorry says.
They face each other and to James it looks like they’re going to do a round of paper, rock, scissors. Bringing their hands down onto their other palm, Jorry says, “One.” The second time Uther says, “Two.”
Then just before they bring their hands down again, Jorry turns and runs toward the swirling maelstrom. With a “Yeehaaw!” he leaps away from the shore and hits the water two yards out. The water immediately grabs him and sucks him toward the center of the swirling water.
“Damn you!” cries out Uther. He had the same idea but Jorry beat him to it.
Around and around the water gradually brings Jorry to the center and then all of a sudden, his head disappears as he’s sucked beneath the water. At that, Uther follows and hits the water. A minute later, he too is sucked beneath the surface.
James moves over to the edge of the lake where he and Miko proceed to dig out an area for the water to fill. Then once it’s filled, they close it off from the lake and the water within the depression becomes calm.
Giving them a few minutes, he calls forth the magic and an image of the lake appears. He concentrates on Jorry, trying to center the view upon him. The scene shifts and all they can see is the calm surface of the lake. It’s hard to see anything in the gloom of night, only the moon above gives any light with which to see.
Suddenly Jorry breaks through the surface of the water and they can see him splash around a bit before he realizes he’s broken through. Shortly after that, Uther joins him.
“Alright,” James says as he glances to Jiron, “it’s your turn.”
“Help me up,” he says and Miko and Fifer move to comply.
They walk him over to the edge of the maelstrom and ease him into the water. Since he’s starting closer to the edge it takes him a little longer before he gets sucked under. After that the others go in two minute intervals until it’s only James, Miko and Qyrll left. They’ve been watching the scene play out on the lake and saw Jiron break the
surface. Jorry and Uther immediately moved to help him. It looked like he made it alright.
“You go next,” Qyrll says to James. “They’ll need you out there if the Empire shows up.”
“Good point,” he agrees. “Be sure to send Miko next.”
Qyrll nods as James moves to the edge of the water. He stands there and looks out over the swirling, churning water. It’s just a big water slide, that’s all it is. The others made it through okay, so will you. With a quick glance back to Miko who gives him an encouraging nod, he backs up two feet and with a running jump, leaps out over the water.
Splash!
He hits the water and the iciness of it takes his breath away. Working to stay afloat, he starts treading water as the current takes him. Moving ever closer to the center of the maelstrom he tries to calm his breathing and just as he feels the current begin to pull him under, takes a deep breath.
Sucked underneath the water by the current, he’s suddenly in total blackness. Thrown this way and that, he feels as if he’s being dropped down a vertical shaft. Then all of a sudden, the current releases him and he’s freefalling. Air surrounds him and he releases the pent up air within and quickly takes another two deep breaths before slamming into more water.
Again he’s caught in a whirlpool and sucked underneath. This time he’s pulled down and then the flow of water begins turning more horizontal as it picks up speed. He scrapes against the side of the tunnel and feels some of his skin ripped off. Nothing major but enough to cause him pain.
Then when he thinks he can no longer hold his breath, the current quickly reduces speed and he realizes he’s no longer in the tunnel but in the lake. Kicking upward, he swims for the surface.
Breaking through, he gasps for air. Teeth chattering from the cold of the water, he tries to calm them but is unable to. The water has sapped all the warmth from him. He’s in serious danger of hypothermia and scans for the shore.
“Over here!” he hears someone yell. When he looks, he sees the others in the moonlight, standing on the shore waving him down. Swimming quickly, he makes his way toward them. Reaching the shore next to them, he climbs out onto the beach.
The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five Page 42