Bale
I pulled my sword from its sheath as I sprinted through the rows of hedges. I had no intention of fighting the minotaur, that would be useless, but I would irritate it and keep it distracted while Aisling worked to get the others free of this place.
Flames arced over my head and sparks rained down on me, but I didn’t feel them and they didn’t burn me. To me, the fire was freeing, and I thrived on the power it emitted as I ran faster.
I dashed through a group of burning bushes and burst out the other side where I almost collided with the minotaur. I managed to skid to a halt before I crashed into the beast, but it caught my movement from the corner of its eye. As it turned toward me, I swung my blade against the creature’s ankle and sliced it open before plunging back into the maze.
This time, I stayed away from the burning hedges; it would be less likely to follow me through the fire. I glanced back to make sure it was coming after me. It bounded down the passageways with more grace and speed than I would have expected from the monstrosity.
And it was rapidly closing the distance between us.
I made a left and crashed into a wall of bushes.
“Shit,” I whispered as the impact knocked me back.
I spun and doubled back ten feet before plunging down another corridor, but the move brought me closer to the minotaur, and it was only twenty feet behind me. I compelled my legs to move faster as my feet thudded across the ground. I had to buy the others enough time to get free, which meant I couldn’t stop moving. However, that was probably impossible in a maze filled with dead ends.
But dead ends didn’t prove to be the issue as the minotaur burst through a row of hedges only five feet in front of me. My feet skidded on the ground and slipped out from under me; I got my right hand down in time to keep from hitting the ground. A breeze blew over me as the beast swung out a massive hand, missing my head by mere inches.
With my toes digging into the rocky ground, I scrambled away from the beast and into another corridor. My sword swung in front of me and my heavy breaths filled my ears as I pumped my arms while sprinting toward the flames. The fire might deter the minotaur from pursuing me, but if I didn’t make it into the flames, it would flatten me.
I was almost back to the flames when the minotaur burst through the bushes again. It blocked my way toward the fire as it charged into the corridor on all fours. I recoiled as its horns sliced through my shirt, skimmed my stomach, and caused blood to trickle from the cut it delivered to my flesh.
Gripping my sword, I leapt up and sliced off the tip of its ear. The monster let out a bellow that blew my hair back from my face and filled my nose with the rancid stench of decaying flesh. I didn’t bother to attack it again but ducked the claw it swung at me, threw myself forward, and rolled into the fire on the other side of it.
The flames enveloping me turned my clothes and boots to ash. Orange and yellow snapped in front of my face; my hair billowed out as the inferno whipped air currents around me. I rested my hands on the ground and pushed myself to my feet as the flames parted to reveal an opening.
I stepped into another corridor as the minotaur exploded out of another section of hedge. Before I could retreat into the flames, it slammed a claw-tipped hand into my back, and I hit the ground.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Aisling
Everywhere I looked, fire surrounded us. I didn’t feel the heat of it, but sweat poured down the faces of the others, terror shone in their eyes, and burns marred their skin and clothes. I had to get them out of here; I couldn’t be the one who destroyed all these people.
Tears from the smoke burned my eyes, but I didn’t dare let up on my onslaught against the hedges for fear they’d regenerate. I’d never used my power so much before. I’d trained with it for the past two years, learned how to keep it leashed, but I’d never set it free for so long. I didn’t feel depleted; instead, the inferno fueled my ability as did Hawk’s hand on my back.
The crackle of the fire and the strange wail made hearing anything else impossible. I didn’t know where the man and woman who entered the maze were; I hoped they’d seen the minotaur leap into the labyrinth and run back toward the cave entrance. If they hadn’t, they would die in here.
I stumbled through the next set of hedges and nearly fell when I tripped over a flaming branch; Hawk caught me before my knees hit the ground.
“I’m going to get you out of here,” I whispered.
“I know,” he said.
I realized he had complete confidence in me, and that unwavering belief only made me love him more. Resting my hand against his cheek, I took a second to gain strength from him before turning and setting the next set of hedges on fire.
I had no idea if we were heading for the exit, but I kept going straight ahead and toward the golden light. When the roar of the minotaur pierced the air, I glanced back to discover fire in place of the hedges.
“Bale,” Corson murmured.
Wren rested her hand on his arm. “She’ll be okay.”
I kept waiting for open-air, space, and freedom, but the next hedge burned away to reveal another wall of bushes. Ashes and sparks rained down as wall after wall of green shriveled and died. The others slapped at their arms to smother the sparks and ducked the flames, but I didn’t feel the golden embers eating through my clothes and leaving small, pink spots on my arms that faded as soon as they appeared.
My increasing urgency to break free of the maze and get the others to safety drove me onward. Then, just when I was sure we were never going to break free and the fire would consume everyone behind me, another wall gave way, and I stumbled into an open area.
The elation that came with the rush of open-air that blew the smoke away from my eyes vanished when my gaze fell on the thousands of bones piled before me. The pile was so high I couldn’t see the hedges behind it as it rose halfway to the domed ceiling. It must be located over the hill that blocked my view of the maze; otherwise, I would have seen it from above.
