“You fought well.” Indigo had followed him. “But it was foolish of you to join the fray with such an ineffective weapon.”
“I couldn’t let you fight alone.”
“Why is that?”
Before Pierce could speak, Hydra called out, his three voices hissing across the darkness. “No! What is she doing?”
For a moment, Pierce stared at Indigo. She was beautiful, in a way no human could ever be. A weapon, swift and deadly. Just as he was.
“Stay down,” he said, and knocked her off of her feet with a savage blow from the butt of his flail. He was already turning as she fell, racing down the tunnel as fast as he could. Maintain, he thought.
PIERCE! It took only seconds for Harmattan to respond. Pierce could hear metal tearing against glass as his brother followed him, but he didn’t stop to look until he reached the chamber on the other side, with the spiral staircase rising upwards.
In his whirlwind form Harmattan was far faster than any man. He was already halfway across the hall when Pierce turned. Pierce could see the gleaming eyes within the storm of razors, beacons of fury. PIERCE! He howled again, a loud and deadly wind.
Release.
And the shattered ceiling came tumbling down.
It was over in an instant. Where there had once been a passage, there was simply a wall of rubble. Pierce thought of Indigo and wondered if she’d been caught in the tunnel or if she’d remained in the far chamber-and which would have been the greater mercy. He remembered the beauty of the motion as she struck the giant’s ankle with both blades.
Protect my daughter.
He took only a moment to make certain that silver orb was safe in his belt pouch, where he’d put it before turning to fight the giant. Then he slowly made his way up the long spiral staircase leading to the surface.
Pieces of Hydra were scattered across the clearing. It was a familiar sight, and Pierce knew what had happened even before he saw Lei. She was unbound and ungagged. She held the darkwood staff in her bandaged right hand. The left was pointed at him, and the air around it rippled with magical energy. Her face was a mask of fury.
“You,” she said. “We fought before, Pierce. This time you won’t be coming back.”
CHAPTER 43
A drow warrior was watching Daine from the catwalk, crossbow at the ready. More than anything else, she seemed bored-supremely uninterested in the spectacle below.
I guess they don’t think much of my chances.
“Can Tashana guide us through this?” Daine said.
“What?”
Daine had never seen Lakashtai look confused until now. Perhaps it was the loss of her hood and cloak, which had always seemed to serve her as spiritual armor. Without it, she was a woman in a torn tunic, her pale skin glistening with sweat from the fire. Fear and uncertainty just seemed to add to her beauty; in that moment, she seemed more human than ever before. Looking at her, Daine felt that he was seeing her for the first time, and for a moment he was at a loss for words, but the searing heat from the wall of flame was a painful reminder that time was running out. He tore his gaze away and forced himself to pull his thoughts together.
“You heard Gerrion. This whole prophecy hinges on this voice in my head-the one you’ve been ‘holding at bay’. That’s what’s supposed to get us through this thing alive.” He glanced out across the apparently empty hall. “Or maybe it’s some sort of twisted game, and there’s no maze out there at all.”
Lakashtai shook her head. “That’s ridiculous. Tashana can only touch you when you’re dreaming, and even if you gave her possession of your body, she doesn’t have the power to guide you through this labyrinth.”
The wall of flame was drawing close, and Daine’s skin was slick with sweat. Reaching into his pouch, he drew out a copper coin. “I don’t know,” he said. “I can’t say as I’m keen to give that witch more of a hold in my mind, but the elves seem pretty sure about it-and I don’t see how things can get any worse.”
“She can’t help us, Daine.”
“What makes you so sure? Is there a thousand-year-old prophecy backing you up?” Daine threw the coin in front of him; it flew three feet and disintegrated, dissolving before his eyes. Daine sighed and took a step forward, staying just ahead of the encroaching flame.
“They’re wrong, Daine. I know Tashana. You don’t. She can’t help us. She wouldn’t if she could, and I’ll kill us both before I give you to her.”
“A few more minutes and you won’t have to.” Daine took out another coin and tossed it to the left; it went five feet before vaporizing. “Come on. I’ve got five more crowns to my name … That’ll buy us some time.”
It took two more coins to find a path that led ahead, getting them five feet further from the creeping wall of flame. Daine shivered-it was a strange feeling standing in an empty room, but knowing that death could be just an inch away.
“I wonder if these ‘shifting walls’ can move on top of us while we’re standing still,” he mused.
“Most likely.” Lakashtai idly traced a finger along the edge of the leather collar wrapped around her neck.
Daine looked up at the catwalk stretching above them. On a whim, he flung one of his remaining coins at the drow guard; it struck her squarely in the forehead. She glared down at him and spat, and her aim was just as good as his.
“Interesting,” he said, wiping his face. “No barriers above us. If we could just get up there …”
“A simple task,” Lakashtai said.
“How?” He could feel the temperature rising as the burning wall drew close once more.
“I could levitate myself. I believe I could support both our weight.”
“So do it!”
Lakashtai shook her head. “A simple task under normal circumstances, but should I engage my mental abilities, I will trigger this collar, and it will burn through my neck.”
The flames crept closer.
Daine gritted his teeth. “Any ideas that would actually work?”
Lakashtai gazed into the distance, and the creeping fire was reflected in her emerald eyes. “It is possible … I could try to divert the energy generated by the collar, converting it into a less dangerous form of energy-light, perhaps. However, the act of raising this shield would itself trigger the collar-I might not survive long enough to complete the manifestation.”
The flames were a foot away. “Lakashtai, I’ve only got two crowns left …”
“I believe I could survive. If …” She met his gaze, and he could see the uncertainty in her eyes. “… If you would share the pain with me.”
“What?”
“I could … empathically transfer the experience, spreading the agony between us, but I do not know the power of the collar. It could kill us both.”
The flames were licking at Daine’s back, and it was becoming hard to breathe. “Just do it!” he shouted.
Lakashtai seized his hands. Time slowed to a crawl. The roaring flames faded to a dull whisper, and all he felt was the touch of his skin against hers. Staring into Lakashtai’s eyes, Daine felt a deep sense of peace, of serenity. As her eyes began to glow, he felt …
Agony.
In an instant, reality came tumbling back. The hot air seared his lungs, but it was nothing compared to the blinding pain that was tearing into his neck. He could feel the skin charring, the terrible heat eating away at the flesh beneath. He drew in breath to scream …
And it was over.
The torment had forced all thoughts from his mind. A dark shape pressed against him, a woman, covered with sweat. She wrapped her arms around him.
“Hold me,” she said.
“Lei,” he whispered, pulling her close.