Chapter 28

"Wait a second," Paige said, waving her hands in the air and straightening. "Maybe we should try to disable this thing."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Dewey questioned.

"I don't know. We could block it somehow or disable the sensor."

"Block it with what? An industrial-strength cover? Come on. There are probably more of them. We can't block them all."

"Fine," Paige said, crouching into her lunge position again. "Ready or not, here I come."

She sprang forward, pushing her legs to sprint as fast as possible and racing past the opening in the wall. The axe swung loose as her second foot flung out behind her. She cleared it by millimeters, stopping short and doubling over while she gasped for breath.

"I really hope there aren't more of those."

"Look on the bright side," Dewey said, patting her back. "You're fast enough to beat them."

Paige shot an annoyed glance at Dewey before she straightened. They retrieved the carrier containing the pixie assassin and continued down the hall.

The axe traps existed at every set of columns.

By the time they reached the end of the corridor, they had successfully made it through five of the traps.

Paige leaned against the wall, wiping sweat from her brow. "I really hope the next one is easier than this."

Dewey shined his light at the doorway leading to a new space. "We're about to find out."

"I hope you get chopped in half the second you walk into that room," the assassin snarked.

"You're really annoying, you know that?" Paige said as she approached the door.

She stared at the stone jamb, peering at the interior. "Doesn't look like there's an axe waiting to pop out."

Dewey traced the outline of the door with the flashlight beam. "No. Looks safe. Should we try for it?"

Paige straightened her back and raised her chin. "I'll go first."

"No, wait," Dewey shouted.

Paige froze with a foot hovering in the air. "What?"

"What if the floor is pressure sensitive? I should go first, fly through, and see what happens."

"But…it could be anything! Like another axe."

"I don't see any openings in the side or top."

"Okay, wait," Paige said, waving her hands. "Let's just put some weight on the floor and find out."

Dewey's eyebrows rose, and he jabbed a finger at the carrier. "Toss him down."

"Hey!" the tiny voice shouted.

"He may not be heavy enough. I'll need to tap my foot on it."

"I could just fly through, and if I make it–"

"It doesn't matter. I can't fly through, and I'll never make it jumping across the threshold."

"Okay," Dewey said, "tap away."

Paige nodded, sucking in a deep breath. She lifted a foot and gently set it down on the stone.

Nothing happened.

Paige raised her eyebrows and licked her lips as she put more pressure on the stone.

She leaned forward, placing all her weight on her front foot before shooting a glance at Dewey.

He grinned. "Nothing."

"Nothing!" she said, throwing her arms out. "All safe."

"Onwards," Dewey shouted, thrusting a fist into the air as he flew forward.

They entered the next room. As Paige lifted her foot from the stone threshold, fires sprang to life in urns positioned around the sides of the massive rectangular room. A grid of pyramids spread before them in a diamond pattern.

A grinding noise filled the air as they studied the layout of the pyramids. Dust tumbled from the ceiling, pelting them and the floor.

"What the heck?" Paige asked, dusting the pebbles from her hair before she glanced up. Her eyes went wide. "Ohhhhh no."

"You morons," the pixie taunted.

"Uh, Paige," Dewey said, clamping onto her arm.

"I see it. The ceiling is collapsing."

Dewey nodded. "We need to find a way out."

They stumbled into the room as the ceiling continued its slow creep toward them.

"You check left. I'll check right," Paige said as she glanced upward.

They each raced around the room in search of a door and met at the back wall.

"This looks like a door," Dewey said, banged against a slab inset in the wall.

"Why won't it open?" Paige asked, pounding against it.

Dewey spun to face the room again. "We must have to do something to stop the ceiling."

"What?" Paige shrieked.

Dewey narrowed his eyes at the pyramids in the center of the room.

"Maybe we can stack those together and block the ceiling."

Dewey shook his head, his gaze flitting back and forth from the pyramids to the ceiling. "There's a hole in the center of the ceiling."

"I see it. Do you think we need to move the pyramids to line up with the middle?"

"There's a pyramid missing," Dewey said, his finger rubbing his chin.

Paige squinted at the hole in the floor. She approached it, studying it. "Looks like a pressure pad."

"This is a peg puzzle," Dewey said, fluttering around the grid.

"What?"

"A peg puzzle. Jump the pyramids over one another until only one is left–"

"In the center of the board," Paige finished.

"Right."

"Great," Paige muttered, stamping a foot on the floor. "I suck at these."

"Not me," Dewey said. "Played them every day as a kid because I was too small to do much else."

He poked at a pyramid.

"This one over that one. Then remove the one we jumped over and put it on the side here." He tapped his finger down toward a platform with squares the size of the pyramid bases.

"Right." Paige wrapped her arms around the pyramid and lifted. "Oh, holy crap, this is heavy."

She grunted as she side-stepped to the open hole and dropped the pyramid into it before she dragged the other one off the board to the side.

Dewey buzzed past her and pointed to another pyramid. "This one to the empty space."

Paige hurried across the board and moved the massive playing piece before dragging the forfeited piece to the trough on the side.

She shot a glance at the ceiling as it marched toward them, raking a hand across her sweaty forehead.

"You're never going to make it," the pixie shouted.

"Shut up," Dewey and Paige yelled back simultaneously.

"That one over this one," Dewey said, waving his arm around.

"Ugh, these are not getting lighter," Paige said as she waddled over to an open spot and dropped the pyramid into it before removing the other piece.

"This to the edge."

Paige set her hands on her hips, studying the board. "Are you sure? It's going to get stuck there."

"No, it won't."

"Yes, it will!" the pixie called.

"SHUT UP!" they both shouted back.

Paige shook her head and frowned before she swiped at the sweat rolling down her face again. "He's right, though."

"No, he's not."

"Yes, he is."

"He's not. Look. This to there, that to there, then there. This to there, pull that back, and we're done."

Paige followed Dewey's arm as it hopped around, showcasing the moves.

With a shrug and her eyelashes fluttering, she flung her arms out. "Okay."

She wrapped her arms around the pyramid and squatted down, ready to lift the piece up.

"WAIT!" Dewey shouted. He traced his future moves in the air again, his eyes narrowing. "No, not that one. Move this one."

Dewey fluttered to another pyramid and tapped it.

"Told you so!" the pixie said.

"He's so annoying," Paige murmured as she lifted the new pyramid and shuffled to the open space.

Three moves later, and they had only two pyramids remaining.

"Almost done," Dewey said.

"So's the ceiling, losers," the pixie shouted.

"You gotta help me," Paige said. "I can't stand up straight anymore."

She dropped to her knees and lifted the game piece, sliding across the floor. Dewey wrapped his arms around the point of the pyramid, beating his wings hard as he tugged backward. Together, they set the piece in the center of the board.

"Quick, get the other one out of there."

Paige dove for it and lifted it from its space as Dewey helped her slide it to the edge of the board.

The ceiling closed down on them until the tip of the last remaining pyramid pierced the hole. It shuddered to a stop.

Paige toppled onto her back, covering her face with her hands as she breathed a sigh of relief while staring at the ceiling only feet from her. "That was way, way too close."

Dewey fluttered over and collapsed next to her before his eyes widened.

He thrust a finger forward, a smile playing on his lips. "Paige, look!"

Paige craned her neck backward, staring in the direction he pointed upside down.

A grin spread across her face. "A door."

"Let's go!" Dewey fluttered into the air, flashlight in hand, and buzzed toward the door.

"Wait, I've got to grab the idiot."

"I hate you," the pixie said. "I was hoping you got flattened."

"Yeah, well, too bad for you." Paige slung the carrier strap over her shoulder and leaned forward to waddle under the low ceiling to the other side.

They ducked through the door into a new chamber. The flashlight glinted off the gold walls as flames sprang to life around the chamber.

"Wow," Paige said breathlessly as her gaze traveled around the room.

"And look," Dewey said, pointing the flashlight beam at the center of the room.

"The crystal," Paige exclaimed.

They glanced at each other, grinning before they raced forward.

"Wait," Dewey shouted, pulling back.

Paige froze in a half-run position, her arms balancing her on either side and her eyes wide. "What?"

"Maybe we shouldn't run. What if there's a trap?" Dewey's gaze floated around the space in search of something that might harm them.

Paige did the same. "I don't see anything."

"Me either."

The pixie pounded against the mesh carrier. "I hope an axe slices you two in half."

"We need to find like a tiny gag for him," Paige said.

"Just ignore him. Okay, let's proceed with caution."

They inched forward, with Paige creeping on her tiptoes and Dewey fluttering close to her side. They made it to the center pedestal where the crystal sat enclosed in a glass box.

"What do you think?" Paige asked as Dewey circled around it.

Dewey narrowed his eyes, a digit tapping his chin. "It can't be this easy."

"Indiana Jones situation? Like we've got to replace the crystal with something of equal weight, or else it triggers a trap?"

Dewey twisted his neck, studying the pedestal. "That didn't work for Indiana Jones either."

"So, should we just go for it? Grab the crystal and be done with it?"

"Go ahead. Grab it," the pixie taunted.

"If you don't stop talking, I'm going to use you as the counterweight and leave you here," Paige warned.

"Well, I don't see that we have many choices here. There are no instructions. At least none we can decipher," Dewey said, studying the stone pedestal and walls surrounding them. "We're just going to have to try for it."

"Okay. First, I'll lift the glass box." Paige spread her arms out around the box.

She wiggled her fingers while hovering them on each side of the glass. She licked her lips and flicked her gaze at Dewey. He offered her an encouraging nod. She returned the gesture before she focused her attention on the glass box again.

Inside it, the magenta crystal glowed under the flickering flames. She snapped her gaze upward, searching the ceiling for something that might drop and chop her hands off. She spotted no traps in the smooth stone above them.

Her heart beat faster, and blood rushed into her ears as she slowly closed her hands toward the glass case. She bit into her lower lip hard enough that she tasted the metallic tinge of blood on her tongue.

Her fingers finally brushed against the cool, smooth surface.

Her concentration waned as her vision blurred. Her muscles stiffened.

And the world around her slowly slipped away.