Brian Pratt - Warrior priest of Dmon-Li

Growing in confidence, James hurries toward the cavern. Upon leaving the stairs and entering the cavern with the pool, he again holds the Star up high. Blazing forth with the most intense light it has yet produced, it infuses the entire cavern with its blinding brilliance. As the light touches the pool, the water begins to writhe backward, as if it was trying to get away from intense light. James walks slowly closer to the edge of the dark water, holding the Star out in front of him.

The water of the pool begins to roil and bubble, steam comes off of it, filling the cavern with its horrid odor. The stench, as bad as it was before is nothing compared to what is coming off of it now. Rot, decay, and death seem to fill the cavern as the steam continues erupting from the pool.

The light from the Star seems to keep the steam at bay, dissolving it as it did the torsos. Jiron and Miko stand shoulder to shoulder with James as the lake continues to hiss and boil wherever the light touches it. The steam soon becomes so thick that it’s as if they’re standing in the middle of a fog bank.

Suddenly, a torso lurches out of the fog and reaches out for them, but quickly dissolves into nothingness when the light from the Star touches it.

The Star continues to work its effect upon the pool, the level slowly dropping as more of it steams and dissolves away.

When the pool is close to being empty, from overhead they hear a high pitched noise which is increasingly growing in volume. Looking up through the fog, they see the crystal begin pulsating wildly. And then suddenly, a shattering crack as the giant crystal overhead explodes into a million shards that rain down over the entire cavern.

With the shattering of the crystal, the resistance from the pool vanishes and the light from the Star quickly destroys the rest. Once every last drop has been eradicated, the light abruptly stops and the cavern is once again plunged into darkness.

They stand in the darkness and James is about to make his orb when lights begin to appear all over the floor of the cavern. Ghostly apparitions begin to take shape.

Miko screams and James holds aloft the Star, but nothing happens. The ghosts all look to him, give him a slight bow and then begin to fade away. After the last ghost had faded away and the cavern is once more plunged into darkness, James creates his orb.

“What was that?” Jiron asks, referring to the ghosts.

“I think they were the souls of the people who had been sacrificed here long ago,” he reasons. “Though we may never know for sure.”

“Let’s get out of here!” Miko says, not wanting to spend another moment within this cavern.

“See no reason to stay,” agrees James. “I don’t feel anymore magic being worked here, the barrier may be down now.”

“Then what are we waiting for,” exclaims Miko as he shoves past James and moves quickly up the stairs to the level above.

Turning, James follows him up the stairs and they make their way back through the complex to the winding stairs that lead up to the surface. He pauses at the top and cautiously peers out into the courtyard. When no apparitions are apparent he motions for the others to follow him. “Looks like the spirits we saw were the ones who had been up here,” he says.

“I hope so,” Miko exclaims. “I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

“I agree,” Jiron says as he moves to the fore and leads them toward the northern skull pyramid they’d attempted to get around earlier.

They glance over to where the large skull pyramid had stood as they make their way through the courtyard. With the shattering of the crystal, it had collapsed and is now only a jumbled pile of skulls. When they reach the northern pyramid, they find that it too had collapsed, the skulls lying in a heap.

Jiron moves cautiously to where the barrier had been and holds his hand out, just in case. When he gets to where it once had been, his hand continues on through. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief and quickly moves to leave this area.

Hurrying on past, they travel through the swamp for an hour before deciding they’ve put enough distance between them and the ruins. Tired and exhausted they make camp and rest. They take turns keeping watch, and manage to make it through the night with no disturbances.

When Jiron wakes the following morning, he finds James sitting by the fire, staring at the crystal he found in the underground complex. “What are you doing?” he asks.

“Just thinking, is all,” he replies. “The ones who built that place had these everywhere, as well as the main crystal above the pool.”

“And?” he prompts him to continue.

“And there must be a reason, something about the crystals that made them important to whoever had lived there,” he explains. “I intend to figure it out.”

“I’m sure you will,” he says as he gets up off the ground. “I’m going to see if I can’t scare up some food for breakfast.”

“Don’t bother,” James says as he motions over to several dead animals with holes in them. “I already got something, if you wouldn’t mind preparing them?”

Shaking his head, Jiron says, “No problem.” He goes over and begins skinning and preparing them for the fire. As he prepares them, he continues glancing over to James as he stares at the crystal.

When the animals are over the fire and roasting, the smell awakens Miko. “Finally up I see,” Jiron says to him.

Miko doesn’t reply, just goes to the edge of camp and answers the call of nature. Upon returning, he says, “James, why did your medallion act the way it did?”

James glances over to him and then returns the shard to his pouch. Turning to face him, he says, “The Star of Morcyth is a symbol of a god. Where I come from, it’s often the belief that religious symbols have some effect upon the dead or half-dead. Often it’s based upon the strength of the faith of the one wielding it. But I don’t worship Morcyth, so I’m not exactly sure why it did what it did.”

“Maybe it’s no ordinary medallion,” Jiron says from where he’s turning the spits over the fire. “Just where did you get it, anyway.” When James hesitates to answer, he says, “I think we have a right to know, after what we’ve been through.”

So James relates the events after he’d come to this world. Miko is astounded that James claims to be from another world and has had dealings with gods or whatever Igor is.

“He had said not to lose it, that I might need it,” he tells them. “I guess he was right.”

“Incredible,” Jiron says. “And you still don’t know why you were brought here or what you should do?”

Shaking his head, he says, “No, but I’m figuring it to have something to do with the god Morcyth.”

“That makes sense, since you were given his medallion,” Jiron says as he nods his head. “And that’s why you were in the City of Light?”

“Yeah, I was there looking for the last high temple to Morcyth, which we found as we fled,” he says. “But that didn’t answer any of my questions. When I talked with Ollinearn, he’d said that the last high priest had been born in Saragon. I had thought maybe to go there next, but it’s currently in the hands of the Empire. So I’m not really sure what I’ll be doing next.”

“I’m sure something will come up to tell you,” Jiron assures him. “They’re not going to have brought you here just to let you cool your heels.”

Smiling, James says, “Probably not.”

“Well anyway, breakfast is ready,” he announces as he hands each of them a skewer. As they take the offered food, James sits back and relaxes, unable to get the events of the last few days out of his mind.

They sit in silence as they eat, just happy to be out of the complex and on their way again. Jiron wonders what’s going on with his sister and the others they’d left back at Al-Kur. He’s anxious to meet up with them when they reach Trendle, and is sure she’ll make it there safe. The pit fighters had given their word to see her safely there.