Aviva kept up the stream of flame for as long as she could, the stench of scorched beetles attacking her nose. Out of breath, she opened her eyes. Crispy beetle carcasses crackled all around her, giving off an unforgiving smell. From what she could tell, they were all dead. Not wishing to look over the edge to see if there were any more, she shuffled round and began crawling further into the vent, her right hand checking to make sure the priceless laminium dagger was still tucked firmly into her belt.
No more beetles appeared in her wake, despite her constantly checking over her shoulder. The further she crawled, the steeper things got. Air getting staler with every metre, she'd hoped that the further she got into the vent, the fresher the air might get, revealing how close she might be to the outside of the pyramid.
Twisting and turning, there was little choice now but to continue on despite her knees being chafed and sore. During all this she took great comfort knowing that her enemies would assume her dead. Nothing much usually survives that amount of scarab beetles.
Two hours passed with numerous stops to catch her breath, before she decided that the air might actually have changed for the better. A sharp turn and an even sharper incline later, she finally caught a glimpse of sunlight shining through the sides of an ill fitting block of limestone. Panting like an exhausted dog, she took in what little of the desert she could see through the narrowest of gaps. Exhaustion threatened to consume her. Not able to remember how long it had been since she'd been tricked into entering this godforsaken pyramid, she only knew that the lack of water and the long, slow, tedious crawl through the vent had taken its toll. Deciding to wait until it was dark to get out, for fear of being spotted, she curled up against the limestone block, dagger in hand, and promptly fell asleep.
* * *
Cold night air brushed her neck, raising goose bumps and startling her awake. Shaking off the muddiness of sleep, she quickly became alert. Night had fallen. Licking her dry lips with what little moisture remained in her mouth, she held the dagger up towards the limestone block, gently inserting it into the narrow gap. Using the dagger as a lever, she put all of her considerable strength into moving the block. Moments later, she stopped. It had given a little; she'd felt it.
'If this is a vent, then surely this last block is supposed to move,' she mused, totally parched. 'Perhaps the lack of water is making me stupid.'
Two more attempts at shifting the block with the blade proved fruitless. Sitting back against the cool rock, shivering just a little, she knew her best chance to escape was during the dark. With a little luck, she could in theory climb down the pyramid and make it to the nearest village without alerting anyone to her presence. How to get past this block though, seemed to be key to everything. Concentrating fully, ignoring just how dehydrated she was, her mind wandered all over the place, from thoughts of finding the dagger, to being chased by the baying mob in the narrow passages far below.
'That's it!' she thought. 'I bet there's something hidden that will open it.'
Sitting bolt upright, she slipped the laminium dagger into her belt and moved over to the block. Gently, with the palms of her hands, she felt its surface. Nothing. Probing the small gaps around the side of the block with the tips of her dainty fingers, hoping to find something out of the ordinary, about to give up, she noticed a small protrusion on the ceiling. It was tiny... not even worth bothering about, but that was probably the point. Engineers constructing the pyramids had been the best around and were extremely crafty, in more ways than one. Reaching up towards the ceiling, she gave the protrusion the tiniest of touches with her index finger. A faint rumble off to one side caused her to jump. Ever so slowly, the limestone brick lifted itself up and slid partially into the brick beside it, offering up just enough room for somebody to pass. Momentarily she stood still, in shock. As well as hearing all the gears and gadgetry, she felt as though there was something else, something she was missing because her head was too muddled from lack of water. Coming to her senses, quickly she darted through the gap, into the cold night air, not knowing how long the block would stay off to one side, or if in fact it was something that could only be used once.
Perched on the edge of an outside limestone ledge, she was surprised at how high up the pyramid she actually was. In fact, she was very nearly at the top. Looking down, she could clearly make out lots of people, villagers and guards alike, around the base, lit up by an array of torches. Crouching carefully, she began to make her way around the outside of the pyramid, determined to see if any one side was less populated than the others. Half an hour later, after covering all four sides which was no mean feat., she discovered everywhere to be teeming with people and guards. She wasn't sure if there was a religious ceremony taking place, or whether her enemies knew she was still alive.
Of course the most obvious thing to do would be to turn into her dragon form and fly away. However, she would undoubtedly be seen even in the darkness, and with the dragon council having only recently issued orders about agents not using their dragon guises in front of humans at any cost, it was hard to see any alternative other than to climb down and escape, which although time consuming, shouldn't really present too much of a problem given the nature of her clandestine skill set. Although sure the council would understand if she had to return to her natural dragon form, particularly given the relevance of the information she'd uncovered, the orders had been incredibly specific and had applied to all operatives, so she pressed on in her cold, nimble and determined human appearance.
All she had to do was make it off the pyramid, flee the immediate area and then with nobody else about, she would be free to slip into her natural shape and return to the council.
'Simple,' she thought, shaking her head and berating herself for not transforming and flying off the pyramid.
Gingerly vaulting down the pyramid block by block, the cover of night shrouding her movement this high up, the chilly night air started to take its toll even with the laminium dagger boosting her powers. On top of that, her feet were absolutely killing her, having been barefoot since she somersaulted up to the vent entrance; it hadn't troubled her too much inside the pyramid which was silky smooth, but now that she was outside, the limestone blocks were rough and very hard going on the soles of her feet.
Abruptly a dark shape appeared further along on the same level as Aviva. Throwing herself down onto the jagged surface, she looked up to see a burly guard carrying a torch in one hand and a sword in the other, nervously looking around, almost as if scared of heights. Feeling for her dagger, she knew she had to take him down quickly and quietly. As the guard approached, she used her free hand to search for any loose stones or gravel. Grabbing a few small stones, she lobbed them into the air, over the head of the oncoming guard. Turning instantly to look at the noise behind him, Aviva seized the opportunity and leapt, dagger at the ready. Covering the twelve feet in the blink of an eye, she clamped her hand over his mouth and swiped the dagger across his exposed throat. Warm liquid squirted across her exposed forearm, while a brief gurgle uttered from the dead guard's mouth. Slowly, she lowered him to the ground, breathing a deep sigh of relief. Quickly she removed his outer clothing and put it on. On close inspection she would have looked ridiculous because the clothes were considerably too big, but in the dark, she shouldn't have too much of a problem fooling anyone from a distance.