Assassin's Maze

by Everly Frost

  In fact, the Valkyrie are already assembling, forming ranks around us. I have time now to notice that many of them wear subtly different armor—different ranks and specialties. The soldiers with bows and arrows wear deep red leggings. The ones carrying spears wear a higher number of silver buckles. The generals spoke to me in English, but the soldiers also use a different language—one I don’t understand.

  I would admire the beauty and ferocity of these women if they weren’t trying to kill me. They are my people, but they follow Amalia. She called them, raised them from the dead to fight on her side. I don’t know if they think or feel for themselves or if they are merely shells. Given that Cain has killed quite a few of them, and I maimed many more, I’m not sure I want to know.

  These women were trained for war. They fought the Keres after Amalia started the enmity between our two races. They all died and this is where their souls lie. In this field of ash…

  “Wait…” I whisper. “Amalia said that this is the Valkyrie and Keres End Land.”

  Slade’s eyes fly wide. His gaze is more focused now, his focus brighter, indicating that his wounds are finally healing.

  He says, “The Keres rest here too.”

  My head snaps up. “Archer!” I shout. “Call your people!”

  Archer jolts in the process of sliding to the ground as Cain returns her to her feet. “What?”

  “We need an army,” I say. “Your ancestors rest in this place. You can call them like Amalia called the Valkyrie.”

  Archer hesitates for a moment before her eyes light up. “You will need to get yourself and Slade clear. They will see you as the enemy.”

  I attempt a laugh. We will have two armies after us then, but hopefully, they will keep each other occupied while we slip away.

  “That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” I say, helping Slade to his feet.

  He leans on me for a brief moment before righting himself. “I’m okay now.”

  I check him over, relieved beyond belief that his skin has healed across his back where his suit is torn. “You heal faster than I ever did.”

  He sighs. “I think it’s because I’m not one of anything. I’m human, Valkyrie, and ringmaker.”

  I take his face in my hands and kiss him. “You are everything.”

  He kisses me back, drawing me up against him, easing up to trail a gentle kiss—a bare graze—against my smarting cheekbone where I was hit, his gaze zeroing in on my forehead. Luckily, the blood flow has stopped.

  He keeps his voice low. “You’re injured, too.”

  I bite my lip, staying close to him. “There’s nothing we can do about it. But I want you to carry this now.”

  I press the Keres gun into his hands.

  A warning tone enters his voice. “Hunter…”

  “I’m not giving up, Slade. I will never give up. But I’m not as agile as I want to be right now. Please take the gun and use it the moment you get the chance to end Amalia.”

  He closes his fingers reluctantly over it. “Okay.”

  The look in his eyes tells me that the way he protected Archer… that’s how he will protect me now that Cain is back. I want to kiss Slade, hug him, and tell him how much he means to me, how much I appreciate his care of others, but the way he presses his lips to mine tells me he knows how I feel.

  I can’t ask for anything more than that he knows how much I love him.

  We turn to Archer and Cain, and I say, “We’re ready. Do it.”

  Archer gives Cain a mysterious smile. She says to him, “Before, when you were in the diamond maze, I felt the call of the ring you wear. I sensed your presence and I think you sensed mine.” She holds up her left hand on which she wears the Keres ring. “Let me try something, okay?”

  He gives her a questioning look when she links their left hands, her arm resting across his stomach so they can face in the same direction. His focus remains solely on her, his feelings for her stark on his face.

  She closes her eyes and my jaw drops when the copper glow around him spreads to her, clouding her silhouette. She is drawing on his power, using it as her own. The ring on her hand glows in response, adding to the power swirling around her. She never tried to use its power before—or at least, I never saw her try—but now it builds around her.

  I’m worried for a moment that her wings will be triggered and hurt her without Tansy here to heal her, but Archer is completely relaxed. In fact, the only times I’ve seen her so relaxed are when she is around Cain. They may not have bonded in the technical sense, but they are soulmates.

  Even though her eyes are still closed, a smile breaks across her face. “Rise! My people!”

  A deep rumble begins in the distance and the ground trembles beneath our feet, causing me to knock against Slade’s side. He catches me and I right myself, staying as close to Archer as I dare.

  The approaching Valkyrie back away again, taking to the air and retreating from our position, leaving the field clear on the side closest to the diamond tunnels.

  The rivers of lava widen and the earth shifts side to side as women rise from the flames, their heads raised up, not down this time. They spread their wings as soon as they appear, flinging off the film of lava that covers them, their perfect features drawn into fierce expressions, their bright eyes taking in the army before them.

  Their armor is also black but with gold buckles, their golden wings catching the light of the copper sun. With a single ferocious cry, two hundred Keres women form ranks as the fissures in the earth close up again.

  The Valkyrie recover, rows of fierce women facing the Keres army. My heart wrenches that these two races were once friends and allies. Then the Keres Queen betrayed the Valkyrie, trading lives for lives, and Amalia fought for survival by murdering countless Keres women.

  Now, they are destined to fight a war without end.

  I find Archer’s violet eyes on me. She gives me a determined smile, a smile of trust and faith.

  I return it.

  The war ends with us.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  It’s time to fly before the fighting starts.

  Neither Slade nor I can step within three paces of Cain and Archer right now, so we spread our wings and hover above them, our wing beats ruffling their hair.

  “It’s time to run,” Cain says to Archer, taking wary glances at the two armies as the tension builds between them.

  She gives him a grin, her hand sliding from his. “I’m ready. Are you?”

  He returns her smile, before he looks up at us. “Lead the way. We will follow your path.”

  Slade lowers his voice, slipping as close to me as he can while remaining airborne. “Stay in sight, Hunter. I need to be able to see you in case anything happens.”

  I’m not too proud to agree. It won’t do anyone any good if I fall behind. I nod, beat my wings, and steer right, soaring to the edge of the Valkyrie ranks. It’s cooler on this side of the field, away from most of the lava threads. Slade flies close behind me, his wings a glittering force that sears the air.

  On the ground, Cain takes off ahead of Archer, following my path, ready to use his power to clear the way for her if he has to. The ferocious scowl he throws at the soldiers as he runs tells me he won’t hesitate to kill anyone who looks at Archer the wrong way. She keeps pace with him, feet flying as they dart around the first row of soldiers.

  The floating island is now dead ahead.

  Behind us, a battle cry splits the air, both armies raging toward each other, their hatred of each other giving us the space we need to cover ground to the island. I don’t look back as we leave the fight behind.

  My war is ahead of me.

  I can’t stop to think about what I’ll do if Amalia reaches the feathers before us. The field of ash was a gate. There is still one challenge to go.

  The flight to the castle takes longer than expected, every beat of my wings feeling heavier. Slade and I wheel back several times since we can fly faster than Cain and Archer can run, a
nd on the ground Cain and Archer are also tiring.

  All the while, the floating island remains on the horizon. Even when I speed up, the distance doesn’t decrease. I squint at it, my frustration and confusion increasing.

  Eventually, Slade soars toward me and calls out to me. “It has to be a trick.” He points at the castle. “It’s Realm magic. I can feel it. We’ll never reach the island this way.”

  He points to the ground and I nod my agreement. Exhaustion is flowing through me now. I’m tired, wounded, and more than a little bit hungry.

  We land ahead of Cain and Archer, waiting for them to reach us. Cain has dimmed his power so we can stand close to him again. He is the only one who managed to keep hold of his backpack. Mine was cut from me during the fight, and Slade and Archer’s are both missing too.

  Cain hands around bottles of water and some dried food, while Slade explains, “We’ve been traveling for over half an hour. We should have reached the floating island by now, but we’re no closer to it. I think that the Realm’s magic is protecting it by preventing anyone from traveling straight to it.”

  Archer peers at the castle in the distance as she chews a protein bar. “Then… how do we get to it.”

  Slade points to the ground. “I could see from the sky that the lava threads are laid out in a pattern. I think it’s another maze, but an invisible one. Do you see how the threads are spaced apart? If you imagine walls rising up from them, you can picture pathways and corners. I think we have to follow them.”

  “But it’s so far,” she says. “We could wander around for days.”

  Slade shakes his head with a smile. “If my hunch is right, I think we’ll walk straight to it.”

  Cain says, “We don’t have anything to lose. We can take advantage of the walk to eat and catch our breath. If it doesn’t pan out, we’ll run again.”

  Archer targets the food. “Eating is good. I need sugar or I’ll fall over.”

  I grimace. “I could use a patch on my leg.”

  I glance up at the floating island once more before Archer finishes her mouthful and sets about stitching my wounds. I distract myself from the pain by chewing hard on a protein bar.

  She tells me that her wounds have healed but a hint of fear enters her voice when she says, “So far, the after-effects of the fight haven’t hit me. Normally I would be unconscious by now.”

  “It must be this place,” I say. “Many things are different here. You and Cain, for example, the way your magic called to each other was incredible. His assassin’s magic was never that strong outside of the maze.”

  She gives me a smile that quickly fades. “I don’t know how that happened. I sensed Cain’s presence so clearly and I think, deep down, I sensed all the Keres power inside the lava beneath us. But… I think I hurt Slade.”

  I clear my throat. Slade and Cain have taken themselves off to the side, arms folded across their chests, absorbed in their own conversation. Every now and then they gesture at the castle. I imagine they are trying to figure out what lies ahead and plan for it.

  I say, “I won’t lie to you… he was hurt, but he was never going to let them through.”

  Archer finishes off the last stitch, but she takes my hand before I can stand up.

  She says, “Before I met Cain, I never knew what kindness felt like, let alone believed that I deserved it. You and Slade… you are both ferocious, brutal, and scary as hell but you have given me friendship that I never expected to find. You protected me when I didn’t expect to be protected, helped me even when it put you in danger. Thank you, Hunter.”

  My heart constricts inside my chest. She said she didn’t believe she deserved kindness. If any of the rumors were true, then Patrick Ryan’s idea of love was a closed fist. My upbringing was light years better than that, but I never had friends. The last year of my life changed all that. I found William and Tansy. I found my dad. I found everyone on Saber Lane. Even Vlad, Cain, and above all… Slade, my fierce, gentle, deadly man.

  I return Archer’s genuine smile with one of my own. I don’t have words right now so I hug her instead. She stiffens a little in surprise, just like I used to when William hugged me, before she relaxes into it.

  When we draw apart, Slade and Cain are waiting with more food, handing it to us before we begin the careful trek through the ash. We stop looking up and focus on our feet, remaining within the lava lines and turning the corners when we have to.

  A mere five minutes later, Archer turns the corner ahead of me and disappears. I shout and race after her, bumping into her back as soon as I round the same corner, Slade and Cain hot on my heels.

  We have entered a solid stone corridor. It is open at the top and leads to a set of stone steps just like the ones at the beginning of the maze. Finally allowing myself to look up, my heart lifts to see that the stairs lead right up to the floating island.

  I breathe a quiet sigh of relief before we embark on the long walk upward.

  From a distance, the floating island had appeared to be made of earth with a glass castle resting on it. As we draw closer, it becomes apparent that the base of the island is made of variegated stone, varying colors of brown, fiery orange, and emerald rippling through its surface.

  The castle itself is jet black but its surface is speckled with silver that reflects the light around it, making it appear weirdly golden in the sunlight.

  An open door waits at the top, leading directly into a large, elongated hall. The hall is made of simple rock, no decorations or vibrant tapestries, only a throne resting at the end of it. A man sits on the throne, angled forward, elbows on his knees, both hands gripping the hilt of a sword with its tip to the floor. He is dressed in black pants but is bare from the waist up, his broad chest dusted with ash, his hair jet black like the castle. His head is down so it’s impossible to make out his face.

  The sword he grips burns with a flame that doesn’t diminish or flicker, even when the wind whistles through the hall.

  A delicate feather floats in the air high up on each side of him—one silver and one copper—the birth feathers of the first Valkyrie and Keres.

  I halt in the entrance, drawing a quick breath.

  Amalia already stands in front of him.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Slade wraps his arms around me before I can dart forward. “Wait. We don’t know what challenge this is. She doesn’t have a feather yet, which means she hasn’t passed it yet. If we have to fight that man, I want to gauge his strengths first.”

  Worry spears through me. “We need to get in there.”

  Archer touches my arm. “But slowly. We’ve fought a lot of opponents to get this far. We don’t know who that guard is and I don’t like the look of his sword.”

  I dig deep into my knowledge of Valkyrie history and beliefs for a man with charred skin and a burning sword…

  “It has to be Surt. According to the myths, he is a killer of gods. He brings about the end of the world.” I stop tugging against Slade’s arms, grateful now that he made me pause. “You’re right. Let’s go slowly.”

  I take careful steps forward, Archer prowling beside me while Cain and Slade take up position behind us, keeping watch on either side. From the corner of my eye, I see Slade’s fingers twitch across the gun in the harness he wears on his chest. He won’t hesitate to take Amalia out if he has the chance.

  We stop in our tracks halfway to her position when Surt’s voice booms, “Amalia Avery, Valkyrie Queen! If you desire the feather, first you must tell me: who are you?”

  Her response is a crisp declaration. “You know who I am.”

  “That is true, but your answer tells me nothing. Are you nothing, Amalia Avery?”

  Her hands twitch and her shoulders tense. Even without seeing her face, I can read the anger in her posture. Amalia is a picture of contradictions but her pride was always guaranteed to fuel her actions.

  Her hands clench into fists. Ordinarily, this is the part where I would expect her to attack her oppone
nt and take what she wants. After all, she chose Combat and raised a Valkyrie army in her quest to get to this island. The fact that she doesn’t strike tells me that Surt is not to be trifled with. She might even be afraid of him.

  Her head tilts toward the Valkyrie feather hanging in the air on his left. It appears no longer than the length of my forearm, such a delicate object, yet it is her only salvation.

  She says, “I am a destroyer. I will rip and tear and crush the world until it is as crushed as I am.”

  Surt says, “You speak the truth.”

  His head remains down, his face obscured. Other than speaking, he hasn’t moved a muscle. I have a feeling that when he does, it will be with deadly consequences.

  “Make a worthy choice, Destroyer, or my sword will meet your neck.”

  Amalia spreads her creaking wings, lifts from the ground, and rises cautiously until she is eye-height with the Valkyrie birth feather.

  She turns her head slightly, a haughty glance cast back at us, making it clear that she is well aware of our presence—and the fact that she is about to beat us to the feather. Her hazel eyes sparkle with victory, her delicate lips curving into a cruel smile.

  A frustrated shout builds in my throat. I can’t let her take it…

  Before I can move, Slade grabs my arm with a low whisper. “No, Hunter. Look.”

  Amalia is so absorbed in her triumph over us that she has stopped paying attention to Surt.

  The fingers of the ash-dusted man’s right hand lift from the handle of his sword one at a time in a quick rippling movement, before he regrips it. It’s the first move he has made. I read it as a warning but Amalia isn’t taking notice.

  Her focus returning to the feather, Amalia tips toward it, her wing beats retaining her height, reaching with outstretched fingers until she is an inch away from taking the feather for herself.

  Surt’s muscles bunch. He is moving, but why? Has Amalia chosen wrongly? The feather she is reaching for is the Valkyrie feather, the one I would have chosen too…