Chapter 41 #2
“As if a little Tiger could make a dent in me,” he crooned just as another tremendous roar came from the trees where he’d been and I caught sight of the Bear locked in combat with the Tiger, the two spirits fighting a battle of brawn and savagery.
Islasees bellowed in fury, launching himself at Bane and they fell back into a furious fight, their swords colliding so fast that it was impossible to trace the movements.
I was forced to back away from them, though as I turned to run for the door, I found my way barred by both the Hollows and Jadina and Benson whose focus was split between the dead they fought and following the commands of their leader to strike at me.
Jadina hacked the head off of a Hollow with her double-headed axe, opening up enough space for Benson to ready another arrow in his bow, aiming it straight at me.
I threw out a hand, warding off the strike while crying out for help which came not from my Dragon as I’d expected but in a rush of grinding stone and a war cry from the lips of the girl I loved more dearly than my own life.
Rissa rode the Serpent from the trees in a charge, a wild laugh spilling from her as Benson released his arrow and it simply bounced off the spirit’s rocky scales.
Relief rushed through me at the sight of her. She was here. She’d brought the Serpent. We had all thirteen spirits and the end to this nightmare was finally within reach.
The Dragon dove from the trees above me, plucking me into its grasp and hurtling across the clearing so fast that tears were ripped from my eyes by the rush of wind which assaulted me. It dropped me before the stone door and I tumbled across the dirt, landing in a heap by the trees closest to it.
A gasp drew my attention to Devlan and Helga who were lurking in the shadows, taking cover while the Fae fought one another.
“I never thought you’d make it this far,” Devlan told me plainly, the look of stunned awe on his face enough to soften the blow of the insult.
“I’m used to being underestimated,” I replied before shoving back to my feet and setting my gaze firmly on the door to the labyrinth.
“They’ll kill you out there,” Helga hissed but I barely glanced back at her.
“And you think they’ll spare you hiding there? We need to get inside that labyrinth and return the spirits to the Great Elm. That’s how this ends. Or did you forget that part?”
They exchanged a loaded look but I was already running from them, racing for the door, my gaze locked on my target and all of the fighting, the spirits, the Fae and the Hollows, just fell away because I had to get to the door.
The Serpent slunk through the canopy overhead, Jadina and Benson once again occupied by the Hollows and unable to fire at me.
Rissa called out in encouragement as I sprinted across the clearing, tearing a small dagger from my pocket.
The blade sliced into my hand a beat before I reached the door and I slapped my palm to its surface with a cry which met with the blast of power that resounded from the stone.
The image of the Great Elm emblazoned on the huge plate of rock sighed, its branches whipping back and forth as the doors began to part, my blood smeared across the runes which had kept it sealed for so long.
Magic rattled through my bones, a tether seeming to reach out from me to not only the spirits I’d claimed but to each of the thirteen magical beings in the clearing, forming between us for several heady seconds.
The fighting all fell to nothing as every spirit present felt the weight of that power awakening and we all watched in reverence as the door slowly opened.
Finally, the entrance to the labyrinth loomed like the yawning mouth of some great beast hoping to swallow us whole and I found myself standing before it, ready to dive in regardless.
Your task’s near done, the end near come,
Thirteen spirits brought home as one.
But as your journey reaches its end,
The time has come to turn on friend.
Though you all have hunted well,
One alone, this curse shall fell.
So no more will the blood rule stand,
You may claim prize with swords in hand.
By death or cunning, by arrow or blade,
For this last task the price shall be paid.
So make your choice in this final hour,
Will you gift or steal their power?
For when the amulets return,
Only one Champion, the boon shall earn.
There was a pause in which the whole world held its breath as those words sank in, each of us turning them over within our minds and realising at once what they meant.
There was no longer any rule in place to prevent the Champions from killing one another to steal the amulets.
And if that was the case then this would turn from a fight to a massacre and I – alongside the remaining humans – knew that we would not be the last one standing when that happened.
I was no warrior but I was fast and I already held three amulets – four if I could count the Serpent as mine with Rissa’s aid. There wasn’t time to waste on puzzling out the rest of the Great Elm’s song. Islasees and his cronies were already circling like vultures with their weapons ready.
I locked eyes with Bane whose green gaze sparked with panic as he took me in.
“Go,” he commanded. And then the Dragon swept over my head and led the charge into the darkened passages, sparks of teal lightning guiding me after it with urgency as my doom rushed close at my back.
I broke into a run, the Raven bursting once more from its amulet and flying over my head, the Unicorn galloping at my heels as it shook off the cockroaches.
And every remaining Champion took chase too, their spirits bursting free of their amulets as we all chose different paths and plunged into the unknown.