Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li - Brian Pratt [33]
James steps into the room and replies, “I can feel, almost see, the magic flowing upward from this pyramid. It would just make sense for the magic to be going up to the other one.” He turns back to them and adds, “My guess would be that this is the source of the magic keeping the barrier in place.”
“This pyramid here?” asks Miko.
Shaking his head, he says, “Probably something further down, I would imagine. Though, who knows?” He reaches his hand toward the flow of magic and pulls it back suddenly when his hand begins to burn like he’d stuck it in a fire.
“Damn!” he curses.
“What?” asks Miko excitedly.
“That burned,” he says as he looks at his hand but doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“Let’s go back to those stairs leading down,” Jiron says.
Nodding, James turns and follows him back. Once at the stairs, he again takes the lead as they proceed down to the next level.
At the bottom of the stairs, a corridor runs to the left and right. Pointing down to the right, he says, “My guess would be another pyramid like the one we just saw lies down there.” Turning right, he follows the corridor as it turns right and then after thirty feet, right again. Sure enough, they come to a room containing another pyramid.
“Why would they have another one here?” Jiron asks.
“Maybe to help in the flow of magic from its source below,” he offers. “Won’t be able to fully understand it until we get there.”
As they turn to head back down the corridor, Miko asks, “Do you think it’s dark outside yet?”
“If it isn’t, it’s not far off,” guesses Jiron.
Following the corridor, they return to where the stairs go back up and then continue on down the corridor in the other direction. Not very far, they come to a junction of corridors and James turns to follow the left one.
Twenty feet brings them to another room, this one larger than any so far. The room looks to have been a barracks of some sort, six beds are lined up in two rows of three. The bedding has long since deteriorated and at the foot of each is a chest.
As Jiron goes over to the chests, James says, “Be careful, they may be trapped.”
“I realize that,” he replies.
James moves around the room and discovers a mural painted on the wall. Though faded with time he can still make it out. Several figures stand around a dark pool, they look to be executing someone. He takes a closer look at the pool and sees headless bodies floating within.
Barely perceptible lines are drawn, as if some invisible force rises from the pool.
Crash!
Turning around suddenly, he looks to see Jiron removing his foot from a crushed chest. Coming over, he can see something sparkle from within. Ten gems lie upon the bottom, Jiron reaches down and scoops them up.
Smiling, he holds one up and says, “Not bad, these will fetch quite a bit.” Nodding to James, he places them within his belt pouch.
Seeing the treasure that Jiron had found, Miko goes and smashes one open too and is disappointed when he finds his to be empty.
“I thought we were going to be careful,” reminds James as he stands there next to Jiron.
“Couldn’t get it open,” Jiron explains, “so I kicked it. I really didn’t figure there to be a trap or anything bad.”
Shaking his head, James says, “There may only be one in a group. One on the edge that, once everyone is lulled into complacency by not finding any in the others, the would-be robbers will rush headlong into.”
“I don’t really think there’s any reason to…”
Just then they hear Miko kicking in another chest when…Kaboom!
They turn to see Miko sailing through the air as he smashes into the far wall. Rushing over to him, James can see one of his feet is smoking slightly as he lies there unconscious.
Kneeling down next to him, he gently shakes him, “Miko!” he cries.
Eyes fluttering open, Miko looks at them standing over him. “What happened?” he asks, dazed and confused.
“You okay?” Jiron asks.
“I think so,” he says as he starts to sit up. “Ah!” he says as he reaches back and feels a goose egg sized knot on the back of his head from where he’d hit the wall.