side of the doorway appears to be clear. Jiron is forced to dig some of the sand out before he’s able to crawl through. Holding the orb out in front of him, he wriggles through to the room on the other side.
Another empty room of modest dimension, off to one side he finds a winding staircase descending to the next level. He moves over to the top of the stairs and shines the light down. The only thing revealed by the light are the stairs as it continues its descent. Figuring he’s seen enough, he climbs back through the choked doorway and returns to where he left James.
When he returns, Jiron finds him fast asleep against the wall. He moves past his sleeping friend to where the hall opens on the room with the hole in the ceiling. Peering around the corner, he gazes up and sees two figures silhouetted against the sunlight as they gaze within.
Realizing they are not going to leave anytime soon, he moves back and sits down on the hallway floor across from James. Letting him sleep a little while longer, he thinks about their situation.
In all the time since he first came to know James, this is the first situation that appears hopeless. How are they going to get out with a pack of mages watching the only opening? He’ll let James get some sleep before waking him and hopefully they’ll be able to figure a way out.
True, there is the flight of stairs leading down further beneath the desert. But whether that will yield a way out is anyone’s guess.
Chapter Twenty Three
An hour passes while James sleeps. Figuring they need to begin working their way out of this predicament, Jiron finally gets up and nudges him awake.
Snapping awake quickly, James is at first disoriented but then realizes where they are. He looks to Jiron and asks, “Are they still watching the way we came in?”
“Yes,” he says.
“And they haven’t made any move to follow after us?” he asks.
“Not so far,” Jiron replies.
“That’s not good,” mumbles James.
“Why?”
James cocks his head to the side and looks at Jiron for a moment before replying. “First ask yourself why would they pursue us all this way and then stop when they were so close to victory?”
Shrugging, Jiron says, “Maybe they feel we will have no choice but to come out the way we came in. Why would they risk it?”
“Think about it,” insists James. “They could easily enough collapse this whole area and squash us like bugs. Why haven’t they?”
Jiron starts to answer then stops. He remembers how readily James had been able to do similar feats in the past when the situation called for it. “I see what you mean,” he finally says.
“There has to be a reason that’s keeping them out and making them unwilling to destroy this place.”
“Maybe it’s holy?” he suggests. “Or taboo in some way?”
“Let’s hope that’s the reason,” says James.
“Right,” nods Jiron. “Could also be they’re afraid to disturb this place.”
“In which case, our being here is not a good thing,” states James.
“Then let’s get out,” Jiron says. “I found stairs further down the hallway that lead down.”
“Do they go anywhere?” asks James.
“Didn’t look,” he explains. “But there was no sand blocking them, so maybe.” Indicating the room they originally entered from he says, “It has to be better than going that way.”
“Let’s hope so,” says James. He then works to get to his feet, his injured wrist still throbbing.
Jiron takes the lead as they head down the hallway to the stairs. Once past the doorway choked with sand, James moves to the stairs and shines the orb’s light down into the opening.
The stairs are made of stone and look to have weathered the passage of time. Jiron notices his hesitation. “It’s the only way,” he says.
“I know,” replies James. It’s just that something about all this bothers him if for no other reason than the mages above have done nothing other than watch the opening since they came in here. Sighing, he says, “Lead on.”
Jiron moves to the top of the stairs and begins the descent into the darkness below. With James following several steps behind, he works his way around the winding stair until it opens up onto another passage that looks to have once ran to the right and left. The left side passage has collapsed leaving them the option of taking the right or continuing to descend further.
Glancing back to James, he receives a nod to the right. Leaving the stairs Jiron begins working his way along the passage. Motion from up ahead gives him a start until he realizes it’s only a scorpion scurrying across the floor. Taking a breath to calm his nerves, he continues on.
The doorways they come across are either collapsed or choked with sand. When they reach the end of the hallway, they discover the wall ahead broken. A jagged crack roughly two feet wide runs from the floor to the ceiling. Taking the orb, Jiron inspects the opening.
When the light shines through, it reveals a narrow open area. The area tapers to a small hole barely large enough for a man to crawl through. He moves aside and lets James look. “What do you think?” he asks. “Should we chance it?”
“I don’t know,” he says after looking at the small crawlspace they will have to go through. “I would hate to get trapped in something like that.”
“So would I,” agrees Jiron. “Better try the stairs.” With an agreeing nod from James, they return to the stairs leading further beneath the desert.
As before, the stairs wind around until they come to the next level where they end. The hallway it opens out on is nearly blocked by the collapse of the ceiling. A section of the ceiling sits askew, one end braced against the floor and the other against the side of the hallway. Beneath is a small crawlspace large enough for them to pass through.
“Stay here,” Jiron says as he gets down on his hands and knees. Having to practically scrape his stomach along the floor, he wriggles his way through.
James watches his feet disappear in the opening and then listens to him as he works his way through.
“I’m through,” Jiron’s voice finally comes back to him. “It’s a crawl of about six feet before you clear the rubble.”
“Okay, I’m coming through,” announces James as he gets down and starts crawling through the opening. There isn’t much room and he feels like his back is being scraped raw. The light from the orb Jiron’s carrying reveals the other end of the blockage which gives him the impetus to continue. His wrist throbs from the struggle to crawl but he perseveres.
“It looks like this hallway continues further down,” Jiron states as James’ head appears from out of the crawlspace.
Making it through, he gets to his feet. “You okay?” Jiron asks.
“Does it matter?” he asks as pain radiates across his back from where the stone scraped it. “Lead on.”
Jiron glances at the way he’s favoring his hand then turns to continue down the hallway. They don’t travel far before an opening appears on their left. When they reach it they discover a small room. A quick survey reveals nothing and they continue on.
The hallway continues for several more yards before they reach the end. Here they find a gaping hole where the end of the hallway had once been. Letting the light of the orb shine through, they see a drop of about fifteen feet.
What looks to be the side of another building rests against the one they are in no more than two feet above the jagged opening, creating an open space below. A window lies directly before them in the other wall and is packed with dirt. Again, they wonder what happened here.
“After you,” Jiron says.
