“Still not sure I’m following you,” admits Jiron.
“Do you remember me telling you about my time in the City of Light before it fell?” he asks. When he sees Jiron nod he continues. “Ol’ One Eye was sure interested in this when he found it in my possession, said it ‘changed things’. I didn’t understand it at the time but it makes sense now.”
“Also, back in Mountainside when we were taken into the jail back when Tinok and Cassie were still with us, the officer there was mighty interested in it as well. I think it’s no small coincidence that the dais sent us here. After all, this is where it belonged.”
“So…” Jiron begins as he tries to work this out. Shaking his head he says, “I still don’t understand.”
Holding the amulet up before him he says, “This is a portal key! It activates the magic in the dais. That’s why we ended up here, it’s keyed to the dais below. When we jumped on the dais back in that other place, it sensed this key and sent us here.”
“But, why didn’t we come here first then?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” he admits. There his reasoning breaks down. He considers it for a minute then says, “But the fact that I found the amulet here and that we were ultimately sent here has to be connected in some way. It could be that each key is set for a specific temple and will always return the wearer to that temple.”
He can see the doubt in Jiron’s eyes. “Of course,” he tells him, “the only way to test the theory is to take another ride through the portal.”
Jiron laughs at that. “I don’t think so,” he says shaking his head.
“I agree,” James states.
“Can we go now?” asks Jiron.
With a nod of his head, James indicates for him to lead on. As he follows Jiron, a memory of what he told Aleya during their last visit when she had asked about the amulet: “Maybe it was only given to a priest once they achieved a certain level of the temple hierarchy,” he had suggested. “Simply having one may have afforded them some privilege or it could’ve been a sign of rank or trust as well.” If that is the case, then only the higher ranking priests would have access to the portal, which would make sense.
Jiron continues to lead until they come to where another corridor converges with the one they’re in. James shines the light of the orb down the left to reveal the cave-in they ran across last time. Knowing they are on the right path, Jiron continues straight ahead.
Twenty feet or so they come to another cave-in. A space just large enough for a man to crawl through has been cleared at the top of the obstruction. The last time they were here, they had crawled through that hole and found themselves out among the trees on the mountainside. Taking a look at the ground on this side of the cave-in, they find impressions in the dirt from where they previously rested until it had grown dark outside.
Jiron immediately goes to the opening and crawls a short way through before stopping. He pauses a moment before coming back inside. “It’s dark,” he says.
“That’s fortunate,” comments James and indicates for Jiron to continue on through to the other side.
He cancels the orb before he follows Jiron through the hole. It takes his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness before he’s able to see the moonlight filtering in through the opening. Making his way through he finds the half moon to be high overhead. Jiron offers him a hand as he crawls out and helps him to his feet.
“Now,” he says, “let’s see about finding our way back to the others.”
Chapter Twenty Six
They work their way along the mountainside toward the south. Somewhere ahead in the dark lies the road running along the southern edge of the mountains which will take them toward Madoc. The last time they came this way, there was a sizeable presence of the enemy along the road.
It doesn’t take them long to reach the road leading down from the summit, appearing in the moonlight ahead of them. Carefully looking in both directions, they determine the road is empty. With Jiron in the lead they move onto the road.
Traveling upon the road affords them much better speed than forging their way through the forest. “We need to find a couple of horses,” James whispers.
“I know,” comes the all but silent reply.
The road takes them quickly down the mountainside. It isn’t long before the lights from the encampment of the Empire’s soldiers at the base of the mountain come into view. The number of campfires indicates there isn’t nearly the number of men there were the last time they passed this way. “Maybe they don’t feel a large presence is warranted here,” suggests Jiron.
“Could be,” agrees James. “Or they could have sent most of their force to deal with Illan and the others.”
“That would make sense,” he says with a nod.
They continue following the road until it begins to approach the perimeter of the enemy camp before moving into the shelter of the trees. Working their way through the hills at the base of the mountain, they make their way closer to the enemy lines. Pausing a moment upon the top of a hill overlooking the enemy camp, they have a commanding view of its layout. Off to their right they see where they have their horses kept.
A series of stables have been built to keep their steeds out of the elements. Six structures with corrals adjacent to each stand in an area to the rear of their lines. In the corrals, horses are visible in the moonlight.
They wait several minutes before descending the hill. Jiron points out four sentries as they make their way through toward the stable area. Two remain in and around the stables while the other two continue on toward the main camp. He waits for the two continuing on toward the camp to leave the area before making his move. When only one of the two remaining sentries is close, Jiron motions for James to stay on the hill. Receiving James’ nod, he makes his way down the hill and toward where the sentry is patrolling.
James watches as the shadow that is Jiron moves toward the closest sentry, covering the distance quickly. He gets in behind the sentry and is within a dozen yards of him when the man suddenly turns in his patrol and begins heading back in Jiron’s direction. Ducking behind a tree, Jiron waits for his approach. A glint of moonlight flashes from the knife in Jiron’s hand.
The sentry continues to approach, oblivious to the danger poising to strike behind the tree. His path doesn’t take him directly past the tree, rather five feet to one side. When the sentry draws even with the tree, Jiron slips around to the other side until he’s behind him once again. Moving fast, he closes the distance silently. Grabbing the sentry from behind, he strikes with his knife and then lowers the dying man to the ground, the whole incident happening without a sound.
Jiron wipes his knife off on the man’s clothes and then moves toward the second sentry. The nearest stable is twenty feet away with an open area easily twenty feet wide. Running quickly and silently, Jiron makes the side of the stable and then presses his back against it. Listening for the other sentry’s position, he hears the man’s footsteps approaching from the right side of the stable. Moving quietly, he works his way to the right.
The remaining sentry calls to the other as he nears the edge of the stable. Despite the fact the man is speaking in the Empire’s language, Jiron can tell by the inflection in his voice that he’s asking a question. As Jiron reaches the edge of the stable, the sentry again asks the question with a slight edge in his voice.
Quickening his steps, the sentry reaches the edge of the stable. Just after he passes, Jiron jumps him from behind. Clamping his hand over the man’s mouth to prevent him from alerting the rest of the camp, he runs the edge of his knife across the man’s throat. Tossing the dying man to the ground, he turns toward the hill where James waits and waves. A minute later James joins him.