Room14b
“Do you want me to do this then?” Jora steps toward the mirror.
“No, I’ll do my part,” Conrad says. “We wouldn’t want to disappoint the wizard.”
He reaches for the black mirror and the silvered surface races over the group. After a moment of freezing disorientation, they stand in the center of the same small room but the mirrors have disappeared as usual.
“Oh my Gods,” Safir says. “The doors are gone.”
The others look around in disbelief. The walls are featureless and smooth as if the doors never existed.
“That lever had better open a new door,” Jora says.
Conrad walks over to the lever and reaches for it hesitantly.
“What if it’s something bad?”
“Does it really matter, buddy? Just pull it.”
Conrad yanks the lever downward. It slides without resistance and clatters when it reaches the bottom.
“Is that it?”
A grinding noise fills the room as a small square hatch slides open in the center of the ceiling.
Safir walks beneath the opening and looks up. A gout of sand explodes from the ceiling, knocking her to the floor. The sand erupts through the tiny opening with the force of a waterfall.
Jora drags the semi-conscious Safir from beneath the continuing torrent of sand. The air fills with grit making every breath agony.
Conrad pushes the lever up once more with no effect. He ratchets the handle up and down, more frantic with each repetition.
“It isn’t stopping,” he shouts over the roar of the sand.
The sand covers the floor and rises toward the ceiling. The friends scramble to stay on top of the ever-rising sand. The sand draws near the ceiling as the friends scramble. Jora continues to drag the still unconscious Safir along as they climb.
The ceiling is so close that they can no longer move. Breathing becomes more difficult as the sand presses in on their bodies.
“We’re going to die,” Lamia gasps.
Jora hugs Safir to him, but he knows his efforts to protect her are futile as the sand rises past his face to the ceiling.