figure and then around the walls of the gallery.
'Nothing,' he said. 'Nothing has moved.'
'Perhaps there is another-' she began, but broke off at a sound from the
roof above them. They both stared upwards, startled and filled with
sudden trepidation. There was a ponderous movement from above the high
plastered ceiling.
What is thatV Royan whispered. 'There is something up there. It sounds
like a living thing.'
A giant was moving, coming awake after slumbering for thousands of
years, stretching and turning as he awoke.
'is it-?' She could not finish the question. She had an image in her
mind of the great god himself stirring in a hidden chamber in the rock,
opening those baleful, slanted eyes, rising on one elbow to discover who
had disturbed him from his eternal sleep.
Then there was another sound, a creaking and rumbling as though the arm
of a mighty balance was swinging slowly across, as its equilibrium
altered. Softly at first, then louder, the movement gathered momentum,
like the beginning of a mountain avalanche. Then there was a report like
the shot of a cannon.
A crack appeared in the high ceiling, running the length of the gallery.
Dust smoked from the jagged opening, and then, slowly as a nightmare,
the roof began to sag down over where they stood. Both of them were
paralysed with superstitious horror, unable to tear their gaze from the
slow, inexorable collapse of the ceiling upon them. Then a chunk of
plaster struck Nicholas's upturned face, slamming into his cheek,
tearing the skin and sending him staggering backwards against the wall.
The shock and pain aroused him at last.
'The warning!' he blurted. 'Taitals warning. The wrath of the gods.' He
sprang to her side and grabbed her hand, 'Run!' He pulled her after him.
'Taita has booby-trapped the roof!'
They raced back along the gallery towards the opening in the seated
entrance. Lumps of stone and plaster began to rain down and dust filled
the passageway, halfblinding them. The dull rumble overhead became a
rising roar as progressively the roof collapsed. They did not dare to
look back as the thunder of falling masonry swept towards them,
threatening to overtake and overwhelm them before they were able to
reach the entrance.
A jagged piece of rock as large as her head struck Royan a glancing blow
on her shoulder, and her legs sagged under her. She would have gone down
if he had not flung one arm around her and held her upright, dragging
her along the gallery. The dust obscured the passage ahead of them, so
that the square opening that offered their only chance of escape receded
in the choking fog.
'Keep going!' he yelled at her. 'Almost there.' As he spoke, a thick
sheet of plaster came crashing down and smashed into the tripod stand of
the floodlamp. Instantly the gallery was plunged into utter darkness.
Completely unsighted, Nicholas's first instinct was to come up short and
try to orientate himself. But all around him the rubble of the roof was
falling heavier and faster.
He knew that at any second the entire roof would come down on top of
