by Lou Anders
“Can’t you?” said Thianna. “When every citizen is a soldier and every soldier works to keep Thica under Caldera’s thumb? How can I be proud of my human half if this is what I am?”
“You do the best you can for yourself,” said the elf. “You do what you know is right.”
“But what if I don’t know what right is?” said Thianna. “What’s right about my coming here a stranger and turning everything on its ear?”
“You don’t like bullies,” said Desstra. “You know that.”
There was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Thianna called.
Daphne stepped into the room.
“The council want to speak with you now,” said the dryad.
“They’re going to help us?” Thianna asked.
“I don’t know,” Daphne replied. “Only that I am supposed to fetch you.”
She led them through the city to the glen where the ring of hamadryads stood. Once again their branches were clustered with interested citizens who wanted to see the spectacle of the frost giant and the dark elf.
“I hope we don’t have to fight anybody this time,” Desstra muttered under her breath as they stepped into the circle of trees.
“Welcome to the Council of Elders this morning, Thianna,” said the same hamadryad who had addressed them the day before. Thianna guessed that it was the spokesperson for the group. She nodded.
“You’ve considered my suggestion?”
“We have,” the hamadryad replied.
“And you’ll rise up and help me fight the Calderans?”
The hamadryad shook its branches. “We cannot help you now.”
“But you know I won’t side with them,” protested Thianna. “You know the Hatching is coming. I can help you be free!”
“Free from fire that falls from the sky?” asked the hamadryad. “But patience—I have not said that we will not help you. Only that we will not help you now.”
“What do you mean?” Desstra asked.
“Dendronos cannot be the only city to rise up. We would suffer too heavily in such a fight while others hung back and awaited the outcome.”
“But if we can get others?”
The hamadryad smiled.
“If you can convince other cities to join in this battle, then Dendronos will fight as well.”
Thianna looked at Desstra, then back to the hamadryad.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” she said, “but we don’t exactly have a lot of time here.”
The hamadryad held up a hand to forestall her.
“The minotaurs of Labyrinthia are the most capable warriors. They are also the most stubborn. If King Asterion could be convinced to join your crusade, other cities would follow. Persuade Labyrinthia to join the fight and the dryads and drus of Dendronos will take up your cause as well.”
“How are we supposed to do that?” asked the giantess. “How do we even get there in time?”
“How you change the minotaur’s mind, I cannot say,” the spokesperson replied, “but as to how you get there, we have a hamadryad in the palace gardens at the heart of Labyrinthia.”
“You have a spy!” exclaimed Desstra. “Like the one in Caldera.”
The hamadryad smiled sadly.
“It was not always so. Once we called them ambassadors. But times change.” It motioned with a branch and Daphne stepped forward.
“This one will accompany you,” said the spokesperson. “She will guide you to Labyrinthia and return to us with news of your success or failure.”
“I will?” asked Daphne uncertainly. The little dryad didn’t look thrilled with the prospect of more adventure. The hamadryad coughed. “Oh, I mean I will,” Daphne amended.
—
Thianna and her companions were preparing to depart. The hamadryads had equipped them with food and other necessities. Everything was loaded into backpacks made of woven grasses.
The frost giant took stock of their supplies. She held out a pouch full of strange, pebblelike objects. They were yellow, transparent, and droplet-shaped.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“We call it the Tears of Dendronos,” Daphne explained. “It’s resin from the mastic tree.”
“What do I want with tree resin?”
“It’s a gum. For chewing,” the dryad said. “It tastes good. And you use it to freshen your breath.”
“My breath smells as fresh as my feet, tree girl.”
“That might be her point,” said Desstra, joining them.
“Give it a try,” urged Daphne.
Thianna was skeptical, but she placed the resin droplet into her mouth. Daphne nodded encouragingly. After a few bites, the gum began to soften as she chewed. The flavor was a not-unpleasant pinelike taste.
“Well?” the dryad asked.
“Not bad,” Thianna confessed. “Not that I am admitting I need it or anything.”
“Of course not.” Daphne offered a piece to the elf.
“No offense,” said Desstra, “but that looks like something that fell from your nose.”
The dryad looked hurt.
“Maybe Karn will like it,” Desstra added.
“If we find him,” said Thianna. “Which we will.”
The girls were taking their leave of the Council of Elders when a young drus broke through into the glade.
“They’re coming!” he cried. He had been running hard and was panting.
“Who are coming?” asked a hamadryad.
“From the skies.” He pointed.
A shadow fell across the grass.
Three wyverns descended. Sirena rode on one, flanked by two soldiers. As they touched down in the glen, the hamadryads became still and silent. For all the newcomers knew, they were simply a ring of trees.
“Good to see you, cousin,” said Thianna sarcastically.
“No more playing around, cousin,” Sirena replied. “You will come back with me to Caldera now.”
“And if I have other plans?”
Sirena gestured to the woman on her right. The soldier leveled her fire lance and shot a burst of flame at a tree beside the giantess.
The hamadryad shrieked and beat at the fires with its branches. A drus ran forward to toss sand on it.
“The tree—” said the woman. “It talked!”
“It screamed!” said the other soldier.
Before Sirena could react, a hamadryad behind her party sprang to life. It reached out long limbs and plucked the offending soldier off her mount. The woman hollered, kicking and squirming. A door to the Greenways opened in the hamadryad’s trunk and it shoved the protesting soldier inside. Her screams cut off abruptly as the door closed. The green glow ceased as the bark sealed.
Thianna took advantage of the confusion to rush Sirena. She didn’t attack the girl, however, but put her shoulder to her mount’s torso and heaved.
Sorry about this, she thought to the reptile.
Then she upended the wyvern, dumping Sirena to the grass. The Calderan had to roll away to avoid being trapped beneath her own mount as it tumbled over.
The remaining soldier leveled her fire lance, then yelled as it was jerked from her hands on a spool of spider silk.
“Told you this stuff would come in handy,” said Desstra.
Then the soldier was lifted into the air and tossed into a door in another hamadryad. It didn’t stop with the soldier but grasped the wyvern by the tail and dragged it into its trunk. The beast was slightly too large for the opening, but the tree pushed and prodded.
“I can’t believe I ate the whole thing,” it said with a wink.
Then the hamadryads stuffed the remaining wyverns into doorways.
Sirena witnessed this in horror, then suddenly realized she was the only Calderan left. She made to bolt from the clearing, but she was snatched up in a branch.
“Don’t hurt her!” Thianna called, but her cousin was hurled through a doorway just as her soldiers had been. Her shouts of protest vanished as the
doorway closed.
Thianna stood staring at the glen. One minute there had been Calderan soldiers there. The next they were gone, as if they never were.
“Time is now of the urgency,” said a hamadryad. “Or so it would seem.” It opened a door in its trunk. “Go now.”
“Hold on a moment,” said Thianna. “Didn’t you just stuff the soldiers in there?”
“Different pathways lead to different places,” the hamadryad explained. “Do not worry for them. They will be unharmed. Though they will find themselves somewhere they did not expect to be.” It pointed at the glowing hole in its own trunk. “Now go. You must bring Labyrinthia to your cause before news of our actions reaches the capital. We will be punished severely for this. You are now our only hope, Thianna Frostborn.”
Thianna nodded. “Ready, Daphne?” she said.
“No,” said the dryad. “Of course not. But let’s go.”
Thianna grinned. Beside her Desstra rewound her spider silk.
“You know I’m ready,” the elf said.
The three girls entered the Greenways, leaving Dendronos behind.
Karn was having a hard time avoiding looking at the walls. The labyrinthine mosaic ran throughout this room as well. It still gave him a headache, though he appreciated the craftsmanship in its design. But like everything else in Labyrinthia, it was meant for minotaurs and not outsiders.
“I wish there was something to eat other than wheat,” he said aloud. He had passed the night in very nice quarters. That is, if you were a minotaur. Karn was lying on a large pile of straw, which was set beneath a four-poster canopy. He did have to admit, it was the freshest, cleanest straw he’d ever seen, though he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to sleep in it or eat it for the day meal. Probably both.
The door to their room opened. Asterius barged in, snorting and pawing the ground in agitation. The bull boy was clearly in a huff. Karn looked at him expectantly. He noticed that Asterius had a large pack over his shoulder.
“I—” Asterius began. “Well, I—look, this is hard for me to say, but I’m sorry. Okay? I thought my father would help us. I don’t understand why he won’t fight the Calderans. I know he wants to.”
“He has to think about his city,” said Karn. “I’m sure he will stand up for Labyrinthia when he feels the time is right.”
Asterius swished his tail, knocking a vase from a nearby stand. It crashed on the ground.
“The time is now,” he said adamantly. “Only he doesn’t see it.” He stopped pacing and unshouldered his pack. “I’m to be sent back to Caldera. He’s hoping it will buy him more time.”
“I’m sorry,” said Karn. Then he added, “What about me?”
“He hasn’t decided.” Asterius looked miserable. “He may send you back as well. Or he may decide to do away with you and pretend you never came here.”
“Do away with me how?” said Karn in alarm.
“Don’t worry,” Asterius said. “I’m going to get you out of here.”
The minotaur tore open his pack and pulled out an oversize helmet. Cattle horns had been fixed to the sides. “Here,” he said, handing Karn the odd headgear. “Put this on.”
Karn looked at the strange helmet.
“Who wears horns on their head?” he said. He glanced apologetically at the minotaur. “I mean, if they don’t grow there naturally.” It didn’t seem to make good sense. “An opponent could grab the horn and pull the helmet over your eyes or expose your neck for the stroke of an ax.”
“You don’t have to fight in it,” said Asterius. “I’m trying to disguise you to look like a minotaur.”
Karn was skeptical, but he donned the unwieldy headgear. He walked to a dresser, where a highly polished shield of white steel served as a mirror. He gazed at his distorted reflection.
“This looks ridiculous,” he said. “It’s not going to fool anybody.”
“Just keep your head down,” said the bull boy. “Hopefully nobody will pay attention. If I can get you to the hippalektryons, you can be miles away before anyone notices you are gone.”
“What about you? Aren’t you coming with me?”
Asterius shook his head.
“What is the point? I thought my father would rise up. If he’s not going to, I might as well be a prisoner on a mountaintop as anything.” The minotaur stamped a hoof in frustration, then flung open the door. “Let’s not stand here chewing our cud,” he said. “Let’s move.”
Asterius led them out into the corridor, choosing back passageways through the palace.
“My father is a brave man,” he said softly to himself. “A brave man.”
Karn left him alone in his thoughts for a bit, but after a while he couldn’t keep quiet.
“I feel stupid,” he said. He was trying and failing to keep his head still. The oversize helmet was a loose fit and every single movement sent it sliding. At present, the horns had slipped halfway around. If anyone was observing him and genuinely thought he was a minotaur, it would appear that he had one horn growing from out of his forehead and the other from the back of his skull.
Asterius sighed and adjusted Karn’s helmet.
“You’re supposed to be a minotaur, not a unicorn,” he said.
“Don’t you think I know that?” said Karn. Then he added, “Not that I know what a unicorn is.”
“Stop complaining,” said Asterius. “At least I’m getting you out of here. And I’d like to see you do better on short notice.”
The two companions exited the palace and began working their way through a garden outside. Predictably, it was a hedge maze. The tall shrubs kept them from seeing anything but the path in front of them, but at least it hid all but their horns from passersby. Regardless Karn grumbled at what felt like a ridiculous waste of time. All the twists and turns and doubling back wasn’t putting enough distance between them and their captors, but Asterius swore that he had chosen the least conspicuous way for them to depart. And Karn was grateful to the minotaur, who negotiated the maze effortlessly. If Asterius weren’t guiding them, he was sure that he would be hopelessly lost.
Eventually they stepped from the hedge maze onto the streets of Labyrinthia. An orderly row of trees marked the gate where they emerged, but across from where they stood they saw the familiar city walls with its houses, shops, and eateries hanging from the ramparts.
Unfortunately, a squadron of soldiers stood atop the wall gazing down at them. King Asterion glared at them from their midst.
“Son,” said the minotaur ruler, “I am very disappointed in you.”
“Father—I—”
“Get up here now!” roared the king. A stairway lowered.
“I tried,” said Asterius. Head hanging, he trotted up the stairs to join his father. The king snorted at him, then turned his attention to Karn.
“You’re in a difficult situation, wouldn’t you say?” said the king.
Karn opened his mouth to answer, but at that very moment one of the trees by the gate suddenly began to glow around its midsection. A doorway opened in its trunk and a frost giant stumbled out.
“Thianna!” Karn exclaimed, rushing to his best friend’s side. The giantess’s face lit up when she saw him. She grabbed Karn in a bear hug.
“Ribs—easy,” he gasped. But he was smiling as broadly as she was. Gradually each let go of the other. Thianna looked around her to see where she was, but Karn was noticing the glowing green hole in the trunk she had so recently vacated.
“You, um, you came out of a tree,” he said.
“Surprised you, didn’t it?” she replied, smiling. “Actually, it’s a hamadryad, but I’ll explain what that is later. We’ve been to Dendronos.”
“We?” Karn asked hopefully. “Is Desstra with you?”
“Here I am,” said the elf, stepping from the Greenway. She held up a small pouch. “And look, we’ve brought gum.”
Karn didn’t know what gum meant, but he laughed, relieved to see that she was all right. Then he noticed the b
ark-skinned girl climbing from the tree. She was blinking brown eyes and gaping at the walls around her from under leafy bangs.
“Who is that?” he asked.
“Daphne,” said Thianna. “She’s a dryad. They’re like little hamadryads that aren’t planted in one spot.”
“There’s more to it than that,” objected Daphne.
“Anyway,” said Thianna with a shrug. “She’s been helping us. She saved me, actually.”
Karn gave the dryad a quick wave of thanks.
“I’m glad we’re back together,” he said.
“So am I,” Thianna replied.
“This is all very touching,” shouted King Asterion, who until this point had been watching the conversation with a look of amusement on his face, “but if your reunion is over, perhaps we can get on with the matter of your recapture?”
Thianna looked up for the first time at the king and his retinue of soldiers.
“You remember Asterion, king of the minotaurs?” said Karn.
Thianna nodded.
“What’s he want?”
“He’s been keeping us prisoner, trying to work out whether to kill us and cover it up or hand us back over to the two queens.”
“I see you’ve been having as much fun as we have,” said the giantess. She shouted to the king. “I have a message for you, Asterion!” she said. “The Council of Elders in Dendronos say they will join our rebellion if Labyrinthia does as well.”
“What’s this?” said Karn beside her. “I leave you alone for two days and you start a revolution!”
“Imagine what could have happened if we’d stayed away a week,” said Desstra, stepping up beside them.
Above them King Asterion was considering Thianna’s words, rubbing his chin with a large fist and swishing his tail.
“What do you say?” Thianna called to him.
“Father?” Asterius said hopefully.
“Bah!” roared the minotaur. “It’s a ploy. Some trap of the tree folk.”
“How can it be a trap?” asked the frost giant.
“The Dendronosi are timid, careful people. Vegetables can play a long game, after all. They want to trick us into attacking first, let Labyrinthia suffer the brunt of Caldera’s retaliation, then come into the fight to mop up the survivors.”
