CHAPTER NINETEEN
There was a familiarity in my actions, as if my body remembered exactly what to do because I d practiced so many times.
Just beyond the main gate, the labyrinth split into eight different sections. I saw that the four on the west had dirt paths, while the four on the right were all cobblestones.
If I took a western path, they would be able to more easily track us. But I had decided that the temple would be in that direction.
This way, I said as I tugged Quynh s hand, forcing her to keep up. Demaratus had made me train with armor so that it would weigh me down because of how much faster I d be able to run without it.
Neither one of us had anticipated that I d be carrying an even heavier burden now.
The maze walls were not as high as the outer one, maybe twenty feet tall. I glanced up, making certain that no archers were waiting for us.
They were clear.
I ran along the path, choosing left or right based solely on my gut.
The pathway emptied out into what appeared to be a residential area. There were cramped and poorly constructed apartment buildings all on top of one another. Some small children were playing in the dirt outside their homes, shaded by trees. We ran through a mostly deserted street and I felt the eyes of people watching us from their windows.
I wondered if they would help the men following us, telling them which way we d gone.
Quynh was already panting behind me and it caused a knot to form in my abdomen. Her breathing hard wasn t good. The chase hadn t even begun yet.
I considered slowing down, not pushing so much, but I had to put as much distance between us and our pursuers as I could. I turned up an alleyway, looking around at the buildings as we ran. This was not the kind of place that the temple would be built in. It would be in a more expensive area.
We cut through several more alleys, some open squares, and down a street to find another opening into the labyrinth. I plunged back in, never letting my grip on Quynh go, even though my hand and her wrist had become sweaty.
The second horn blew, although it seemed a long distance off. Had we come that far that quickly, or were the walls distorting sound?
There was a thunderous roar as the men yelled, beginning their pursuit.
How long would it take them to catch up? Quynh had a short stride, and many of those men had been very tall and would eat up the ground quicker than we could.
Stupid girl. You should leave her.
Demaratus s voice filled my head, but much as I had before, I refused to listen.
I wanted to ask Quynh if she was well, but I was afraid that if we spoke, it would make it easier to find us. I would only speak to her if it was absolutely necessary.
We made a left turn and I saw that there was a dead end approximately fifteen feet away. I slid to a stop and then turned, dragging Quynh along as I went right instead.
She was wheezing but still managing to keep up with me. And although I wouldn t have admitted it, I had slowed down a bit for her benefit.
Demaratus s voice was still in my head, telling me what a bad idea that was, but I had no choice.
The maze opened into another pocket, a marketplace. Would they have put their temple in a square like this one? Or would they not want commerce to be mingled with their worship?
There they are!
I looked over my shoulder and saw a group of men, maybe a dozen, with their swords raised. They d entered the agora from a different tunnel and I pivoted, banking hard to my right, and headed into the marketplace.
While I hated to harm the livelihoods of the people who weren t participating, Quynh s survival was worth more than a few coins.
Stupid girl, don t forget that chaos and confusion are your allies in battle!
I cut the leg of a table piled high with melons as we passed so that all the melons poured onto the ground. I heard several of the men tripping and falling-they d been running too fast to come to a stop.
Quynh and I turned a corner and I saw a pen full of goats. I undid the latch, opening the gate. I yelled, waving my hands, and the goats barreled out, straight into the oncoming group of men. There was more swearing and confusion as we left them behind and I turned right down a narrow alley.
I considered the possibility that someone might be waiting for us at the other end, and I had my sword ready.
But when we entered the street, all I saw were carts full of hay. Stay here, I told Quynh.
There was a fire in a pit nearby, and I grabbed one of the logs and brought it back to the carts, setting fire to as many as I could before I heard the shouts of our pursuers.
They were headed down the same alley. I pushed one of the carts in front of the exit. People emerged from their homes and shops to help put out the fires, not realizing that I had deliberately set them.
One man did. He pulled his sword out and came toward me.
Before he could act I ducked down and sliced across his abdomen. Not deeply enough to kill him, but enough to stop his pursuit. His hand went to his gut, shock all over his face as he started to bleed onto the sidewalk.
Fire and steel.
I ran back over to Quynh and grabbed her by the wrist. I pulled so hard that I nearly yanked her shoulder from its socket.
Sorry, I said. I felt invincible, as if I could cut down any foe and bend the world to my will.
Was this what Demaratus had meant when he d spoken of the thrill of the fight?
Despite my distractions, we were still being pursued. I spotted an open-air tavern and altered our course to head straight for it. When I crossed the threshold, I began to upend tables, sending drinks flying.
Drunken men yelled in protest but turned all their anger to each other and to the men following us as we darted away. I heard the sound of fists meeting flesh as I located an exit point.
We went back into the maze of walls, which somehow seemed slimmer than before. I had to let go of Quynh s wrist as she could no longer run at my side but had to be directly behind me.
Would this get worse? Would there eventually be a point where the walls closed in completely and were impassable?
My fear was immediately eased as we entered another path and the walls widened again.
I had no idea how this labyrinth connected across those multiple paths I d initially seen. While men had successfully tracked us down, I had to assume that there would now be hunters in front of us as well as behind us.
Those men knew this city and I did not.
Which might have also been helping me. There was no way to predict my travel route since I had no idea where I was going.
We turned a corner and I heard Quynh scream. I spun and saw a man who had latched his left hand on to her tunic, pulling her toward him.
Lia!
In my panic I did something entirely foolish. I ran at the man, slamming into him, but he batted me away as if I were a fly.
I have one! he yelled, and I wondered how many people were going to join him. Quynh still strained forward as he pulled. I considered grabbing her hands, trying to wrench her free, but quickly realized that wouldn t do me any good.
He was too strong.
I whirled around, raising my sword, and then brought it down on his wrist, as hard as I could.
He screamed as his left hand fell to the ground.
The scent of blood filled the air and Quynh crashed into the far wall, the momentum propelling her forward now that he was no longer holding on to her.
I was sickened by what I had done, but there had been no other option.
Let s go! I yelled to Quynh as the man grabbed his left arm, falling to his knees and still screaming. I ignored the metallic taste that filled my mouth and went deeper into the maze.
I went right and there was an extremely long passageway. I headed down, spotting some buildings just beyond the walls. There had to be another opening.
But when we reached the end, I realized that it had been an illusion. There had appeared to be an exit, but it was sealed off just out of sight.
A dead end.
I didn t even need Demaratus to yell at me for this one. I knew better. Back the way we came, I said, but it worried me. That was where I d cut off the man s hand, and he had called out to someone.
It might be a trap.
I heard someone huffing and realized that we were about to crash into another hunter at the end of the passage. I turned to Quynh. Get on the ground. Pretend to be hurt. Cry.
I don t have to pretend that, she said as she collapsed into a heap and began to wail. I crouched down next to her, placing my sword on the other side of her body, where it couldn t be seen.
A man carrying an axe ran around the corner, spotting me.
Please, I said as he approached, holding his weapon up. She s hurt. We need help.
He slowed down to a walk, his eyes darting as if he expected someone else to jump out. He was cautious, but hopefully not cautious enough.
Come on, come on, come on, I muttered under my breath. I needed him to hurry up.
When he was finally within reach, I grabbed my sword and plunged it into his thigh. His eyes went wide. He didn t make a sound and just fell backward. He must not have been a soldier-if he had been, he would have taken my head off with that axe before he d collapsed.
On your feet! I told Quynh.
We made it back to the entrance of the dead-end passage and went right. The buildings I d spotted had looked as if they d been constructed from expensive materials. Maybe the temple was there.
Then I was being yanked off my feet as an armored man grabbed me by the shoulders, slammed me into a wall, and knocked the breath from my lungs. I pulled up both of my feet and kicked as hard as I could against his chest, getting him to release me.
A wooden pole hit me across my back and I turned to see Quynh, her mouth wide open. I m so sorry! I was trying to hit him!
Taking advantage of the distraction, the man picked me up under my armpits, as if he intended to toss me into the stone wall headfirst.
Instead of resisting or fighting back, I remembered what I had done during my last training session in Locris and went completely limp. It surprised him, as I d thought it might.
He let go, and when I hit the ground, I rolled myself behind him. I cut the backs of his calves, the closest and most exposed part of him.
The man swore and tried to reach for me, but Quynh finally connected and swung her pole into his head, hard.
He twirled in a complete circle before collapsing, and she and I stood there for a moment staring at each other. Quynh began to laugh.
I joined in, until a man bigger than a horse wrenched my sword from my hand and punched me in the face.