Page 124 of Shadow Witch

“I really hate how good at everything she is.”

“Hurry up, you’re falling behind.”

“You didn’t even want to go inside!”

“Yeah, but now that I have to, I don’t want to be the last one to see anything cool.”

Paige puffed out a breath as she pushed her burning thighs to continue without stopping. “This is ridiculous. Why did they put so many stairs?”

“I’m pretty certain the thought process was bigger is better, but I could be wrong,” Dewey said.

Paige stopped halfway up, collapsing to sit and stare out over the landscape. “This is pretty.”

“Stop admiring the view and let’s go. I’d like to find Reed before sunset,” Drucinda called from the top.

With a heavy sigh, Paige pushed herself to stand and continue her trek upward. She reached the top completely winded and balanced her palms on her thighs as she tried to catch her breath.

“How do we get in?” Dewey asked as he buzzed in the air.

Drucinda circled the platform in search of a way to enter. “There is a door on the other side, though I haven’t found the trigger yet.”

“Try pushing some of these symbols,” Dewey suggested as he fluttered closer to the carved stones and pressed on them.

“Don’t just press things, little man, we have no idea what that could do.”

“Well, we can’t just break the door down,” Dewey shot back as he continued his mission to touch as much as he could.

“Speak for yourself. I could manage to knock it in,” Drucinda said.

Paige straightened, forcing herself to continue onward after a check of the compass. “Maybe you should. That would be the easi–“

Her words cut off as the stones under her feet shifted. She shuffled, shifting her weight in a desperate attempt to stay upright, but instead, she plummeted into a black hole.

“Paaaaaaaiiiiige!” Dewey’s voice called, sounding miles away.

She smacked hard into a stone floor, landing in a heap. With a groan, she stared up at the dot of light above her.

She scrambled to her feet, brushing the dirt off of herself. “Dewey! Get down here. I’m not getting stuck in this stupid tomb alone.”

“We’ll be right down as soon as–”

“Get down here now! And bring a flashlight. It’s pretty dark in here.”

“Uhh, thing is…I really would prefer to stay up here with Drucinda until we figure out another…safer way in.”

Paige’s jaw flexed as she crossed her arms. “Dewey,” she said her voice a low warning.

“Right, I’ll be right down,” he answered.

Unintelligible voices floated down to her as she stood in the near blackness, drumming her fingers against her forearm. Her heart thudded against her ribs as she stared up at the small bit of light piercing through the darkness from above.

If that closed up with her down here alone, she’d go out of her mind.

After what seemed like an eternity, Dewey buzzed down from the hole with a flashlight in hand. He swung it around, letting the light bounce off the stones.

“It’s creepy in here.”

“Yeah,” Paige said. “Imagine me standing down here by myself all that time waiting for someone to get down here with a flashlight.”

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