Trail of the Gods_ The Morcyth Saga Book Four - Brian S. Pratt [131]
Aleya suddenly stands up, draws back her bow and lets fly an arrow. A soldier further up the hill cries out as the arrow impales itself in his side. “They’re coming!” she cries out as she draws back another arrow and lets fly.
Crumph!
The ground further up the hill by the advancing soldiers erupts, slowing the advance and filling the air with a great cloud of dust. “Come on!” James cries out as he extinguishes his orb and then works his way within the pile of fallen trees. The others follow and Aleya just clears the outer edge before soldiers begin racing past.
From their hiding spot, they see dozens of soldiers running past in pursuit. Holding still and remaining quiet, they pray the soldiers don’t think to look within the pile. After the last soldier disappears into the forest, they breathe a collective sigh of relief.
“Let’s give it a minute before we leave,” whispers Jiron. “Give them a chance to get further away.”
“Good idea,” says James. He sits there in a most uncomfortable position as they stare out at the forest, trying to ascertain if anyone is about. Aleya is between him and the outside, and again something doesn’t seem right.
Her hair is blowing as if in a slight breeze, but the pile they’re in should block any breeze from getting to them. He wets his finger and then holds it out to determine where the breeze is coming from. In amazement he realizes the breeze is blowing out from the rear of the pile. Which should be impossible as the rear of the pile is against the side of the mountain.
His orb springs to life and he looks closely at the far side of the pile. The stream is originating from there as well. Moving carefully, he starts working his way further to the rear of the pile.
“What are you doing?” Jiron asks as soon as he begins moving.
“Just wait here a sec,” he tells them. “I want to check something out.” Moving carefully so as not to disturb the integrity of the pile of trees, he makes his way further toward the back. After a few minutes of slow moving, his orb finally illuminates an opening, three feet in diameter, which is the source of the water. The breeze which had ruffled Aleya’s hair is also coming from there as well.
Making it to the opening, he holds his orb to allow the light to shine in and discovers the opening extends further back into the hill. The entire length his orb illuminates is a uniform three feet in diameter and the sides looks to have been bricked to hold their shape.
He goes back to the others and tells them what he’s found. “It looks like an outflow for an ancient sewer or maybe for drainage,” he explains. “There’s a breeze coming out of it as well, so that means there has to be another opening somewhere deeper within.”
Just then, another force of soldiers can be heard approaching and they hold still. Fifty soldiers move quickly down the hill, following the same route as their fellows had earlier. One of them lifts a horn and blows a staccato before they move out of sight.
“You sure it’s safe?” asks Aleya.
“No,” replies James. “And it might not lead anywhere, but it has to be better than being out there right now.”
“True,” agrees Jiron. He begins moving to the rear of the pile and says, “I’ll go first.” Coming to the opening, he takes James’ orb from him and gets on his hands and knees as he begins crawling in through the opening.
Once his feet have cleared the opening, James glances to Aleya and says, “Ladies first.”
“Whatever,” she replies as she gets on her hands and knees to follow Jiron. Positioning her bow and quiver on her back and out of the way, she enters the opening.
James waits until she’s disappeared into the tunnel before he too gets down and begins to enter.
Chapter Twenty Three
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“Jiron,” James says after they’ve crawled for several minutes.
“What?” he hears him reply from further