Alice broke the Great Binding.
Power surged through her, and she felt a moment of giddy euphoria. It was the energy the binding had been draining from her to maintain itself, now freed.
“What happens now?” Isaac said, wiping at his nose with the sleeve of his coat.
“I don’t know.” Alice stepped away from the binding stone, pulling Isaac with her. “But I think we might want to stand back.”
They retreated a few more steps. The crowd of creatures followed suit, shuffling outward. The Dragon stood watching, Ending still in its mouth.
The ground shook. A light tremor at first, enough to make everyone sway on their feet. Then a hard, constant vibration, as though a dozen jackhammers had started up at once. Then there was a tremendous crack as the binding stone split down the middle. With a rumble, the split continued outward, a zigzagging line stretching across the ground from the stone. Dust rose into the air.
“Stand back a bit farther,” Alice said.
The crack stretched on, and began to widen, the earth pulling apart like a great mouth yawning wide. The resulting crevasse was steep-sided, its edges crumbling as rocks were shaken loose and pattered into the abyss below. The ground was shaking so hard, it was difficult for Alice to keep her balance, and plumes of dust and smoke shot into the air.
“Alice!” Isaac shouted. “Are you sure this was a good idea?”
Something rose about the lip of the crevasse. It was an eye, as big around as Alice was tall, with a cat-like pupil and silver iris. It was supported on a long, flexible stalk of greenish flesh, turning slowly to take in the assembled creatures. At the sight of it, Ending let out another yowl.
Alice squeezed Isaac’s hand.
“Yes,” she said.
The First Labyrinthine rose out of the pit, pulling herself up the rocky wall with a dozen long, ropy tentacles. She was huge, nearly as big as the Dragon, and seemed to be composed of a mass of contradictory features, as though someone had set off a bomb in a seafood kitchen and stitched together everything they’d found afterward without knowing where it had come from. Each tentacle was a different length and color, some slimy with mucus, others the dry, pebbled texture of an elephant’s trunk. They were tipped with claws, or horns, or tiny, perfect hands. More appendages unfolded as she moved, enormous crab-like pincers, long, thin strands that might have belonged to a jellyfish. And above them all was the single eye, lidless and piercing. It focused on Alice, pupil shifting and narrowing.
Alice had never seen a more hideous creature in all her life. But, under the lambent silver gaze, she felt no fear. She unlaced her fingers from Isaac’s and stepped forward. Tentacles stretched toward her, hovering around her and above her head without coming close enough to touch. Just in front of her was one of the dry, trunk-like limbs, ending in a long point that might have been a stinger. Alice reached out, slowly, and ran her hand along it. Tiny stiff hairs tickled her palm.
“Hello,” she said. “You’re my mother, I think.”
“I am,” said the First. Her voice echoed in Alice’s mind, and—judging from the startled looks she saw—in the minds of everyone present. It was a measured, reassuring voice, with a touch of humor, the hint of a smile that the First’s body couldn’t offer. “Though I must say you get your looks from your father’s side of the family.”
Alice grinned shakily, and let out a breath that she didn’t realize she’d been holding.
“You are all my children,” the First said, looking at Ending hanging in the Dragon’s jaws. “And you have misbehaved, I think.”
“You can’t,” Ending said. It hurt Alice a little to hear her proud voice turned to a whimper, even after all that had happened. “Please.”
“You are afraid,” the First said. “I understand. You were born on this world, and have never known your true home. But the time has come for you to find out. Our time here is passed, my daughter. We have long since overstayed our welcome.”
Ending shrieked, a long, ear-splitting yowl. In the back of Alice’s mind, she heard dozens of similar cries, resonating through the fabric of the labyrinth. All over the world, the labyrinthine realized what was happening, and they screamed their fear and desperation. For just a moment, she saw Ending twist, as though rotating into a set of dimensions beyond the usual three. Then she and the others were suddenly gone, their cries still ringing in Alice’s ears.
“The labyrinths will fade away, in time,” the First said. “The world will restore itself.”
Alice nodded. The First’s gaze shifted, and she followed it, looking up at the Dragon.
“Mother,” the Dragon said. “I am sorry.”
“You did not join them, when they imprisoned me.”
“No,” the Dragon said. “But I stood aside.”
“Then I forgive you.” A long, glistening tentacle reached out and caressed the Dragon’s cheek, just below its three jet-black eyes. “Come home to where you belong.”
“Thank you.” The Dragon bowed its head. “And thank you, Alice. More than I can say. I will see you soon.”
Alice waved, swallowing a knot in her throat. The Dragon’s huge form twisted, as Ending’s had, moving in a direction that the eye couldn’t quite follow. Then he was gone, too.
“And now, daughter?” The First’s single-eyed stare shifted back to Alice.
“My friends,” she said. “They’re still in the void.” She hesitated. “And the Readers, too. We can’t just leave them there.”
“Indeed.”
Alice felt the First’s power thrum through the labyrinth, greater than anything she’d sensed before. Space twisted, opening up like an origami flower. A black shadow flitted across the rock, and when it passed, Dex, Michael, Soranna, and Flicker lay on the stone, with Cyan curled into a tight ball at Michael’s feet.
“They are asleep,” the First said. “It will be easier for them, this way.”
“Oh.” Alice looked down at Dex, who was grinning, as though she were having a good dream. “I . . .” I wanted to say good-bye. But it was better this way. How can I explain what’s happening, and why I have to go?
Isaac stepped beside Alice. He was trembling slightly, but he looked up at the monstrous bulk of the First and coughed.
“Yes?” the First said. Alice had the sense of another amused smile.
“She has to go?” Isaac said. “There’s no other way?”
“It is her home,” the First said gently. “When I leave this world, no labyrinthine can remain behind.”
“Will she be okay?” Isaac said. “On the other side. On your world, or whatever it is. Will Alice be all right?”
“She will,” the First said. “She is my daughter, and I will be with her.”
“You can promise me that?”
“I promise.”
Alice put a hand on Isaac’s shoulder. He looked at her, eyes shining, then stepped away.
“I don’t suppose you can tell me what it will be like,” Alice said. Her heart was beating very fast.
“It is difficult to explain,” the First said. “It will be easier to show you.”
“All right.” She looked around, one last time, at her sleeping friends, at Jen and Ashes, at the crowd of creatures, Erdrodr and Actinia and the others. At Isaac. “Then—”
“But I must say,” the First interrupted, “I am very tired.”
Alice blinked. “What?”
“It’s a long way home, after all.” She gave a yawn, which echoed in Alice’s mind. “Perhaps a nap. Yes, I think a nap first will be just the thing.”
“A . . . a nap?” Alice shook her head.
“Just a short one.” While the huge eye didn’t move, Alice got the mental image of a wink. “A hundred years, perhaps.”
“A hundred years?” Alice said.
“Lazy of me, I know. But, on the other hand, wh
at’s the rush?”
“You mean—” Isaac began.
“She’ll have to come home with me, when I’m ready.” The First’s stare shifted between the two of them. “I trust you can amuse yourself until then?”
“I think so?” Alice said. Her voice was a tiny croak.
“Good.” The First’s voice softened, and Alice had the sudden certainty that the labyrinthine was now speaking to her alone. “Live your life, my daughter. Enjoy your world. And then I will show you what lies beyond it.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
WHAT COMES AFTER
FOR A WHILE, EVERYTHING was a confusion of cheers, shouts, handshakes, hugs, and the relieved, excited babble of a hundred creatures from almost as many different species. Alice was crushed in an embrace by Erdrodr, warmed by Actinia, and alternately scratched, moistened, or crusted with mud by the other sprites.
Somehow, in the midst of all these congratulations, Alice managed to collect enough presence of mind to open a way back to Geryon’s estate. She could feel the labyrinth there fraying, especially at the edges where it had most recently grown, but the core of it would take a long time to erode. The fabric was still solid enough that she could create a portal as the Dragon had done, and herd everyone back through.
The First herself had climbed back into her crevasse, her huge eye gazing at Alice until it slipped out of sight below the ground. Napping or not, Alice could still feel the hum of her mother’s immense power, and she suspected that the Grand Labyrinth would now be totally closed to outsiders. A good thing, I suppose. We wouldn’t want any ships blundering into it.
After their return, the milling, chattering group congregated on the lawn outside Geryon’s library. When no one showed any signs of leaving, Alice found Emma down in the house storeroom and asked her to bring out food and drink from the kitchen. Soon the invisible servants were working overtime, supplying the needs of so many disparate creatures. Alice herself drank several jugs of cool, clear water and gobbled down a sandwich and a half before her stomach began to protest. Anything but apples. If I never see another apple again for as long as I live, it’ll be too soon.
Isaac waved at her from where he was sitting with the rest of the apprentices. Dex was sitting up, and the others were beginning to stir. They’d carried their sleeping forms back through the portal and laid them out on the grass, where most of the creatures gave them a wide berth. In spite of the First’s assurances, Alice had asked Magda to look her friends over. The bone witch had proclaimed that all was well, and had wrapped Isaac’s side thoroughly in a clean bandage.
Grabbing two more jugs of water, Alice hurried over. Dex drank, coughed, and drank some more, and Soranna moaned and rolled over in her sleep. Jen was by Michael’s side. It was a few minutes more before everyone was fully awake, sitting in a rough circle on a patch of undamaged turf in between the craters and burn scars.
There were, of course, a thousand questions all at once. Alice did her best to answer them, with Isaac filling in a few missing parts to her halting explanation.
“So we all got caught by the labyrinthine,” Dex summarized, “but it’s okay, because you beat them before we even woke up?” She pulled a face. “Sister Alice, you’re not leaving us a very heroic role in this story.”
“Sorry.” Alice grinned. “If I could have had you around to help, I’m sure things would have been a lot easier.”
“She had me,” Ashes said, back in his usual place on Alice’s shoulder. “That was obviously enough.”
“I knew you would succeed,” Soranna said, beaming.
“I can’t believe Actinia managed to get old Pyros to let him come help,” Flicker said. “There’s going to be some harsh words at home after this.”
“Why don’t you go talk to him?” Alice said. She’d noticed Actinia shooting shy glances at Flicker since he’d woken. “And Erdrodr’s here, too. She’ll be happy to see you.”
The fire-sprite looked around the circle, then back at Alice. He nodded and climbed to his feet, a little shakily.
“Why send him away?” Jen said, looking after him. “Something you need to keep secret?”
“There’s something we need to talk about,” Alice said, looking around the circle at the five who remained. “The Readers.”
She could see it strike them, one after another. The six of them, in this circle, were all the Readers left in the world.
“I hope no one is suggesting that I go anywhere,” Ashes said. Alice scratched him behind the ear reassuringly.
“So what is it we need to talk about?” Jen said.
“What happens next,” Michael said, fingering his spectacles.
“That seems clear,” Soranna said. “Alice is in charge, isn’t she?”
“In charge of what?” Isaac said.
Soranna waved her arms vaguely. “Everything, I suppose.”
Dex cocked her head, her expression thoughtful. “Well, Sister Alice? Will you now rule the world?”
I could, Alice thought. I really could. Not only was she among the last of the Readers, she was the last labyrinthine, not counting the sleeping First. She was the only one left who knew the secrets of Writing magical books. She could be a singular power in a way that the squabbling, feuding old Readers never had. I could . . .
“Of course not,” Alice said. “I don’t want to rule anything.” The First gave me a hundred years. I’m not going to waste them. “But there are things that need to be done, and I could use your help.”
“The last time all the Readers met like this, they divided up the world between them, and then fought over the pieces,” Isaac said. “We’re not going to do that, are we?”
“No. We can’t, and that’s part of the point.” Alice took a deep breath. “First of all, no one will be able to be as powerful as the old Readers were. They could only collect and contain the books that they did because of the labyrinthine. Without them, the labyrinths will break down, and the books will go wild.”
“It’s true,” Ashes said. “Get too many books in one place, too much magic leaks through, and things go mad.”
Alice nodded. “That is the job for the Readers. Someone is going to have to deal with the libraries before they go wild, and we’re the only ones who can.”
“Deal with it how?” Isaac said. “Separate the books from one another?”
“No,” Dex said, eyes going wide. “Sister Alice wants us to undo the bindings in all the books. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes,” Alice said. “I want us to free every prisoner and unlock every portal.” She looked over her shoulder at Flicker. He’d told her once that binding the portals had hurt the worlds beyond them, dimmed the fires his people relied on. “The old Readers and the labyrinthine distorted the world. Our purpose is to set things right.”
“That will take a very long time,” Michael said. “There are a lot of books. Tens of thousands.”
“I know,” Alice said. “And there’s more. The old Readers left wards and spells all over the world that need to be taken down before they hurt somebody. And as for people they’ve already hurt”—Alice pointed at Emma as she went by—“we can see if there’s anything we can do for them.”
“For that matter,” Isaac said, “we may not be the only ones left. The old Readers had more apprentices. The labyrinthine may have gotten to some of them”—he grimaced—“but some may be hiding, or trapped.”
“What about the old Readers themselves?” Jen said. “They’re still trapped, aren’t they?”
“I want to set them free,” Alice said. “But we need to make sure it’s safe, first. Once the books are unbound, without labyrinthine, the old Readers will be powerless and we can release them.”
“If we undo all the books,” Michael said, “we will be powerless.”
“Not necessarily,” Alice said. “Prison-books capture a creature against its
will and steal power from it. But if you could make a contract with a willing creature, you might still be able to use its power without locking it away.” She shook her head. “It will take a lot of negotiation and time, but—”
“We’ll figure it out!” Isaac and Ashes chorused along with Alice.
“There’s another problem,” Dex said. “If we undo the bindings on the portals and the prison-books, then all the doors will be open again, as they were in the days before the Readers. Magical creatures are going to come through, and ordinary humans will find out.”
“I know,” Alice said. “And that’s the other thing we’re going to have to do. There’s no going back to the way the world was; the labyrinths have seen to that. Now ordinary humans and magical creatures are going to have to live together. I thought we might be able to help them do it. Or guard one side from the other, if it comes to that.” She blew out a long breath, looking around at their faces. “When I put it all together, it sounds impossible.”
“Impossible or not, Sister Alice, it is a worthy goal. Not to rule over the worlds, but to protect their people,” Dex said. “You have my aid for as long as you need it.”
“I’ll do whatever I can,” Soranna said.
“I’ll help,” Jen said abruptly. She looked down at Michael, and frowned at his quizzical expression. “What? It’s the right thing to do.”
“It is,” Michael said gravely, then grinned. “I’ll help, too.”
“The whole thing sounds like it would interfere with my napping schedule,” Ashes said, and yawned. “But I could be persuaded to come along, just to keep you kids out of trouble.”
Alice looked at Isaac, who was looking at the ground, hands in the pockets of his battered coat.
“Come,” Dex said, getting to her feet. “We should see how Flicker and the others are doing.”
Soranna followed, then Michael.
“What?” Jen said. “Why—ow!” Michael had elbowed her in the side. “Fine, fine. I’m coming.”
“Your presence would be useful as well, Master Ashes,” Dex said.
The Fall of the Readers Page 21