Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two (4 page)

“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.

_________________________

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!!!!!

The concussion of the blast knocks them down
and a giant plume of fire reaches toward the sky. Several buildings
surrounding the explosion begin to collapse from the sheer force of
the blast. The soldiers in the courtyard are knocked to the ground
and James can hear their cries of shock as they see the sky light
up with fire. Once they regain their feet, they race off toward the
sound of the explosion, leaving the courtyard empty.

“Damn!” Tinok says as he looks at the
fireball reaching to the sky.

“Let’s go,” James says in astonishment as he
races to the gates leading to the outside of the city. His legs are
a little shaky but are able to keep up the pace. Debris begins to
hail down upon them as they make for the gates, dirt and stones
falling from the sky pelt them as they cross the courtyard.

Delia cries out when a sizeable stone
strikes her in the left shoulder, knocking her to the ground.

Tinok comes to her aid. “Are you okay?” he
asks as he helps her to her feet.

“Not really, but I can make it,” she says
with determination as they hurry to follow after the others.

When they reach the gates, they discover
that there’s a section still missing, allowing easy access to the
outside. They hurry quickly through to the other side, where they
pause momentarily as they see men racing toward the city from all
over the countryside in response to the blast.

Staying close to the wall, they hide in the
shadows as they begin making their way away from the gates. Jiron
grabs James’ shoulder and says, “Look, over there.” He points to a
section of the enemy’s camp off to the south.

Scanning the direction Jiron’s indicating,
James sees several horses tied to a tree near a group of tents.
Fortune!
They’re all saddled. A large campfire
is burning in a pit near them, bathing the entire area in light.
They’ll have to make their way through some of the camp in order to
get to them.

“With everyone running to see what’s up in
the city,” Jiron says, “we should be able to get the horses with
little trouble.”