by Hanna Peach
Israel nodded. “So you feel the height so much more than most people.”
She nodded. He got it. He got her.
* * *
“Israel…” He heard a soft female voice calling his name and snapped around.
There was no one there. He shook his head as he continued to walk just a little bit faster, Alyx keeping up with him. This maze was creepy.
“Israel…”
He turned, his sword in his hand. He definitely heard something that time. But there was still nobody there.
“What is it?” she asked.
He wasn’t going to run away this time. “Whoever you are,” he said, “just come out.”
The familiar voice came from behind him again. “You’re the one who buried me.”
He spun, his heart stuck in his throat like a hard lump. Standing there was a tall, thin woman with long wispy blonde hair, matted and sections torn out. “A-Adere?”
“Hello, Israel.”
“It can’t be. You’re…” Dead. Israel stumbled back, his heel catching on an edge of the stone. Memories of that fateful night ricocheted inside his head. Him kicking down the door too late…the blood…her open pale blue eyes…
“Thanks to you,” she whispered, lifting up an accusing finger towards him. Guilt flooded through him like a bitter poison. She looked so alive, unlike that night.
“Israel, what’s going on?” Alyx grabbed his face and stepped right up to him, blocking out the sight of Adere.
He let out a breath that shuddered past his teeth. “She’s here,” he whispered.
“Whatever you’re seeing, it isn’t real.” Alyx’s voice seemed to be the only tether he had. A part of him held on to it.
“Tell her, Israel,” Adere whispered in his ear. She was standing right at his side, her pale blue eyes moving from Alyx’s face to his. “Tell her how real I am. Tell her what you did to me.”
Israel shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut.
“What is it?” Alyx asked. “Tell me.”
“Yes, tell her,” Adere whispered. “Do you think she’d still want you if she knew the truth? What you failed to do? Who you have become?”
At Adere’s words, his eyes flew open. Almost all he could see was Alyx’s face filled with concern. For one long moment he looked back at Alyx, studying the golden flecks of her eyes, the way her nose turned up ever so slightly at the end, the sharp contour of her marble cheekbones. She was so perfect. And it wasn’t just the way she looked. She had passion, intelligence and more guts than most of the men he used to work with. A man like him was lucky that a girl like her gave him the time of day.
“Israel, who’s Adere?”
Adere.
He stared around him. But Adere was gone. Gone. Just like that? This maze didn’t give up that easily. Surely?
“Israel?” Alyx’s voice brought him back to the present. “Who’s Adere?”
He opened his mouth, then closed it.
“Tell her. Do you think she’d still want you if she knew the truth? What you failed to do? Who you have become?”
Adere was right. Alyx wouldn’t look at him the same way if she knew the truth. Israel shook his head. “No one,” he lied. “She’s no one.”
Chapter 16
“The globe is showing that the exit is just ahead around this corner…” Alyx was walking so fast she was almost jogging. She couldn’t wait to leave the clutches of this confusing and suffocating maze. First the demon dog, then the ravine, then…Adere. She glanced over to Israel. He’d lied when he’d said she was no one. But she hadn’t pushed him for his secrets. After all, she had lied to him too.
She turned the corner and froze. Up ahead, the end of this very short path was completely blocked by a stone wall. That was supposed to be their way out. She stared back at the globe. Had it led them the wrong way?
She walked up to the wall, peering at the dark brown stones, irregular in shape, covered in a layer of a silver moss and laced with a green algae so dark it was almost black.
“It’s just a solid wall,” said Israel, stepping up to her side.
“Or is it?” Alyx knew better than to trust anything she saw in this maze. She lifted up her hand to the stone.
“Wait,” he grabbed her hand. “What if there’s something nasty on the other side?”
She swallowed and stared at the wall, an image of teeth snapping off her hand making her shiver. But what choice did they have? “Would you rather stay here?”
“No.”
“Would you rather go head first than hand first?”
“I’d rather lose a hand than a head.”
“Well, alright then.”
“Together.” His fingers laced with hers.
She couldn’t help the fluttering in her stomach. The corners of her mouth pulled up into a smile. “Okay. Together.”
They reached out to the wall. Instead of touching cold stone she felt her fingers pass through it like it was nothing. There was a slight popping in her ears and then an arched doorway dissolved in the stone before them. Nothing bit their hands off.
Alyx and Israel shared a grin.
“Ladies first.”
* * *
Israel stepped through the arched doorway and out of the maze. He stood beside Alyx at the base of the Heartless Mountain. Here the few lonely trees were barren, a few brave leaves still clinging onto skinny branches. The air was getting frigid. The Elder’s words echoed in his mind. “You must get out before the end of winter.”
He craned his neck up to the top where the gathering clouds were beginning to hide the image of Alyx’s sleeping face. “How the hell are we supposed to get up there?”
“Maybe the globe will tell us?” She shook the globe again as Israel stepped up closer so he could see. This time flurries of white snow swirled around along with orange and brown leaves.
Inside the globe a mountain rose up in the center. The snowflakes and leaves fell into formation. But…that was strange. They were floating in a zigzagging line up to the top of the mountain. They appeared almost to be floating on air.
“That’s not right,” she exclaimed. “There’s no path up there.”
“Did you remember to pack your wings?” he joked.
She let out a huff. “We can’t seriously be expected to fly up the mountain. Can we?”
“Let me see.” He took the globe from her and peered into the glass orb. There, right at this angle, something shimmered underneath the floating path of snow, only for a second before it disappeared from sight. “I think there’s something there. Some kind of invisible path or something?” He gazed up the steep, craggy surface of the Heartless Mountain just as the first flakes of snow began to fall. There had to be something there, hadn’t there?
“I can’t see anything,” said Alyx.
“If we could see the stone wall that wasn’t really there, then surely there could be something here that we can’t see?” He stared around at where the mountain rose sharply out of the barren earth like someone had stabbed the earth from the other side with a rocky spear. “There has to be something here.”
The snowflakes falling on his face tickled his skin. He had to hurry. Winter was here.
The snowflakes.
Even if they couldn’t see it, the snowflakes would still fall on it.
Israel let out a cry of triumph.
“What is it?”
“Look at the snowflakes.” He pointed at a section at the base of the mountain. Some of the flakes appeared to be hovering, suspended in the air by something they couldn’t see.
Alyx gasped. “There’s something there.”
He walked over to where the snowflakes seemed to be rising off the ground. He reached out with his foot and tapped at the suspended flakes. His boot hit against something solid. “There is a path here.”
He lifted his head. Now that he knew what he was looking for he could see the invisible bridges made barely visible by the snowflakes that had landed on them, going back an
d forth up the mountain just like in the globe.
“I’d like to wait ’til we can see the bridges better,” he said. “But we don’t know how long it’s going to take for us to get up to the top. We should start our climb now.”
“We’re really going up that?” Alyx’s voice had become thin like water. “A bunch of skinny bridges with no handrailings?”
Israel could see the fear she held so closely to her chest. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. “I won’t let you fall. I swear it.”
Her eyes softened. An acceptance seemed to come over her. She nodded. “We don’t really have a choice, do we?”
“I’ll go first,” he offered. He took the first tentative step, the snowflakes crunching under his boots. The bridge of nothing held underneath him. He took his second and third steps. He turned to look back. “Be careful. And stay close.”
She nodded even as the strain tightened the skin around her eyes. She slipped the globe back into her canvas bag and followed him slowly onto the rising path.
The path was barely a foot wide. He had to place one foot in front of the other as he went, snowflakes falling over the edge as his boots crushed them aside. He tried not to look over as he walked steadily up the bridge. There was nothing to stop either of them from falling.
As they rose higher and higher he couldn’t help the tension growing in his chest, creating a pressure that jammed his heart right up into his throat. He wasn’t even the one who was scared of heights. “You okay, Alyx?”
“Yeah,” she called back. In her voice he detected a slight shake.
They kept going, the wind whipping snowflakes into his face as they climbed. Soon they were high enough that it would kill them if either of them fell.
“I don’t like this, Israel.”
“I know,” he called back. “Neither do I. But we have to keep going.” He paused and lifted his head up towards the mountain, craning his neck up to the sky. Dear God, it was such a long way up. Was the path going to be this treacherous all the way up? They weren’t going to make it.
“We’re not going to make it,” he heard Alyx call from behind him.
Israel shook himself and swallowed down his growing unease. He wouldn’t let his fear control him. He had to stay brave for her. She was counting on him. His chest seemed to warm with purpose even against the frigid air around them. “We can do it, Alyx. We’re almost there,” he lied. “Hang on to me.”
He felt her clutch the back of his jacket. They began their slow trudge again.
As they rose up higher and higher the snow fell in thicker clumps. Israel zipped up his jacket, turned his collar up against the wind, shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned down, fixing his eyes on the invisible path. He could barely see it now through the snow. If the wind got any stronger they would be blown off. If the snow grew any thicker he wouldn’t be able to see his hand in front of his face, let alone this slim, dangerous path. But the tiny hand at his back and the woman attached to it kept him going without hesitation. They had no choice but to make it.
His jacket loosened as her hand slipped from it and he heard cursing behind him.
“You okay?” He halted and turned his head. Alyx was standing with her arms out as if she had almost fallen.
“It’s getting slippery,” she said. “All this snow.”
“We have to keep going. Come on. Grab on to me again.”
She chewed her lip and glanced down. Her eyes widened and Israel saw her body seize. “Oh my God, we’re so high.”
“Alyx, don’t look down.”
“It’s so far down,” she said again, this time her voice a whisper.
“Take my hand.” He reached out his hand.
She didn’t move.
“Alyxandria,” he said harshly.
Her head snapped up.
“That’s it, angel. Look at me.” He shuffled closer and lifted his hand higher, wriggling his fingers to get her attention. “Come on. Take my hand. We’re walking up together.” If you go, I go.
She shook her head. “If I fall, I’ll bring you down with me.”
“Alyx, take my goddamn hand.”
“Okay.” She swallowed, then lifted up her arm. It waved as the wind chose that very moment to whip up. She couldn’t quite reach him from where she was. She slid her foot forward and—
He saw in her eyes the moment her boot slipped out from under her. He grabbed at her hand but his fingers merely brushed the tips of hers. She screamed, her voice echoing off the mountain cliffs, as she fell over the edge into the abyss of swirling white mist and snow.
Chapter 17
Israel didn’t even think. He dove forward like a swan after her, arms first, then head, then body, as if he was tied to her with an invisible string.
If you die, I die.
The icy wind slapped his face and the air grabbed at his clothes like fingers as he fell after her.
Air.
He had Air magic.
No, he didn’t have Air magic. He was Air.
He felt the bloodink swirling into his body, like a fresh spring breeze rushing through his veins. He dove faster after Alyx to catch up with her.
She was still screaming as he grabbed her midair. Her voice seemed to lodge in her throat and her eyes locked on his, shock flashing across her face before anger took over. “Are you crazy? What are you doing?”
Israel rolled his eyes. “I’m saving your ungrateful ass.”
He waved out his magic like a sheet. The air caught in it, billowing up like wind in sails and causing them to jerk to a stop in the air. Alyx let out another yell. Her arms grabbed around him and her legs locked around his waist.
They floated in the air, his magic creating a warm bubble around them that kept out the wind and snow.
“What the…?” She looked around and then pulled back to stare at him.
He grinned. “Relax. I got this.”
She blinked rapidly at him. “You’re doing this?”
He shrugged, trying not to appear too smug with himself. And probably failing. “I put the ‘bad’ in Team Badass.”
She began to laugh. “Air magic. Of course. You remembered how to use it.”
“And all I needed was for it to count.”
She inhaled sharply. He was suddenly aware of how they were positioned, her torso pressed right up against his, her limbs wrapped around him. A searing heat went right through him as something stirred low in his belly. His eyes dropped to her lips. He could kiss her right now. He could more than kiss.
He suddenly had this feeling, a strange feeling like they’d been here before, like this, suspended in air, and he had looked at her just like he was looking at her now and had felt just the way he was feeling.
“Open your eyes,” she said.
He did. “Oh my God.” His arms crushed around her tighter in a reflex.
Alyx held them both there, just so, as light as air, suspended between the Earth and the heavens. They seemed folded between the twinkling city below and the matching stars above. But he was looking at her when he said, “It’s beautiful.”
Her eyes lifted to his, the moonlight adding a touch of silver to her irises. Her smile deepened. “It’s kinda something, huh?”
She eclipsed the starlight. “You’re kinda something.”
Like he had done then, Israel’s gaze fell to her mouth and he leaned in, drawn to her. The wind outside their bubble took that moment to drop to silence.
Alyx turned her head, his lips brushing against her cheek. “We should get going.”
His heart dropped into the abyss. He felt them dip in the air for a second before he righted them both. Why did she keep pulling away? Didn’t she feel this thing between them? This rightness? This feeling like two pieces of a puzzle that fit together to make something…better? Why was she fighting it?
But this wasn’t the time to talk about it. They were running out of time. Winter was here. And the end would soon come.
He aimed his sight
s up to the top of the mountain, Alyx’s image in the sky barely visible anymore through the clouds. “Hang on.”
“You know how to direct this thing?”
“Just like riding a bike, right?”
He let the Air swirl underneath him, creating a kind of fountain of air that pushed them up. He aimed for the top of the mountain.
She gripped tighter onto him, her legs still around him. He drew her in closer and dropped his face into her neck. She smelled so good: like white flowers and summer days.
As they rose higher the air became noticeably thinner. The craggy mountain face looked almost purple in this shady light.
“I was so scared before, up there,” she said quietly, so quietly that he almost didn’t hear her over the rush of wind. “But I’m not scared anymore. Not with you.”
His heart filled up with so much warmth, it felt like a tiny sun about to burst.
* * *
Alyx’s heart was still pounding even as Israel lowered them down on the flat section at the top of the mountain. When he pulled away, she let him.
It was stark up here, no trees grew, or even grasses, there was just rock. Over his shoulder was the side of the mountain, the covered gray roof of the Maze of Whispers and beyond that, the skyline of Saint Joseph. They had come all that way. She couldn’t have done it without him.
She chanced a glance at Israel. He had his face turned away from her, like he was avoiding her eyes. She swallowed down the taste of bitterness on her tongue. She deserved that. She had felt his mouth brushing against her cheek for the whole ride up. All she had to do was turn her head. She had wanted to turn her head. But she didn’t. A wash of fear had clamped down on her and she couldn’t move her head even as desperately as she wanted to.
But she couldn’t let this journey be over without her trying to say…something. She cleared her throat. “We’re here, finally, all because of you. Thank you.”
