Labyrinth Wall (9780991531219) (26 page)

The conversation dies down as one by one we peel off to wash in the pool behind the bushes then change clothing.

Blue’s starved for attention. My fingers stroke her long feathers.

“She’s really happy now,” Darith comments.

“Now?” I reply.

“Now that you’re with her. She was really starting to grate on my nerves for a while. She acted so gloomy.”

A grin spreads on my face. It’s nice to be reminded that she needs me.

“Not to be pushy,” he continues, “but I’ve been sitting ‘round here a while and this labyrinth isn’t gonna get any friendlier.”

“I know.” He’s completely right. As nice as the rest and food have been, we can’t delay the inevitable. The longer we wait, the better chance the guards find us or we’re hit with another attack of some kind.

“You ready to finally find out what’s on the other side of that wall?” he asks with a mischievous smirk on his face.

“Give me one minute alone with her,” I tell him, patting Blue’s head.

He walks away.

“We’re going to be okay,” I try to convince her, and myself. “I’m sorry we got separated. It won’t happen again.”

She doesn’t understand my exact words, but she seems to know that she’s loved, that someone’s watching out for her.

It smells like singed feathers next to the fire that has now been put out in the center of the space. Sure enough, there’s one at the pit’s edge, contorted and mostly black.

It’s odd to look up and see everyone’s looking my way. They’re waiting for me to direct, which is very strange to me. “If you’re going with us…” My eyes shift to Soll. “Be ready in twenty minutes.”

Chapter 26
Spraying Fire

Blue and I sit by the remaining logs from the breakfast fire, waiting for the others. Feeling at my red hair verifies that my dagger is in place. The crossbow is securely strapped to my back. It won’t hurt to double check the contents of my bags and supplies. My canisters are already full. That was taken care of hours ago. The two pieces of bread I’ve been saving aren’t going to last when we swim under the wall, so it’s reasonable to snack on one and give the other to Blue. Removing the bread enables room to condense my food down to one bag and carry my box of treasures in the other.

The giant spike from the Buyu tail surprises me when rummaging through another sack. This thing slipped my mind completely. As I wait for the others, I remove it curiously; trying to assess what Rase thought was so interesting about it. It must be almost a foot long and a good four inches in diameter. Why in the world would Rase want such a disgusting thing? The black shiny object revolves in my hands.

There’s nothing fancy about the tip, so I flip it upside down, ready to cringe at the nasty bloody insides, only to discover it has changed. Staring at it blankly, I’m unsure what to think. There’s nothing inside it. The creature’s veins and a large bone that were once inside it are gone. There’s not even a drop of blood. The spike is clean and hollow. What happened? No one has touched my bags, but even if they had, why would they clean this out?

Checking to make sure my eyes aren’t deceiving me, my fingers investigate around inside it, all the way to the tip. There’s not even a slimy residue within it. My hand attempts to pull out but can’t be removed. It feels as if something within the spike is holding my hand. I’m squinting now, trying to peer inside to discern what’s got my hand. Still there’s nothing. My fingers flare around. My other hand tries to yank the thing away, but it doesn’t budge.

There’s no rational explanation why it won’t come off. This is just strange. Fearfully, I swing my arm up in the air, attempting to throw it from my hand. As my arm reaches full extension, a line of fire shoots out the tip of the spike and into the air. The streaming flames cause all my companions to jump. Blue darts away from me, alarmed and confused.

I stand in the center of the place, trembling with fright as the hot fire sprays above me then dies out. Nobody says anything for a moment.

Harshly exhaling, once again I attempt to fling the thing off. My arm swings forcefully back down, and this time, the spike hits the ground then rolls a few feet away.

Everyone’s eyes are large.

“What happened?” Keelie questions, her gaze still set on the spike.

Darith dashes for the object then picks it up. “What’s this?” he asks excitedly. “And where’d ya get it?”

“Be careful!” I scream as he slips his hand into it carelessly.

“I am, I am,” he retorts as he tries putting his other hand inside the spike. “How’s it work, Araina?”

“I don’t know.” My body’s still shaking. “I don’t know how that happened.”

Everyone else has kept their distance from it, while Darith spins it around in his hands observantly. He tries to ignite fire from it, slipping it back and forth from one hand to the other. “Seriously,” he looks at me, “what’s this thing?”

“A Buyu spike,” Rase answers him.

We all turn and look at her. “How did it do that?” I demand.

“I can’t tell you that, Araina,” she replies.

“You knew it could do that, didn’t you?” I press. “That’s why you were eyeing it. How does it work?”

She sighs as she sits up from her slouched position. “I’m not going to tell you anything.”

It’s useless trying to get information out of her, so we turn our attention back to the spike.

“A Buyu spike,” Darith repeats blankly.

“Yes, the Buyu we told you about. This is the spike from its tail,” I explain.

After he fiddles with it for another five minutes, swinging it around foolishly, Soll finally takes it from him and attempts to make it spray fire. He blows inside it, even taking a moment to dust it out, then sticks his hand in but still it doesn’t respond.

“Let’s see,” Korun comments, “think it may have just had one fire spray left in it?”

“No,” I reply, “it’s hollow inside, completely empty. It gripped on my hand. It seemed like it knew what it was doing. I can’t explain it!”

He scrunches his face. “I don’t know.”

“Here” Keelie takes the spike from Soll. “You try it, Korun. Since you can heal people, I bet you can make it work again with your abilities.”

Korun takes it in his hands uneasily. Like the others, he can’t even get it to stay on. “It’s not working.” He carefully hands it back to me.

“But you cut off its tail,” Keelie points out, “seems like it should’ve worked for you.”

It’s in my hands again. My inspection is cautious. My hand does not go in it again. Unsettling silence disrupts my curiosity. My eyes look back up to find the whole group staring intently at me.

“What?” I ask awkwardly.

“Aren’t ya gonna to try it again?” Darith answers.

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“I think you should,” Korun encourages me.

“We don’t even know how this thing works or what it’s capable of,” I retort. “Obviously it’s dangerous!”

Vickon has been observing the situation quietly but chooses to chime in now. “Exactly, Araina, if you can make that work again, it could save our lives when we run for the wall.”

I hate him for it, but Vickon makes a good point.

My gaze rests on the shiny object another minute. Closing my eyes, I tilt the tip up then slip my hand back in. Again, it feels like something has grabbed me. My shoulders flinch.

“What?” Keelie asks.

Scrats, this is ridiculous! What if it won’t let me go this time? My other hand yanks the thing back off instinctively.

“What happened?” Keelie repeats.

“Aw, did it bite ya, little Araina?”

Darith’s teasing doesn’t warrant a response. An exhale shoots from my lips. The spike has me wrapped in curiosity. Fear is subsiding. My hand slips in it, and it grabs onto me. Like a bird emerging from its nest, my arm bursts in the air again. The flames shoot up, high above us; their beautiful orange fumes marvelous.

“That’s incredible.” Keelie stares at it, her mouth wide open with awe.

“It’s obedient to you,” Rase finally comments, “only you.”

My arm slings back down, and the spike releases its grip on me. My other hand catches it before it hits the ground. “What do you mean?” I ask her; amazed she has anything to say.

“That’s all I’m going to tell you,” she says, a frown on her face. “It’s only going to do that for you. Now, will you quit acting like an idiot, flinging your arms all around?”

“Why only for me?” I inquire.

“You put your hand inside first,” she relents.

She’s usually no help at all, but maybe she’ll tell us more. “Why is that?”

“For Grol’s sake, Araina. I told you before. It’s a legend. I don’t know every detail,” Rase snaps.

Observing the odd spike, Sir Riddles’ words creep back into my mind. The last part of the Buyu riddle makes sense to me now. The fire is the gift of the Buyu.

Scrats, his rhymes were supposed to be pure fiction. I’m amazed at Sir Riddles’ accuracy. Evidently his “pets” were providing him with some valuable information.

We need to get going. The spike goes back into my tote.

Everyone still stares at me after the object disappears into my bag. “So, are we ready to go?” I ask them.
 

Chapter 27
The Wall

Once everyone has gathered near the dark thorny bushes, I stare at Soll expectantly. “What’s your big plan?”

He brushes dark green curly hair out of his eyes. “A distraction. Initially, I intended to offer myself as bait and I’m still willing to,” he explains, “but now that you have that handy fire starter in your bag, we can rethink things.”

I nod. “What exactly are you thinking?”

“Along the same lines as before, I’m still thinking we can create a distraction. This plan might even help ensure we create enough motivation for Rase to help us out.”

She rolls her eyes at the mention of her name.

“I think the bottles are pretty good motivation,” I respond, “but an extra push won’t hurt.”

“Right,” he agrees. “Once we reach the other side, we probably need a few minutes to assess how many guards we’re facing. Is there going to be an opportunity for that?”

It takes me a minute to remember, but I do recall bushes on the other side near the water. “Yes, we can hide in some bushes. We’ll also be pretty far from the wall Korun came through, so hopefully they won’t notice us anyway.”

“Okay, so after we reach the other side, everyone run for the bushes. There’s sure to be a fair number of guards. That’s when you need to set fire to the field, Araina. The fire will distract them. I’m thinking we make our way as close as we can to the wall behind the cover of the bushes. When we make it as far as we can, we fight off what hopefully will only be a couple guards at the wall.”

“Seems reasonable,” Vickon comments.

“And you,” I look at Rase, “you better get us through.”

She doesn’t say anything.

“All right, everyone ready?” Soll doesn’t wait for an answer before he jumps in the small pool.

I dive in immediately after him, taking a large breath before my body breaks into the clear water. As I swim beneath the huge wall, the cool liquid relaxes my tight nerves. Blue comes in behind me. Just as my lungs need another breath, I reach the surface of the other side. Air pulls deep in my lungs.

After exiting the small mass of water, it’s wise to dart quickly for the bushes. Soll is already waiting there and surveying the field. Pure disillusion dances in his expression as his gaze navigates the bright green grass, fruit-filled trees, and small flowers. I’d forgotten he’d never seen this place before. “Fate be! What do you suppose…” He’s staring out past the field now.

“What?” My gaze follows his to see whisks of light stream from the top of Simul’s castle. A large black stone object, possibly obsidian, floats atop the magical rays and mists. The sight is beautiful but dreadful. What in the world is going on? Rase is going to need to explain that.

Ringing out my hair and showing Soll the direction of the wall keeps me busy while waiting for the others, for Rase. Unfortunately, a number of guards protect it. As expected, they’re heavily armed and, based on our castle break-in, probably expecting us to return.