Ramin knelt there coughing for a moment, gasping for clean air after all the smoke, then looked up at his savior, only to see a crowbar being swung down at his head.

He rolled out of the way with a shout, springing to his feet, mallet in hand.

Taggert stood in front of him, his blond hair a mess of blood and dirt. His lips glittered with hematite dust and a crossbow bolt still stuck out from his shoulder.

“What happened?” Ramin asked, wide-eyed.

“You did!” Taggert snarled. “You had us dig right into that death trap! Half of my men were shot full of goddamn arrows the second we cracked open the entrance. When I saw the smoke, I thought it was one of my men signaling me. I’m almost happier it’s you. Now I get to kill you myself!”

Vanessa, trapped in the tomb below, could hear none of this. Her attention was focused on the fire that climbed ever higher towards her, the platform she clung to growing weaker, sagging further, threatening to drop her into the inferno below. She couldn’t stay here. It was going to give out any second.

She scanned the remaining scaffolding for any piece that might hold her weight, spotting the nearest one too far away to reach. She’d have to jump for it. Her heart raced, reminding her how many ways this could go wrong. She could miss the jump and fall. The next platform could collapse as soon as she landed on it. The platform she was on could give out when she jumped. And she was dizzy and getting weaker every minute from smoke inhalation. If she was going to move, she needed to do it now.

Gathering her courage and stepping back as far as she could on the narrow ledge, Vanessa ran towards the solid platform. She felt the ledge shaking under her steps, beginning to fall. She leaped a second before it crumbled, throwing herself forward over the flames. She hit the second platform at chest height, knocking the wind out of herself and almost falling before her fingers caught on the wooden planks.

She dragged herself up, shaking and afraid, and lay on the platform, wheezing in smoke and knowing she’d bought herself only a few more minutes. If Ramin didn’t return for her soon, it would be too late.

Above, Ramin dodged another swing from Taggert’s crowbar and lunged aside, aiming a blow at the other man which missed, throwing him off balance. Taggert was a large man and a practiced brawler, fueled by rage and revenge. But Ramin was leaner, faster, and well trained in using speed to his advantage. He knew if he could get past Taggert’s guard, he could win. But he knew he didn’t have time to wait for Taggert to wear out.

Vanessa was in danger just a few feet below him. It was time to fight dirty.

He ducked under Taggert’s next strike, feeling the rush as the crowbar swung an inch away from him, and slapped the crossbow bolt sticking out from Taggert’s shoulder. The man roared with pain and stumbled sideways. Ramin moved counter to him, slamming the mallet into the arm holding the crowbar. Taggert dropped it in surprise and turned into the next blow, which Ramin aimed directly at his head. Taggert toppled to the sand, hopefully unconscious, and Ramin rushed back to the vent, kneeling beside it. Sand showered down into the hall as he searched for Vanessa, seeing the collapsed platform where she’d been trapped.

“Vanessa!” he shouted, fear in his voice.

“Here!” Vanessa called back from her new position. “What’s going on?”

“I’m coming! Hang on!” he called back.

Vanessa’s eyes widened as she saw something rising behind Ramin’s back.

“Look out!” she shouted.

Ramin turned just as Taggert, bloody, dazed and enraged, threw himself at the Sheikh. Ramin caught him, holding the other man’s hands away from his throat, and they struggled in the sand, wrestling for control. Vanessa could just see them, grappling beside the vent. She stood, helpless and terrified, wanting to fight but trapped, only able to watch.

Then, Ramin dug his heels into Taggert’s gut and shoved, flipping the larger man over his head and directly into the open vent.

Taggert yelled in fear as he fell, scrambling for a handhold in the sand around the vent’s edge. Ramin rolled over, grabbing the man’s arm. But he grabbed the left, where the crossbow bolt was still sticking out from Taggert’s shoulder. Taggert shouted in pain and let go. And just like that, he was gone. Vanessa watched in horror as he plummeted past her and vanished, screaming, into the flames. There was nothing to be done to save him.

She looked away, afraid and in shock, until Ramin called her name. He was standing on the platform beneath the vent, a rope from Taggert’s supplies secured to the heavy stone seal. He threw the other end to her and she tied it around herself. He hauled her up while the flames consumed the scaffolding below them, and together they climbed out into the safety of the desert sun, battered but alive.

Exhausted, injured, and weak, they rested. Vanessa dragged the seal back over the vent and covered the cracks in the stone with sand, hoping to smother the fire within. When the smoke and heat had begun to subside, they started to move again.

They’d been lost in the tomb all night. The sun was rising, the air cool. They stumbled back to the dig site, nearly half a mile of desert away. The men they’d hired to dig were still there, gathered in concerned discussion with one another. When they saw Ramin and Vanessa stumble over the hill, they rushed to the couple’s aid, bringing them water and insisting they rest.

“We can’t,” Ramin explained. “Professor Van Rees is still down there. He needs help.”

“We already found him,” one of the laborers explained, and Vanessa’s shoulders sagged with relief. “We saw Peterson and his men run into the maze. The big blond one went over the hill looking for the smoke signal you made. We were alone, so we went to the hole to rescue you. You were gone, but we got the old man out and I sent two of my best with him in one of the jeeps to find help.”

“Oh, thank God,” Vanessa sobbed, and Ramin put his arms around her as she gathered herself.

“Is there a jeep left?” the Sheikh asked. “We should all head back. We need to get medical help, and a professional search party to find Peterson. Not to mention telling everyone about the tomb. It’s so much bigger than we thought.”

Vanessa raised her head as she heard a familiar sound in the distance.

“I don’t think we’ll be needing a jeep,” she said, and pointed at the helicopters coming over the horizon towards them.