Miko lurches toward the miner and knocks him down the stairs. Losing his balance, Miko falls as well and lands upon the steps with a thud.
The miner rolls down to the bottom of the stairs and quickly gets to his feet. One glance at Jiron approaching and all pretense of being a ghost disappears. The man turns and runs for his life down the street.
“Get the miner!” James yells to the others. “I’ll take care of Miko.” As the others take off after the miner, he approaches Miko and helps him to sit up.
With a groan, Miko gets to a sitting position. His leg that had been entrapped in the floor has a blood soaked cloth tied around it, with more blood still oozing through. James removes the gag from his mouth and then uses it to tie around the wound in an attempt to stop the blood loss.
“He came to me up there,” Miko says through gritted teeth. “At first I thought he was a ghost but then he gagged me and got me out of the floor.” Gasping, he stops talking when James tightens the knot securing the rag in place. “Ripped my leg some doing it.”
“I think that will do for now,” he says. “When we get you back to the horses we’ll do a better job.”
“Thanks,” he says.
The sound of approaching feet heralds the return of Jiron and the others. Marching in front of them and looking the worse for wear is the miner. His face is reddening slightly on one side and a trickle of blood can be seen from the corner of his mouth.
“Good job,” says James.
“He almost lost us by ducking into a building but Fifer was smart enough to run around to the other side and tackled him as he left,” Jiron says. Shoving the miner forward toward James he says, “Not much of a ghost.”
Shaking his head, James replies, “They usually aren’t once you figure out what’s really going on.” He glances to Dave with a grin and says, “A man in a mask.”
At first Dave doesn’t know what he’s talking about but then cracks a brief grin as he nods. “I get you,” he says, remembering Saturday morning cartoons.
“What should we do with him?” Uther asks.
“I say we kill him right here,” Jorry threatens.
“No!” the miner cries out. “Don’t kill me. I wasn’t going to hurt anyone.”
“Oh yeah? Then what were you going to do with our friend here?” he asks as he indicated Miko.
Defeated, the man says, “I just wanted to scare you away. I would’ve let him go after awhile.”
“Were you the ghosts we saw last night?” Qyrll suddenly asks.
Glancing at the tattooed visage of Qyrll, the man nods. “Usually that’s all it takes before everyone leaves. You guys wouldn’t go.”
“Have you been doing this long?” James asks him.
“Years and years,” the man explains.
“Why?” Jiron asks.
When the man doesn’t reply, James says, “There are only two reasons I can think of. One, you like your privacy and I somehow doubt that would be the reason. Or two, you discovered something up here you would rather not share with the rest of the world.”
The miner’s eyes widen at the last one and James nods. “Thought so. What did you find?” he asks. “Gold? Gems?”
Staring back in silence, the miner refuses to answer.
Taking a knife out, Jiron asks, “Want me to persuade him to talk?” Holding the knife before the miner, he threatens him menacingly.
“No and put that away,” James tells him. “We don’t need to know that badly.” To the miner he says, “You keep your secrets, I really don’t care.”
“What are you going to do with me?” he asks.
“What should we do with you?” asks James in return.
“I will cause you no more trouble,” the man whines. “If you let me go, I’ll not bother you again. I swear.”
“Very well,” says James, seeing the earnestness in his eyes. “I see no benefit in either your death or keeping you with us. Get out of here.”
As the miner is about to leave, Dave pipes up. “Ask him,” he says.
“What?” asks James.
With the others looking on, Dave explains. “We’ve come all this way and can’t find what you’re looking for. Maybe he knows.”
The miner stops and glances around at everyone. “I don’t know anything.” He resumes moving quickly away from them.
“Hang on a minute,” James says to the miner.
The miner, having reached the edge of the group, bolts away only to be quickly tackled and returned by Jorry and Uther. “He wanted to ask you a question,” Uther tells him.
Standing once more in front of James, the miner looks at him in trepidation.
“I am on sort of a quest,” he tells the miner, “and it has led me here. Maybe you would be kind enough to aid me?”
Glancing at the others, he realizes he has no choice. “How?” he asks, feet shifting nervously.
Pulling out the medallion, he holds it before the miner. “Have you ever seen this design before?” James asks.
His eyes widen in recognitions. Nodding he says, “Yes, once.”
Getting to his feet, James asks, “Where?”
The miner’s lips twitch in agitation as he gazes into James’ eyes. Pointing off to northeast, he says, “Deep in the mountains near a small lake are some old ruins.” He glances around to see what effect his words are having. “I saw that design on one of the buildings there.”
“Can you take us there?” James asks him.
“Why should I?” questions the miner.
“If you do,” James tells him, “I promise that we will keep the secret of who and what the ghost inhabiting Ironhold really is to ourselves.”
“Otherwise we tell everyone from here to Cardri,” Jiron assures him.
Sighing, the miner says, “Alright. I suppose you want to leave now?”
“That’s right,” replies James.
“Very well,” he says. “I need to get my horse and some supplies before we head out.”
“Jorry, you and Uther go with him so he won’t have a change of heart,” Jiron says.
“Don’t you trust me?” the miner asks.
At that several of them there break into a short laugh. “Hardly,” replies Jiron. To Uther he says, “When he’s got his stuff together, bring him back here.”
“You got it.” To the miner Uther says, “Let’s go.”
As he and Jorry escort the miner to collect his horse and belongings, the others go to retrieve their own horses.
“Now maybe we can get back home soon,” Dave says as he walks next to James back to where the horses are tied.
He said home. Encouraged that his friend may be coming to accept his life here, he feels like a load has been lifted off of him.
They return to the horses, and after doing a proper job on binding Miko’s wound, are soon back at the temple. Another ten minutes and they see Jorry and Uther come walking back with the miner, his horse trailing along behind.
Once they’re all mounted, Jiron asks, “How far is this place?”
“Couple days,” he replies. “It’s not really all that far, it’s just hard to get to.”
“Lead on,” James says. The miner nudges his horse into motion and the others follow.
When they’ve disappeared down the road, two figures leave a nearby building. “Spread the word,” one of them says. “They’re on the move.”
Chapter Twenty Nine
They take the east road out of town and travel for a couple hours. It’s much smaller than the main one going north and south. As it turns out, it does in fact lead to one of the abandoned mines in the area. A small ramshackle cluster of buildings sits several hundred feet from the entrance.
“Every mine in the area had a small group of buildings to house the miners while they worked,” the miner explains to them when they come into view. “These were little more than barracks, the miners spent their off time in Ironhold.”
“How do you know this?” Fifer asks.
“Been
here long enough now to piece it together,” he explains.
“Ever seen an actual spirit?” inquires Qyrll.
The miner eyes him before replying. “Never actually saw one, no,” he admits. “But I’ve heard things while here that has set my nerves on edge, could’ve been just the wind.”
They make their way through the buildings, several of which are in need of an extreme amount of repair to make them serviceable. One has a roof that’s collapsed and another has a big hole in the wall, looks like something at one time ran into it.
Past the buildings they head toward the opening of the mine, but turn off onto a small path before reaching it.
Looking at the dark entrance, Jorry asks, “How many mines are there?”
“Three main ones,” the miner replies. “I found several other places where it looked like people had begun a new one but gave up.”
“Where do you mine?” Uther asks.
At that the miner becomes quiet and leads them on in silence for awhile.
The path they’re following is little more than a game trail and at times are forced to ride in single file. In the lead is the miner with James following right behind. Jiron is behind him with Dave next in line. Jorry and Uther have the thankless duty of bringing up the rear. Winding through the trees, the path makes its way through the hills until finally coming to a place where the trees open up. In the valley below is a large lake.
“Is that the lake you were talking about?” James asks as he gazes at the panoramic view. The lake is a startling blue, nestled in against the backdrop of a mountain range to the north. Altogether a stunning scene.
Glancing back to him, the miner replies, “No. That one lies another day or two to the north. We’re going to have to make our way to the left around this lake until we come to a river that flows into it from the lake we’re heading for.”
“Oh,” grunts James.
By the time they get to the shore of the lake, the sun has dipped to the peaks in the distance. “We should stop here and continue in the morning,” the miner announces.
“I agree,” states James. To the others he says, “We’re staying here tonight.”
Dismounting they set about making camp and have a fire going in no time. Sitting around the fire, the miner glances to James and asks, “Just what is your interest in this place anyway?”
“A long time ago, there was a god named Morcyth whose followers were fairly wide spread,” James explains. “Ever heard of him?”
Shaking his head, the miner says, “No.”
“Not surprising, his followers disappeared around five centuries ago.” Taking out the medallion, he shows him the design and says, “This was the symbol for their religion. I’ve been trying to find where the last priests went, you see they disappeared about the same time.”
“And you think they went here?” the miner asks.
“Perhaps,” he replies. “Won’t know until we get there. But it’s likely.”
The night begins to settle in and the stars appear above them. They’ve acquired a good store of wood for the evening, already the temperature has dropped significantly. The clear sky above them tells of another cold night to come.
“Do you think they followed us?” Jiron asks after the meal when they’re sitting around the fire.
“Who?” asks the miner. “Who followed us?”
“You didn’t see them around Ironhold?” asks Fifer.
Shaking his head, the miner says, “The only ones I saw were you.”
“Forces from the Empire have been camped in the hills around Ironhold since we showed up, maybe before,” James tells him.
“What do they want?” the miner asks.
“Me, us,” replies James.
“You going to get me killed!” the miner exclaims.
“Now settle down,” Jiron tells him. “They’ve known of our presence there for days and have done nothing so far.”
“So far,” he says, none too happy. He scans the woods around them as if expecting an imminent attack at any moment.
“As soon as we get to where you saw the design, you can leave,” James tells him.
“Just be careful about running into them on your way back,” suggests Fifer. “They may want to talk to you about us.”
Scowling, the miner looks at each in turn then stares at the fire, deep in thought.
To Jiron James says, “Better have two on watch at a time tonight, just in case.”
Nodding, Jiron replies, “Good idea.” He then sets up a watch schedule and those not pulling the first watch lay out their blankets as close to the fire as they can.
The night passes uneventfully and they are up and on their way with the rising of the sun. The miner turns them north and follows the shoreline of the lake. They don’t travel very far before coming to a medium sized river flowing from the north.
Before James has a chance to ask, the miner says, “This ain’t the one. We have to cross it and continue following the lake until we reach the next river. Then we can follow that one north to where you want to go.”
Turning upriver, he leads them to a ford a mile up. After crossing, he backtracks along the other side of the river and returns to the lake. Following its shoreline, he continues along as it curves to follow a more easterly direction.
The going here is slow, as they have to at times forge their way through tangled undergrowth. Several hours pass as they make slow headway. Finally the shoreline becomes inaccessible to them when the side of the mountain rises up against the water’s edge.
“We have to leave the lake now and work our way through the mountains,” the miner says. “If we’re lucky, we’ll reach the river before the sun goes down.”
“Why would that be lucky?” Uther asks.
“Just a figure of speech,” the miner says, annoyed he’s being taken too literally.
“Oh,” replies Uther.
Picking up another game trail, they leave the shore and move into the forest. The terrain becomes increasingly rugged and as they climb up the side of the mountain, the density of the trees diminishes proportionately.
As they climb, the wind hits them with more biting chill than it had when they were in the protection of the forest. Now that the trees are thinning, the wind is able to get to them more effectively. Pulling their jackets closer, they push on.
At one promontory the miner stops them for a short break. Off to the side they find snow on the ground among the trees. “Man that’s not a good sign,” Jorry states.
“At least it’s clear now,” Fifer says hopefully, looking to the sky. “If the clouds move in we can expect snow.”
“I agree,” says James. “We’re definitely above the snowline now.”
Qyrll has climbed up above them and is standing on an outcropping of rock. James notices him there peering out over the way they had come. “See anything?” he asks.
The others take note of what he’s doing as he looks down to James and shakes his head. “Nothing.”
“Maybe they didn’t follow us,” offers Miko hopefully.
“Oh you can bet they’re out there,” states Dave. Looking back through the trees, he adds, “I doubt if they’ll give up this easily.”
“You seem awfully sure of that,” Jiron says as he comes to stand before him.
Anger building, Dave replies, “If they followed us to Ironhold, you would think they would have kept an eye on us. Any fool should know that.”
“I don’t like the tone of your voice,” Jiron says, his own anger beginning to rise.
Stepping in between them, James holds a hand up to each and says, “Enough of that!” Staring them both down, he adds, “We have too much to worry about already, we don’t need your squabbling adding to it.”
Jiron gives Dave a glare then turns to James, “Sorry.” Turning his back on Dave, he stalks off.
“You two need to get along,” James tells his friend Dave.
“I ain’t the one not getting along,” he says. “Nothing I do
or say will make any difference.” He turns aside and walks back to check on his horse.
James just stands there and stares at his two friends walking away. Saddened by how they don’t get along, he just shakes his head. Try as he might the rift between them continues to grow, neither of them seems even remotely interested in trying to mend it.
They get underway shortly thereafter and as they proceed, an awkward silence hangs over them. By the time they stop for lunch it hasn’t improved any. James sits eating his food and glances from one to the other. Dave has sunk into another depression with anger seeming to be boiling under the surface. Jiron on the other hand appears his regular self, that is until he glances toward Dave. Then James notices a slight tightening around the eyes and a grim expression comes to him.
After their lunch break they once again forge their way along the path through the mountains. Near the midafternoon an enormous mountain to the north comes into view. Snow capped and rising high into the sky, it dominates everything around it.
“Would you look at that!” Miko breathes as they crest a ridge and the mountain comes into view.
“Impressive,” agrees James. It easily rises a thousand foot or more over that of any other peak.
The miner glances back to see the reaction the sight of the mountain has brought forth. Giving them a grin he says, “That’s Kiliticus, the king of all mountains. They say no mountain is taller in the world.”
A shiver runs through James as he looks to the mountain in the distance. “Would where we are going be at the base of that mountain?” he asks, mouth suddenly dry.
“Yes, it would,” the miner replies. “A small lake sits at its base and along its shores are the ruins.”
His voice catching in his throat, he asks, “Does the lake have a name?”
Shrugging, the miner says, “If it does I never heard it. Why?”
James glances around him and he can see what he’s thinking reflecting back in the eyes of the others. At the foot of the king, bathe in his cup.
“Ellinwyrd must have been meaning the mountain, not Ironhold,” Jiron says.
Nodding, James says, “Yes! That’s got to be it.” To the miner he asks, “How long until we get there?”
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