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“I hope they don’t do anything,” wishes Miko as he glances to the surrounding hills.

“Wouldn’t think it likely until whatever they are waiting for arrives,” says Qyrll. “They seem content to watch us from a distance and as long as we continue as we are, I doubt if they will do anything.”

“Let’s hope not,” says James. “Tomorrow we’ll begin checking the mines and then if nothing is found, we’ll leave.”

From where Dave sits, he can hear him mumble, “Should leave now.” He glances over to his friend and only receives a glare in return. All day his mood has steadily deteriorated and James isn’t sure why.

When they’re done with the noon meal, they once again split into pairs as they search the few remaining buildings. So far, the miner Miko encountered the day before has yet to put in an appearance.

Miko and Jiron head off for a building which looks to have once been a temple of some sort, though now the years of disuse have turned it into a dilapidated building. Slightly askew on its foundations, it sits cocked to one side. The windows which at one time must have been beautiful lie shattered in the street.

Coming to the entrance, they find a pair of double doors. The one on the right sits closed, the one on the left has fallen off its hinges and lies across the front steps. Stepping carefully around the fallen door, they move inside.

It’s not a very large building, merely two stories high. The interior actually has a couple plants growing through the floorboards near one of the broken windows. Whatever furnishings it once had, have long been removed, most likely when the town was abandoned.

“Sad,” Miko says as they walk across the floor.

“Sad?” questions Jiron. “What makes you say that?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he replies. Glancing to him, Miko says, “The place depresses me. Do you think this could have been a church to James’ Morcyth?”

“Never know,” he says.

At the back of the temple they find two sets of stairs, one going up to the second floor and another leading down into darkness. Jiron glances to Miko and asks, “Up or down?”

“I’ll take up,” he says.

Jiron nods and turns to descend into the darkness.

On his way up the stairs, Miko is careful to make sure the steps will support him. On several different occasions over the last few days some of the buildings they’ve searched have been rotted, termites or other such insects having robbed the wood of its integrity.

He places his feet gingerly on each step before moving to the next. One step cracks and he immediately removes his foot. Stepping over the suspect step he continues up until finally reaching the upper rooms.

This area is smaller than the one below as most of the second floor is taken up by the upper reaches of the service area below. There are only three rooms here and he makes his way first into one and then another. The second room looks to have been living quarters of the priests, four beds are spaced evenly about the room. Two chests sit at either end of the room and he moves forward toward the one closest to him.

In the back of his mind he hears James telling him not to open chests as they may be booby trapped. He remembers that one occurrence in the swamp when a trap sent him flying across the room when it exploded in his face.

Disregarding James’ voice of caution, he continues toward it. I can’t imagine there would be anything dangerous with a chest here. Even though he feels that way, when he reaches it he slows down and hesitates a moment before reaching for the lid. Taking hold of it, he flings it open while at the same time jumping backward. The lid flies up, hits the wall behind it and then slams shut again.

Miko waits a moment and when nothing fatal happens, goes back over and opens the lid slowly. The inside of the chest is empty. He reaches in and feels around the sides and bottom but fails to feel anything which might indicate something hidden. Disappointed, he closes the lid and turns to walk over to the other chest.

As he moves across the room to the other chest, he looks at