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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.

He works his way through until he reaches the far side. As he exits the crevice, Jiron points out the two exits. James takes a moment to inspect the delicate carvings on the walls but can’t discern any sort of drawings or picture. Kind of reminds him of wallpaper you might find in a doctor’s office, just something used to break up the plainness of the wall.

“Check the one on the right,” James says, pointing to the one that’s closed. “I’ll check the other.” Moving across the room to the open door, he can’t get the memory of his grandmother’s cinnamon rolls out of his mind. Each time he thinks his stomach growls again. It’s been so long since he’s had food from home, he didn’t realize how much he misses it.

Reaching the door, he opens it further to find a hallway clear of debris extending away from it. Glancing back to where Jiron looks to be working on the lock of the other door, he decides to see where this goes while Jiron is busy.

Holding his orb high, he passes through the doorway and enters the hallway. Not far down he comes to another door on the right.

“Ahhh!”

Back in the other room, Jiron cries out in surprise then the sound of a thud echoes down the hallway. “James!” he cries out.

Racing back down the hallway, he pulls a slug out of his belt and has it ready when he runs into the room. Jiron stands with his shoulder against the door. “What’s wrong?” he asks. Crossing the room quickly, he comes to his side.

“There’s something on the other side of this door,” he says.

Alarmed, James asks, “What is it?”

“A headless torso,” he replies. “Just like one of those we encountered back in the swamp.”

Not even wanting to think of the ramifications if those things are wandering around down here with them, he pulls out the medallion bearing the Star. He holds it before him and says to Jiron, “Open the door.” The last time they encountered these things, the Star had blazed forth and destroyed the undead creatures. “Better to deal with this now than run the risk of it joining with others.”

Nodding, Jiron takes hold of the handle of the door with one hand while he draws a knife with the other. “Ready?” he asks. When he receives an affirmative nod from James, he yanks open the door.

Braced for immediate attack, James is surprised when the door swings wide and reveals nothing but an empty corridor. He glances to the medallion in his hand which has remained quiet, no light emanates from it.

Jiron looks at the empty hallway in surprise, then bolts down it in search of the creature. “It may have moved away,” he exclaims.

James follows after and keeps one eye on Jiron and another on the Star which has remained quiescent.

The hallway doesn’t extend very far before they reach an area where it has collapsed and the way is impassable. “It was here!” Jiron exclaims.

“Are you sure you weren’t imagining it?” asks James.

“No,” insists Jiron. “I opened the door and