“I’ll try,” Caim said. Unfolding his wings, he lifted himself into the air.
I watched him disappear into the tunnel before turning my attention back to the freedom and danger ahead.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Bale
I had no idea where I was in the labyrinth anymore. I stumbled blindly ahead, or at least I assumed I was going forward. I might be going behind or back or left or right; it had all become the same.
I stopped to examine the dome and saw the labyrinth reflected there.What the…?
The ground vibrated with the minotaur’s heavy footsteps, but where it was in the maze was as much of a mystery to me as to whereIwas. Then, it released a bellow of rage and agony. Its thundering footsteps became heavier, and the ground lurched beneath me as the bushes to my right suddenly parted.
I leapt back and raised my sword as I prepared to battle the beast again, but it barreled past me on all fours. The flames trailing it snapped at the air as it howled while charging heedlessly forward. I felt no sympathy for the suffering it radiated. I’d seen its pile of remains; this thing had never shown an ounce of compassion for anything.
I should probably keep going, but since I had no ideawhereI was going, I decided to follow it. The minotaur turned a corner and reeled back as fire shot toward its face. Then it spun and came straight back at me.
Gripping my sword with both hands, I darted out of the way and swung the blade up and into the minotaur’s belly. The creature grunted as I yanked the blade out, but it barely paid attention to me as it vanished into the flames again.
I followed it with the hope it would lead me out of this place. We ran back beneath the dome, but I didn’t bother to look at the ceiling as the minotaur charged forward. The fire consuming its body revealed patches of muscle, and on one section of its ass end, bone showed through.
It shook its head back and forth and tried swatting at the flames with one hand, but there was no avoiding the flames surrounding us. At one point, it stopped to roll over to smother the fire, but that exposed its belly, and the fire greedily took advantage of the new fuel.
Rising, it staggered before thundering forward again with another bellow. I didn’t see the rock wall until the minotaur ran headfirst into it. The rock indented before a chunk broke off over the minotaur’s head and fell to hit it.
The beast shook its head before staggering back. It hunched up and released a keening wail that echoed the forlorn noise the hedges made when the flames started devouring them.
The minotaur’s skin crackled and popped as the flames dug into its flesh. The stench of burning meat filled the air as more of the minotaur’s skin peeled back to reveal the muscle and bone beneath. It stumbled to the side before collapsing with a thud that fanned the flames into my face.
I studied its side as I waited for the telltale rise and fall of its chest. Minutes passed without any movement, and more of its skeleton became exposed until the flames ate its heart. The thing was obviously dead, but I cut off its head to make sure it didn’t return.
Slipping away from the minotaur, I placed my hand against the rock wall and ran my fingers over the jagged edges as I followed it. The smoke clouding the air made seeing difficult, but there had to be an exit somewhere in this place. I’d prefer not to wait until the fire went out to locate it, but I was beginning to fear that might be my only option.
A blast of air from above caused the flames around me to die down before surging up again. I shaded my eyes with my hand as I looked up to discover Caim hovering thirty feet above me.
“This way!” he shouted.
I sprinted after Caim as he led me through the fire.
“It’s right up here!” he yelled. “I have to get back to the others; the horsemen are here.”
“Of course they are,” I muttered though there was no way he heard me over the fire.
I ignored the burning of my lungs and the exhaustion creeping into my bones as I ran. My hand tightened on my sword as I braced myself for the next battle. Unlike us, the horsemen would be well-rested, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t slice them to bits.
Through the rolling flames, I spotted the opening leading out of this place as Caim swooped into the tunnel. A fresh burst of energy caused my legs to move faster, and I sprinted across the hundred feet separating me from the exit.
* * *
Hawk
We were almost to the end of the cave when three of the horsemen appeared. It wasn’t until they blocked out the sunlight streaming through the entrance that I realized we’d spent most of the night in the labyrinth.
I didn’t know if the bastards had managed to get behind us after the fog and been stalking us the whole time or if the smoke had drawn them here, and it didn’t matter. They were here now, and like when they attacked the wall, they were arriving when we were exhausted.
“What do we do?” Aisling asked.
“We kill them,” Corson said.
