by S A Edwards
Siren took my hand. “We have no time to lose. Let’s go.”
We headed down the hill, keeping to the shade of the trees as much as possible.
Grunts, hisses, and eerie whispers cut through the darkness, warning of the danger we approached. The moons crept toward the horizon, threatening the birth of dawn, and the urgency within me screamed for us to hurry.
37
We rounded a cluster of bushes.
A blackened line marked the edge of the expanse, leaving a browning trail of grass before it.
Kyne held up a hand. “Quiet.”
Padding footsteps broke through the sounds of the Hellions.
Siren twisted to face the way we had come, shoulders tense.
I raised my hands, ready to summon my flames.
The bush rustled, and a creature turned the corner.
A head taller than me, the feline had thick muscles that bulged through his long, black fur. His familiar opal eyes gleamed in the darkness, and at the sight of Kyne, his lip curled back, revealing pearly teeth. A smooth mane surrounded his enormous head, and rounded ears poked through.
“Chimera.” I ventured nearer. He nuzzled my cheek with his wet nose, and I weaved my fingers into his mane. “You followed me,” I said.
He gave me a look as if to say ‘of course’, and then growled at Kyne.
“Calm yourself,” Kyne hissed. “I’m not here to harm her. I’m here to help.”
Chimera huffed.
“We should go,” I said. The moons slid lower in the sky, and the stars began to fade.
Kyne nodded at Tulia.
She clicked her fingers, and the whole scene rippled, sending a shiver of magic through my skin. She stood for moment in silence, and then nodded. “You’re good.”
“What just happened?” I asked.
“She’s hidden us,” Loreto said.
I remembered the family of mortals, invisible when I first arrived at the Olive Folds. “That’s great. This will be easy.”
“Not exactly,” Tulia said. “I can’t conceal myself, so you’ll all have to protect me, or you’ll all be seen.”
“So, stay quiet,” Kyne ordered. “And try not to disturb anything.”
He led the way over the line. In the distance, bulky shadows and silhouettes lounged and shuffled through a strange mist.
A heaviness weighed down on my chest the instant I crossed the line, and my breathing increased.
“It’s the dark power,” Siren whispered. “You’ll feel it more prominently than the others.”
Because of my Keeper gift? I didn’t ask, afraid Kyne would overhear.
“Right.” Kyne advanced on me. “That’ll be because the Gates fail around you,” he hissed. “You know, I’ve been asking myself why that is. Really, there’s only one explanation.” He waited, as though expecting an answer. “You’re a Keeper,” he whispered.
“That’s crazy.”
“Oh, completely. And yet it’s the only answer. The balance is off because there are too many Keepers. Which means you could open the Void right now.” He crossed his arms.
The darkness began to lighten. Only half the stars could be seen now, and the Underworld Gate wasn’t even visible anymore because of a towering, moss-covered wall ahead.
I twisted around Kyne and pushed on. “Even if that was true, I wouldn’t open the Void. Not until Charlie’s out.”
“I figured as much. Why do you think I’m helping you?”
“Then, stop talking, and get a move on.”
Kyne balled his fists.
Chimera bared his teeth, almost daring him to lash out.
It impressed me that Chimera remained so silent, like he understood the danger surrounding us. Maybe he did.
I peered at the wall ahead, surveying it in both directions. It stretched several eona on either side, barring our passage forward. It would take hours to reach the end of it, time we didn’t have.
Maybe Loreto could make a hill to get us over it, although our cover might be blown with his creation. The nearest Hellion bulged, a shadow in the distance to our right.
The ground trembled, knocking me off balance. I staggered to a stop, searching for any sign of an approaching Hellion. We appeared to be alone.
Tulia gripped Kyne’s arm. “What’s going on?”
He stared ahead, brow creased.
Then, the trembling ceased.
With a feeling of foreboding, I turned back to the wall.
A tall, rounded arch faced us where the wall stood solid only moments before. Ivy wound around the columns on either side, and a thick fog billowed beyond.
“Another Gate?” I wondered, although I couldn’t sense its power.
“Perhaps just the opening to a Hellion’s territory,” Loreto said.
“Maybe.” The length of the wall disappeared on either side of us in the mist and crossed too close to the looming Hellion on our right. Thoughts that the arch would lead closer to the Gate held appeal, but nerves unsettled my stomach.
Then, from the fog came an eerie cry.
Shivers slid down my arms. “A child?”
“Clara, wait.” Siren touched my arm.
“That can’t be right,” I murmured.
“I’m not sure that’s what it is.”
“I agree, but can we be sure?”
The cry came again, a clear, distinct sobbing.
I turned to Chimera. Was his hearing better than mine? “What do you think?” I asked. “A child or a trick?”
Chimera shook his head, mane flapping against his ears.
“A trick, then. So, what are our options?”
Tulia pointed along the wall’s length. “We could go around.”
“It will take too long,” Siren said.
“And we’d have to pass the Hellion.” I nodded toward the shadow. It stomped farther through the mist and faded from view.
Loreto wiggled his fingers. “We could go over.”
“We’d give away our position,” I said.
“You want to go through?” he asked.
No. Even being hidden, something about the arch and the foggy interior troubled me. “You’re right. Let’s go over.”
“And hope nothing notices,” Rickson added.
Tulia raised her eyebrows.
We approached the wall in silence. Loreto lifted his hands. The ground shook, and earth sprang from the blackened dirt, leading over the wall in a narrow path. He led the way, hands stretched out on either side, lengthening the path with each step.
I followed behind Siren and Chimera. Kyne, Tulia and Rickson took the rear.
The fog thickened, making it almost impossible to see past Loreto.
Something grumbled.
Then, a thick vine whipped through the air and slashed against the path. It crumbled, my breath caught in my throat, and I dropped.
Stone hit my feet, and my knees buckled. An icy chill bit my fingers.
I took a breath and stood on aching legs. None of the others accompanied me. Two walls stretched on either side of me, parallel to each other, leading into the fog.
“Siren? Chimera?” I waited, half-expecting Chimera to step through the wall. Only silence remained. A sense of foreboding washed over me. “This can’t be happening.”
I turned and ran the length of the wall, glad it didn’t span far. It ended abruptly, but another path led farther in, lined with high stone on either side. Like a roofless corridor.
“Siren? Can you hear me?”
Beyond the wall on my left, Siren’s voice called out, muffled through the gloom.
“Where are you?” I twisted around the corner, searching.
A dead end blocked my way. Slimy moss covered the grey stone, and I frowned at the wall, too high and sheer to climb. I must have missed a turning.
Backtracking, I spun to take the corner again, only now rock stood before me. Musty-scented ivy snaked across the surface, melding with the cracks.
The ground trembled. The stone on my
left shifted and slid aside, revealing another narrow pathway.
If I could just get back to the top of the wall, perhaps I could find them. Ice poured from my palms, leading up the stone like steps.
The ivy stretched over the frosty surface with surprising speed, and the ice shattered.
I stared. Another thing that could break the ice?
My hands trembled. How was I going to get out of this?
Fog thickened around my feet, obscuring the dirt beneath them, and the chill grew.
Pulling on my Refiner gift, I called flames to my palm, welcoming their heat, although they did nothing to light my way. Even my Beast sight seemed to struggle to make out the path.
The vines whipped out.
I gasped and ducked, narrowly missing the attack. My flames died.
My breathing amplified and misted before me. A discomforting silence pressed in. Okay, so no more gifts. I eyed the vines, sneaking across the stone. My heart pounded. How was I supposed to protect myself? “Chimera?” The word came out in a whisper.
The path on my left remained open, the only movement the curling fog.
Warily, I approached the wall where the corner had been and pushed on the stone.
Ivy stretched out and slithered over my wrist.
I tore my hand away, snapping the thin vines. “Okay,” I breathed. “Don’t touch the walls.”
With only one option, I moved on to the new path. The whoosh of wind reached my ears, drowning out my footsteps, though it failed to stir my hair.
The stone ahead shifted again, sliding to one side a short distance before another dead end. Moss and ivy followed my progress, pursuing me along the stone.
The mist grew denser, almost completely obscuring my vision, and I paused at the opening to the corridor, concerned that the path led deeper into the maze. Behind me, the rock rumbled and closed.
“Siren?” My shout resounded in my throat, failing to pierce the moist air. Where was he? Perhaps he got out. Or he wandered in the maze as lost as I.
I could wait here, refuse to follow the route any longer, but I doubted the maze would give up and let me leave.
Curiosity tugged despite the circumstances. The faster I discovered where it led me, the faster I’d get back to saving Charlie.
I scowled. Another pointless detour. Why did I agree to go over it? There must have been another way. I stomped along the path, winding left and right through the openings the maze revealed.
Time passed in relative silence. The fog obscured the sky, making it impossible to see the night. Was morning near? The thought set me running, turning one way and then the next in a desperate dash to the end. “I’m coming, Charlie.”
I grasped a column to steady myself on a sharp corner, tearing vines and leaves from the surface, and pushed on, bitterly regretting my choice to enter the arch.
Then, the path ended.
38
Walls surrounded me on all sides, and behind me, they rumbled together. A sharp, decaying scent touched the air. My pulse pounded in my ears.
Slowly, the fog cleared. A new arch appeared ahead of me covered in ivy and tiny, violet buds. One by one, the flowers bloomed, revealing miniature sparkles in the centre of each.
Brown, flawless stone lay beyond the arch, leading to a small hole in the ground. The rock glittered with the violet sparkles from the flowers.
I entered, casting my focus to the sky. The stars remained visible but only just. From my angle below the wall, the moons couldn’t be seen to show how far away the dawn lay.
So, now what? No other paths or exits appeared, only the polished square and a pungent scent.
Warily, I approached the hole.
No sooner had I cleared the flowered arch, the wall behind me scraped closed, sealing me inside.
Silence fell.
I waited, my breath clouding before my face. The ground sparkled like cherry blossom stars.
Then, the hole grew bigger. The paving shook and tilted, lifting me above the opening. My stomach lurched.
Rows of teeth lined the rim of the hole, razor-sharp and tinted violet, and a green, prickly tongue shifted aside to reveal a drop to a blackened gut.
I gasped and scrambled up the still-sloping ground to the wall, searching for anything to hold. Ice coursed from my palms and covered the hole, but something battered it from the underside, shattering it to pieces.
Ivy crept along the stone. I grabbed it, this time allowing it to wind around my wrists and arms.
The floor continued to shift until my feet skidded along it, unable to hold me upright, and I clung to the ivy, holding my breath against the foul stench of the Hellion beneath me.
The vines continued to extend, creeping out, away from the wall.
Pushing me.
“Wait. No.” I struggled to pull myself farther in, but its grip held sure, inching me down toward the monster like a part of the creature itself.
A part of the creature.
“No.” I flailed uselessly against its grip. My panic cut through the air. I’d never seen a Hellion so huge before. I could have kicked myself. One that loves the hunt almost as much as the kill. The whole maze was the Hellion. The maze monster.
Flames cut over my arms to the vines.
They shivered, and the fire diminished. Not so much as a burn showed on the creature.
My feet dangled over the mouth of the hole. “Chimera!”
Surely, he could hear me. Didn’t he have a connection with me? Didn’t Siren? Wouldn’t my distress alert them to my presence? Unless it had already eaten them.
I cringed away from the thought.
The wall to my right exploded. Dust and rubble scattered through the square and rolled into the Hellion’s jaws.
Loreto stood in the fog with Chimera behind him. He raised his hands.
Mud-caked stone soared through the broken wall and across the square, colliding with the stone on my left.
Chimera bounded along Loreto’s path in two leaps and scratched at the vines binding me.
They loosened and retreated.
I twisted and managed to grasp the path before falling into the waiting mouth.
Moss, rock, and vines slammed against Loreto’s stone. Cracks zig-zagged through it, and for a moment, I thought it would fail.
Chimera caught the back of my tunic with his teeth and hoisted me up beside him.
“Hurry, Clara!” Loreto shouted. “I can’t hold it much longer.”
I channelled my Seeker gift. Force plunged from my hands against the walls. Rock tore from the stone and tumbled down the slope into the mouth of the Hellion.
Moss rose up, crawling toward us.
“Go.” I shoved Chimera and raced with him through the rapidly closing wall between us and Loreto.
Siren emerged behind Loreto, grabbed me and pointed above the maze to where another path led. Vines flailed and whipped against the stone, and Loreto’s concentration drew any colour from his face.
“Quickly,” Siren said.
I pushed up the steep hill. A thick layer of ice poured from my hands over the surface, reinforcing it with step-like grooves so the others didn’t slip backward. “Come on.”
I reached the peak of Loreto’s hill and gaped at the size of the Hellion. Separated paths covered every inch of ground for what appeared to be a few eona, constantly shifting and changing with the Hellion’s fight.
The closest end lay to the left where Kyne, Rickson and Tulia stood by a line of rocks. Beyond them stood the Underworld Gate.
The stars were barely visible now, and the moons dipped low on the horizon.
Loreto cried out.
The Hellion’s vines bound him, wrapped around his middle in an unbreakable grip. His face distorted with pain and fear.
“Loreto.” I moved to return to him, but Siren took my arm.
“I’ll get him.” He ran back, sending a blast of white flame at the increasing leaves.
A huge chunk of rock slammed to the path betwe
en them, nearly knocking Siren from the safety of Loreto’s gift.
“Go,” Loreto shouted. His gaze clamped on me. “I’ll hold it off as long as I can.” He reached out, and a chunk of rock dropped to the mouth.
“No.” I moved to approach, but the ground shook, knocking me off balance.
Loreto flinched again and dipped below my line of sight.
Ivy as thick as my arms burst up like serpents all around us.
Siren staggered back and fired a jet of flame at them.
They broke apart, and we raced through toward the edge of the maze.
The icy path holding us trembled, and I risked a glance back.
A forest of vines covered the square, blocking any way back inside.
Chimera urged me on with a snort.
My mouth turned dry in my terror of falling within the maze again.
The stone crumbled.
I leapt to the top of the nearest wall moments before Loreto’s stone tumbled into the hidden paths of the Hellion.
Slime seeped through the rocky cracks, and thinning vines grappled at my feet.
The wall ahead shifted, creating greater distance between our line and the outer edge of the maze.
“We’ll never make it,” I gasped.
“We will,” Siren said. “Jump.”
Chimera barrelled into my back, forcing me off the end. I soared over the gap, snapping the ivy that clung to my feet, and grazed the wall. My breath caught in my throat before I plummeted to the dirt on the outside.
I hit the ground hard. Pain spread through my shins, and I rolled. Muck coated my clothes and scraped against my arms.
I lay on my back, listening to the tremors of the Hellion.
“Are you all right?” Siren tugged me to my feet.
“No. We left him to die.”
“There was nothing any of us could do.”
“We should never have gone in there.”
“Then who would save Charlie?”
I blinked.
“We wouldn’t get to him if we hadn’t,” he said.
“I know that. I just …” It still wasn’t right.
Kyne approached with Rickson and Tulia. “Are you going to stand there arguing all morning or are we going to get a move on?” he asked.
“Morning?” I turned my focus to the sky. The smaller of the two moons touched the brightening horizon. Adrenaline poured through my body. So little time remained. “Let’s move. Are we still hidden?”
