Dark Waters

by Shannon Mayer

  “You have to will it into existence,” Bres offered. “There is no other way for me to explain it, I’m not much of a teacher. And just because you didn’t do it ta first time, doesn’t mean you can’t do it at all.” He grabbed my hands and pushed them together, the heat between us flaring instantly. I tried to ignore it; Bres didn’t even seem to notice. That was good.

  “Use them both, cup them around the area you want to create ta ball. It will be easier that way,” he said.

  I took a shallow breath and held it, forcing all my concentration on my hands and the space between them. Something shifted inside me, like a light switch turning on.

  With a soft pop a glow ball appeared over my hand, blue fire trembling within it.

  “Cool,” I said. He nodded and took the lead again. My little blue fire ball winked ahead of us, bobbing along beside his.

  “I thought that the Labyrinth was supposed to be deadly?” I asked as we walked down yet another empty tunnel.

  Bres nodded. “It is; normally it would be full of traps and twisted Fomorii. I don’t understand this. It’s like they’ve been evacuated. Balor keeps his strongest Fomorii here, to kill invaders.”

  A chill rippled through me. His strongest were usually here but now they were gone and in their place a Barrier was up, meant to keep the Tuatha out. I had a feeling they weren’t evacuated—they were killed in the name of Balor’s cause. I opened my mouth to test my theory on Bres.

  A deep rumble beneath us set the floor to heaving, the earthquake shaking the foundations of the underwater cave system. We were thrown to the floor; the glow balls went out and we were plunged back into the black of the tunnels. I gasped as the largest claw wound opened back up, blood soaking through my shirt. Damn, I hadn’t healed as much as I’d thought after all. The rolling motion slowed, then stopped altogether.

  In a matter of seconds, Bres had his glow ball back up.

  “Quinn.”

  My head came around slowly, my ears straining; I thought I’d heard someone calling my name—and not just anyone. Ashling.

  I turned to Bres. “Did you hear that?” I asked.

  He nodded, lifting his finger to his lips and dousing the glowing fire ball that bobbed in front of us.

  “Ash?” I whispered.

  A new light flared in front of us and I covered my eyes. As they readjusted to the bright light I could see her standing there. I reached my hand out, thinking she was indeed in the Labyrinth, but it passed right through her. She was no longer in her wetsuit but wore a floor length sleeveless, burgundy dress that clung to every curve. I nodded. “How you are managing this?” I waved at her image.

  “They Quickened my blood,” she said, her voice soft as she turned her wrist to me. A perfect set of teeth marks, human teeth, scarred her wrist. Though I knew it couldn’t be, the bite looked weeks old. My hand went up to my neck where I should’ve had bruising and pain from being strangled by our Grandfather; there was nothing to show he’d ever touched me.

  Bres crouched in the shadows to my left and when I glanced over at him he shook his head, lifting his finger to his lips. Okay then, he wasn’t supposed to be there?

  Ashling gave me a half smile. “You need to go Quinn. You shouldn’t be here. They won’t hurt me. Balor loves me.”

  My heart dropped as her words hit me. I scrambled to my feet. “No, you can’t stay here Ashling; they aren’t the good guys—the Fomorii, they’re the monsters.” I winced, hoping Bres knew I didn’t mean him too. She couldn’t mean to willingly stay here, could she?

  Her image wavered. “I don’t know that I have a choice. I can lead you out of the Labyrinth Quinn, Balor will allow me to do that at least. He doesn’t want you here, you don’t belong. And he won’t hurt me or Mom.”

  Her words made no sense; she had accepted this? I didn’t believe it for a second, something was very wrong.

  I struggled not to yell. “Ashling, I’m not leaving without you or Mom. You are both coming home with me.”

  Hope flared in her eyes. I saw it light her up then a hand clamped around her upper arm; she was yanked out of my vision.

  Balor stepped forward. “You’d best take your sister’s offer. There’ll not be a better one.” His eyes didn’t match his words or his tone. While he sounded angry and his stance even showed aggression, there was a great deal of sadness in his eyes. Regret even.

  “I am going to get my family back. Whatever it takes,” I said, trying not to scream at him, my anger building steadily.

  He grunted. “Even at the cost of one of their lives? I hate to do this, but you are leaving me no choice.” He snapped his fingers and a Fomorii foot soldier dragged a figure I knew all too well into view. Slight build, a massive riot of dark blond curls streaked with the odd gray strand and, though I couldn’t see them, eyes the same color as Ashling’s. I couldn’t hold back the cry that escaped my lips.

  “Mom!”

  “Balor, you bastard! Let me go!” she yelled, before Balor could shake her to silence.

  Balor frowned down on my mother. “Darcy, you forget your place.”

  He turned to face me. “Her bloodline runs strong, but she isn’t needed any longer. Leave now, and I will let her live. Continue in your futile search for your sister and I will end your mother’s life as you know it. It is that simple. Your decision.”

  Horror filled me. I couldn’t be the cause of our mother’s death—but neither could I leave Ashling here. I knew in my heart that what Ashling had said earlier was scripted; the hope that I’d seen when I’d said I was coming for them was too raw and real.

  “Quinn, I know I’ve not always been a good mother. I know that. But Balor is right,” Mom said.

  Tears pooled in my eyes. I couldn’t just leave them here, I couldn’t. “Please, no; he’s wrong. I can get you both out, I know I can.”

  Balor stared at my mom and, for a brief second, I thought I saw tears form in his eyes. I frowned. What did he have to be upset about? My mom glanced up at him, an emotion—a softness—flitted across her features, gone as surely as the tear I’d thought I’d seen in Balor’s eye.

  “He’s only right about one thing Quinn; I’m no longer needed.” She looked over her shoulder and blew a kiss to Ashling. “I’m sorry. This chance is all I can ever give you. I just wasn’t meant to be a mother. Please remember that after I’m gone.”

  Faster than I could believe, she snatched Balor’s sword and attacked him with it. Though she wasn’t doing any damage, she was keeping him at bay.

  “Run Ashling!” Mom screamed. “The Labyrinth—get to Quinn!” Ashling didn’t hesitate; she spun in her long dress and sprinted out of sight, for once obeying our mother without question.

  The image blinked out of existence and I stared at where it had been, as if my will alone could bring it back.

  “No,” I whispered, putting my hand out as if I could do anything but stand helplessly by. He would kill her. I was frozen—praying that he would let her go but knowing in my heart that was not going to happen.

  ~~

  19

  The blackness of the Labyrinth surrounded me; only the distant sound of my own words echoed back to my ears. Over and over again in my mind I saw Balor and his sword, my mother fighting with him, my imagination filling in the blanks. Him cutting off her head—or some horrible death blow that would leave her dying for hours, suffering alone. No, no, I couldn’t think like that; I didn’t know that anything had happened to her at all.

  Ashling had run for the Labyrinth, that much I did know. I stood, my legs wobbly; she was somewhere in here now too. I had to find her. There was no time to grieve.

  Hands wrapped around me in the darkness and, at first, I fought them; until the scent of mint poultice swallowed me up and I burrowed my head into Bres’ shoulder.

  “We have to find Ashling, she’s in here now,” I said, my voice thick with tears that I struggled to contain.

  The ground began to shake again, jerking me left and right, throwi
ng me out of Bres’ hands and up against a wall. Pain exploded through me, wounds ripping back open, blood streaming down my body.

  “Quinn?” Bres called out to me, the glow ball flickering back to life.

  “I’m here,” I said, pushing myself to my feet. Then, as if the Labyrinth had been waiting for us to lower our guards, all hell broke loose.

  I was tackled from behind, the snarl of an animal right on top of me. I let out a growl of my own, rolled and Called my knife to my hand. The smell of rot and mildew filled my senses, coating my tongue and throat. The stench of the Fomorii was overwhelming. With everything I had I brought the blade down, again and again, but the beast didn’t waver.

  “They be hounds of ta un-dead, you can’t kill them with a blade!” Bres shouted. He was further down the tunnel now, taking is light with him. We were being separated once more.

  The hound lunged at me, teeth snapping, and it was a fluke that I stumbled and spun, sidestepping the bite that would have taken my face off. Another growl behind me and I was stuck between two hounds that easily came to my waist, their decaying bodies dripping chunks of flesh.

  Bres was yelling—but then a more disturbing noise reached my ears. The high-pitched scream of a girl I knew all too well.

  Without any thought other than that I had to get to Ashling, to protect her, I concentrated my abilities as I swept my hands towards the hound closest to me. Blue fire ripped out, uncontained by the orb. The hound burst into flame, its flesh sizzling and cracking as the beast ran. Its pack mate whimpered and started to slink away. I let the hound go, the use of whatever magic I had pulled together leaving me wobbly.

  I ran—stumbled really—towards her screams, letting my ears guide me. Bres, what about Bres? I stuttered to a stop. His light had blinked out at some point. Ashling screamed again and I forced myself to keep moving towards her. Bres was strong, tough, he would be okay; I had to believe that. Ashling needed me.

  “I’m coming!” I rounded a corner and slipped on a patch of algae. Ashling was surrounded by hounds on all sides. I let my anger fuel me as I concentrated on the hound closest to me, directing the blue flame that erupted from my finger tips. The hound howled; it rolled into the one next to it, causing a domino effect as the flames ate at their flesh.

  Ashling ran between them and straight into my arms. I caught her up and held her tight, sobs building in my chest as I clutched her to me. I had her and for this brief moment we were together.

  “Quinn, I knew you’d find me,” she whispered. “I knew you’d fight for me.”

  I squeezed her hard. “Always, always. Don’t ever doubt it.” I kissed the top of her head, the darkness around us breaking up the reunion. We had to get out of here, like right now.

  It took all I had to create another orb, the last of my energy going into the floating glass ball. If another pack of hounds came on us, we were screwed.

  Pulling her with me, I ran back the way we’d come. “We have to get Bres and then we can get the hell out of here,” I said. Pain lanced through me as another wound broke open.

  I forced myself to keep going; not like we had much of a choice anyway.

  “Quinn, you’re hurt!” Ashling tried to pull me to a stop.

  “No, we have to keep going, we can’t stop. I don’t think I can handle any more hounds and without Bres we are pretty much sitting ducks,” I said, fatigue beginning to shake me through and through.

  Three more turns and we still hadn’t found Bres. This was not good; I knew it hadn’t been that far between him and Ashling—a single corner at the most.

  “We’re lost aren’t we?” Ashling asked, her skirts swishing along the floor the only sound besides the occasional drip of water.

  “Started out lost,” I said. “That’s what’s making this so hard. There really is no beginning or end to this, I think.”

  Ashling tugged me to a stop. “We can figure this out Quinn, we’re smarter than the Labyrinth. Wandering in circles won’t help us at all.”

  She was right. I let out a deep breath and sagged against the wall, one arm going around my middle. Warmth trickled down my side and I knew it was only a matter of time before I lost enough blood that I would no longer be standing.

  “There’s a trick to mazes,” she said. “Like always take the left hand turn, no matter what. Or go back the way you came and you’ll find where you need to go.”

  I smiled and let out a snort. “I think you read too much. This isn’t a fairytale Ashling. I would love it to be that simple, but I don’t think it is. I’ve tried going back the way Bres and I came in; it didn’t work.”

  She shook her head. “No, I mean what if we went back to where one of the dangers was? What if the way out was just on the other side of them?”

  “We still have to find Bres,” I said.

  Ashling went still and her eyes got a faraway look. Thirty seconds passed and then she shook herself out of it.

  “They have him.”

  My blood seemed to freeze even as it flowed out of my wounds. “Who has him?” I knew the answer, but had to ask anyway.

  She answered me slowly. “The Fomorii.”

  ~~

  20

  “Then we have to go to the Fomorii to get him back,” I said. I stood, wobbled and slumped back against the wall as the room spun and bucked, my vision dimming and along with my blue orb.

  “Quinn, I can help you,” Ashling said. I blinked up at her, not really seeing her anymore in the poor light.

  She kept talking as she rubbed her hands together. “We all have different talents Quinn; yours are strengths I’ll never have, but I can heal you.”

  She put her hands on either side of my face and a blast of heat ripped through me, followed by the frigid cold of the arctic. I gasped as the two elements warred within me, sealing shut the wounds, filling me with energy and life that had been slipping away drop by drop.

  Ashling’s hands slid from my face and she let out a little sigh. “That wasn’t so bad was it?”

  My mouth dropped open. “That was not the most comfortable of feelings, but you are amazing Ashling!” I pulled her to me and hugged her tight.

  “Now we can go get Bres,” I said, standing on firm legs that no longer buckled beneath me.

  Ashling smiled and I took her hand. But when I went to lead the way she stopped me. “I can lead us back to Balor’s anti-chamber.”

  “You can?” I asked, surprised.

  She nodded, the light dimming in her eyes. “Yes, I can always find my way to the one who Quickened me. It is the same for you too.” We started out back the way we’d come, Ashling stopping every now and then to stare off into the distance, shadows dancing over her face. It was more than a little unsettling. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I thought of Grandpa and found that indeed, there was a sense of direction, a pull to the left that I knew if I followed would take me to him.

  There were no more monsters, no trap doors and no more surprises between when Ashling healed me and when she led us to the anti-chamber.

  The door was huge, well over twelve feet high, wrought iron that had rusted so badly it looked like dried blood. I leaned in to get a closer look. Strike that—it was dried blood. Ashling waved her hand at the door and it slid open.

  A familiar laugh echoed around us as we stepped through the doorway. The iron door slammed behind us and I pulled out my knife; as small as it was, it had seen me through a lot.

  “So, my beautiful girl has returned. And you brought me a pet Ashling, how nice. Quinn, I thought you understood that you had to leave. That you were trespassing on my lands. Perhaps I did not make that clear enough. I could consider this an attack on me. In fact, I think I will.”

  Balor stepped forward, emerging from the shadows. He clapped his hands; light flooded the room revealing the Fomorii that surrounded us.

  “Shit.” Was all I managed before the Fomorii launched at us. I did the only thing I could think of—I threw my hands into the air and thought of the B
arrier that kept me from the beach.

  Safety. That was all I was thinking. Keep me and Ashling safe for a few minutes, long enough to get Bres, find our mom and get out of here. The Fomorii hit hard, bouncing off its slick surface, snarling and clawing at it until blood ran from their lips and fingers.

  “Impressive. I wouldn’t have thought you’d learn so quickly; perhaps you are the one the Tuatha are waiting for. From what Ashling has told me of your fear of heights and water, I had begun to doubt it,” Balor said. I saw Ashling blush out the corner of my eye, as he continued. “I mean, really, it does seem a bit much for a scared little girl like you.”

  Balor lifted his hand and the mob backed off, giving him room to pace around the sanctuary I’d created. “And do you plan to stay in there forever?” He trailed his fingers along it and I felt his touch in my soul as if it was me and not the Barrier I’d created under his fingers.

  “I want Bres,” I said.

  “I’m very aware that you want him; we could feel your desire all the way from the Labyrinth.” He smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “You Lorcan women are such teases.” His violet eyes grew hard and I saw a hurt there I didn’t want to see. I didn’t want to think about him trying to seduce Ashling, or what she might have had to do to survive.

  “Where is he?” I asked, stepping forward. The Barrier moved with me and Balor’s eyes widened, the Fomorii sucking in a collective breath.

  Balor stepped aside with a flourish. Behind him on the floor was Bres, blood pooling around his body. Far too much blood. I glanced at Ashling, directed my thoughts at her as I had done with Cora.

  Can you heal him?

  Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. I repeated the question. She pursed her lips and gave a tight nod. If his heart is still beating I can.

  “You can’t protect both of them; your little Barrier will not be strong enough to contain all three of you,” Balor said.