Labyrinth of Souls

by C. E. Dorsett

  Jodhaa was anything, but a lost puppy. She carried herself with so much pride and self-assurance.

  Something pulled Raih to Jodhaa like a hook behind her navel.

  Jodhaa stood with the confidence Raih always wished she had. Maybe the powers that be brought them together to pull them out of their shells a bit. What strange fate bound them together? It would be rude to imagine she was part of the test, wouldn’t it?

  Raih looked away from Jodhaa’s eyes and surveyed the cave.

  Quite a few openings covered the walls, each one like a toothy mouth of the cave’s formations. None of them stood out as anything special. A lot of dark spots dotted the walls, leading in every direction. It was hard to pick a direction since no one had told her what they were looking for. She assumed they sought the center. After all, the heart was the goal of most labyrinths. Since so much magic infused this one, the solution was probably more esoteric. It would take a couple days to to check every passage.

  “We need to start a fire.” Jodhaa said somewhere behind her.

  Raih jump at the breach of the silence.

  “Why?” Raih asked.

  “We can use the smoke to look for a draft.” Jodhaa walked around looking at the ground for something. “It's like that time my father and I got lost in the ruins of Ertnii Khaad.”

  “The ruins of what?” Raih shuffled her feet, and cast her eyes to the ground to scan for wood, plant matter, or anything that would burn. Her face warmed. She wished she had kept the remnant of her skirt. It would have worked. If she ripped more off, it wouldn’t cover enough.

  “My father used to take me to ruins all over the world,” Jodhaa said, “We were looking for artifacts and relics. A couple of years ago, we went to the ruins of Ertnii Khaad.”

  “Where?” Raih flipped over a stone for some dried leaves, but it was just a strange patch of soil. “I’m not familiar with a lot of history.” Her face warmed again.

  “Not many are these days.” Jodhaa chortled. “Ertnii Khaad was a prominent city in Ashkelon long ago. My father says it used to be called the pearl of desert. After about a week, we found the royal burial catacombs. We followed the twists and turns and marked every choice we made. Somehow, we got lost. We found some old wood, and father started a fire to follow the smoke. It showed us the currents between the inlets and outlets.”

  Raih’s chest tightened. Her parents died before they made any trips like that or anything else. They didn't have a lot of money, so odds were against it ever happening, but she wished they had... lived long enough to make more memories. She didn't know if her parents cared about history or not. Most of her childhood memories had faded over the years. Those were hard times. Food was a luxury. Her parents were poor, like she had always been, at least until she had moved in with Ema. She did have a lot of money, but she made every little thing stretch. At first, Raih thought it was some kind of magic, but it wasn’t. Ema had lived through the Sawyer War of Independence. The destruction and famine that ravaged her home taught her how to make do and fend for herself.

  Rocks and crystals of every description covered the cave floor, but they must have been too far underground to find wood, or any anything else flammable. She wondered if the trees around the pond would have worked. Everything in that room was so damp. Why worry about it now since she hadn't gathered any. Ema would have. She prepared for everything.

  “What did your father think about you coming to Sunsuulyn?” Raih asked, more because the silence bothered her than anything else.

  “He submitted my name to the Grandmaster,” Jodhaa said. Her voice carried a great weight and a touch of sorrow. “My family have attended Sunsuulyn for generations. I thought the fire would crack my stone, or shatter it. It didn't.”

  “Haven’t you studied magic before?” Raih wanted her to say no so she would feel less unprepared.

  “Yes and no.” Jodhaa’s voice cracked and trailed off.

  Vulnerability and pain filled her words. Raih turn to her.

  Jodhaa’s eyes glimmered with tears. Her nostrils flared, and she pressed her lips together so tight, her lips disappeared.

  “I’m sorry I asked.” Raih took a tentative step toward her.

  “It is a natural question.” Jodhaa said. She turned and looked straight into Raih’s eyes.

  Raih felt a strange kinship with her. She knew those eyes from the mirror. Eyes weighed down by unwanted memories as if the horrors they had seen scarred them in a way only visible from certain angles. No matter how different their lives had been, they shared in the world’s sorrows.

  “You see,” Jodhaa said, faintly, “My older brother, Jalal, was set to take over the family business, but that will not happen now. So, the honor falls to me.” Her voice twisted when she said honor like the word bled from a recent wound, somewhere between sorrow and disgust.

  Raih wanted to ask what happened to her brother to change those plans, but that would be too forward. The story unfolded in her eyes, like a film projected on glass. The ghosts of her past clouded her vision, and Raih knew that state all too well. She wanted to look away from the voyeuristic lock they shared, but couldn’t. Their connection was a lifeline, and Raih had to keep Jodhaa from sinking below the waves.

  “I miss Jalal so much,” Jodhaa broke the long silence. “He and I used to do almost everything together. If... I can’t help but wonder what advice he would have given me to get through this. He told me everything.”

  Was that a subtle hint for her to ask more about him? Jalal’s memory hurt her. She stepped closer to Jodhaa. Finally, she said, “It sounds like the two of you were close.”

  Jodhaa stood up straight and smiled weakly, “He was my partner in crime, until Khevtej Naiz killed him.” Tears threatened to escape her eyes, but they shimmered in the crystal light. “And I couldn’t stop him.”

  Raih walked over to Jodhaa and put her arm around her. “How could you?”

  “I was there.” Jodhaa hissed. “I was in the room. I saw him draw the blade. I shouted and ran toward him... I wasn’t fast enough to stop him. A second sooner, a step faster, and I would have knocked the blade from his hand, or at the least knocked him back. But I was too slow, and my beloved brother took a dagger to the heart. I pounced on Naiz and nearly beat the life out of him before anyone else got there. I should have killed him, offered him to Sister Death in exchange for my brother. Little Sister doesn't bargain though.”

  Raih could feel Jodhaa’s body vibrating with rage.

  “We took him before the Eternal Padishah,” Jodhaa continued. “He ordered the murderer bound hand to foot and cast before the Ember Throne. That is not a metaphor.” She looked into Raih’s eyes, “The Eternal Padishah Tian Kehan sits on an ever burning throne whose flames of justice cannot be quenched. I will never forget the sound of Naiz’s screams as the flesh burned from his bones at the feet of the Just Khagan. It was better than he deserved. The flames burned black as his soul fell into hell. May his torments be everlasting.” Cruelty covered her face.

  Raih lips trembled and all the warmth left her body. She had heard legends of the Eternal Padishah, but he was a myth, as boogie man used to instill fear into street rats like her. Be careful, or face the Eternal Padishah’s justice. She never believed the stories, but Jodhaa’s rage was real, and she did.

  “And that is how we came to meet,” Raih said, hoping to lighten the mood.

  Jodhaa’s face softened, and she smiled dimly. “Bless the Eternals, that is how I came here to meet you.”

  Unsure what else to say, Raih patted Jodhaa on the shoulder and resumed her search for something to make smoke.

  Hours passed, and they found nothing.

  After a while, they decided it was time to sleep. They debated if one of them should keep watch while the other one slept.

  Jodhaa said she knew a ward she could cast to alert them if anyone or anything approached, and after surrounding the little patch of flat gray dirt, they laid down to sleep.

  Raih awoke with
a soft velveteen ball in her arms. Min Min nestled tight up against her chest with her wings shading her face from the crystal light. Raih stroked the Seiryu’s cheek. She didn’t dream or have nightmares, but she didn’t rest well.

  Her whole life was twisted inside out. Grandmaster Cacuun sent her into the labyrinth to find something. What? She didn't know how to solve a mystery with no clues. He also said the spirits would provide, but they hadn't given her anything, unless you counted Jodhaa and Min Min. Did she even belong in the school?

  I can’t think like that.

  Trust didn’t come easy after everything with her family. One time, her aunt screeched at her for not being properly attired. What did it matter? So she ran away, abandoning everything.

  The Diushi Forest sprawled between her aunt's and the town where she grew up. She avoided the road and traipsed off into the woods alone.

  I guess that was my first labyrinth.

  Late on the night she ran away, she encountered a strange creature. It looked like a cross between a fox and a cat with fur as silver as the moon. Its ears faded to a milk white. The strangest thing about the fox cat was the pale blue stone on the top of its head between its eyes and ears. When it caught her watching, it arched its back and its whole body trembled, but it didn’t run. They watched each other for a while. Then, the fox cat dug for something. Raih watched. She smiled. That night, frost marshaled in the air scouting locations to dig in before the morning sun forced it to retreat. She shivered harder than she ever had before or since, and that strange fox cat took pity on her. Slowly, it approached her until it hopped onto her lap. It was so warm in her arms. She felt at home.

  Min Min reminded her so much that strange creature. The coziness almost made her forget the hard dirt and stone floor she lay on.

  Min Min stirred and smiled up at her.

  Raih smiled back and scratched the top of her head.

  Min Min cooed a soft, happy song.

  Raih sat up cradling the seiryu in her lap.

  Jodhaa lay across from her, still sleeping.

  Someone in tattered robes sat across from her wearing a large conical hat covering their face.

  “Jodhaa,” Raih kept her voice calm, but forceful.

  Jodhaa awoke.

  Raih raised a single finger to point at the stranger.

  Jodhaa sat up and turned.

  The stranger looked more like a pile of rags with a yellow cone hat atop the heap to mark it for something.

  “Can we help you?” Jodhaa asked, sleep still warping her words.

  “I am not here for you.” The stranger's voice echoed into a space larger than the cave. It sounded more like a chorus than a person. It ranged from a high soprano to a low bass. Parts of it were distant, while others sounded so near, like a crowd of people scattered down a large, stone corridor speaking.

  “Then you are here for me?” Raih touched her chest and a cold ripple rolled over her.

  The stranger raised its head revealing its ghostly round chin and full lips curl in a half smile.

  Was this her test? She had heard stories about people facing sphinx’s riddles. If it were a riddle, what did it mean?

  “What do you want?” Please don’t answer. It cut through her like a hand playing a stringed instrument buried somewhere deep within her.

  The stranger lowered its head again, “You.” It spoke in that same ghastly voice.

  Raih shuttered at the reverberating inner chord. She stared at the odd heap of rags. What did it mean it was here for her? Was it the test or was it here to guide her to the test? The answer was clear before it spoke. The word hollowed her. Maybe that was the point. She had to figure out why it came for her. That could be the riddle.

  The stranger snickered. “O sweet dawn that wakes and sleeps, I sit before you in this sacred place in rags and ashes, but my eyes are keen and my claws are sharp. I saw you and caught you by night, but you cannot see. The glass is dark, and fear rules you.”

  “If you caught me,” Raih blurted out, “Then tell me, what is your name?”

  “I am Sathi to you.” The stranger said.

  That was too quick. After a cryptic riddle why would it say its name? There was a trick to the words. There had to be. Raih had never heard the name Sathi before, and from the look on Jodhaa’s face she hadn’t either. What manner of creature was this?

  The pile of rags ruffled like a light breeze passed through it. Something growled deep in the pile.

  Raih and Jodhaa jumped to their feet.

  Min Min flew off.

  Raih didn’t have a weapon. If Sathi attacked, she would have to run.

  The rags exploded into the air and frayed until they resembled a long, thick mane. A clawed paw struck out from the elongating mass of gray fur.

  Raih jumped back.

  Jodhaa rolled away to the side.

  An enormous smoky lion snarled at Raih, then roared.

  The cave shook.

  Dust and small rocks fell from the ceiling.

  Raih locked the muscles on it forearms. This was one of the worst places to fight. If she tried to run, there were so many ways to trip or twist an ankle. Her advantage was her size. She could slip between the stalagmites, but they would bar Sathi's path.

  The lion stared at her with its cold silver eyes.

  Every hair on Raih’s neck stood up.

  The beast lunged.

  Raih leapt behind a large stalagmite. Her skin crawled as the creature’s claws raked across the stone. She noticed Min Min flying towards one passage out of the chamber.

  Sathi’s footsteps pounded closer.

  Raih ran around the stalagmite for a rock outcropping towards the passage. She ducked behind the stone just as the claws flashed past her.

  Raih saw Jodhaa run to the same passage Min Min went through. She stopped at the threshold and chanted.

  Something Ema taught Raih flashed through her mind. Running through the cave, she kicked up as much dust and dirt as she could. She centered herself and imagined the dust was fog. Her skin tingled as she released her anxiety into the calm air. Imagining strings wrapped from her fingers into the fog, she threw her arms up.

  The dust rushed into the air. It swirled and flooded the chamber.

  Raih ducked to the left and hid behind a stalagmite. She took a deep breath and ran for the passage.

  Sathi roared, parting the dust.

  Jodhaa continued chanting at the threshold.

  Raih ran as fast as she could.

  She leapt over small pits and weaved between the stone spires.

  Sathi raged forward, smashing everything in her path.

  Raih ran past Jodhaa.

  Sathi snarled not far behind her.

  Jodhaa clapped her hands together high above her head and leapt backwards.

  A ball of lightning crackled to life in the threshold, sending arcs into the cave wall and ceiling.

  The rock exploded. The mouth of the passage collapsed.

  Sathi roared at the barrier.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Closer than Soul

  Jodhaa hit the cave floor hard. Dirt and rock fell around her. The mineral taste of the dust coated her mouth. Her arms hung from her shoulders like weights clung to her wrists. Lead filled her legs, and her heart pounded in her ears.

  The ashen lion roared in the distance, but the stone muffled its voice. The entrance must have collapsed. Horrid scraping sounds reverberated in the clouded air. Silence followed for a moment.

  The ground broke under a rage fueled roar loud enough to shake more dirt and small stones from the ceiling.

  Get up. She spent her energy on the lightning strike. Nothingness clawed at her mind. Her entire body wanted to sleep. She forced her palms flat on the ground and strained against inertia. She lifted herself and what felt like the whole cavern up, then scrambled to her feet. Her head swam in a delirious soup of spent energy. She forced one foot in front of the other and stood up and stumbled deeper into the dark cave passage as fast a
s her will pushed her.

  Jodhaa spit the dirt out. The mineral coating persisted, but she didn't want to spend the rest of her energy forcing grit out of her mouth.

  The silhouettes of Raih and her seiryu guided her forward.

  They didn’t come to my rescue. She studied their body language. Raih walked with her hands jammed into her armpits, glancing around the cave. She's never been randomly attacked before. I remember how disorienting that is. She's lost in her head.

  Jodhaa watched Raih’s progress down the tunnel. She didn’t know how to comfort her. Words didn't have the power to penetrate that whorl of confusion. Any action she took risked being misinterpreted.

  “I’m all right.” She called out in what she hoped was a positive tone, but her lack of energy made it hard to judge how successful she was.

  Raih nodded, or at the least her head bobbed.

  The seiryu flew back to Jodhaa, chirped in her face, and flew back to Raih’s shoulder.

  The three followed the tunnel. They walked on for fifteen minutes to an hour. In the relative darkness, gradual deviations to any direction were imperceptible.

  The passage opened into another large crystal lighted chamber. Hewn out of the rock, the walls were high, straight, and smooth. They might have even been polished. Three archways stood equidistant from each other on every wall except the one from which they entered. The cave floor was flat and even. Stones outlined what looked like paths through a garden. The odd emptiness lent an eerie sense to the room. Either someone prepared to plant things and hadn’t, or the paths marked something else.

  The labyrinth intentionally designed each room. It was no accident this space looked like an untended garden. Time dulled the stones on the floor and the paths. The work wasn’t fresh.

  As they entered the room, a loud snap echoed from behind them.

  Jodhaa spun around, raising her arms to fend off an attack.

  The tunnel disappeared without a trace, but unlike the other times the labyrinth changed, it made a sound.