The Star of Morcyth_ Book Five of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [161]
The ruins are the size of a small village. There’s even evidence of a dock which had once extended out upon the water, small pilings protrude from the water. All the buildings are moss covered and overgrown with vegetation. Many of the buildings have plants growing within their interiors, as well as a few trees growing right through what used to be the roofs of two of them.
Jiron scans the area for any dangers, but doesn’t find any. The only danger he feels they’re likely to find would be some large predator that may have made one of these buildings its own.
James flies around the dilapidated buildings until finally arriving at the large structure in the middle. He brings his horse to a stop near the front entrance and dismounts just as Jiron arrives next to him.
“You shouldn’t run headlong into unknown territory like that,” chides Jiron as he gets down from his horse. The others arrive and begin dismounting shortly after.
“Sorry,” apologizes James. “I just got caught up in the moment.”
The building before them has to have been a temple at one time. No statues or other adornment are visible but the feel of the place brings them to that conclusion. The front doors are closed tight and blazoned upon each is the Star of Morcyth.
“This is it,” breathes James. Excitement rising like an irresistible tide, he steps forward toward the three steps leading up to the doors. Jiron moves to go around him but he lays a hand on his arm and says, “Not this time.”
Jiron nods and allows James to be the first to enter.
James takes the steps to the door with the others following close behind. Hand trembling in anticipation, he reaches out and takes hold of the door handle. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he turns the handle and opens the door.
The ravages of time have not spared this building either. The door opens several inches before stopping. Turning back to the others, he says, “Feels like there’s something blocking it.”
“Push harder,” Uther suggests just as Jorry asks, “Need any help?”
Turning back to the door, he shoves hard with his shoulder and the door suddenly bursts into the room. Something hits him in the leg, a little sapling is growing before the door and had snapped back after the door was pushed over it. “Just a tree,” he says to the others.
Inside the building, one of the large windows has been broken out and a pile of leaves as well as other dead vegetation lie beneath it from where the wind deposited them over the years. The room he walks into is a large central meeting area. It looks nothing like any church or temple he’s been in before. This may have served as more than just a meeting place to worship Morcyth.
Tables and chairs are situated about the room, many having fallen prey to insects and lie rotted upon the floor. Off to one side is what has to be the altar. It’s made of wood and shows the wear of time as everything else does.
Jiron makes his way toward it and asks, “Doesn’t this look familiar?”
James comes over and takes a closer look. It’s a roughly four foot high pedestal with a small platform atop it. Upon closer examination, the platform has the Star of Morcyth engraved within it. Glancing back to Jiron he shakes his head, “No, I can’t place it.”
“It’s the same as the one we found back in the City of Light when we first met,” he explains.
“Right, under your hideout,” he says. Now it comes to him. When he and Jiron first met, they ended up having to flee through an underground secret passage which the medallion had opened. There they found a room with a marble pedestal with a crystal platform on top similar to this one. Only that one, instead of having the Star of Morcyth engraved within it, had an open space within it in the shape of an inverted pyramid.
He reaches up and tries to remove the platform but it is an integral part of the altar and doesn’t budge. The one in the City of Light had revealed a secret door when removed. He tries putting the Star