James glares at him and says, “Just get your horse ready.”
“Alright, fine,” he replies and then gets up to do just that.
It’s just a few minutes before they’re ready to ride. Moving away from the campsite, they head down the trail to town. As soon as they’re upon the main road, they hear coming from behind them several horses as the travelers from the plateau begin making their run through Ironhold.
The first one to reach them gives them an odd look, he knows they didn’t come from the area to the south as he and the others have. Not bothering to stop, he races on past in a hurry to get through Ironhold as quickly as possible.
One thing James has noticed is that those traveling through Ironhold don’t talk. It’s almost as if everyone is afraid to disturb the tranquility of this place. Or of disturbing what may lurk here.
“There he is,” Fifer says, pointing to a building not too far away.
James’ eyes follow where Fifer is pointing and finds Qyrll atop one of the tall buildings.
“I think that was one the spirit walked last night,” suggests Jiron.
Nodding, James says, “You may be right.” Moving through the streets toward the building Qyrll is on, he finds his horse tied to the rail before the front door and comes to a stop next to it. Dismounting, he hands his reins to Miko and says, “Hold this.”
Taking the reins, Miko says, “Okay.”
Jiron and Fifer dismount to accompany him to the roof. They make their way inside and take the stairs up to the third floor where they find a ladder leading to an open hatch. Climbing the ladder, James gains the roof to find Qyrll bending over and examining a section of the roof.
From the ladder he asks, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Qyrll glances up and sees him there in the hatch. Getting to his feet, he makes his way over to them. “Wanted to see if the ghost left any evidence of its passing.”
“Why?” asks James as he moves down the ladder to allow Qyrll room to descend.
“To know if it was real or not,” he replies. As he steps off the ladder and onto the floor of the third floor hallway, he adds, “Didn’t find anything though.”
“Spirits don’t leave footprints,” Jiron tells him.
Nodding, Qyrll says, “Now I know for sure.”
They make their way back down to where the others are waiting outside. On the way Fifer asks, “Why are you so interested in this anyway?”
Shrugging, Qyrll replies, “I don’t know. It fascinates me for some reason.”
“I can understand that,” says James. “Where I come from there are all manner of people who hunt for ghosts and such things. Why, there’re even tours you can take that will bring you to the most haunted areas.”
“Really?” asks Qyrll, intrigued. “I’d like to do that.”
“Most of them are just shams to get your money,” he admits. “Though there are a few that are legitimate I suppose. Never been on one myself.”
Returning to the others, they mount their horses and make their way through town to the last section they have yet to search. After a brief warning to be alert, they split off into their pairs again. James gives Jorry and Uther a stern gaze warning them not be up to any shenanigans today. They assure him they’ll behave, probably the sight of the spirit the night before had a sobering effect on them.
The morning goes by and still nothing is discovered. James is beginning to become discouraged at the lack of anything to do with Morcyth. Ellinwyrd had to have led him here for a reason and one to do with what he learned at Saragon.
At noon when they return for the noon meal, Fifer says, “I think I saw someone on a hill to the south watching us.”
“Probably one of the soldiers,” Qyrll says.
“I’m sure they’re keeping their eye on us,” Jiron replies.
“I hope they don’t do anything,” wishes Miko as he glances to the surrounding hills.
“Wouldn’t think it likely until whatever they are waiting for arrives,” says Qyrll. “They seem content to watch us from a distance and as long as we continue as we are, I doubt if they will do anything.”
“Let’s hope not,” says James. “Tomorrow we’ll begin checking the mines and then if nothing is found, we’ll leave.”
From where Dave sits, he can hear him mumble, “Should leave now.” He glances over to his friend and only receives a glare in return. All day his mood has steadily deteriorated and James isn’t sure why.
When they’re done with the noon meal, they once again split into pairs as they search the few remaining buildings. So far, the miner Miko encountered the day before has yet to put in an appearance.
Miko and Jiron head off for a building which looks to have once been a temple of some sort, though now the years of disuse have turned it into a dilapidated building. Slightly askew on its foundations, it sits cocked to one side. The windows which at one time must have been beautiful lie shattered in the street.
Coming to the entrance, they find a pair of double doors. The one on the right sits closed, the one on the left has fallen off its hinges and lies across the front steps. Stepping carefully around the fallen door, they move inside.
It’s not a very large building, merely two stories high. The interior actually has a couple plants growing through the floorboards near one of the broken windows. Whatever furnishings it once had, have long been removed, most likely when the town was abandoned.
“Sad,” Miko says as they walk across the floor.
“Sad?” questions Jiron. “What makes you say that?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he replies. Glancing to him, Miko says, “The place depresses me. Do you think this could have been a church to James’ Morcyth?”
“Never know,” he says.
At the back of the temple they find two sets of stairs, one going up to the second floor and another leading down into darkness. Jiron glances to Miko and asks, “Up or down?”
“I’ll take up,” he says.
Jiron nods and turns to descend into the darkness.
On his way up the stairs, Miko is careful to make sure the steps will support him. On several different occasions over the last few days some of the buildings they’ve searched have been rotted, termites or other such insects having robbed the wood of its integrity.
He places his feet gingerly on each step before moving to the next. One step cracks and he immediately removes his foot. Stepping over the suspect step he continues up until finally reaching the upper rooms.
This area is smaller than the one below as most of the second floor is taken up by the upper reaches of the service area below. There are only three rooms here and he makes his way first into one and then another. The second room looks to have been living quarters of the priests, four beds are spaced evenly about the room. Two chests sit at either end of the room and he moves forward toward the one closest to him.
In the back of his mind he hears James telling him not to open chests as they may be booby trapped. He remembers that one occurrence in the swamp when a trap sent him flying across the room when it exploded in his face.
Disregarding James’ voice of caution, he continues toward it. I can’t imagine there would be anything dangerous with a chest here. Even though he feels that way, when he reaches it he slows down and hesitates a moment before reaching for the lid. Taking hold of it, he flings it open while at the same time jumping backward. The lid flies up, hits the wall behind it and then slams shut again.
Miko waits a moment and when nothing fatal happens, goes back over and opens the lid slowly. The inside of the chest is empty. He reaches in and feels around the sides and bottom but fails to feel anything which might indicate something hidden. Disappointed, he closes the lid and turns to walk over to the other chest.
As he moves across the room to the other chest, he looks at it closely. It looks just as the other had so it’s unlikely anything will be wrong with it too.
Three feet from the chest, the floor suddenly breaks open slightly and his foot crashes through. “Aaaaaahhhh!” he cries. Pain erupts from where his foot is wedged in between the broken boards.
“Jiron!” he screams. He tries to pull his foot out but that only increases his pain, the jagged edges of the broken planks are cutting into his skin. He starts to panic when he sees drops of blood begin to well from where the
