“I’m not lost. I’m not lost. Oh, man, I am so totally lost,” Carly said in exasperation, turning in a tight circle on the dark landing. She glanced up at the narrow stairway leading upward before turning to look over the edge at the never-ending steps leading down. A loud groan escaped her, echoing in the underground cavern and mocking her attempts to find a way back to where she had entered yesterday. “How many frigging levels does this place have? Whoever heard of a building needing this many rooms and doors? I don’t even think Buckingham Palace has this many!”

Okay, well, it might. It wasn’t like Carly had ever been to Buckingham Palace. Heck, she had never been out of the country before! One thing was for sure, finding her way back home was a lot harder than she had thought it was going to be.

Releasing another loud, echoing sigh, Carly adjusted the backpack on her shoulders. She had already been heading down for a long time, there was absolutely no way she was going back up. Her thighs and calves were already killing her.

“Stairmaster, I’ll just think of this as the ultimate, gym training session– one of those iron man super courses that the gym downtown offered last spring,” Carly huffed as she held onto the wall so she wouldn’t get dizzy looking down the long, long drop on the other side. “Handrails… I’m going to recommend handrails and more lighting. Maybe I can convince Drago to install an elevator or escalator, too. Mm, not an escalator, that would be the world’s longest one and I’m not sure they can build one that big. I wonder if they have magical elevators. Now, that would be cool – step in and pop out on the other end.”

Carly decided that focusing on how to get to the top without having to climb all the stairs would be better than thinking about what she was going to do if she got to the bottom only to find out she was in the wrong place and had to crawl out. She had no doubt that crawling was going to be her only recourse if she planned on ever getting out of this miserable labyrinth of stairs.

She began to shiver even more the lower she descended. Soon, she was shivering uncontrollably and her teeth were chattering. She paused and pulled out her jacket and gloves before pulling her backpack back over her left shoulder. The extra clothing wasn’t helping. It felt like she was freezing from the inside out.

“I su… sur… sure… don… don’t… remem… remember… it… being… this… col… col… freezing!” Carly groaned.

She stumbled on the next step, unable to see in the dim light and around the edge of her jacket. She reached out to grip the wall, but it was slick and her hand slipped against the polished stone. A horrified gasp escaped her when she began to fall forward. She stumbled, her hand slipped again, and she fell onto the landing. Her backpack slid off her shoulder. Before she could grab it, the backpack skidded across the smooth stone and over the edge. She found herself frozen to the landing, staring into the bottomless chasm where her bag had disappeared.

Shaken, Carly pushed back from the edge and rolled over until she could sit with her back against the wall. The cold had soaked into her bones until she felt like she would never get warm again. Tears of frustration and defeat glittered in her eyes, but she blinked them away. Crying wouldn’t get her out of this mess.

A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her. Her eyes felt heavy and she swore the fog was moving into her brain the way it did over the shoreline in Yachats – thick and seemingly impenetrable. Shaking her head to clear her mind, Carly felt herself slipping again, this time to the side. She protected her head with her arm, folding it up under her head to keep her face away from the icy stone step that she was now using as a pillow.

“I’ll… just… close my eyes… for a… minute,” she murmured, her voice fading as her eyelashes fluttered closed, weighted by a sudden, overwhelming fatigue. “Drago….”

Carly’s softly spoken call echoed upward through the maze of stairs, carried by the magic that had been cast to confuse and trap those unlucky enough to get caught in the endless maze that led nowhere. The magic captured the single name in a bubble that floated and bounced as it rose higher and higher.

Carly was completely unaware of the deadly magic that had closed around her. Tired from her journey and frozen from the plummeting temperature, she fell into a slumber that pulled her deeper and deeper into its greedy clutches until her heart barely beat.

Drago carried the limp body of a fish in one clawed hand and several large pieces of ripe fruit in the other. He had picked the fruit at the last minute from a large bush full of ripe red treedrops. The fish he had caught from a nearby freshwater lake.

Swooping down, he landed on the railing, balancing for a moment before he hopped down. He placed both the fish and the fruit on the balcony before he shifted and looked around. The table was cleared of the morning breakfast several hours before.

Glancing toward the French doors, he saw they were closed as well. Bending, he picked up the fish and the fruit. He would clean the fish after he let Carly know he had returned.

Gingerly opening the door with a wave of his hand, he stepped inside. He caught the door with his foot, preventing it from slamming closed behind him when a gust of wind blew in off the ocean. This was probably why Carly had the doors closed.

Drago frowned at the silence. The room was immaculate. Walking through the living area to the kitchen, he noticed the dishes from earlier were washed and left to dry next to the sink. He walked over and placed the fish in the sink before releasing the two melons. His nose wrinkled when he noticed the smell on his hands and he quickly washed and dried them.

“Carly?” Drago called out before frowning again.

Perhaps she is taking a rest, he thought.

It wouldn’t surprise him if she had returned to bed. She had traveled a fair distance yesterday, and besides the fact that she had to be exhausted from her trip, she had cleaned his living quarters as well. That was a task which normally was a day’s work for three or more of his staff to do in previous years.

Walking down the hallway, the twist in his gut grew, warning him that something was wrong. He picked up his pace, entering the room at almost a run. His gaze swept over the empty bed. He crossed the bedroom, already knowing the answer to his question – the open door and empty bathing chamber confirmed his suspicion – Carly wasn’t in his living quarters.

Drago turned on his heel to retrace his steps. He glanced at the bed once more and paused when he noticed something spread out on top. Shifting his direction, he walked over to the bed. A frown creased his brow when he saw the long row of papers spread across the dark blue bedspread.

He bent and picked up the first paper, staring down at the illustration. A confused expression, part exasperation and part intrigue, crossed his face as he ‘read’ Carly’s message. It took a few tries to finally get her meaning. When he finally understood that she was trying to return to her world, fury poured through him.

“Never!” he snarled, crushing the paper in his fist.

He paused, then lifted the paper to his nose and breathed in a deep breath. The fragrance of Carly, mixed with the soap from the kitchen, teased his nostrils. Turning, he followed the faint trail she had left behind. He snorted in displeasure when he realized that she had left his living quarters before he grimaced at his unreasonable irritation. He had just cautioned her to stay in the palace, not his rooms.

He continued down the corridor to the far set of steps. Once again, a sense of urgency gripped him. Pausing on the lower level, he released his grip on the white sheet with the drawings on it.

“Take me to her,” he ordered, casting a Finding spell over the foreign material.

The crumpled ball of paper unfolded and reformed into a small bird that turned to look at him with a somewhat confused expression. A wry smile curved Drago’s lips. Finding spells took on a part of the essence of the person who had left the item. The bird had emulated Carly’s personality perfectly – especially when it wobbled and almost fell to the ground when it turned.

Drago quickly scooped the paper bird into his palm and waited for it to refold one wing. Tiny wisps of dust brushed across his palm when the bird sneezed. He raised an eyebrow at the magical paper creature and impatiently waited while it smoothed out its tail feathers.

“Are you finished yet?” he demanded.

The tiny creature wiggled its tail at him and opened its beak. It must have thought better than to push its luck any further when Drago flexed his fingers in warning. Drago watched the creature turn on his palm and wiggle one more time before fluttering up into the air.

“Find her,” he ordered again.

The paper bird nodded and turned. With much more speed than Drago had anticipated, it took off down the stairwell. Drago darted after it, taking several steps at a time to keep up with the creature ahead of him. It wasn’t until they reached the main floor of the palace and the bird turned to the corridors leading to the lower levels that Drago realized exactly where Carly had gone and the danger she was in.

Drago rushed down the corridor. His hands opened wide and the door at the end opened. The bird disappeared through the opening and down the long spiral staircase. Drago followed as quickly as his human form would allow.

On the lower level, the bird fluttered impatiently at the door at the end. It disappeared through the narrow iron bars across the rectangular opening. With another muttered spell, the door opened for Drago.

He had descended almost a dozen flights of stairs before he saw the shimmer of a colorful light rising from the dark labyrinth toward him. His steps slowed as the bubble drifted closer to him. The paper bird fluttered around it, curious.

“Come to me,” Drago ordered the bubble, holding out his hand to the floating apparition.

The bubble twirled as a current of warm air brushed against it, gently pushing it closer. Drago’s fingers itched to grasp it, but he dared not. If the bubble broke before he could touch it, the message held inside would be lost. The staircases below the palace were a never ending maze, constructed and spelled to confuse any who tried to enter the treasure cavern far below. For those seeking it, only one staircase, taken in the correct sequence would lead them to the Dragon’s Treasure. All the other staircases would take the intruders on an unending search where they would be lost forever unless rescued by the King of the Dragons.

Drago reached out both hands and cupped the bubble when it floated close enough. He opened his hands and stared down at the image locked inside. Carly was lying on one of the landings with her head resting on her arm. Ice crystals clung to her eyelashes and her lips held a tinge of blue. Fear gripped him. She could be anywhere in the maze.

The paper bird must have felt the pull of Carly. It landed on his hand, hopped along his finger and peered at her slumbering form. Drago was about to issue a command when the bird pecked at the bubble. The translucent shape burst in a kaleidoscope of colorful sparkles.

“Drago….” Carly’s faint voice, captured inside the sphere, called to him.

“Where…?” Drago choked out.

The paper bird, decorated by the remains of the magic from the bubble, shook and chirped before launching off of Drago’s finger. Time was of the essence. Shifting into his dragon, he plummeted off the edge of the steps after the tiny, now colorful bird.