Room21b
Conrad touches the black mirror and the group plunges into the freezing realm before being deposited back in the room. The mirrors, as always, are gone and the doors are sealed.
A dingy cabinet made of worm-eaten wood stands against the left wall. It once was painted a royal blue but the paint has long since peeled away leaving only hints of its former glory.
“I don’t see any reason to delay,” he says. “How dangerous could a cabinet be?”
Conrad boldly walks up to the cabinet and throws open the door.
From the dimensions of the outside, the cabinet’s back wall should be a mere arm’s length away but the rear of the cabinet is a black tunnel, stretching an unknown distance.
“It’s a tunnel,” he says.
“Maybe it’s the way out?” Safir sounds hopeful but there is a hint of doubt. So many possible exits have proven to be false.
“What’s that sound?” Lamia moves close and lifts a hand to her ear.
There is a huffing sound and a rhythmic stomping coming from the distance down the tunnel.
“Shut the door,” Jora shouts.
Conrad reaches for the door but freezes at what he sees in the tunnel. An enormous shape is lumbering down the tunnel toward him at the speed of a galloping horse. Whatever it is, the shape fills the entire opening of the tunnel.
“What the hell…”
A titanic roar echoes from the tunnel and the light of the room illuminates the approaching creature.
It is taller than a horse and almost four feet wide. Its skin is iridescent green scales and its head is long and held low as it runs on six legs. When it roars, it reveals hundreds of fang-like teeth.
Conrad screams and slams the door to the cabinet.
A trumpeting roar rattles the entire cabinet and then the door explodes outward carrying Conrad across the room to smash into the far wall.
The boy slides to the floor leaving a smear of blood behind.
Emerging from the cabinet, the monster thrashes its head from side to side, knocking over the trio of survivors like bowling pins. It stomps into the room and scoops a dazed Safir into its mouth. The enormous jaws snap shut and the beast loudly gulps and opens its mouth again in search of fresh prey; of Safir there is no sign.
The monster butts Lamia and Jora with its snout, bowling them across the floor and it pounces on them. First Lamia and then Jora are swept into the thing’s mouth and into its gullet. The beast roars in victory.