"Do you still mean to go through with this?" he asks.

"I have to," he stresses. "This is more important than I can say."

"Alright, what do you want us to do?" he asks.

"Fifer, you and Yern make your way down to the water lever," he explains. "Take the last eye ring and a sledge hammer. As close to the top of the water as you can, pound in the eye ring then return here."

"You got it," he says as they get the equipment and head down the stairs. Jiron hands Fifer his glowing orb for light before they go. They watch as the orb makes its way down into the darkness. Soon, the sound of them pounding the eye ring into the stone wall can be heard. Shortly after the sound stops, they return back up to the others.

"All done," Fifer tells them as he hands the orb back to Jiron.

"Thanks," he says. "Now, to get the boat down there." He thinks for a bit before continuing. "We'll lower the boat gently until it rests upon the water. Then well put the rope tied to the stern through the eye ring. The rest of you will have to remain on the stairs holding it while Jiron and I get in."

"Once we're in, slowly let out the slack in the rope until we're within the tunnel and I give you a signal to hold it still. At that point, I will be placing the box within its hiding spot."

"What's the signal?" Uther asks.

"I'll make one of my orbs appear," he explains. "When the orb disappears, that'll be the signal to let the rope go. After that, you make your way back out. Make sure you allow the secret door to close, no sense announcing to anyone coming in there that it's there."

"Alright," Illan says. "How long will it take you to make it back to The Ranch?"

Shrugging, he says, "I can't even begin to guess on that. But if we're not back in a couple weeks, start worrying."

Illan just nods.

"Everyone ready?" he asks.

When everyone nods their head, he has Jiron move to the bottom of the stairs to aid the boat in reaching the water safely.

Once they get his holler saying he's ready, they start lowering the boat over the edge. It seems like they're lowering it forever before tension in the rope slackens and they hear Jiron holler up that it's on the water.

"Secure it to the eye ring while we come down!" he hollers down to him.

"Okay!" they hear back in a second. "Come on down."

They make their way down to where Jiron stands on the step just above the water, the boat resting on the surface near him. The rope attached to the front of the boat is secured to the eye ring.

Giving Jiron the rope tied to the back, he waits while Jiron switches the rope securing the boat to the eye ring. When he's finished, the boat is now pointing in the correct direction.

Handing his pack which contains the box to Jiron, he has him put it into the bottom of the boat. Jiron is about ready to get in when he tells him to wait until the others are in position and gripping the rope.

"You ready?" he asks them.

"Go ahead," Illan shouts down to him from where he's anchoring the rope.

Nodding to Jiron, he waits while he gets into the boat, then climbs in after him. He indicates the two oars secured to the bottom of the boat and tells Jiron to take one. "Use it to keep us from the walls as best you can."

Jiron removes one and indicates he's ready. To the ones on the stairs, he hollers, "Okay!"

Slowly, the boat begins to move out into the rushing torrent on its way to the outflow. The light from Jiron's...o...b..begins to illuminate the entrance to the outflow. "Man, we're not going to fit in there!" he cries out to James. The opening looks even smaller than it did before. Water crashes on both sides of the opening sending fountains of spray up into the air, soaking them in ice cold water before they even get close.

When they're within several feet, they discover that they will in fact be able to make it through, though the ceiling of the tunnel will be but inches from the top of the boat. They'll have to practically lie down in the bottom of the boat to keep from hitting their heads.

As the bow of the boat begins to enter the tunnel, James looks back to those on the stairs holding the rope. The light from Illan's torch illuminates him and Uther who stands just below him from where it lies on the step above. Foot by foot, the tunnel swallows them until the light from Illan's torch can no longer be seen.

"Hold on!" Illan cries out to them as they continue letting out slack for James and Jiron to move even further into the tunnel. He looks behind him and sees there's only about another ten feet before they run out of rope. Still, James' signal has not appeared.

Uther's hands have begun to bleed from where the rope is cutting into them, but still he holds on. "Can't hold on much longer!" he cries up to Illan.

"Yes you can!" he hollers back. Suddenly, an orb appears before them.

"That's it!" Illan cries out. "Hold it steady while he does what he needs to."

Keeping the rope still is much harder on their muscles than controlling it as the slack had been let loose. They hold it there for five minutes before Fifer yells up to Illan. "The eye ring! It's sliding loose!"

"How long?" yells Illan back to him.

"Seconds!"

"When it goes, let loose or you'll lose your arms!" he yells to the others.

"What about James and Jiron?" cries Uther.

"There fate will be in the hands of the G.o.ds!" he hollers back.

Suddenly, the orb disappears just as the eye ring lets loose. They let go of the rope and watch as it gets sucked into the tunnel. "Good luck James," Illan says quietly to himself before they begin climbing back up the stairs.

Chapter Fifteen.

As they inch their way along the tunnel, the boat continuously sc.r.a.pes the sides and ceiling of the tunnel. Water periodically sloshes into the boat from where it hits the sides, and the bottom has already filled with two inches of water. When Jiron mentions it to James, he tells him the added water isn't that bad, that it will enable them to ride lower in the water and hopefully not sc.r.a.pe so much.

It seems they've been a long time within the tunnel before James finds what he's looking for. Suddenly, the light from the orb reveals a gap in the ceiling above them. When the gap reaches the middle of the boat, James releases the magic and the orb appears back with the others, signaling them to hold fast.

The boat abruptly stops its forward progress and James takes the orb as he inspects the cavity in the rock above. It's about two foot in diameter and several more feet deep. The light from the orb shows it is just a vertical opening with no place to set the box and crystals.

He feels Jiron tap him as he shouts to be heard over the sound of the rushing water, "You better hurry, not sure how long they'll be able to hold us here!" Lying on his back, he has one of the oars pressed to the side of the tunnel in an attempt to hold them steady.

"I know," he hollers back. Picturing in his mind what he wants to do, he lets the magic flow as chips of rock begin to fall from one side of the top of the cavity, three feet above the rushing water. A hole begins to form as more and more of the rock is broken away. It takes a couple minutes to clear a spot large enough and level enough for the box.

"Hand me the box," he hollers to Jiron who takes it out of the pack and gives it to him. Setting the box within the just cleared opening, he checks a final time to make sure all is as it should be with the spells and the crystals. When everything checks out fine, he takes the warning crystal and the defensive one out of his pouch and sets them next to the box within the cavity. He activates their spells and then removes two small spikes and a small hammer from his pouch. Then taking the pack, he wedges it into the cavity next to the box, effectively blocking the opening.

Using his small hammer, he pounds one spike through the pack into the bottom of the opening, and another through the pack into the top of the opening, thereby preventing anything from inadvertently falling out.

"Ready?" he asks Jiron as he comes out of the cavity and lies back into the bottom of the boat.

Jiron removes the stabilizing oar from against the wall and flips himself over until he's lying on his stomach. Glancing to Jiron he nods.

When he gets the nod, he cancels the orb signaling the others to let them go, and they're suddenly rocketed through the tunnel. Lying on their stomachs with their heads facing the bow and holding onto a bench for dear life, each prays to survive this wild ride.

The boat continuously strikes not only the ceiling but the walls as well, the continuous jolting makes James nervous. His eyes suddenly widen as a crack appears in the side of the boat near him as one of the boards begins to splinter. He looks in horror at the crack and when the boat again strikes the side of the tunnel, the crack widens as the board beneath it breaks as well.

From up ahead, he can hear the sound of the water begin to change. Another strike against the side and he hears a crack from the rear of the boat and suddenly his feet are drenched as water fills the boat rapidly.

"James!" cries out Jiron as the sound ahead of them gains in volume.

"Just hold on!" he cries. "This is going to be rough!"

Suddenly, they're airborne as they're propelled over the waterfall. James holds his breath in antic.i.p.ation of striking the water. When they do, the boat completely disintegrates.

A piece of the destroyed boat stabs him in the arm as he's thrown into the water. The iciness of it takes his breath away as he breaks the surface, gasping for air. The pain in his arm is tremendous and when he feels with his other hand, finds a piece of wood has completely pa.s.sed through and is sticking an inch out both sides.

"James!" he hears in the dark, his...o...b..having disappeared when he hit the water and broke concentration.

"Over here!" he hollers as he treads water. Another orb springs into being and he sees Jiron swimming toward him. Not far off is half of the boat floating upside down in the water. He starts swimming as best he can with one arm toward it.

Jiron sees what he's making for and angles his way over to reach it. He reaches the remnant of the boat first and takes hold of the side as he begins bringing it to James. When he meets up with him, he holds it steady as James works himself up onto it. "What happened to you?" he asks when he sees the piece of wood sticking out of his arm.

"Piece of the boat got me when we hit the water back there," he explains. Legs still submerged in the water, he at last has a secure hold on the boat with his good arm and isn't likely to sink again into the water.

"Let me look at it," Jiron tells him. James winces in pain as he inspects where his left arm near the shoulder has been punctured. "Doesn't look like it hit the bone, just went through the muscle." He looks James in the eye and says, "You know it needs to come out. If you move around too much with it in there it's going to do more damage to the muscle."

"Okay, do it," he says as he grits his teeth.

Jiron takes the piece of wood and slides it back out the way it had come in. James cries out from the pain and almost slips off the overturned boat before Jiron grabs him and steadies him.

When the piece of wood is out, he throws it into the water and then tears off a piece of James' shirt which he ties tightly around the wound to prevent anymore blood loss. "You should be fine, it came out cleanly," he tells him.

James can only nod as he becomes nauseous from the pain. Now weak and shaky, it's all he can do just to hang onto the boat with his one good arm.

"How do we get out of here?" Jiron asks. The light from James' orb doesn't illuminate very far and all he sees is water.

"If we move away from the waterfall behind us," he explains, "we'll eventually come to where the water leaves the cavern and flows to the river outside."

"How far is that?" he asks.

"I don't remember exactly," he replies.

"Just hold on and we'll get there," he tells him.

Nodding, James holds on tighter as Jiron begins kicking with his feet, moving them further away from the crashing of the waterfall.

When they've progressed enough that the sound of the waterfall begins to diminish behind them, Jiron hears the sound of teeth chattering beside him. Glancing over to James, he can see that he's shivering badly from being in the cold water. "You okay?"

"N-n-n-o-oo," he says, trying to control his chattering teeth. "J-just c-c-c-old."

Cold himself, he's even more worried about his friend. He at least has the benefit of moving to keep his body temperature up. "Kick your feet," he suggests. "That might help keep you a little warmer."

Shortly, splashing can be heard from where James begins kicking his feet. Suddenly, he cries out as he loses his one armed grip on the remnants of the boat and slides into the water.

Jiron lets go of the boat and quickly moves to help him keep afloat. James feels cold to the touch as he a.s.sists him in getting up on the boat again. Holding the boat with one hand, he uses the other to pull James back up to where he can again grab and hold on.

"Sorry," he apologizes to James. "You just hold on while I try to get us out of here."

James tries to respond but the dunking in the water has left him so cold, he can't even talk.

Jiron begins swimming even harder, he needs to get James out of the cold water before he dies. From up ahead, the orb's light reveals a small island. Not very big, but large enough to accommodate them and allow James to get out of the water. Turning the boat slightly, he moves them in the right direction. The boat runs aground as it comes next to the island. Grabbing hold of James, he helps him get to his feet and onto the island.

James is pointing back to the boat and says, "B-b-b-b..."

"Get the boat?" Jiron asks. When he sees James nodding vigorously, he glances back and sees the remnants of the boat beginning to slip away from the island. Moving quickly, he takes hold of it and pulls it up onto the island next to them.

Coming over to James he sees him lying there shivering. "F-f-f..."

"Fire?" he asks. "You want me to make a fire?"

James nods his head.

Looking around the island all he finds to burn is the boat and they'll need that when they leave the underground lake. "There's nothing to burn but the boat," he tells him.

Shaking his head, James says, "S-s-spark!"

"Spark?" he asks and James again nods his head.

Not completely understanding, he takes out his flint and begins striking it against a rock. After the third time when sparks appear, a flame roars to life out of thin air. Hair smoking from where the fire had connected with his face, he falls backward in startlement.

Getting himself back together, he sees James has his eyes closed and is inching his way toward the fire. "How'd you do that?" he asks.

James gives a slight shake of his head and keeps his eyes closed. When he's close to where the fire is burning, he stops and begins warming up.

Jiron comes close to the wonderfully warm flame as he thaws himself out. He had begun to be about as cold as James and even felt his teeth start chattering.

They sit around the flame for several minutes before James' teeth stop chattering and he opens his eyes. Sitting up, he scoots a little closer to the fire.

"Better?" Jiron asks him.

"A little," he replies, the warmth from the flame has calmed his chattering jaw. "But I can't keep this up too much longer."

Jiron just looks at him questioningly.