Escape

Hidden beneath the rubble was a trap door. Where it would lead was anyone’s guess, but one thing was certain she couldn’t stay here. The air had become stale and smelling strongly of sulfur. She could hear off in the distance but coming ever nearer the sound of disaster. The ground shook again, harder this time and she knew that the dragon had made its way through the further corridors and would soon be upon her.
She pushed the chunks of stone from the ceiling and walls off the door. She tried to pull it up, using every bit of her strength. But it was stuck or locked from the other side. She stomped and kicked at it, the tears beginning to roll down her face in frustration. She laid her head down on the cool stone floor and began to weep in despair.
There came again the sound of the dragon, closer now. She looked up. She could not stay here. The only other way of escape was back into the corridors but that was not an option. She began to look in desperation around the room, looking for something, anything she could use to pry the door open.
As she turned around she saw him. She knew she shouldn’t even look at him. The gnome had lead her down so many paths before that had left her in danger. He put his finger to his lips. He pointed to the other wall and as she turned she saw a door that she was certain had not been there before. When she turned back to question him, he had disappeared.
She ran to the door and pulled on the handle, it began to open easily, too easily she thought, slamming it closed. No, the trapdoor was the way out and she had to find something to open it with. As she began to search through the rubble she came across a long piece of metal. She ran back to the trapdoor and jammed the metal along the edge of the door. Apply all her weight against it, she felt it give and then she was on the floor. A little sorer perhaps but the door had come open.
The ground had begun to shudder and she knew the dragon was running now. She looked down into the space where the trapdoor had been. It was pitch black, nothing was visible and for a moment she paused but there was no time to waste, she could hear a sound coming from just beyond the door and she knew that if it wasn’t the dragon it was certainly danger. She eased herself down into the hole, nothing to hold onto, nothing to support her weight. She knew there was no other option. She reached up and grabbed the trapdoor, slamming it closed behind her and then she was falling, falling deep into the darkness. Hoping, praying that this was the right way to go.