Brian Pratt - The mists of sorrow

He dispels his barrier and gets to his feet as the others begin moving into the room. Following the same route the spears sped him along the first time, the others cross the room. He can hear Jiron say, “Step where I step”, as he leads the others from one spear to the next.

No further spears erupt from the floor and they finally join him at the far end of the room. “Secret door, now deadly spears,” comments Potbelly. “Can’t wait to see what we’ll discover when we reach the next set of annotations.”

“Probably a demon or something,” guesses Scar.

James produces the diagram and sees that another corridor extends from the other side of the door they’re standing next to. At the end it looks like a spiral staircase goes either up or down then another long corridor before they reach a round room with a circle drawn in the middle. In the corridor just before the round room is where the next set of annotations is noted.

As Jiron listens at the door for any sound coming from the other side, James cancels the second orb, leaving just the orb Jiron is carrying. Not hearing anything, Jiron opens the door and they begin working their way down the hallway.

Halfway down the corridor, something causes Miko to glance backward. His heart skips a beat when he sees light now coming from the room with the spikes they had just left. “James!” he says as he points back they way they came.

The tone of his voice brings the others to a halt and they turn to see what he’s pointing at. “Oh no,” Brother Willim says as he sees the light within the room growing brighter.

Then all of a sudden temple guards emerge from the doorway. When they see them there, they draw their weapons and charge. There’s at least a dozen or more of them coming through the doorway.

Scar pulls forth his swords and says over his shoulder, “Keep going.” As Potbelly draws his sword and knife he adds, “We’ll hold them off.” When it looks like the others are hesitating, Scar yells, “Go!”

Then he and Potbelly move forward to engage the oncoming guards. “First one to Coryntia’s realm buys,” Potbelly says.

“You’re on,” Scar replies then the battle is upon them.

Jiron sees James beginning to pull a slug out of his slug belt. He places a hand on his arm and says, “No magic. If they think we’re just thieves, they’ll send guards. If you start throwing magic around, the priests will come.”

“He’s right,” Brother Willim says.

“But they’ll never survive,” James says. More guards are piling up behind the ones engaging Scar and Potbelly.

“They know that,” Jiron says. “We have to get to the dais!” He turns James toward him and looks him in the eyes. “Don’t let their sacrifice be in vain!”

James glances back at the pair holding the corridor against what now must be over three dozen guards. Fortunately the width of the corridor prevents more than two or three coming at them at any one time. Nodding, he turns his back on them and follows Jiron as he runs down the corridor toward the stairwell. Brother Willim and Miko follow close behind.

When they reach the stairwell, they glance once more at the pair fighting in the corridor, then rush down to the lower level. The stairs wind around four times before coming out at another corridor. “It’s in the room at the end,” James tells the others. “But be careful when you reach the end of the corridor, that’s where the final set of annotations lay.”

As they head down the corridor, the sound of the fighting going on above them gradually diminishes until they are no longer able to hear it. Moving down quickly, they soon see the end of the corridor ahead of them. To their surprise, the corridor ends at a solid stone wall. Slowing down they approach the wall cautiously.

“Another secret door?” asks Miko.

“Maybe,” replies James. Could the final set of annotations tell them how to get through here? He hopes that’s what it could mean. When he sees Jiron move to approach the wall he says, “Be wary of traps.”

“After that room upstairs,” he replies, “you can believe I will be.”

James joins him as he goes to the wall. “Looks fairly normal,” Jiron says. They both begin running their hands over the wall in an attempt to find something that will allow them to gain access to the room containing the dais.

Miko and Brother Willim stand back about ten feet from the end of the corridor. Miko can feel the deaths of the guards as they fight Scar and Potbelly above them. He’s pretty sure neither one of their friends has fallen yet. Elsewhere in the temple, the untimely death of slaves rips through him every so often as the priests of Dmon-Li continue their dark ritual.

His eyes wander and finally settle on a minor imperfection in the stone of the wall next to him. Not sure why it caught his eye, he moves closer for a better look. “I think I found it,” he announces to the others as he runs his finger across an indentation similar in size to the medallion James has been carrying ever since finding it in the underground temple near Kern.

James immediately rushes over with his orb to see. “That’s it!” he exclaims. Pulling out the medallion bearing the warrior priest’s insignia, he places it against the indentation. Not exactly a perfect match, but it works.

A vibration comes to them as the end of the corridor begins to drop down in sections. When the rumbling ceases, the light of the orb reveals that the end of the corridor has dropped and created a set of steps leading down.

“Yes!” exclaims Jiron. Moving forward, he leads them down to the bottom where a short corridor connects the stairs with a room. The light from the orb shines through the doorway into the room and they see the dais sitting there before them.

Moving forward, they enter the room and find that it’s round just as the diagram had depicted. “There it is,” James says as they move to the dais.

“It seems odd that the room containing this dais was only reachable by going though two secret doors and a room full of spikes,” comments Jiron. When James glances to him he adds, “The dais in the underground temple was right where anyone could get to it.”

James shrugs. “Maybe they were built in different times,” he says. “The one in the underground temple could have been constructed when they didn’t feel the need to protect it.”

“Could be,” agrees Brother Willim. Turning to James he says, “Now what?”

“Now we get on the dais and let it take us to the High Temple,” he says.

“Sounds easy enough,” Miko states.

“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.

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.