“Why?” asks Jiron.
“It could be bad,” he explains.
“Bad?” exclaims Jiron. Coming to stand in front of Scar he shouts, “What do you mean, bad?”
“ It worked!” is all he can say when he all of a sudden is standing within a city. At a crossroads of intersecting streets, he looks first up one and down the other. Except for himself the place is deserted.
“ Miko!” he yells. Listening for a moment he fails to hear a reply. Then from the far side of town a bright light pushes back the gloom. Neither night nor day, the city seems to be in a place of in-between.
He breaks into a run toward the light. After what seems a very long distance, the street he’s on turns into a broad avenue. The bright light is coming from the end of the avenue. Hurrying toward it, he reaches the place where the street opens up onto a large courtyard. In the center of which stands a building, the building being the source of the light.
“ Miko!” he cries out. Again no reply. The light coming from the building is blindingly bright but he’s able to make out an open doorway at its base directly ahead of him. Shielding his eyes against the light, he crosses the courtyard quickly and passes through the doorway.
Once inside, the blinding light diminishes to a more comfortable level. Still no discernable source for the light, it seems as if the stones of the walls themselves are aglow.
“ Miko! Where are you?” Still no reply. Moving forward down the hallway he has a feeling of urgency, of needing to find Miko and fast.
Quickening his pace, he flies down the hallway until it opens up onto a large room. In the center of the room is an opening revealing a stairway leading down. Feeling as if he’s been here before, he approaches the opening and gazes down. A flight of fourteen steps descend down to what looks to be another level.
Taking the steps quickly, he finds himself in another hallway extending ahead. The glow which had pervaded the stones above is present here as well. “Miko?” he hollers into the hallway. When no answer is forthcoming, he moves down the hallway, a little more cautiously this time.
As he progresses down the hallway, he sees a figure standing with his back to him. Before the figure is a door standing ajar. “Miko?” James asks as he slows his pace even further. When he gets closer he sees that it is in fact Miko.
“ Miko!” he hollers and rushes to his friend.
Miko turns his head and says, “I need to get in there.”
“ Why?” James asks as he comes to stop at his side.
“ If I don’t, something bad is going to happen,” he replies.
“ Something bad?” he asks. “I don’t understand.”
“ Neither do I,” he replies.
James reaches for the door to open it and Miko says, “Don’t.”
“ How are we to get in if we don’t open the door?” James asks.
Miko looks at him and shakes his head. “I have to get in there,” he repeats.
Then all of a sudden, the light that had been constant since he first entered the building starts to dim. Glancing behind them back down the hallway, he sees the end of the hallway growing dark. And the darkness is moving toward them.
“ We can’t stay here,” he says. The sight of the darkness sends a tremor of fear through him. Reaching for the door, he again hears Miko say, “Don’t.”
“ There’s no other place to go!” he hollers. Taking hold of the door, he pulls it open. For a brief moment he sees the interior of the room, octagonal in shape with a raised pedestal rising from the floor in the center of the room.
Then, a presence comes bringing fear and sapping their strength. The room grows dark as a wave of force lashes into them. Knocking them off their feet, it sends them flying backward down the hallway toward the approaching blackness.
James summons the magic and forms a protective barrier around them. Striking out with magic of his own, he attacks the presence within the room but has no effect. A ripple of laughter, more felt than heard, comes to him from the room as the blackness which has been drawing closer finally arrives.
The stones all around them grow dim and when the darkness touches them it burns like acid. Even the barrier surrounding them does little to keep the darkness from them. Pain, torturing pain erupts from every nerve ending on his body. The last thing James sees is the door to the room slamming shut before he blacks-out.
When James passed out after touching Miko’s hand, they watched him closely for several minutes. Anxious that what Scar had suggested might in some way hurt him, they were relieved when he continued breathing and appeared as if he were asleep. Miko too seemed to quiet down shortly after James joined him.
“Keep an eye on them,” Jiron says to Brother Willim.
Sitting down next to them, he gives Jiron a nod.
“Now,” Jiron says as he turns back to Scar, “just where did you learn this little tidbit of information?”
Scar glances to Potbelly and licks his lips. Turning back to look into the intense gaze of Jiron, he says, “Back in the City of Light.” When Jiron doesn’t make any comment he licks his lips again and adds, “From Sorenta.”
“Sorenta?” he asks incredulously. From the way he said the name it’s obvious he knows of whom Scar is referring to.
“Who’s Sorenta?” asks Shorty.
“She’s a prostitute,” replies Potbelly. “Worked over in Mother Chlia’s place.”
“You risked his life based on a story a prostitute told you?” Shorty asks in disbelief.
“You don’t understand,” explains Scar. “She wasn’t just a prostitute. She had the ‘gift’. At least that’s what she called it.”
“That’s right,” agrees Potbelly. “There were times when we would visit her when it happened. She said it rarely came while someone else was around, and that since it did, it must mean something.”
“And when it happened, she told you to have James take Miko’s hand?” asks Jiron.
“Not exactly, no,” replies Potbelly.
“When I saw Miko there and heard what James and Brother Willim said to each other, I knew I had to tell you,” Scar states. “At the time she told us, she wasn’t sure why she felt she had to only that she did. Said the information could come in handy some day, though she was a bit vague about when.”
“Things happen for a reason,” Brother Willim says from where he sits next to James and Miko. “Who are we to judge their merits?”
“What should we do?” Stig asks.
“Wait,” he says. “All we can do is wait.”
“If something goes wrong,” Jiron says to Scar, “I’m holding you personally responsible.” He continues staring at Scar then flicks his eyes to Potbelly before returning to James’ side.
Several minutes pass while both Miko and James lie there quietly. Then they all of a sudden begin spasming and with a gasp, James opens his eyes as he sits up. Releasing Miko’s hand he gasps, “Oh my god.”
A fraction of a second later a scream is torn from Miko as he snaps awake as well.
James looks around with eyes wide. When he realizes he’s back in the camp with the others he visibly relaxes. Next to him Miko holds his arms around his chest and groans in pain.
Brother Willim arcs an eyebrow questioningly at James and he says, “Better check him out. I’m fine.” The pain which was so excruciating while in the dream with Miko is now quickly beginning to fade.
Nodding, Brother Willim moves closer to Miko and says, “Let me have a look.”
Miko removes his arms from his chest and Brother Willim pulls up his shirt. Beneath the shirt his chest is a mass of burns, boils have formed and some are oozing pus. “Get the Star,” he says to Jiron.
As Jiron removes the Star from Miko’s pouch, Scar asks, “What happened?”
Once the Star is in Jiron’s hand he gives it to Miko. No sooner does the Star rest in his palm than a glow envelopes him. They watch in awe as his chest begins to return to normal. The boils recede and the burns turn brown, eventually flaking off to reveal the new skin that has formed underneath.
When the glow from the Star vanishes, Miko is breathing much better.
“Now, what happened?” Jiron asks.
James begins to relate to them his experiences within Miko’s dream. When he’s done Miko has little to add, the memory of the dream has already begun to grow cloudy. “All I can remember is that I needed to get into that
