The labyrinth would notice us soon enough, and we were sitting ducks in here.
“Are you ready?” I asked, reaching for the door.
“Wait! My sketches!” Ness grabbed her case and slung the strap over her shoulder. She also picked up her quarterstaff and held it up. “Now I’m ready.”
I nodded, and slowly opened the door… to Draven’s bedroom. Swallowing, I stepped through the door. Ness followed, keeping her quarterstaff held high. When she was through, I shut the door—the only way into or out of this room.
“What is this place?” Ness asked.
“Draven’s bedroom…” I said.
“Why are we here?”
“I don’t know, but since that’s the only door in this room, we should probably wait and try it again in a few seconds.”
Ness awkwardly looked around, though she stayed perfectly still. “This is how the other half lives,” she said to herself. “Way more comfortable than the rooms we have.”
Draven’s lodgings truly were opulent, and comfortable. I’d know—I’d been here twice. Through the open door at the side of the room I knew there was a deep bathtub set into the stony floor. The walls in there shone with pearlescent light, and the air smelled like fresh flowers. In here, it was dark, and stuffy. The windows were shut, candles almost burned to the wick provided faint illumination, and a fireplace sat inertly.
I was about to reach for the door again, when something caught my eye—a glimmer of orange light. Frowning, I walked over to a workbench where a number of tinkerer’s tools lay; a hammer, chisel, screwdrivers and the likes. There was a vice set into the edge of the workbench, small metal rivets and scraps scattered around, and then the shining piece that had caught my attention.
An amber gem.
It looked like it had once been a little bigger than it was now. Tiny, broken pieces of it had been brushed to one side. Inside the larger piece, a faint sliver of light danced, as if a firefly had been trapped inside.
I didn’t have to double check to know. That was the same piece of amber the gem fixed to my dagger had come from. I can’t take all the credit for its construction. That’s what Aaryn had said to me when she handed it to me. I hadn’t questioned what she’d meant, though maybe I should’ve.
“Is everything okay?” Ness asked.
“Yeah… it’s fine.”
I turned around to find her standing by the door. “We should probably go… kinda feels like we’re snooping in here.” She smiled, nervously.
I walked over to the door, took a deep breath, and opened it. Instead of opening to reveal a spiral, stone staircase, in front of us was a hallway with stained-glass windows on either side. Faint sunlight filtered through, its rays slightly colored as it pushed through the glass. I recognized this place.
It led to the chapel.
I’d never been to the chapel before, I’d wasn’t really the religious type; at least, this version of me wasn’t the religious type. But I knew where it was, and I knew it was used by prospects as well as members of the Order. Some were more pious than others. For some, religion was all they had.
At the other end of the hall stood a wooden door, a glowing sconce on either side of it. Slowly, I stepped into the hall and shut the door behind Ness. We walked carefully in a straight line, the only way we could go. I glanced over my shoulder, and the door we’d just come through had been replaced by a solid, black, stone wall.
“No way to go but forward,” I said.
Ness nodded. “I hate this,” she said, “Have I told you how much I hate this?”
“You just did.”
“I don’t think I’ve said it enough. I really hate this. I can almost taste my heart in the back of my throat, that’s how panicked I am.”
“Let’s just see what’s on the other side of that—” someone pounded against the door, a frantic wailing of hands and fists. I heard a scream, a muffled voice, and my heart started to thump so hard I thought it would jump out of my mouth and skip across the floor.
“Who the hell is that?” Ness asked, her voice rising an octave.
“I don’t know… it could be a trap.”
“Trap? Someone needs help!”
“You don’t get it. If the labyrinth has taken over the fortress, then it’s going to do whatever it can to kill us. That could be a trick.”
“Kill us? What the hell kind of labyrinth is that?”
“The worst kind.”
The slamming of fists grew louder, as did the screams. Trick or trap? I inched closer to the door, watching the way the handle bobbed and moved. Was it locked? Then I felt it, magic. Something was happening. Ness gasped. “Seline!”
I spun around, and there was Siren sanding behind us. Her ghostly form shifted and moved, her hair floating wildly as if she were underwater. She stood still, green mist surrounding her ethereal body.
“Siren,” I said, “Thank the Gods. Can you tell me where Fate is?”
Siren stared at me and angled her head to the side. Her mouth opened like she was going to speak, but then her face twisted into an angry, monstrous scowl. She stretched her hands to either side, floated off the ground, and raced toward us, screaming an ear-splitting scream.
The windows in the hallway burst as she moved past them. The sound was almost too intense, but I couldn’t cover my ears. I grabbed Ness by the arm and pulled her toward the door. Together we sprinted with Siren at our backs and gaining on us until we reached the door.
I shoved it hard with my shoulder, putting all of my weight behind it, but the door opened as if it had never been shut and I shot into the next room. Staggering, my balance gone, I tipped, tipped, tipped, until fell flat on my face, rolling along the stone floor. We were in another hallway with high windows and glowing sconces set into the walls.
Ness made it into the room behind me and shut the door, for all the good that would do against Siren’s ghostly form. But Siren didn’t push through the door, and the sound of her screaming died off. Ness breathed sharp, short breaths, her back thrown against the door as if she could hold it shut.
“What the hell got into her?” she asked.
The infection. Whatever it was, it wasn’t just affecting the labyrinth—it was affecting Siren, too. That made sense. She was a magical construct, whatever that meant, so it had gotten her like it had gotten the labyrinth and probably just about everything else that was magical about this place.
A loud thud rattled the room. I held my breath, Ness too. Another thud, then another. “Oh, what now?” I said aloud.
From around a corner leading off in a different direction, came Clarence, the minotaur. It stalked the hallway, puffs of steam issuing from its huge nose. It was holding something; a massive ax. It was covered in blood and gore. My stomach turned in on itself, and when the minotaur turned its head and saw us both in the hallway, I could’ve died.
Its eyes gleamed bright red, its horns towered above its head. The minotaur snarled, fastening its grip around the huge, bloody ax it was holding.
“Now, Clarence,” I said, putting my hands up as I stood. “There’s no need for violence…”
Clarence spoke, only the voice that issued from its mouth was deep, two toned, and almost painful to listen to. When we’d been down in the labyrinth, it had spoken in English. Now, it was speaking in a language I only barely understood, but one I had heard before.
I could only pick out a little of what Clarence was growling, but the words kill, eat, and entrails, resembled Aevian words well enough for me to catch them. The minotaur started picking up speed, breaking into a run. I readied my blade, anticipating the minotaur’s movements and scanning for weaknesses.
I’d killed it once before, I’d do it again.
“Ness, get behind me,” I said.
“Are you kidding? That thing’s gonna kill us!”
“Just get behind me and do what you can to distract it.”
“Distra—distract?!”
I charged the minotaur head on, my
hands pumping at my sides, my footing light. When it swung its ax, I was ready to duck underneath it and roll between its legs. I stabbed at the back of its knee with my dagger, but this time I only managed to cut it instead of shoving the dagger through all the way. Had its hide gotten tougher?
The minotaur grunted from the hit, spun around, and swung the ax again. This time, the ax smashed into the fortress’ stone walls so hard it bit a chunk out of them. I definitely didn’t want to go anywhere near that thing if I could.
With its guard momentarily down, I swung around the minotaur looking for another weak spot—the one common to all males—but there was only more tough flesh my dagger couldn’t quite pierce. Seriously? No junk?! Getting wise to my tactics, the minotaur swept with its foot, clipping my leg and tipping me on my back.
It slammed down with its fist, but I was quick to roll out of its path. Bone met stone, the minotaur growled. I flipped myself back onto my feet and drove my dagger into its armpit, the metal finding soft enough flesh to go right through. The beast roared and wheeled back; I was lucky enough to pull my dagger out before it took me with it.
Ness had started moving closer to the minotaur, her staff raised like she wanted to fight. Considering my sharp blade wasn’t doing much, I had my doubts about her wooden stick. “Ness, get back!” I yelled, but she wouldn’t listen—in fact, she was muttering.
Arcs of green light appeared around the tip of her staff. A gust of wind that tasted like wet flowers rushed past me, toward Ness, tugging my hair with it. The minotaur turned around to face her, charged at her, but she pushed a blast of green magic from the tip of her staff that struck the minotaur in the chest.
From out of nowhere, vines as thick as my arm grew around the minotaur’s body, trapping its limbs. The beast fell on its chest as green chords took hold of its wrists, its legs. It struggled, ripping some of the vines apart with its brute force, but more vines grew to replace them like a hydra’s head.
“Holy shit!” I yelled, “That’s amazing!”
“Yeah, I know!” Ness called out, “Now, kill it!”
I didn’t have to be told twice. I rushed up to the minotaur, struggling and squirming against the magic vines constricting its body. The dagger in my hand was little more than a toothpick compared to this thing, but a toothpick was all I’d need.
I searched for the beast’s jugular, waiting for my moment, dancing around its flailing hands and horns. The minotaur screamed, cursed, in that strangely Aevian sounding language, but it wasn’t having much luck against the vines.
Finally, I saw my moment, and like a pit viper, I struck.
The blade made a clean entry into the minotaur’s throat, sliding through the soft flesh though only with great effort. Blood so red it was black spilled onto the fortress’ black floors. The minotaur squirmed again, but the strength left its muscles with every ounce of spilled blood. I had, for the second time, killed this thing—though not without help.
The light in the minotaur’s eyes faded, and the beast slowly began to evaporate like it had the first time. Panting, I looked across at Ness and smiled fondly. “Why didn’t you tell me you were so good at magic?” I asked.
She shrugged. “You never asked. No one ever does.”
The skin on the nape of my neck stood on end as magic caressed my skin. I spun around and watched the door at the other end of the hall burst open, a huge magical explosion that reverberated through the hallway. From the other side, a man stepped through wearing black, full-plate armor. He had a shield in his hand, a sword in the other, and a helmet on his head. He pointed at me.
“There she is!” he yelled, “Seize her!”
A moment later, a horde of armored up soldiers began spilling through the open door. They screamed as they came, some wielding swords, others wielding spears. They were wearing armor, but their armor wasn’t full coverage like guy who had barked the order.
Each and every one of them had that same mad, red sheen in their eyes Clarence had.
“Friends of yours?” Ness asked.
“Nope,” I said, readying myself, “Just the labyrinth being a dick.”
I charged at the wave of men spilling toward me. One of them thrust a spear in my direction. I parried it aside with my dagger, twirled around him, and ran my dagger into his throat. Another swung a sword at me. I ducked underneath the blade’s arc and stuck my dagger into his gut, then into his neck.
None of them went for Ness; they wanted me.
I felled another soldier with a swift strike of my dagger, but two more closed in. Their eyes gleamed red, their mouths were almost frothing, and their swords were eager to split my flesh apart. I ducked, and dodged, and weaved, striking out when I could. When I would go low, a blast from Ness’ quarterstaff would go high, dropping a soldier or trapping him in vines, but there didn’t seem to be an end to their number.
And I was getting tired.
I twirled my blade around and held it above my head. “Duras,” I said, and my magic shield glimmered to life. Swords and spears and shields struck the shield, but they bounced off as if I’d encased myself in a metal ball. I could see the anger in their eyes, the sheer hatred they had toward me. If I let them, they’d brutalize me without a second’s hesitation.
I didn’t know why the labyrinth had singled me out, but I needed to get away from it.
Summoning as much of my magic as I could, holding the image of a vast explosion in my head, I spoke. “Veshrim,” I yelled, and my glowing golden shield pushed out in a violent burst of light and energy. The soldiers surrounding me all fell away, some flying several feet off the ground and collapsing, unconscious.
Looking up just as the commander started to move, his sword arched and ready to strike, I ducked out of his path, rolling to safety. His sword swung again, and again, forcing me to dodge out of its deadly arc. I pointed my dagger at him. “Veshrim!” I said once more, and a bolt of golden magic shot out toward him, but he deflected it with his sword.
Slowly he advanced, speaking in that same two-toned voice Clarence had spoken in. The words spilling from his mouth were venom. I could only catch pieces of it, but from what I gathered, he wanted to do awful things to me. I readied myself for his attack, preparing my counter, but a thick mist exploded into the hallway, flooding through the high windows and filling the air.
The commander’s eyes became a glowing red miasma within the mist. He roared and charged. “Devio!” came a soft, feminine voice, and a surge of magic whooshed past me and struck the commander. His arm flew back and his sword slipped from his grip, clattering to the floor.
He turned his head to try and find it. I rushed him and plunged my dagger into the nook in his armor between his helmet and his breastplate. The commander gurgled and tried to reach for me, but I slid away from his grasp and he fell, clutching the mist slipping through his fingers.
I spun around, my dagger raised. “Who said that?” I yelled. It had been an Aevian word. Disarm.
Slowly, a form emerged from within the mist; winged, but small and almost fragile. “Me…” Fate said.
My eyes widened. “Fate?” I asked.
She emerged from the mist, a tiny figure in a black jumpsuit, grey hair streaked through with color. And wings… kithe. Only they weren’t feathery like Aaryn’s or Draven’s. Her wings were… strange. Translucent. I could see the bones holding them up, but the wings themselves were thin, veiny membranes that looked almost like jelly. They shimmered in the light the way pearls did.
“Yeah,” she said, “Surprise.”
I took a step toward her but stopped before I could take another. “I… don’t understand,” I said.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going on around the fortress today,” she said, a whisper of a smile on her face.
“You have wings. How do you have wings?”
She shrugged, her wings trembling like a light canvas. Wispy trails of mist rose from them and swirled around them. “I’m like you… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.�
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“Didn’t tell me? How long have you known?”
She turned her eyes down and shook her head. “Three weeks… maybe a little more?”
I stared at her, my lips parted, my heart racing. “Three weeks… that’s… how did I not know about this?”
Fate turned her eyes up at me. “I wanted to tell you. Really, I did. I have a lot of reasons for keeping quiet, though.”
“Is this why you’ve been avoiding me?”
“Avoiding you?”
“Last night, when you were in my room, that was the first time we’d properly hung out in weeks. The other day, after I beat the best time in the chamber with the Smother, it was like you couldn’t wait to get away from me.”
Another shrug. “Seline… the truth is I kinda felt like you haven’t wanted to hang out with me. I mean, I’ve been sitting on this secret for a while, but only because I didn’t know how to tell you… because of, you know…” her voice trailed off, but I knew what she meant.
Ness dropped her quarterstaff, and the sound it made on the stone floor echoed throughout the hall. “Sorry,” she said, putting her hands up. “So sorry… I’ll just stand here quietly and not touch anything… sorry.”
I looked over at Fate. “I don’t get it. What do you mean, I haven’t wanted to hang out with you?”
“Look, you’ve been so obsessed with training, with practicing… maybe you didn’t see it, but we stopped hanging out. You stopped wanting to. I tried to reach out a couple of times, but you always had some training session to get to or something. It got hard. Then this happened.” She cocked her head at her kithe, now looking more like wings of mist than of jelly.
“You were doing so well,” I said. “You, and Felice, and everyone around me was always doing so well, and there I was, struggling to keep up. An Aevian without wings, without magic. I wasn’t trying to distance myself from you, but I felt like… I was getting left behind, like I was going to stop mattering.”
The Obsidian Order Boxed Set Page 36