Dragon's Isolation - Miranda Martin Page 0,53

and head for it. Shidan rushes forward until he’s a step ahead, which is fine with me. I’m not going to be a hero when I have a perfectly capable man to take that role.

I put my hand on his back for reassurance more than anything as we move slowly closer to the source of the sound. My stomach ties itself into knots over and over as sweat beads on my back. We’re moving towards what looks like another set of doors, but these are shiny. So shiny that I can see us approaching them.

We’re close enough now I see a pad next to the doors. Shidan walks up to them and the screech sounds again. He roars and smashes the pad before I can stop him. His fist had made short work of the material that it was made of. Wires and pieces of what look like plastic dangle from the newly made hole in the wall.

“Damn it, Shidan,” I say, “that might have been—”

I cut off my own words as the doors slide open to reveal an empty box. An elevator, or for all the world what looks like one.

“Well…” I say instead, trailing off.

Shidan walks in and looks it all over carefully. He studies the ceiling then shakes his head. I step in with him. The ceiling is clear, allowing me to see an empty tunnel that rises straight up. I don’t see any lifts, cables, or other mechanics that I expect though. How does this lift work?

Next to the doors is another pad. Shidan eyes it sidelong, so I step between him and it.

“Uh-uh,” I say shaking my finger at him. “No. We’re not going to test our luck yet again.”

I study the pad, but it reveals nothing. I touch it and it lights up with a soft greenish glow. The doors screech, try to close, jerk, then the original screech we heard sounds and the entire box shudders so hard I lose my balance. I fall into Shidan who catches me, then the force of gravity slams down on us.

“Oh!” I exclaim as I’m dropped to my ass.

The elevator is racing up, fast. Too damn fast. My stomach is left way below, thankfully. If it was here, I think I’d be sick. Shidan is hunched protectively over me, but when I look around him, I see we’re rocketing up.

As fast as it started, it stops with a hard shake and a shudder. The doors screech and open, letting us out into a new room.

This room is much smaller, than the one we left, like an office space or a welcome room or something. Almost a foyer, and there’s a ladder on the opposite side from us. Shidan and I hold hands as we walk across the barren space, and he grabs hold of the ladder. He slides the packs off his back and then jerks on it. Satisfied with its solidity, he climbs up. It’s not far to the ceiling and I can see from here that there’s a hatch.

He works himself up on the ladder until his shoulder is on the hatch and he’s crouched on the ladder. He grunts and heaves. Sand pours in around him as he continues to strain, then the hatch flips open, and the welcome red suns beams through the opening. He sticks his head out and looks around, then climbs out.

I start up the ladder but stop partway, waiting for an all clear. In a few moments, his head pops over the edge, and he reaches a hand down, helping me up and out. We’re in the open! I take a deep, cleansing breath. I never would have thought I’d be so grateful to see the sand stretching out all around me as far as I can see, but here we are.

Shidan climbs back into the hole, and a few moments later I help tug the packs up and out. Once he’s back out, we shut the hatch, and he shoulders the packs. He nods and we start walking. I’m lost, but he seems to know the way.

We don’t go far before I can see the glimmer of the dome and know we’re on the right track. When we climb the last dune before the City, I look at him and grin.

“Race you!” I say, taking off before I finish the sentence.

I run down the hill laughing. Shidan comes behind me. I can hear the pack shifting as it works to slow him down. I glance back over