The Ancient Labyrinth 3

by Maggie Akhurst

  “Thank you very much, young lady. I am honoured that you considered me worthwhile to use such a valuable thing on me.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said. “My name is Cierra, by the way. Yours?”

  “Kasimiremosthenis,” the minotaur said.

  Cierra blinked. “C-come again?”

  He snickered in amusement. “Call me Kasimir.”

  “Kasimir. That’s much easier,” Cierra said with relief. “If I tried to say your whole name, I’d run out of breath before I could finish my sentence!”

  That made Kasimir snort with laughter. “What are two young people like you doing down here anyway?” he asked once the chuckles had subsided.

  “Trying to find a keyhole,” she replied, holding up her bracelet. “For the jewel charm.”

  Kasimir looked closer. “Oh, my,” he breathed. “Is that the mythical charm bracelet? The one that’s supposed to be able to banish the Darkness?”

  She nodded. “Do you know where the keyhole is?”

  Kasimir jigged on the spot. “How exciting! Yes, yes I know where it is! You have to go to the centre of the maze.” He stopped bouncing abruptly. “However, that place is dangerous now.” He shuddered, turning quickly and clopping away. “Follow me,” he called over his shoulder. “I’ll take you there.”

  Cierra looked at Dru. “He seems nice enough.”

  “Looks can be deceiving,” Dru said archly.

  “Not everyone has to be evil.”

  “Then why is he down here? How does he know the way to the centre of the maze and is so willing to take us there?”

  “Calm down, Dru. Nothing is going to happen.”

  “Maybe not. Or maybe we’re walking straight into a trap,” Dru groaned. He followed Cierra as she took off after the minotaur.

  4 Dru

  They followed Kasimir through the winding stone corridors.

  “I know this place like the back of my hand,” Kasimir explained as they walked.

  “How?” Dru asked. He was still suspicious, even if Cierra trusted the stranger.

  Kasimir shrugged. “I’ve been down here for centuries as a sort of guardian.”

  “Guardian?” Dru asked sharply. His mind immediately flew to the Darkened Guardians they’d encountered before.

  Kasimir nodded. “For the Ancestors, as you call them. They aren’t Ancestors to me. I knew them personally.” He sounded quite proud of that fact.

  “Personally? How old are you?” Cierra asked.

  He paused. “Uh, let’s see... one loses track after all these years. Three thousand, six hundred and forty seven.”

  Both Dru’s and Cierra’s eyebrows shot up.

  “I’ll be three thousand, six hundred and forty eight next week,” he continued, as if it was nothing.

  “Can minotaurs even live that long?” Dru asked.

  “Not usually, but because I accepted the task of Guardian, the Ancestors gave me the gift of long life.” He paused thoughtfully. “I often wonder how long that gives me. Am I going to keel over and die sometime this month?”

  “You look in pretty good shape to me,” Cierra commented. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about for the next few centuries.”

  “How do you know so much about the outside world if you’re always down here?” Dru asked.

  “I’m not imprisoned,” Kasimir said, as if it should be obvious. “Could you imagine being down here for centuries? You’d go mad!” He shook his head. “I go up there sometimes, probably about once a month. Get a breath of fresh air, check up on all the latest trends, recharge my lightstone.” He tapped the glowing stone at his chest. “I try not to be seen, of course.” He veered off down a corridor.

  Dru was about to follow, but noticed Cierra hesitating. “Something wrong?” he asked quietly.

  She pointed to the charm bracelet. The jewel charm was pointing in the opposite direction to where Kasimir was leading them.

  Kasimir had noticed that they’d stopped and was coming back to see what the problem was. Dru put his hand subtly on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it if necessary.

  “Are you sure that’s the right way, Kasimir?” Cierra asked as he approached.

  “Quite certain. Why?”

  “I think we should be going down that corridor instead,” Cierra said.

  Dru watched Kasimir’s face closely but could only see confusion.

  “Really?” He inspected the walls as if somehow they could tell him which way it was to the centre. After a moment he pulled back.

  “You’re right,” he said in wonder. “How did you know?”

  Cierra shrugged. “Just a hunch,” she lied.

  Kasimir bustled off down the new corridor, muttering something about getting old and forgetful.

  Cierra looked at Dru. He could see the slight frown on her forehead and the doubt clouding her eyes. He could tell she no longer trusted the minotaur as completely as she had before. He nodded for her to follow, keeping his hand on his sword.

  Kasimir turned out to be quite talkative, although Dru couldn’t really blame him. If what he said about being in here for centuries was true, then he wouldn’t really have much opportunity to talk to people.

  It was a while before Kasimir led them astray a second time. When Cierra corrected him, he glared at the walls. “But I could have sworn it was this way.”

  “Do you get lost often in these tunnels?” she asked.

  Kasimir looked perplexed. “Not usually, but recently I have been wandering down the wrong path quite a lot. Sometimes I feel as if the walls themselves move to try and make my life difficult, but that’s absurd. I think it’s because I’ve been here for so long and I’m starting to go mad.” He winked conspiratorially at her. “Best way to be though, eh? Completely bonkers! Much more fun.”

  Cierra giggled. “Try telling that to Mr Grumpy-Pants the Protector! He doesn’t approve of craziness.”

  Dru regarded the two of them condescendingly. He didn’t bother to rise to the bait. Whatever he said would be mocked. Instead, he strode past them down the correct corridor. “When you two have quite finished, we have a job to do.”

  As he walked away, he could hear them laughing together. He didn’t look back, but kept an ear out to make sure he could hear Cierra’s light footsteps and Kasimir’s cloven hooves following behind him.

  He vaguely followed their conversation as he thought about what Kasimir had said about the walls seeming to move. He wondered if it was possible that the Darkness had any influence over it; either the actual walls or trying to get into Kasimir’s head. The Darkness could be trying to leave false trails to keep intruders from getting too close to the keyhole. It was also a possibility that the minotaur was trying to lead them into a trap.

  He stopped at the next split in the road, waiting for Cierra to catch up and show the way. There were three possible paths.

  He turned as they approached. Kasimir looked past him at the crossroads. He was frowning. “Strange,” he muttered.

  Dru looked discreetly at the bracelet. The jewel pointed straight ahead. He and Cierra knew which way to go, but did Kasimir?

  Kasimir was shaking his head. “This is getting out of hand,” he said. “I remember this section of the tunnels and there were never three ways. Just the two – the main path and the one leading off to the left.” He stared at the right-hand tunnel. “How did that one get there?”

  “Which way would you normally go?” Cierra asked.

  “Usually straight ahead.”

  “I think your Labyrinth has been Darkened,” Dru told him. “It’s trying to stop us from getting to the centre of the maze.”

  Kasimir sighed. “I was afraid of that. I suspected it might be happening, especially since that creature resides there now.”

  “Creature?”

  Kasimir led the way down the central path. “Something lives in the central room now. Hopefully you can get rid of it.” He shuddered, glancing back at them. “I can’t stand being anywhere n
ear it. It’s a being of Darkness.”

  Cierra blew out a long breath. “Of course it is. The Darkness has been trying to thwart us at every turn. It’s only to be expected that there would be one down here, too. To be honest, we thought it was you at first.”

  That comment made Kasimir laugh. “Me? What a ridiculous idea. Come on, we’re nearly there.”

  Sure enough, after following another tunnel for a few minutes they came to a bend. Kasimir slowed right down, stopping before rounding it.

  “This is the central chamber,” he whispered. “The keyhole is here, as well as the beast.” He looked concerned. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “We don’t have much choice,” Cierra said, gazing at the charm, which was now sparkling brightly.

  “It’s nice to have some warning of what we’re coming up against for once though,” Dru commented dryly. He sidled closer to the corner and peered around it. He felt Cierra come up beside him and crouch down to look.

  The central chamber was dark. It was impossible to tell if there was anything waiting to ambush them. Dru took the torch and tossed it into the room. The flickering light illuminated the circular carved walls. In the centre was a stone plinth with a chipped plaque on it. Dru took in a quick breath and spun back to Kasimir.

  “There’s a sword driven into that plinth,” he whispered. “Surely that’s not the sword?”

  Cierra joined them, her insatiable curiosity obviously getting the better of her. “What’s this about the sword?”

  Kasimir nodded at Dru. “Yes, it is. Nemesis. The Sword of the Ancestors.”

  Dru rocked backwards, shocked. “But it was supposed to be lost! No one could ever find it. There was no trace of it anywhere. The only way we knew it ever existed were the stories.”

  “It’s been here the whole time and I am its Guardian. The Ancestors charged me with the task of keeping it safe until it was needed to protect Elturia against evil,” Kasimir explained in a low voice.

  Dru glowered, his voice dangerous. “And you didn’t think that the Darkness taking over Elturia warranted the discovery of the sword above ground? That sword could have saved us!”

  Kasimir simply shook his head. “No, Dru. You’re forgetting the Prophecy. Only the charm bracelet can dispel the Darkness. There was no point in revealing the sword.”

  Dru wanted to argue, but he knew that Kasimir was right.

  “What about the creature?” Cierra asked, bringing them back to the present situation. “I didn’t see it.”

  “Really?” Kasimir took his turn at peering around the corner. “I wonder where it is?” He turned back. “I think I prefer it when I know where it is... at least that way I know it isn’t going to jump out at me.”

  “We’ll take advantage of the fact that it’s not here to place the charm where it belongs,” Dru said, pushing past them. He drew his sword. “Follow close behind me, Cierra. Kasimir, you bring up the rear.”

  “If I get hurt, I’m blaming it all on you, Protector.” He looked down at Cierra. “The keyhole is the seal at the bottom of the plaque. The jewel was the symbol of the Ancestors.” He seemed to be about to continue, but Dru cut him off.

  “We can have a history lesson later,” he growled. “We need to get on with this. Who knows when that creature will be back.”

  He began to walk out into the circular stone chamber, senses alert for any sign of the Darkness. His senses picked up on Cierra following close behind, almost tripping over him in her hurry to get to the pedestal. He could also sense Kasimir behind Cierra, keeping a watchful eye on her. Dru decided to give the minotaur the benefit of the doubt and trust him for the time being. He could certainly use another pair of eyes keeping track of Cierra and the bracelet. She attracted trouble like a magnet.

  Or maybe that was just the bracelet.

  Something in the room shifted and all of Dru’s senses focused in on the sound. Neither Cierra nor Kasimir seemed to have noticed and looked at him, puzzled that he had stopped. He motioned for them to keep still and turned slowly, scanning the room, looking for any clue that could lead to the discovery of the creature.

  There, over the corridor we left. He stared closer. A glowing red light winked into existence and stared directly at him. Something hissed.

  “Get behind me!” Dru shouted, startling the two followers. Kasimir was quicker to react and scooped Cierra up, sprinting with his powerful hind legs to get her behind Dru. He kept his hulking body close to her, in case the monster decided to attack.

  The monster detached itself from the wall, hissing as it came. It fixed its red eyes on Dru, seeming to assess him as the bigger threat.

  He gritted his teeth at the grating sound the creature made as it moved. It seemed to be a huge stone snake, its granite scales making a noise like thunder. It slithered towards him. As it closed in, it raised its head, rearing up several metres.

  Dru looked from the imposing snake to his sword and back.

  Somehow, he doubted his weapon was going to be much help against this enemy.

  Books in The Unfinished Prophecy Mini-Series:

  Part One: The Twilight Swordsman

  Part Two: The Monster of Crystal Lake

  Part Three: The Ancient Labyrinth

  Part Four: Circle of the Stars (coming 28th Feb 2016)

  Part Five: Key to the Kingdom (coming 13th March 2016)

  If you would like to know exactly when a new book is being released, join Maggie’s mailing list and you will never miss out!

  www.maggieakhurst.com/subscribe

  Enjoyed the book? Reviews help others find books they might like. I’d really appreciate it if you could take 5 minutes to post a review!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Born in Australia, I lived in almost every state there before taking the leap with my dream to move to the UK with my husband. I love to travel and explore new countries and learn new languages.

  In my spare time I enjoy reading, playing video games, watching anime or TV series, talking to my (imaginary) friends, and generally enjoying life as much as I can!

  I love to hear from readers! You can find me here:

  Website: www.maggieakhurst.com

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/maggieakhurst.author

  Twitter: @MaggieAkhurst

  Email: maggie@maggieakhurst.com