Brian Pratt - The star of Morcyth

“Fifer,” Jiron says. “What other choice do I have other than staying here?”

“We can help him,” says James. To Jiron he asks, “Did you bring that rope with you?” The last time they traveled to Saragon, he had brought a coil of thin rope for emergencies.

Lifting his shirt, he grins as he shows them the rope coiled about his waist. “You know it,” he says.

“Alright then,” announces James. He motions for Jorry and Uther to come over and he hands the orb to Uther. “Take this and try to find a way through. We’ll be right behind you.”

Taking the orb, Uther is about to ask if he’ll need the light when another orb materializes upon his hand. Nodding to Jiron he says, “You just take care of him and we’ll find a way out.” To Jorry he says, “Come on,” and they head toward the hole in the wall.

Fifer and Miko help Jiron to his feet and they make their way to the opening. When James nears he sees the light from the orb Uther holds already yards away. He’s hunched over as he works his way along the narrow passageway.

James enters the opening and finds the footing extremely uneven and treacherous, algae covers many of the rocks and most are not stable. Stepping carefully, he works his way along.

“Easy now,” he hears Fifer say to Jiron as they begin entering through the opening. The splint on his leg allows him to put some weight upon it but not nearly enough to enable him to walk on his own.

“James!” Uther hollers to him from up ahead.

“What?” he replies. Slipping and almost falling, he catches himself on a small rock protruding from the side. Looking ahead, he sees them stopped.

“We got problems,” he says.

Moving as quickly as he can, he makes his way to where Uther is standing with the orb. When he draws close he sees what Uther is talking about. The stream they’ve been following suddenly goes over a drop-off and flows down a steep, uneven incline further than the light from the orb illuminates.

The sides of the passage end there as well so there’s no way to go around. Down is the only way to go. Shortly everyone makes it there and understands what is before them.

“How far down do you think it is?” the miner asks.

“Could be another five feet or five hundred for all we know,” Qyrll states.

“This rope is only fifty feet,” Jiron says. “Let’s hope it isn’t much further than that.”

“Maybe there’s another way?” Fifer asks.

“The only other one I can think of would be the chasm surrounding the area where we found the Star,” James explains. “I doubt if we’ll have any better luck with that.”

Looking over the side, he sees that it’s not a sheer vertical drop, rather a steep narrow incline. With luck they could possible make it. Jiron though will have a hard time, but like he said, what choice has he?

Turning to Uther and Jorry he asks, “Think you can make it?”

“Possibly,” admits Uther.

Stepping forward, Qyrll says, “Allow me to lead here.” Everyone turns his way as he continues. “Back where I come from we have many instances where we must scale cliffs and overhangs such as these. I would have little trouble with this.”

Glancing to Uther, he sees him give a nod in agreement and then says, “Alright. Uther, hand him the orb.” After Qyrll has the orb and begins to descend over the side he adds, “We’ll stay here, let us know if this way is feasible.”

“I will, worry not,” and with that he begins to descend in earnest.

James comes over to where Jiron is propped up against a rock. “You doing okay?” he asks.

Shrugging he replies, “As best as can be I suppose. I’m alive at least.” He shifts his broken leg and grimaces.

“How’s he doing?” James hollers over to where Fifer is keeping an eye on Qyrll’s progress.

“Better than I would have,” answers Uther. “He’s moving fast.”

They wait there for another five or ten minutes before Fifer turns from the drop-off and says, “He’s waving the orb. I think he’s reached the bottom.”

James gets up from beside Jiron and approaches the edge. Looking over, he sees him way down below. All that can be seen is the orb moving from side to side.

Next to him Miko asks, “Is he saying it’s clear or that he’s in trouble?”

“Maybe we should have set up a signal but I didn’t think it was going to be so far,” admits James. He gauges the distance and doesn’t figure on Jiron’s rope being able to stretch even half that distance. Coming to a decision, he gathers the others around him and says, “We’re going to have to help Jiron down in stages. Fifer, you stay with Jiron and it will be your job to aid him from stage to stage.”

“The rest of us will position ourselves in increments of fifty feet or so to hold the rope steady while you two make it down. Then once you’re past, we’ll follow. Understand?” When he gets everyone’s nod, he goes to the edge and waves his orb back and forth to tell Qyrll he saw his signal. Once Qyrll has stopped moving his orb, James turns back to the others.

“Okay Miko, you first,” he says. One by one they descend down the side of the drop-off and station themselves at points where the surface levels off slightly and they’ll be able to maintain balance while holding the rope. James has remained at the top and once everyone is in position turns to Fifer and says, “Alright, let’s do this.”

Fifer helps Jiron up and they tie the end of the rope to Jiron. Once James has a secure hold upon the rope and is properly braced, Fifer helps him over the edge. Inch by inch, James lets out slack in the rope as Jiron slowly makes it down to where the miner is waiting at the next stage.

As soon as he’s made it there, Fifer waves back to him and he releases the rope. Arms tired and aching from the constant pressure of maintaining a tight grip, he’s more than glad to send the rope down to the next person. Slipping over the drop-off, he begins working his way down while the miner holds the rope as Fifer and Jiron work their way down to the next person.

Stage by stage, Jiron and Fifer make their way down until at last they make it to Qyrll. The others arrive shortly after. They find themselves next to an underground lake, a shore of sorts runs along the outer edge in both directions. Jiron wets his finger and holds it up.

“What are you doing?” Uther asks him.

“Seeing if there’s a breeze,” he replies. After remaining motionless for a minute he shakes his head. “If there is one I can’t tell.” He turns to James and says, “It’s up to you.” When he hesitates, Jiron adds, “They already know we’re here.”

“True,” he agrees. In front of him a translucent bubble springs into existence.

“What’s that going to do?” the miner asks in wonder. Sure he’s heard of magic but seeing it up close kind of unnerves him, first the orb and now this.

“It will lead us to the way out,” replies James.

As if floating on a breeze, the bubble begins floating to the right around the lake. Fifer and Qyrll help Jiron to stand and they all begin following the bubble. Those helping Jiron along are unable to keep up, so James has Miko stay with them with one of the orbs while he, Jorry and Uther move ahead keep the orb within sight. The miner stays back with Jiron’s group.

The cavern is rather large, stalactites and stalagmites decorate the scene with many colors. Small creatures, blind and translucent, scurry out of the way as the light from James’ orb reveals them. From several places, other cascades of water flow from crevices and fissures in the walls to the lake.

Continuing its dance upon an unseen wind, the bubble floats on. It comes to an opening to their right, a dark gaping maw which extends further into the mountain. Rather than entering the opening, the bubble continues on past. James pauses but a moment to look within but the light from his orb reveals nothing.