by S T G Hill
“Ellie!” Thorn’s mouth dropped open.
Casey didn’t say anything. His eyes went wide like saucers while he looked back and forth from the monsters to Ellie.
Ellie’s entire body shook. The raw power of the magic slamming through her veins seared her nerves in the most delicious magic.
It felt like she could crush those monsters with a flick of her hand.
“We need to figure out what passage to take,” Thorn said, pushing himself to his feet.
He didn’t take his eyes off the pinned apes, which thrashed against the magical webbing that held them pinned to the wall. The whole space started to smell like burned hair, the odor acrid and sharp.
“So do it,” Ellie said, unable to keep herself from smiling. This feels amazing.
No, it wasn’t a smile but a grin.
So much power. It felt so good. She never wanted to stop. It made her feel alive and connected and capable.
Thorn shook his head, “I tried with the first pearl. I don’t have the talent in prognostication to use it… Casey, what about you? Casey?”
“But you’re supposed to be an ab,” Casey said, brain still trying to process what had just happened.
Thorn put a hand on his shoulder, sparing a nonplussed glance at Ellie, “There’s no time to explain. Can you use the pearl?”
Casey blinked hard, bringing himself back to the here and now, “I don’t think so. It’s my weakest school.”
“Fine, I’ll do it myself,” Ellie said, frustrated, “Guess I’m the only one who can do anything around here.”
Some part of her balked at that, at the meanness in her voice. But that new Ellie, the one who wielded such incredible power, she didn’t care. She only wanted to feel more of that magic coursing and pouring through her veins.
One hand splayed out almost casually holding the monsters in place, she backed up to the pearl and placed her spare palm against it. It was warm and smooth and as soon as she touched it she got a clear image of their current intersection. It became clear immediately that the next step through the maze was the second corridor from the right.
She almost said as much, then the new Ellie, the Omenborn, whispered something else into her thoughts.
I should leave them behind. They’re only slowing me down. I don’t need them; they need me. Then she could catch up with Jackie and show her just what she thought of that particular betrayal.
But this is betrayal, too, she, the real and true Ellie, thought.
Thorn must’ve gotten some impression of her intentions, “Ellie? Which way is it?”
Ellie tugged at her hand. It remained stuck against the pearl. The anger flared inside of her. How dare it try to trap me! She tugged harder, so much magic thrumming in that arm that the glowing veins of it beneath her skin pulsed and thrummed.
The ape monsters sensed her predicament. They struggled harder, roaring and slamming their bodies against the magic so that the entire corridor shook and dusty chunks of white mortar fell from the ceiling.
Leave them. Let go of the monsters and leave them behind, that new voice encouraged.
It sounded desperate. A moment later, Ellie realized why. The power, just as every time before, was too much. It burned through her like a flame through a candle.
The web that held the apes began to flash and flicker.
“What’s going on?” Casey looked back and forth between them.
“Ellie! Which way is it?” Thorn demanded, taking a step towards her.
Ellie wrenched harder at her trapped hand. It started to pull away, barely.
Thorn saw. He grabbed her wrist and hauled on it.
Then Ellie saw it, her vision sharpened by the influence of the pearl. Thorn, beaten, bruised, and bloody, lying on the floor of the maze. Some massive, horned creature reared up behind him, ready for the killing blow.
In this vision, Thorn looked at her through swollen and blackened eyes. “Just go, save yourself.”
Then her hand pulled free of the pearl and Thorn let her go and the vision disappeared, his face going from bruised and bloody back to its normal rugged self. “We need to get out of here before they bring the whole thing down on our heads!”
Then Ellie’s power failed as it always did, snapping off like a light switch. Or almost. It felt like just a trickle remained. Enough to keep her conscious.
She started to collapse.
“Ellie!” Casey said.
Thorn caught her.
“Second from the right…” Ellie managed, her muscles going limp. It felt like someone had strapped 10-ton weights to her wrists and ankles.
The apes tumbled down, suddenly free of their snares. They gathered themselves quickly, fixing their malevolent, dead eyes on the three Chosen.
They lumbered forward, moments from arm’s reach.
“Move!” Thorn said. He pulled one of her arms over his shoulders and hauled her forward.
Somehow, Ellie found the strength to put one foot in front of the other. Barely.
They entered the mouth of the correct corridor.
As before, the apes stopped there, delayed by some magical timer.
“Wait… Wait. Stop,” Ellie said, her voice like a thin thread.
“We shouldn’t,” Thorn looked back at the monsters waiting for them.
“We can’t stop now! Please!” Casey trotted a bit ahead, urging them forward with his eyes.
“I don’t want those things following us anymore,” Ellie said, gritting her teeth.
She let go of Thorn’s shoulders, staggered, and caught herself against the smooth sandstone of the corridor wall. Dust fell from her hair and shoulders.
“What are you doing, Ellie? You’re burnt out,” Thorn said, “We need to keep moving.”
“We need to be able to move without those things attacking us,” Ellie said, her whole body trembling with the effort of holding her up.
She closed her eyes and seized on that thread of power that still flickered inside of her. Come on, just a few seconds, that’s all I need.
She thought of Thorn’s beaten face in that vision. She thought of how she’d almost abandoned them both just moments ago. She let that anger pour through her.
The power filled her again. It hurt, but she fought against the pain.
Ellie reached her hands out, envisioning streams of power flowing from her palms into the ceiling in front of the doorway where the apes loitered.
Then she pulled. She pulled hard, making the lines of power catch in the stone.
The only warning was a creaking grumble. Then the ceiling gave way, slamming tons of sandstone and dirt down into the doorway, blocking it off. The apes bellowed in rage, but then the cave-in drowned that out, too.
Dust rushed down the hallways in a torrent. Flecks of it stung Ellie’s cheeks, but she ignored it.
This time when the magic left her body, it didn’t just turn off. It snapped. She flew back down the hall, every fiber within her burning and exhausted.
Thorn caught her with a soft bed of magic moments before the back of her skull almost hit the hard stone floor.
“That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!” Casey said.
All Ellie could think was, Don’t pass out Don’t pass out Don’t pass out.
Chapter 29
By some miracle, she didn’t pass out. But only just barely.
They limped slowly down this new corridor that looked exactly like all the ones that they’d travelled before.
“So what was that? How did you do that?” Casey said, his youthful curiosity still alive despite the danger and the hunger that gnawed at all their bellies.
“Don’t ask,” Thorn glanced at Ellie, his eyes full of warning.
“No,” Ellie said, so tired of keeping her secret from everyone, “He’s in this with us. We should tell him.”
“Tell me what?”
Thorn pressed his lips together in tight irritation, but relented when Ellie nodded at him to go ahead. A nod was about all sh
e could manage. Her lungs still burned like she’d been doing wind sprints in gym class.
“Ellie is someone very special,” Thorn said, “She has this power inside of her. Power that Darius Belt wants for himself. That’s why we’re in the Trial.”
Casey frowned, chewing through this new information, “But if that’s true, why doesn’t Mr. Belt just take her? Isn’t he, like, the most powerful sorcerer still alive?”
“He is,” Thorn said, “But if he just takes her and the rest of the magical world finds out about it too quickly, they can still beat him. He doesn’t want to show his hand before he has his entire plan in place. This way, he can get Ellie without anyone questioning him.”
“Can’t she just say no?” Casey frowned.
“She could,” Thorn said, “But then who knows what Belt would try next? Another attack, even bigger this time?”
“Mr. Belt was the one who attacked the school?” Casey said, young forehead wrinkling as he processed this.
Thorn let the answer hang in the air. For a little bit they just shuffled forward.
“So what are you guys going to do?” Casey broke the silence that had been before punctuated only by their footsteps.
“We have a plan,” Thorn’s jaw worked, and he glared at Ellie some more.
“To save Ellie?” Casey said.
“To stop Belt,” Ellie leaned against the wall, the sandstone smooth against her palm.
“What is it?”
Ellie and Thorn glanced at each other. Ellie nodded again. Thorn’s lips pressed together once more.
“We’re going to steal something from him.”
Casey didn’t ask any more questions, which suited Ellie just fine. She didn’t like that Belt had thrown Casey into this with her. She didn’t like that Jackie and Miles and Thorn were there, either. They didn’t deserve this. She even felt sorry for Matilda.
Besides, it didn’t take long before the only things she could really concentrate on were how badly she just wanted to lie down and go to sleep and the gnawing mouth in her belly that threatened to swallow her up.
"How are we supposed to do this without food?" Ellie put her hand on her stomach, pushing her fingers into her flesh as little. It didn’t help..
That mouth in her stomach had shark's teeth.
"I don't know," Thorn replied.
They heard the scream then. A sharp shriek that bit into the air and turned Ellie's stomach cold.
They stood there, shocked to stillness, for just a moment. Then the three of them ran. The hall curved somewhat. Just enough that they could only see so far ahead.
When they passed the curve they saw what happened.
"Jackie!" Ellie stumbled forward as fast as she could manage.
Jackie shrieked again.
She stood beside one of the pedestals with its sorcerous pearl, her hands stuck to it.
Her body shook and jerked as she tried to pull herself free.
This time, the hallway branched off in no less than six different directions.
Three of those monstrous white apes bore down on her, their backs to Ellie and the others.
"She tried to use the pearl without help!" Casey said.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Jackie shrieked, out of her mind with terror while she tugged at her hands.
Her voice cut right into Ellie. She didn't care that Jackie had betrayed her, not at that moment.
No, she felt only hatred for Darius Belt for putting all of them into this stupid maze.
"Ellie wait!" Thorn reached for her, snatching at her shirt but not getting a hold.
She didn't. She couldn't.
Ellie slammed her hands forward, no particular spell in mind. Just the desire to stop those monsters.
The wave of energy cracked like a whip across the back of the ape closest to them.
It turned to face them, black doll's eyes glinting in the torchlight.
Though the power within her burned fiercely, Ellie could sense it had lessened. She hadn't been able to rest at all since she last used it.
It threatened to sear her from the inside, and for a second she thought it might. Then it winked out and she collapsed down to her knees.
The ape sensed her weakness. It turned away from her.
"They're coming!" Jackie shrieked again.
"Just hold on!" Thorn called out, dashing past Ellie.
He raised a fist, power crackling between his fingers, and he cast it out. The lightning bolt slammed into the rearmost ape's back.
The beast bellowed and turned to face him.
Casey rushed over to Ellie, kneeling down beside her. "Are you okay?"
"Not really, no," Ellie took deep, shuddering breaths. Her lungs burned.
Thorn threw more lightning. The dark hallway flashed with it. The ape held its ground despite the lashing.
Then Ellie realized what it was doing.
"It's keeping us away from Jackie," she said, "They only want the one touching the pearl."
By then it was too late. The apes reached her, their fanged mouths opening wide.
Ellie hated herself. Hated how powerless she felt.
Then something else happened. Her mind touched Jackie's. Just for an instant.
Overpowering terror sent Ellie sprawling backwards. She could see through Jackie's eyes. See the distorted, almost human faces of the apes leering in closer and closer.
She could smell them, too. Smell the damp rot of their fur.
And something else, too. One thought, lost near the back of all that fear.
She saw what Jackie had seen when she touched the pearl. She saw which passage they needed to take.
And then it all switched off.
For a confused second, she didn't know why. Then she heard the scream that chilled her marrow and she knew why.
They'd gotten her.
Casey grabbed her and pushed his face into her shoulder.
Thorn sank down to his knees and buried his face into his palms.
Ellie couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the three apes. The screams went silent.
Then the apes faded like morning mist burned away by the sun.
Ellie's empty stomach churned in grisly anticipation.
Except...
"She's gone," Ellie said, unable to sense Jackie’s mind anymore.
The hallway had assumed a sort of graveyard silence after the attacking monsters vanished. Her voice sounded so long.
Thorn looked up.
"Jackie's body isn't here," Ellie breath caught in her throat.
There was nothing ahead of them but the pearl on its pedestal and all those branching doorways.
***
Ellie guided them down the correct path. The one she'd somehow seen in Jackie's mind. Thorn had started to question her on it, but she reminded him that she could confirm it for them if he wanted, but they'd have to defend her against those apes if she did.
So he'd gone along with it.
They didn't talk about Jackie.
Ellie could still hear Jackie's shrieks.
Where had Jackie gone? Why wasn't there a body? Was Jackie dead?
Ellie blamed herself. If she'd been able to unlock her full power, she knew, Jackie would still be there with them.
Think about Jackie later. After all three of us are out of this stupid maze!
But taking the corridor without touching the pearl was the best decision they could have made. Because not far down that hallway they stumbled into a broad chamber.
And in that chamber a feast waited for them. Meats and breads and pastries so rich that Ellie's mouth filled with saliva as soon as the mingled scents hit her.
Ellie and Thorn rushed for the food, but Casey didn't.
"Guys, look," he said.
Ellie had already grabbed an entire chicken leg from a silver platter, the skin nice and crispy.
"Thorn..." Ellie’s appetite, powerful as it was, disappeared. For a moment at least.
Thorn had already shoved what appear
ed to be an entire slice of cheesecake into his mouth.
He stopped chewing when he saw her. He followed her gaze.
Two stone columns flanked a set of stairs up to a wall, reminding Ellie of a teledoor.
But the wall wasn't blank.
REGAIN YOUR STRENGTH.
THE SECOND TRIAL BEGINS WHEN YOU ENTER.
Her skin prickling, Ellie glanced back the way they'd come.
Only a bare, sandstone wall stood where the entrance to the hallway once was.
"The only way out is through," Thorn said around his mouthful of cake.
"But where does this lead?" Ellie set the chicken leg down, fingers shiny with grease, "To another maze?"
"I hope not," Casey said, "I never want to see another maze in my life!"
What waited for them through the teledoor wasn't a maze.
Chapter 30
As soon as it hit Ellie that they could actually take a real break, her body went into shutdown.
Every time she looked at the room, she noticed something new.
That big buffet of food grabbed all their attention first, yeah. Then the threatening message on the wall.
But the three single beds, all made with white spreads and what appeared to be a fluffy feather pillow each, captured her heart.
"Bed!" Ellie said. She stumbled forward like a zombie that had just caught the scent of live brains.
Thorn noticed and shook his head, but didn't say anything. He couldn't, not while shovelling what looked like slices of cold cuts from a tray on the buffet into his mouth.
I should eat something first, Ellie thought.
Her body replied with a deep ache that demanded the bed, and only the bed.
She slumped forward onto the one in the middle. The mattress didn't creak or go sproing beneath her weight. It cradled her perfectly.
Her eyelids closed.
"Where do you think Miles and Matilda are?" Casey said, "There's only three beds here."
"I don't care," Ellie buried her face in the pillow.
Sleep. Sleep. Sleep, was all she could think and all she could want.
"The maze must know," Thorn glanced at the beds, frowning, "Only three beds. Jackie... Jackie is gone. Maybe this means the maze got the others, too."
