“Seeing as how I hold the medallion, it might be best if you three were to get on first,” James suggests. “It wouldn’t be a good idea for me to get on first and have it activate before the rest of you have a chance to join me.”
“May have a point there,” Jiron says. Moving forward, he hops onto the dais.
Lending Brother Willim a hand, Jiron helps him up then is followed by Miko. “What’s going to happen when you get on?” Miko asks.
“If it works as I think it will,” he replies, “we’ll appear at the High Temple of Dmon-Li.”
“Then things will get interesting,” Jiron says with a grim grin.
James sighs and says, “You could say that.”
“Come on,” Jiron prompts when he sees him hesitating. Holding out his hand, he offers to help him up.
Taking the hand, James steps up onto the dais. A second later, they’re gone.
Chapter Thirty Eight
Tinok’s stomach grumbles. The time when they should have received their third meal of the day has come and gone. Still within the cell, the ever present fear remains with them. He and Esix sit against the back wall side by side. They talk of their times together, family and friends whom they’re sure they’ll never again see, all the while trying to banish the fear that has become an ever present, unwelcome guest.
How long they’ve been down here now isn’t clear. The ever pervasive darkness outside their cell prevents the possibility to accurately judge the passing of time. During a time when Tinok was listening to Esix talk of an experience with a neighbor’s daughter that turned into a bad situation with the girl’s father, his eyes begin to detect a growing red glow some distance away from their cell.
“Look!” he says as he rises to his feet.
Esix stops talking and turns his attention toward the red glow. He, as well as the others in the cell with him, get to their feet. The red glow continuously brightens and the light coming from it casts eerie shadows about the cavern. For as the light brightens, they see that they are in fact in an underground cavern.
The ceiling vaults into darkness high above them, a few stalagmites dot the outer edge of the cavern floor. As the glow brightens still further, they come to realize that it comes from an object seeming to float in mid air two feet off the floor.
Beneath the glowing object, the floor of the cavern has been smoothed. The smoothed area encompasses a good portion of the cavern floor. It’s rather hard to make out, but it appears there are six similar patterns marked out upon the floor spaced evenly in a circle around the glowing object. Each of the patterns is ringed itself by many symbols, symbols that hurt the eyes if you stare at them too long. A lone circular pattern, larger than the others, is situated not too far outside the ring of six. Twice the number of intricate symbols encompasses that one than the ones in the ring of six.
“What is going on?” Esix asks.
“Man I don’t know,” replies Tinok.
Then his eye catches a movement and he turns his gaze toward a shadow. But the shadow is not remaining motionless as a shadow should. Rather, it is moving across the floor and through the light the way a shadow shouldn’t be able to. The sight renews the terror that Tinok had been working to banish to the back of his mind.
“There’s another one!” exclaims Esix, the fear making him speak more earnestly than is his want. More than a couple of the shadows are seen moving about out there. At last they now know the source of their fear. All the while the red glow of the object continues to intensify and deepen in color.
One of the other prisoners cries out and faints when a figure appears at the bottom of the stairway. The figure walks slowly yet steadily toward the larger circle of symbols outside the ring of six. Little more than a shadow itself, the figure seems to almost suck the light from the cavern as it moves into it.
Behind the figure marches six men in armor, all can only be warrior priests. Tinok recognizes the armor of the one who had led them here through the Mists. Then come a dozen of the cowled figures.
When the dark figure that is leading them reaches the larger circle, he comes to a stop. The six warrior priests fan out behind him, and the dozen cowled figures do the same behind them.
Raising arms that can only be called skeletal, the figure begins speaking. Each syllable sends fear through the prisoners, their heads throb painfully as the words seem to cut into their minds. Tinok finds that he’s put his hands over his ears in an attempt to keep the sound out, but it does no good.
At last, the figure stops speaking. Breathing a sigh of relief as the pain stops, Tinok then is filled with fear the likes of which he has never felt before, primal fear that threatens to take his very sanity. For from the darkness of the deepest part of the cavern come six monstrous monstrosities, more terrifying than anything his imagination could ever hope to match.
More of the prisoners faint dead away. Esix slumps to the ground next to him and he’s unable to move to help his friend. Incapable of tearing his eyes away, he grips the bars of the cell in a grip so tight that his knuckles have turned incredibly white from the strain.
The six monstrosities move toward the circle of six surrounding the red glowing object. Each takes its place within one of the patterns surrounded by symbols. Once they are in place they come to a stop, turn to face the glowing object in the center, then become motionless.
At that point, the cowled figures suddenly start to move. Tinok watches as they turn and begin to cross the cavern toward the cell wherein he’s held. Realizing they mean to come for them, he’s at last able to let go the bars and moves to the very rear of the cell. All the prisoners who are still conscious do the same.
The cell door swings open even before the first cowled figure reaches it. When they enter, each one takes hold of a prisoner. Starting with the unconscious ones at first, they begin removing men from the cell. When Tinok sees Esix being taken by one, he is unable to do anything other than watch.
Having taken all the unconscious men lying on the floor, the remaining four cowled figures move on the men cringing at the rear of the cell. Pandemonium erupts as each man tries not to be the one taken. One man is shoved toward the approaching cowled figures by another. When one of the cowled figures reaches out and touches him, the man goes limp. Picking him up, the cowled figure carries him from the cell.
Fists fly as the others try to move someone else in position to be taken by the approaching figures. Tinok, to his shame, is no better. Using the skill honed in the Pits, he works to get others to go instead of him.
When the last cowled figure leaves with a man, Tinok remains within the cell along with three other men. The cell door shuts and the cowled figures carry the men toward the circle of six, places two on the ground before each of the monstrosities. Tinok moves again to the bars of the cell and looks out. He sees Esix where he lies at the feet of one of the monstrosities. A single tear rolls down his cheek.
Then pairs of the cowled figures move to stand behind the monstrosities. Once the last cowled figure is in place and has grown still, the dark one raises his arms and the glowing object seems to pulse twice. Words, painful, fearful words, begin to issue forth from the dark one. Then, Tinok looks on in horror as the monstrosities once more begin to move.
“Are we here?” asks Jiron.
No sooner had James completely stepped upon the dais then they were suddenly elsewhere. The light from the orb in his hand dispels the darkness of the room they suddenly find themselves in. The room itself is rather small, barely two feet wider than the dais. The only exit from the room is a single corridor that extends into darkness past where the light from the orb ends.
“Yes, we are,” replies Brother Willim. “There’s a feeling of wrongness here the likes of which I have never before felt.”
The prickling associated with the working of magic is very strong upon James’ skin. “They’re doing the rite here too,” he says in a hushed voice. Stepping down from the dais he moves to the mouth of the corridor.
“We’ve been here before,” Jiron says to him.
“I know,” replies James. They both look around for those little creatures that proved such a nuisance the last time they were here. Both are relieved that they are absent.
“See if you can locate Tinok,” urges Jiron. When he sees him hesitate he says, “They’ll know we’re here soon