Thankfully, despite my secret fears that Ratuk would decide to shake us off or ignore the commands of his new, incompetent rider and go flying back home, the journey to the Maze was uneventful. The Barren Steppes stretched out before us in all their flat, empty glory, an endless red wasteland of clay and rock, broken up by jutting crags and sparse vegetation. I caught fleeting glimpses of life, even out here. Flocks of stonebeak birds, flightless and long necked, roamed the scrubland. Distant columns of smoke, drifting into the sky, signaled the presence of other clans that called the steppes their home. On the horizon, the hazy mountains loomed closer, marking the end of one journey and the beginning of something new.
Namaia soon followed her sister’s ascent into the sky. With the arrival of the second sun, the heat became an almost physical thing, pressing down from above, searing my shoulders and the top of my head. Even through the hood, I could feel the relentless glare blazing into me. Our voyage consisted of short bursts of flying followed by a period of walking to let the beetles recuperate. Still, it was far faster than having to trek all the way across the Barren Steppes on foot.
The mountains grew larger and larger, until we finally reached the base of the massive line of cliffs, crags, and sheer walls stretching high overhead. The Maze, as it was appropriately called, was once a range of unbroken mountains, until an earth-shattering quake from the War of the Kings had fragmented them, turning the entire range into a labyrinth of narrow cliffs, deep chasms, and canyons soaring to dizzying heights. All sorts of creatures, benign and terrifying, were said to wander the Maze, and, according to Raithe, there were depths of the labyrinth no one had ever set foot in.
And somewhere deep within the Maze, sequestered from everyone, was Irrikah, the hidden city of the iylvahn, and the queen who waited to speak to the Fateless.
Demon Hour had just reached its peak when we ducked beneath an enormous slab of rock lying against one of the cliff faces. It looked like part of the cliff wall had broken off and fallen against another rock face, providing much-needed shelter from the suns. I breathed a sigh of relief as I slid from the saddle, grateful to be out of the relentless glare of the twins.
Halek dug a canteen out of Rhyne’s saddlebags and took a long draft before sliding off Rhyne. “You know,” he said cheerfully, “I’ve heard some very, very old legends from distant lands that claim there used to be only one sun in the sky. Can you imagine? A world with no Demon Hour, what would that be like, I wonder?” He shrugged and sat down, tucking the waterskin beside him. “Of course, they also said the world used to be green and lush and filled with water. That would’ve been a sight to see.”
I glanced at Raithe, remembering something he’d once toldme. That the worldhadbeen green and lush during the age of the Deathless Kings. Before they’d started fighting. Before the war essentially destroyed the world, turning it from vibrant kingdoms filled with life to the sun-blasted wastelands that were all anyone had known for thousands of years.
It was hard to imagine such a world. It was even harder to imagine what one insignificant thief, Fateless or not, could do against the limitless power of a Deathless King.
I supposed I would have to meet Raithe’s queen to discover if I was expected to do anything at all.
Two
Raithe had disappeared again.
I blinked, gazing around the rock cleft. A few feet away, Halek dozed with his chin on his chest, a dice cup held loosely in his fingers. From the angle of the light and the faintly cooler temperatures, I could tell Demon Hour was starting to wane. Kysa stood beside Rhyne, tightening saddle straps, making sure everything was in place. Frowning, I rose to my feet and walked over. Ratuk huffed at me as I approached, and I patted his nose horn.
“Where’s Raithe?” I asked the insect rider. I hadn’t been asleep for long, a few minutes at most. Had the iylvahn waited until I was unconscious before he’d slipped away? Or was I being paranoid again?
“He said he was going to scout ahead to make sure the path was clear,” Kysa replied without looking up. “I expect he’ll return when his task is done.” She did pause then, glancing over her shoulder with dark eyes, as if knowing what I was thinking. “If you are planning to look for him, I would suggest not going far,” she told me in a firm voice. “This place is called the Maze, after all.”
I nodded. “I won’t be long,” I promised, and slipped into the narrow crevices of the Maze.
I almost didn’t see him
Rounding a rocky corner, I spotted movement in the passage beyond and instinctively ducked back, pressing myself to the stone. Raithe’s loose white and gray clothes blended almost perfectly into the stony walls of the Maze; if I hadn’t caught that flicker of motion, I wouldn’t have seen him until it was too late.
He wasn’t alone.
Something shifted above him on the canyon walls, the ripple of movement that had caught my eye. For a moment, it looked like a section of the canyon wall had detached itself from the whole and was crawling toward him. As it moved, it changed color, resolving itself into an enormous lizard with a broad head, splayed feet, and huge orange eyes. A rider sat atop the lizard’s back, also dressed in mottled gray and white, perfectly camouflaged against the stones.
A second lizard and rider appeared opposite the first one, seeming to melt out of the stones. The pair of huge creatures crawled down the vertical walls as easily as a spider, until they were perched only a few feet away from Raithe.
My mouth went dry, but Raithe didn’t react, except to nod to both riders. Words were spoken, but the snatches of conversation I caught were in a strange, lyrical language I didn’t recognize. One of the riders pointed in the direction of our camp, and Raithe shook his head.
As I peered around the stone, trying to see everything while still remaining hidden, a loose rock slipped under my boot. Instantly, I jerked back, pressing myself to the cliff wall, my heartroaring in my ears, as I listened for indications that I had been discovered. The conversation in the passageway stilled for several terrifying heartbeats, and I held my breath.
Finally, the voices in the corridor began again, though they didn’t last long. I heard a slithering sound and dared peek around the corner to catch the lizards and their riders crawling up the cliff walls. The last thing I saw was their thick tails vanishing over the rim before they were lost from sight.
Raithe was no longer in the passageway.
I straightened, my heart squeezing in my chest. The place where the iylvahn had stood moments before was empty. I didn’t know where he’d gone, where he was now, but I knew I had to get out of here.
I slipped quietly down the narrow passage, took the first turn on the left... and ran right into him.
“Sparrow.”
His tone wasn’t angry, but it wasn’t exactly amused. Those pale eyes peered down from the shadows of his hood, the gaze expressionless. “I told Kysa I would be back. You didn’t have to come after me.”
“Who were those people?”
Raithe hesitated, as if reluctant to say anything, then sighed. “Ellel Dorei,” he answered. “Scouts of the Maze. They patrol the walls and take note of everything that enters or leaves the labyrinth. They have permission from the queen to deal with potential threats as they see fit.” He scanned the walls above us, as if he could sense invisible eyes watching us from the cliffs.“I knew they’d spotted us earlier. I wanted to make sure there would be no misunderstandings when we entered Irrikah.”
