Chapter Twenty Three

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An hour passes while James sleeps. Figuring they need to begin working their way out of this predicament, Jiron finally gets up and nudges him awake.

Snapping awake quickly, James is at first disoriented but then realizes where they are. He looks to Jiron and asks, “Are they still watching the way we came in?”

“Yes,” he says.

“And they haven’t made any move to follow after us?” he asks.

“Not so far,” Jiron replies.

“That’s not good,” mumbles James.

“Why?”

James cocks his head to the side and looks at Jiron for a moment before replying. “First ask yourself why would they pursue us all this way and then stop when they were so close to victory?”

Shrugging, Jiron says, “Maybe they feel we will have no choice but to come out the way we came in. Why would they risk it?”

“Think about it,” insists James. “They could easily enough collapse this whole area and squash us like bugs. Why haven’t they?”

Jiron starts to answer then stops. He remembers how readily James had been able to do similar feats in the past when the situation called for it. “I see what you mean,” he finally says.

“There has to be a reason that’s keeping them out and making them unwilling to destroy this place.”

“Maybe it’s holy?” he suggests. “Or taboo in some way?”

“Let’s hope that’s the reason,” says James.

“Right,” nods Jiron. “Could also be they’re afraid to disturb this place.”

“In which case, our being here is not a good thing,” states James.

“Then let’s get out,” Jiron says. “I found stairs further down the hallway that lead down.”

“Do they go anywhere?” asks James.

“Didn’t look,” he explains. “But there was no sand blocking them, so maybe.” Indicating the room they originally entered from he says, “It has to be better than going that way.”

“Let’s hope so,” says James. He then works to get to his feet, his injured wrist still throbbing.

Jiron takes the lead as they head down the hallway to the stairs. Once past the doorway choked with sand, James moves to the stairs and shines the orb’s light down into the opening.

The stairs are made of stone and look to have weathered the passage of time. Jiron notices his hesitation. “It’s the only way,” he says.

“I know,” replies James. It’s just that something about all this bothers him if for no other reason than the mages above have done nothing other than watch the opening since they came in here. Sighing, he says, “Lead on.”

Jiron moves to the top of the stairs and begins the descent into the darkness below. With James following several steps behind, he works his way around the winding stair until it opens up onto another passage that looks to have once ran to the right and left. The left side passage has collapsed leaving them the option of taking the right or continuing to descend further.

Glancing back to James, he receives a nod to the right. Leaving the stairs Jiron begins working his way along the passage. Motion from up ahead gives him a start until he realizes it’s only a scorpion scurrying across the floor. Taking a breath to calm his nerves, he continues on.

The doorways they come across are either collapsed or choked with sand. When they reach the end of the hallway, they discover the wall ahead broken. A jagged crack roughly two feet wide runs from the floor to the ceiling. Taking the orb, Jiron inspects the opening.

When the light shines through, it reveals a narrow open area. The area tapers to a small hole barely large enough for a man to crawl through. He moves aside and lets James look. “What do you think?” he asks. “Should we chance it?”

“I don’t know,” he says after looking at the small crawlspace they will have to go through. “I would hate to get trapped in something like that.”

“So would I,” agrees Jiron. “Better try the stairs.” With an agreeing nod from James, they return to the stairs leading further beneath the desert.

As before, the stairs wind around until they come to the next level where they end. The hallway it opens out on is nearly blocked by the collapse of the ceiling. A section of the ceiling sits askew, one end braced against the floor and the other against the side of the hallway. Beneath is a small crawlspace large enough for them to pass through.

“Stay here,” Jiron says as he gets down on his hands and knees. Having to practically scrape his stomach along the floor, he wriggles his way through.

James watches his feet disappear in the opening and then listens to him as he works his way through.

“I’m through,” Jiron’s voice finally comes back to him. “It’s a crawl of about six feet before you clear the rubble.”

“Okay, I’m coming through,” announces James as he gets down and starts crawling through the opening. There isn’t much room and he feels like his back is being scraped raw. The light from the orb Jiron’s carrying reveals the other end of the blockage which gives him the impetus to continue. His wrist throbs from the struggle to crawl but he perseveres.

“It looks like this hallway continues further down,” Jiron states as James’ head appears from out of the crawlspace.

Making it through, he gets to his feet. “You okay?” Jiron asks.

“Does it matter?” he asks as pain radiates across his back from where the stone scraped it. “Lead on.”

Jiron glances at the way he’s favoring his hand then turns to continue down the hallway. They don’t travel far before an opening appears on their left. When they reach it they discover a small room. A quick survey reveals nothing and they continue on.

The hallway continues for several more yards before they reach the end. Here they find a gaping hole where the end of the hallway had once been. Letting the light of the orb shine through, they see a drop of about fifteen feet.

What looks to be the side of another building rests against the one they are in no more than two feet above the jagged opening, creating an open space below. A window lies directly before them in the other wall and is packed with dirt. Again, they wonder what happened here.

“After you,” Jiron says.

James again looks over the drop to the ground below. “That’s quite a ways,” he observes.

Jiron holds out his hand and says, “Take my hand and I’ll lower you over the side. That should leave only several feet for you to drop.”

Nodding, James gets down on the floor then turns and lowers his feet over the side. Before his stomach goes over the edge, he takes Jiron’s hand in his good one and pushes himself over the edge.

His left hand isn’t as strong as his right and continuously feels as if he’s going to lose his grip. But Jiron maintains a firm grip as he lowers James down the side of the building. Once he’s been lowered as far as Jiron can reach, Jiron says, “I’m going to let go, brace yourself.”

James gives him a nod and then all of a sudden, Jiron lets go. He hits the uneven ground and stumbles slightly before regaining his balance. “Made it,” he yells up to Jiron.

“Good,” comes the reply. “Here, catch.” The orb sails through the air and James grabs it before it hits the ground.

Looking up, he watches as Jiron swings his legs over the edge and lowers himself as far as he can before letting go. Landing much more gracefully than James, he’s soon standing next to him.

Increasing the luminosity of the orb, they see the area beneath the wall extends in both directions. The one to the right appears slightly less rubble filled than the other. Figuring one way is as good as another, they go in that direction.

The follow the gap provided by the leaning wall, every twenty feet or so another window appears in the wall above them. Every one is clogged with dirt and has a matching mound of dirt directly below it on the ground.

Thirsty, James takes out his water bottle and discovers that he only has half a bottle left. Taking a small sip, he returns the bottle to his belt. “You have any water left?” he asks.

Checking his water bottle, Jiron replies, “Little over half. You?”

“About the same,” he says. Water could be a problem if they don’t get out of here soon.

After passing two more dirt clogged windows above their heads, they find one that’s free of dirt. They pause beneath it as James tries to shine the light from the orb into the opening. “I think there may be a way through here,” he observes.

“Looks like it,” Jiron replies. He glances to where the area they’ve been following continues further into darkness. “Should we continue down or try the window?”

“Continue down,” decides James. “If the rest of the windows have been filled with dirt, it isn’t likely we’ll get too far that way.”

“You may be right,” agrees Jiron. Casting one last look up into the opening, he turns and resumes leading the way.

Not far past the open window, large blocks of stone stand in their way from where the wall that had been their ceiling had broken. Dirt fills most of the passage, leaving only a narrow gap beneath two large stones resting against each other. The gap is large enough to allow a man to pass, barely.

“Well?” asks Jiron coming to a stop. “What do you think?”

James eyes the gap with reluctance. He moves to the edge of the gap and holds his orb so the light shines into it. “It extends further than the light will show,” he says. Turning back to Jiron he adds, “Might be alright.”

Jiron moves to his side and takes the orb. He then squeezes in between the two stones and begins working his way through.

Another orb springs to life on James’ hand. He stands there at the opening and watches as Jiron makes his way through the gap. As he stands there, his stomach grumbles with hunger. He takes out some dried beef from his pack and chews on it while he waits.

Just before he takes his second bite, he catches the scent of fresh baked bread. The aroma makes his stomach cramp even further. Can’t be, he thinks as he takes his second bite. As he chews he sniffs the dried beef but it just smells like dried beef. Thinking his imagination is playing with him, he continues watching Jiron’s progress.

Then the smell comes again, this time with a hint of cinnamon. Holding aloft his orb he glances around, trying to figure out where the mouthwatering aroma is coming from. He finally determines it’s emanating from the passage they just came down.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he begins moving back down the passage as the aroma leads him on. It gradually grows in intensity until he reaches the open window they passed under before. Once he passes by the window, the strength of the aroma begins to diminish. Retracing his steps, he realizes the mouthwatering aroma is coming from somewhere on the other side of the window. Stopping just below, he gazes up and tries to see what lies further beyond the window.

 

Reaching the far side of the passage, Jiron comes to an open area. Easily a hundred feet wide and two hundred long, it looks to have been the interior of some important building at one time. All four walls are still standing and each shows delicate carvings that the builder had used for embellishment.

Glancing to the roof, he finds most of that is intact except for one of the corners where the side of another building had smashed into it. The roof there had caved in revealing the wall of the building that struck it. A pile of broken stones lies below the impact site. He scans the room and discovers two doors, one to the right and one to the left. The door to the right is closed but the one on the left stands ajar.

“James!” he hollers back through the crevice. “I’m through, come on.” He waits a moment but no answer is forthcoming. “James!” he shouts again. When James again fails to respond, he curses and reenters the crevice to work his way back through.

Exiting from the other side, he’s dismayed to find James gone. “James!” he yells and begins running back down the passage. A knife leaps into his hand as he starts to fear the worst. He slows when he sees the light from James’ orb ahead of him. Illuminated by the orb’s light, he sees James standing there looking up into the window above him.

“James!” Jiron hollers. “You had me worried.”

James ignores him and continues to stare up at the window.

“James?” Jiron asks. Coming closer, he looks up at the window to see what is so interesting but only sees darkness.

When he lays a hand on James’ shoulder James asks, “Don’t you smell it?”

“Smell what?” He definitely doesn’t smell anything other than the earth around them and their own unwashed bodies.

“My grandmother’s cinnamon rolls,” he tells him.

“No, I don’t smell anything,” replies Jiron. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” Taking him by the shirt, he pulls James along.

“But…” begins James and the mouthwatering aroma which had been so strong quickly disappears.

“But nothing,” he says as he continues dragging him along.

With stomach growling, he follows Jiron back to the crevice. “Man, that was so real,” he states.

“When you’re hungry, you can imagine all sorts of tasty smells,” observes Jiron.

“I can believe that,” he says.

“Follow me,” Jiron says as he enters the opening. “It isn’t far.”

“Right behind you,” James assures him. Once Jiron has entered the crevice and moved far enough to allow him to follow, he pauses a moment and glances back down the passage. Sighing, he enters the opening.

He works his way through until he reaches the far side. As he exits the crevice, Jiron points out the two exits. James takes a moment to inspect the delicate carvings on the walls but can’t discern any sort of drawings or picture. Kind of reminds him of wallpaper you might find in a doctor’s office, just something used to break up the plainness of the wall.

“Check the one on the right,” James says, pointing to the one that’s closed. “I’ll check the other.” Moving across the room to the open door, he can’t get the memory of his grandmother’s cinnamon rolls out of his mind. Each time he thinks his stomach growls again. It’s been so long since he’s had food from home, he didn’t realize how much he misses it.

Reaching the door, he opens it further to find a hallway clear of debris extending away from it. Glancing back to where Jiron looks to be working on the lock of the other door, he decides to see where this goes while Jiron is busy.

Holding his orb high, he passes through the doorway and enters the hallway. Not far down he comes to another door on the right.

“Ahhh!”

Back in the other room, Jiron cries out in surprise then the sound of a thud echoes down the hallway. “James!” he cries out.

Racing back down the hallway, he pulls a slug out of his belt and has it ready when he runs into the room. Jiron stands with his shoulder against the door. “What’s wrong?” he asks. Crossing the room quickly, he comes to his side.

“There’s something on the other side of this door,” he says.

Alarmed, James asks, “What is it?”

“A headless torso,” he replies. “Just like one of those we encountered back in the swamp.”

Not even wanting to think of the ramifications if those things are wandering around down here with them, he pulls out the medallion bearing the Star. He holds it before him and says to Jiron, “Open the door.” The last time they encountered these things, the Star had blazed forth and destroyed the undead creatures. “Better to deal with this now than run the risk of it joining with others.”

Nodding, Jiron takes hold of the handle of the door with one hand while he draws a knife with the other. “Ready?” he asks. When he receives an affirmative nod from James, he yanks open the door.

Braced for immediate attack, James is surprised when the door swings wide and reveals nothing but an empty corridor. He glances to the medallion in his hand which has remained quiet, no light emanates from it.

Jiron looks at the empty hallway in surprise, then bolts down it in search of the creature. “It may have moved away,” he exclaims.

James follows after and keeps one eye on Jiron and another on the Star which has remained quiescent.

The hallway doesn’t extend very far before they reach an area where it has collapsed and the way is impassable. “It was here!” Jiron exclaims.

“Are you sure you weren’t imagining it?” asks James.

“No,” insists Jiron. “I opened the door and it reached for me.”

“Well, it’s not here now,” he says.

Jiron moves to the dirt and stone blocking the hallway and feels it to see if it’s real. Finding that it is, he turns back to James with an odd look on his face.

James shrugs. “Could have been a trick of shadows,” he reasons.

“Maybe,” concedes Jiron.

Coming forward he pats him on the shoulder and says, “Come on. There’s another hallway leading from the other door.”

“Alright,” says Jiron as he follows James back to the room and then over to the other door. But it had seemed so real!

They enter the hallway and move down to the door James found before Jiron cried out. The hallway continues further on past the door and into darkness. With Jiron’s recent experience in mind, they both make ready for battle as Jiron opens the door.

Swinging open the door slowly, they brace for attack but only find a hard packed dirt wall on the other side. Shutting the door, Jiron turns and leads the way further down the hallway.

“There’s got to be another way to the surface somewhere,” he mutters as he moves away from the door. James nods behind him in silent agreement.

Further down they come across another door on their right. Only attached by one of its hinges, it sits askew in the middle of the hallway. Dirt that has completely filled the room beyond the door has spilled through and practically obstructs the hallway. Climbing over the mound of dirt, they discover the rest of the hallway is all but destroyed. The floor above had collapsed.

“Damn!” exclaims James from his position on the mound of dirt behind Jiron.

Holding aloft the orb, Jiron inspects the obstruction for a possible way through. “We’re in luck,” he says pointing to the top of the obstruction. “The cave-in opened a way up to the floor above.”

“Be careful,” advises James as Jiron begins working his way up the pile of stone and dirt. He starts to follow when Jiron’s foot dislodges a stone which falls and almost hits him in the head. Deciding to wait until he reaches the top, James holds his position.

When Jiron hollers down that he’s made it, James begins climbing up. The unstable rubble makes climbing difficult, the rocks shift under him and twice he starts sliding back down when they give way. Taking it slow, he finally makes it to the top and finds that they are in another room.

Jiron reaches down a hand and helps him the last bit until he’s standing in the room. The ceiling of the room has collapsed in two places, one of which has left an opening.

Broken stone lies strewn across the floor of the room. A single closed door appears to be the only way out other than the hole in the ceiling.

James considers the hole in the ceiling while Jiron moves to investigate the door. Holding his orb high, he sees there’s an open area beyond the hole in the ceiling. “If we can get up there it would bring us closer to the surface,” he observes.

Jiron pauses at the door and turns to face him. Glancing from the floor to the ceiling he says, “That’s a good twelve feet at least. How would we get up there?”

Shrugging, James replies, “Not sure.”

Turning back to the door, Jiron pulls it open to find what used to be a stairway leading down. But the stairwell has long since collapsed and the way is no longer passable. “This way is blocked,” he says as he turns back to where James is trying to figure a way up to the hole.

“Maybe we should take a short break while we work on how to continue,” suggests Jiron.

Glancing at him, James nods his head. “That might not be such a bad idea.”

Moving over to one side where the rubble isn’t nearly so thick, they clear a space and sit down against the wall. Jiron removes two pieces of dried beef from his belt pouch and hands one to James.

“Thanks,” he says. Taking the beef, he bites off a piece and gazes around the room. “You know, there’re some good sized pieces of stone here,” he states. “Might be possible to make a pile high enough for us to reach the edge of the opening.”

Jiron nods at the idea. “Would be better than backtracking to find another route,” he agrees. Then he asks, “How’s your wrist?”

“Still hurts,” replies James. “Don’t worry, I’ll still help build the pile.” He feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to see Jiron looking at him.

“That’s not what I was meaning,” he says. “Just concerned is all.”

“I know,” James assures him.

They sit and rest until they’ve finished their dried beef and drank a small portion of their depleting water supply. “Ready?” Jiron asks. When James nods his head, they get up and begin to work on building a pile to reach the hole.

At first they work together on the larger chunks of stone to build the base. James’ hand prevents them from using the largest pieces but he’s at least able to assist Jiron in moving some of the medium sized ones.

Stone after stone, they move each to beneath the opening and the pile steadily rises. They even remove the door leading to the clogged stairwell and add it to the growing pile to add stability. When all but the small stones that would be of little use are gathered, Jiron climbs to the top and finds he is still four feet from the opening. The pile of stone isn’t stable enough to allow him to jump that far even with the use of the door. The top stone upon which he stands continuously threatens to slip off the pile at any second.

“Maybe we can work some stones out of the wall where it’s broken,” suggests James.

“Good idea,” replies Jiron as he works his way down from the pile.

James takes out his belt knife and walks over to the wall. Large chunks of stone are imbedded within the dirt. Using his knife, he begins working the stones out from the wall. When they are loose enough, Jiron takes them to the pile.

This process takes well over an hour before Jiron once again climbs the pile in an attempt to reach the hole in the ceiling. Once on the top, he stretches to touch the edge of the opening. His fingers are only six inches away this time. The rocks upon which he stands continue to shift and rock in a most unstable manner. Deciding to risk it, he jumps.

His hands grab the edge of the opening as the rock pile beneath him disintegrates. The force of his jump dislodges the carefully arranged pile of rocks causing half of it to slide and spill across the room’s floor.

James holds his breath as he watches him hanging there in the hole. Adjusting his grip, Jiron starts to pull himself up until his feet disappear over the edge. “I made it!” he hollers back down.

“Thank goodness,” breathes James with relief.

A few seconds later, the rope Jiron keeps coiled around his middle drops down through the opening. At the end of the rope he has made a loop. “Here,” he says. “Put your foot in the loop and I’ll pull you up.”

“Okay,” replies James and then climbs the pile of stone to reach the rope. Once at the top, he takes the rope in his good hand and sets his foot in the loop. “Pull it up,” he hollers when he’s ready.

The rope begins to be slowly drawn upward until the slack has been taken up. Then he holds onto the rope tightly as Jiron gradually pulls him up off the disheveled rock pile and toward the hole. He can hear Jiron’s grunts each time he pulls him a little bit further. When his head passes through the opening, he takes his good hand and pulls his upper body over the lip.

Jiron lets go of the rope and grabs him under the shoulders. In one strong tug, he pulls him completely over the lip and onto the next level. James cries out as the rough edge scrapes along his chest as he’s being dragged out of the opening.

Rolling on his back, James uses his uninjured hand to pull up the front of his shirt. The two orbs left in the room below wink out as another springs to life next to him. Looking at his chest, he finds three long scrapes several inches in length. Two are simply red, the third is beginning to well blood.

“Sorry about that,” apologizes Jiron.

James glances at him as he lowers his shirt. “They’re not bad, just stings a little,” he assures him.

“That’s good.” He takes the rope and unties the loop he made for James’ foot before coiling it once again around his waist.

The light from the orb reveals they are in another hallway, the hole they climbed out from divides it in half. They can either continue down the side they are on or try to cross over the hole some way to go the other.

James sits up and takes his orb in his hand. He notices Jiron looking at him with his hand out. Suddenly, another springs to life in Jiron’s hand.

“Thanks,” he says. “Just stay there and rest a moment if you need to, I’ll head down here and see where this leads.”

“Alright,” replies James from where he remains sitting with his back propped up against the wall. “Can’t be too far from the surface now.”

Jiron nods in agreement. “If we find a way out, let’s hope the mages have left,” he says. “Can you sense them?”

James concentrates for a moment then shakes his head. “Either they are far away or aren’t doing anything magical.”

“Good. If you can’t sense them, then they shouldn’t be able to sense you either.” Holding up the orb, he nods to it.

James just shrugs his shoulders.

“Be back in a second,” Jiron says as he proceeds down the hallway. Twenty feet from where he left James the right side of the hallway is blocked by dirt that spilled in through a window in the wall. He only pauses to examine the window for a moment then is about to move on when he feels a barely perceptible breeze.

Standing still, he works to ascertain from which direction the waft of air originated. He comes to realize it’s coming from the top left corner of the window. Holding aloft his orb, he inspects it closer and discovers a small opening in the dirt through which the air is moving.

After a quick glance back to where James sits with his orb on the floor next to him, he reaches up and pushes on the dirt surrounding the opening. It doesn’t take much pressure before the dirt begins falling away. He works at it until he has made an opening two feet in diameter.

Holding the orb behind him, he climbs higher on the mound of dirt and looks through. There’s a definite space on the other side of the window. When he dislodges more of the dirt, he can hear it fall down the other side. Excited, he hurries back to James.

James sees him running back toward him and gets to his feet. “What?” he asks.

Indicating back down the hallway with a nod of his head, he says, “Found a window that may lead somewhere. There’s a slight draft passing through from the other side.”

“A draft?” asks James in excitement.

“That’s right,” affirms Jiron.

“Let’s go check it out,” says James and then follows Jiron back to the mound of dirt and the window.

“See if you can widen it further,” he suggests when he sees the opening Jiron had made.

Stepping up to the window, Jiron takes a rock from the mound of dirt on the floor and begins striking the dirt packed in the window. Each strike dislodges more of the dirt. He keeps hammering at it until the left half of the window has been completely cleared.

“Toss the orb through and see what’s back there,” James says.

He moves to the opening and tosses the orb through. The light from the orb as it sails through shows a large open area, easily thirty feet across. As the orb strikes the far side, it begins to fall. It falls at least a hundred feet before splashing into a pool of water at the bottom.

Jiron turns from the window. “It’s pretty big,” he tells James. “The sides are just dirt. At the bottom lies a pool of water.”

“Water?” asks James. When Jiron nods affirmative, he adds, “The water may have eroded the dirt from the bottom up.” He takes his water bottle and gives it a shake. Hardly any left.

“We could use some of that water,” states Jiron.

“Can we make it down?” he asks.

“I’ll see,” he says. “Need another orb.” When one appears in his hand he again moves to the opening. Tossing it through, he watches the sides of the hole as the orb falls. A little over halfway down directly below the window is a two foot dirt ledge jutting out from the side of the wall. The hollow area grows dark again when the orb hits the water and sinks beneath its surface.

James cancels the orb as soon as he sees Jiron turn back from the window. “Well?” he asks.

“There’s a narrow ledge below the window,” he explains. “My rope will reach it but I’m not sure how well it will support our weight.”

“Let me see.” Moving to the window, he creates another orb and tosses it through. When it passes the ledge, he sees what Jiron is talking about. Though not very wide, it doesn’t look as if it will support their weight.

He’s about ready to move away from the window when the breeze which originally caught Jiron’s attention wafts through and ruffles his hair. Air movement can only mean a way out.

“I think we should chance it,” he says as he turns back from the window. “That breeze has to mean there is an opening to the surface somewhere.” He sets the orb on the mound of dirt while he gets ready to climb through.

“I agree,” replies Jiron. “We could wander around down here for days and not find another way.” He uncoils the rope from around his waist and says, “I’ll lower you down first.” When James nods, he ties the loop at the end of the rope for his foot. Setting the rope on the dirt mound for a moment, he helps James through the opening.

Once his feet are dangling on the other side, he works the rope through and hooks it around James’ right foot. Bracing himself, he gives James a nod and holds the rope tightly while James works his way the rest of the way through the opening. He lets out slack very slowly until he hears ‘I’m set’, then begins lowering steadily.

James holds the rope tightly in his good hand with the other arm wrapped around it for support. As he is lowered into the darkness an orb springs to life and settles on his shoulder. He keeps an eye out for the ledge. When he sees it coming up beneath him, he hollers, “Almost there!” From above he hears Jiron holler back, “Let me know when you reach it.”

“Right!” he shouts. Looking down, he watches as the ledge gradually approaches. When he is but inches from it he hollers up to Jiron to halt. Moving carefully, he places the foot not in the rope’s loop upon the ledge and tests it for stability. When the ledge proves secure, he places more of his weight upon it, never once letting go the rope.

Finally standing with his entire weight resting upon the ledge, he hollers up to Jiron, “It’s holding!”

“Good,” comes the reply. Then the rope is quickly drawn back up.

Back at the window, Jiron takes out one of his knives. After untying the loop, he ties the end securely around the base of the knife’s hilt. He then places the knife crosswise across the corner of the window and wedges it there. While maintaining tension on the rope tied to the knife to keep it in place, he tosses the rest of the rope through the window and down to James.

Jiron!

James’ scream comes to him from below. He looks through the window just as a massive flash explodes on the other side and blinds him. Holding his eyes, he shouts, “James! What’s happening?”

Another inarticulate yell comes from James followed by a splash. “James!” he yells through the window. From below come two explosions and James’s voice calling his name.

Crumph!

Another explosion and then he hears James again calling his name, this time sounding like he’s further away.

When his eyes finally clear enough to see, he looks through the window but only sees blackness on the other side. Taking his orb, he holds it high as he leans out to look below, but the ledge is empty and there’s no sign of James.

“James!”