Shades of the Past_ Book Six of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [144]
James sits up and takes his orb in his hand. He notices Jiron looking at him with his hand out. Suddenly, another springs to life in Jiron’s hand.
“Thanks,” he says. “Just stay there and rest a moment if you need to, I’ll head down here and see where this leads.”
“Alright,” replies James from where he remains sitting with his back propped up against the wall. “Can’t be too far from the surface now.”
Jiron nods in agreement. “If we find a way out, let’s hope the mages have left,” he says. “Can you sense them?”
James concentrates for a moment then shakes his head. “Either they are far away or aren’t doing anything magical.”
“Good. If you can’t sense them, then they shouldn’t be able to sense you either.” Holding up the orb, he nods to it.
James just shrugs his shoulders.
“Be back in a second,” Jiron says as he proceeds down the hallway. Twenty feet from where he left James the right side of the hallway is blocked by dirt that spilled in through a window in the wall. He only pauses to examine the window for a moment then is about to move on when he feels a barely perceptible breeze.
Standing still, he works to ascertain from which direction the waft of air originated. He comes to realize it’s coming from the top left corner of the window. Holding aloft his orb, he inspects it closer and discovers a small opening in the dirt through which the air is moving.
After a quick glance back to where James sits with his orb on the floor next to him, he reaches up and pushes on the dirt surrounding the opening. It doesn’t take much pressure before the dirt begins falling away. He works at it until he has made an opening two feet in diameter.
Holding the orb behind him, he climbs higher on the mound of dirt and looks through. There’s a definite space on the other side of the window. When he dislodges more of the dirt, he can hear it fall down the other side. Excited, he hurries back to James.
James sees him running back toward him and gets to his feet. “What?” he asks.
Indicating back down the hallway with a nod of his head, he says, “Found a window that may lead somewhere. There’s a slight draft passing through from the other side.”
“A draft?” asks James in excitement.
“That’s right,” affirms Jiron.
“Let’s go check it out,” says James and then follows Jiron back to the mound of dirt and the window.
“See if you can widen it further,” he suggests when he sees the opening Jiron had made.
Stepping up to the window, Jiron takes a rock from the mound of dirt on the floor and begins striking the dirt packed in the window. Each strike dislodges more of the dirt. He keeps hammering at it until the left half of the window has been completely cleared.
“Toss the orb through and see what’s back there,” James says.
He moves to the opening and tosses the orb through. The light from the orb as it sails through shows a large open area, easily thirty feet across. As the orb strikes the far side, it begins to fall. It falls at least a hundred feet before splashing into a pool of water at the bottom.
Jiron turns from the window. “It’s pretty big,” he tells James. “The sides are just dirt. At the bottom lies a pool of water.”
“Water?” asks James. When Jiron nods affirmative, he adds, “The water may have eroded the dirt from the bottom up.” He takes his water bottle and gives it a shake. Hardly any left.
“We could use some of that water,” states Jiron.
“Can we make it down?” he asks.
“I’ll see,” he says. “Need another orb.” When one appears in his hand he again moves to the opening. Tossing it through, he watches the sides of the hole as the orb falls. A little over halfway down directly below the window is a two foot dirt ledge jutting out from the side of the wall. The hollow area grows dark again when the orb hits the water and sinks beneath its surface.
James cancels the orb as soon as he sees Jiron turn back from the window. “Well?” he asks.
“There’s a narrow ledge below