"Alright," James says. The whole place gives him the creeps and the corpse that's lying exposed next to him seems almost to be looking at him. But he's sure that's just his overactive imagination.

He watches as Jiron begins to climb up the biers. He's being careful not to disturb the dead any more than is absolutely necessary.

Suddenly, from behind him, he hears Miko cry out as the earth beneath him gives way and he falls. "James!" he screams as he drops below the surface.

"What happened?" Jiron asks from where he's climbing up.

James looks back to Jiron and says, "Miko just fell through, this whole place must be riddled with these things."

"James!" he hears Miko's panicked cry.

"Just hold there a moment," he says to Jiron. "I need to check on him."

"Don't take too long," he says from halfway up the side of the biers.

James moves over to where Miko had fallen through and when he reaches the side of the hole, the ground beneath him caves-in as well, and he lands upon a bier. "YAAAA!" he cries out when he feels the bones of the dead under him and rolls off the bier, falling another few feet to the floor.

He feels a hand on his shoulder, "James, you okay?" Miko's voice quavers in fear and worry.

The orb blossoms into light again and Miko cries out in shock when he sees the dead lining the walls around him. One corpse lies in a heap in the middle of the floor, most likely the one James had landed on when he initially fell.

"Calm down!" James exclaims commandingly, trying to halt the panic he sees trying to consume Miko.

He gets up and grabs a hold of him and shakes him slightly. "Miko!" he cries, trying to get him to focus on his face.

Miko's eyes slowly relax as they focus on James standing there in front of him.

"Relax," he a.s.sures him, "you're okay."

"Where are we?" Miko asks when he gets the panic under control.

James glances around the small burial chamber and says, "I think we're in a burial mound." He sees an opening in the side of the chamber and moves toward it, "Looks like it might be part of a catacomb."

"What's that?" asks Miko, keeping very close to James.

"A catacomb is a place where people are buried," he explains. "It's usually a.s.sociated with a church or a religion."

"Jiron!" James hollers out the opening.

They hear some movement coming toward them and are relieved when they see him move into the orb's light.

"You both okay?"

"Physically we're fine," replies James as he nods over to Miko.

Nodding, Jiron understands when he sees the frightened look on his face. "What are we to do now?"

"I think we're in a catacomb," James tells him. "If so, it must lead somewhere. Maybe we could follow it and find the way out."

Miko's eyes widen when he hears that. "Are you crazy?" he asks. "We should leave, this is no place for the living."

"If we go back up, as likely as not we'll fall through again," he explains. "Plus, they'll never find us here unless they stumble upon the opening. Which, in the dark is unlikely."

"How do you know there's even a way out?" Miko asks.

"I don't," he replies. "But the dead had to be brought here somehow."

"The two chambers we fell in were connected," Jiron says. "Stands to reason there would be a way out."

James moves closer to Miko and says soothingly, "Just stay close and we'll make it out, okay?"

Miko nods his head.

James moves to the opening of the burial chamber and takes the lead. Before leaving, he glances over his shoulder and says, "Follow me and stay close."

Jiron nods his head and Miko says, "Don't worry about that."

He turns back toward the opening and leaves the burial chamber.

Chapter Fourteen.

A small crude path extends from the burial chamber. James steps out and follows it as it pa.s.ses 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 pa.s.s 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 pa.s.sing three more chambers of the dead, the pa.s.sage abruptly ends. "Looks like they just stopped digging here," he guesses. Turning around, he leads them back to where the pa.s.sage had split, this time following the left fork.

When they pa.s.s 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 pa.s.sage, they continue down past several more chambers when again, the pa.s.sage diverges. Either straight, or to the right. Being methodical, James again turns right.

This pa.s.sage 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 cla.s.ses. But if that is the case, why are they all together? Never heard of different cla.s.ses being mingled together. Interesting. Maybe different embalming techniques for the different social cla.s.ses. But if that is the case, why are they all together? Never heard of different cla.s.ses 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 pa.s.sage they're following abruptly ends again, so they again turn back. Coming to the juncture of pa.s.sages, they turn right.

They follow this pa.s.sage 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 pa.s.s 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? The Holy Grail? He smiles at the thought. He smiles at the thought. I doubt it! 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 pa.s.sing 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.