The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (55 page)

“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 points 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.