Trail of the Gods Part 23

"I'm using pure oxygen to sustain the fire," he explains. "Remember back in Councilman Rillian's office when I had used up all the oxygen and we couldn't breathe? Well the same thing is happening here. Since this cave is enclosed, it's not going to have an unlimited supply. It should have plenty for awhile, but once we're warmed up a bit, I'll have to stop. Then we'll need to get out, fast."

"I hear you," Jiron says. "Just where is the exit from here."

Pointing back to the sound of the waterfall they sailed over, he says, "We came from that way and if I remember right, the way out is further away from it, past this island."

"It's going to be another cold swim," he says.

"I know," he admits. "But if we have a brief respite here to warm ourselves, we'll make it."

They sit in quiet as they bask in the warm glow of the fire. James finds that even his clothes are beginning to dry. When he finally feels warm through and through, he looks with trepidation at the water and says, "Shall we?"

"Best to get it over with," says Jiron. "It's not going to get any warmer."

"Ain't that the truth," agrees James.

Canceling the flame, they're once more reduced to just having the light from the orb to guide them. The coldness of the cave again begins to suck the warmth from their bodies even before they get into the water.

They push the remnant of the boat back out into the water and that first step into its icy grip takes James' breath away. Jiron holds the boat steady while James gets as far up onto it as possible before pus.h.i.+ng it further out into the water. Then keeping a firm grip on it, he kicks with his feet and propels them away from the island, maintaining a direction which will keep the sound of the waterfall behind them.

The coldness of the water sucks the warmth from them rapidly. "If you get rid of the orb, maybe we'll be able to see the light s.h.i.+ning in through the exit."

"I doubt if there'll be any," explains James. "It was almost dark when we first entered the old keep. And what with the rain, it's unlikely there would be any moonlight."

"That's right," he says.

"I'll try though." Suddenly, the orb disappears and they're thrown into complete and utter darkness. The sound of the now distant waterfall and the splas.h.i.+ng of Jiron's feet lends an eeriness to the dark. Giving their eyes a chance to adjust to the dark, they look around but no light is forthcoming.

After being in the dark for ten minutes, James again creates the orb. His teeth are beginning to chatter, though not nearly as bad as the last time. If they don't get out of this water, they'll both be in trouble from hypothermia.

"There!" Jiron exclaims."

"What?" asks James. "Where?"

"Over to our right," he says. "I saw a light?"

James looks in that direction and says, "I don't see anything."

"I tell you I saw something," he insists. "It was just a momentary flash, but it was there."

"Then let's check it out," says James.

Kicking to angle their boar toward where he saw the flash, he propels them with renewed vigor at the prospect of being out of the water.

"There! I saw it too," cries out James in gladness.

As they come closer, other flashes become apparent as well. Once they're close enough for the light from the orb to illuminate the area, they discover the source of the flashes are several gems embedded in the side of the cavern.

"Gems!" exclaims Jiron.

Red, green and yellow stones of varying sizes sparkle in the orb's light. "There must be a fortune here!" James says.

A slight rock outcropping from the wall runs along the water's edge, allowing them to leave the water and follow it as they continue to hunt for the exit. It extends past the limit of the orb's light in both directions. It isn't very flat or stable looking, but it's still better than being in the frigid water.

Jiron moves them close to the ledge and then helps James onto it before climbing up himself. A large red gem sparkles in the orb's light near him. Taking out his knife, he pries out the gem and holds it up to the light. Glancing to James he says, "This might be the end of your worries about coins for the Ranch."

Giving his friend a smile, he says, "I think you're right. Let's take some and get them appraised. If they're worth a lot, we'll come back from time to time and harvest more."

"Wonder how many are here?" Jiron asks. He then proceeds to remove several more of varying size and color, each looking to be worth quite a bit.

"Don't know," admits James. Looking around at all the flashes of light outside the orb's radius, he adds, "It looks like hundreds, maybe thousands." A serious s.h.i.+ver hits him and he says, "But we need to get out of here."

"I agree," says Jiron. The boat has begun to float away from the wall. "Should we get back in the water or try to make it along the wall?"

The thought of going back into that iciness is more than he can bear. "I say wall," he decides.

"Then let's go," says Jiron. "Which way?"

Pointing to their right, he says, "I think it would be down that way, though I'm not completely sure."

Shrugging, Jiron says, "One way's as good as another." He leads the way as they carefully move along the uneven outcropping of rock. The footing is treacherous, sometimes there is very little for them to cling to and at times have to step into the water in order to continue onward.

James is finding it more difficult since he doesn't have the use of his left arm to maintain a grip on the wall during the worst areas. But with Jiron's help, he's able to make it.

During one rather difficult spot, James suddenly smells the scent of the forest. "We must be getting close," he tells Jiron. "I smell pine trees."

"I do too," agrees Jiron as he helps him over a steep section of stone jutting up before them. Just after that, they start feeling a faint breeze, and a few more yards further down, they find the opening where the water is flowing out of the cavern.

They'll have to wade into the flowing water in order to pa.s.s through the opening. The water is moving quickly from the cave and hidden rocks under its surface make for unstable footing. Taking it carefully, Jiron helps James as they make their way down from the outcropping of rock and into the water.

Pa.s.sing out of the cave into the undergrowth beyond, they notice a slight rise in temperature. Still not warm by any means, it's still preferable to that which was within the cave. The rain is still coming down and if anything, has actually increased since earlier in the day.

"We need to find some shelter," James says to Jiron. "Or at least a large tree to stay under."

The orb doesn't give them much light to see by, the rain and trees preventing its light from extending any great distance. James is reticent to increase its brilliance, he doesn't want to attract the attention of someone who might be in the area.

Once past the cave mouth, they climb out of the water and trudge their way through the bushes and small trees lining the edge of the water. With relief they come across a good sized tree which has a relatively dry s.p.a.ce beneath its overhanging branches.

Thankfully, they enter the protective s.p.a.ce it provides and then set about gathering what firewood they can. Most of it is wet, but with the help of James' magic, they manage to get the wood burning. Jiron sets other damp pieces nearby to dry before being added to the fire.

"Good to be out of there!" says James.

Nodding, Jiron agrees. "Let me look at that arm of yours again," he says. As James holds out his arm, he unties the bandage and examines it. "It's a little red around the opening and some blood is still oozing out. I think I got all the wood out, won't really know for a day or two."

"I hope you did," James says as Jiron secures the bandage tight around the wound once more. Infections are one of the things he hopes to avoid. Wounds which turn septic in this world could mean the loss of a limb if not outright fatal.

What rations that were in their belt pouches have been ruined by their trip through the water. Their packs were lost when the boat had disintegrated and are now probably at the bottom of that lake. James had kept his water bottle in his pack so all they have is the one on Jiron's belt, which isn't very big. But that's the least of their concerns right now.

"How long should we stay here?" Jiron asks him.

"I'm not really sure," he says. "We could probably make it along the river as it continues through the ravine in the daylight. But once we reach the far side, we'll need to move at night. The Empire will most likely have patrols in the area looking for spies and infiltrators trying to sneak through."

"Why don't you get some sleep," suggests Jiron. "I'll watch the fire and wake you sometime past midnight."

"Okay," he says. "But make sure you do wake me. I don't want you to be too tired tomorrow because you wanted to allow me to sleep."

"I will," he a.s.sures him.

Really too tired to argue very much, James lies down and is soon asleep.

True to his word, Jiron wakes him up for his s.h.i.+ft and gets some sleep. By the time the dark of night begins to turn into the grey of morning, James wakes him up and they get on their way.

The rain is still coming down though has tapered off a bit since last night. The cloud cover remains absolute with not even a trace of blue breaking its way through. They follow the stream as it continues down to where it joins with the main river making its way into Madoc.

The main river is flowing quickly, having been swelled by the rain of the last two days. Walking is easier here as the water has periodically overflowed its banks and washed away smaller vegetation leaving a few large trees which had been able to withstand the rus.h.i.+ng water.

Throughout the rest of the day, they make their way alongside the river, slowly coming to the far side of the pa.s.s. Near the end of the day, the mountains begin falling away and the road leading down from the pa.s.s becomes more visible above them.

"We better camp soon and cook our dinner before the light fades completely," suggest Jiron.

"Good idea," agrees James. "We don't want to advertise our presence here to those up by the road."

They find another sheltering tree beneath which Jiron starts a fire while James goes out into the cold water with a sharpened stick to get their dinner. After spearing two large fish in succession, he brings them back to the fire. The pain in his shoulder has worsened due to the strain of catching the fish. It's definitely easier to catch fish with two good arms rather than one.

He rests his arm and warms himself by the fire while Jiron prepares the fish. "You wouldn't think it was summer as cold as that water is," James says.

"Summer's almost over," comments Jiron while he readies the fish. Once he has them skewered on sticks, he hands one to James who holds it over the fire to cook. The smell of the cooking fish makes his stomach cramp and he realizes he's not eaten for awhile.

"The last time Miko and I had come this way," he tells Jiron, "Cardri had a force up ahead at the end of the pa.s.s. They had also begun constructing a defensive barrier, I suppose in the event the Empire proved hostile to them."

"That should make it interesting for us to get through," he replies. "Maybe we could make it to the other side?"

Looking at the fast flowing river, James has his doubts about the feasibility of that idea. "I don't know," he says, hesitantly. "Let's see what awaits us further down the river first. We may be able to make it past without having to cross."

"As you wish," says Jiron. Taking his fish off the fire, he checks it and finds it not quite done. Replacing it over the flames he sits back and relaxes.

The rest of the evening pa.s.ses uneventfully. As the sun dips below the horizon and the light begins to fade, they put out their fire so as not to alert anyone to their presence. They again share the watch throughout the night and when the sun begins to rise, they set out for the end of the pa.s.s.

The rain had stopped sometime during the night and by midmorning the clouds begin breaking up. James welcomes the suns.h.i.+ne and enjoys the warmth it brings him. Sleeping without a fire on the cold ground had kept him s.h.i.+vering through most of the night.

Above them on the mountainside, the road leading from the pa.s.s continues its descent down to the plains on the far side. By midafternoon, it's close enough for them to be able to make out soldiers traveling upon it. Most are moving toward the Madoc side of the Pa.s.s.

Early evening finds them close to the end of the Pa.s.s. From ahead of them, the scent of smoke wafts toward them from numerous campfires. "There must be a sizeable force up ahead?" Jiron whispers to James during a short break.

"There were around a hundred there the last time," he says. "No telling how many there might be now."

"We should await the coming of night before moving ahead," suggests Jiron. "We're just getting too close."

"I agree," responds James. They find a good spot to rest while they wait for night. James falls asleep for several hours until Jiron awakens him when it gets completely dark.

"Time to go," he says to James.

"Right."

Staying close to the river, they make their way carefully toward the end of the pa.s.s. After an hour of trudging along the bank of the river, they begin to see light from several campfires in the distance through the trees ahead of them. "Wait here" Jiron says as he moves forward to reconnoiter.

James waits by the river and watches as Jiron's shadow merges with the darkness on his way to the camp ahead. After what seems a long time, Jiron returns. "Well?" James asks him.

"It's not good," he says. "They built a wooden wall across the entrance to the Pa.s.s, and it extends to the edge of the river. There's no way we can get through on this side without going over or through the barricade."

"Which would mean alerting them to our presence," adds James.

"And I don't think they'll treat us kindly if we're discovered sneaking around," he says. "More than likely, they'll treat us as spies, probably kill us on the spot."

"Then it's the river for us," James says, not sounding too thrilled about the prospect of another dip into the cold water.

"They have a camp on the other side as well," he says. "Though there are not as many, probably just enough to keep the Empire from sending small parties around or through the lines."

"How about the river itself?" he asks.

"They don't have that blocked off," he says, "but they do have watchers on the wall stationed close to the river. I think they're more worried about boats coming up the river than out of the pa.s.s."

"I would think so too," agrees James. He sits there and thinks awhile, knowing what he's going to have to do but dreading it. After trying and failing to come up with an alternative plan, he says, "We'll need to float down the river."

"There're plenty of logs on the bank of the river," states Jiron. "We could tie a few together and use them to keep us afloat."

"We don't have enough rope to construct a raft," counters James.

"I don't mean a raft," he explains. "I mean just enough to hang onto while we float in the water. It'll be cold, but we shouldn't drown."

"Might work," agrees James. "Do we even have any rope?"

Jiron grins as he lifts his s.h.i.+rt and shows him a coil of thin rope that's wrapped around his waist.

"Where'd you get that?" he asks.

"Back in Trendle," he tells him. "When I knew we were going to hide the Fire, I got it. Knowing you, I figured it would be needed." James can sense that he's grinning at him in the dark.

"Okay, let's do it," he says. For the next hour, they comb the bank of the river and locate several logs which will work. Tying four of them together with the rope, they soon have a makes.h.i.+ft raft.

"Ready?" asks Jiron.

"No, but let's go anyway," he replies. Helping Jiron push the raft into the water, he follows it in and takes hold with his good arm.

Jiron maneuvers them to the center of the river and they float silently toward the barricade. The number of men stationed in this area has indeed greatly swelled from before. A large encampment with several buildings has sprung up where the original site had been. The wall Jiron mentioned is thirty feet high with a platform running along the top allowing archers an area to stand where they can rain arrows down on attackers.

A thousand men or more are encamped on the side of the river where the road leaves the pa.s.s and another couple hundred on the other side. A hundred feet before they reach the wall, a rope spans the river. Sitting next to the river by the main encampment is a ferry which they must use to transfer men and supplies from one camp to the other. "Looks like they mean to stay here awhile," whispers Jiron.

"I would have to agree with you," replies James.