Page 190 of Jinxes and Drumsticks

He stares at me for a long beat, and I watch the realization settle in. “Oh,” he says. “I... can’t believe I’m just—how?”

There’s a shout from somewhere deeper in the labyrinth. Aemon and I both look toward it. It sounded close. Bastion’s voice.

“Later,” we both say at the same time, and then we’re running again. This time, I’m able to run without the aid of Aemon’s small magics bolstering me. Whatever he’s done, I feel less like a colt dropped straight out of mare’s womb. No more wobbly knees or weak muscles. What a relief, to have basic function returned to me.

I can only hope we get to Damien before The Aberrant does.

And that we have enough magic to stop him if we don’t.

ㅤ

Alright. So.

Not my best idea.

Yes, they told me to stay back.

No, I didn’t listen.

Yes, plummeting through a black void was easily the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced.

No, I have no idea where the fuck I am now.

The whole place feels strange and wrong in the same way it does when the ocean pulls sand from under your feet. A sense of moving backwards, even when you’re standing still. It makes my neck prickle and goosebumps break out with the fervor of anaphylactic hives.

I don’t know how I came to a soft landing. The panic was so intense as we plummeted I couldn’t think straight. But now I’m on my feet, I can take in my surroundings.

It’s like I’ve been transported into some kind of fucked up video game.

I don’t spend much time waiting for things to get clear, though. I just start walking. Presumably, Lillith is somewhere in this maze. And I’m going to find her if it costs me my life.

Frustration flashes hot and bright, tightening my gut. Because, fuck. She was right fucking there. She couldn’t see me. But I saw her.

Those silvery eyes were so bright against the black of her natural hair color. The plum colored dress that made her pallor look even more frightening. Lillith was so exhausted—almost dull, compared to her normal shimmer. But she was still the most beautiful woman in the world. The relief I felt at seeing her alive, compared to the whiplash of immediately losing her, was painful.

Also painful? The absolute shock in her expression when she realized we’d come to save her.

Did she really think we’d just give up? Leave her here? In this horrific place?

I turn at a two-way corridor. I try to remember the trick they always talk about. Was it the inner wall or the outer wall you’re supposed to keep your hand on to find the center? Or should I be trying to find the exit?

Is there an exit?

I turn around abruptly, stopping.

I think... I’m being watched. I feel it like a film on my skin.

God, this place is fucking weird. I try to shake the feeling of it out of my hands, like it’s just stage fright I can shrug off. Of course, it’s not. We’re in the belly of the beast. And I’m alone. I have no one with actual, useful magic to help me.

I take a deep breath and let it out. Think, Damien. Slow down and think.

Alright, what do I know from the conversation before Wren opened the portal? The guy’s basically OP, but he still can’t just steal power without consent or without a subjugation spell—like the one that Lillith had on her.

He’s also... bound to this realm. Kind of. Aemon called it a vivarium. He can leave his enclosure for brief stints, but any longer than that, and the wrongness of him rubs against the natural order. Of course we don’t know why that is, but—okay, maybe thinking isn’t the answer. I don’t know shit about shit.

Maybe the best option is just to stay put and let the capable people come and find me? They know I made it through the portal, because they were fucking pissed at me for it. But you know what? I’m not fucking sorry. Not even a little.

A glow catches my eye, and I almost yelp out when I realize the light is coming from my own wrist. For a panicked moment, I think it’s the creature clapping a magical manacle on me. But after the initial shock, I realize that’s not it at all. It’s Lillith’s mark—the one she placed on me to keep me safe in The Buried City.