His hands grab the edge of the opening as the rock pile beneath him disintegrates. The force of his jump dislodges the carefully arranged pile of rocks causing half of it to slide and spill across the room’s floor.
James holds his breath as he watches him hanging there in the hole. Adjusting his grip, Jiron starts to pull himself up until his feet disappear over the edge. “I made it!” he hollers back down.
“Thank goodness,” breathes James with relief.
A few seconds later, the rope Jiron keeps coiled around his middle drops down through the opening. At the end of the rope he has made a loop. “Here,” he says. “Put your foot in the loop and I’ll pull you up.”
“Okay,” replies James and then climbs the pile of stone to reach the rope. Once at the top, he takes the rope in his good hand and sets his foot in the loop. “Pull it up,” he hollers when he’s ready.
The rope begins to be slowly drawn upward until the slack has been taken up. Then he holds onto the rope tightly as Jiron gradually pulls him up off the disheveled rock pile and toward the hole. He can hear Jiron’s grunts each time he pulls him a little bit further. When his head passes through the opening, he takes his good hand and pulls his upper body over the lip.
Jiron lets go of the rope and grabs him under the shoulders. In one strong tug, he pulls him completely over the lip and onto the next level. James cries out as the rough edge scrapes along his chest as he’s being dragged out of the opening.
Rolling on his back, James uses his uninjured hand to pull up the front of his shirt. The two orbs left in the room below wink out as another springs to life next to him. Looking at his chest, he finds three long scrapes several inches in length. Two are simply red, the third is beginning to well blood.
“Sorry about that,” apologizes Jiron.
James glances at him as he lowers his shirt. “They’re not bad, just stings a little,” he assures him.
“That’s good.” He takes the rope and unties the loop he made for James’ foot before coiling it once again around his waist.
The light from the orb reveals they are in another hallway, the hole they climbed out from divides it in half. They can either continue down the side they are on or try to cross over the hole some way to go the other.
James sits up and takes his orb in his hand. He notices Jiron looking at him with his hand out. Suddenly, another springs to life in Jiron’s hand.
“Thanks,” he says. “Just stay there and rest a moment if you need to, I’ll head down here and see where this leads.”
“Alright,” replies James from where he remains sitting with his back propped up against the wall. “Can’t be too far from the surface now.”
Jiron nods in agreement. “If we find a way out, let’s hope the mages have left,” he says. “Can you sense them?”
James concentrates for a moment then shakes his head. “Either they are far away or aren’t doing anything magical.”
“Good. If you can’t sense them, then they shouldn’t be able to sense you either.” Holding up the orb, he nods to it.
James just shrugs his shoulders.
“Be back in a second,” Jiron says as he proceeds down the hallway. Twenty feet from where he left James the right side of the hallway is blocked by dirt that spilled in through a window in the wall. He only pauses to examine the window for a moment then is about to move on when he feels a barely perceptible breeze.
Standing still, he works to ascertain from which direction the waft of air originated. He comes to realize it’s coming from the top left corner of the window. Holding aloft his orb, he inspects it closer and discovers a small opening in the dirt through which the air is moving.
After a quick glance back to where James sits with his orb on the floor next to him, he reaches up and pushes on the dirt surrounding the opening. It doesn’t take much pressure before the dirt begins falling away. He works at it until he has made an opening two feet in diameter.
Holding the orb behind him, he climbs higher on the mound of dirt and looks through. There’s a definite space on the other side of the window. When he dislodges more of the dirt, he can hear it fall down the other side. Excited, he hurries back to James.
James sees him running back toward him and gets to his feet. “What?” he asks.
Indicating back down the hallway with a nod of his head, he says, “Found a window that may lead somewhere. There’s a slight draft passing through from the other side.”
“A draft?” asks James in excitement.
“That’s right,” affirms Jiron.
“Let’s go check it out,” says James and then follows Jiron back to the mound of dirt and the window.
“See if you can widen it further,” he suggests when he sees the opening Jiron had made.
Stepping up to the window, Jiron takes a rock from the mound of dirt on the floor and begins striking the dirt packed in the window. Each strike dislodges more of the dirt. He keeps hammering at it until the left half of the window has been completely cleared.
“Toss the orb through and see what’s back there,” James says.
He moves to the opening and tosses the orb through. The light from the orb as it sails through shows a large open area, easily thirty feet across. As the orb strikes the far side, it begins to fall. It falls at least a hundred feet before splashing into a pool of water at the bottom.
Jiron turns from the window. “It’s pretty big,” he tells James. “The sides are just dirt. At the bottom lies a pool of water.”
“Water?” asks James. When Jiron nods affirmative, he adds, “The water may have eroded the dirt from the bottom up.” He takes his water bottle and gives it a shake. Hardly any left.
“We could use some of that water,” states Jiron.
“Can we make it down?” he asks.
“I’ll see,” he says. “Need another orb.” When one appears in his hand he again moves to the opening. Tossing it through, he watches the sides of the hole as the orb falls. A little over halfway down directly below the window is a two foot dirt ledge jutting out from the side of the wall. The hollow area grows dark again when the orb hits the water and sinks beneath its surface.
James cancels the orb as soon as he sees Jiron turn back from the window. “Well?” he asks.
“There’s a narrow ledge below the window,” he explains. “My rope will reach it but I’m not sure how well it will support our weight.”
“Let me see.” Moving to the window, he creates another orb and tosses it through. When it passes the ledge, he sees what Jiron is talking about. Though not very wide, it doesn’t look as if it will support their weight.
He’s about ready to move away from the window when the breeze which originally caught Jiron’s attention wafts through and ruffles his hair. Air movement can only mean a way out.
“I think we should chance it,” he says as he turns back from the window. “That breeze has to mean there is an opening to the surface somewhere.” He sets the orb on the mound of dirt while he gets ready to climb through.
“I agree,” replies Jiron. “We could wander around down here for days and not find another way.” He uncoils the rope from around his waist and says, “I’ll lower you down first.” When James nods, he ties the loop at the end of the rope for his foot. Setting the rope on the dirt mound for a moment, he helps James through the opening.
Once his feet are dangling on the other side, he works the rope through and hooks it around James’ right foot. Bracing himself, he gives James a nod and holds the rope tightly while James works his way the rest of the way through the opening. He lets out slack very slowly until he hears ‘I’m set’, then begins lowering steadily.
James holds the rope tightly in his good hand with the other arm wrapped around it for support. As he is lowered into the darkness an orb springs to life and settles on his shoulder. He keeps an eye out for the ledge. When he sees it coming up beneath him, he hollers, “Almost there!” From above he hears Jiron holler back, “Let me know when you reach it.”
“Right!” he shouts. Looking down, he watches as the ledge gradually approaches. When he is but inches from it he hollers up to Jiron to halt. Moving carefully, he places the foot not in the rope’s loop upon the ledge and tests it for stability. When the ledge proves secure, he places more of his weight upon it, never once letting go the rope.
Finally standing with his entire weight resting upon the ledge, he hollers up to Jiron, “It’s holding!”
