Trail of the Gods_ The Morcyth Saga Book Four - Brian S. Pratt [85]
The coldness of the water sucks the warmth from them rapidly. “If you get rid of the orb, maybe we’ll be able to see the light shining in through the exit.”
“I doubt if there’ll be any,” explains James. “It was almost dark when we first entered the old keep. And what with the rain, it’s unlikely there would be any moonlight.”
“That’s right,” he says.
“I’ll try though.” Suddenly, the orb disappears and they’re thrown into complete and utter darkness. The sound of the now distant waterfall and the splashing of Jiron’s feet lends an eeriness to the dark. Giving their eyes a chance to adjust to the dark, they look around but no light is forthcoming.
After being in the dark for ten minutes, James again creates the orb. His teeth are beginning to chatter, though not nearly as bad as the last time. If they don’t get out of this water, they’ll both be in trouble from hypothermia.
“There!” Jiron exclaims.”
“What?” asks James. “Where?”
“Over to our right,” he says. “I saw a light?”
James looks in that direction and says, “I don’t see anything.”
“I tell you I saw something,” he insists. “It was just a momentary flash, but it was there.”
“Then let’s check it out,” says James.
Kicking to angle their boar toward where he saw the flash, he propels them with renewed vigor at the prospect of being out of the water.
“There! I saw it too,” cries out James in gladness.
As they come closer, other flashes become apparent as well. Once they’re close enough for the light from the orb to illuminate the area, they discover the source of the flashes are several gems embedded in the side of the cavern.
“Gems!” exclaims Jiron.
Red, green and yellow stones of varying sizes sparkle in the orb’s light. “There must be a fortune here!” James says.
A slight rock outcropping from the wall runs along the water’s edge, allowing them to leave the water and follow it as they continue to hunt for the exit. It extends past the limit of the orb’s light in both directions. It isn’t very flat or stable looking, but it’s still better than being in the frigid water.
Jiron moves them close to the ledge and then helps James onto it before climbing up himself. A large red gem sparkles in the orb’s light near him. Taking out his knife, he pries out the gem and holds it up to the light. Glancing to James he says, “This might be the end of your worries about coins for the Ranch.”
Giving his friend a smile, he says, “I think you’re right. Let’s take some and get them appraised. If they’re worth a lot, we’ll come back from time to time and harvest more.”
“Wonder how many are here?” Jiron asks. He then proceeds to remove several more of varying size and color, each looking to be worth quite a bit.
“Don’t know,” admits James. Looking around at all the flashes of light outside the orb’s radius, he adds, “It looks like hundreds, maybe thousands.” A serious shiver hits him and he says, “But we need to get out of here.”
“I agree,” says Jiron. The boat has begun to float away from the wall. “Should we get back in the water or try to make it along the wall?”
The thought of going back into that iciness is more than he can bear. “I say wall,” he decides.
“Then let’s go,” says Jiron. “Which way?”
Pointing to their right, he says, “I think it would be down that way, though I’m not completely sure.”
Shrugging, Jiron says, “One way’s as good as another.” He leads the way as they carefully move along the uneven outcropping of rock. The footing is treacherous, sometimes there is very little for them to cling to and at times have to step into the water in order to continue onward.
James is finding it more difficult since he doesn’t have the use of his left arm to maintain a grip on the wall during the worst areas. But with Jiron’s help, he’s able to