Shit. What could he do now?
The Karanadon took a slow step toward him.
Two more and suddenly the gap was seven feet. Almost within striking distance.
'Hey!'
The Karanadon's head snapped left, toward Selexin and Holly by the elevator.
'Yes! That is right! I am talking to you!' Selexin yelled.
The big creature took a step toward the elevators, growling. It roared.
Selexin braced himself, pointed a finger, and yelled, 'Oh, yeah,
Swain coughed back a laugh.
The Karanadon roared in outrage and stepped away from Swain, heading for the elevators. It was gaining speed when a third voice called loudly.
'Hey!'
The Karanadon stopped in its tracks a third time.
'Yeah, you!' It was Hawkins.
Swain swung his head back and forth between the elevators and the stairwell, amazed.
Now totally confused, the Karanadon swung to face Hawkins at the stairwell. Swain took the chance and ran for the elevator. When he got there, he pressed the call button.
Hawkins was waving wildly at the Karanadon as it approached. When it got to within fifteen feet of him, Swain took over and called again from the elevators.
'Hello there! Hey, buddy! What about me!'
The Karanadon swung around slowly.
It snorted.
Swain looked up at the numbered display above the left-hand elevator. The elevator was moving from '1' to 'G'. It was going
'Hey!' Hawkins called again. But this time, the beast didn't respond. It kept moving toward Swain and the elevators.
'Hey!' Hawkins yelled. The Karanadon didn't stop. It just kept ploughing forward, toward the elevators.
'We have got trouble,' Selexin said flatly.
'We've got deep trouble,' Swain agreed.
Swain spun around. Options, options. There were none. He checked the numbers above the elevators. Left -- still on the Ground Floor. Right -- still no movement at all.
He stared at the elevators for a second and suddenly had an idea.
'Quickly,' he said, moving over to the
The Karanadon was closing in -- getting faster and faster as it got closer and closer.
The elevator doors slowly came apart. 'Keep pulling,' Swain said. The black elevator shaft opened wide before him.
'That's it,' Swain said, easing in between the doors-spreading his legs, holding them apart -- while still facing the study hall. The dark elevator shaft yawned wide behind him.
It was then that Swain noticed the silence. No more booming footfalls.
The Karanadon had stopped.
Slowly, ever so slightly, Swain lifted his head.
It was
Five feet away.
And it just stood there, looming over the three of them, its enormous black frame dwarfing them all. It tilted its head and glared down at Swain. One of its long pointed ears twitched.
'Holly, Selexin,' Swain whispered, without moving his mouth, 'I want both of you to grab hold of my legs. One each.
'Daddy...' Holly whimpered.
'Just grab my leg, honey.'
There was a scratching sound, and Swain saw that it was the big beast's claws scraping against the marble floor as it flexed its huge black fists.
Getting ready to attack.
Holly clasped onto Swain's left leg. Selexin took the right.
'Hold tight,' Swain said, taking a deep breath as the Karanadon lifted its arm high.
The arm came down fast -- but not fast enough. It hit nothing but air as Swain shifted his weight backwards and jumped into the darkness of the elevator shaft.
----ooo0ooo------
The elevator cable was greasy, but his grip held.
There were three vertical cables, so Swain held the middle one. Behind him, the elevator doors had shut automatically as soon as he had stopped holding them apart.
The elevator shaft was pitch black and deathly silent. If the Karanadon was roaring, they couldn't hear it in here.
'Selexin,' Swain said, his voice echoing loudly in the empty shaft. 'Grab hold of the cable.'
Selexin reached out from Swain's leg and caught hold of the elevator cable.
'All right now, slide down. Down to the elevator.'
Selexin slid down the cable, disappearing into the murky darkness of the shaft.
'Holly, you okay?'
'Yeah.' A whimper.
'All right, then, it's your turn now. Just reach out and grab the cable.'
Her hand shaking, Holly reached for the cable. Her fingers hesitated for an eternity just short of the greasy metal rope. She grabbed it.
And then suddenly the elevator doors burst open.
Soft blue light streamed into the elevator shaft, silhouetting the monstrous shape of the Karanadon as it held the doors apart.
It was only a few feet away and Swain was completely exposed, holding onto the elevator cable for dear life, with Holly dangling from his leg.
It roared loudly, leaning out into the shaft, swiping viciously at Swain, only to see him loosen his grip on the cable and drop out of the way a second ahead of the impact.
. Swain fell like a stone, whizzing down the greasy cable into the darkness, with Holly hanging from his left leg.
They slid down the cable fast, the grease on the cable preventing Swain's hands from burning, and arrived at the roof of the right-hand elevator. Selexin was there waiting.
The elevator's hatch was still open and the light inside it still on. The lift was exactly where they had left it before, when Swain, Balthazar and the two guides had climbed across to meet Hawkins and Holly in the other
