Trail of the Gods: The Morcyth Saga Book Four (37 page)

He walks around the camp to keep awake,
occasionally throwing another log on the fire to keep the cold of
night at bay as best he can. During his second trip around the
camp, he sees Jiron get up from where he’d been lying and come over
to him.

Jiron indicates for them to move away from
camp with a nod of his head and they move out away from the camp so
they won’t wake Aleya. When the darkness of night envelopes them,
Jiron stops and asks, “Do you think that warrior priest behind us
is still there?”

“I don’t know,” replies James. “I haven’t
felt anything since we fled into the mountains. Usually I can
always feel something whenever one of them is around, at least I
did when around Abula-Mazki. Why?”

“It just doesn’t feel right,” he says. “All
the other times they’ve pressed with great vigilance, but not this
time.”

“I know, it’s got me worried too,” admits
James. “But whatever the reason, I’m just thankful they’re not
trying to kill us right now.”

“True,” he agrees. “Can you find out where
they are with that mirror thing you do?”

“Not now,” he explains. “I wouldn’t dare. If
by chance they had lost us in the forest, then all I would be doing
is sending a beacon telling them exactly where we are. Besides, in
the trees it’s hard to locate anything the way I do it.”

“Alright,” he says, somewhat
disappointed.

“Go back to sleep,” James tells him. “I’ll
be getting you up soon enough.”

Jiron nods as he returns to his blanket on
the ground.

The following morning she again sets a quick
pace. “I’d like to reach the beginning of the stairs before
nightfall,” she explains.

“Why?” James asks her.

“There’s a good spot there to make camp and
that will ensure we’ll be well rested when we begin the climb
tomorrow,” she tells him. “It’s a long ways up.”

Jiron grins when James gives out with a
groan, pats him on the back and then hurries after Aleya as she
disappears between the trees.

James follows his friend and they quickly
catch up with her. The downward slope leading to the floor of the
valley is gradual and he finds it quite easy to navigate. At one
point during the morning, they begin coming across blocks of stone
that look to have at one time been part of a structure.

“There are ruins throughout this valley,”
she remarks after passing several clusters of them. “Sometime way
in the past there used to be a city here.”

“Wonder what happened to it?” James
asks.

“Who knows?” she replies.

The path they’ve been following slowly
begins to resemble a road of sorts, though it’s completely
overgrown with vegetation. If it wasn’t for the fact it runs
straight and is relatively level, he wouldn’t even have know it
existed.

As they continue progressing further into
the valley, the ruins become more pronounced. Aside from the moss
covered stones they at first had encountered, they now begin to
come across pieces of statues and other sculptures whose features
have been worn away by time.

One large statue of what might once have
been a man had long ago fallen across the road. They have to
scramble over it in order to continue.

“This road we’re on leads directly to the
beginning of the stairs,” she tells them.

At one point they must’ve reached what used
to be the city center of that long ago town. From out of the
vegetation on the side of the road, broken walls can be seen. None
are very high but the number of them suggests this had been a
populated place at one time. In what could’ve been the courtyard of
a building of importance, they find what has to be the remains of a
once exquisitely crafted fountain. It doesn’t look so much as worn
with time as being smashed to bits with hammers or something
similar. James wonders what could’ve happened here. Within what
would’ve been several city blocks of the courtyard, other evidence
corroborates the theory that this area was destroyed intentionally
rather than by time.

About midday, she calls for a lunch break
near a fallen column.

Glad for the rest, James settles down on the
column while they have a quick bite. The rest break is all too
short before she once more gets them moving. A little after noon
they reach the bottom of the valley.

In the distance ahead of them, the stairs
begin to be visible. At first a jagged line going up the side of
the ridge, then as they move closer, they are better able to make
out the individual steps.

It isn’t long before the road begins going
up the other side of the valley. “It isn’t that far now,” she tells
them. “About another couple of hours and then we’ll be able to rest
before the big climb tomorrow.”

“Good,” huffs James. Going uphill is
decidedly less easy than going down. He maintains the pace she sets
and by the time they get to the campsite, his legs are feeling
quite numb and it’s all he can do just to keep putting one in front
of the other.

Jiron on the other hand seems completely
unaffected by the rigorous pace set by Aleya. When they come to a
small ring of stones which has served as a fire pit in the recent
past, Jiron sets to collecting wood for the fire while James
collapses on the ground. Aleya again goes in search of dinner.

After collecting enough wood to last through
the night, Jiron builds a fire in the fire ring. They have a good
sized blaze going before long and they sit and wait for the return
of Aleya. From where their camp lies, they’re able to see the
beginnings of the steps leading up to the top of the ridge. It must
have taken some doing to carve them out of the side of the mountain
like that. A level space had been cleared before the steps, seven
tall spires of stone stand as sentinels.

The light slowly begins fading as the sun
falls further behind the ridge to the west. After a half hour they
begin to worry about her. “She should’ve been back by now,” Jiron
says, concern in his voice.

“Yeah, she’s never taken this long,” agrees
James.

Standing up, Jiron calls out. “Aleya!” When
no answer is forthcoming, he says, “I’m going to go search for
her.”

“I’ll go with you,” James says as he gets to
his feet.

With Jiron in the lead, they head out of the
camp, following the same general direction that Aleya had taken.
Her footprints are readily visible in the soft dirt and they’re
able to follow them quickly.

“
Help!”
they hear her cry
from up ahead.

“That’s her!” exclaims Jiron. Knife in hand,
he rushes forward with careless abandon, James right behind.

“Aleya!” he cries out as he races through
the brush ahead of them.

A large log has fallen across the game trail
that she had been following and without even slowing, Jiron vaults
over it.

Aaaiiiiiiiieeeee!

James comes to a quick halt when he hears
Jiron cry out. Coming to the log, he picks up a rock from off the
ground and cautiously peers over the top. A steep ravine falls away
on the other side and he sees Jiron picking himself up off the
ground from where he landed after sailing over the log. Several new
scrapes and cuts are testament to the haphazard way in which he
landed on the far side.

Just beneath the log, he sees Aleya lying
upside down on the edge of the ravine, her bow lying below her down
on the bottom. From the angle she’s laying, it looks like her foot
has gotten wedged in between some roots and hanging upside down
like that, has been unable to free it.

“What happened?” James asks as he cautiously
makes his way over the log.

Looking rather embarrassed, she says, “I was
climbing over the log when my foot slipped in between these roots
and I lost my balance and fell.”

Jiron comes up from the bottom and supports
her shoulders while James works her foot out from between the
roots. As her foot slips free, Jiron helps her to stand.

Testing it with her weight, she says, “I
don’t think it’s broken.” They help her back up to the top after
which, Jiron returns to the bottom of the raving to retrieve her
bow. When he returns it to her, she gives him a smile and says,
“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he replies.

“You didn’t hurt yourself when you flew over
the top did you?” she asks.

“No,” he says.

“We thought you were in trouble,” explains
James.

“I appreciate you coming to find me,” she
says.

The light is starting to fade so she returns
with them to the camp where they have another meal of cold, stale
rations. Still, it’s better than nothing.

Standing there the following morning at the
beginning of the stairs with the seven stone spires rising around
him, James looks with trepidation at the climb he’s about to embark
upon.

Jiron comes up behind him and lays his hand
on his shoulder. “It’s not going to be so bad,” he says.

“I hope not,” he replies.

Stepping upon the first step, Aleya glances
to them and says, “There are several areas along the way where we
can rest if you need to, but we really should try to make it all
the way to the top by nightfall.”

Sighing, he says, “Lead on.” He approaches
the stairs with Jiron beside him and begins the climb. Aleya takes
the steps at an even and steady pace.

After only a hundred feet, he begins to feel
the strain of the climb as his legs start protesting. And when they
come to the first resting spot the builders had constructed for the
weary traveler, he collapses on the ground. His legs are already
tired and beginning to burn from the exertion.

A broken pile of stone shows where a bench
had once rested long ago. James doesn’t care, he just lies down on
the flat ground to the side of the stairs and hopes his legs calm
down before they resume the climb.

Jiron goes to the edge of the overlook and
gazes out across the valley. “We’ve already come a ways,” he says
to James.

Coming to stand beside him, Aleya takes in
the panorama of the valley laid out before them. “Beautiful,” she
says. “If I’d known it was like this, I would’ve done this long
ago.”

After he’s rested a moment and his legs have
stopped their aching, James gets to his feet and comes over to
stand next to them. Indeed, the view is breathtaking. Looking hard,
he can make out the ruins nestled in amongst the trees. If he
didn’t know they were there, he probably wouldn’t have noticed
them.

“James!” Jiron exclaims as he points to a
clearing near the middle of the valley.

Squinting against the morning light, he’s
able to make out shapes down there. Hundreds of them moving in
their direction. “I guess they didn’t give up.”

“No,” comments Aleya, “It doesn’t look like
it.” Grabbing her bow from where it sits propped up against the
broken pieces of the bench, she says, “We better move.”

Resuming the climb with renewed
determination, James doesn’t get very far before he begins feeling
the tingle of someone doing magic. It’s not very strong but it’s
there. A shadow blots out the sun for just a moment and he looks up
to find clouds rolling in at an unnatural speed.

“What’s going on James?” Jiron asks from
where he’s paused several steps ahead of him, looking at the
sky.

Turning his attention to Jiron, he says,
“He’s calling clouds to the area.”

“Why?” he asks.

“Don’t know,” he replies. “But I doubt if
it’s for our benefit. We better get up and off these stairs
fast.”

Aleya is further up and has paused when she
realizes they’ve stopped. “Come on!” she hollers back down to them.
“We’re halfway there.”

With a groan, James gets his fatigued legs
moving.

Sitting at the top of the ridge is what
looks to be a broken watchtower, probably at one time having stood
guard over this way into the valley. By the time they’ve reached
the next rest area, soldiers can be seen at the bottom of the
stairs where they’re beginning the ascent. Above them, the ruins of
the watchtower stand silent vigil over the events below.

The side of the ridge begins to rise more
severely as the stairs continue to wind their way along its face.
One more rest area between them and the top, Aleya has already
reached it and is waiting there for them to catch up.

James is having a hard time, his legs are
beginning to become leathery from the incessant climbing. When
Jiron is about to the rest area he glances back down to find James
still quite a ways below them. Down at the base of the stairs is a
veritable swarm of black shapes waiting their turn to begin
ascending the stairs in pursuit.

He rushes back down to where James is
huffing and puffing. Grabbing his arm he cries out, “We don’t have
all day!”

“I know,” James wheezes, thankful for the
aid. With Jiron’s help he manages to make it to the rest area and
collapses.

“We can’t stay here!” Aleya confronts him as
he lies on his back, trying to get his wind back and calm the
complaints his legs are sending him. Above them, the cloud cover is
steadily increasing as more and more stream in from every
direction. Within the dark, churning mass above them, they begin to
see bursts of light as lightning flashes. The wind begins to pick
up as it whips against their exposed position on the ridgeface.

Flash! Boom!

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning strikes the
ridge not far from them. The concussion of the blast knocks Aleya
and Jiron to the ground. The spike in the tingling sensation just
prior to the flash tells James this was no accident. Struggling
against his protesting body, he gets up off the ground as the
others do the same.

“He’s calling the lightning!” James yells to
Jiron. The wind whipping the side of the ridge almost taking his
words away.

“Who is calling the lightning?” Aleya yells,
both anger and fear present in her voice. She looks from one to the
other, “Just who are you two?”