Or, at least, she thought so. The sand choked off all the light, and it was possible that she was upside down without realizing it. She clawed upwards, forcing her arms through the shifting sand, kicking with her legs as the sand flowed around her. Fortunately, the sand was dry and loose enough that there was still a pocket of air in front of her face. It wasn’t much air, and it would not last much longer. Caina could not be buried more than a few feet deep. If Callatas’s spell had transformed the entire Desert Maiden into sand, most ofthe sand would be underneath her. She had been standing on the roof. The men who had been caught on the first floor and in the common room had likely been entombed alive in the cellar. There was no hope for them. There might not be any hope for Caina. Her breath came sharper and faster as her lungs struggled. Caina thrashed, pulling herself higher through the loose sand, the weight of it pressing against her body. Was she going up or down? They had to get the Staff and the Seal away before Callatas and Kalgri claimed them.
