Snapping awake quickly, James is at first disoriented but then realizes where they are. He looks to Jiron and asks, "Are they still watching the way we came in?"

"Yes," he says.

"And they haven't made any move to follow after us?" he asks.

"Not so far," Jiron replies.

"That's not good," mumbles James.

"Why?"

James c.o.c.ks his head to the side and looks at Jiron for a moment before replying. "First ask yourself why would they pursue us all this way and then stop when they were so close to victory?"

Shrugging, Jiron says, "Maybe they feel we will have no choice but to come out the way we came in. Why would they risk it?"

"Think about it," insists James. "They could easily enough collapse this whole area and squash us like bugs. Why haven't they?"

Jiron starts to answer then stops. He remembers how readily James had been able to do similar feats in the past when the situation called for it. "I see what you mean," he finally says.

"There has to be a reason that's keeping them out and making them unwilling to destroy this place."

"Maybe it's holy?" he suggests. "Or taboo in some way?"

"Let's hope that's the reason," says James.

"Right," nods Jiron. "Could also be they're afraid to disturb this place."

"In which case, our being here is not a good thing," states James.

"Then let's get out," Jiron says. "I found stairs further down the hallway that lead down."

"Do they go anywhere?" asks James.

"Didn't look," he explains. "But there was no sand blocking them, so maybe." Indicating the room they originally entered from he says, "It has to be better than going that way."

"Let's hope so," says James. He then works to get to his feet, his injured wrist still throbbing.

Jiron takes the lead as they head down the hallway to the stairs. Once past the doorway choked with sand, James moves to the stairs and shines the orb's light down into the opening.

The stairs are made of stone and look to have weathered the pa.s.sage of time. Jiron notices his hesitation. "It's the only way," he says.

"I know," replies James. It's just that something about all this bothers him if for no other reason than the mages above have done nothing other than watch the opening since they came in here. Sighing, he says, "Lead on."

Jiron moves to the top of the stairs and begins the descent into the darkness below. With James following several steps behind, he works his way around the winding stair until it opens up onto another pa.s.sage that looks to have once ran to the right and left. The left side pa.s.sage has collapsed leaving them the option of taking the right or continuing to descend further.

Glancing back to James, he receives a nod to the right. Leaving the stairs Jiron begins working his way along the pa.s.sage. Motion from up ahead gives him a start until he realizes it's only a scorpion scurrying across the floor. Taking a breath to calm his nerves, he continues on.

The doorways they come across are either collapsed or choked with sand. When they reach the end of the hallway, they discover the wall ahead broken. A jagged crack roughly two feet wide runs from the floor to the ceiling. Taking the orb, Jiron inspects the opening.

When the light shines through, it reveals a narrow open area. The area tapers to a small hole barely large enough for a man to crawl through. He moves aside and lets James look. "What do you think?" he asks. "Should we chance it?"

"I don't know," he says after looking at the small crawls.p.a.ce they will have to go through. "I would hate to get trapped in something like that."

"So would I," agrees Jiron. "Better try the stairs." With an agreeing nod from James, they return to the stairs leading further beneath the desert.

As before, the stairs wind around until they come to the next level where they end. The hallway it opens out on is nearly blocked by the collapse of the ceiling. A section of the ceiling sits askew, one end braced against the floor and the other against the side of the hallway. Beneath is a small crawls.p.a.ce large enough for them to pa.s.s through.

"Stay here," Jiron says as he gets down on his hands and knees. Having to practically sc.r.a.pe his stomach along the floor, he wriggles his way through.

James watches his feet disappear in the opening and then listens to him as he works his way through.

"I'm through," Jiron's voice finally comes back to him. "It's a crawl of about six feet before you clear the rubble."

"Okay, I'm coming through," announces James as he gets down and starts crawling through the opening. There isn't much room and he feels like his back is being sc.r.a.ped raw. The light from the orb Jiron's carrying reveals the other end of the blockage which gives him the impetus to continue. His wrist throbs from the struggle to crawl but he perseveres.

"It looks like this hallway continues further down," Jiron states as James' head appears from out of the crawls.p.a.ce.

Making it through, he gets to his feet. "You okay?" Jiron asks.

"Does it matter?" he asks as pain radiates across his back from where the stone sc.r.a.ped it. "Lead on."

Jiron glances at the way he's favoring his hand then turns to continue down the hallway. They don't travel far before an opening appears on their left. When they reach it they discover a small room. A quick survey reveals nothing and they continue on.

The hallway continues for several more yards before they reach the end. Here they find a gaping hole where the end of the hallway had once been. Letting the light of the orb shine through, they see a drop of about fifteen feet.

What looks to be the side of another building rests against the one they are in no more than two feet above the jagged opening, creating an open s.p.a.ce below. A window lies directly before them in the other wall and is packed with dirt. Again, they wonder what happened here.

"After you," Jiron says.

James again looks over the drop to the ground below. "That's quite a ways," he observes.

Jiron holds out his hand and says, "Take my hand and I'll lower you over the side. That should leave only several feet for you to drop."

Nodding, James gets down on the floor then turns and lowers his feet over the side. Before his stomach goes over the edge, he takes Jiron's hand in his good one and pushes himself over the edge.

His left hand isn't as strong as his right and continuously feels as if he's going to lose his grip. But Jiron maintains a firm grip as he lowers James down the side of the building. Once he's been lowered as far as Jiron can reach, Jiron says, "I'm going to let go, brace yourself."

James gives him a nod and then all of a sudden, Jiron lets go. He hits the uneven ground and stumbles slightly before regaining his balance. "Made it," he yells up to Jiron.

"Good," comes the reply. "Here, catch." The orb sails through the air and James grabs it before it hits the ground.

Looking up, he watches as Jiron swings his legs over the edge and lowers himself as far as he can before letting go. Landing much more gracefully than James, he's soon standing next to him.

Increasing the luminosity of the orb, they see the area beneath the wall extends in both directions. The one to the right appears slightly less rubble filled than the other. Figuring one way is as good as another, they go in that direction.

The follow the gap provided by the leaning wall, every twenty feet or so another window appears in the wall above them. Every one is clogged with dirt and has a matching mound of dirt directly below it on the ground.

Thirsty, James takes out his water bottle and discovers that he only has half a bottle left. Taking a small sip, he returns the bottle to his belt. "You have any water left?" he asks.

Checking his water bottle, Jiron replies, "Little over half. You?"

"About the same," he says. Water could be a problem if they don't get out of here soon.

After pa.s.sing two more dirt clogged windows above their heads, they find one that's free of dirt. They pause beneath it as James tries to shine the light from the orb into the opening. "I think there may be a way through here," he observes.

"Looks like it," Jiron replies. He glances to where the area they've been following continues further into darkness. "Should we continue down or try the window?"

"Continue down," decides James. "If the rest of the windows have been filled with dirt, it isn't likely we'll get too far that way."

"You may be right," agrees Jiron. Casting one last look up into the opening, he turns and resumes leading the way.

Not far past the open window, large blocks of stone stand in their way from where the wall that had been their ceiling had broken. Dirt fills most of the pa.s.sage, leaving only a narrow gap beneath two large stones resting against each other. The gap is large enough to allow a man to pa.s.s, barely.

"Well?" asks Jiron coming to a stop. "What do you think?"

James eyes the gap with reluctance. He moves to the edge of the gap and holds his...o...b..so the light shines into it. "It extends further than the light will show," he says. Turning back to Jiron he adds, "Might be alright."

Jiron moves to his side and takes the orb. He then squeezes in between the two stones and begins working his way through.

Another orb springs to life on James' hand. He stands there at the opening and watches as Jiron makes his way through the gap. As he stands there, his stomach grumbles with hunger. He takes out some dried beef from his pack and chews on it while he waits.

Just before he takes his second bite, he catches the scent of fresh baked bread. The aroma makes his stomach cramp even further. Can't be, Can't be, he thinks as he takes his second bite. As he chews he sniffs the dried beef but it just smells like dried beef. Thinking his imagination is playing with him, he continues watching Jiron's progress. he thinks as he takes his second bite. As he chews he sniffs the dried beef but it just smells like dried beef. Thinking his imagination is playing with him, he continues watching Jiron's progress.

Then the smell comes again, this time with a hint of cinnamon. Holding aloft his...o...b..he glances around, trying to figure out where the mouthwatering aroma is coming from. He finally determines it's emanating from the pa.s.sage they just came down.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he begins moving back down the pa.s.sage as the aroma leads him on. It gradually grows in intensity until he reaches the open window they pa.s.sed under before. Once he pa.s.ses by the window, the strength of the aroma begins to diminish. Retracing his steps, he realizes the mouthwatering aroma is coming from somewhere on the other side of the window. Stopping just below, he gazes up and tries to see what lies further beyond the window.

Reaching the far side of the pa.s.sage, Jiron comes to an open area. Easily a hundred feet wide and two hundred long, it looks to have been the interior of some important building at one time. All four walls are still standing and each shows delicate carvings that the builder had used for embellishment.

Glancing to the roof, he finds most of that is intact except for one of the corners where the side of another building had smashed into it. The roof there had caved in revealing the wall of the building that struck it. A pile of broken stones lies below the impact site. He scans the room and discovers two doors, one to the right and one to the left. The door to the right is closed but the one on the left stands ajar.

"James!" he hollers back through the crevice. "I'm through, come on." He waits a moment but no answer is forthcoming. "James!" he shouts again. When James again fails to respond, he curses and reenters the crevice to work his way back through.

Exiting from the other side, he's dismayed to find James gone. "James!" he yells and begins running back down the pa.s.sage. A knife leaps into his hand as he starts to fear the worst. He slows when he sees the light from James' orb ahead of him. Illuminated by the orb's light, he sees James standing there looking up into the window above him.

"James!" Jiron hollers. "You had me worried."

James ignores him and continues to stare up at the window.

"James?" Jiron asks. Coming closer, he looks up at the window to see what is so interesting but only sees darkness.

When he lays a hand on James' shoulder James asks, "Don't you smell it?"

"Smell what?" He definitely doesn't smell anything other than the earth around them and their own unwashed bodies.

"My grandmother's cinnamon rolls," he tells him.

"No, I don't smell anything," replies Jiron. "Come on, let's get out of here." Taking him by the shirt, he pulls James along.

"But..." begins James and the mouthwatering aroma which had been so strong quickly disappears.

"But nothing," he says as he continues dragging him along.

With stomach growling, he follows Jiron back to the crevice. "Man, that was so real," he states.

"When you're hungry, you can imagine all sorts of tasty smells," observes Jiron.

"I can believe that," he says.

"Follow me," Jiron says as he enters the opening. "It isn't far."

"Right behind you," James a.s.sures him. Once Jiron has entered the crevice and moved far enough to allow him to follow, he pauses a moment and glances back down the pa.s.sage. Sighing, he enters the opening.

He works his way through until he reaches the far side. As he exits the crevice, Jiron points out the two exits. James takes a moment to inspect the delicate carvings on the walls but can't discern any sort of drawings or picture. Kind of reminds him of wallpaper you might find in a doctor's office, just something used to break up the plainness of the wall.

"Check the one on the right," James says, pointing to the one that's closed. "I'll check the other." Moving across the room to the open door, he can't get the memory of his grandmother's cinnamon rolls out of his mind. Each time he thinks his stomach growls again. It's been so long since he's had food from home, he didn't realize how much he misses it.

Reaching the door, he opens it further to find a hallway clear of debris extending away from it. Glancing back to where Jiron looks to be working on the lock of the other door, he decides to see where this goes while Jiron is busy.

Holding his...o...b..high, he pa.s.ses through the doorway and enters the hallway. Not far down he comes to another door on the right.

"Ahhh!"

Back in the other room, Jiron cries out in surprise then the sound of a thud echoes down the hallway. "James!" he cries out.

Racing back down the hallway, he pulls a slug out of his belt and has it ready when he runs into the room. Jiron stands with his shoulder against the door. "What's wrong?" he asks. Crossing the room quickly, he comes to his side.

"There's something on the other side of this door," he says.

Alarmed, James asks, "What is it?"

"A headless torso," he replies. "Just like one of those we encountered back in the swamp."

Not even wanting to think of the ramifications if those things are wandering around down here with them, he pulls out the medallion bearing the Star. He holds it before him and says to Jiron, "Open the door." The last time they encountered these things, the Star had blazed forth and destroyed the undead creatures. "Better to deal with this now than run the risk of it joining with others."

Nodding, Jiron takes hold of the handle of the door with one hand while he draws a knife with the other. "Ready?" he asks. When he receives an affirmative nod from James, he yanks open the door.

Braced for immediate attack, James is surprised when the door swings wide and reveals nothing but an empty corridor. He glances to the medallion in his hand which has remained quiet, no light emanates from it.

Jiron looks at the empty hallway in surprise, then bolts down it in search of the creature. "It may have moved away," he exclaims.

James follows after and keeps one eye on Jiron and another on the Star which has remained quiescent.

The hallway doesn't extend very far before they reach an area where it has collapsed and the way is impa.s.sable. "It was here!" Jiron exclaims.

"Are you sure you weren't imagining it?" asks James.