“It’s down this way,” he tells them. Walking quickly, he moves further into the left tunnel.
Jiron looks back to the entrance and sees the soldiers are tentatively moving closer. There appear to be more out there, most likely both of the forces have met up. That means somewhere out there is a mage as well.
He hurries to follow James as he attempts to locate an air vent. “I think they’re starting to move toward the entrance,” he tells James when he catches up with him.
“If they don’t move fast, we should be able to get out of here,” he says, glancing back.
Jiron thinks this whole thing is doubtful, but trusts in James. In the short time they’ve been together, he’s managed to do some pretty impressive things.
The mine begins to get narrower and they find tools and other implements scattered about. In one spot, they come across a half filled ore wagon sitting to one side. They look at the ore within but are unable to determine just what the miners had been mining.
“It’s not iron ore,” Miko says when he gets close enough to the wagon to see its contents.
“Are you sure?” Fifer asks.
Grimly, he replies, “Very.”
They move on, the torch still indicating a breeze moving toward the back of the mine. Suddenly, a crossbow bolt strikes the wall right next to James. He whirls around, points the torch behind them and lets the magic flow.
A cone of fire shoots from the end of the torch like a flame thrower, Jiron has to dive out of the way as the flame sizzles past. It expands as it goes until it’s wide enough to touch the sides of the mine. Screams can be heard from the soldiers who’re caught in the fire as their hair and clothes burst into flame. As quickly as the cone of fire started, it stops.
Back down the tunnel, they can see several men running away, their clothes and hair aflame. As an added concern, some of the support beams used to keep the ceiling from caving in have caught fire as well.
Turning back, James says, “We better hurry.”
Fifer gazes at James, awe in his eyes as well as a little bit of fear. “How did you do that?” he asks.
“Oxygen will burn, but it needs to be in a purer form than what we breathe,” he explains. “I just changed it.”
“Oh,” he says, not really understanding, “right.”
James grins at him and continues down the tunnel. He glances back occasionally and finds that the soldiers have made no attempts to put out the fires consuming the old timbers shoring up the mine.
Another branching and he determines the breeze is continuing down the right, they turn to follow it. Shortly after taking it, the unmistakable sounds of men chipping stone away from the walls can be heard from up ahead.
A torch begins to be seen and soon three men are visible in the light as they use pickaxes to remove the stone from the wall. When they approach the miners, the men take notice of them and at first take them for their fellows, but soon realize their mistake.
“We don’t want to hurt you,” James says to them, holding up his hands. “Do you understand?”
They begin talking in the Empire’s tongue, not responding to what he just said.
“I guess they don’t,” says Jiron. He draws his knives and advances upon them, Fifer joins him with his longsword. Miko moves to join them but James stops him by grabbing him by the arm. When he looks at him, James just shakes his head, no.
As Jiron and Fifer approach the miners with their weapons held in a threatening manner, they make sure to leave open an avenue of retreat for them.
The miners stare in fright at them as they approach. When they realize there’s a way to flee, they don’t even hesitate as they throw down their picks and race past them to the front of the mine.
After they’ve disappeared down the mine, Jiron moves to the wall where they were mining and closely examines the stone. He takes the torch from the wall and holds it close. “Silver,” he announces, pointing to a silver vein. “They’re mining silver.”
“Too bad we can’t take some with us,” Fifer says, longingly.
“Come on,” James says to them, “we need to get out of here.”
Moving further down the mine, they come to a section where the breeze seems to intensify and suddenly the flame of the torch looks as if it’s being sucked straight up. James looks up to the ceiling and can see a dark hole extending upward. “I think this is it,” he announces as he tosses the torch to the ground.
“But how do we get up there?” Miko asks as he looks up.
Jiron tosses his torch up into the hole and the light illuminates a slanted narrow opening, about four foot square, ten feet above their heads. “If we can get up there, it looks like we can brace ourselves along the sides as we make our way up,” he tells them.
He looks to Fifer and says, “Lift me up.” He hands his torch to Miko.
Fifer comes over and cups his hands together to give Jiron a step up. When Jiron puts his foot in his hands, he lifts him up to the hole.
Jiron reaches up and is able to get a solid handhold within the hole. Getting a solid purchase with his foot as well, he begins to slowly move further up into the vent. They hear his voice coming down to them, “It’s not too steep, the sides are rough and give ample places to grip.”
They see him beginning to come back down but stops when he gets to the edge. “James, can you make an orb for me to use?” he asks.
A small circle of light forms in James’ hands and then begins to rise up to Jiron. It floats up until it comes to rest on his right shoulder. “Thanks,” they hear him say as he works his way back up the vent.
“Miko, you’re next,” James says as he cups his hands to give him a boost.
“I’m not so sure about this,” he says. He glances up to the vent, the light from the orb clearly showing the opening.
“You can do it,” James says. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Not looking too excited about the prospect of the climb, he tosses the torch to the ground. Coming over, he steps into James’ cupped hands and reaches for the opening as James grunts with the effort to lift him. Jiron is there and takes his hand as he maneuvers into the vent.
“Fifer, you better let James go next,” Jiron’s voice comes down to them. “He’d never make it on his own.”
Coming over to James, Fifer cups his hands. James places his foot in Fifer’s cupped hands and reaches for the opening as Fifer lifts him up.
Jiron has already moved further up the vent and Miko is slowly following him. James grabs hold of outcroppings and places his other foot in a crack in the wall. Lifting his foot out of Fifer’s hands, he begins to follow Miko as he moves up into the vent.
He goes another foot up before pausing. “How are you going to get up?” he hollers back to Fifer.
“Not a problem,” he hears him say from below. James hears several of the picks being moved around and then all of a sudden, Fifer’s head appears at the opening. Using handholds, he brings himself up into the vent.
From further toward the front of the mine, they hear a loud rumbling and the vent begins to shake. “Cave-in!” hollers Miko.
When the vent stops shaking, James says, “The beams that caught fire must have given way.”
“Or they collapsed the mine entrance, figuring to trap us here until we die,” suggests Fifer.
“It’s a possibility,” agrees James.
Moving slowly, they continue their way up the vent. Each holds with hands while they find a solid purchase for their feet and then brace their feet as they reach further up for another handhold. Back and forth from handhold to foothold, they continuously work their way up the vent. After what seems a long time, the vent begins to move more vertical and the handholds and toeholds become more difficult to manage.
Aaaah!
From up ahead, they hear Jiron exclaim loudly. “What’s wrong!” hollers James.
He then hears Miko cry out as he loses his grip and begins to slide down toward him. Falling for several feet, he finally manages to grab a hold of an outcropping just in time to stop himself before crashing into James.