"Oh, no, you don't, Maddyn. Don't you dare!"
But it was too late. The flames made it difficult to focus, but she saw enough to know he was transforming. To see his human form struggle and collapse. To feel his intention to force her to go on by dying quickly.
-10-
MADDYN felt her despair, her self-doubt, then the wave of angry determination.
There was nothing she could do for him, though. If she stayed, she risked confronting Lennar on her own. There was no way Maddyn would let her risk being hurt or dying down here.
He needed to make sure Yve got out. Got help. To make sure she stopped Hafgan's henchmen. Make sure she lived.
Maddyn knew her well enough now, though, to know how stubborn she was. To know she'd stay past the point of hope, exhausting and endangering herself.
He knew because he'd do the same thing if their places were reversed.
So he had only one choice.
He reached and pulled his other shape around him, let the burn and itch take him until he returned fully to his human form.
The abrupt burden of pain and weakness dropped him to his knees.
"What are you doing? You'll die."
Yve tried to step closer, but the heat drove her back.
"That's going to happen either way. There's no way out of this. We both know this is sorcery. Water isn't going to put out this fire. I'd rather die quickly than linger here." He coughed, throat seared from the hot smoke. "You need to go get Daen and the palace guard. Stop Lennar."
He wasn't sure what he expected. Maybe that Yve would argue. Or that she would see he was right and tearfully leave him behind. He didn't expect the push of irritation or the way she glared at him through the flames.
"It's no sorcery. It's part of the Labyrinth's protection. It's magic, but magic I think I can figure out, you self-sacrificing idiot."
"Goddess magic?" Maddyn asked, thinking of Lia and the amazing things his sister-in-law was capable of in her valley. Did the Kelan's gift pass along the same kind of power to Yve? In this form, he carried the senses of his Milesan transformation. Now, he saw the lines running thick and hot all around them. But, untrained and inexperienced, even with the Kelan's gift, could Yve handle it?
"I think. Yes. I can feel the magic. I can see the knot that keeps you trapped. If you give me a few minutes before you let yourself bleed to death, I think I can figure it out. I know. I know I can get you out. Just give me a little time."
The anger burned out of her voice, the end dropping into half plea, half demand.
She was asking him to trust her. To depend on her and let her take care of him.
His whole life, Maddyn fought tooth and nail to protect his brothers. To do whatever he had to, to keep them safe. Maddyn had taken it on himself to be guardian, mentor, shoulder, and confessor.
He'd lost his parents to Tresk's murderous armies. He'd lost his foster parents to Hafgan's minion. As the eldest, he'd made sure he was the one they could always lean on. Depend on. And somehow, he'd convinced himself that to be strong for them, he couldn't let himself depend on anyone else.
The truth was, he never wanted to depend on anyone else because he didn't want the rug yanked out from under him anymore. He'd never been willing to risk enduring that again. The weakness, being lost and adrift without an anchor or compass to guide when someone he leaned on was irrevocably gone.
So he'd become the one others depended on. Had refused to allow himself to lean on anyone else.
Never wanted to until now. Until Yve.
Maddyn called, and the Hound's form twisted through him until he stood on four legs again.
No longer fighting the pain or weakness of his wounded human side, Maddyn felt rejuvenated.
"Thank you," Yve exhaled, her body slumped in relief, and she took a couple of long breaths.
Then her face transformed into a mask of deep concentration. She stayed completely still, nothing felt any different in the room. But her lips flattened into a pale line and her eyes tightened into laser focus.
The circle of fire suddenly jumped inward closing in so that he only had a couple of feet on all sides.
Yve jerked and gasped, her mouth a surprised O at the unexpected movement.
He wanted to panic. To fight this unfightable foe. But he put his faith in Yve.
Instead of doing something foolish, reckless or impulsive, Maddyn dropped down to sit on his haunches. He pushed a sense of patience along the bond and acted like he had all the time in the world.
Her breathing was ragged and her eyes wide with fear, but Yve gathered herself and drew the concentration around her like a shield again.
Sitting still and relaxed and waiting with danger so close was the hardest thing Maddyn had ever done.
*****
Yve carefully pulled at one line at a time, unraveling the knot bit by bit, like untangling gran's wool after the kittens had gotten into it. When she tugged too hard on the wrong line, though, it wasn't just a tighter knot she had to deal with. The fire jumped in, too close to the Hound for her peace of mind.
She panicked for a second and let go of everything. But Maddyn sat down on his haunches, quietly putting his trust in her. To do something she'd never done before. With a gift she had no idea how to use.
She couldn't let down that faith, though, no matter how much she doubted herself. So she kept working until the last leyline shifted and the knot disappeared and the fire winked out. She was so wired with the tension of delicate work, success was a sudden, engulfing relief. Yve slumped, dropping to her knees on the floor.
Maddyn leapt out of the corridor to nuzzle his snout against her face. She wrapped her arms around the huge Hound and pressed her face into his fur until her breath and her heart settled into a somewhat normal rhythm.
Eventually, she forced herself to pull away and brushed at the drying tears on her cheeks. The Hound pushed his face into hers again and licked a wide stripe across her cheek.
Laughing, she half-heartedly shoved him away then got to her feet.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm glad you're not dead, too. From now on, I lead," she insisted, sounding much more confident than she felt.
She could see the lines of power now. Her body sang with awareness of the magic all around her. Her blood surged with her success. This was what had drawn her to the Order. The Kelan's gift may have unlocked this new perception in her, but she was sure it had been there all along. It was what had pushed her to seek, to search and to keep trying no matter how many times she told herself she should attempt to fit in better.
But even realizing all of that, she still didn't understand this new awareness fully. She wasn't sure how to interpret it or use it or even how much to trust it or depend on it.
At least two branches out of the circular room tugged at her in equal measure. Either might be the right path. Or the wrong one. So much rode on her getting this right, and she had no idea what to do. But she needed to figure it out fast because they were running out of time.
But the lines of power were a map, she was sure, and the awareness, the tug she'd experienced since stepping into the Labyrinth was a guide. There were two equal options, but the corridor directly across from where they entered drew her toward it with an inexplicable call.
"This way," she said. Lifting her chin, Yve strode toward the tunnel, doing her best to project more calm confidence than she actually felt.
The deeper they went into the maze, though, the harder it became to sense and see the minute differences. With each turn, Yve worried more that she wanted to believe so much, she was imagining the lines of power. That the feelings were a hallucination brought on by desperation and fear. That maybe saving Maddyn had been a fluke. Maybe the fire went out on its own and had nothing to do with her. Maybe every choice she made only lead them closer to another trap. One she couldn't undo.
The uneasiness grew heavier with every decision, and she fought to keep her breathing even. Fought to keep her panic locked up so Maddyn woul
dn't feel it across their bond.
Her uncertainty came to a head when the tunnel they were in opened up into a T intersection. Through the haze of indecision and crushing weight of doubt, Yve couldn't perceive any difference at all. She knew only one led to the center, but she couldn't seem to hold onto the feeling long enough to figure out which one it was.
They were running out of time. Lennar was so far ahead of them, and a dark shift was creeping into her awareness. The seneschal was already weaving his sorcery somewhere deeper in the Labyrinth. If she made a wrong turn now, it would be over before she had a chance to fix her mistake.
Soft heat brushed the fist curled at her side. A comforting weight pressed into her hip. There was no impatience in his posture or in the hum along the bond. There was no doubt or censure. Just solid, patient faith.
Unclenching her hand, Yve stroked her fingers through the Hound’s fur and let it calm and center her.
Maddyn had trusted with his life in the fire-trap. He'd believed in her ability. If he had faith in her when it was his life on the line, then she'd have faith in herself.
And with that confidence and affirmation, the answer was clear. So was the knowledge that they were close now. Very close. Turning to the left, she squared her shoulders and strode confidently down the tunnel, sure in her choice.
Three turns later, Maddyn pushed in front of her and crowded her back until she stood flat against the wall. Once she stopped moving, she heard what must have alerted him. A voice chanting in a language she didn't know. Didn't want to know. The sound, sharp and chilling, sent a shiver of unease down her spine.
They crept closer, slow and silent, hugging the stone until they edged close enough to peek at what lay beyond the archway. Another circular room, several times larger than any they'd encountered so far. The arch they stood near, though, was the only one in or out of the room. The glow was stronger here, and pale sunlight trickled in from a ragged hole in the ceiling.
An altar almost identical to the one in the Centrum dominated the center of the room. Next to it, the seneschal stood in profile, a vial of thick, red liquid in one hand. The other held over the middle of the altar. Yve gagged a little when she realized the liquid was blood.
The lines of power crisscrossed the room so thick and tight, it looked like fabric on the loom. Everything came together beneath the altar, where every line flowed like rivers and streams into a smooth pool of pure magic.
And whatever Lennar was doing to it made her sick. Before her eyes, a small ripple of the healthy golden power at the center slowly paled, became sickly and thin looking. The sense of it in the air darkened from joyful, welcoming song to something dark and malevolent.
The pale magic formed a new line, reaching for Lennar's outstretched hand. Yve focused on the abomination of his black sorcery and how to stop it, didn't notice him look toward the archway until he spoke.
"You might as well come out, Kelan," he said, infusing her title with so much contempt that it made her shiver. "It's not like you can conceal yourself from me now that I possess the ley-pool. Soon, the entire region will belong to me. Starting with your precious Temple."
Despite Maddyn's attempts to keep her back, she knew there was no point in hiding. Stepping into the center of the archway, she kept her head high and tried to project a confidence she didn't feel.
"There you are. It took you long enough. I thought you'd gone astray. Which would be a pity, because this," Lennar waved the flask of blood, "this is only the beginning of what I need. If you'd gotten lost or killed, I'd have had to go looking for the rest of your Order."
Yve had seen this before, in her vision. The altar covered in blood and surrounded by the bodies of Seryts. The Temple above burning as the world descended into hell.
Yve was never going to let that come to pass. He'd taken Mother Orra from her, but she'd never let him hurt anyone again.
With a snarl, she started to rush in, heedless of danger but Maddyn bumped into her side, intruding into her haze of anger. Then he leapt forward, and she knew he intended to protect her by engaging the assassin.
Without knowing why, exactly, she knew that would be the worst thing they could do.
"Maddyn, stop, wait."
She followed him into the center, where he stopped halfway to the altar.
"Good boy, Harbinger. Sit. Stay," Lennar sneered.
Yve curled her hand into his fur and tried to pulse not yet and soon across the bond until his vibrating muscles relaxed beneath her hand.
Then she turned to face the sorcerer, hoping to keep him distracted until she figured out what she needed to do to stop him once and for all.
*****
Standing still and not ripping out the bastard's throat was the hardest thing Maddyn had ever had to do, but the heavy sorcery thickened the air. Whatever Lennar was doing, Yve needed time to fix it. So he would give her time. Once Yve, and the world, were safe, though, the bastard was his.
Instead of leaping into action, he took the time to assess the terrain. The altar was the only thing in the room aside from tumbled rocks littering the floor. A closer look at the stones though made him realize they were carved and shaped. Not the smooth stone of the Labyrinth's corridors. They'd once been hewn building blocks of a man-made structure.
He looked up at the sun shining through the jagged hole in the ceiling, and he knew they were beneath the tumbled and broken north tower.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Why? I thought you, of all people, would understand. Ambition. Power. You weren't content to be a lowly novitiate or a pathetic Seryt. I was meant for greater things than to toady for worthless, feckless nobility."
"I didn't ask for this. I didn't want to be Kelan."
"Please. My great-aunt was High Seryt before Brynna. I know how it works. She should have been Kelan. But Orra manipulated things to her advantage. She played politics, garnered favors and hoarded secrets until she stole Myala's rightful place. Just like you did."
"I didn't. I wouldn't. She chose me."
"Right. You. Barely a year as a novitiate. And not a very good one from the way the elder Seryts gossiped." He sneered and rolled his eyes. In that split second of distraction, Yve shifted her weight slightly. Still close to Maddyn, but no longer touching him.
"I'm sure she just woke one morning and decided to shake things up by giving the least qualified person all that power and influence," Lennar scoffed. "I would dearly love to know what you held over her head. It must have been something pretty juicy for her to fear it getting out even after her death."
"That's not what happened," Yve huffed and put her hands on her hips. The movement mostly disguised the fact that she took a careful step away from Maddyn.
Maddyn swallowed a growl. He didn't want her anywhere he couldn't protect her. But she had a plan, he understood that much. And the best way to keep her safe was to follow her lead.
Yve glared at the seneschal, her outrage palpable. But she remained focused. Before Lennar could prod anymore, looking for soft spots to unbalance her, Yve looked around the room and went on the offensive.
"This is the center of the Labyrinth, isn't it? The real place of power where the first king found the sword and the first Kelan received the gift?" Yve asked, glancing around the room, gaze lingering on the open ceiling, the altar and the intricate carvings on the wall.
Lennar's eyes automatically tracked the path of Yve's, and she took another couple of steps away from Maddyn. Every muscle in his Hound form tightened, coiled and ready to spring at the slightest hint of violence or aggression.
"How did you find it?" Yve asked. "How did you find any of it? The medallion, the library... It was you. You were the stranger. Gyrt said a respected member of the Order got in trouble for bringing a relative into the Temple."
"It was easy to convince Myala a tour was harmless. And, by that time, her jealousy of Orra ran so deep she was eager to get one over on the supercilious cow." Lennar's smirk deepened and he swirled th
e blood-filled vial.
Maddyn stayed stock still but wanted to shake his head at how much the seneschal underestimated Yve. Every time Lennar took his eyes off of her she got a little closer to the altar.
"I had already begun my apprenticeship, and I saw signs of power all over this place. I even saw hints of it on the medallion. When Myala showed me the secret library, I knew something powerful hid beneath all that sanctimonious claptrap."
He pulled the medallion out from under his cloak and stroked over the metal.
"Once I was inside the maze itself, this led me straight here. And now the power is all mine."
His hand swept wide, a dramatic gesture that waved over the altar and gave Yve another few inches.
"Yours and your master's, you mean," Yve said, with a smug and condescending lilt.
"Galwei is mine. He was foolish enough to teach me, but, with the ley-pool in my hands, I am in control," Lennar snarled, grip tightening threateningly around the glass vial. Maddyn tensed, but Yve only shrugged.
"Do you really think Hafgan is going to let an upstart like you have this kind of power? He let you take the risks and face the danger, knowing he could wrest it away whenever he wanted. He could be up there, right now." Yve tilted her chin up toward the open roof. "Waiting to make sure there aren't any final booby-traps before he takes control."
For the first time, Yve miscalculated. He started to glance up, and she sidled to the side. But Lennar caught the motion. Fury darkened his face and spittle flew as he swore.
"I see now. You think you're so clever. But you can't win. I have years of ruthless training. You've had the gift less than a week. There is no hope. You and your mutt will die. The Seryts will die. And the Temple will burn. I own Galwei now."
He opened his hand, and the flask smashed on the altar, blood splashing up and spilling out into the carvings.
"Maddyn, now!"
Before she finished his name, he felt her intention and launched himself at Lennar's throat.
By Destiny Bound (The Lost Shrines Book 2) Page 13