Chapter 27

"Oh, uh, hello," Paige said with a smile plastered on her face as the strawberry blonde thundered down the stairs and headed for them.

She swallowed hard, beads of sweat forming on her brow.

"Who are you?"

Paige shifted her weight from side to side, shoving the carrier as far behind her as she could while the woman trained her flashlight beam on Paige. "Uh, I'm Paige…Learner. And I'm new here."

"Paige Learner?" the woman responded. "There is no Paige Learner working on this dig."

Paige studied the woman's delicate features. She looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn't place her. "Well, like I said, I'm new. This is my first day, actually."

"I'm the dig coordinator. I know everyone here. You are not on this dig."

Paige nudged her glasses up. "Well, I just came, like I said. And I was trying to get the lay of the land so I can hit the ground running."

The woman raised her chin, and her eyes narrowed again. She shifted the beam of light to Paige's hip. "What's in the case?"

"Oh, uh, that's my…dog," Paige stammered.

"Ruff, ruff," Dewey mimicked from inside his carrier.

"You brought a dog into the desert and then brought it into the tomb?"

"Well, he is a service animal, so he is allowed."

"Service animal?" the woman questioned, an incredulous look on her features.

"Yes. I mean, not like a seeing-eye dog because obviously, I can see," Paige said with a snorted laugh. "He's an emotional support animal."

"And I assume you have the paperwork for him?"

"I do. Sort of. I don't have them on me right now because they are still in the mail. So, there's that." Paige winced, shifting her weight back and forth again.

The woman gave Paige an unimpressed stare and opened her mouth to answer when realization struck Paige.

"Oh my gosh, I just realized who I'm speaking to!" Genuine excitement sped Paige's words as she clamped onto the woman's arm. "Your Emma Fielding. Oh my gosh, I'm so stupid. I can't believe I didn't recognize you right away."

Emma's chin pulled back to her chest as Paige continued to gush.

"You're the one who figured out how to find the tomb's location. You translated all those hieroglyphs in the middle of the desert to read the instructions from that staff. Oh wow. I remember reading about that and thought it was so cool."

Emma's brow furrowed as she stared at Paige. "Thanks," she murmured, the words sticking on her lips.

"Yeah, you're welcome. How did you do it? Gosh, you must be brilliant. I mean, I know the other girl, Maddie or Mitzy, or whatever her name is–"

"Maggie," Emma filled in.

Paige pointed a finger at Emma. "That's the one! Anyway, she seems to get most of the glory for the find, but really, without you, I bet they'd have just wandered around the desert for days. Oh, gosh, I'm sorry. I'm just fangirling a little."

"Well," Emma answered, "it was difficult, but if you're well-trained, you can pull it off. At least enough to get the general gist of things. Then we pieced it together and went from there."

"That's just so cool. So super cool," Paige said with a broad grin.

Emma offered her a smile in return and nodded. "Thanks. Anyway, I'd be happy to show you the tomb in depth tomorrow before you start work. I have a few special projects you could work on with me if you'd like."

"Oh, uh," Paige stammered, tracing the line of a stone in the floor with her toe.

"Don't worry about it being overwhelming. You'll get the hang of it in no time. What's your specialty again? Translation? Identification? Preservation?"

"Artifact retrieval," Paige answered, shoving her glasses up on her nose.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she wondered how she would get out of this conversation. She couldn't risk leaving the tomb. They would quickly find out she wasn't supposed to be here.

Emma screwed up her face and opened her mouth to question Paige when her features pinched. She stumbled forward a step, reaching behind her.

Paige's eyes went wide as Emma twisted. A small dart poked from her back.

Seconds later, Emma slumped to the floor.

"Paige, get down," Dewey shouted.

Paige dropped to the floor, checking Emma's pulse while she crouched. "What is this?"

"Shrieking Pixie dream dart."

"What?" Paige questioned as she found a strong pulse in Emma's carotid artery.

A buzzing noise filled the air as tiny wings beat across the room.

"It's a dart that puts the victim into a deep sleep. Also known for causing weird dreams. Let me out. We've got to find a way out of here before they hit you with one. Use what's-her-name as a shield."

"What?" Paige asked as she tugged the zipper open.

"Use her as a shield," Dewey said, shooting out of the carrier and sailing up the wall. "I'll search for a trigger to open a new passage."

"No! That's horrible."

Another dart sailed past, nearly clipping Paige before smacking into the stone behind her.

Paige winced, hauling Emma's body up in front of her as she stood. "This is awful. Hurry up!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying," Dewey said. "I can't help it. I can't find anything here. It's–"

His voice cut off as he sailed sharply to the left. "Damn pixies. Find the shooter and take him out!"

"What?" Paige cried, still huddled behind Emma's limp body.

"Find the shooter and take him out," Dewey repeated. "Drag Emily with you as a shield."

"Emma. Her name is Emma. And are you kidding me?"

Another dart jetted their way and smacked Emma in the forehead.

Paige grimaced and tugged the dart from her skin, throwing it down. "Okay, I'll find him."

She wrapped her arms around Emma's listless form, letting the woman's head rest against her shoulder, and shuffled toward the direction from where the darts came. A buzzing sound fluttered past her along with a slight breeze. She spun in a circle, searching behind her for the small creature.

"Where are you, you little jerk?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" a tiny voice called.

"Yes, I would. Why don't you show yourself, and we'll finish this like men…women…whatever. Just come out."

"Hard pass, Paige Turner. You may have beaten us to the Holigramium, but you're not winning this round."

"Like hell I'm not," Paige said, still slinking around the room with Emma in front of her.

Her foot smacked into a large wire snaking across the floor. She stumbled, glancing down at it as an idea formed in her head.

She squinted into the dim light filtering from the flashlight Dewey held across the chamber. A tiny winged creature, about as high as a ruler, perched on the edge of a spotlight.

Another dart sailed her way, and she sidestepped to avoid it as she continued to use her foot to trace along the cord.

After a few seconds of working backward, her foot trampled across the plug. She twisted to glance behind her, searching for the power source. She spotted the square generator near the stone steps leading out of the chamber.

"Paige, I found something," Dewey said, darting around in the air to avoid the darts flying his way.

"Okay, just a second," Paige called, dragging Emma's body backward toward the generator before she ducked behind it.

She eased Emma to the floor, then started the generator before rushing forward toward the plug and jamming it into the generator's cable.

The lights sprang to life, brightening the room. Paige squinted against them as she sprinted forward toward the spotlight. The pixie fluttered into the air when the lights heated quickly, burning his tiny feet.

Paige whipped off the carrier and swung it in the air. The pixie darted out of the way. Paige swung again, this time catching the pixie inside the open carrier. He smacked against the bottom, pinned there by the force Paige used to swing the container.

She tugged it closer to her, zipping it shut.

"Let me go," the tiny voice shouted.

"No!" Paige said as the buzzing of wings filled the air again.

She scanned the room in search of the source of the sound.

"Hurry, Paige! The reinforcements are coming," Dewey shouted, waving his arm in the air toward the new opening in the stone.

Paige wrinkled her nose as she sprinted toward him. "Reinforcements? More pixies?"

"Yeah, his clan."

Paige's feet slapped against the stone as she ran. Something smacked the back of her head.

She waved a hand in the air before she used it to shield her head. "Ouch!"

"Faster," Dewey shouted.

"Ow," Paige cried as something pinched her wrist, then another small but sharp pain shot through her thumb.

"Hurry, they're biting you."

"Oh no. They're poisonous, right?"

"Yeah, though not very, unless there's a queen among them, which I doubt…" Dewey said with a shrug.

Paige reached the wall and ducked inside the entrance with Dewey following her. A dozen pixies fluttered in the outside chamber as the stone slab slid down, cutting them off from the previous space. Darkness filled the area, and Dewey clicked on his flashlight.

Paige twisted to stare behind her, tapping against the stone. Her stomach dropped as she stared down the long, dark corridor.

With a wince, she glanced at Dewey. "I think we're trapped." Paige pounded against the slab that had been open moments ago. "Open!"

"I don't think it works that way," Dewey said.

"You idiots," the pixie squealed.

"Pipe down, you," Paige said, tapping the carrier. "No one asked for your input."

"You'd be better off letting me hit you with a sleeping dart than trying to navigate through this."

Paige grimaced at the tiny creature before she shot a glance down the corridor. "It's a straight shot. I think we can manage it."

"Mmm," the pixie said in his shrill voice, "we'll see."

Paige rolled her eyes and fixed her gaze on Dewey. "Can we get going so this jerk can shut his tiny mouth?"

Dewey wrinkled his nose, his nose horns wiggling. "The tiny jerk may have a point."

"What do you mean?"

"This passage wasn't open. So no one has disabled the traps, probably."

Paige winced and glanced down the corridor again. "Seriously?"

She shoved the glasses up on her nose as it crinkled with concern.

Dewey swung the flashlight around the corridor. Murals and hieroglyphs decorated the walls along with ornate stone columns rising from floor to ceiling.

"Maybe I can make it flying. Some of them may be floor triggered."

"Good point. Okay. Maybe you should try it and see what happens. Then I can follow you if it looks safe." Paige lifted a shoulder, her features twisting into a questioning expression.

"Okay." Dewey blew out a breath as he stared down the long hall.

He rolled his neck from side to side, fluttering in the air before he narrowed his eyes.

"Well, are you going to go?"

"Yes, yes! Stop rushing me. I'm preparing myself mentally for getting sliced in half by a massive swinging axe."

Paige rolled her eyes, cocking a hip and placing her hand on it. "That's only in the movies. There is not going to be a giant axe swinging back and forth like a video game."

"You're right. That's silly. Okay, here I go!" Dewey reared back before he buzzed forward.

He zipped down the hall, making it a quarter of the way down before a large axe swung from a slim slit in the wall, nearly slicing off the tip of his spiked tail.

He flapped his wings hard as he came to a stop, spinning around to stare back at the axe as it returned to its original position.

He shot Paige an irked glance, shining the flashlight beam in her face.

"Stop that," she said, raising a hand to shield her narrowed eyes.

"Oh, would you like me to stop shining this light in your face? Well, guess what, Paige. I would have liked not to have a giant axe nearly cut off my tail after you said it wouldn't."

Paige pursed her lips as she shrugged.

"That's only in video games," Dewey mimicked.

"We better be careful going forward."

"No sh–"

"Okay, all right. There's no need for that," Paige said, holding up a hand. "Give me a second to get down there."

"Leave me here," the pixie called from inside the carrier.

"So you can get loose and try to maim me again? Not going to happen," Paige said as she inched down the hall toward Dewey. "Besides, maybe we can use you to test for traps."

"You're a monster!" the tiny creature shouted.

"Spare me your self-righteous nonsense. I'm not the one trying to get a crystal and a wand to destroy the world."

"Take over, not destroy."

"Whatever. Just be quiet," Paige said as she met Dewey. Her nose wrinkled, and she stared at the slit in the wall. "What triggers it?"

Dewey shrugged and trained the flashlight's beam on the wall. "Whatever it is, it's at my height."

"Or all along the wall," Paige said, running a finger up and down the stone column.

She bit her lower lip and thrust her hand forward before snapping it back. The axe swung free from the wall, making its circuit back and forth.

"Motion activated," Paige said, pressing a finger to her lips as she considered it. "Maybe if I…"

She squatted on the floor and waved her hand out. The axe swung out again.

She rose to her feet. "Well, that's not going to work."

"You're going to have to jump it," Dewey told her.

"Jump it?"

"Like run real fast across."

"I can't run real fast," Paige said, her voice incredulous. "You flew past it and nearly got clipped."

"Yeah, well, you don't have a long tail trailing behind you. You should make it. You're compact."

Paige glared at him.

"Just do it. Stop being a fraidy-cat."

"Sorry I'm afraid of being sliced in half."

"Leave me here," the pixie shouted. "I do not want to be sliced in half."

"Toss him over before you run for it. Don't want him dragging you down."

Paige blew out a long breath and nodded. She pulled the strap over her head and swung the carrier back and forth before she tossed it.

The axe let loose, swinging across and striking the edge of the carrier, sending it spiraling through the air.

Dewey let it smack onto the floor before he waved Paige toward him. "Now you."

"You could have caught me, you stupid jac–"

"That's enough," Dewey shouted. "Come on, Paige. Run."

Paige backed up a few steps, crouching into a runner's lunge and eyeing the hall ahead of her. "Move out of my way."

"Okay," Dewey said, flitting to the wall, "but don't run too far because we don't know where the next one is."

"Right." She sucked in another breath, desperately trying to calm her nerves.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she prepared to beat the swinging axe.