Chapter 26 Declan
The Minotaur’s lair smells of animal, but it’s not the sweet smell of horses or even the earthy smell of cattle.
It’s the stench of decay. Everywhere, there are remnants of past maze runners.
Piles and piles of bones, and clothes, and random objects collected over however many centuries this maze has been in existence.
It’s not dark, not exactly. But the only light comes from a fire on the far end of the lair. A kind of open-air furnace of some sort. And even though I can’t know this for sure, it is just understood that the fire is fueled by the remnants of those that came before us.
No wonder this thing haunted Aric even after he won the game.
He made no effort to hide the fact that it was the maze and the monster who shaped his present self. And hey, maybe Aric’s father was right? Maybe it is the trauma in your life that reveals your character and makes you stronger.
But it’s also a pretty shitty thing to do to your own son, bastard or not.
Despite all those years of suffering and distress, Aric looks ready for this final challenge. He holds the gold knife like he knows how to use it and his face, lit up by the glow of dancing flames, reveals a man with a serious intent on doing harm.
I would not want to be his enemy in this moment.
The Minotaur enters the lair, its body covered in creepy, flickering shadows, and hesitates just past the entrance, snorting through its nose, like a dragon.
There is a pause here—almost a slowing down of reality—when the air in the room feels heavy with expectations and charged with potential energy.
And in this moment the sky above us—a sky packed with stars—begins to shimmer.
Lighting up, very bright, then dimming down into complete darkness.
Nothing but black. There’s not even a glowing ember from what was the raging fire.
“Oh my god,” Star says. “What is going on?”
Quaid makes his glasses shine a light for us and that’s when the Minotaur flies through the air in a blind rage, aiming all his savage anger at his old opponent.
Aric dives underneath the monster just before it’s about to crash into his chest and takes him out. He rolls out of the dive like a practiced expert and pops up to his feet before the bulky monster can even turn around. Then he attacks, plunging the knife right into the Minotaur’s hairy back.
The thing wails like a demon, arching and bucking, trying to dislodge the knife—which Aric is still holding on to, so his body sways back and forth like a banner waving in the air.
Just a moment ago, time was ticking off in slow motion but now, it’s on fast forward. So much is happening, I can’t even process it. Quaid is yelling at me to do something, but I can’t think straight, not with the wails of the raging Minotaur and Aric’s battle cries.
Then Quaid’s pointing behind me and I realize he’s telling me to stop Star! Because she’s charging at the Minotaur, screaming her song at the top of her lungs.
The thing pauses, which allows Aric to pull the knife out of its back, and so much blood comes spilling out of the wound, immediately it’s forming a puddle beneath the monster’s hooves.
“Star!” Quaid yells—and that’s when the monster swipes a clawed hand across Aric’s chest, sending him careening into Quaid and the last thing I see before we’re once again tumbling into complete darkness, are his glasses as they go flying off his face, making everything go dark again.
A piercing scream fills the lair and I’m yelling, “Lights, motherfucker, lights!” because I’m pretty sure that scream belonged to Star!
Then a hand crashes in to my chest, and Quaid says, “Don’t just fucking stand here looking dumb and helpless, help me find my glasses!”
Surrounded by complete darkness, and in the middle of a violent maelstrom, I drop to my hands and knees and crawl around, patting the ground with my fingertips, frantically searching for Mr. Nobody’s glasses.
Suddenly, the room brightens again, but not because we found Quaid’s glasses. He and I are both on our hands and knees, looking up at the night sky above us, twinkling with stars.
Quaid says, “Got ‘em,” and then he and I stand up, mouths open, looking over at a bloody scene I wouldn’t have been able to imagine in my wildest nightmares.
Star is on the ground, pinned to the stone floor because the monstrous Minotaur is on top of her.
Kinda.
It’s not wholly on top of her, because it’s missing a head.
Said head is being held up by one Aric, bastard demigod son of Ares, in a triumphant gesture of victory. His eye is swollen shut, half his face is black and blue, and there’s a gash in his thigh that is spilling so much blood, I would not be surprised if it turned out to be an open artery.
Aric is smiling like he just won a gladiatorial fight. His grin is wide but his eyes are wild with violence. And there would be no way to miss the fact that this is a son of Ares.
“Holy shit,” Quaid yells. “Star!” He rushes over, attempting to pull the giant monster off her, but I lock eyes with Aric.
“You OK there, bru?” I ask. Because he doesn’t look OK.
He looks… crazy. And as if to demonstrate, he growls at me and drops he head onto the stone floor.
“You know where you are, right?” I ask, trying to keep my tone light.
Because he looks more than crazy, actually, he looks like a man who just…
cut the head off the Minotaur. “You’re with us, remember? ”
Quaid, who has managed to get Star back on her feet—covered in blood though she is—has just turned around. For a moment I’m sure he’s going to start spilling insults, but he must see the look in Aric’s eyes.
It would be hard to miss, because Aric is staring right at him and slowly raising that golden knife up like he’s about to use it again.
Star steps out in front of Quaid, her arms wide.
“Stop,” she says. “Stop right now, Aric. The fight is over. You’re with us and we’re with you.
And I told you that you would not have to do this alone ever again so whatever leftover rage you have inside you right now, you had better get it in check, mister!
Because Paradise is right over there and Quaid is coming with us! ”
This girl, I swear. First she dives into the middle of Aric’s fight to help him defeat the monster, and then she’s stepping in front of Quaid to save him from Aric’s residual rage.
Aric lets out a long exhale and his crazy seems to exit with it. Because his shoulders drop, the hand holding the knife lowers, and he closes his eyes. “Is it over now?”
Aw, fuck. Even I’m touched by his pathetic relief. “Come on,” I say, crossing the room towards Aric. “Bring it in for a hug. You deserve it.”
To my surprise, he doesn’t resist when I take him in my arms and give him a squeeze.
Just as I’m pulling back, he side-eyes me. “Thanks.”
But I point to Star. “Thank her. I think she might’ve saved your life.”
Probably not. It’s more likely Star’s little act of selfless bravery made things worse, but there’s no point in hashing out the details now.
“We won,” Quaid says.
And that’s when a woman in a long black dress materializes out of the night sky above us and lowers to the ground.
She claps her hands in slow, mocking applause.
Looking each of us in the eye as she turns in a leisurely circle.
“Congratulations. You beat the maze.” She pauses here to smile. “Would you like to claim your prize?”