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 make it.
During one rather difficult spot, James suddenly smells the scent of the forest. “We must be getting close,” he tells Jiron. “I smell pine trees.”
“I do too,” agrees Jiron as he helps him over a steep section of stone jutting up before them. Just after that, they start feeling a faint breeze, and a few more yards further down, they find the opening where the water is flowing out of the cavern.
They’ll have to wade into the flowing water in order to pass through the opening. The water is moving quickly from the cave and hidden rocks under its surface make for unstable footing. Taking it carefully, Jiron helps James as they make their way down from the outcropping of rock and into the water.
Passing out of the cave into the undergrowth beyond, they notice a slight rise in temperature. Still not warm by any means, it’s still preferable to that which was within the cave. The rain is still coming down and if anything, has actually increased since earlier in the day.
“We need to find some shelter,” James says to Jiron. “Or at least a large tree to stay under.”
The orb doesn’t give them much light to see by, the rain and trees preventing its light from extending any great distance. James is reticent to increase its brilliance, he doesn’t want to attract the attention of someone who might be in the area.
Once past the cave mouth, they climb out of the water and trudge their way through the bushes and small trees lining the edge of the water. With relief they come across a good sized tree which has a relatively dry space beneath its overhanging branches.
Thankfully, they enter the protective space it provides and then set about gathering what firewood they can. Most of it is wet, but with the help of James’ magic, they manage to get the wood burning. Jiron sets other damp pieces nearby to dry before being added to the fire.
“Good to be out of there!” says James.
Nodding, Jiron agrees. “Let me look at that arm of yours again,” he says. As James holds out his arm, he unties the bandage and examines it. “It’s a little red around the opening and some blood is still oozing out. I think I got all the wood out, won’t really know for a day or two.”
“I hope you did,” James says as Jiron secures the bandage tight around the wound once more. Infections are one of the things he hopes to avoid. Wounds which turn septic in this world could mean the loss of a limb if not outright fatal.
What rations that were in their belt pouches have been ruined by their trip through the water. Their packs were lost when the boat had disintegrated and are now probably at the bottom of that lake. James had kept his water bottle in his pack so all they have is the one on Jiron’s belt, which isn’t very big. But that’s the least of their concerns right now.
“How long should we stay here?” Jiron asks him.
“I’m not really sure,” he says. “We could probably make it along the river as it continues through the ravine in the daylight. But once we reach the far side, we’ll need to move at night. The Empire will most likely have patrols in the area looking for spies and infiltrators trying to sneak through.”
“Why don’t you get some sleep,” suggests Jiron. “I’ll watch the fire and wake you sometime past midnight.”
“Okay,” he says. “But make sure you do wake me. I don’t want you to be too tired tomorrow because you wanted to allow me to sleep.”
“I will,” he assures him.
Really too tired to argue very much, James lies down and is soon asleep.
True to his word, Jiron wakes him up for his shift and gets some sleep. By the time the dark of night begins to turn into the grey of morning, James wakes him up and they get on their way.
The rain is still coming down though has tapered off a bit since last night. The cloud cover remains absolute with not even a trace of blue breaking its way through. They follow the stream as it continues down to where it joins with the main river making its way into Madoc.
The main river is flowing quickly, having been swelled by the rain of the last two days. Walking is easier here as the water has periodically overflowed its banks and washed away smaller vegetation leaving a few large trees which had been able to withstand the rushing water.
Throughout the rest of the day, they make their way alongside the river, slowly coming to the far side of the pass. Near the end of the day, the mountains begin falling away and the road leading down from the pass becomes more visible above them.
“We better camp soon and cook our dinner before the light fades completely,” suggest Jiron.
“Good idea,” agrees James. “We don’t want to advertise our presence here to those up by the road.”
They find another sheltering tree beneath which Jiron starts a fire while James goes out into the cold water with a sharpened stick to get their dinner. After spearing two large fish in succession, he brings them back to the fire. The pain in his shoulder has worsened due to the strain of catching the fish. It’s definitely easier to catch fish with two good arms rather than one.
He rests his arm and warms himself by the fire while Jiron prepares the fish. “You wouldn’t think it was summer as cold as that water is,” James says.
“Summer’s almost over,” comments Jiron while he readies the fish. Once he has them skewered on sticks, he hands one to James who holds it over the fire to cook. The smell of the cooking fish makes his stomach cramp and he realizes he’s not eaten for awhile.
“The last time Miko and I had come this way,” he tells Jiron, “Cardri had a force up ahead at the end of the pass. They had also begun constructing a defensive barrier, I suppose in the event the Empire proved hostile to them.”
“That should make it interesting for us to get through,” he replies. “Maybe we could make it to the other side?”
Looking at the fast flowing river, James has his doubts about the feasibility of that idea. “I don’t know,” he
