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Three feet from the chest, the floor suddenly breaks open slightly and his foot crashes through. “Aaaaaahhhh!” he cries. Pain erupts from where his foot is wedged in between the broken boards.

“Jiron!” he screams. He tries to pull his foot out but that only increases his pain, the jagged edges of the broken planks are cutting into his skin. He starts to panic when he sees drops of blood begin to well from where the wood is imbedded into him. “Jiron!”

Down below in the basement, Jiron walks with a makeshift torch. He found a chair and broke it apart. Using one of its legs, he tied an old cloth around it and then used flint to strike a spark to light it.

The basement is fairly empty, some old boxes and crates. He rummages around for several minutes before he hears Miko’s cry from upstairs. Pulling a knife, he races back up the stairs to the ground floor then takes the steps leading to the second floor.

His foot hits the one step which Miko had bypassed before and it breaks in two beneath him. Losing his balance, his foot sinks through the step and he falls upon the stairs. The torch goes flying out of his hand as he stops himself and comes to land a few steps above him.

“Jiron, help me!” he hears Miko cry out again.

“Coming!” he hollers back. Pulling his foot out of the hole, he finds only a few scrapes on his calf and then gets to his feet. Stepping over the hole in the stairs, he picks up his torch and races the rest of the way to the top.

“Where are you?” he hollers as he reaches the top.

“In here!” Miko yells, a touch of fear in his voice.

Running down the hall, he bolts through the door to the room where Miko is stuck and comes to a stop as he sees him there. “What happened?” he asks as he sheathes his knife.

“The floor gave way and my foot’s trapped,” he explains. “Help me out of here will you?”

Grinning despite the gravity of the situation Jiron comes over to him. Miko’s leg is sunk into the floor to just below the knee and he takes note of the jagged edges biting into him. He puts out his torch so it won’t catch the building on fire and then kneels down next to him.

Blood is now flowing from a couple wounds. He tries to pull his leg out but that only drives the wood in deeper and elicits a cry of pain from Miko. “Don’t!” he cries.

Next he tries to push the boards away but that hurts just as bad. Not sure just what to do, he looks at Miko and says, “I need to get the others.”

A haunted look leaps to Miko’s face as he realizes Jiron is suggesting leaving him here alone. “Don’t leave me!” he exclaims.

“I don’t see that I have a choice,” he says. “I could get you out but not sure how much pain and damage I would cause in the process.” He gets to his feet, “I won’t be long.”

“Jiron,” Miko says pleadingly.

“I’ll be right back,” he says as he races from the room.

Taking the steps two and three at a time, he hits the bottom running and is soon out the front door, racing to where James and the others are searching. “James!” he hollers as he runs through the streets.

“James!” he cries again.

“What’s wrong?” Fifer asks as he and Qyrll dash around a corner to see what he’s yelling about.

“Miko’s hurt,” he says.

Just then James and Dave enter the street further down and run toward them. Uther and Jorry come running down a side street. “Where’s Miko?” James asks.

Turning back the way he came, Jiron says, “He’s hurt. His foot broke through the floor and it’s wedged in there pretty bad.” Breaking into a run, he leads them back to the old temple. “Need help to get him out.”

The others follow him as he races back down the street. When the temple appears down the road ahead of them, they see Miko being led out of the front by someone who looks just like the miner he mentioned seeing days before.

“Miko!” James cries.

The miner stops dead in his tracks and glances their way. He begins moaning and wailing as he reaches out toward them with one hand.

Jiron takes in the scene, Miko having his hands tied behind him