At last, the road they were following ended at another road, this one a curved road that separated them from a large stone wall that stretched into the distance. It looked like the road and the wall might eventually form a circle, but if so it was a very large circle.
The road was empty.
Directly before them, set into that wall, was another arched entrance like the one outside the city.
They stepped onto the circular road and the sounds of the city disappeared.
They were alone. No one to be seen in any direction, even behind them.
As they stepped closer, K'lrsa studied the markings atop the arch. Similar to those on the first arch but different.
Fallion took his reins in his teeth and pulled free of K'lrsa's grip. He turned and walked towards a stable yard a short distance away, Midnight and Kriger following.
K'lrsa would've sworn it wasn't there when she'd first looked that way.
She didn't want Fallion to leave, but it was clear he couldn't come with them and didn't expect to.
"Well." K'lrsa turned to the others. "What now?"
Herin nodded at the lettering. "It says, 'Those who seek knowledge must first overcome.'"
"What's that mean? Overcome what?"
Herin shrugged. "Whatever stands in your path, I'd imagine."
K'lrsa breathed in through her nose as she glared at Herin. Couldn't the woman ever give a straight answer? "You said this was a labyrinth. What else do you know about it?"
She shook her head. "Just that. That at the center of the Hidden City is the labyrinth. Those who find their way to the center of the labyrinth find what they seek."
K'lrsa turned to Lodie. "What do you know about it?"
Lodie raised an eyebrow at K'lrsa's tone, but she answered, "That there are challenges we have to face. Some are physical, and some are challenges of the mind or spirit."
"How many?"
Lodie looked to Herin. Herin shrugged and held up three maimed fingers. Lodie nodded. "We think three. We don't know the order. But one each to test the body, the mind, and the spirit."
"And can we stay together? Or are the challenges individual?"
"Both."
"Both? What does that mean?"
Lodie looked to Herin again. Herin shrugged. "As far as we know we can all enter together, but some may overcome a challenge that others fail. If you want to continue, you'll have to do so without them."
"Can we die in there?"
Herin shrugged as if to say it didn't matter.
"Herin? Can anything in there kill us? If so, I don't think we should all go. Maybe Lodie and Badru and Vedhe can stay here." She knew Herin would insist on going and Garzel with her. This way, though, maybe she could spare the others.
Badru stepped to her side. "We all go. We already made that choice."
"But…"
"It's too late to turn back now." He glanced between Herin and Lodie. "Is there anything else we should know before we enter?"
They both shook their heads.
He drew his sword. "Then let's go."
"Wait." Herin stepped in front of him. "I believe we're allowed to face the challenges as a group, but I'm not sure it will allow us to do so unless we walk through together."
"What is it?" K'lrsa asked.
"The labyrinth."
"Is it alive?"
"Pzah, child. Like I know. Something presents the challenges, though, doesn't it?"
K'lrsa wanted to throttle the old grel. Why did she always have to be so infuriating?
Lodie stepped between them. "There are rules we don't understand about how it works. The wise ones of each tribe used to come here. They would make their way through the labyrinth to learn the secrets of the tribes. But it wasn't all of the wise ones. Only those chosen to be the head wise one of each tribe. And before they came the other head wise ones would tell them what to expect."
Herin glared at Lodie, her lips pressed together so tight it was a wonder her face didn't collapse in on itself.
Lodie continued, "But that knowledge died when Aran murdered our tribe and all of the head wise ones. We asked the wise ones at the gathering what they knew of the Hidden City. That's why we know there's a labyrinth and that it contains challenges. And we know that in the past wise ones would come here together. Sometimes a wise one who wanted to step aside would bring their successor and help them make their way through. So we know it's possible to traverse the labyrinth with at least one other."
She looked at everyone in turn. "Deaths were rare then, but they did happen. And this was for those who knew what to expect. We were told that right after the attack on the Summer Spring Tribe a few came here to challenge the labyrinth but they never returned. None have tried since."
Herin snorted. "Now that the history lesson is over. Be prepared for anything."
Lodie added, "And remember, until you reach the center of the labyrinth and are given the knowledge you seek, you have not passed all the challenges even if it seems like you have."
Badru hefted his sword. "Are we ready?"
They all nodded, checking that bows and knives were ready to hand. Badru and Vedhe were the only ones with their weapons already drawn, one to lead, one to bring up the rear. The rest joined hands.
"Ready?" Badru winked at her and K'lrsa couldn't help but smile back even though she felt almost sick with dread.
"Pzah. You foolish children." Herin squeezed K'lrsa's other hand, the stubs of her fingers digging into K'lrsa's palm. "Take this seriously. Lives depend on it."
Garzel gave a small grunt of agreement from where he stood on Herin's other side. Lodie and Vedhe stood, waiting patiently, refusing to join in the bickering.
Badru nodded. "Alright then. Let's go."
They walked through the arch and into the path of fire.
Chapter 70
A gust of flame missed Badru and K'lrsa by the narrowest of margins, coming so close it singed K'lrsa's eyebrows. The heat of it blistered her skin as Badru yanked her behind him, shielding her from the source of the flames with his own body as he pushed her behind a tall stone pillar already covered in scorch marks.
Herin's hand jerked free of K'lrsa's as she and Garzel stepped forward.
On the other side, Lodie and Vedhe dashed behind a low stone pedestal, also scored with thick black marks.
Herin raised her voice and let out the high ki-ki-ki of the Riders.
"Grandmother, no!" Badru shouted as she and Garzel took another step forward.
K'lrsa held him back as another gout of flame struck in their direction. She glanced around the other side of the pillar to see what they faced.
It was a dragon.
A dragon? She'd heard of them, of course, but had never thought they were real. Dragons were tales told to children, fantasy beasts out of the age of legends.
But that's what it had to be. Ten times the size of a horse, covered in glistening copper and red scales, each the size of K'lrsa's hand, a long snout, heavy brow ridges, and breathing fire at anything that moved.
The dragon reared back on its hind legs, its tail swishing the ground as it readied itself to breathe fire once more.
"Look out!" K'lrsa screamed, but Herin and Garzel crept forward, studying the great beast.
"The belly," Herin shouted back at them, gesturing to a pale white spot close to the ground. "Cut the belly. Or the eyes. Aim for the eyes."
"Get out of there, Grandmother," Badru shouted.
But it was too late.
The dragon struck. Angry red flames engulfed Herin and Garzel.
Vedhe screamed as they writhed within the flames, holding hands, twin pillars of death.
K'lrsa wanted to scream, but she couldn't find the air to breathe.
The dragon advanced, its sinuous head turned towards the sound of Vedhe's agony.
Vedhe and Lodie fled, seeking shelter behind a larger pillar as the dragon struck, the flames of its breath engulfing the pedestal where they'd been hidden.
K'lrsa gasped, still struggling to get air into her lungs, but she couldn't no matter how hard she tried.
Herin and Garzel were dead.
Just like that.
Had they known?
They hadn't even tried to save themselves. Why do that?
There had to be something she'd missed. They'd sacrificed themselves to find the dragon's weakness. But why?
Why do that when they didn't have to?
She grabbed Badru's arm. "Let's go back. We don't have to do this. There has to be another way."
Badru pulled away, shaking his head, his gaze still fixed on where the dragon stalked Vedhe through tumbled stone pillars.
"Badru."
"No. It's too late."
He was right. The arch was gone.
She spun around, looking to see if she'd somehow been mistaken, if it was somewhere else.
But, no.
There was no arch.
They were in a large circular sand-filled area enclosed with gray stones that led upward, expanding outward every few steps. Pedestals and pillars were scattered everywhere, many with black scorch marks on them, but there was no arch.
The dragon roared its rage as Lodie stabbed at its tail. Before it could turn on her, Vedhe shot an arrow that glanced off the ridge above its right eye. It spewed fire at Vedhe, but she'd already moved on.
K'lrsa knew she should help her friends, but she didn't care about defeating the dragon. She just wanted to go home. Back to where she'd come from.
The spot where Herin and Garzel had died was just a smudge of blackness. All that was left of two people who'd lived and struggled their entire lives and overcome so much.
How was that fair?
What kind of gods did that to people who came to them for help?
Badru dragged her to the side.
Just in time, too.
A burst of fire struck the pillar behind them. It seemed the dragon had turned its attention to an easier target.
Vedhe appeared between a stone pedestal and a pillar that had fallen on its side. She shouted something in her own language and aimed her bow, waiting for the dragon to turn towards her.
It whipped around, faster than it had any right to.
She shot and dodged to the side as it breathed fire at her.
The arrow lodged itself in the corner of the dragon's eye. It screamed so loud a pillar crashed to the ground.
Badru hefted his sword in both hands. "My turn." He waited until the dragon turned to pursue Vedhe and then raced forward, ducking under one of its gigantic, clawed feet.
K'lrsa longed to call him back, but she didn't dare. She watched in breathless fear as he raised his sword and slashed at the dragon's belly.
The sword glanced off its hide, but Badru stayed, moving as it moved, determined to try again.
She shoved her fear aside and reached for her bow.
Her friends needed her help, and even if an arrow was nothing to a creature that size, it was better to try and fail than stand aside and watch her friends die.
She aimed an arrow at its great big, ugly head as Badru readied himself to strike again.
But just as she released, Vedhe shot another arrow. This one went up the dragon's left nostril. The dragon shook its head, trying to dislodge it, and K'lrsa's shot flew wide.
Fire spewed in all directions as the dragon screamed its frustration, clawing at its face.
K'lrsa couldn't see Badru. For all she knew he'd been crushed.
"Here," she screamed. "Come and get me."
The dragon turned, its eyes a malevolent red as it advanced on her. Badru moved with it, sword in hand, waiting for his chance to strike.
The dragon drew a deep breath, readying itself to attack.
K'lrsa tensed.
She wanted to run.
But Badru needed more time.
She fought to stay standing there, in the dragon's path, knowing that at any moment it would attack.
It pulled back, its chest expanding, air filling its lungs. And, then, just as it started to lunge forward, Lodie tackled K'lrsa and they both rolled to the side as flame struck the spot where she'd just been.
The dragon screamed, a sound unlike anything K'lrsa had ever heard before. The sound was almost human in its agony, but primal, too.
The dragon thrashed side-to-side. Fire gushed into the air above it.
K'lrsa stumbled to her feet as Badru broke free of the monster's convulsing body.
His sword was still lodged in the dragon's soft underbelly just below a huge rent in its flesh. The dragon collapsed, curled in on itself, scrabbling to remove the sword that still stuck out from the wound.
Its tail broke the nearest two pillars as it bellowed in pain, thrashing from side to side.
K'lrsa watched, her hands clenched in fists of agony, as each cry and scream pulsed through her.
No creature should have to suffer like that.
She hated what it had done to Herin and Garzel, but whose fault was that?
Not the dragon's. The gods'. They'd placed it here.
"We have to kill it," she said.
"It'll die eventually." Lodie stepped in her path, but she stepped around her.
"No. It doesn't deserve to suffer like that."
She dashed forward, an arrow in her hand, hoping she could reach the creature's eye. Vedhe came forward, too, clutching an arrow like a stake, the same determination on her face.
As they approached, the dragon stilled, watching them with eyes far too intelligent for a mere animal.
It didn't try to attack them, just watched. The wound in its belly was a huge, gaping thing, green-tinged blood oozing out of it. No matter what they did now, the dragon was going to die.
Vedhe held up her arrow and muttered something in her own language, gesturing towards the creature's eye. The dragon lowered its head to the ground, its intelligent eyes wide open.
It didn't move as they came closer.
"Here." Vedhe gestured towards its right eye. They took positions, one on either side of the giant red eye that stared ahead, unblinking.
Vedhe nodded and together they plunged their arrows into the dragon's eye. The dragon twitched, but held steady as they pushed the arrows in further.
It was one of the worst moments of K'lrsa's life. She trembled with sorrow and disgust and anger as the eye finally burst, covering her with viscous fluid. She wanted to stop then, but she pressed the arrow deeper and deeper until the dragon twitched once more and died.
She stumbled away, arms wrapped tight across her stomach, hating the gods more in that moment than she'd hated anyone ever before.
She clutched at the smooth edge of a nearby pedestal as wave after wave of nausea coursed through her.
What was the point?
Herin and Garzel dead.
The dragon dead.
And for what?
To test them?
To see if they were worthy? What kind of gods did that?
And how did killing a magnificent creature like this dragon make them worthy of anything worth having?
She shook her head.
"K'lrsa?" Badru rubbed the small of her back. "Are you okay?"
She forced herself to stand.
The dragon's body was gone.
A new arch stood in its place, stone like the others, but smaller, wide enough for four instead of six. The writing on top was different, too.
"What does it say?" K'lrsa asked, unable to keep the venom out of her voice.
Lodie answered, "That physical courage isn't enough if you want the knowledge of the gods."
"Is that what that was? Physical courage?" K'lrsa shook her head. "Fine. Let's go. Can't go back now, can we?"
Badru held her back. "I think we should rest here. The arch isn't going anywhere."
He led the way to a pedestal large enough for all four of them to sit together.
Lodie handed around a waterskin full of warm water that tasted of sand but was still refreshing.
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"Are they really dead?" K'lrsa asked.
"Who?" Lodie took a swig from the waterskin and passed it on to Vedhe.
"Herin and Garzel. Who do you think?"
"Oh." Lodie nodded. "Yes."
"Gee, you seem really broken up about it."
"K'lrsa." Badru chided her.
"Well, honestly. Her own sister is dead and she doesn't even shed a tear."
Lodie took another swig from the waterskin. "Would you prefer I tore my hair out and rent my skin with my nails? Would that make my grief more acceptable to you?"
"No. I'm sorry. I just…I can't believe they're gone."
"They knew the choice they were making when they came here. As did we all."
But had they really? Maybe the others had, but K'lrsa certainly hadn't.
Chapter 71
When the others were finally ready, they linked hands once more and stepped through the arch. K'lrsa hoped Herin had been right about the types of challenges they'd face, because Badru no longer had his sword which left them with only some small knives and two bows.
There was a flash of white light as they stepped through the arch and then they found themselves in a cave with no entrance. She could just touch the ceiling with her fingertips. There were no torches or other obvious source of light, but somehow the room was perfectly lit so they could see every single nook and cranny.
She walked forward. It took six steps to reach the opposite wall and would probably take another ten to walk the length of it. Hundreds of small circular holes covered the walls, each with a drawing etched into the stone above.
A flat stone pedestal dominated the center of the space with seventeen long rods in yellow, green, orange, and red sitting on top. There were seven red rods, but only one green.
K'lrsa sniffed, expecting to smell water or dust, but there was no scent to the place.
Again.
Of course. Whatever this place was, it wasn't any more real than the arena.
"So what do we do now?" K'lrsa ran her fingers over the carved drawing of a sun, trying not to notice how small the room was.
Lodie turned one of the rods over in her hand. "We solve the puzzle. I assume this is the test of the mind." She held the rod up to one of the holes in the wall. It would fit.
Rider's Rescue (The Rider's Revenge Trilogy Book 2) Page 21