CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Flames licked at the walls, branches, bushes, statues, and totems. Sooty billows of smoke battered at the arched ceiling. Little fiery sparks and dots of gritty ash danced in the air. A ragged line of fire chewed through the undergrowth and traced along the tree roots protruding from the ground.
More, an oily haze of smoke snaked through the passage. I could see through it, but not very well—its density reminded me of the fog in Reaper’s Pines.
It had been hot in the second circuit, but here? Oh, it was way worse. The heat wasn’t merely oppressive, it was so painfully scorching I wouldn’t be surprised if it gave me blisters.
The air was so dry. As if it had sucked in all the moisture. It was also heavy with the scents of smoke, ash, and burning wood.
Hoping that the fire wasn’t present throughout the entire circuit, I lifted my tunic to cover my nose and mouth. I knew that it was better to stay low where there was smoke, but I couldn’t possibly crawl through the passage. As such, I’d have to stick with ducking slightly as I walked.
Remembering to breathe only through my nose in cases of smoke, I clamped my lips shut as I started down the passageway, my boots scuffing the layers of ash that coated the ground. Flashes of fire glowed through the haze, effectively lighting the way.
Knowing from my experiences with the Pines that such hazes could conceal a whole lot of dangers, I was careful where I stepped. But I didn’t make any attempt at stealth. It wasn’t necessary to be quiet, since it was already so noisy here.
Fire spat and hissed. Wood creaked and groaned. Burning greenery crisped and crackled.
I couldn’t envision the minotaur spending much time in this circuit.
There appeared to be no creatures for him to feed on—at least not that I could see.
It was hard to say for certain. My eyes were watering due to the smoke.
Personally, though, I didn’t think it likely that any animals or insects had made this circuit their home.
It wasn’t exactly a hospitable atmosphere that would allow life to thrive.
My pulse leaped as a shower of sparks abruptly rained down on me. I cursed as burning pinch after burning pinch assailed my exposed skin.
Definitely not a hospitable atmosphere.
I hurried forward before more sparks could fall, almost tripping over a blackened tree root. Idiot.
Still using one hand to hold the tunic over my nose and mouth, I marched onward. Sweat beaded my forehead and hands, and I wiped my free palm on my breeches. A light breeze blew through the passage but, not one bit cool, it offered no reprieve from the heat.
Able to make out the silhouette of something through the clotted smoke, I squinted. There was no way for me to tell what it was. Not yet. The haze obscured my view too much, and the tears welling in my eyes did not help.
I kept moving—skirting a blazing shrub, hopping over a fallen statue, ducking to avoid a low hanging branch. Soon, I figured out what exactly the silhouette was: a small pile of blazing logs. They blocked my path but weren’t so high that I couldn’t clear them with a well-timed jump.
Hopefully.
I inhaled deeply through my nose—a big mistake, since it made my tunic block my nostrils. Cursing in my head, I righted the material and then leapt. One foot landed on something sharp and bumpy, and I almost fell back onto the logs. More, the right leg of my breeches had caught fire.
I batted at the flaming cloth, hissing as it burned my grazed palm. The fire soon fizzled out, leaving me with blistered skin and scorched breeches. Freaking wonderful.
Never again. I was never going into these caverns again.
Determined to reach the next circuit, I upped my pace as I continued through the passage. The feel of my tunic covering the lower half of my face was starting to feel somewhat suffocating, but I reluctantly held it in position.
Soot now clung to my skin, just as it darkened the walls and ground. I was going to look a terrible state by the time I left the labyrinth, especially if there was more dirt and grime to come. And I absolutely would leave—no way was I going to die in this place.
I couldn’t help but pity those people who’d been thrown down here, offered up as food for the minotaur. They had to have been beyond terrified. Unlike me, they’d had no way ‘out.’ No one waiting for them at the exit in the heart of the labyrinth. All that had awaited them was death.
More flickering glows of red/orange flashed through the haze. Not near the walls, but in the center of the passage. Ugh, what now?
A branch snapped and crashed to the ground a few feet in front of me, sending up a billow of smoke and embers. Skidding to a halt, I placed a hand over the panicked heart that had jumped in my chest. I was pretty sure this experience had already taken five years off my life.
Continuing onward, I moved aside to evade the branch, careful not to touch the charred walls as I knew they’d be red-hot. The ground, too, was blazing. The heat bled through the soles of my boots.
It also very quickly dried my clothes. That didn’t make the garments more comfortable to wear, though. They felt rough and ragged, and they rubbed mercilessly against my cuts and grazes. The sheen of sweat slickening my skin gave the wounds even more of a ‘bite.’
I tried ignoring the throbs and stings, focusing on finding my way out of this damn circuit. And as I neared the flashes of red/orange flames in the middle of the passage, I realized that—oh, gods—billows of fire were blowing down from the ceiling.
What kind of sadistic crap was this?
The only way to bypass this particular obstacle was to crawl under it. Which wouldn’t be so bad if the ground wasn’t so freaking hot. This was going to hurt for sure.
I set to tearing two strips off the bottom of my tunic, incidentally tugging the collar away from my face as I did so. I got a mouthful of smoke for my troubles—smoke my body quickly tried hacking back up.
Clamping my lips shut tight again, I wrapped a strip of cloth around one palm and tied it. I then did the same to the other hand, gritting my teeth against the pressure it put on my blisters.
Maybe this would be the last of the flames and smoke, I thought. Maybe the scenery would improve after this cruel-ass obstacle.
Or maybe not.
Without further ado, I got down to my hands and knees and started to crawl beneath the flames. Gods, it hurt—my palm blisters seemed to have popped, my injured knees bled once more, and my left leg dragged over something sharp that I just knew had broken the skin.
Finally on the other side of the fire, I didn’t hesitate to stand. Things were no different here, unfortunately. Plumes of smoke drifted along the ceiling. Pillars of fire surrounded spires and statues. Rippling sheets of flame chewed through bushes and patches of grass.
Eager to escape the searing heat and, well, everything about this circuit, I pushed myself to set a fast pace as I walked on. It wasn’t easy when my energy just kept on waning. How long had I been inside the labyrinth now? I had no idea, but it felt like days.
A cough burst out of me. It was impossible not to inhale some of the smoke and floating ash. The smoke didn’t seem to have any toxic effect on my lungs, but it burned my nostrils and scratched at my throat.
Tromping through the debris of a broken spire, I used my sleeve to wipe at the tears trailing down my soot-stained face. At least I wouldn’t look one little bit appetizing to the minotaur if I did happen to come across him. Which may or may not save my life, who knew?
Coughing again, I scratched at my prickling mosquito bite. There was still no sign of life around here. At least I was getting a break from creepy critters and snakes. That could never go underappreciated.
Another shower of sparks poured down on me. One landed right on my cheek and, gods, huge ow. I shook my head hard and smacked at my clothes to flick them off, but one managed to burrow into my tunic and stabbed my shoulder blade.
I flinched as a totem collapsed with a crash. Wafting at the cloud of ash that rose up, I tensed as I noticed something: A large trail of blood smeared the floor, like something big had been killed and then dragged off.
I swallowed the gorge that tried to rise. An animal. The victim had been an animal, I told myself. Just because I hadn’t seen anything bigger than a bat around here didn’t mean that there weren’t larger creatures to be found.
Clinging to that belief, I hurried forward. My mind tried wandering to thoughts of how Lear and other candidates might be doing, but I shut it down fast. It would only distract me. I couldn’t afford any distractions right now.
I jumped over a blazing log only to stumble to the side and ram my shoulder into a statue. It shifted and swayed before clanging to the ground.
Damn, I wasn’t sure if it was the smoke or the heat but I felt a little light-headed.
Maybe it was from lack of food as well. Not that I’d be able to stomach anything at the moment—the taste of ash, grit, and phlegm sat thick on my tongue.
Gods, I’d give anything to take a swig of water from my pouch right now.
I let out a wheezy cough that grazed my throat. It felt raw and scratchy. My nostrils were as hot and dry as my mouth.
I really had had enough of this crap. Enough of the shifting smoke, dancing flames, poor visibility, and constant obstacles.
So it would have been a relief when I came across a split in the passage that—if past circuits were anything to go by—signaled I’d reached the end of it.
Except … the crevice was too wide to jump, so dark it appeared bottomless, and the only method of crossing it involved the line of towering stumps that stood between the crevice and the other end of the passage.
I moved to the edge. Embers of fire trickled down from the ceiling to the dark ditch below. I didn’t know what was down there. I only knew it was growling.
Yeah, no thanks.