Brian Pratt - The star of Morcyth

“Maybe they made it through to the other side?” Miko asks hopefully.

“Let’s hope so,” says Fifer.

James works his way through the room to the passage and is able to move several feet into it before being forced to stop. “Jiron! Dave!” he cries.

From somewhere within the passage, a muffled, “Here!” can be heard.

“Someone’s in there!” he cries and begins removing the rubble.

Coming to help him, Miko says, “It must be Jiron.”

“He was in the rear,” agrees Uther.

As Miko and James remove the rubble, the others take the stones and pile them further back in the room away from the opening. Slowly, the rubble is removed from the passage. Fortunately it’s only the smaller blocks of stone which made it this far and so between them, they are able to move them out of the way.

“Are you okay?” asks James.

This time the unmistakable voice of Jiron replies, “My leg’s trapped under a block of stone. I think it’s broken.”

“Sit tight, we’ll get you out of there,” Miko hollers.

“Is Dave with you?” James asks.

“No,” he replies. “Saw him make it out before the ceiling caved in.”

Dave on the loose with the Star, and from what he said on the way to the Empire’s forces to hand it over. He just can’t believe Dave would do such a thing. What did they do to him?

“I see your light,” Jiron tells them after another ten minutes of digging.

James quickens his pace and removes several more stones and climbs to the top of the remaining rubble. Holding his light so it shines beyond, he looks down and finds Jiron lying upon the stairs. A massive stone rests just above him and seems to have given him some shelter against the falling rubble. His left leg looks to be wedged under another large stone.

To the others James says, “Hurry up, we’re almost there.”

Moving back down, they continue to clear away the rest of the smaller stones. They’re forced to leave a couple big slabs as they are simply too heavy for them to lift. When at last they have all the loose rubble cleared away, James backs away and lets Fifer and Qyrll through to see about getting that large slab off him.

“Miko, lend us a hand,” Fifer hollers out. “Help Jiron get his foot out when we lift the rock.

Moving in close, he says, “Alright.” He moves in next to Jiron and takes his leg.

“Take it easy now,” Jiron tells him.

Giving him a reassuring grin, Miko says, “Of course.”

Qyrll and Fifer get in position to lift the stone. “On three,” says Fifer. “One…two…three!” Lifting with all their might, he and Qyrll strain against the weight of the stone. They manage to lift it an inch and Miko quickly pulls Jiron’s leg free.

“He’s out!” exclaims Miko.

They carefully set the stone back down and then move to help Jiron to his feet. Miko scrambles out of the way as they help him back out of the passage and into the cube room.

“Set him down over here,” James tells them, indicating a spot on the far side of the room. He doesn’t want a sudden collapse by the rubble in the passage to possibly cause more damage.

They bring him over and set him on the floor. “Easy!” he says as pain courses through his leg. When they finally have him seated comfortably with his back against the wall, he looks to James. “You’re friend has left us here to die.”

“I know,” he replies in anguish. “I’m sorry.”

“What do you plan to do now?” he asks.

Fifer rolls up Jiron’s pants and inspects the leg. “Looks like it is broken,” he says. He glances to Qyrll and says, “Come with me.” With Qyrll behind him, they return back to the cavern and the others can hear them walking off into the distance. Before they get too far, the sound of a flint stone making sparks is heard and another of Qyrll’s candles springs to life.

James sits there in silence for a moment and Jiron says, “You haven’t answered my question.”

“I think the first thing we need to do is figure a way out,” he says.

“No, I mean about your friend,” he clarifies. “He took off with a very important item.”

Sighing, James says, “I know. After we get out, we go and get it back.”

“And Dave?” he asks.

Turning sad eyes onto Jiron, he opens his mouth and then closes it again without uttering a sound. Finally he just shakes his head and says, “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about Dave anymore.”

“Why?” Jiron asks, surprised by his answer.

“Remember back when we got the Fire?” he asks. When Jiron nods yes, he says, “The guardian spirits said that ‘Only a son of this world may touch it. All others must surely perish.’ The Star is similar in nature to the Fire.”

“You think he’s going to die?” Jorry asks from where he’s been listening in.

Nodding he replies, “I don’t know what else that could mean.”

Smashing sounds can be heard from far off and soon, Fifer and Qyrll come back with several long wooden pieces they broke off from the chest which had contained the Star. Using them for splints, they tear off strips of cloth from their shirts and bind the broken leg tight.

“That should hold for now,” Fifer says. “A priest could do a better job, but we’re lacking one just now.”

“You could do it,” Jiron says.

James turns his attention back to Jiron and sees him staring at him. “I’m no priest,” he protests.

“Didn’t you say that the spirit of the long dead priest of Morcyth called you one?” he asks.

“Well, yes he did,” he replies. “But he was mistaken.”

“I don’t think so,” he says. “You’re in good with Morcyth, after all you bear the medallion with his Star. And it has sprung to life for you before.”

“I know, but I don’t understand how that happened,” he counters. “I don’t even know if I can heal. Frankly it scares me to death. I just don’t know enough about cell structure and vein integrity or anything.” He looks at Jiron and finally says, “I could wind up doing more harm than good.”

“Very well,” he says.

“So, how are we to get out of here?” the miner asks. “I don’t know much about what you all are mixed up in but I do know we’ll never move that stone without more falling down on our heads.”

“Any ideas?” asks James as he glances around the assembled group.

“Blast it out,” Miko says. “Use your magic and clear it away.”

“Even if I could, there’s no guarantee that I wouldn’t bring down more on top of us,” he says. “Remember, we’re under a mountain, a really big mountain.” When he sees the lack of hope in Miko’s face, he adds, “If all else fails, I’ll try.”

They pick up Jiron and aid him in moving to the large cavern, finally stopping next to the stream. James bends over and takes a long drink as he considers the next step. He doesn’t have that long to dink around, the Star is most likely on the move toward the Empire. He’s not sure exactly what would happen should it reach Dmon-Li’s priests, but it can’t be good.

Almost absentmindedly his eyes follow the stream to where it leaves the cavern through the hole in the wall. Sudden realization hits him, the hole is large enough for them to make it through. Coming to his feet, all eyes are drawn to him as he indicates the outflow of the stream and says, “Maybe we could make it through there?”

They turn to see where he’s pointing, Uther jumps up and says, “Might work.”

“Yeah,” adds Jorry, “the lake out there has to be fed from somewhere. There was water flowing out of it so there must be water flowing in as well.”

“What about Jiron?” Fifer asks. “His leg is in no condition to be climbing around in caves.”