James is the first to enter the room and a soft light springs to life, growing until it illuminates every corner. It seems to come from the very walls themselves. The room is octagonal in shape, with no discernible exit except the doorway he just passed through. The walls are unadorned, just plain ordinary stone, the floor is simply dirt. The only thing of interest in the room is the pedestal.
“James,” Delia asks as she crosses into the room after him, “just what is this place?”
“I don’t know,” he replies. “I’ve never been here before.”
When Cassie enters the room, she goes over and comes close to the pedestal, looking closely at the crystal platform on top of it. She runs a finger over it and says, “Remarkable.”
“What?” Jiron asks as he comes over to her.
“Oh, just never saw such a large piece of solid crystal before,” she replies, still fascinated by it.
Jiron turns to James and asks, “Do you think there may be another way out of here?”
Shrugging his shoulders, he says, “Maybe, after all the High Priest would have wanted a way to get out in emergencies.” He starts to examine the walls and floor. Remembering the last time back in Merchant’s Pass, the ceiling as well, but to no avail.
“It looks like something at one time rested upon this platform,” she announces.
They all come over and she explains. “Here in the middle,” she indicates the center of the crystal platform, “it looks as if something could have rested in there.”
James closely inspects it and can see a place where something might have at one time rested upon it. There’s an open space within its center in the shape of an inverted pyramid. “Wonder what it could have been,” he wonders. Pressing down on the platform, he halfway expected something to happen and is disappointed when nothing does.
He turns away from the pedestal and once more resumes the search for a hidden door.
“What are we looking for?” Delia asks.
“Something that will trigger a release and open a secret door,” explains James. “Of course, there’s no guarantee that there will be one.”
Cassie, still intrigued by the crystal platform, tries to lift it up and it easily lifts off the pedestal. “Look!” she cries excitedly.
Everyone turns at her cry and sees her there with the crystal platform in her hand. James rushes over and looks where the platform once rested. There again is the indentation in the shape of the Star of Morcyth. Removing his medallion once more, he sets the face of it within the indentation.
The pedestal begins to sink silently into the floor, while at the same time a section of the walls across the room from where they entered, begins to rise up into the ceiling. The opening reveals a crudely formed tunnel leading away into darkness.
To Cassie, James says, “Replace the platform.” To everyone else he says, “Let’s hurry, no way to know if it will close again on its own.”
They all hurry toward the tunnel and when Cassie replaces the platform, the section of the wall begins to slide once more back down toward the floor as the pedestal begins rising. She runs quickly to get to the passageway before it closes completely and has to duck her head in order to clear it as she passes through.
Once the wall closes, leaving them in total darkness, James makes his glowing orb which gives them ample light to see their way down the passageway. Taking the lead, he follows it for several hundred feet, until it comes to an end. An old wooden ladder is there, leading up out of sight, into the darkness above.
Jiron says, “Let me check it out,” as he elbows James aside and climbs the ladder. He disappears into the darkness above while everyone waits at the bottom of the ladder for his return. A minute passes and then from above they hear him say, “Come on up, it’s safe.”
James begins to climb the steps of the ladder, with the girls following and Tinok bringing up the rear. Upon reaching the top, James finds that they are now in another deserted basement. He looks around as the rest make their way up, and sees Jiron over at a door fiddling with the lock.
Coming over to him, he says, “Locked?”
Without halting what he is doing, Jiron says, “Yeah, but I should have it open in a sec.”
James sees him using two small, thin, metal tools on the lock. Just after everyone gets up from the tunnel below, he hears a ‘click’, and Jiron opens the door as he turns to James with a satisfied smile on his face.
“Good job,” congratulates James.
“Thanks,” he replies. Opening the door, Jiron steps through, followed closely by James.
On the other side, they find themselves in a small, deserted alley, wedged in tightly between two buildings. “Do you know where we are?” James asks him.
“I think so,” replies Jiron. “If I’m right, it isn’t far to where we can get out of the city.”
“I hope you’re right,” James says as he follows him down the alley.
Following the alley, they soon come to where it opens upon another, slightly larger one. Jiron holds up his hand for them to wait as he peers around the corner. He steps out into the larger alley and signals for them to follow.
He turns left down the new alley, hugging the side as they make their way carefully and quietly to where the alley intersects with a main thoroughfare. He has everyone stop and then motions for James to come closer. “Look down there,” he whispers to him, pointing down the thoroughfare.
James looks where he’s indicating and sees a gate. “Yeah?” he asks.
“Earlier when I was out, I saw some workmen trying to repair it,” he explains. “I think they damaged it during their attack and may not have had the time to repair it. If we act quickly, we should be able to get through before anyone realizes we’re no longer in our hideout back at the park.”
“You may be right,” James acknowledges. “Once they realize we’re loose, we won’t stand a chance of sneaking out.” He looks down the road toward the gate and doesn’t see any guards.
“They don’t have any guards posted,” Jiron says. “I think they’re arrogant in their own superiority. They probably don’t believe anyone would be foolhardy enough to try to sneak out with thousands of troops stationed around the city.”
“What’s on the other side of the gate?” he asks.
“A large courtyard that separates this gate from the one leading out of the city,” he explains.
“What if that gate is shut and locked?” James asks.
“Last night they left it open,” Jiron tells him. “I guess they see no reason to keep it closed because there is no one to keep out.”
“Yeah, who would be stupid enough to come visit?” James reasons.
“Exactly,” Jiron agrees. “Last night, there were horses picketed in the courtyard that we may be able to appropriate if they’re still there.”
“Alright,” James says, “you sold me. Let’s not spend the night here jabbering. Let’s get the heck out of here!”
“Follow me,” Jiron says as he takes one last look around and then cautiously makes his way over to the gate. The rest of them quickly follow until they’re all huddled by the gate. Jiron pulls on the gate and it swings open, squeaking slightly on rusty hinges.
He pulls it open just far enough to allow them to squeeze through and holds it open until everyone else has made it to the other side. He follows the last person through and closes it again until it once more appears shut.
James looks around the courtyard but the horses that Jiron had mentioned are no longer there. The courtyard is not completely empty either, there are four cook fires spaced around the courtyard, each with several soldiers hanging around them. Pulling Jiron close, he points to the enemy soldiers and says, “There’s no way we’re going to make it across there without them seeing us.”
“Maybe we need a distraction,” he suggests.
“Like what?” James asks.
“I don’t know,” he shrugs, “what can you do?”