Cossmass Turn 17

Temple of Raman Ran (Third Level)

Rex thought quickly. There was a rifle next to the overstuffed green kit-bags. And he has his handgun in his hand. The bulk of their little group was four figures. Enough to make the guards hesitate? No, they were soldiers, he realised. Turn and shoot, and hell breaks loose, reinforcements arriving within a minute. Sigh.

"Your jacket," he commanded Hamdija, helping him to take it off. Bemused, but still terrified of his captors, Hamdija struggled out of the too-small jacket

"Wait here," Rex muttered stepping out of the room, handgun at the ready, and started following the figures carefully. They were just in sight as the corridor curved back towards what must be the heart of the Temple. There were five of them plus their prisoner. Four looked like the normal guards, but the fifth towered over them by a skinny foot. Had Hamdija stolen his uniform it would no doubt have fit him a lot better.

Diane followed him out into the corridor. Catching up to him she hissed in his ear, "What the heck are you doing?!" she glanced down at the jacket still clutched in his hands. "What if they realise you're not one of them?"

Rex commented flatly, "I'm not joining them, only following them. Hope they don't see me. Now get back and stop making me more visible."

Diane retreated to the relative safety of the alcove. Though doing nothing didn't really sit well with her.

As he walked, making sure to be just at the limit of sight, he put the soldier jacket on. Hopefully enough to pass a first glance examination at a distance. It fit comfortably enough across the shoulders and the half-dozen buttons down the chest fastened easily and snuggly. His aim was get some information, and maybe spot a better chance to rescue the other lady, Kara.

They guards continued across the tunnel junction and past the scene of Rex's altercation with Scarface. The bullet holes in the wall marking it's place in the otherwise monotonous tunnel. They turned left into the passageway what Rex recalled led to the small elevator. The guards and their prisoner would fill the caged bucket.

Sounds of a struggle came from around the corner. "No! I can't go in that thing." Kara, terrified, and alone. He remembered her near panic earlier when they were coming up in it. Diane's soothing words had managed to keep her calm then. The guards cursed briefly and her please were muffled.

---

Back in their hideout, Nick looked apprehensively at Diane as she came back in. "What is he doing? We can't just stay here. We need to do something." Hamdija sat across the room from the recumbent Morton, his knees held tight in front of himself in protection. The wetness of his shoe catching a little in the light from the tunnel outside.

Morton grunted briefly as he drifted back into consciousness. "Sorry. I'm drained after Nick and Rex's injuries. Where is Rex?" Nick told him. "Oh. We need to hurry. If what Hamdija tells us is true, we don't have much time. We need to release Raman Ran quickly."

"But how?" asked Nick.

Morton shifted against the rock wall, trying to get comfortable. "The Tzar's men have some sort of device down by the village outside, that holds open a portal to their own world. We need to bring that in to the central chamber and use it to open Raman Ran's prison. Diane, Nick. You will have to do this, I must rest for now. Hamdija can't keep up with his gunshot wound, and I can't do anything about it until I've rested."

Diane still wasn't comfortable being ordered around by Morton but she still had very little idea what was going on and she had to do something. "Ok. What do we do? How do we get to this village?"

Morton nodded. "Thank you. Back down the passage we came there was a darkened passage way. One of the chambers down there is the chamber of Raman Ran himself. In it there is a hidden passage that leads to the surface. None of his students knew of it. If they had then those trapped inside when Malonus sealed the Temple might have escaped. Malonus didn't know of it either, so it should still be clear. I haven't seen the village myself so I can not guide you beyond getting you out of the Temple. You will have to determine the rest for yourselves. From overhearing the guards the village is downhill a couple of miles, next to a stream or a river."

Nick nodded at all this and moved to the edge of doorway. He looked over at Diane, "Ready?"

"Wait," said Morton. He eyed the dejected Hamdija cowering in the corner opposite. "You will probably need this more than I do." He fumbled under his jacket with one hand and pulled off a belt he had been wearing underneath. The finely meshing metal links glittered back and forth along it's length for a moment before dying out. The buckle was a circular device bearing a cream and black yin/yang symbol. "This isn't a guarantee of safety, but it may help if they start shooting at you. I only have the one, so it will be wiser not to let them shoot at you at all.