Part 36 (1/2)

”Jiron!” he screams and then throws the orb. Dodging to the side, he closes his eyes as he sends a burst of magic causing the orb to explode in a blinding flash.

The scaly head strikes the wall where he had been but a second before. James is struck by the side of the monster's head and gets knocked from the wall. ”Jiron!” he yells again as he plummets toward the water below.

”James!” he hears Jiron shout from above. ”What's happening?”

He reaches out and grabs hold of the neck of the monster to slow his fall. Even with that he hits the water hard, his breath knocked out of him. Kicking his feet, he moves out of the way just as the head hits the water.

The impact of the head causes him to be propelled by the surge of water toward the side of the underground lake. Kicking and swimming furiously, he makes the edge and pulls himself up onto the ground. Turning onto his back, he sees the creature's head silhouetted by the light coming through the window from above, rearing up for another strike. Rolling to the right, he barely avoids being caught by the razor sharp teeth.

Getting to his feet, he quickly creates another orb and finds that the sh.o.r.e of the small lake extends further around the water. Running, he flees the monstrous creature and lets out with magic...

Crumph! Crumph!

...and the ground explodes upward in front of the creature.

Rearing backward and letting out with another bone rattling roar, the creature halts for a brief moment allowing James to flee further along the sh.o.r.e.

”Jiron!” he cries out as he races along the water's edge. The ground trembles as the creature leaves the water to pursue him. A ma.s.sive body with four strong legs and a long tail trailing behind, it looks just like a dinosaur.

Crumph!

Letting out with another explosion, he slows the creature down. Looking ahead desperately for a way out, he finds the water continues until it reaches the edge of a building. As the building becomes more illuminated by the orb's light he discovers the sh.o.r.eline, and thus his avenue of escape, ends at the side of the building.

Glancing back, he sees the creature again pressing forward to attack. Desperate for a way out, he edges closer to the water. Scanning the area once again for any sign of a way out, he notices the water lapping at the edge of the building and that the ground beneath the wall has been eroded away by the water.

With no time to determine if the eroded area extends very far, he runs and dives into the water. Swimming quickly, he reaches the building's edge. Just then, the water swells when the creature enters after him. Praying he's right, he takes a breath and dives again under the water.

Using his hand for a guide, he swims under the stone of the building. The stone above him extends for what seems like a long distance before his hand comes to the end of the stone. Kicking to the surface, his head breaks through to open air and he takes a ragged breath.

Heart pumping, he creates another orb and finds that he's in the corner of a large room. Over time, the water had eroded the ground out beneath the foundation causing the floor to fall away and drop below the surface. Reaching out a hand, he takes hold of the edge of the floor and quickly leaves the water.

Once out, he moves away from the edge and watches to see if the creature will follow. The opening isn't very large so he hopes it will decide against it. When all remains quiet for several minutes, he sighs with relief that the creature isn't going to follow.

Then it hits him. He's all alone. How will Jiron follow and catch up with him while that creature is out there? Even Jiron's prowess with the knives will be of little use against such a ma.s.sive creature.

He sits there a moment and takes stock of the situation. They're both still alive and will both be working to get out of here. He seriously doubts if Jiron will even think about trying to follow the way he went.

The room he's in is rather large, the ceiling rises up at least two stories. As all other rooms they've come across, this one is bare of any furniture or anything else that would indicate what its purpose once was. On the far side of the room lies a closed door, the only way to go other than the one he used to enter. He hopes Jiron can either find him or a way to the surface.

Crossing the room to the door he takes the handle and pulls. He has to exert a lot of pressure to get it to swing open into the room. Beyond lies a hallway leading further into the building.

James takes the orb in hand and pa.s.ses through the door, holding it high to better see what lies ahead. He moves down the hallway until he the light from the orb reveals a door ahead that's slightly ajar. As he nears the door he stops when it appears as if a faint, dark light is coming through from the other side. Canceling his...o...b..he sees that there is indeed a dark light coming through the doorway, and it's pulsating.

Stepping softly, he moves to the opening and peers around the door. ”Unbelievable,” he says under his breath. ”I know this place.” In one of the campaigns he designed for role playing, he devised a room almost identical to this one.

In the center of the room is a pulsating purple sphere of light that's twice the height of a man. Lightning crackles through it from one side to the other. Empty cages line the side of the room to the right and to the left stands an altar.

Sitting on top of the altar is a four armed, twisted, humanoid creature which in the campaign he designed was the representation of the cult's G.o.d. No one appears to be in the room. He stands there and watches for a minute to be sure the room is empty. A doorway lies on the wall between two of the empty cages with another across the room from where he stands in the hallway, both are closed. When no one makes an appearance, he opens the door further and walks in.

The pulsating sphere gives off a malevolent aura and if it's like the one he made, will lead to the plane where the G.o.d rules. Not wis.h.i.+ng to test that particular theory, he gives the sphere a wide berth as he walks around it toward the altar where the G.o.d's statue sits.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he wonders if there's a hidden compartment in the belly of the statue same as the one in his campaign. If there is, you pull the top left and bottom right arms down at the same time to open it. He realizes it's sheer folly to tempt fate but he just has to know.

Stepping to the altar he takes hold of the two arms and pulls them both down at the same time. They both rotate down smoothly and the belly of the statue pops open. Within lies a ring. Now in his campaign, this had been a ring of three greater wishes and was guarded by a deadly trap. If everything has been the same so far, so must the trap.

Taking the statue in both hands, he rotates it upon the altar clockwise until it has come full circle. Once it rests in the same position again, he rotates the two arms back to their original position. Now, the trap should be nullified. If he's wrong, he's dead.

Hesitantly reaching out for the ring, he lays one finger on it and braces himself. Nothing happens. Breathing a sigh of relief, he takes out the ring and holds it up. Grinning in satisfaction, he contemplates whether he should use it. Of course there's no guarantee that it will do the same thing as the ring in his campaign. Also, he remembers how he used to try to come up with the worst possible results when people wished for things. If they misspoke, disastrous things would happen.

One time when Dave had found a ring, he wished for a million gold pieces. So of course he had a million gold pieces appear, only problem was that they were fused together. Too heavy to carry, he was forced to leave all that gold behind. Grinning at the memory, he grows sad that Dave is gone. Dave had always been a good friend.

Suddenly, his attention is drawn to the sphere as pulsation increases in intensity. Static electricity crackles and a bolt of lightning surges out of the altar, narrowly missing him as it flies past. Striking the pulsating sphere, a deafening boom resonates within the room and then a figure steps from the sphere.

Slipping the ring into his belt pouch, he moves to the edge of the altar and hunches down, hoping against hope that he won't be discovered. It's too far to make a dash un.o.bserved to one of the doors.

As the first figure leaves the sphere, another emerges behind him, then one more after that. The first figure is an exact replication of the idol on the altar except it only has two arms. It's wearing a robe and has the bearing of a priest. The second figure is a human male and has his arms tied behind his back. The third figure is another of the priests and is holding a tether tied to the human's throat.

They walk across the room to the cells and the first one produces a key. Unlocking one of the cell doors, he steps aside while the man's bonds are removed and is then pushed inside. When the cell door clangs shut, the man turns to grip the bars of the cell door and rests his forehead against them.

James' heart freezes within his chest when the man turns around. His mind has a hard time crediting what his eyes are showing him. There in the cell stands his friend Dave. Looking the worse for wear, he's still wearing the same clothes he last saw him in on that fateful trek from Ironhold.

The two priests turn to move toward the altar. Rage billows forth and James lashes out with a ma.s.sive magical attack. Realizing their danger too late, the priests fail to react quickly enough and feel the full force of the blow. Picked up off the ground, they're slammed into the wall. Falling to the ground, they hit the floor and remain motionless.

”James!” cries out Dave as the two priests. .h.i.t the wall.

Rus.h.i.+ng over to his friend, James states, ”I thought you were dead.”

Dave stares into his eyes and asks, ”Is that what Jiron told you?”

Shaking his head, he replies, ”No. We interrogated one of the enemy soldiers and he told us what happened.”

”Whatever he told you was a lie,” he says.

”Obviously,” states James. Moving over to the dead priests, he searches their robes until he locates the key to the cell. Returning to the cell, he unlocks the door.

”Is Jiron with you?” Dave asks.

”He was. We got separated,” explains James. ”Why?”

Dave remains silent for a moment before replying. ”He's one of them,” he finally says.

”What?” exclaims James. ”That's impossible. He's saved my life on more than one occasion.”

”I know it may have appeared that way,” his friend says. ”But when I left the cave with the Star, he came too. I saw him talking with the mage before returning to you and the others.”

”No,” argues James. Shaking his head, he says, ”I can't believe that.” Too many times has Jiron been there for him. For him to be an agent of the Empire is too mind-boggling for him to come to grips with.