“Dammit, Penton, you nearly scared me to death,” Harry scolded.
“David,” Diana whispered.“You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.Where’s your torch?”
“Umm.I dropped it.It...it went out,” he stammered.“There’s someone else down here.I saw a light go by the end of the crypt I was in.”
“It could have been me,” Harry reasoned, “Although...”He allowed his comment to trail off when he realized he hadn’t made it down as far in the corridor as David had.
Diana’s eyes widened, her gaze going beyond David to where the glow from another torch spread from the end of one of the passageways.“It wasn’t you, my lord,” she whispered.
David whirled around and nearly backed into her.
“Careful, or you’re going to get burned,” she warned, holding her torch higher.She immediately regretted the move, for something dark squeaked and sailed over her, casting a shadow on the ceiling.
“What was that?”Harry asked.
Determined not to panic, Diana listened intently.“Flapping wings,” she murmured.“A bird or...or a bat,” she reasoned.
“I wouldn’t mind a bird,” Harry commented.“Not particularly fond of bats, even if they do usually eat fruit.”
She turned around and gave him a quelling glance.“I rather doubt he could survive down here.He obviously came through one of the open trapdoors,” she said.“Probably saw our torchlight.”
“Or his light,” David whispered hoarsely, pointing down the corridor in front of them.
Straight ahead, the silhouette of a man wearing a robe appeared from the darkness.
“Who is that?”Harry asked, his labored breathing sounding loud.
“There you are,” Mahmood called out.He had turned around, his torch now in front of him so he was no longer in silhouette.
“Mahmood?”Diana guessed.
“Yes.I’ve been looking for you.I could hear voices, but...”His gaze raked over David and he sighed.“Your torch has already gone out?”he asked, apparently sorting what had occurred.
“I uh,...I might have accidentally dropped it,” David stammered.“When I saw you.Or your light as you walked by.”
A squeaking sound preceded the reappearance of the bat, which flew over their heads in the direction of the stairway.“I have seen quite enough,” Harry announced.
“Can we get out of here?”David asked.
When Diana’s torch flickered, she nodded.“Although I would love to see more, I fear my torch won’t last much longer.”
“I will lead us to the stairs,” Mahmood said, following the direction the bat had taken.
“I’ll go last,” Harry offered.
They were halfway up when Diana’s torch finally flickered out.Behind her, David cursed.
“Take mine,” Harry offered, holding his torch to the side for David, who was in front of him.
“Please keep it, my lord.It’s lighting the steps for me,” David replied.
“All right.”
At the top of the stairs, Harry’s torch flickered out as he emerged through the trapdoor.“How is that for timing?”he asked rhetorically.
“A clear indication it’s time to get out of here,” David remarked.“I’m hungry.”
Mahmood chuckled softly.“I will close the other trapdoor and meet you at the front of the temple.”
