Rise of the Arcanist Series: Books 1 - 6 Page 29

  TS shifted and lunged at the minotaur. Werewolves were much larger than normal wolves and he always looked so powerful and intimidating; the minotaur dwarfed him. I was reminded of some stupid video I saw of a little terrier barking at a bear. The bear lumbered away, but we wouldn’t be so lucky with the minotaur. TS snarled and growled, then the minotaur let out a deafening bellow that echoed in my chest and seemed to shake the cavern itself.

  The minotaur spun around, swinging the club at TS again and again. The distraction worked so well that I didn’t even notice Thomas until he jumped from a large rock onto the minotaur’s back! He sank his fangs into the beast’s neck but my hope that maybe we had a chance died as the minotaur grabbed him and yanked him away, heedless of Thomas’ fangs ripping out of his flesh. Thomas flew through the air and smashed into a rock.

  TS froze in place, tilting his head almost comically in confusion. Then, he dodged another swing of the club and as he did, Dani took Thomas’ place with an impressive leap from a boulder. He plunged a knife into the back of the minotaur’s neck, then flipped and slid off the beast’s back and sprinted out of reach as the minotaur swung at him with a roar.

  “Dyn!” I cried. My spell would have knocked a person out cold, but the minotaur didn’t even flinch.

  “Jen!” Charlie cried from partway across the cavern.

  I nodded to him, then raised my wand again, focusing on a large patch of fur on the minotaur’s back. “Mar!” The fur burst into flames. The minotaur didn’t seem to notice that either; my fire magic was my best, but I was no match for something like this. It didn’t matter though, not with a fire elemental on my side.

  Charlie flung out both hands and the flames exploded into an inferno, almost completely engulfing the minotaur. Furious bellows and roars echoed off the rocks, ringing in my ears and shaking the ground.

  All at once, Charlie cried out in pain and clutched one of his hands to his chest. The flames quickly flickered out as Charlie fell to his knees.

  “Charlie!” I cried in alarm. The minotaur was between us, I wouldn’t be able to get to him!

  I sighed in relief as Mariana ducked out from behind a rock across the room. She sprinted to Charlie and helped him up and away before the minotaur had fully recovered.

  Thomas, Dani, and TS took advantage of the distraction and rushed the minotaur the moment the flames were gone. TS sank his large teeth into one of the minotaur’s legs as both Dani and Thomas scrambled on top, attacking the monster’s exposed head and neck with everything they had. The minotaur bellowed, dropped his club, and tried to grab them, but they stayed out of reach.

  Could we actually pull this off?

  Then, the minotaur successfully caught Thomas by the leg and swung him into TS! They tumbled across the ground and into one of the boulders. Before they could recover, the minotaur grabbed his club and swung it again. Thomas barely rolled out of the way, but the club bashed into the boulder and sent huge rocks tumbling down onto TS. The minotaur pitched backward, nearly smashing Dani into a large boulder behind them; Dani scrambled away, recovered, and quickly began looking for another opening.

  “Tethys!” Thomas screamed, he started to turn back like he was going to try to help, but the minotaur lunged forward again and swung the club at Thomas, forcing him away.

  Thomas jumped away, staggered back to his feet and cast a frightened look at the pile of rocks obscuring TS. His brow furrowed for a moment, like he was confused, then the minotaur rushed him and sent him into a frantic series of dives as he tried to escape not just the club, but the spray of rocks it showered him with after every hit.

  “Jen!” Mariana called.

  I spotted her peeking out from behind a rock, she beckoned me over and I looked around, trying to find a path to get me there safely. I was distracted by an angry bellow from the minotaur. I couldn’t see Thomas! After a moment, to my relief, I realized that the minotaur had lost him too.

  A small knife embedded itself in the minotaur’s nose and he turned with a roar in Dani’s direction. Thomas rushed to the top of a rock behind the minotaur, so fast I could hardly see him. He launched himself into the air. The minotaur turned in his direction. My breath hitched and my heart stuck in my throat as I realized the minotaur wasn’t turning to look at him.

  Time seemed to slow.

  I could see the horror on Thomas’ face as he realized what was about to happen, trapped in midair with no way to dodge.

  Dani and I both screamed, but there was nothing we could do.

  The minotaur swung his head around and lunged forward. One horn speared Thomas right in the chest and burst out of his back. I couldn’t stop screaming.

  I couldn’t tell if the horn had hit all three of his hearts, but doubted it mattered; the horn was so thick it couldn’t possibly have missed them all. There was so much blood I felt sick. I dropped to my knees, fighting the urge to vomit, but unable to look away.

  The minotaur shook his head, sending Thomas flying across the room. He tumbled and rolled across the ground, then stopped, motionless.

  The minotaur roared in triumph and I did throw up.

  “Jen!” Mariana screamed.

  I tore my gaze from Thomas’ unmoving body and looked at her, fighting back tears. She waved me over desperately and I slowly climbed to my feet. I wanted, more than anything, to rush to Thomas, but it was too late. There was nothing I could do. Mariana was alive and she needed me. The minotaur turned away with an angry snort, obviously looking for Dani.

  I sprinted frantically to Mariana and dove around the rock with her.

  “What?!” I cried, a little more angrily than I meant to.

  “Look!”

  Charlie was sprawled on the ground beside her, unconscious. I suppressed a sob as I knelt by him. “Is he okay?” I forced myself to ask.

  “Look!” she repeated, gently lifting his hand.

  The veins in his hand and up his forearm were swollen and black. “Blood magic?!” I gasped. “How? There’s nobody…”

  No, there was somebody else here, someone who just happened to be a witch.

  “Where’s Donna?” I growled.

  Mariana shook her head. My fingers clenched around my wand, a small nub of wood dug painfully into my palm, but I ignored it.

  The minotaur let out another roar, sending small rocks tumbling down from the ceiling as the cavern shook from the sound. I spotted Dani behind him, halfway up a boulder, but out of the minotaur’s sight. The minotaur backed up a step and Dani inched higher, ready to attack.

  Then I spotted Donna! She leaned out around a stalagmite, wand brandished and before I could do anything she muttered a spell. A small cluster of rocks near Dani shattered. He looked at it in surprise and I realized Donna’s plan as the rocks clattered down.

  The minotaur whirled around in the direction of the sound and lunged forward.

  “Dani!” I screamed. Too late.

  He jumped frantically from the boulder as the club swung toward it. The club sailed over the rock and for a moment I thought the minotaur had missed, then I realized it was on purpose! The minotaur followed the club with one hand and snatched Dani out of midair.

  “No!” yelled Mariana.

  The minotaur roared right in Dani’s face, then slammed him down to the ground. Dani started to roll, trying to scramble away, but the minotaur raised one massive hoof and stomped down. The cavern echoed with the sickening crunch of bone. I didn’t know which was worse, Dani’s scream of pain or the way it abruptly stopped.

  Despite being out of the water, Mariana’s shriek of horror was inhuman.

  The minotaur swung his head toward us and began to stomp closer. Mariana started sobbing and I felt tears rolling down my cheeks, blurring everything. I wiped them away helplessly.

  I saw Donna peering out from a rock and rage filled me. If she hadn’t been helping the minotaur, maybe we would have had a chance. If it hadn’t been for her then Thomas… and Dani… and TS…

  “Dyn!” I screame
d, voice breaking, throwing everything I had into the spell. The force of it flung the blood witch backward, sending her crashing to the ground without time to even scream.

  The minotaur snorted and stopped, regarding me with huge eyes. Then, he lumbered toward me, slowly.

  I trembled as he approached, raising my wand even though I didn’t know what spell I could possibly use against him. Instead of attacking, he bent down, putting his massive head in front of me, so large it nearly blocked everything else from view.

  “Why?” he rumbled in a bass so deep I almost didn’t realize it was a word.

  “W-what?”

  “Why did… you attack… your ally?” he boomed.

  “I don’t… oh! You mean her?” I pointed toward Donna. “She’s not my ally, she was helping you!”

  He narrowed his eyes at me and snorted. Hot, putrid breath hit my face, almost choking me. “What… are you?”

  “A witch?” I asked nervously.

  “A blood… witch?” he demanded.

  “No!”

  “Why then… have you… come here?”

  I looked in Thomas’ direction and swallowed hard at the sight of him, covered in blood and dirt. “To save him,” I said, unable to contain a sob.

  “Is this… a trick?” the minotaur bellowed. “A test?”

  “No?”

  “Who do… you serve?”

  “I-I don’t know what you mean.” I couldn’t stop shaking. “I work for MES?”

  “Alaria,” he roared. I clamped my hands over my ears. He snorted again. “Do you… serve Mistress… Alaria?”

  “I don’t even know who that is!”

  “She is… my… keeper.”

  “So, you serve her?”

  “Not by choice!” he screamed, sending another shower of rocks down from the ceiling.

  “She makes you serve?” I asked, half because I was curious and half because if he was talking, then he wasn’t trying to kill the rest of us. “What do you do for her?”

  “I open… doorways where… she dictates. I grant… blood casters… safe passage… through my… domain.”

  “Where do they go?”

  “In one… doorway… then out… another,” he said cryptically.

  “What about everyone who isn’t a blood caster? You k-kill them?” The question was like a knife through me and I forced my eyes to stay on his face and away from the bodies.

  “Some,” he said with a heavy sigh. “Alaria tells… me who… I keep and… who she… desires. I allow… her chosen… passage as well.”

  “Even non-humans?” He nodded. “What does she do with them?”

  “I know… not.” He swung his head toward Donna and snorted, then looked back at me. “You are… the enemy… of the blood… casters?”

  “Yes!” I said. “Is that what Alaria is? A blood witch?”

  “Yes and… no. She is… something… more.” He snorted again, smothering me with another blast of hot air. “If you… are her… enemy… then safe… passage I… shall grant… if you… a favor… will do.”

  “What favor?” I asked carefully.

  “Kill her… she must… be stopped… at any… cost.”

  I glanced toward Thomas again. As far as I was concerned that cost was already too high.

  “You keep… looking… to the vampire,” he commented.

  I nodded and failed to suppress a sob.

  “Would he… also… kill my… mistress?”

  “That’s why we came here! All of us!” I said. “We’ve been investigating the missing people, the ones who are coming here, and he…” I had to pause to fight the urge to cry. “He got trapped in your labyrinth so we came to rescue him. We’re trying to stop the blood casters!”

  “Safe passage… kill… Alaria.”

  I nodded. His huge eyes closed and he took a step back away from me.

  I nearly screamed as Thomas jerked upright with a cry, coughing violently. He looked down at himself and started tugging at his shirt and patting his chest. Was he healed?! He looked at me and his eyes widened in alarm as he saw the minotaur. Thomas staggered to his feet and rushed over, selflessly throwing himself between us. His hissed furiously at the minotaur.

  The minotaur just let out a deep, rumbly, intimidating laugh.

  “It’s okay,” I said. I grabbed Thomas by the shoulder, but I wanted to throw my arms around him and cry or laugh or shout for joy. “He’s going to let us go.”

  “What?” Thomas gasped, turning to look at me.

  “Kill Alaria,” the minotaur boomed. “And I… release you.”

  “Who’s—” Thomas started to say, he was interrupted by a cough and his head snapped around.

  “Oh my god!” Mariana gasped as Dani gingerly climbed to his feet.

  He looked over at the rest of us in confusion. “What the… fuck happened?” he coughed.

  Rocks began rolling, clattering away from a pile and TS emerged from the dust, shaking himself off.

  “How…” I murmured.

  “It is… my realm…” the minotaur said. He took a step toward Charlie and tilted his head. “This wound… is not… my doing… but I… can… help.”

  I jumped as a fire sprang to life around Charlie. It wasn’t long before I saw him sit up through the flames.

  “Wh-what’s going on?” he demanded. The flames died down as he looked around. I was so distracted I didn’t notice Dani had joined us until he threw his arms around Charlie, heedless of the steam rising off his arms.

  “Stop it, idiot, you’ll burn yourself,” Charlie said gently, prying Dani off somewhat reluctantly.

  “What happened to your hand,” Dani asked in alarm, examining the blackened veins.

  “Donna is a blood witch,” I said. “She almost made sure the minotaur killed us.”

  “But weren’t they actually dead?” Mariana demanded, gratefully hugging Dani. I nodded in agreement and hugged Thomas, unable to resist feeling for the gaping wound I was sure was in his chest.

  The minotaur laughed again. “It is… all my… illusion…. You die… only when… I choose… to feast.”

  As he spoke the blood faded from Thomas’ shirt and the fibers around the rip I had been looking at all knit back together.

  “I didn’t feel it,” Thomas said slowly. “When TS was hurt.”

  TS nodded. “I couldn’t feel your pain either.”

  The minotaur let out a thunderous chuckle. “Go now… if another… blood caster comes… I cannot… delay them… take the… doorway… with three… stones in… the threshold. If you… return here… you must… come directly… to me. My doorway… has seven… stones.”

  A rumble echoed around the cavern and the ground began to shake as a large opening began to form in one of the walls.

  “Kill Alaria,” the minotaur ordered.

  “We will,” I promised.

  Hardly able to believe it, we all turned and started to go.

  “Wait,” the minotaur boomed. Swallowing nervously, I looked back. He strode forward, opened one massive hand, and all of Dani’s knives clattered to the ground. “I am… bound to… not harm… a blood… witch.” He swung his head toward Donna and snorted. “When she… wakes… I must… allow her… passage and… you will… be discovered.”

  Thomas nodded to Dani. “I’ll take care of her,” Dani said grimly, collecting his knives.

  When he was done, we all took one last nervous look at the minotaur, then headed down the large tunnel. I quickly told everyone what happened while they were... incapacitated and what the minotaur told me.

  Just as I finished, we emerged into another circular room with seven spiral staircases embedded in the walls!

  “What is all of this?” TS asked.

  “It’s the same fucking room!” Dani cried.

  “My scorch marks are gone,” Charlie said.

  “Oh!” Mariana gasped. “I’m such an idiot! It’s not the same room; a labyrinth doesn’t just have seven layers and doorways insi
de, it also has seven doorways that lead to and from it! These all lead out!”

  “It isn’t just the one in the park, then?” Thomas asked. “The other six all lead somewhere else?”

  Mariana nodded. “That must be what he meant by giving the blood casters passage! He lets them in and they use these doorways to travel in secret! They could go in from the park and come out literally on the other side of the world in minutes!”

  “This is getting better and better,” Dani grumbled.

  “He said we want the one with three stones.,” TS said.

  We cautiously spread out and went to different staircases. I looked down at the threshold and saw that the bottom step was made up of five perfectly square stones. The stones on the other steps were all uneven.

  “I’ve got two big stones here,” Thomas said.

  “Six here,” Mariana called. “They’re all identical!”

  “Three!” TS said.

  “Then let’s go,” Thomas said. “We need to tell Jon what we’ve discovered.”

  With one last look around, we gathered by TS and headed up the stairway with three stones across the bottom step. The stairs opened into a tunnel that soon turned into a cave.

  “I sense water,” Dani announced. “A lot of it.”

  We rounded a corner and were almost blinded by a bright light. I winced and shielded my eyes, hoping my night vision spell would wear off quickly.

  “Whoa!”

  “What the?!”

  Instead of the park, we came out of the cave on a sandy beach.

  “Oh no,” Thomas gasped. “Not this!”

  Dani moved protectively between Charlie and the water.

  “Wait,” TS barked.

  At the same moment, I felt a sudden rush of emotions. “I sense Rak!” I cried.

  “And Shannon!” A look of alarm crossed TS’ face and I saw Thomas take a step toward him. For one horrible moment, I thought that the labyrinth had only delayed the effect of Delilah’s death and waited with bated breath for TS to collapse. He sighed and the concern was replaced by a brief flash of grief. Thomas put a hand on his shoulder and they shared a small, sad smile. Then, TS took a deep breath. “We’re back.”

  “Yeah,” Dani agreed, looking at his compass tattoo.