A small crude path extends from the burial chamber. James steps out and follows it as it passes by another chamber. They can see the hole in the roof where Jiron had fallen through and the rubble on the floor from the collapsed ceiling as they make their way past the opening.
“Wonder why they dug it so close to the surface?” Jiron muses.
“Probably wasn’t when this had been done,” James replies. “Over time, when the walls of the canyon had eroded away by wind and rain, the distance between the chambers and the surface gradually diminished. Now there’s only a thin layer remaining, which we broke through. No telling how long this has been here.”
They continue past more of the chambers, all feeling incredibly old, the air musty and stale. James is glad it’s still breathable. As they pass one chamber, Miko hollers out when he sees something shining within.
James backs up and lets the orb’s light shine into the room, and they see several gold coins lying on a bier next to a corpse. “You going to take them?” James asks him.
Shaking his head, Miko says, “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“Why?” he asks.
“Robbing from the dead is wrong,” he says. Then he glances to James and says, “Everyone knows that.”
Giving him a slight smile, James nods his head as they continue down the dug out pathway, leaving the coins where they found them. They come to where the way splits to the right or left, James takes the right.
After passing three more chambers of the dead, the passage abruptly ends. “Looks like they just stopped digging here,” he guesses. Turning around, he leads them back to where the passage had split, this time following the left fork.
When they pass the next chamber, something else catches his eye. Stopping, he returns to it and finds a corpse lying there with a sword across his chest. The sword, which at one time had been finely crafted, has now been eaten away by rust. The man had been laid out in his armor, obviously a warrior of some sort.
Returning to the passage, they continue down past several more chambers when again, the passage diverges. Either straight, or to the right. Being methodical, James again turns right.
This passage extends quite a ways, winding to the right and left as it comes to different chambers. All of the chambers are in the same crude style, some of the occupants are wrapped in cloth, while some are laid out as if sleeping. All of them have the look of having been here an awfully long time.
The interesting thing about the dead here, is that some are fairly well preserved while others are almost rotted away to skeletons. Maybe different embalming techniques for the different social classes. But if that is the case, why are they all together? Never heard of different classes being mingled together. Interesting.
As they move through the catacomb, Miko begins relaxing. He doesn’t lose his nervousness, but the panic he originally felt upon entering has long since subsided.
The passage they’re following abruptly ends again, so they again turn back. Coming to the juncture of passages, they turn right.
They follow this passage down past six chambers until it suddenly ends at a crude stairway going up. “This is encouraging,” James says as he begins to ascend the stairs.
“I hope it leads out,” Miko says from behind him.
“Me too,” agrees James.
Coming to the top of the stairs, they enter a small room, with more biers of the dead. This room looks to be constructed slightly better than what they saw down below. Where the area below had looked to have been just dug out of the earth, here it looks more constructed. The walls are more uniform, though still consisting of dirt and earth.
The biers here aren’t just dug out of the walls. Instead, some are lined with linen and wood. The dead here looks to have been better preserved than those below.
“This area looks newer than the other,” observes Jiron.
“Yeah,” agrees James. He moves through the chamber to the opposite side where a doorway leads to a connecting hallway. The hallway is wider and slightly higher than its counterpart below. “We may be getting closer to the exit,” he announces.
“That would be wonderful,” he hears Miko exclaim behind him. He can’t help but smile at him.
Moving along the hallway, they pass more chambers. These contain more gold and other valuables for the dead. In one, he sees gripped in a corpse’s hands that are crossed upon its chest, a finely wrought golden chalice. The Holy Grail? He smiles at the thought. I doubt it!
Continuing on, they come to where the hallway they’ve been following intersects another. Now faced with three choices, they pause a moment.
“Which way?” he asks, glancing back to his friends.
“Doesn’t matter,” Jiron says.
So James turns again to the right and follows the hallway. After passing by several chambers, it opens up onto a large chamber, the largest they’ve yet seen.
A large sarcophagus rests in the center of the chamber and a chest sits at the foot of it. He moves into the chamber to inspect it more closely.
“What are you doing?” asks Miko from where he stopped at the entrance.
“Just taking a better look?” he replies.
“Why?” he asks. “Let’s get out of here!”
“Just a moment,” James replies. He moves to the sarcophagus and holds the orb over it as he examines the artwork. His eyes are drawn to the chest and he really wants to open it. If this had been a role playing game, he’d not even had hesitated. But he dares not risk it, he remembers the last time they opened a chest and the results.
The room itself is fairly unadorned, a lone tapestry which has long since fallen to rot hangs on one of the walls.
His curiosity satisfied, he leaves the room and they move back to the juncture. Turning again to the right he follows the hallway down past burial chambers until it ends at a stone door set in the wall.
He gasps when he sees what is upon the door. The Star of Morcyth. “This must be a burial chamber for a priest of Morcyth,” he says. Taking out the medallion, he puts it into the recess of the Star on the door and the door begins to open.
Before he replaces the medallion back within his shirt, he notices a subtle glow emanating from it. He shows it to the others. “Never saw it do this before,” he says.
“Maybe it’s like back when we were trapped in the place with the skull pyramids,” suggests Miko.
“Perhaps,” James agrees, “but I’ve yet to encounter anything bearing the Star of Morcyth to be harmful.”
He moves through the doorway, holding the medallion out before him and enters a large chamber. A single sarcophagus rests upon a stand in the center of the room, the Star of Morcyth engraved upon the top.
The medallion flashes in his hand and the room seems to begin to glow with a soft, warm light. Next to him, he hears Jiron suddenly gasp. He looks toward the sarcophagus and sees a light begin to form next to it.
“James…” Miko begins to say as he tugs at his arm.
More curious than fearful, James continues to watch as the light turns into a ghostly apparition.
The ghost is a man in robes, hovering there next to the sarcophagus, and upon its breast is a medallion similar to the one James is holding. It’s face, hard to make out but looks human, is facing them.
James steps forward and says, “Greetings.”
The ghost nods its head and replies in a far off sounding voice, “Greetings, fellow priest of Morcyth.”
James glances at the medallion he’s holding and replies, “I’m not a priest.”
The apparition reaches out, almost touching the medallion he’s wearing. “The glow only comes from his priests, it manifests for no others,” the ghostly voice says.
“Who are you?” James asks.
“I am no longer,” the ghost explains. “I wish no longer to be.”
“Why are you here?” he asks the ghost.
“To guard, to watch, to bar, to wait,” the ghost replies.
“Guard what?” James asks.
“That which must not be found,” he says. “That which must never leave.”
“What must never leave?” he asks.
“The fire, the scourge, the ending,” moans the ghost.
“I don’t understand,” James says.
“Stolen it was,” the apparition says. “Stolen by us, never to leave. No, it must not be found!”
James glances back to his friends who look back at him nervously. Returning his attention to the ghost, he says, “Who did you steal it from?”
“The name that shall not be spoken,” the ghost wails with great anxiety.
“What would happen if it is found?” James asks.
“Death! Much death at the hands of his followers,” cries the ghost.
Suddenly, the ghost begins wailing. The wailing increases to such intensity that they’re forced to cover their ears. When the wailing stops, the ghost cries, “One has come!” Again the intense wailing.
“Hope is lost!” it wails and begins moving in an agitated manner.
“What?” yells out James. “Who has come?”
“One who belongs to him that shall not be named,” cries the ghost. “He shall find it!”
Suddenly, in his mind, he understands. Abula-Mazki has entered the catacomb.
The ghost moves suddenly and comes to stand but inches from James. “You must take it!” it wails to him. “Take it and hide it!”
“Where is it?” James cries out to the ghost.
“Above us,” the ghost replies. “You must find the Room of Stars.” He moves to the side of his sarcophagus and placing a hand upon it, says, “Within here, is the key.” Beginning to wail again, the ghost begins shimmering until finally dissolving into nothingness.
When the apparition is gone, they glance at each other.
James walks over to the side of the sarcophagus and tries to remove the stone slab covering it. “Help me!” he hollers back to the others.
Moving closer, they both grab a hold of the stone slab and with all three working together, manage to raise one side. Pushing the slab away from them, they begin to slide it across the sarcophagus where it drops over the other side, smashing into the floor.
Within, they see the body of the priest whose ghost had just spoken to them. Upon his breast is a golden key, three inches in length with a large diamond at one end. Reaching in, James picks it up.
“Come on!” he says as he runs from the room.
“What’s going on?” Miko asks him as he follows.
“Didn’t you hear what the ghost told us?” he asks.
“All we heard was wailing,” Jiron explains.
“He said that there is something here that the priests of Morcyth had been hiding from someone,” he tells them. “He also said that a follower of that someone is now here. I think Abula-Mazki has found the entrance to the catacomb and is now within it, hunting for us.”
“The priest told me I must find the ‘fire’ and keep it from him. It’s above us in the ‘Room of Stars’, whatever that means.”
“What happens if he should get it?” Jiron asks.
“The priest said ‘Death! Much death at the hands of his followers’. I don’t think we have much choice.” James hurries back to the junction and again takes the right.
He follows the hallway and comes to a set of stairs leading up. Taking them two at a time, he reaches the top and enters the hallway at a run. The hallway is constructed better than the ones below. It has worked stone for sides as well as frescoes and tapestries.
Rushing down the corridor, he comes to a door in the right wall. Upon the door is a faded picture of a diamond. He pulls out the key and finds the diamond on the door is a direct match to the one on the key. Placing the key in the lock, he turns it and opens the door.
The room on the other side is octagonal, with upraised sarcophagi upon the other seven sides of the room. Upon each is emblazoned the Star of Morcyth.
“This must be the room of stars,” he announces. Turning to Jiron, he says, “Keep watch here and if anyone comes, let me know.”
“You got it,” he says drawing his knives.
“Come with me,” he says to Miko as he drags him through the door and into the room.
The medallion on his chest begins to glow once more, the Stars on the sarcophagi begin to glow as well. The glowing of the Stars reveals that another Star has been engraved upon the center of the chamber floor.
James grabs Miko and they move to the center of the room.
“Why do I have to be here?” Miko asks as they approach the center of the Star.
“Quiet,” James tells him. Upon reaching the center, he takes the medallion and holds it up high. A high pitched note begins to be heard coming from all around. It grows steadily louder and louder.
Jiron is now bathed in the light coming from the Stars as he stands out in the corridor, watching in awe at what’s transpiring within the room.
Suddenly the note stops and all is silent, then the sarcophagi doors begin to open. When the doors are fully open, a warrior steps out of each and comes toward James. Each is heavily armored, bearing a longsword and a shield. The shield is embossed with the Star of Morcyth.
All but one stops when they come to within three feet of where he stands. Miko quakes in fear as the largest of the seven comes even closer. This warrior stops a scant foot and a half from them.
“That the Star should shine here once more is dire indeed,” the warrior says.
“One has come who serves he that should not be named,” James replies, hoping to get it right.
“Yes,” the warrior says. “I can feel his presence as he approaches. The Fire is no longer safe here.”
“I must retrieve it,” James says.
Shaking his head, the warrior says, “Only a son of this world may touch it. All others must surely perish.”
“But…” James begins to say.
Then the warrior raises one of his hands and points at Miko. “He must be the one,” he says to Miko’s horror.
Miko backs away and says, “N…n…no way.”
“James!” he hears Jiron call from the corridor. “You better hurry!” Then the clash of battle can be heard as Jiron engages with the enemy.
“Miko, you have no choice!” James says. “We can’t let it fall to Abula-Mazki!”
Suddenly they hear a grinding sound as the back of one of the sarcophagi begins sliding into the floor. The circle of warriors part, creating a way for Miko to move toward the passage revealed behind it. “Go,” the warrior says, “therein lies the Fire.”
“We’ll go together,” James says as he takes Miko by the hand.
From the corridor, they continue to hear Jiron fighting. Miko looks to James, the fear evident in his eyes as he slowly nods his head. Together they walk to the revealed passage and pass through the sarcophagus.
The passage only goes ten feet before opening up to a small room. A three foot pedestal sits in the middle of the room and upon it is a red ruby, easily the biggest ruby James had ever heard of. It has to be at least three inches in diameter. Coming closer to it, they can see light moving within it, like the flickering of a flame.
Miko looks to James and says, “What do I do?”
“I’m not sure,” he admits.
Miko comes closer to the Fire and hesitantly reaches his hand out to it. When nothing happens, he picks it up.
James studies his friend, worried, but doesn’t see anything happening to him.
Miko closes his hand around it and turns back to James, “It’s cool to the touch.”
“Put it in your pouch and let’s go!” he says.
Miko does as he says and they return to the Star room. The lead warrior says, “Go and protect the fire.”
“We shall,” says James. As he makes to leave, the warriors rush past him and out the door, engaging the enemy.
At the door, Jiron almost runs into them, both of them coming to a quick stop. “Who are those guys?” he asks him.
“Not really sure,” James says. He looks down the corridor and sees them fighting most effectively against the soldiers. “Let’s get out of here while we can.” One more glance back at the fighting and he sees the warriors have mowed through the soldiers like a scythe through wheat.
They begin running down the corridor in the opposite direction when James suddenly feels an intense prickling sensation. Abula-Mazki!
A feeling of evil and revulsion rolls over them like a wave. James is almost reduced to vomiting from the feeling of it.
“What was that?” Jiron asks.
“I’m not sure,” James replies once he’s regained control of his stomach again.
From up ahead, they hear movement. Holding the orb up, its light reveals a corpse shuffling around the corner ahead of them, others following behind. “He’s raised the dead against us!” James cries out.
“James!” hollers Jiron. “The Star!”
Holding the Star of Morcyth high, the light again comes from it. The dead only shy away from it, it slows them down but fails to stop them entirely.
“It’s not working!” shouts Miko when he fails to see the dead dissolve like the torsos had.
“The magic of Abula-Mazki must be sustaining them,” replies James. Turning to Jiron, he says, “Only one thing to do.”
Nodding his head, Jiron moves to the fore where he begins laying into them. Hits that would normally drop a living man have minimal effect upon these.
“Don’t try to kill them,” advises James, “they’re already dead. Try to disable so we can get by them.” He sees Jiron nod as his tactics suddenly change.
One of the dead is wielding a sword and Jiron easily takes it from him. Then he uses the sword in one hand and a knife in the other as he begins cutting off limbs from the dead.
Miko suddenly cries out as a hand that had been severed from a corpse grabs his foot. Screaming, he kicks out with his other foot and knocks it away. In revulsion he sees the hand still moving, as it begins pulling itself across the floor toward them with its fingers.
“Come on!” he hears James yell. Turning back toward him, he sees that the last corpse has been sectioned and the way is clear. He hurries past the moving pieces of the dead that try to grab him as he passes, and joins James and Jiron.
They make a break down the corridor and come to another junction. The orb’s light shows shambling shapes coming from the right so they turn and go to the left.
Running down the corridor, they follow it for twenty feet before it turns sharply to the right. Around the corner, they come to a flight of stairs. Without pausing they race up them, taking them two at a time.
When they reach the top, they find themselves to be in an old cellar, perhaps of a temple of some kind. The ceiling has collapsed in several spots and it’s difficult to make it through to the doorway on the far side.
They’re going to have to dig out some of the rubble in order to squeeze through. “Guard the door!” James yells to Jiron as he and Miko begin clearing the way.
“Hurry up man!” Jiron hollers over to them. A corpse comes into view at the bottom of the stairs and begins to climb up. Many more follow.
Digging as fast as they can, they finally clear a wide enough space for them to squeeze through. Miko goes first and James has to push him through for him to make it. He widens it a fraction more before he hollers over his shoulder, “Jiron, let’s go!” James quickly squeezes through and then turns to watch Jiron still fighting at the stairs.
Jiron kicks out at a corpse, knocking it back down the stairs. Then he turns and dashes toward the narrow opening and easily wriggles through.
Leaving the room, they follow a hallway for another twenty feet before coming to a flight of stairs going up. Rubble chokes it, but they are able to work their way up the stairs and soon find themselves outside under the moon and stars.
“Which way?” Jiron asks when they’re all out.
“Not yet,” James says as he pauses a moment and summons the magic. When he releases it, the ground begins to shake and they start to lose their balance. Suddenly realizing he went too far, he yells, “RUN!”
They follow him as he runs away from the entrance as fast as possible. Behind them, they begin to hear a roar as the shaking of the ground increases. They are thrown to the ground and all they can do is lie there. The roar intensifies as the shaking continues, James prays they’ll not be caught up in it.
When the ground finally stops shaking and they’re able to get up, they move cautiously back toward the entrance to the catacomb. The dust is thick and it takes a while before they can see clearly. When they do, the sight amazes them.
The cliff had collapsed and fallen into the canyon. The moonlight doesn’t show the extent of the damage but the edge of the cliff is now a lot further back than where it had been. The ruins they had climbed from are gone, probably lying somewhere in the bottom of the canyon.
“Hope that killed him,” Jiron says as he stares into the darkness of the canyon. From below, they can hear the sound of stone sliding down the slope.
“I do too,” agrees James.
“I don’t think we should stay here,” Jiron advises. “We better put as much distance between us and here as we can.”
In the moonlight, James nods agreement. They set out away from the canyon, ever mindful of the troops awaiting them at the northern end. Angling more east than north, they walk for several hours before stopping.
“Just a quick rest, and then we must be on our way,” James announces. “I’ll take first watch.”
He can see Jiron nod affirmatively and lie down. A glow suddenly appears from where Miko sits. Glancing over, he sees him holding the Fire in his hand. “Probably shouldn’t be touching it more than you have to,” he advises him.
Jiron sits up and looks over to Miko. “What is that?”
Miko gets to his feet and brings it over to them. “They said it was the ‘Fire’,” he explains.
“Fire?” he asks confused. “What does that mean?”
“It would seem it has to do with Dmon-Li,” James replies. “The priests of Morcyth had stolen it somehow and had secreted it back there,” he explains, gesturing back toward the canyon. He goes on to explain all that the spirits had told him.
“Man!” Jiron exclaims. “Now what?”
“I don’t know,” James replies. “But we better make sure that it remains hidden.”
“It’s so beautiful,” they hear Miko whisper. Looking over, they see him completely engrossed with the gem, his gaze fixed upon it.
“Miko,” James says, trying to get his attention. When Miko fails to respond, he hollers louder, “Miko!”
Starting, Miko looks over to James, his eyes not really seeing him.
“Put it away,” he tells him. “You need to get some sleep.”
Nodding abstractly, he returns the Fire to his pouch and promptly lies down. His snores can be heard moments later.
James moves closer to Jiron and whispers, “We’re going to have to keep an eye on him. Not sure if that will affect him in any way.”
“Yeah, it sort of looked like he was lost in it for a moment there,” Jiron whispers back. “Why don’t you take it?”
“I can’t,” replies James. “The spirit said ‘Only a son of this world may touch it. All others must surely perish.’ So I’m not sure what would happen, but I’d rather not take the chance.”
“Don’t blame you,” he says.
“Maybe when we get back to Cardri we can hide it somewhere,” he says.
“Maybe,” Jiron agrees.
James lies down and says, “Wake me in a couple hours, we’ll let Miko sleep.”
“Alright,” says Jiron as he gets up to begin walking in order to stay awake.