lights shot forth, green and orange and popping in all colors of the spectrum in a myriad of blinding flashes.
It was over in an instant, leaving the soldiers rubbing their eyes and stumbling about the end of the corridor.
"Go on!" Shayleigh said again, firing off two more arrows into the confused throng. The other three started for the door at the corridor's other end, calling for Shayleigh to catch up.
When the elf maiden turned back around to follow her friends, they realized that she, too, had been caught in Cad-derly's magical 0ash. Her once-clear violet eyes showed as dots of bloodshot red, and she inched down the corridor, trying to discern when to jump.
"We'll come for you!" Danica called out, but Shayleigh had already begun her leap. She landed with her heels on the edge of the trapdoor, which clicked open, and she balanced on the edge of the fall for what seemed an eternity.
Vander dove headlong, spread out wide on the floor, grabbing desperately.
He caught only air as Shayleigh fell backward into the pit, the devilish door swinging tight behind her.
Danica was beside the firbolg, pulling at his sleeve, and Cadderly was beside her, his wand extended once more.
"Mas illu" he said again, his voice subdued, and the brilliant burst hit the recovering soldiers once more. Many of them thought to close their eyes this time, and the charge, though slowed, would not be halted.
Vander led the rush to the far door and almost got there, but a ten-foot section of the corridor shifted suddenly, its entire perimeter turning diagonal to its original position. The surprised firbolg fell to the side, into the suddenly angled wall/floor, and disappeared from sight as that corner of the trapped area rotated on a central pivot
Danica leaped past the angled section of corridor and snapped a kick into the door, breaking apart the locking mechanism. The door creaked open, back toward Danica, just an inch, and the monk grabbed it and pulled it fiercely, as if she were daring another trap to go oft
Cadderly, overwhelmed, came up to her, still looking back to the floor where three of his friends had djsap-peared, and to the wall that had taken the firbolg.
Danica grabbed his hand and pulled him in - a short passage this time, its walls bare of tapestries, that ended in another door just a dozen feet away. As soon as they crossed the threshold, a solid slab of stone dropped behind them, sealing off any possible retreat, and a portcullis fell in front of the door before them, blocking the way. They knew instantly, of course, that they were trapped, but did not appreciate the depth of their predicament until a moment later, when Danica noticed that the small passage's side-walls had begun to close together.
The Holy Word
Danica threw her back against the wall, pushing with all her strength while trying to plant her feet firmly on the smooth floor. She only slid forward, and the corridor narrowed relentlessly.
Cadderly's frantic gaze darted all about, from the stone slab to the portcullis, to the closing sidewalls. He tried to summon the song of Deneir, but remembered nothing immediately within its lyrical notes that might aid them now.
The walls were barely eight feet apart Seven feet
Cadderly fought back his panic, closed his eyes, and told himself to concentrate and to trust in the harmonious music.
He felt Danica grab his arms roughly, but tried to ignore the disturbance. She pulled again, harder, forcing Cadderly to look at her.
"Hold your hands stiffly in front of you," she instructed, turning Cadderly's palms upward. He watched curiously as Danica turned horizontally across his palms, planting her feet against one wall and holding her arms out past her head to "catch" the other, approaching wall.
"You cannot," Cadderly started to protest, but even as he spoke, the walls closed within Danica's reach, closed and then were stopped by the meditating monk's stiffened form as surely as if a beam of metal had been placed between them.
Cadderly moved his hands away from Danica's belly - her stiffened position supported her fully - and forced himself to turn his attention away from the amazing Danica and consider the larger predicament If the enemy detected that the walls had stopped moving, then he and Danica might soon expect some unwelcome company. Cadderly drew out his hand-crossbow and loaded an explosive dart
He heard some mumbling from beyond the portcullis and the far door, and moved closer, straining to hear.
"Buga yarg grrr mukadig,"