Brian Pratt - Warrior priest of Dmon-Li

James glances at the others and says, “They’ll probably wait until that mage shows up before doing anything else.”

“I think so too,” responds Jiron. Then he glances at James and asks, “There’s no way we’re going to make it out of here, is there?”

James shakes his head and says, “Doesn’t look that way.”

“Maybe not,” says Miko.

They all turn to him as he continues, “Back when I was in the mines, I saw shafts that they’d dug up to the surface periodically to allow fresh air in for us. If this mine has those too, then we could maybe use one to get out.”

“Anyone have a candle or torch?” James asks, suddenly remembering a scene from the movie Rambo.

“What do you want that for?” questions Jiron.

When they all shake their head no, he looks around and finds a narrow piece of broken wood about two and half feet long. He goes back and removes a shirt from one of the dead miners and wraps it around the wood. Motioning for everyone to move back away from the entrance, he concentrates and the cloth bursts into flame.

From outside the mine, they hear the talking increase as they see the makeshift torch come to life. Some move forward and James throws another stone out, this time trying not to kill. The stone strikes a man who’s knocked backward and the rest who were moving forward come to a stop.

Seeing that they’re not in any immediate threat of being rushed, James holds the torch steady and watches as the flame is fanned by a breeze moving toward the rear of the mine. Looking to Miko, he says, “You may be right.”

Miko breaks into a smile, relieved to both have helped him and that they might be able to get out.

Holding the torch out in front of him, James moves further back into the mine. They don’t get far before the mine branches to the left or right. He steps down each branch and pauses a moment to watch the flame of the torch. When he’s down the left branch the flame flickers the most.

“It’s down this way,” he tells them. Walking quickly, he moves further into the left tunnel.

Jiron looks back to the entrance and sees the soldiers are tentatively moving closer. There appear to be more out there, most likely both of the forces have met up. That means somewhere out there is a mage as well.

He hurries to follow James as he attempts to locate an air vent. “I think they’re starting to move toward the entrance,” he tells James when he catches up with him.

“If they don’t move fast, we should be able to get out of here,” he says, glancing back.

Jiron thinks this whole thing is doubtful, but trusts in James. In the short time they’ve been together, he’s managed to do some pretty impressive things.

The mine begins to get narrower and they find tools and other implements scattered about. In one spot, they come across a half filled ore wagon sitting to one side. They look at the ore within but are unable to determine just what the miners had been mining.

“It’s not iron ore,” Miko says when he gets close enough to the wagon to see its contents.

“Are you sure?” Fifer asks.

Grimly, he replies, “Very.”

They move on, the torch still indicating a breeze moving toward the back of the mine. Suddenly, a crossbow bolt strikes the wall right next to James. He whirls around, points the torch behind them and lets the magic flow.

A cone of fire shoots from the end of the torch like a flame thrower, Jiron has to dive out of the way as the flame sizzles past. It expands as it goes until it’s wide enough to touch the sides of the mine. Screams can be heard from the soldiers who’re caught in the fire as their hair and clothes burst into flame. As quickly as the cone of fire started, it stops.

Back down the tunnel, they can see several men running away, their clothes and hair aflame. As an added concern, some of the support beams used to keep the ceiling from caving in have caught fire as well.

Turning back, James says, “We better hurry.”

Fifer gazes at James, awe in his eyes as well as a little bit of fear. “How did you do that?” he asks.

“Oxygen will burn, but it needs to be in a purer form than what we breathe,” he explains. “I just changed it.”

“Oh,” he says, not really understanding, “right.”

James grins at him and continues down the tunnel. He glances back occasionally and finds that the soldiers have made no attempts to put out the fires consuming the old timbers shoring up the mine.

Another branching and he determines the breeze is continuing down the right, they turn to follow it. Shortly after taking it, the unmistakable sounds of men chipping stone away from the walls can be heard from up ahead.

A torch begins to be seen and soon three men are visible in the light as they use pickaxes to remove the stone from the wall. When they approach the miners, the men take notice of them and at first take them for their fellows, but soon realize their mistake.

“We don’t want to hurt you,” James says to them, holding up his hands. “Do you understand?”

They begin talking in the Empire’s tongue, not responding to what he just said.

“I guess they don’t,” says Jiron. He draws his knives and advances upon them, Fifer joins him with his longsword. Miko moves to join them but James stops him by grabbing him by the arm. When he looks at him, James just shakes his head, no.

As Jiron and Fifer approach the miners with their weapons held in a threatening manner, they make sure to leave open an avenue of retreat for them.

The miners stare in fright at them as they approach. When they realize there’s a way to flee, they don’t even hesitate as they throw down their picks and race past them to the front of the mine.

After they’ve disappeared down the mine, Jiron moves to the wall where they were mining and closely examines the stone. He takes the torch from the wall and holds it close. “Silver,” he announces, pointing to a silver vein. “They’re mining silver.”

“Too bad we can’t take some with us,” Fifer says, longingly.

“Come on,” James says to them, “we need to get out of here.”

Moving further down the mine, they come to a section where the breeze seems to intensify and suddenly the flame of the torch looks as if it’s being sucked straight up. James looks up to the ceiling and can see a dark hole extending upward. “I think this is it,” he announces as he tosses the torch to the ground.

“But how do we get up there?” Miko asks as he looks up.

Jiron tosses his torch up into the hole and the light illuminates a slanted narrow opening, about four foot square, ten feet above their heads. “If we can get up there, it looks like we can brace ourselves along the sides as we make our way up,” he tells them.

He looks to Fifer and says, “Lift me up.” He hands his torch to Miko.

Fifer comes over and cups his hands together to give Jiron a step up. When Jiron puts his foot in his hands, he lifts him up to the hole.

Jiron reaches up and is able to get a solid handhold within the hole. Getting a solid purchase with his foot as well, he begins to slowly move further up into the vent. They hear his voice coming down to them, “It’s not too steep, the sides are rough and give ample places to grip.”

They see him beginning to come back down but stops when he gets to the edge. “James, can you make an orb for me to use?” he asks.

A small circle of light forms in James’ hands and then begins to rise up to Jiron. It floats up until it comes to rest on his right shoulder. “Thanks,” they hear him say as he works his way back up the vent.

“Miko, you’re next,” James says as he cups his hands to give him a boost.

“I’m not so sure about this,” he says. He glances up to the vent, the light from the orb clearly showing the opening.