the god rules. Not wishing to test that particular theory, he gives the sphere a wide berth as he walks around it toward the altar where the god’s statue sits.
Curiosity getting the better of him, he wonders if there’s a hidden compartment in the belly of the statue same as the one in his campaign. If there is, you pull the top left and bottom right arms down at the same time to open it. He realizes it’s sheer folly to tempt fate but he just has to know.
Stepping to the altar he takes hold of the two arms and pulls them both down at the same time. They both rotate down smoothly and the belly of the statue pops open. Within lies a ring. Now in his campaign, this had been a ring of three greater wishes and was guarded by a deadly trap. If everything has been the same so far, so must the trap.
Taking the statue in both hands, he rotates it upon the altar clockwise until it has come full circle. Once it rests in the same position again, he rotates the two arms back to their original position. Now, the trap should be nullified. If he’s wrong, he’s dead.
Hesitantly reaching out for the ring, he lays one finger on it and braces himself. Nothing happens. Breathing a sigh of relief, he takes out the ring and holds it up. Grinning in satisfaction, he contemplates whether he should use it. Of course there’s no guarantee that it will do the same thing as the ring in his campaign. Also, he remembers how he used to try to come up with the worst possible results when people wished for things. If they misspoke, disastrous things would happen.
One time when Dave had found a ring, he wished for a million gold pieces. So of course he had a million gold pieces appear, only problem was that they were fused together. Too heavy to carry, he was forced to leave all that gold behind. Grinning at the memory, he grows sad that Dave is gone. Dave had always been a good friend.
Suddenly, his attention is drawn to the sphere as pulsation increases in intensity. Static electricity crackles and a bolt of lightning surges out of the altar, narrowly missing him as it flies past. Striking the pulsating sphere, a deafening boom resonates within the room and then a figure steps from the sphere.
Slipping the ring into his belt pouch, he moves to the edge of the altar and hunches down, hoping against hope that he won’t be discovered. It’s too far to make a dash unobserved to one of the doors.
As the first figure leaves the sphere, another emerges behind him, then one more after that. The first figure is an exact replication of the idol on the altar except it only has two arms. It’s wearing a robe and has the bearing of a priest. The second figure is a human male and has his arms tied behind his back. The third figure is another of the priests and is holding a tether tied to the human’s throat.
They walk across the room to the cells and the first one produces a key. Unlocking one of the cell doors, he steps aside while the man’s bonds are removed and is then pushed inside. When the cell door clangs shut, the man turns to grip the bars of the cell door and rests his forehead against them.
James’ heart freezes within his chest when the man turns around. His mind has a hard time crediting what his eyes are showing him. There in the cell stands his friend Dave. Looking the worse for wear, he’s still wearing the same clothes he last saw him in on that fateful trek from Ironhold.
The two priests turn to move toward the altar. Rage billows forth and James lashes out with a massive magical attack. Realizing their danger too late, the priests fail to react quickly enough and feel the full force of the blow. Picked up off the ground, they’re slammed into the wall. Falling to the ground, they hit the floor and remain motionless.
“James!” cries out Dave as the two priests hit the wall.
Rushing over to his friend, James states, “I thought you were dead.”
Dave stares into his eyes and asks, “Is that what Jiron told you?”
Shaking his head, he replies, “No. We interrogated one of the enemy soldiers and he told us what happened.”
“Whatever he told you was a lie,” he says.
“Obviously,” states James. Moving over to the dead priests, he searches their robes until he locates the key to the cell. Returning to the cell, he unlocks the door.
“Is Jiron with you?” Dave asks.
“He was. We got separated,” explains James. “Why?”
Dave remains silent for a moment before replying. “He’s one of them,” he finally says.
“What?” exclaims James. “That’s impossible. He’s saved my life on more than one occasion.”
“I know it may have appeared that way,” his friend says. “But when I left the cave with the Star, he came too. I saw him talking with the mage before returning to you and the others.”
“No,” argues James. Shaking his head, he says, “I can’t believe that.” Too many times has Jiron been there for him. For him to be an agent of the Empire is too mind-boggling for him to come to grips with.
“Believe it!” he says. “Look, I know you’re a very trusting person, but think about it. How do you think the enemy always knew where you were? Remember those times you said that while Jiron was away you got captured?”
James nods his head, “But he rescued me.”
“He’s the one who told them where you were!” Dave hollers. “He only rescued you to gain your undying trust.”
“Why would he do that?” James asks. Doubt begins to gnaw at him, as he begins to see the logic behind Dave’s words.
“There’s something you must do,” he explains. “I didn’t find out what but did hear them talking about it. He’s there to see to it that you are in the right place at the right time.”
“But…” he stammers as his foundation of what he thought to be true begins to erode away. Jiron the enemy? Though he fights the idea, things begin to fall into place. Then he says, “The Fire!”
“They already have that,” he replies. “They had it shortly after you and the others hid it under the mountain. He told them where it was and how you protected it.”
Anger begins to grow. Anger at being betrayed! Anger at being used! “I’ll kill that traitor!” he shouts as rage gets the better of him. Never has he wanted to kill someone like he does now. If Jiron were here in front of him, he’d kill him on the spot.
From behind them, the sphere pulsates again as another bolt of lightning strikes it from the altar. Then just as before, a figure emerges. Removing a slug from his belt, he throws it with magic behind it and strikes the creature before it takes two steps.
Striking it in the chest, the slug blasts through and out the other side. The creature staggers backward into the pulsating sphere. As soon as the creature comes in contact with the sphere, it begins to pulsate erratically. The static charges within it become more frequent and the hair on the back of James’ neck rises.
Taking Dave by the arm, he says, “We better get out of here.” Dave nods and they make for the door between the cells as it’s the closest. Static charges begin erupting from the sphere as they reach the door. Throwing it open, they hear the sphere begin to crackle loudly.
“Move!” screams James as he propels Dave through the door. He follows and slams the door shut. He no sooner puts his shoulder against the door before the sphere detonates with an immense explosion.
The concussion of the blast hits the door and knocks it off into the hallway. James is thrown backward several yards where he hits the floor hard. Getting to his feet, he turns back toward the doorway and sees electrical bolts crisscrossing the room. One enters through the doorway and ricochets down the hallway toward them.
Unable to move in time, he’s struck full force in the chest by the bolt. A moment’s searing pain and then he blacks out.
“James!” Jiron yells from the shore of the underground lake. Can’t really call it a lake, it’s not that big. He listens but no sound is forthcoming.
It took some doing but he made it down from the window. The rope is again coiled around his middle and he holds the orb high as he tries to figure out which way James went.
He sees the holes in the ground James had blasted and his footprints in the dirt. As for what he was running from, there’s no indication of anything. Moving quickly, he follows the footprints in the dirt until he comes to where the shoreline ends at a stone wall. The footprints seem to end here.
James is alive, of that he’s sure. Had he been dead, the orb would have gone out. As long as the orb exists then James has to be alive. But where is he?
“James!” he hollers again. “Where are you?”
Examining the water’s edge, he speculates James could have gone into the water. But why? Didn’t make any
