Page 14 of The Labyrinth and the Threaded Daughter

She looked pained.

“Ariadne,” Corin repeated, louder this time, desperation overriding sense. “Is that–”

The Labyrinth answered before she could.

The golden veins flared again, brighter and faster, almost blinding Corin. A deep, furious sound rolled through the stone, ancient and clearly offended. The walls were moving now, corridors grinding and shifting as the chamber began to reconfigure itself into something Corin didn’t understand.

The floor dropped. Stone tore itself apart as passages shifted violently, pillars cracking. The chamber was buckling inward. The passageway where he had entered with Taleon was covered in rubble. Stones continued to rain down on them, getting larger and larger the more the seconds ticked by.

Bristle howled a ghastly sound. Taleon swore, rushing to grab the small creature just as a particularly large stone came tumbling towards the two.

“Stop!” She snapped, fury breaking through her composure at last. “Do not speak it again!”

Despite her command, the Labyrinth continued to rage on. It surged forward, more stones shattering down beside Corin. Stone shrieked as corridors seemingly tore themselves apart, golden veins flaring like exposed nerves. The chamber twisted violently, walls sliding with grinding force as the space attempted to correct an offense it did not know how to forgive.

Corin understood—too late—some names were not meant to be found.

“Move,” Ariadne commanded, grabbing Corin’s wrist with blinding force.

She didn’t pull him toward the doorway she had been standing in, and he saw briefly that it was now covered in fractured pillars. Instead, she dragged him sideways, through a passage that had not existed a heartbeat before.

The floor buckled beneath them, and Corin stumbled, barely keeping his footing as the corridor in front of them narrowed and scraped against his shoulders. But he continued to follow Ariadne as quickly as he could.

Behind them, the chamber convulsed, but Taleon and Bristle were still inside. They didn’t make a single move to follow after the pair.

“Taleon!” Corin shouted over the roar. “Bristle!”

“Stop! You are making it worse!” Ariadne called out.

Taleon didn’t run. He didn't respond to Corin. He planted his feet, jaw relaxed in a faint smile, as Bristle snarled at the collapsing stone from the safety of Taleon’s thin arms. Golden light surged around them, crawling up the remaining walls like fire prepared to engulf them.

“Taleon, come on!” Corin cried, trying to wrench out of Ariadne’s tight grip as they crossed the threshold into the hall. A particularly loud roar rang out from somewhere above.

Taleon met his gaze. Then, his smile transformed into the widest smile Corin had ever seen.

And the floor split between them.

VI

Corin screamed as the stone dropped away, his voice echoing through the corridor he was in. Dust and debris swallowed the chamber behind Taleon and Bristle in a thunderous collapse.

Ariadne yanked Corin backward, his arm jerking painfully, just as the passage sealed shut and the stone slammed together with a bone-deep crack.

Silence rushed in for a moment before Corin reacted.

Corin tore free of her grip, spinning back toward the solid wall now covering where there had once been an open chamber. “No! No, they’re still in there!” He slammed his hands against the cold stone, panic flooding his chest. “We have to go back! They’ll be crushed–”

Ariadne caught his shoulders, forcing him to face her. A rush of calm came over him, fighting away the panic that was nearly crushing his bones. “You cannot.”

“They’re going to die!” His voice broke. “You said you watch heirs—so watch this. Watch me go back and—”

“They will not die,” she interrupted.

The certainty in her voice froze him.

Corin stared at her for a beat. “How could you possibly know that?”

Her grip tightened—not cruel, but unyielding—as she shook him ever so slightly. “Because the Labyrinth does not kill what already belongs to it.”