Trail of the Gods_ The Morcyth Saga Book Four - Brian S. Pratt [93]
“This must be Saragon,” states Jiron.
“I would tend to agree,” adds James.
Coming to a halt at the top of a hill overlooking the town, they scan the horizon for enemy forces. Between them and the town lies an encampment of several hundred men, riders can be seen going from one point to another.
“I sure hope you can find that entrance,” Jiron tells him. “I don’t think we would have much luck making it past all those men.”
Nodding in agreement, James indicates they should get down off the hill before they’re spotted. Moving back down to the bottom, he dismounts. Jiron follows suit.
“The man said the entrance was two miles to the north of Saragon, hidden in amongst a pile of stones by the river,” he says. “I would think that other river over there would be the one he mentioned. The one we’ve been following is more to the west.”
“That would stand to reason,” he says. “Maybe we should leave the horses here and work our way through the hills over to the river.”
“In broad daylight, that’s going to be chancy,” James replies. “But sitting here for hours would be just as bad.” Walking his horse over to a nearby tree, he secures the reins to it. Jiron brings his over and secures it as well.
“If we keep between the hills,” Jiron says, “I think we might be able to get over there without being spotted.”
“Let’s do it quickly then,” says James.
Jiron nods as he heads out with James right behind. It’s a couple miles of hills they have to work through in order to reach the river. Keeping low, they’re able to cross the distance within an hour while remaining unseen.
At the river, they look with chagrin at a stretch of broken stone over two hundred yards long. “We’ll never find it!” exclaims Jiron.
“We don’t have a choice,” insists James. “Let’s start looking, most likely we’ll find it at the base of a hill or among some trees.”
Nodding, Jiron says, “That does narrow the scope down some.”
Getting busy, they begin combing the area, concentrating mainly within the parameters set up: within a couple yards of the river, by a hill or among some trees. “I think I found it!” exclaims Jiron after a half hour of searching.
James looks over and sees him at the base of a hill that looks as if it had collapsed sometime in the past. Several trees and bushes have overgrown the area, masking the entrance. He goes over to where Jiron stands next to a large boulder.
“I can feel air moving from behind here,” he tells James as he joins him.
James checks it out and sure enough, he can smell the musky odor of the earth coming from behind the large boulder. “Can we move it?” he asks, indicating the boulder.
“I would think so,” Jiron replies. Putting his shoulder against it, he begins to push as James adds what strength he can from his one good arm. The other one has steadily improved, but remains too tender to allow him to use it for this.
The boulder begins to move and then the top rocks to the side revealing an opening with a downward slanting passage behind it. James looks to Jiron with a big smile on his face, “Told you.”
“Okay, so you did,” he admits.
Looking around, they make sure no one is in the vicinity before slipping into the passage. Once they’re both within the tunnel, Jiron manages to pull the boulder back into position, again hiding the entrance. Light suddenly floods the passage as James’ orb appears on the palm of his hand. He takes the lead with the orb held out before him.
The passage is narrow, barely wide enough for them to stand side by side let alone walk next to each other. As they move forward through the passage, they encounter water. The floor of the passage has been flooded, maybe by rains