Upon reaching the far side of the clearing, they put it behind them as they move quickly away from it and the ominous pyramid of skulls. As they leave it behind, the vegetation begins to improve slightly, though only for a while.
Soon, the vegetation once more begins to show drastic signs of withering and decay as they see another of the smaller piles of skulls appear before them. The prickling sensation grows as it did before when James approaches it.
As Jiron begins to pass the midpoint of the pyramid, he suddenly cries out as he falls backward into James, knocking them both down.
“What happened?” James asks as he picks himself up.
“I ran into something,” he says.
“Let me see,” James says as he cautiously approaches the pyramid of skulls. Holding his hand out, he walks slowly toward it. He moves around the skulls to the right, still holding out his hand. When he comes next to the pyramid, his hand touches a barrier.
Stopping, he places both hands upon it and pushes. It feels solid, smooth. He runs his hand along it as he walks several feet to his right. Pausing, he takes his hand and moves it along the barrier as high as he can reach. Unable to find an end, he turns back to the other two. “I think when Miko tripped and fell into the clearing, it activated some kind of barrier,” he explains.
“What do you mean?” Miko asks, confused.
James places his hand against it and says, “Come here and feel it.”
Hesitantly, Miko comes and places his hand upon it, eyes widening. “What is it?”
“Some kind of force field I’d imagine,” he explains. Then he turns to Jiron, “Kind of like the dome I used to keep the sandstorm out, remember?”
Nodding his head, he says, “Yeah, I remember.”
“What does it mean?” Miko asks.
“It means we’re trapped inside,” explains James.
Chapter Five
Miko and Jiron have been sitting back from the little pyramid while James has been attempting to breach the barrier. After standing motionless in front of it for several minutes, he cries out as he stumbles back away from it.
Coming to him, Jiron worriedly asks, “What happened?”
Losing his balance, he sits down abruptly. James shakes his head as he tries to clear it and then says, “There’s too much power here.” Resting his head in his hands, he tries to still the aching in his head.
“Can you get us out?” Miko asks.
James glances over to him and says, “Not like this. Every time I try to do something, a surge of magic would come and counter whatever I tried.”
“What now?” Jiron asks.
Thinking a moment, he says, “I suppose there’s a chance there could be a spot where the barrier isn’t working, where we could slip through. But I doubt it.”
“How would we know?” Jiron asks him.
James thinks a moment before replying, “Only one way to find out. Someone has to walk along the barrier all the way around and feel it with their hand as they go.”
Getting up, Jiron says, “Then I better hurry, it’s going to be getting dark in a couple of hours.” Then he walks over to the skull pile and places his hand against the barrier. Moving slowly, he begins walking along the barrier, away from the skull pile. He moves his hand up and down the barrier in the hopes a breach may be found.
“No telling what could happen here when night falls,” James mumbles to himself.
“What?” Miko asks as he continues watching Jiron until he disappears in the withered vegetation.
“Nothing,” he replies, not wanting to give him anything more to worry about.
They move back a ways from the pyramid, finding a spot where they can sit and wait for Jiron’s return. A half hour later, they hear him approaching from the other direction. As he nears the pyramid of skulls, he begins looking around. When he sees them there waiting for him, he leaves the barrier and makes his way over to them.
“Well?” James asks.
Shaking his head, he says, “It’s solid all the way around. There were two spots I had to leave to avoid entering the water, but other than that, it’s solid.”
“Now what?” asks Miko looking as if he’s about ready to panic.
“We go back to the clearing and the large pyramid there,” he tells them, glancing from one to the other. “That’s where the pulse originated from, so it stands to reason that is where we could possibly remove the barrier.”
“How?” asks Jiron.
Getting up, James says, “I haven’t the faintest idea. But there’s only one place where I might be able to figure it out.”
“Back at the clearing?” Miko asks voice quavering.
James nods his head as he says, “Back at the clearing. Maybe getting a closer look at that pyramid will give me some idea on how to bring it down. Or perhaps there may be something in one of the buildings that will do it. Won’t know for sure until we look.”
“Let’s get going then,” Jiron says. “We’ve only got a couple hours left until dark.”
As they walk back, James asks, “How many pyramids were there along the barrier?”
“Five all together,” he replies. “Why?”
“Just curious,” he explains. “I doubt if that would have any bearing on anything though.”
Upon reaching the clearing, James grabs Jiron’s arm before he leaves the trees and indicates that he should be the first to enter. More than happy to comply, Jiron steps back as he allows James to precede them.
Stepping slowly into the clearing, he braces himself for another energy pulse from the large pyramid. He’s quite relieved when another pulse fails to materialize. With Miko and Jiron right behind, he makes his way over to the large pyramid. It’s similar to the other one at the barrier, a tiered pyramid of human skulls. He closely examines it, but doesn’t see anything that might help in bringing down the barrier. The thought occurred to him to smash the pyramid, but was afraid of the repercussions that might ensue.
He glances over to the other two and shakes his head, “Better try the ruins.” Turning his attention to the collapsed structures for a moment, he starts walking over to the one on the far right.
“Something there?” asks Miko hopefully when he sees their destination.
James glances back at him and replies, “No, just being systematical is all. It’s as good a place to start as any.”
This building had been a single story structure at one time. The roof had fallen in so long ago that small trees have begun to grow among the rubble. He walks through an opening in what’s left of the wall and looks around.
He gives the interior a quick once over as he moves around within the building. Poking through the rubble, he finds nothing but stone and a wooden crossbeam, which looks to have once been used to support the ceiling.
Glancing at the other two, he shakes his head then leaves the building. He then makes his way the short distance over to the next one. It’s a two story building, half of it having collapsed, leaving a section still standing. He goes up to the opening where a door once stood, though is now long gone, and looks inside.
The floor is choked with rubble, but off to one side, he sees the remnant of the stairway leading up to the second floor. It’s not in the best of condition, but he figures it’ll hold his weight. Making his way through the room over to stairs, he begins climbing to the second floor. Two small sections of the stairs are missing and he has to stretch across them in order to continue.
When he finally reaches the top of the stairs, he comes to a hallway. The entire right side has fallen away leaving only a foot and a half span still attached to the left wall. A room lies further down, and the only way to get there is by walking upon the broken section of the hallway.
