Page 74 of Midnight Reign
I shake my head, but we don’t have time to mess about.
“Got it!” Corvus shouts, slamming his hand against a protruding stone. The wall grinds open slowly, revealing a dark passageway.
We pile through just as the first of the shadow creatures reaches us. Corvus slams the door shut behind us, plunging us into darkness.
“Well, this is bloody brilliant,” Ignatius mutters. “Anyone got a torch?”
“Thought you said there was something glowing on the other side,” I accuse Zaiah.
“There is. I can see it. Must be connected to my djinn power,” Zaiah says. His eyes are glowing brighter now, providing a faint, eerie light.
“Or your bridge power,’ Addy mutters.
“Either way, good enough,” I say. “Lead the way. I don’t think that door will hold them for long.”
We start down the corridor, Zaiah in the lead, following this supposed glowing light. Corvus brings up the rear. The passageway twists and turns, leading us deeper into the unknown.
“Wait,” Zaiah says suddenly, stopping short. “Look at the floor.”
I glance down but can’t see fuck all. Not even my feet. “Sorry, man. I got nothing.”
“The stone flags ahead of us are different colours, arranged in a complex pattern. It’s a puzzle. Step on the wrong stone and...”
“Kaboom?”
He turns to blink at me. “Pretty much, yeah.”
“So how do we get across?” Ignatius asks, lit up by Zaiah’s glow as he eyes the floor warily, though I doubt he can see anything either.
“The symbols in the walls. They’re instructions,” Zaiah says, peering at them. “It’s a sequence. Step on the stones in the right order, and we should be safe.”
“Should be,” Ignatius mutters. “That’s reassuring.”
“You got a better idea?” I snap, the stress of the situation getting to me.
“Okay. I think I’ve got it. Follow me exactly, step where I step,” Zaiah says.
He takes a deep breath and steps onto the first stone. Nothing happens. We all let out a collective sigh of relief.
Slowly, carefully, Zaiah makes his way across the room, each step deliberate and precise. We follow in single file, barely breathing in case we set off some trap.
We’re about halfway across when we hear it - the sound of stone grinding against stone. The door we came through is opening.
“They’re coming,” Corvus hisses from the back of our line.
“Zaiah, we need to move faster,” I urge.
He nods, picking up the pace.
But in her haste, Addy’s foot slips, barely grazing the edge of the wrong stone.
There’s a terrible grinding noise, and suddenly the floor begins to tilt.
“Run!” I yell, abandoning caution.
We sprint across the remaining stones, leaping for the safety of the far side just as the floor drops away completely, revealing a pit of churning, murky darkness below.
We land in a heap on the other side, panting and shaking.
