"Let's go back to those stairs leading down," Jiron says.

Nodding, James turns and follows him back. Once at the stairs, he again takes the lead as they proceed down to the next level.

At the bottom of the stairs, a corridor runs to the left and right. Pointing down to the right, he says, "My guess would be another pyramid like the one we just saw lies down there." Turning right, he follows the corridor as it turns right and then after thirty feet, right again. Sure enough, they come to a room containing another pyramid.

"Why would they have another one here?" Jiron asks.

"Maybe to help in the flow of magic from its source below," he offers. "Won't be able to fully understand it until we get there."

As they turn to head back down the corridor, Miko asks, "Do you think it's dark outside yet?"

"If it isn't, it's not far off," guesses Jiron.

Following the corridor, they return to where the stairs go back up and then continue on down the corridor in the other direction. Not very far, they come to a junction of corridors and James turns to follow the left one.

Twenty feet brings them to another room, this one larger than any so far. The room looks to have been a barracks of some sort, six beds are lined up in two rows of three. The bedding has long since deteriorated and at the foot of each is a chest.

As Jiron goes over to the chests, James says, "Be careful, they may be trapped."

"I realize that," he replies.

James moves around the room and discovers a mural painted on the wall. Though faded with time he can still make it out. Several figures stand around a dark pool, they look to be executing someone. He takes a closer look at the pool and sees headless bodies floating within.

Barely perceptible lines are drawn, as if some invisible force rises from the pool.

Crash!

Turning around suddenly, he looks to see Jiron removing his foot from a crushed chest. Coming over, he can see something sparkle from within. Ten gems lie upon the bottom, Jiron reaches down and scoops them up.

Smiling, he holds one up and says, "Not bad, these will fetch quite a bit." Nodding to James, he places them within his belt pouch.

Seeing the treasure that Jiron had found, Miko goes and smashes one open too and is disappointed when he finds his to be empty.

"I thought we were going to be careful," reminds James as he stands there next to Jiron.

"Couldn't get it open," Jiron explains, "so I kicked it. I really didn't figure there to be a trap or anything bad."

Shaking his head, James says, "There may only be one in a group. One on the edge that, once everyone is lulled into complacency by not finding any in the others, the would-be robbers will rush headlong into."

"I don't really think there's any reason to..."

Just then they hear Miko kicking in another chest when...Kaboom!

They turn to see Miko sailing through the air as he smashes into the far wall. Rushing over to him, James can see one of his feet is smoking slightly as he lies there unconscious.

Kneeling down next to him, he gently shakes him, "Miko!" he cries.

Eyes fluttering open, Miko looks at them standing over him. "What happened?" he asks, dazed and confused.

"You okay?" Jiron asks.

"I think so," he says as he starts to sit up. "Ah!" he says as he reaches back and feels a goose egg sized knot on the back of his head from where he'd hit the wall.

"Let me see," James says as he closely examines it. "It doesn't look too bad, there's no bleeding." Coming back in front of Miko, he says, "It'll probably hurt for a while."

Turning to Jiron, James is about ready to say something when Jiron says, "Okay, okay, I understand now."

"Next time be careful, someone could've been killed," scolds James.

Miko gets up and goes over to the chest that nearly killed him and says, "Hey, look at this!"

They turn to see him reaching in and pulling out a handful of clear crystals. Coming over to Jiron, he says excitedly, "How much are these worth?"

Taking one, Jiron examines it closely and says, "Nothing. They are just common crystals." As Miko's excited smile begins to fade, he adds, "You could probably get something for them at a market, but they really are not that spectacular."

Looking upset, he says, "Then why did they have an exploding trap that almost killed me?" Throwing them down, he says, "Stupid crystals."

James comes over and bends over, picking one up. Inspecting it, he says, "Why indeed?"

"Are they magic?" Miko asks, seeing James' curiosity.

Shaking his head, he says, "No, thought they might've been, but there's not a trace of magic about them now." Tossing the crystal back down, he says, "Let's go. It's almost night outside and I'd like to get out of here by then."

"I'm with you," agrees Miko.

Leaving the room, they go back to the juncture of corridors, and take the one to their right, leaving only the one across from them unexplored.

The corridor quickly ends at a barren room with a mural of what looks to be a depiction of the swamp and the surrounding area.

James brings the orb closer for a better look and points to a spot, saying, "I think we're here." Indicating another area to the south, he says, "This looks like where the cannibals' village had been."

He puts his finger on the waterway running near where they are and says, "If we can get out of here, it looks like if we follow this river north, it'll lead to a lake in the mountains."

"Do we want to go there?" Jiron asks.

"As good a place as any," replies James. "Elsewhere would put us in cannibal territory or close to the Empire's forces, I would imagine."

"Then let's get out of here!" insists Miko.

They leave the room and return to the juncture of corridors and turn right. Following the pa.s.sage, it winds first to the left, then the right. After a long straight section, they come to another closed door, locked of course.

Jiron works at the lock and soon has it open. Within are shelves and shelves of crystals of varying sizes. All are the common crystals that Miko had almost been killed over.

"What would they want with these?" James asks as he picks one up. It's three inches long and one inch wide, well crafted. He puts it in his belt pouch to examine later.

Further examination of the room reveals nothing of interest. James stands there with a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong?" asks Jiron.

"I thought for sure that there would be another level beneath this one," he says.

"Maybe there is," says Miko. "Could there be a secret door? Like the other ones we'd found?"

Nodding, he says, "You're right, I don't know where my mind is." Suddenly, a bubble forms in front of him and begins floating out of the room.

They follow the bubble as it moves down the corridor. Upon reaching the corridor junction, it floats to the left, back toward the stairs to the upper level. Ten feet before reaching the stairs up, it stops and hovers by a section of wall on their right.

"This is it," announces James as the bubble disappears.

"Where?" asks Jiron. "I don't see anything."

Glancing at him, James says, "That's the whole point of a secret door."

Smiling, Jiron replies, "Sorry."

Turning back to the wall, he begins to examine it but is unable to ascertain how to open it. There are no indentations, no markings, nothing that would indicate a way for it to be opened.

Pausing a moment to consider the situation, he paces back and forth and then an idea hits him. Turning back down the corridor, he shuffles along and turns left back at the junction. The others follow behind him.

Entering the room with the beds and chest, he goes over to the mural on the wall. He runs his fingers over it and smiles when he finds a groove. Using both hands, he pushes upon the dark pool and it sinks a quarter inch into the wall.

"Jiron," he says, "take the orb and run back to see if anything happened." Continuing to press upon the pool, he waits while Jiron runs back the way to where the bubble had indicated a secret door.

"A doorway is open!" they can hear from down the corridor.

Releasing the dark pool, James turns and makes his way through the dark to where Jiron waits by the opened secret door.

Even before reaching it, the stench coming from the opening hits him like a hammer.

"Gah!" says Miko. "What's down there?"

All James can do is shrug as he takes the orb from Jiron and begins to descend down the stairs.

Chapter Six.

The stench only increases as they descend, making their eyes water and bringing them almost to the point of gagging. The bottom of the stairs comes out in a large cavernous room. From the looks of it, the ones who built this place left the cavern just the way they found it with only minimal alterations.

The p.r.i.c.kling increases to an almost painful degree as James reaches the end of the stairs. He pauses a moment before entering the cavern, gasping from the effect the area is having on him. Five feet from the end of the stairs, a dark pool begins, the same as had been depicted in the mural upstairs. The light from the orb doesn't illuminate far enough for them to see to the other side of the dark water.

"This looks just like the pool you pushed in the mural to open the secret door," Miko says when he enters the cavern.

James nods his head and replies, "That's what gave me the idea. When I saw the mural, I figured we'd eventually find this."

"What is it?" Jiron asks as he approaches it for a closer look.

"Don't get too close," James warns him.

Stopping a few feet from the pool, he wrinkles his nose as he turns back and says, "It's the source of the odor."

James just nods his head as he gazes around the cavern. Increasing the luminosity of the orb, he's soon able to see to the other side of the cavern where the pool ends. Mirror black, it sits in the center of the cavern without even a ripple. The light from the orb isn't reflecting off its surface either, more like it's being absorbed.

Plunk!

A ripple begins to from in the middle of the pool where a stone had been cast into it. James quickly turns and grabs Miko's arm as he's about to throw another one. "Are you crazy?" he shouts at him.

Looking guilty, Miko drops the rock and says, "Sorry."

"James, look!" Jiron exclaims as he points to the ceiling of the cavern, directly over the pool.

A crystal, enormous in size, hangs suspended several feet from the ceiling. It pulses a soft white light, almost like a heart beating.

"What is it?" Miko asks.

"That," James explains, "is the source of the magic maintaining the barrier."

"You sure?" he asks.

"Not entirely, as I didn't create it," James replies in exasperation. "But I can't imagine it being anything else."

"Now what?" he asks.

Turning to him, he says, "Miko, stop asking me questions. I can't think of what to do with all of your interruptions."

"Sorry," he apologizes.

He begins to move around the dark pool as he tries to consider his next course of action. There's nothing here but the pool and the crystal.

Coming back to where the others are waiting, he says, "Jiron, do you think you could hit the crystal with a stone?"

"Maybe," he replies as he bends over and picks up a fair sized rock. "Isn't this going to be dangerous?"

"I hope not," he says. "I just want to see what will happen."

He takes aim and then throws the rock toward the crystal with all his might. They watch as the rock soars upward and then is suddenly deflected away by a barrier when it nears the crystal.

"Thought so," James says when he sees it being deflected.

"Then why have me do it?" Jiron asks.

"Now I know for sure," he explains.

He stands there, staring up at the crystal as he considers his next course of action. Then from the corner of his eye, he catches a glimpse of a ripple out near the center of the pool. Turning to Miko he glares at him and says, "Stop throwing rocks in the pool."