Tides of Faith: Travail of The Dark Mage Book Two (61 page)

At first James didn’t see what it was
that Miko was pointing at. Then the ground moved ever so slightly
as if something large lurked just beneath the surface.

“Is it that thing that took the hog?”
Miko asked.

“Haven’t a clue,” replied James,
“though that would be a good guess.”

Angling to the right, they gave that
area a wide berth. A few feet farther and they reached another
place where something lurked just beneath the surface. They paused
again. Scanning the immediate area, they notice several other
instances where the ground moved ever so slightly. James readied a
stone.

“Do you think that is
wise?”

“I would prefer not to be in the
middle of those things when they all decide dinner wandered into
their midst.”

“They may not notice us.”

“Yeah,” James replied, “and then
again, they might.”

Miko reached down and picked up a rock
the size of his fist. “Let me try something first.”

“Okay.”

Aiming for the nearest lurker, he
lobbed the stone and watched it land, bounce off, and roll as it
hit the ground. The lurker failed to so much as twitch.

Miko approached the lurker.

“Be careful,” James
cautioned.

Stopping within a couple feet, Miko
used his foot to gently scrape away the thin layer of dirt and
rocks covering it. He waved James over.

James got there just as the lurker
bowed out at the top as if something firm tried to push its way
out. For a brief second, the outward distention of the lurker
resembled a hog’s head.

“Did you see that?” James asked
incredulously.

“Yes I did.”

Turning to Miko, James asked, “What
did you see?”

“It looked like the body of the hog
was being drawn through the lurker. You?”

“Same.” James brushed off more of the
lurker’s dirt and rock covering. It was an off-brown, rough, and
every few seconds, a tremor would course through it from left to
right. Glancing left, James pointed and said, “So the stalker
brings the hog and drops it there. Then that other thing grabs it
and next we see it passing through here on its way to…”

He turned to the right, “To where the
Star is.” He glanced to Miko.

“Why?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” James
replied as he eyed what he was growing to believe was not a
creature lurking below to pounce on unsuspecting travelers. Rather
an intestine-like conveyance system through which stalker victims
were transported. Possible scenarios played out in his mind as to
what could be waiting for them at the end of the line.

“You look worried.”

Snapping out of his reverie, James
nodded. “I am. Let’s get the Star and get out of here.”

It became very clear that
the underground conveyance conduit they encountered was but one in
a labyrinthine network. The entire area was riddled with them
moving in every which direction. Most were right at or just below
the surface while others had their top layers exposed. One was
completely in the open. It looked like a very long worm that pulsed
periodically with rippling motions that started somewhere out in
the
Waste
, then
progressed to the central network area somewhere ahead.

The network of conveyance tubes paid
them no attention whatsoever and the number of stalkers had dropped
to almost nothing. Since first discovering the network below the
sands, James had only had to drop one.

Conveyance tubes began gradually
emerging from the ground the further they went. An inch or two at
first, they eventually rose until dozens laid nearly completely out
of the ground. The outer skin was leathery yet pliable. One climbed
off the ground and passed through a window in the side of a large
chunk of temple debris. James watched in horror as the bulge
indicating the passage of a victim moved through it. It hesitated
slightly upon reaching the window ledge, but then worked its way
over and vanished on the other side.

“Brother Willim’s people have their
work cut out for them.”

Miko nodded. “This cannot be allowed
to flourish.”

They continued forward, avoiding as
much direct contact with the conveyance tubes as well as working
through the debris field. Coming to a series of massive edifices,
they were forced to climb up one wall and through a doorway to
avoid having to climb upon the tubes. Miko gave James a boost
up.

Surprisingly enough, beyond the
doorway was a complete room with four walls, floor and ceiling, all
completely intact. In the wall opposite stood a wooden door; closed
and intact. If not for the fact that the room was tilted at an
angle, he could almost believe he was somewhere else.

Reaching down, he pulled Miko
up.

“What are the odds this room survived
like this?” James mused when Miko joined him in the
room.

“Very long I would imagine.” Then he
grinned, “But I bet Scar could put a point on it.”

James laughed. “I bet he
could.”

At the door, they found it
locked.

“I got this,” James said. Closing his
eyes, he concentrated on the door for a moment then opened his
eyes. “Okay.”

“Okay, what?”

James smiled and reached out. A gentle
shove caused a rectangular section of the door, one large enough
for them to pass through, to fall away.

“How did you do that?”

“A variation of my assassin spell,” he
explained. “If I can alter my shields to sever flesh, figured I
could do so with other material.” Then he glanced to Miko,
“Sectioning the door took more magic; must be due to the increased
density of wood versus flesh.”

“No prison could hold you.”

“Not anymore.”

Miko laid a hand on his shoulder.
“This is a fearsome ability.”

“And a weighty responsibility. I dare
not allow the idea that this is possible to get out.”

About to reply, Miko stepped to the
opening in the door and gasped. “Oh, my,” he breathed and stepped
through.

From the doorway the stone floor
stretched four feet before coming to a jagged end. But it was not
the prospect of climbing down that had caused such a reaction.
Rather it was the large pit not fifty yards from where they stood.
Had they been on the ground with all the tubes and chunks of debris
in the way they may not have seen it until right on top of
it.

The pit itself was at least
a hundred feet across, maybe more. A massive structure formed of
the same material as the tubes rose from the center of the pit to
tower over twenty feet above the desert; its lower end disappeared
within the depths of the pit. Two stalks, identical to those upon
the stalkers only much larger extended from the very top. Radial
anchor lines secured the structure to the sides of the pit. Scores
of tubes coming in from every part of the
Waste
connected to six extremely
large tube sections extending from the central edifice at radial
intervals.

“What is that?”

James shook his head. He watched the
approach of a tell-tale bulge. It traveled along until reaching one
of the six large primary tubes extending from the structure rising
from the pit. There it passed through and disappeared.

“Please tell me the Star is not at the
bottom of that pit.”

Miko closed his eyes and listened to
the Star; then he turned to James. The expression on his face said
it all.

“Damn.”

“How should we proceed?”

Gazing to the sun that was already
dipping past noon, James said, “Whatever we do, we need to do it
now.”

Miko nodded but remained
quiet.

“Okay, we go in, get the Star then
destroy that thing.”

“Should not be too hard.”

James turned to Miko and saw the
grin.

“Yeah. Piece of cake.”

“Tart.”

“What?”

“I like tarts more than
cake.”

James rolled his eyes. “Now is not the
time to be funny.”

“Sorry.”

“Now, am I correct in assuming that
once you get your hands on the Star, that you will be able to take
that thing down?”

“Possibly.”

“What do you mean,
possibly?”

“What I mean is, is that Morcyth does
not allow wanton destruction of the natural order,” he
explained.

James pointed to the structure rising
from the pit. “Do you call that natural?”

Miko shrugged. “It matters not if you
or I consider such a thing as unnatural. What matters is if Morcyth
does.”

“So we might find our lives in
jeopardy and the Star remain impotent?”

“I did not say that,” Miko argued.
“There is a difference between destruction for the sake of
destruction, and destruction in the interest of saving a life.
Should I come across a rhino-lizard that is non-aggressive, I could
not use the Star to kill it. However, if it was charging me, I
could.”

“That’s splitting hairs.”

“Gods do not always make sense. As
high priest, I must endeavor to fulfill the desires of my god
whether or not I understand them, agree with them, or even if it
should mean my life.” He eyed James carefully. “Do you understand
that?”

Grudgingly, he said, “Yes.”

“But take heart. Morcyth has yet to
let us down. He will be there should the situation call for
it.”

“I hope so.”

From their vantage point, they scouted
for a route to the pit that would enable them to avoid climbing
over incoming tubes. Best they could do was one where only two had
to be crossed. Jumping off the end of the broken floor, they
carefully made their way to the first tube.

James crossed first. He put his hands
against the side of the tube and could feel its subtle vibration.
Pushing slightly, he backed up quickly in case his action elicited
a reaction. The tube remained dormant.

“Perhaps get a running start,” Miko
suggested.

“Good idea.”

Hoping to do better than he had in gym
class when they were forced to do the pommel horse, he ran forward
and leapt with hands outstretched. They connected with the top of
the tube, slid and he impacted the side with his entire
weight.

The side bowed in nearly a third of
the way.

“Get back!” Miko hollered.

Afraid he had waked it up or
something, he lurched back.

Ripples coursed along the tube from
his point of impact. He looked on in worry as they coursed their
way toward the big, main tube to which it connected. The ripple
struck it and dissipated. By this time the bowed in section had
already fixed itself.

He and Miko looked about the area for
incoming trouble and breathed a sigh of relief when none
materialized.

Miko turned to him, grinned and said,
“Nice.”

“Think you can do better?”

“I can but try.”

Six quick steps, Miko leapt, hands
landed firmly and he leveraged himself over without any other part
of his body touching the tube. He stumbled upon landing and fell;
which made James feel better for some reason. The tube only showed
the barest hint of bowing in.

Once Miko regained his feet, James
tried it a second time. This time he didn’t try to vault over.
Instead he threw himself bodily on top of it; his weight collapsing
the tube to nearly half its regular diameter. He then rolled and
scrambled off the other side.

“Well, that wasn’t so bad,” he
said.

A small popping sound drew his
attention back to the tube. Where he had belly-whomped, green ichor
oozed from a small crack. The crack grew in size as the tube pushed
back to regain its former shape. As the crack grew, so too did the
flow of green ichor.

“Uh-oh.”

“Get back,” Miko warned.

James back-stepped until he came
abreast of Miko.

The crack grew to several inches
before small tendrils emerged, tendrils very much like those that
had earlier gripped the hog before it was taken. They intertwined
with each other and had the crack mended and the flow of green
ichor staunched in short order.

Miko glanced to James. “We should be
more careful in the future.”

James just glared at him.
“Come on, there’s one more to cross.”
Then
it should get interesting
, he added
silently to himself.

The next tube proved slightly easier.
Having done it once, James knew better what to do. This time he
didn’t belly-whomp, rather he did more of a high jump. He leapt,
his feet coming up until he was almost horizontal at the point
where he reached the top of the tube. His back did hit the top of
the tube, but rolling off quickly prevented such a sizeable
indentation as he made the last time.