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I turn and look at the thread writhing on the ground. It’s a signpost. It’ll show me the way. It’ll guide me and Claire to the end. She’ll live. Having a fire spirit makes me a little more resistant to the flames – at least for a while. I can do this.
“No,” I say. “I’m the only one who can still help her, and I refuse sit back while we all wait for her to die.”
I wrench my arm out of Ms. Fabrici’s grasp. She utters an exclamation of surprise, but I’m already running toward the labyrinth. It’s good that our seats are so far forward. I don’t have far to go, and I’ll get there before anyone has a chance to stop me. I hear the two birds squawking overhead. They both swoop down toward me. I send odeon to Yoru, who’s running beside me, and command him to shoot fireballs at the two spirits. This scares them off, and they abandon their attack. At that moment, I reach the labyrinth. The heat is almost unbearable. Even though I have a certain immunity to fire, I still feel the intensity of the flames on my skin … and the pain.
I run as fast as I can, following the golden thread. It leads me around a corner and into the maze. I’m now certain that it’ll lead me to the spindle. But first, I have to find Claire and then, depending on where she is, either search for the exit or go to the spindle because the flames will disappear once we reach it.
“Claire!” I call out through the crackling fire. “Where are you?”
I get no answer. I go deeper into the labyrinth. The air is almost too hot to breathe. I hold my arms close to my body and run down the middle of the aisles. But the flames leap out at me mercilessly. I should be drenched in sweat, but the moisture evaporates instantly in the heat.
“Yoru, stay close to me,” I warn my fox as I’m running. I keep glancing back and looking at him closely. If I see even the faintest sign that he’s suffering, I’ll send him out of the labyrinth. I won’t let him get hurt. No way!
“Claire,” I call out again. “Where are you? Say something!”
I hear another scream, very close this time. A knot forms in my stomach, and I get goosebumps all over. It sounded so weak, so exhausted and utterly despairing. I increase my pace and cough because I’m not getting enough air into my lungs. But I run on doggedly and fight my way through the inferno.
“Claire, please say something,” I beg her in a rasping voice. How much time do I have before I have to get out of here?
I stumble around the next corner and stop dead in horror. What is that? At first, I’m convinced that my mind is playing tricks on me. That’s the only explanation. What I’m seeing can’t possibly be real. How could it?
Below the flames, a black shape is clawing its way out of the ground. It’s small and round, its arms long and thin with multiple joints. The hands are talons with sharp claws. But the worst part is the face: a round black thing with a dark hole for a mouth and two jet-black eye sockets. It makes a choking sound as it pulls itself out of the soil and across the ground with energetic, jerky movements.
Paralyzed with fear, I stare at this strange creature creeping purposefully forward. I need to get out of here. Now! The flames are burning my skin. But then I see two more creatures in a corner to my left. They pull themselves out of the soil too and drag their bodies across the ground. I’m still frozen to the spot, waiting for them to attack me. But they appear to have no interest in me. They don’t even look at me. No, they’re after something else, moving in another direction. I pluck up the courage to run past them. Strangled rattling sounds come out of their mouths as I hurry past them, but they leave me alone.
“Claire!” I cry out in a panic. “Say something!” It’s clear to me now that the flames aren’t the only danger to her – these horrible creatures are pursuing her too.
“Here,” I finally hear her say. “I’m over here.” She sounds weak. I can only hear her because I’m so close. I turn one more corner, and then I see her.
She’s still limping on. But she’s obviously struggling to stay on her feet. Her right arm hangs limply at her side, so badly burned that I can see raw flesh. There are large burns on her legs too and in places her pants are melted to her skin. Her elaborate hairdo has long since disintegrated into a scorched tangle. Strands of hair hang in her sooty face, in which I see nothing but sheer desperation.
She looks at me and says in a panic, “You shouldn’t have come. Now you’re finished too.”
I try to hide my shock and suppress the fear rising in me.
“We … we’re going to get out of here,” I promise. I look around. The entrance is too far. And we’d have to go past those horrible creatures.
Claire sways alarmingly. I know she won’t make it that far. I peer around the next corner to my right. I see the golden thread of light snaking along the ground. But I have no idea how far away the spindle is. Do we have any other choice?
A gust of wind blows through the fiery walls. Hot sparks flare up in the night, and the fire blazes hotter, setting Claire’s left side alight. She screams again and frantically rubs herself to smother the flames. I help her, then I grasp her shoulders and look her straight in the eye. “We need to move. Come on!”
She raises her head and looks at me, exhausted. For a moment, I’m afraid that she’s already given up, but then she starts moving.
“We can get to the spindle,” I promise. “I can see the thread. It’ll lead us straight there.”
Claire looks around for it, but quickly gives up. “How far …” The rest of the sentence is lost in a horrible coughing fit. It takes her a moment to catch her breath.
I’m struggling to breathe too. The farther we go, the hotter and more oppressive the fire becomes. I keep glancing back at Yoru, who’s sticking close behind me and keeping his distance from the flames. But they’re taking their toll on him too. His fur is singed in several places, and I can hear his wheezing breath.
The thread leads us around another corner. There, the passage narrows even more.
Claire stops behind me and begins to cry. “No … please.”
But that’s the way the thread is leading us. It must be the right way. It must be.
I turn around and ruffle Yoru’s fur. “It’s time for you to go now, little guy.”
I have to fight to keep my voice from cracking. It tears my heart out to have to send him away and hope that he’ll find his way out of this hell. But he can’t stay with us.
