Brian Pratt - The mists of sorrow

When the redness has all but replaced the blackness, Ozgirath moves to stand before the gate. From the other side, he can feel the presence of his lord. Now, to stabilize the gate and make it permanent so his lord may cross over.

Bring them now.

At his command, four of the warrior priests who have been standing behind him motionless, turn as one and move toward the cell holding Tinok and the other three prisoners.

After leaving the Hall of Despair and the battling creatures, they follow the floating sphere along dark corridors. Several of the ‘Little Brothers’ accompany them. James takes note of their presence and asks, “I thought they were shy?”

“Little Brothers are normally very shy,” replies Brother Willim. “But I am here and they are hoping I will lead them to more Hikuli.”

James keeps glancing to them and their number constantly seems to change. First there were four, then seven, then two, and so forth. The most he saw at any one time was fourteen.

They steadily work their way deeper into the depths of the temple, all the while continuing to keep the sphere in sight ahead of them. Aside from the Hikuli they initially encountered, the corridors have been empty. James concludes that those who call this place home must be below where the magic is originating from. He maintains his orb in his hand to give them some light with which to see. Miko had replaced the Star back in his pouch once the threat of the Hikuli was past. The brilliant light the Star gave out here in Ith-Zirul was far too conspicuous and might have given them away.

Having just come down their third flight of stairs, they come across several cells that had at one time held people. “Someone was here not too long ago?” announces Jiron after he makes a quick inspection of one. “Less than a day.”

“What makes you say that?” asks Miko.

Jiron indicates the slop bucket. “What’s in there hasn’t been in there very long,” he explains. Looking around, he says, “He must have been held here.”

“You sure?” Miko asks.

“Yes,” he replies. “Unless you would like to come over and examine it for yourself?”

Shaking his head a bit more vigorously than intended, Miko says, “No, that won’t be necessary.”

“Then he can’t be too much further,” James says encouragingly. Already the sphere has moved further down the corridor. It hovers at the edge of the orb’s light as it waits for them to follow.

Jiron again takes the lead as they hurry to catch up with the sphere. Once they’ve come within ten feet of it, it resumes its progress down the corridor. After following it for another twenty feet or so, a red glow begins to be seen ahead of them. Motioning for the others to come to a stop, Jiron moves ahead to check it out.

The sphere continues to proceed down the corridor toward the red glow, then it reaches the top of a stairwell and begins to descend. The stairwell is where the glow is originating.

Jiron immediately comes to a stop and hurries back to the others. “That glow is coming from a set of stairs leading down,” he tells them.

“Did you hear anything?” James asks and Jiron shakes his head in reply.

“I think when we find the source of the glow, we’ll find your friend,” Brother Willim says. “We’re very close to whatever is going on.” Beside him, Miko nods in agreement.

“Then we don’t need the sphere anymore?” James asks.

“I doubt it,” replies Brother Willim. “And if we’re close, it could give us away prematurely.”

Canceling the sphere, James says, “It’s gone.” Then to Jiron he says, “Lead on.” Giving James a nod, Jiron moves to return back to the head of the stairs.

A growing sense of fear and doom has been developing within James since before they found the cells back behind them. And when the red glow first appeared, the sensation increased. Now standing at the top of the stairs, he feels the fear become an almost palpable force.

“You okay?” asks Brother Willim.

“I don’t know,” he replies.

Brother Willim glances from James and Jiron and can see the fear James is feeling reflected in Jiron’s eyes. “Wait a moment,” he says. Then he reaches into his robe and pulls forth a small crystal vial.

“What’s that for?” asks Jiron.

“It will help with the fear you are feeling,” he explains.

“I’m not feeling any fear,” Miko says.

“No, I wouldn’t think you would be,” replies Brother Willim. “You are after all a High Priest. The power of Morcyth shields you from such things.” He removes the stopper and pours out a single drop of the liquid contained within the vial upon his finger. “This is Asran’s Tears,” he says. When James looks questioningly, he adds, “Holy water in the simplest term.” He then takes the drop of holy water and rubs it across James’ left eyelid. Pouring out another drop, he does the same to his right eye.

As soon as both eyes have been treated, the fear that was threatening to take the heart from him subsides to a more tolerable level. “I can still feel it,” he tells Brother Willim.

Administering the holy water to Jiron’s eyes, he says, “It won’t remove all fear, just help you not be overcome by it.” When he finishes with Jiron, he stoppers the vial and replaces it within his robe.

Next to him, a Little Brother is beginning to behave in a most excitable manner. He looks at the earth spirit and says, “We need to hurry.”

“Why?” asks Jiron. Then all at once, a wave of evil rolls over them.

“It’s happening,” Brother Willim says as he races for the stairwell.

“What’s happening?” James asks as he rushes to follow.

Jiron beats him to the stairs right after Brother Willim and they move quickly down the steps. The further they descend, the more intense the red glow becomes. Moving down the steps, they finally come to a place where the wall on their right suddenly ends and opens up onto a large cavern.

Brother Willim comes to a stop just past where the wall ends and stares down at the cavern floor. “Lord Asran!” he exclaims.

James comes to a stop next to him and looks down. His eyes are immediately drawn to a massive red, somewhat dome shaped area with traces of black running through it. Seeing it there in the center of the cavern floor, he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is where the wave of evil had originated.

A dark figure, dwarfed by the size of the dome, stands before it. The unmistakable sight of two warrior priests stands behind the dark figure. Cowled figures, similar to those he encountered the last time he and Jiron were here are spaced in twos around the edge of the red dome.

“Look there!” Miko says in a hushed whisper. Pointing down below where they stand on the stairs, he indicates eight figures moving across the cavern floor toward the dark figure standing before the dome. Four of them are warrior priests, each of whom has hold of a man dressed in slave rags.

Jiron recognizes one of the men. “Tinok!” he breathes. He looks down at his lifelong friend as he is being brought forward toward the dark figure.

“Ozgirath,” says Brother Willim. When James glances to him he indicates the dark figure and says, “Ozgirath, the High Priest of Dmon-Li.”

Miko moves his hand to the pouch containing the Star of Morcyth but James stops him. “Not yet,” he says. If he brings it out of the pouch now, its light will flood the cavern and those down below will know they’re there. “Let’s get closer.” Already the light from the Star feels almost like it’s struggling to leave the pouch.

Still unobserved by those below, they start moving the rest of the way down to the bottom. James notices that the Little Brothers are not with them. Glancing back up to the top of the stairs, he can see a large concentration of them there watching. For just a moment he thinks that they have more sense than he does, then returns his attention back to the stairs and continues down after the others.