Trail of the Gods: The Morcyth Saga Book Four (24 page)

“Damn,” Yern curses under his breath. “Sorry
my lovely, but duty calls,” he tells the girl in his lap as he
gently removes her from his knee.

“There you layabouts are!” Uther exclaims at
them as he comes to their table.

Giving him a grin, Fifer says, “You have
poor timing my friend. Couldn’t you have waited an hour more?”

“An hour?” Jorry asks laughing. “It wouldn’t
have taken you that long.”

James comes forward and asks, “Did you get
everything?”

“Yes we did,” replies Fifer. “It’s out back
in the wagon.”

“Wagon?” asks Uther.

James turns to Uther and says, “See if there
are a couple more rooms available for the night.” When he nods and
moves to find the innkeeper, James says to the others, “Let’s talk
about this somewhere more private.”

Uther returns shortly with two keys and says
they’ve got stall space for their horses. Illan has him and Jorry
take the horses out to the stables while the rest of them go up to
their rooms with the box.

Once the horses are taken care of, and
everyone is crammed into one room with the door shut, James asks
them, “Is the Pass open?”

Shaking his head, Yern says, “No. From what
we’ve been told, the area on the other side is still too volatile
and they’re not allowing anyone to cross over.”

“But, we may have arranged a way for us to
be allowed up the mountain, though,” adds Fifer.

“How?” James asks.

“The last few days we sort of made friends
with the guard in charge of this side of the Pass,” he explains.
“We told him that we come here every year to fish up in the Pass,
along with some friends of ours. I believe we convinced him we
don’t plan on crossing over so he said as long as we give him our
word to stay on this side of the way stop at the summit, we can
proceed up the Pass.”

“Excellent!” exclaims James. “That’s better
than I was hoping for. And you definitely got everything I asked
for?”

“Yep,” Fifer says, nodding. “It’s all in the
back of the wagon. Most of the stuff we got real cheap, seems the
merchant’s around here are having a bad time now that no more
traffic is coming through the Pass.” He hands James a coin filled
pouch, what’s left of the coins he gave them when they left The
Ranch.

“I can understand that,” says James, taking
the pouch. “Well, since all is in order, I suggest we get some
sleep and head out early.”

“Hope this rain stops,” Jorry moans as they
begin to file out on the way to their rooms.

“Would you stop your complaining!” Uther
commands.

James smiles as he hears their bickering
continue down the hallway. Jiron again shares the room with him and
he says, “I know you plan to hide it somewhere around here, but is
it a good idea to do it so close to the Empire’s forces?”

“I know what I’m doing,” he says. “It’ll
take them some doing to find it where I plan to put it.”

“I hope so,” he says as he blows the light
out.

As James lies there in the dark trying to
sleep, he suddenly notices the crystals of the box begin to glow
brighter again. This time, he hardly has to use any of his own
power to sustain the spells.

Whoever is seeking it, is directing their
search far from here. Thank goodness. It looks like his
misdirection earlier is definitely going to work. If they should
concentrate directly on the area where the box is when he’s gone,
it’s over. But they’ll have to be pretty lucky to do that.

The rain is coming down harder the following
morning as they make their way to the barricade blocking the
entrance to the Pass. A contingent of guards stand watch and one
comes forward as they approach.

“So, you still plan to go up there and fish
in this weather?” he asks Fifer with a smile, the rain pelting them
as they exchange words.

“Sure do,” he says. “Should be back in a
couple days.”

“Bring me one,” the guard says.

“Will do,” he says.

The guard hollers over to the men at the
barricade and they swing a section of it clear to allow the wagon
James is driving through. They stare questioningly at the boat tied
down in the back, but just stand back as he rolls on by. Once
they’re all through, the barricade is again replaced.

As they trundle along the road up the pass,
the rain continues its downpour. The many waterfalls along the road
are fat from the recent rains adding even more spray to soak the
already drenched party.

James reminisces about when he and Miko had
traveled this same route. He smiles at the wonder Miko had shown at
the spectacles of nature along the way. When they reach the bridge
by the one big waterfall, he pauses a moment to watch it as it
cascades down the side of the mountain.

The others just look at him strange while he
sits there on the wagon, remembering Miko as a lad before the Fire
changed him. Saddened, he flicks the reins and the wagon once again
rolls forward.

It’s close to dark when they reach the
plateau with the abandoned keep. “That’s where we want to go,” he
tells them.

“In there?” asks Uther incredulously. “That
place doesn’t look like it could keep anything secure anymore.”

Smiling a sad smile, he replies, “You’d be
surprised.”

They move forward and he has them go around
to the back where they secure the horses and the wagon. When he
starts to untie the boat from the back of the wagon, they look at
him like he’s crazy.

“Give me a hand, would you please?” he asks
them. Coming to his aid, they help him get the boat off the wagon
and set it on the ground. In the bed of the wagon, they find packs,
bulging with equipment along with a couple small sledgehammers.

Taking one of the backpacks, he slings it
over his shoulder and says, “We need this stuff too.” Everyone
comes over and either takes a pack or a sledge hammer. Much to his
chagrin, Uther gets stuck with both.

Going back over to the boat, James says,
“Now, those of you with just the packs, help me with this.”

Illan, Fifer and Jorry come over and help
him lift it. “We need to take it around front and carry it
inside.”

“You heard him,” Illan says as they begin to
carry the boat around. When they come to the front door, Uther and
Yern open it wide to enable them to enter. Inside is very dark so
he creates his orb and has it settle on his shoulder.

James directs them down the hallway with the
now more decomposed corpse. Stepping carefully, they carry the boat
down the hallway to the broken door leading to the basement.

He indicates they should rest the boat on
the floor for a moment. He takes the orb off his shoulder and
carries it over to the door where he looks down the broken stairs.
Still looks the same.
Wonder if the stuff is still under the
stairs?

Turning back to the others, he says, “We
need to get the boat down to the room below. There’s a flight of
stairs, but they’re broken and unlikely to hold everyone’s weight
at once.”

“Then what are we going to do?” Yern
asks.

“I’ll go down first and you can lower the
boat down to me.” To Fifer he asks, “Which pack has the rope?”

“They all do,” he says. “We weren’t sure
just how much you would need so we got a lot.”

“Good thinking,” he says. “While I make my
way down to the bottom, one of you tie a rope to the boat. Then
when I say so, slide it down the stairs slowly until I have it
settled on the floor below.”

Creating a second orb, he leaves it with the
boat and then begins to descend the rickety and broken stairs to
the room below. He notices the circle on the wall, the first
trigger which will open the secret door, as he makes his way down.
Once on the floor, he hollers back up for them to send the boat
down. While he waits for them to begin lowering the boat, he checks
under the stairs and is pleased to find all his equipment still
there, looking as if it’s remained undisturbed.

Jiron comes to the top of the stairs and
then the boat begins making its way through the doorway as he
guides it toward the stairs. The stairs groan when the weight of
the boat settles upon it and begins to slide down. James moves back
to the bottom of the stairs where he can watch and guide the boat
coming down.

Those in the hallway hold onto the rope
while they slowly allow the boat to slide down the stairs to where
James is waiting. From his vantage point at the top of the stairs,
Jiron is able to direct those in the hallway.

“Easy,” he says to them as inch by inch the
boat makes its way down. “Almost there.”

When the boat draws near, James takes hold
of it and guides it the rest of the way to the bottom. When the
front end touches the floor, he pulls on the boat until it’s
completely off the stairs and resting on the floor.

“That’s good!” Jiron hollers to those in the
hallway and then begins making his way down to James. The others
enter and begin following him down.

“Stop!” James cries up at them when he sees
they’re about to all come down the stairs at once. “The stairs
won’t support you all,” he tells them. “You need to come down one
at a time. And Uther?” he asks. Once he has Uther’s attention, he
says, “See if you can find a thick piece of wood out in the woods,
about three feet long.” He uses his hands to show the size he
wants.

“What do you want that for?” he asks.

“Just do,” he replies.

Illan turns to him and says, “Take Jorry
with you, and be quick.”

Uther and Jorry leave to do as requested.
Once Jiron has reached the bottom, Illan begins to descend. The
stairs groan badly in one spot and he even hears one of the boards
give a little crack. Continuing carefully, he makes it to the
bottom.

Looking around the room, he says, “There’s
nowhere to go.”

“Yes there is,” James says as he moves to
where the entrance to the secret door in the wall is located.
Tapping on it, he says, “Behind here is the old escape route from
this keep. It leads through an underground cavern to an underground
river that eventually leads to the river at the bottom of the
canyon.”

“And you plan to hide that,” he asks,
indicating the box containing the Fire, “somewhere down there.”

“Precisely,” he says.

“Why do you need the boat?” he asks.

“I don’t plan to hide this in an easily
accessible location,” he explains. “But rather somewhere that would
make it very hard to get, even if someone should learn of its
location.”

Illan nods as he glances around the
room.

From the hallway at the top of the stairs,
they hear Jorry and Uther coming back. They’re talking to one
another and when they enter the room they both begin to descend the
stairs at the same time.

Illan notices them and cries out, “One at a
time!” but is too late.

The stairs give out with a loud crack and
the top section upon where they’re stepping suddenly collapses and
Uther falls forward, hitting the step just after the section that
fell, and smashing though it with a grunt. They fall ten feet and
land on the equipment James and Miko had left there from their
earlier visit.

James and the others rush over and he asks,
“You guys okay?” Pulling some of the broken stairway off of Jorry,
they find them with only a few minor scrapes and cuts.

“Nothing broke,” Uther says as Illan helps
him to his feet.

“Same here,” says Jorry.

Now that they’re all together, James lays
out the plan to them. Taking a few of the items out of the
backpacks, he explains how they’re to be used and so forth.

“Once we’re done, Jiron and I have something
we need to do so won’t be coming back this way,” he explains. “You
will need to return through here and take the horses and wagon back
to The Ranch.” Pointing to the stashed equipment that now lies
under the debris of the fallen stairs, he adds, “And take that
equipment with you as well.”

“Where will you two be going?” Fifer
asks.

“Saragon,” he tells them.

“Are you crazy?” Yern exclaims. “That place
is in enemy hands. How are you going to get in there? And why?”

“As for how we’ll get in there,” he says,
“there’s a way.” Pulling out the medallion, he holds it out to them
and continues, “I still need to understand why this was given to
me. The only place left for me to find out is in Saragon, it was
the home of the last High Priest of Morcyth. Ollinearn, from the
City of Light said that it’s possible he might’ve gone there before
they disappeared. It’s all I have to go on.”

“You be careful,” Illan says.

“Oh, I plan to be, rest assured,” James
tells him. “Now, to open the secret door.”

“Uther, on the wall along the stairs you’ll
find a circle engraved into it,” he says. “Go up there and stand by
until I tell you to press it. There are three triggers and they
have to be pressed in the correct order.”

“Sure thing,” he says as he moves to climb
the stairs, this time using great caution. He makes it almost up to
where they end at the break before stopping and turning around. He
gives them a thumb’s up indicating he’s found it and ready.

“Illan, if you will take this,” James says
as he picks up the broken piece of the door jamb he used last time.
Handing it to him, he points out the double circle on the ceiling.
“After Uther presses the circle by the stairs, you press that
double circle on the ceiling. Then I’ll step on the triple circle
on the floor and the door should open.” Glancing around at
everyone, he says, “Got it?”

When he gets a nod from Uther and Illan, he
says, “Okay Uther, press your circle.”

Uther presses his circle and then nods to
Illan. Illan then raises the broken door jamb and presses the
double circle in the ceiling. Once he’s begun lowering the broken
door jamb, James goes over and steps on the triple circle in the
floor.