by Mark Robson
For what seemed like an eternity they stayed that way. Frozen. Suspended in a whirling dance of deadly peril. How long they had been standing when she first felt the shift, Kira could not tell. The withdrawal was so gradual that she was not sure it was really happening. The relief, when Fang confirmed it, was immense.
‘They are pulling back,’ he said. ‘Remain still. We should be able to move again soon.’
Time seemed to flow with the reluctance of chilled treacle. When Fang finally said they could move forwards again, Kira realised she had no idea if one minute or a dozen had passed since the shadow demons had begun to pull away.
‘Let’s take it one step at a time,’ he said. ‘Make no sudden movements. Keep everything slow. Once we’ve crossed the threshold we should be safe. The creatures do not like to be inside.’
‘Safe from them,’ Kira amended. ‘But who knows what awaits us inside? My hunter’s instinct is prickling. This place is full of danger.’
Fang did not respond, but she could feel through the bond that he shared her worries.
They moved forwards. Keeping her movements painfully slow, Kira raised her hand to comb the loose hairs from her face with her fingers. The relief she felt as she scratched her itching nose was heavenly.
Near the main doors into the keep, Kira spotted the remains of the night dragons. If Fang had not identified the bloody masses as draconic, Kira would have had difficulty in working out what she was looking at. There was very little left. Trails of dark blood streaked the stones where the carcasses had been dragged to their resting places under the sea-facing outer wall. Of the two riders, there was no sign. Kira did not want to think about what had happened to them, but she felt sure they were dead.
Step by step, the dragons and riders moved forwards towards the doors. Fang stopped everyone twice more before they reached the entrance, but each time Kira only counted a few heartbeats before they began moving again. The doors into the keep stood open. They were big enough for the dragons to pass inside in single file. Fang went first, followed closely by Firestorm. The riders went next, followed by Aurora, with Shadow bringing up the rear.
Once over the threshold, the dragons and their riders relaxed. The sense of relief was quickly replaced with one of amazement. The large entrance hall seemed far bigger than its true dimensions as the walls were all mirrored. Endless reflections ran outwards to infinity, making it seem as if an army of dragons was lined up ready for battle.
‘Strange,’ Kira commented. ‘Why would anyone want to mirror all the walls?’
‘I don’t know,’ Elian replied, his voice filled with wonder.
‘It’s a trap,’ Pell said bluntly, his knife drawn and his head turning slowly from side to side. ‘There’s no other reason I can see for it. I’ve heard of such places before. Mirrors can be made so they reflect on one side, but are as transparent as normal glass from the other. I sense we are being watched.’
‘Is he right?’ Kira asked Fang.
‘Maybe,’ her dragon replied. ‘I, too, feel we are being watched, but I cannot sense anyone hiding behind the glass.’
‘Well,’ Kira announced in a loud voice. ‘Watched, or not, we’re going to press on. If the orb is here, I’m not leaving without it.’
‘Aren’t we the feisty one?’ a voice boomed, echoing in the hallway.
As one, the riders and their dragons looked around, searching for the owner of the voice. There was no sign of him.
‘Come then,’ the voice continued. ‘Come and claim your precious orb. You do so at your peril.’
‘Who are you?’ Pell called, his words sounding thin and powerless by comparison. ‘Show yourself.’
The voice did not answer. Nothing moved. All was silent again.
‘It seems you were right about our being watched,’ Kira observed, glancing at Pell and raising one eyebrow as she scanned the myriad reflections for anything that might hint at the location of the hidden speaker. ‘At least he’s confirmed we’re in the right place. Let’s keep moving, but we’d better take it slowly and carefully.’
Fang and Firestorm moved forwards along the hallway towards the far end. Their reflections approached them from the opposite direction. At first it seemed the hall was a dead end, but as they neared the far wall it became apparent that there was another mirrored hallway leading off to the right. Fang turned into the new passageway.
It was darker in the side hall and narrower. With the two dragons ahead of them the riders could not see to the far end. The reflections on the sidewalls no longer echoed true images of the group, but twisted and distorted them in bizarre ways.
As Pell entered there was a whispering swish, followed by a very loud thunk, and all light was abruptly shut off.
‘What was that?’ Kira asked, her heart fluttering as she felt Nolita grab her hand in the pitch blackness. She gave her companion’s hand a comforting squeeze. ‘What happened?’
‘Ra says another mirror dropped from the roof and sealed the entrance,’ Elian said, his voice remarkably calm. ‘She and Shadow cannot follow us.’
‘But it’s only glass!’ Kira said, exasperated. ‘Let’s all move forwards so she can break through.’
‘That was my first thought as well, but apparently she can’t. She says the mirror has been coated with dragonsbane. She can’t even get close to it.’
‘Dragonsbane?’ she asked, addressing Fang through their bond. ‘What’s dragonsbane?’
‘It’s a particularly nasty poison,’ Fang replied, his voice strangely subdued. ‘It is harmless to humans, but to dragons it represents a terrible danger. Shadow and Aurora must not get close to the mirror, or they risk a horrible death.’
‘If this stuff is so deadly to dragons, why don’t dragonhunters use it?’ Kira asked. ‘Surely dragon-hunting would become a whole lot safer for them if they did.’
‘Dragonhunters know nothing of it,’ Fang replied. ‘Dragons have kept the secret of dragonsbane for millennia. And even if they did know, they would not use it.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because a dragon that is poisoned with dragonsbane does not just die, it dissolves,’ Fang explained. ‘The hunter would have nothing to show for his victory. Even the dragon’s bones lose their integrity and become useless mush. Dragonhunters rarely hunt just to make a kill. Most hunt for the gold. There would be little profit in killing dragons by use of dragonsbane.’
‘Well someone has learned the secret,’ Kira observed. ‘Why do I get the feeling that the owner of that voice is toying with us?’ she added aloud.
Golden light suddenly filled the mirrored hall, causing their twisted reflections to leap into life. Firestorm was breathing out a gentle flame.
‘If he is, then he’ll regret it,’ Pell said, his tone cold.
Firestorm kept the flame going for some time before he stopped to draw breath. The reflections leered and gawped at them from both sides with impossible faces.
‘We’d better keep moving,’ Elian said. ‘Ra says that she and Shadow will wait for us in the main entrance hall, but she wants to be out of there before nightfall. The shadow demons are at their most dangerous in the dark.’
‘Can you move forwards, Fang?’ Kira asked, speaking aloud for the benefit of the other riders.
‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘I think the hallway widens ahead. It might be better for Fire to lead, as he is the only one who can light the way.’
The dragons moved forwards so Firestorm could squeeze past Fang and take the lead. Fang let the riders pass him as well to restore the protection of a dragon in the lead and at the rear. Firestorm moved with great care, keeping his flaming breath alight for as long as possible. Before taking each step, he made a close inspection of the ground, walls and ceiling, looking for further traps. It was slow going, but little by little they progressed, following the hallway around to the left and then to the right.
Pell began to get frustrated. If given a choice, Kira felt sure he would gladly run the gauntlet of the m
irrored corridors, gambling on his speed and strength rather than using the wits of those around him. He was a person of action who could not stand delay. She noticed him first begin drumming his fingers on his thighs and then bunching the muscles at his jaw as he gritted his teeth behind taut lips. Next the grumbling began. At first his muttering and mumbling was unintelligible, but gradually Kira began to pick up on snippets. When they reached the junction she was not surprised to see his patience dissolve completely.
‘It’s a simple choice!’ he snapped. ‘Turn left. Turn right. It doesn’t matter which. Just choose one and be done with it!’
The mirrored hall had met another at a T-shaped intersection. Fire stopped to allow the riders a view of the options before turning.
‘Not so fast, Pell,’ Elian said, his eyes narrowed with thought. ‘We should set a marker here. This has all the makings of a maze. Let’s not get lost before we begin. Have we got any way of marking our path?’
‘Hunters in my tribe normally arrange sticks on the floor in patterns to leave a trail,’ Kira said thoughtfully.
‘Genius!’ Pell scoffed. ‘And this place is littered with them, of course.’
Kira ignored him. ‘We could use the same patterns but by scratching the mirrors with a knife. Here let me try. Let’s start by going left.’
She drew her knife and moved to the mirror facing them at the head of the T. The point of the blade made a horrible noise as she carved her symbol into the glass. It was a blend of grinding and screeching that set teeth on edge and shivers racing up and down spines.
‘Nice!’ Pell commented. No one responded to his provocative tone.
Once Kira was content with her marking, Firestorm took the left path and set off again. The going was slow. The passage twisted and turned, but soon they met another T junction. As they approached it, Kira heard Nolita gasp and the blonde girl’s hand tightened around her own.
‘Kira!’ she said urgently. ‘Fire wants you to move to the front. He says there’s something you need to see.’
Kira was surprised. Why had Firestorm specifically asked for her? She gave Nolita’s hand a squeeze and then made her way around the bulk of Firestorm to the front. It took a moment for her to notice what had stopped the dragon in its tracks. When she saw it her jaw dropped and she looked around in amazement.
‘But . . . but that’s impossible!’ she exclaimed.
Chapter Twenty-three
The Impossible Maze
‘Elian, Pell, Nolita – come and look at this!’ Kira called, her mind reeling.
Her three companions came running. Firestorm’s fiery breath ran out just as they arrived. All plunged into darkness as he drew in another. His fresh exhalation lit the mirrored hall again. Kira pointed at the scratched symbol on the mirror.
‘Look!’
‘So you drew another symbol!’ Pell said sarcastically. ‘So what?’
‘That’s just it,’ Kira said softly. ‘I didn’t draw another symbol. That’s the one I did last time.’
‘It can’t be,’ Elian replied, shaking his head. ‘That means we just walked a loop, but the first time we approached a T-junction we came along a passage with no other turnings. At least, I didn’t see any. Firestorm was careful. He would have stopped us if there had been a junction.’
‘I know it makes no sense,’ Kira admitted. ‘But somehow we’ve come in a circle.’
‘Maybe someone else is in here,’ Pell suggested. ‘The owner of the voice, perhaps. Maybe he saw the symbol you drew and copied it deliberately to confuse us.’
‘If he did, then he’s got an uncanny eye for detail.’ Kira pointed at a point on the symbol. ‘See here. I slipped slightly with the knife tip as I drew this bit. It would take amazing control to replicate that.’
‘Well, let’s not get tied up in knots over it,’ Pell said firmly. ‘Assume for now that turning left does lead in a loop. That still leaves the passageway to the right.’
Kira nodded. She took out her knife and added a couple of extra scratches to her symbol on the mirror, annotating the second direction. The riders moved back behind Firestorm and once again let him lead them slowly forwards, this time taking the other passageway. Several minutes passed as they carefully followed this second mirrored corridor through a convoluted series of turns.
Again Firestorm stopped when they reached a T-junction.
‘Fire says there’s a symbol scratched on the mirror ahead,’ Nolita said, her voice worried.
‘Let me see,’ Kira demanded, pushing her way around Firestorm until she could see the mirror at the head of the T. Her expression hardened as she reached it. ‘Someone’s playing games with us,’ she said coldly. There’s no way that both left and right passageways can loop back here without there being another junction. It’s simply impossible. Is there room for the dragons to swap around? I’d like to try reversing our direction and seeing where that takes us.’
Firestorm moved into the passageway to the left, while Fang went into the passageway to the right. Fire then backed up and headed back the way they had just come. The riders followed, with Fang at the rear again. A couple of minutes later they reached the same T-junction with the scratched mirror directly ahead of them.
‘Now that really is weird!’ Elian said, his voice sounding hollow and worried.
Pell scowled and Kira could see that Nolita was shaking. Kira said nothing. She was desperately trying to think of an explanation, but the mirrored passageways defied logic. The entrance from the hall of mirrors had sealed behind them. It should now be a dead end, yet all routes in this series of mirrored hallways appeared to lead to the same junction, each bringing them back to the same scratched mirror from the same direction without even a hint of another junction in sight.
Reaching through the bond, Kira sensed the mirrored passageways had Fang equally vexed. It was the first time that she had felt confusion in her dragon’s mind since she had met him, but to her surprise there were no parallel feelings of worry. The dusk dragon was more intrigued than concerned. He liked puzzles and she sensed he found this to be a particularly good one.
‘What do you think, Fang?’ she asked.
‘I think whoever built this place was uncommonly clever,’ Fang replied, dodging the real question. ‘I have a couple of potential theories, but nothing I would like to wager on yet.’
‘Do dragons wager?’ she asked. ‘I’ve never heard that before.’
‘There is a lot you do not know about dragons, Kira,’ he replied. ‘But you are learning – slowly. I would like to test something. We have encountered nothing harmful in the hallways, so I feel this has been designed as a containment trap. Assuming this is true, I’d like to send half of the party in one direction, while the other half go a different way. I know one group will be without light, but I suspect this will not be for long.’
Kira did not like the idea of splitting up. They were already separated from Shadow and Aurora. The mirrors were hiding something sinister. She had the distinct feeling that they were not alone. Would they meet the owner of the voice if they did as Fang suggested? Although she felt uncomfortable with it, she knew they had to do something.
‘Fang says we should split up and try both left and right at the same time,’ she told the others.
‘What good will that do?’ asked Pell.
‘It will show us where the two passageways meet,’ Elian answered quickly. ‘Of course one team will have to walk the passages in the dark.’
‘Fang doesn’t think anyone will be in the dark for long,’ Kira said.
‘And can you explain why he thinks this is the case?’ Pell looked sceptical.
‘He didn’t tell me,’ she answered. ‘But he does have a theory about what’s going on.’
‘Is it magic?’ asked Nolita, her voice shaking almost as much as her body. ‘Has someone put a spell on this place?’
Kira relayed the question to Fang.
‘There is no magic at work here,’ he said confidently. ‘Dra
gons are both sensitive to, and immune to the effects of, magic. No. There is a logical explanation to these looping passageways. I’ve asked Fire to take the left passage. Please tell Nolita and Elian to go with him. We’ll take the right passage with Pell. Tell the others to tread lightly and listen very carefully as they go.’
Kira did as she was told. Nolita looked relieved and flashed Elian a grateful smile as he caught hold of her hand and led her after Firestorm, who was already beginning to move slowly along the left passageway. Pell’s expression was unreadable as he waited with Kira for Fang to lead the way into the passageway to the right. Kira was glad when Fire’s light faded behind them, as the darkness provided a retreat from Pell’s intense stare.
Fang moved ahead of them remarkably quietly for a creature so large. His talons made barely any sound on the stone floors. Kira made a fascinating discovery in the dark. She found she had developed something of a sixth sense. If she concentrated hard, she could feel exactly where Fang was at all times. The occasional click of his talons on the stone helped, but there was more to it than hearing. It was almost like seeing him, but in her mind, rather than with her eyes. On several occasions she reached out and found the tip of his tail exactly where she expected it to be. It was very comforting.
Pell did not share the silent attributes of his dragon, Shadow. He blundered along, his breathing loud and his footfalls easy to pick out. When Kira first heard the whispering noise she thought it must be some sort of echo. It was only after hearing it for the third or fourth time that she became certain that the noise was coming from ahead, rather than being reflected.
‘What is that?’ she asked Fang silently.
‘It is the corridor ahead,’ he answered cryptically.
‘The corridor?’
‘Yes. I’ll explain when we meet up with the others.’
Soon a faint glow became visible ahead. It reflected along the corridor, the light bouncing from mirror to mirror. Fang increased his pace and caught up with Firestorm, Elian and Nolita as they reached the same T-junction again. There were no other junctions.
