Kiera waited. When nothing else happened, she retrieved the dagger and replaced it. She looked again at the flower, puzzled.
Suddenly, the ground jolted and shook, throwing her onto her stomach. Rumbling alarmed her as the stone lurched and moved beneath her. The sound of a roaring ocean filled the chamber. The flower moved as if caught in a breeze, not an earthquake.
The pictographs said nothing of an earthquake! Kiera climbed to her feet, barely caught herself from hitting the fountain with the next great tremor of the ground, and bolted for the door. She smashed into it as another quake rumbled beneath her, then rose and waved her band before the door. It opened, and she flung herself against the second door. It opened only when the other had closed, and she toppled into Mansr's arms.
"We must go!" he said, steadying himself against the wall. The warriors grabbed her and passed her up the hall before he took one arm and another warrior her other.
They raced through the quaking halls toward the entrance, all while the strange roar of an ocean grew louder. Mansr took her a different route than the one she'd used to enter, one that sloped down and then up. Within moments, they burst into the chilly desert night.
Mansr tripped, taking all three of them down. Kiera grunted as she hit the ground, and he wrapped an arm around her.
"Oh, god, Mansr! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I did it wrong!"
To her surprise, he barked a laugh of half-pain from their fall and half-triumph. She sprawled on top of him, unable to push herself up with the earth's violent shaking. More warriors tumbled out after them until the last closed the stone door.
Two hauled her up and one helped Mansr. She bounced between them, unable to catch her balance.
"Come!" Mansr ordered, waving them toward another small trail up a hill.
The warriors gave her no choice but pulled her up the hill. She didn't understand why until they reached the top, overlooking a deep canyon. Water shot from the bottom of the canyon, forming hundreds of tall columns whose mist cast rainbows in the bright moonlight. Mansr dropped to his knees as the earth continued to tremble. She pulled away from the warriors and dropped beside him, more comfortable on the ground than trying to navigate the shaking earth on her feet.
Mansr's shoulders shook, and she took his arm, alarmed.
"Mansr, what's wrong?"
He was laughing again. She stared at him, then at the water. A burst of wind sent water from the closest column raining over them. Grass tickled her knees, and she shifted, agitated by water and grass.