Trail of the Gods ms-4

by Brian S. Pratt

  “No,” replies Aleya, joining in. “It’s probably being fed by an underground spring.”

  “Maybe,” replies James. He hears Aleya’s startled intake of breath as his orb materializes in his hand. Holding it out, he peers within the pile. “It looks like there may be space enough in here for all of us. Maybe we could hide until the coast is clear.”

  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

  “Jiron,” James says after they’ve crawled for several minutes.

  “What?” he hears him reply from further ahead.

  “Why is it, that no matter where we go, we always seem to be crawling around in some sewer?” he asks.

  His laugh echoes back to him. “I don’t know man,” he replies. “Just lucky I guess.”

  After crawling for what seems like half a mile, he hears Jiron holler, “I’m through!”

  “What’s there?” Aleya asks him.

  “I’m in a small room with two feet of water,” he replies. “Might be some kind of drainage system from the looks of it. A set of rungs lead up about twenty feet to what looks like it might be another passage.”

  James looks down the drainage tube and sees the back end of Aleya silhouetted by the light from the orb. Another minute of crawling soon has both he and Aleya standing in the room with Jiron, both soaking wet.

  The room is about fifteen feet square and slightly taller. Water pours into the room from numerous openings in all the walls, save the one with the rungs leading up. The water itself seems fairly clean.

  Aleya checks her bow quickly as Jiron begins ascending the rungs. “Wait here,” he tells them as he climbs up to the passage above. Upon reaching the top, he peers over the edge then turns to them waiting below and says, “Looks like it goes down a ways.”

  “Alright,” hollers James, then to Aleya he says, “After you.”

  Finding her bow still to be in good shape despite having scraped along the narrow passage as she crawled, she slings it behind her shoulders and grabs one of the rungs. After she climbs up several feet, James follows.

  When James crests the top, he glances down the long dark passage that Jiron mentioned. At least this one will enable them to follow it without crawling. Shivering slightly from the chill in the air, he indicates for Jiron to proceed.

  Holding the orb in front of him for light, he begins moving down the passage. “Wonder what this place used to be?” he asks.

  “Who knows?” replies James. “Could be anything.” Taking a closer look at the walls, he adds, “Whoever built this, made it to last a long time. This stone still looks in good condition.”

  “I doubt if anyone’s been down here in a long time,” pipes up Aleya.

  “I agree,” says James.

  The passage they’ve been following suddenly ends at a stone stairway, spiraling up. Without even pausing, Jiron takes it with the others following close behind.

  The stairs circle around twice before ending at another passage similar to the one below running left and right. Jiron glances down both ways then turns back to the others. “Can’t see anything other than corridor either way,” he tells them.

  “Take the right,” suggests James.

  “Okay,” he replies before stepping out to the right. Moving quickly, it isn’t far before they come to another corridor branching off to the left. “Keep on straight,” he hears James say behind him. Nodding, he continues on past the new corridor. He shines the light from the orb down it but doesn’t see anything of note.

  A little further down, the corridor opens up to a square room. It’s a rather bare room, an old tapestry hangs upon one wall but is so faded and tattered by time that whatever it once depicted is now lost forever. On the left side of the room lies the opening of another corridor.

  Suddenly, James starts when he sees a pair of red, glowing eyes stare at him from the other corridor. Then the eyes disappear and a rat scurries into the room. His overactive imagination seems to be working in high gear.

  Ever since coming here, he’s had a feeling of foreboding, though he can’t quite say why. He doesn’t sense anything magical in nature, no tingling or anything like that, just a feeling of unease, as if this place doesn’t want to be disturbed.

  There’s got to be a way out of here, other than the way they had come. Jiron crosses the room to the other corridor
and enters. He continues holding the orb in front of him as he moves down the corridor. The only thing they encounter is the occasional rat or other small animal which has made this place their home.

  James is somewhat comforted by the fact living things have made their home here. If there was a malignant presence here, nothing living would’ve chosen to stay.

  They come across another corridor on the left again but the light once more fails to reveal anything of interest. “If we fail to find a way out up ahead,” James tells them as he indicates the passage they’ve been following, “then we’ll come back and try the passages we passed by.”

  “Good idea,” Jiron says as he continues down the corridor.

  James can’t help but think that if this was an adventure he was running, the players would never have passed up anything which might’ve held possible treasures. But this is real life and he just wants to get out of here. The last time they’d been in a similar situation, Miko had almost been killed by a trap set to guard a handful of crystals. That’s the last thing they need right now.

  They pass another passage and again, nothing could be seen when they shine the light from the orb down it. Thirty more feet and the left side of the passage opens up to a room, twenty feet wide by forty feet long. Several rotting tables sit within the room, the chairs which once sat around them now all but disintegrated.

  Pausing a moment to investigate, James has Jiron bring the light over to one of the tables and he takes a good look at it. He reaches out his hand to touch it, and when he touches it, a section of the table breaks off, falling to the floor where it crumbles apart. “Rotted,” he tells the others. “Looks like termites or some other sort of insect’s been feeding off this for centuries, or used to. There’s no sign of them now.”

  “This place must have been here for a very long time,” offers Jiron.

  “I would think so too,” agrees James. “I would also think that it has remained unknown to the locals, otherwise it would be used by smugglers and thieves if by no others.”

  “Any idea yet who used to be here?” he asks.

  “Not yet, no,” replies James.

  “I don’t like the feel of this place,” announces Aleya from where she stands at the edge of the light.

  Glancing at her, James nods and says, “I feel that way too.” Then to Jiron he adds, “We better get moving.”

  Nodding, Jiron moves out and they return back to the corridor and continue down to the left. Just after they leave the long room with the tables, the corridor opens again on a room of similar dimensions. This time, the length of the room is ahead of them rather than to the right.

  Two small niches on either side of the room hold busts of men. Upon closer examination, it’s hard to tell from what nationality they belonged. At the far end of the room, they find another winding stairway leading up.

  Getting a nod from James, Jiron moves to the stairs and begins climbing. Just after the first turn, they come across a human skeleton lying spread-eagle on the steps. The clothes that the man had once worn have long since disintegrated into rags.

  Stepping carefully, Jiron moves past the dead man and then pauses when a light blossoms to life behind him. Looking back, he sees James with another orb bending over and poking through the dead man’s garments with a knife. After just a moment, he stands up and shakes his head, indicating he didn’t find anything.

  Jiron turns back to the stairs and resumes the climb up. At the top, they find another room similar to the one below, only this one doesn’t have niches with busts of men. Several worn tapestries hang along the sides of the room, the scene depicted by one can still be somewhat made out.

  Most of the scene has long since faded away, all that is discernable are two men, kneeling before the figure of a third. The two men are dressed in rags and shackled, what the man whom they’re kneeling before is wearing or looks like is distorted by the tapestry’s poor condition.

  Jiron looks to James who shrugs. “Weird,” he says as he indicates for Jiron to continue.

  The only way out of the room is a single corridor running to the left at the far end. They don’t go very far down before they come across a cave-in. Partially buried under the rubble, they discover two more human skeletons. The corridor is completely blocked by the cave-in.

  “Poor guys,” they hear Aleya say when she sees them.

  “I wonder what happened here.” Jiron says.

  “So do I,” replies James. “Guess we’ll have to go back down. Let’s hope there’s another way out.”

  “What about secret doors?” Jiron suddenly asks.

  “With the Empire’s forces above us, I don’t dare try to find any with magic,” he explains. “I doubt if we would find one otherwise, though you never know.”

  With Jiron leading the way, they return down the stairs to the lower level. Passing back through the room with the busts, they take the corridor to their right which they have yet to explore.

  As they move down it, they encounter several more tapestries, all of which are in such bad condition that whatever they once portrayed has been lost. They don’t walk far before the light from the orb illuminates a large door set into the right wall ahead of them.

  “Wonder what’s on the other side?” Jiron asks as he moves toward it.

  “I don’t know,” replies James. “But we better find out.”

  Jiron goes up to it and pulls on the handle. The door moves only slightly before stopping. “I think it’s stuck,” he replies as he hands the orb to Aleya.

  Taking the orb hesitantly, she takes a close look at it, almost as if she expects it to burn her palm.

  “Give me a hand,” Jiron says to James.

  Coming over, he grabs the large handle with Jiron and they both pull with all their might. A loud grinding sound of rusty hinges fills the corridor as the door slowly works itself open.

  When the door finally clears the door jamb, a puff of stale air wafts from the room. They continue pulling until the opening is wide enough for them to squeeze through. Taking the orb back from Aleya, Jiron holds it out into the room as he looks inside. “Looks like someone lived here,” he says.

  Moving through the doorway with the other two right behind, he finds three well preserved beds along with chests at their ends.

  “The fact that the door remained shut all this time must have aided in the preservation of this room,” explains James.

  Aleya comes over to one of the chests and moves to open it.

  “Stop!” cries James, but is too late. She opens the lid and he braces himself for something bad to happen. When nothing does, he opens his eyes and finds her staring at him.

  “What?” she asks.

  “There is no telling what could happen in a place like this,” he explains to her. “Best to leave things alone.”

  Giving him an exasperated look, she reaches in and pulls out a set of robes. From the cut of them, they look like ceremonial priest robes. She holds them out to him and says, “Looks like this place might have been a temple.”

  Coming over to her, he takes a closer look at the robe. It’s rather plain but of very fine quality. Looking within the chest, he discovers the robe was all there is. “Come on,” he says to them, “we still need to get out of here.”

  Aleya lays the robes on the bed before she follows them back out of the room.

  Continuing down the corridor to the right, they arrive at a junction just past the room they left. The corridor ahead is blocked with rubble from a cave-in and is impassable. To their left, another corridor moves off into the darkness.

  Moving down this new corridor, they go about fifty feet when on their right, a set of ornately decorated double doors appears. When James’ gaze first settles upon the doors, his feelings of foreboding increases. Aleya seems to feel something as well.

  “Wait,” James says as Jiron moves to open the doors.

  Stopping, Jiron turns and glances back at James. “What’s wrong?” he asks.

  “Not
sure, exactly,” he replies. “It’s just that there’s something about this place that gives me the willies.”

  Looking at him in concern, he asks, “Do you want me to open these doors?”

  Nodding, he says, “We have to. The way out could be in there.” As Jiron reaches for the handle, he adds, “Just be careful.”

  “I will,” he assures him. “I’ve come to trust your feelings.” As his hand comes close to the door handle, he pauses just for a second. The worries James has about this place are beginning to affect him as well. Then he reaches out and takes hold of the handle to the right door and pulls.

  Where the previous door had been all but rusted closed, this one moves easily on silent hinges. As the door begins to open, light from within the room fills the corridor. Jiron shuts the door quickly when he sees the light coming out and turns to James. “What should we do?” he asks, worried.

  “Open it slowly,” he tells him. “I don’t feel magic or anything like that, and I seriously doubt if anyone is still inside.”

  “Then where’s the light coming from?” he asks.

  “Open the door and find out,” Aleya tells him. “Or stand aside and let me do it.” She begins moving toward the door when Jiron holds out his hand to stop her.

  Taking a deep breath, he slowly pulls open the door. Aleya has an arrow knocked and even James has unconsciously pulled a slug from his belt. As the door opens, the light from within again spills out into the corridor and James cancels the orb as he no longer needs its light.

  They gasp when the door finally opens enough for them to see what lies within. To their right and left are two rows of three wide columns stretching all the way to the ceiling. A large open space lies between the two sets of columns.

  Four large braziers are evenly spaced, forming the points of a square within the open space between the two rows of columns and from these is where the light is originating. A flame burns atop each of the braziers, casting sufficient light to illuminate the entire room.

  Within the square formed by the flaming braziers is a raised circular pedestal, five feet in diameter. Rising two feet off the floor, it dominates the room.