Brian Pratt - Warrior priest of Dmon-Li

Putting more fuel on the fire, he sits in close and manages to stay awake until it’s time to wake Jiron for his turn. Before falling asleep, he tells him of the roar he’d heard earlier.

Jiron nods his head and steps out of the firelight into the darkness as he does some investigating.

As Miko falls asleep, he can hear Jiron’s footsteps as he walks around the campsite.

The next morning when James is awakened by the lightning of the morning sky, he discovers Miko lying near him still asleep but Jiron is nowhere to be seen. Sitting up, he has a sudden sharp stab of pain from his leg which causes him to gasp. The blood on his makeshift bandage has turned brown and the bandage itself seems to be attaching itself to the wound as it scabs over.

Hoping the pain is just from the trauma of the wound and not something more serious, he grabs his stick and pulls himself up to a standing position. He scans the surrounding area but fails to see any sign of Jiron.

Worried, he hobbles over and wakes up Miko. “Do you know where Jiron went?” he asks him once he’s awake.

Sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he glances around and shakes his head. “No,” he replies. “He was here when I went to sleep after my watch last night.”

Grimacing, James again looks around but is unable to see very far through the trees and undergrowth.

“Where is he!” he says to himself quietly.

“Jiron!” Miko hollers out.

“Shhh!” James says, shushing him. “You’re going to attract anything wandering around out there.”

Suddenly nervous, Miko looks around fearfully, expecting a rhino-lizard or something else equally nasty to come out of the swamp. When no monster is forthcoming, he gradually relaxes. Turning to James he says, “Sorry.”

“We’ll just have to wait until he returns,” he tells him.

They wait for another ten minutes or so before they hear the sound of someone approaching. Standing up, they turn in the direction the sound is coming from and wait. Soon, Jiron emerges from the trees and makes his way over to them.

“Where did you go?” James asks, accusingly. “We were worried about you!”

“Sorry about that,” he apologizes. “Was just doing a little scouting.”

“And?” Miko asks.

“I think it’ would be best if I just show you,” he says, then motions for them to follow him.

Not liking the sound of that, James nods his head as he follows Jiron away from the camp, Miko close behind.

He takes them several hundred feet deeper into the swamp, during which they notice that the state of the trees they pass progressively deteriorates. Where some back at the campsite were dying, here they were positively withered.

“I see what you mean,” James says as he pauses to examine one of the trees.

“This ain’t it,” Jiron says as he continues leading them on.

James and Miko look to each other as they continue following him, their apprehension growing.

Leading them a little bit further, he suddenly stops and points to a spot further ahead of them. “That is what I’m talking about,” he says.

James looks to where he’s pointing and sees a pyramid shaped stack of white stones up ahead. He glances to Jiron who nods his head.

Moving closer, James begins to feel the prickling sensation he feels when magic is being worked. He stops suddenly when he realizes that it’s not stones that comprise the pyramid, but human skulls stacked in layers.

Backing up, he motions for them to back away from it as well. Once they’ve backed far enough away that he no longer feels the prickling, he says, “It’s magical in nature, I can feel it.”

“Could this be why the natives don’t come this way?” Miko asks him.

Jiron looks to James who nods his head. “I would think so,” replies James.

“What do we do?” Jiron asks.

“Find another way,” he replies. “I don’t know what it’s doing, but I really don’t think we want to go that way.”

“Alright,” he says. Once again taking the lead, he turns back and tries to find a way around the pyramid. Miko hurries along behind, anxious to put as much distance between them and the pyramid as quickly as possible.

He takes them west back toward the waterway and when they reach it, turns north again. But the waterway curves and brings them back to the area where the trees are withering. “Not this way,” he says, turning again to the south as he back tracks.

Retracing their steps, they find their way back. Taking them to the east this time, he’s able to find a path where they can walk without having to take the chance of slipping into the fish infested stagnant water.

They move a short ways east when a noise can be heard, like something moving through the undergrowth. He has them wait for a moment while he continues down the path and sees what it is making the noise.

He disappears through the trees ahead of them for a moment and then they suddenly hear a crashing sound as he comes running back toward them. Bursting out of the trees behind him is a rhino-lizard, charging fast.

Miko screams as he turns to flee.

James also tries to run, but on his injured leg, realizes he’s unable to move quickly enough to stay ahead of the charging rhino-lizard.

He turns to face it and in a flash, releases the magic.

Crumph!

The ground in front of it explodes upward, startling it. Roaring loudly, it comes to a stop. Taking advantage of its startlement, they move further away and hide behind some trees. They wait for several minutes in their hiding place but fail to hear any noise that might indicate it had come their way. Looking out from behind the trees, Jiron says, “I don’t think it followed us.”

He motions for them to remain there as he gets up and moves back toward where they encountered it. Returning quickly, he says, “I can’t see it anywhere. It must have gotten scared when the ground erupted and ran back to the others.”

“Others?” asks Miko, nervously.

“Yeah, there were several of them over there,” he tells him. Looking to James he says, “We can’t go that way either.”

“Now what?” asks Miko.

“Seems we are faced with several unpleasant choices,” he says as they gather around.

“East are the rhino-lizards, west is the river which may or may not have those flesh eating fish in them,” he says. “South are the natives, and I’m sure they’ll not welcome us back. Finally, to the north is that odd pyramid of skulls that feels like it’s radiating magic in some way.”

“South and east are definitely out,” Jiron says. “We could never survive unscathed if we take either of those routes. Not in our present condition.”

Nodding, James says, “I’d have to agree with you there.”

“Not the water!” pipes up Miko. “I couldn’t go in there!”

Sighing, James says, “Then we must chance the pyramid and whatever lies beyond it.” He glances at each of them before continuing, “This could prove worse than any of the other choices, you know.”

Shrugging, Jiron replies, “We don’t know that for sure. Until we do, it’s our best route.”

“Alright then,” James says as he gets up and readies his stick for travel. “Lead on.”

Taking the lead again, Jiron takes them back toward the pyramid of skulls. Worry and dread fill their hearts as they make their way through the dead and withered trees. The ground around them seems almost grey in the light, the grass and bushes upon it are twisted and warped, just like the trees. When they can at last see the pyramid ahead of them once more, Jiron pauses for a moment. Glancing first to James and then Miko, he gathers his courage before continuing down toward it.

When they are but scant feet away from it, Miko gives James a weird look. This close to the skull pyramid, even the other two are able to feel the magic of it. Miko stays as far away from it as the ground will allow him. Any further and he’d be in the water.