Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (43 page)

True, there is the flight of stairs leading
down further beneath the desert. But whether that will yield a way
out is anyone’s guess.

An hour passes while James sleeps. Figuring
they need to begin working their way out of this predicament, Jiron
finally gets up and nudges him awake.

Snapping awake quickly, James is at first
disoriented but then realizes where they are. He looks to Jiron and
asks, “Are they still watching the way we came in?”

“Yes,” he says.

“And they haven’t made any move to follow
after us?” he asks.

“Not so far,” Jiron replies.

“That’s not good,” mumbles James.

“Why?”

James cocks his head to the side and looks at
Jiron for a moment before replying. “First ask yourself why would
they pursue us all this way and then stop when they were so close
to victory?”

Shrugging, Jiron says, “Maybe they feel we
will have no choice but to come out the way we came in. Why would
they risk it?”

“Think about it,” insists James. “They could
easily enough collapse this whole area and squash us like bugs. Why
haven’t they?”

Jiron starts to answer then stops. He
remembers how readily James had been able to do similar feats in
the past when the situation called for it. “I see what you mean,”
he finally says.

“There has to be a reason that’s keeping them
out and making them unwilling to destroy this place.”

“Maybe it’s holy?” he suggests. “Or taboo in
some way?”

“Let’s hope that’s the reason,” says
James.

“Right,” nods Jiron. “Could also be they’re
afraid to disturb this place.”

“In which case, our being here is not a good
thing,” states James.

“Then let’s get out,” Jiron says. “I found
stairs further down the hallway that lead down.”

“Do they go anywhere?” asks James.

“Didn’t look,” he explains. “But there was no
sand blocking them, so maybe.” Indicating the room they originally
entered from he says, “It has to be better than going that
way.”

“Let’s hope so,” says James. He then works to
get to his feet, his injured wrist still throbbing.

Jiron takes the lead as they head down the
hallway to the stairs. Once past the doorway choked with sand,
James moves to the stairs and shines the orb’s light down into the
opening.

The stairs are made of stone and look to have
weathered the passage of time. Jiron notices his hesitation. “It’s
the only way,” he says.

“I know,” replies James. It’s just that
something about all this bothers him if for no other reason than
the mages above have done nothing other than watch the opening
since they came in here. Sighing, he says, “Lead on.”

Jiron moves to the top of the stairs and
begins the descent into the darkness below. With James following
several steps behind, he works his way around the winding stair
until it opens up onto another passage that looks to have once ran
to the right and left. The left side passage has collapsed leaving
them the option of taking the right or continuing to descend
further.

Glancing back to James, he receives a nod to
the right. Leaving the stairs Jiron begins working his way along
the passage. Motion from up ahead gives him a start until he
realizes it’s only a scorpion scurrying across the floor. Taking a
breath to calm his nerves, he continues on.

The doorways they come across are either
collapsed or choked with sand. When they reach the end of the
hallway, they discover the wall ahead broken. A jagged crack
roughly two feet wide runs from the floor to the ceiling. Taking
the orb, Jiron inspects the opening.

When the light shines through, it reveals a
narrow open area. The area tapers to a small hole barely large
enough for a man to crawl through. He moves aside and lets James
look. “What do you think?” he asks. “Should we chance it?”

“I don’t know,” he says after looking at the
small crawlspace they will have to go through. “I would hate to get
trapped in something like that.”

“So would I,” agrees Jiron. “Better try the
stairs.” With an agreeing nod from James, they return to the stairs
leading further beneath the desert.

As before, the stairs wind around until they
come to the next level where they end. The hallway it opens out on
is nearly blocked by the collapse of the ceiling. A section of the
ceiling sits askew, one end braced against the floor and the other
against the side of the hallway. Beneath is a small crawlspace
large enough for them to pass through.

“Stay here,” Jiron says as he gets down on
his hands and knees. Having to practically scrape his stomach along
the floor, he wriggles his way through.

James watches his feet disappear in the
opening and then listens to him as he works his way through.

“I’m through,” Jiron’s voice finally comes
back to him. “It’s a crawl of about six feet before you clear the
rubble.”

“Okay, I’m coming through,” announces James
as he gets down and starts crawling through the opening. There
isn’t much room and he feels like his back is being scraped raw.
The light from the orb Jiron’s carrying reveals the other end of
the blockage which gives him the impetus to continue. His wrist
throbs from the struggle to crawl but he perseveres.

“It looks like this hallway continues further
down,” Jiron states as James’ head appears from out of the
crawlspace.

Making it through, he gets to his feet. “You
okay?” Jiron asks.

“Does it matter?” he asks as pain radiates
across his back from where the stone scraped it. “Lead on.”

Jiron glances at the way he’s favoring his
hand then turns to continue down the hallway. They don’t travel far
before an opening appears on their left. When they reach it they
discover a small room. A quick survey reveals nothing and they
continue on.

The hallway continues for several more yards
before they reach the end. Here they find a gaping hole where the
end of the hallway had once been. Letting the light of the orb
shine through, they see a drop of about fifteen feet.

What looks to be the side of another building
rests against the one they are in no more than two feet above the
jagged opening, creating an open space below. A window lies
directly before them in the other wall and is packed with dirt.
Again, they wonder what happened here.

“After you,” Jiron says.

James again looks over the drop to the ground
below. “That’s quite a ways,” he observes.

Jiron holds out his hand and says, “Take my
hand and I’ll lower you over the side. That should leave only
several feet for you to drop.”

Nodding, James gets down on the floor then
turns and lowers his feet over the side. Before his stomach goes
over the edge, he takes Jiron’s hand in his good one and pushes
himself over the edge.

His left hand isn’t as strong as his right
and continuously feels as if he’s going to lose his grip. But Jiron
maintains a firm grip as he lowers James down the side of the
building. Once he’s been lowered as far as Jiron can reach, Jiron
says, “I’m going to let go, brace yourself.”

James gives him a nod and then all of a
sudden, Jiron lets go. He hits the uneven ground and stumbles
slightly before regaining his balance. “Made it,” he yells up to
Jiron.

“Good,” comes the reply. “Here, catch.” The
orb sails through the air and James grabs it before it hits the
ground.

Looking up, he watches as Jiron swings his
legs over the edge and lowers himself as far as he can before
letting go. Landing much more gracefully than James, he’s soon
standing next to him.

Increasing the luminosity of the orb, they
see the area beneath the wall extends in both directions. The one
to the right appears slightly less rubble filled than the other.
Figuring one way is as good as another, they go in that
direction.

The follow the gap provided by the leaning
wall, every twenty feet or so another window appears in the wall
above them. Every one is clogged with dirt and has a matching mound
of dirt directly below it on the ground.

Thirsty, James takes out his water bottle and
discovers that he only has half a bottle left. Taking a small sip,
he returns the bottle to his belt. “You have any water left?” he
asks.

Checking his water bottle, Jiron replies,
“Little over half. You?”

“About the same,” he says. Water could be a
problem if they don’t get out of here soon.

After passing two more dirt clogged windows
above their heads, they find one that’s free of dirt. They pause
beneath it as James tries to shine the light from the orb into the
opening. “I think there may be a way through here,” he
observes.

“Looks like it,” Jiron replies. He glances to
where the area they’ve been following continues further into
darkness. “Should we continue down or try the window?”

“Continue down,” decides James. “If the rest
of the windows have been filled with dirt, it isn’t likely we’ll
get too far that way.”

“You may be right,” agrees Jiron. Casting one
last look up into the opening, he turns and resumes leading the
way.

Not far past the open window, large blocks of
stone stand in their way from where the wall that had been their
ceiling had broken. Dirt fills most of the passage, leaving only a
narrow gap beneath two large stones resting against each other. The
gap is large enough to allow a man to pass, barely.

“Well?” asks Jiron coming to a stop. “What do
you think?”

James eyes the gap with reluctance. He moves
to the edge of the gap and holds his orb so the light shines into
it. “It extends further than the light will show,” he says. Turning
back to Jiron he adds, “Might be alright.”

Jiron moves to his side and takes the orb. He
then squeezes in between the two stones and begins working his way
through.

Another orb springs to life on James’ hand.
He stands there at the opening and watches as Jiron makes his way
through the gap. As he stands there, his stomach grumbles with
hunger. He takes out some dried beef from his pack and chews on it
while he waits.

Just before he takes his second bite, he
catches the scent of fresh baked bread. The aroma makes his stomach
cramp even further.
Can’t be,
he thinks as he takes his
second bite. As he chews he sniffs the dried beef but it just
smells like dried beef. Thinking his imagination is playing with
him, he continues watching Jiron’s progress.

Then the smell comes again, this time with a
hint of cinnamon. Holding aloft his orb he glances around, trying
to figure out where the mouthwatering aroma is coming from. He
finally determines it’s emanating from the passage they just came
down.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he
begins moving back down the passage as the aroma leads him on. It
gradually grows in intensity until he reaches the open window they
passed under before. Once he passes by the window, the strength of
the aroma begins to diminish. Retracing his steps, he realizes the
mouthwatering aroma is coming from somewhere on the other side of
the window. Stopping just below, he gazes up and tries to see what
lies further beyond the window.

Reaching the far side of the passage, Jiron
comes to an open area. Easily a hundred feet wide and two hundred
long, it looks to have been the interior of some important building
at one time. All four walls are still standing and each shows
delicate carvings that the builder had used for embellishment.

Glancing to the roof, he finds most of that
is intact except for one of the corners where the side of another
building had smashed into it. The roof there had caved in revealing
the wall of the building that struck it. A pile of broken stones
lies below the impact site. He scans the room and discovers two
doors, one to the right and one to the left. The door to the right
is closed but the one on the left stands ajar.

“James!” he hollers back through the crevice.
“I’m through, come on.” He waits a moment but no answer is
forthcoming. “James!” he shouts again. When James again fails to
respond, he curses and reenters the crevice to work his way back
through.

Exiting from the other side, he’s dismayed to
find James gone. “James!” he yells and begins running back down the
passage. A knife leaps into his hand as he starts to fear the
worst. He slows when he sees the light from James’ orb ahead of
him. Illuminated by the orb’s light, he sees James standing there
looking up into the window above him.

“James!” Jiron hollers. “You had me
worried.”

James ignores him and continues to stare up
at the window.

“James?” Jiron asks. Coming closer, he looks
up at the window to see what is so interesting but only sees
darkness.

When he lays a hand on James’ shoulder James
asks, “Don’t you smell it?”

“Smell what?” He definitely doesn’t smell
anything other than the earth around them and their own unwashed
bodies.

“My grandmother’s cinnamon rolls,” he tells
him.

“No, I don’t smell anything,” replies Jiron.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Taking him by the shirt, he pulls
James along.

“But…” begins James and the mouthwatering
aroma which had been so strong quickly disappears.

“But nothing,” he says as he continues
dragging him along.

With stomach growling, he follows Jiron back
to the crevice. “Man, that was so real,” he states.

“When you’re hungry, you can imagine all
sorts of tasty smells,” observes Jiron.

“I can believe that,” he says.

“Follow me,” Jiron says as he enters the
opening. “It isn’t far.”

“Right behind you,” James assures him. Once
Jiron has entered the crevice and moved far enough to allow him to
follow, he pauses a moment and glances back down the passage.
Sighing, he enters the opening.