Rose thought how her father taught her that fighting was only a last resort. Would she be different if he had been more like Deedubs? Would SallyAnn have then steered clear of her? Or would it not have mattered? Maybe Rose was always going to be who she was. After all, Eo didn’t seem to be taking after his father. “So, you’ve taught Eo how to fight?” she asked.
Deedubs snorted. “As much as that pup can be taught.”
“Are you worried about him in here alone?”
“I prepared him the best I can. Unfortunately he doesn’t have the heart of a fighter.”
Rose winced. “I think Eo is a fighter. Just a different kind than you.”
“There’s only one kind, Rose, and he’s not it. Trust me. I don’t need eyes to see it. You’re more of a warrior than he’ll ever be. If you ever wake up to it.”
Again, Rose felt a swell of pride, though she hardly believed it. “I don’t know. Hurting someone? I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to like it to be good at it.”
“Well, there must be a better way to bring peace.”
Deedubs somehow met her eyes. “Tell that to the Abomination before it devours you.”
As they continued on through the labyrinth, Rose felt the oppression of the walls. They closed in on her even as the maze seemed to expand. It was no different than the darkest recesses of her mind. Places like this shouldn’t exist, she thought.
“How do you do this?” she asked Deedubs. “An entire life filled with fighting and killing. It’s no way to live.”
“I know what you think of me,” he said. “What most do. You believe I’m a heartless killer. And, yes, maybe I do relish in the blood of victory, but I’m no monster, Rose. To be a truly great fighter, one must have a purpose, and it can’t be a selfish one. I do what I do to save others. This mission we’re on? It is a worthy one. I will gladly die for it. And that’s where Eo differs from me. He fears death. His own. Fear is all about the self. Once you let that go, once you care more for others than you do for yourself, that’s when you become a true hero.”
Rose didn’t respond. His words were still taking hold within her. She felt them shifting around, searching for a place to settle, to embed themselves. Something told her they’d be around for a while.
By now she had lost all track of time. They could have been in the labyrinth for hours or even days for all she knew. She felt tired and weak, aged by the darkness. Even Deedubs was slowing down. Each fight had taken its toll on him, and there had been many. He had numerous wounds across his body. She wasn’t sure how much longer they would last. Not that he complained. Not once. And that made Rose keep quiet too, no matter how much her bones ached.
They turned down yet another path—was this the hundredth? thousandth?—their feet dragging along with their spirits. There had been points in the journey that she heard cries somewhere within the labyrinth. They were impossible to track, but her heart filled with dread at the sounds of one of her friends in trouble.
This gave her pause. It was the second time she had thought of them as friends. Were they? Since they’d first met, they had had no desire but to sacrifice her to the Abomination. They were risking their lives too, but that didn’t automatically make them friends, did it? What if Rose wasn’t willing to sacrifice herself to save her brother? How kind would they be then? Probably not at all. So why did she care so much whether they survived this labyrinth or not? Was it because she needed them to cure her brother? Or was it deeper than that? She glanced over at Deedubs. Even he had grown on her.
She shook her head, unsure what it all meant. It wasn’t like she had a long history of friends to draw from. Maybe this is the best you get, Rose. The only people who will talk to you are the ones escorting you to the end.
Another turn, another flight of stairs, up then down, another turn, a dead end, a secret door, another turn. One after another after another after another.
“I’ve had enough of this!” she shouted, kicking the wall. “We’re never getting out of here! What ever made us think we could defeat the Abomination? We can’t even get through the first challenge!” Her tantrum took an abrupt turn, and she grew more somber. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I wish I were home. I wish I were sitting on my couch in sweats with a cup of hot chocolate and some cookies, school canceled due to snow, the TV on to one of my favorite shows, the Christmas tree up in the corner of the room, that flickering glow of the lights.”
“You’re speaking gibberish. Do you need to rest?”
“I need to get out of here. I need my brother to wake up. I need my parents back, if only for a little bit. I need a million things. I need—”
The words froze in Rose’s mouth as, up ahead, she spotted something at the far end of the path. “What the … ?”
“What is it?” Deedubs asked, his nose in the air.
“Something’s … glowing. It’s far off. Could be two hundred feet away, maybe more. Looks gold.”
“Probably another Panatoo.”
“But it’s not moving.”
Deedubs stopped, raising his nose higher. Rose waited, watching him. He took a few steps forward and sniffed for some time, a look of confusion crossing his face.
“Well?” she asked.
“You’re right. It’s not a Panatoo. It’s not anything else we’ve come across either.”
“Then what is it?”
“I’m not sure. In all my travels, I’ve never come along a scent like this.” Tentatively, he walked forward. “Be on your guard.”
They crept closer and closer, but still there was no movement to the golden glow. With each step they took, it only grew brighter. Rose felt drawn to it immediately, unable to move her eyes away for even a second. Her pace quickened; she began to sweat.
Soon, she could make the object out clearly. It appeared to be a metal cape covered in six-inch spikes. It was draped over a skeleton, a skeleton without any legs.
“The armor,” she said.
Deedubs froze. “Rose, are you sure?”
“Has to be.”
“Then don’t move.”
“But we have to grab it.”
“It won’t be that simple.”
“There’s nothing around, Deedubs. I’m looking everywhere. We’re okay.”
Deedubs’s nose was wet with use. “Don’t. Move.”
From beyond the armor, something was snaking their way. It moved along the floor in a zigzag pattern, sliding toward them like a fat worm.
“Back,” Deedubs said.
But Rose was just staring. It looked harmless enough. A little gelatinous blob. It was almost hypnotic how it moved, its girth shifting from back to front. She couldn’t take her eyes off it.
“Back.”
The slug passed the armor, draping over the skeleton, and moved toward them still. It seemed like it was growing now. Larger and thicker.
“Back!”
The worm picked up speed. In no time at all, it was charging them. Rose turned to run, but out of the corner of her eye, she watched in terror as the blob slowly rose up from the floor.
What she thought was a worm was actually the top of a creature’s head. An ugly, bubbling thing. It had a human form but barely, its entire crooked body pulsing and bubbling. Its face was like a sick elephant’s, its trunk fat and drooping low—there was a strange gurgling sound coming from it, one that turned Rose’s stomach. The monster was hunched over, leaning heavily on a staff made of the very same material as its body.
“What is that thing?” Rose said.
“Quick. Describe it to me.”
Rose did the best she could in the quickest time possible, and Deedubs nodded in reverence. “I have heard of the Kilsun legend since I was a pup. I had always dreamed of one day facing it. Now it seems that time has come. A good day.”
Kilsun was gazing at the floor. Its trunk swayed. Subtly, at first, then more violently. Back and forth, back and forth. Its entire body joining in. With a sudden jerk, its head a
nd chest lunged forward, like something was caught in its throat. There was a terrible gagging sound, and soon the trunk was throbbing. Three large objects slowly made their way down, one after another. When they reached the tip, the trunk spread wide, and out squeezed three gelatinous balls. They fell and rolled across the ground, rapidly growing in size. One foot in circumference, then two feet, three feet, four … until they suddenly burst open.
Out of the blobs came what looked like razor-backed wolves. Their eyes red and large, their mouths overstuffed with teeth as jagged and sharp as their fur. They were salivating just looking at Rose and Deedubs. And when Kilsun issued some garbled call behind them—like an underwater shout—they charged.
“For the armor!” Deedubs cried in response. “For Eppersett!” And with a roar, he charged too.
In a wild clash, he took on all three wolves at once, smacking them aside and tearing at their stomachs. It was as if he instinctively knew where they were vulnerable, the scent of blood so forceful in his nose.
Kilsun, meanwhile, backed away. Hunched against its staff, it appeared to be gagging again.
It’s trying to drum up more of those … those … things, Rose thought, her mind frantic. Do something!
Panicking, she let out a thudding note. With the familiar tingle coursing through her body and fingers, a blast appeared from her hands and shot across the dark hall like a comet. Kilsun, however, merely waved its staff and the blast deflected, killing one of its own wolves instead.
Rose was startled. What, you thought you were all powerful or something? Get him again! This time she tried a higher note, a more powerful delivery, but this too was deflected.
Her body weakened. She had expended too much too quickly. She was already tired and now these conjurings were draining her fast. Meanwhile, Kilsun was gagging again. Its trunk filled. And then it spat. The blobs rolled along the floor, gaining in size as they neared. Soon, more wolves joined the fray.
Deedubs was losing ground. Four wolves lay dead at his feet, but it was clear he wouldn’t survive if more kept coming. His body was all torn up, his paws ripped open. Rose had to do something, and she had to do it now.
It was going to drain her completely, but she had to try. With her body arched forward, she screamed with an anger she had been reserving for SallyAnn. A massive blast emerged from her hands, a blast so big it knocked her back as it shot Kilsun’s way. The creature tried to deflect it, but the force shattered the staff into countless pieces. Rose, meanwhile, collapsed.
With a chance to finish her, Kilsun rushed toward Rose, its entire body lunging and swaying. Deedubs, sensing the threat, jumped to her defense. But with surprisingly quick movements, Kilsun caught him in midair by the throat. It squeezed hard, forcing Deedubs’s mouth wide open. Like a worm, its trunk found its way to the open maw and released a ball down his throat.
Deedubs dropped to the ground, writhing and pawing at his stomach. The wolves were dead, but his fight was far from over.
With nothing else in its way, Kilsun stood over Rose. Inches from her face, the trunk snorted, a warm mist enveloping her skin.
Kilsun bent down and, after swatting Orange Blossom aside, grabbed Rose’s throat. Rose tried to keep her mouth closed, but it was no use. She choked for air. In the dank darkness of the labyrinth, Kilsun’s trunk snaked forward and found her lips. Pushing past, it soon began to pulse.
Rose’s eyes bulged as she saw the trunk widen, the ball making its way down. She tried swatting at it, but her arms could barely move. She kicked, but her legs found nothing but air. She tried to bite, but her jaw was open much too wide.
You’re dead, Rose. It ends here. It all ends here.
It was then that Rose saw Deedubs leap against Kilsun, knocking it to the ground, a tremendous roar filling the labyrinth. He fought with a fury she had never seen, a crazed viciousness. She couldn’t believe he still had such strength in him. How? It was impossible. How did he manage it?
Her eyes drifted over to where Deedubs had been writhing in pain, and she had to blink twice because what she saw confused her. Deedubs was still there, the fight slowly leaving his body. Looking back at Kilsun, everything became clear. It wasn’t Deedubs who was tearing it to pieces. It was Eo.
In that moment, he had become his father, a ruthless fighter, determined and sure. Kilsun, it turned out, didn’t have a chance. Its trunk was up in the air, a muted sound bellowing from within. With a guttural roar, Eo raised his paw and sliced the thing in two. It flopped there on the ground, slowly deflating until it was nothing but a small blob. Helpless, Kilsun raised its arms, one last desperate attempt at survival. But Eo showed it no mercy. Three more swipes of his claws, and Kilsun never moved again.
With the body shrinking at his paws, Eo gave a quick glance over to Rose to make sure she was okay, then hurried to his father, his paws caressing his father’s head.
“Pa …”
“You defeated him, Eo,” Deedubs said, his pride in his son shining through. “The armor is yours.”
“Pa …”
“You are a warrior. You have become what you were always meant to be, my son. You fight for something bigger than yourself now. You … you will guide Rose all the way to the end. You will save Eppersett.”
“Pa …”
Rose crawled over, her face pale at the sight of Deedubs rocking from side to side, his teeth clenched in anguish. “It’s a … a good death,” he said. “I accept it.”
“No, you can’t,” Eo cried.
“I do. And so … so should you. Just … just do me one thing, Eo.”
“Anything, Pa.”
“Carry me back across the bridge. Let them know … Let them know I tried to make things right.”
“Pa, I need you, and stuft. I need you.”
“No, you don’t. Not anymore. I … I love you, my boy.”
Deedubs’s eyes opened impossibly wide, his mouth agape though no sound came. Eo dropped at his dead father’s side and wept. Rose, her heart unbearably heavy, put her arms around the two Cobberjacks, father and son, the living and the dead, and wept too.
It was Eo’s armor to take, and it fit him perfectly, locking around his neck and draping across his long back like a cape. It was as if it were made for him. The moment he grabbed it and put it on, a door opened in the floor, just behind Syedel’s skeleton, stairs that disappeared into the darkness below. Eo asked Rose to hold the armor so that he could carry his father’s body across his back and out of the labyrinth. Rose obliged, and together, they climbed down the stairs and made their way along a hallway that never offered any alternate paths, no sliding walls, no hidden creatures. It should have felt like a victory lap, but Deedubs’s death made it a funeral march.
Eventually, the hall led them all the way to the eight entrances of the labyrinth. There, they found the others waiting for them, and Rose was elated to see nobody else had suffered as Deedubs had, though they did look a little worse for wear—Coram’s new arm hung limp, Meadowrue was covered in bruises to the point she was almost completely purple, and Ridge had lost more than half his branches, thick wedges cleaved deep into his trunk as if something had attempted to chop him down, and more than two-thirds of his birds were gone. Apparently when the armor was found, doors were opened leading them out as well.
The looks on their faces seeing Deedubs’s body were something Rose would never forget. It was such a raw and powerful thing to witness. Ridge was openly weeping, and Coram couldn’t stop rubbing his hand along the fallen Cobberjack’s neck, stating how he didn’t get to say goodbye, how he never told Deedubs how much he respected him. Meadowrue couldn’t even bear to look his way; she turned around almost immediately, her head down, her fists clenched. As Rose looked on, she felt strangely connected to them. Death had the ability to both push and pull.
Orange Blossom sat on her shoulder, nuzzling against her neck. Three times she tried returning the animal to its home in the labyrinth, but the creature wouldn’t leave, and this cheered Rose u
p some. She had always wanted a pet, and right now she could definitely use one.
When the group was ready to depart, the Minotaurs blocked their path, their axes coming down before Rose. “You have the armor,” one said. “The labyrinth belongs to you now.”
Rose shook her head and nodded toward Eo. “No. It’s his. He defeated Kilsun.”
The Minotaurs turned, their bodies straightening. They dropped to their knees before Eo. “We are yours to command. By right, you can do what you wish with the labyrinth. Tell us, and it will be done. Anything.”
Eo gave a quick glance to Rose, who nodded at him.
Without glancing back at the doors, he said, “Um, tear it down and stuft. Tear it all down.”
The Minotaurs looked puzzled, even a little saddened. “But … but what about us?”
“You’re free,” Eo said.
The Minotaurs nodded, saying his will would be carried out. Before Rose even made it up the stairs to the castle, she could already hear them chopping away at the walls with their axes.
As Eo carried his father through the crowds, the reaction on Lemonwyll Bridge was immediate. Everyone paid close attention, coming to a standstill in the middle of every street as they passed. Once the shock and whispers subsided, once the truth had spread, heads were bowed. Some onlookers even took to their knees. Through it all, Rose noticed Eo’s eyes welling up. She noticed how, even under the strain, his stride straightened, his chin raising to the sky. He radiated pride.
Eo found a space along the river’s edge, just beneath where the bridge began to rise, and started to dig. He refused any help, his paws tearing at the ground at a feverish pace. When he was done with the hole, he placed his father in, the body practically falling apart at the touch. After sealing the grave, as everyone gathered around, he said a few words.
“Um, I know how my pa was, and stuft. How he could be real hard and mean. He wasn’t always the nicest, even to me. But he lived a hard life, with a lot of hard lessons thrown at him. And he wanted to pass those lessons on to me in a hard way, but nothing like what he experienced. I could always feel him holding back, and stuft. I know I never lived up to my pa’s expectations, and stuft. But that doesn’t mean I’m out of time. I’m going to see this through to the end. I promise him that much.”
Rose Coffin Page 12
