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Jiron draws forth both knives and begins fighting back. The creatures move so quickly he is having little effect. A shimmer forms around them as James creates his barrier to keep the creatures at bay. But it does little good, the creatures begin appearing within the barrier.

Jiron finally manages to impale one on his knife. The creature lets out a high pitched squeal then disappears. “James, do something!” he yells as his knives continue to dance, keeping the creatures away.

You have come, mage.

The light coming from the medallion keeps the creatures away from him, the effects of contact with it appears to hurt them. James stands transfixed by the figure at the other end of the corridor until one of the creatures braves the light from the medallion and scores on his right arm. Three lines of red, each several inches long burn like acid as blood begins to well. Then another scores on his leg, ripping the pant leg and baring the flesh beneath.

The tingling sensation spikes and he throws up a barrier to seal off the corridor between themselves and the figure in the hallway. Energy, massive energy strikes the barrier and shatters it. Then all of a sudden the air is free of the little creatures as they disappear all at once.

Jiron grabs him by the arm and hollers, “Come on!” Dragging him back down the corridor, they flee.

James glances back and sees two other cowled figures in the corridor next to the first one. Moving around the stationary figure, they make their way down the corridor toward the fleeing pair.

Running fast they return to the room with the raised dais. “Now what?” asks Jiron. From his position at the entrance to the corridor, he sees the cowled figures coming closer. The original one they encountered is now lost in the darkness.

“I don’t know,” admits James. Searching the walls, he prays to find a secret door or any other way in which to escape.

“How did we get here?” asks Jiron. “Think fast we don’t have much time.”

“Uh, we were fighting,” he says as he tries to recall just what happened. “We were struggling and then the ceiling fell in. Then suddenly we were here.”

“How!”

“How…” mumbles James as he tries to figure it out. From his position in the room, he can see the two figures coming closer. Glancing around the room, his eyes settle on the dais. The dais?

His skin crawls as the tingling sensation spikes. “Away from the opening,” he yells to Jiron.

Jumping backward behind the wall, he narrowly misses being struck by a flash of light which strikes the far wall with a sizzle. When it’s gone, they see the surface of the wall where the light hit now has a hole, six inches wide and three deep, eaten out of it.

“They’re almost here!” he cries.

James feels another spike in the tingling sensation and hollers, “Watch out!”

Jiron jumps to the side again but no attack materializes.

“Just what is going on here?” a deep male voice asks from behind them.

They both turn to see the armored figure of a warrior priest standing upon the dais. That’s it! Lashing out with a wave of magic, he catches the warrior priest completely by surprise. As the warrior priest is thrown backward off the dais to smash into the wall, James grabs Jiron.

“Now!” he yells. “Dive for the dais!”

They both jump and land on the dais at the same time. A momentary feeling of disorientation then they find themselves upon an identical dais sitting in a different, larger room. James immediately recognizes this place. They are in the underground temple they found on their way back from Saragon last year. But why did they come here of all places?

The room is large with two rows of three wide columns, each extending all the way to the ceiling. Between the two rows of columns lies an open area where four braziers form the points of a square. Fire burns in each giving ample light with which to see. The dais they find themselves upon sits in the middle of the square formed by the braziers.

“How is this possible?” Jiron asks as they get down from the dais.

“I have an idea,” says James.