Chapter 29

Solaris races towards me and tosses up the gilded scroll and I catch it midair, tucking it behind me in my waistband. On my knees, I learn over the verge to extend my hand. The creature barrels straight to him from the opposite side.

"Give me your hand!"

Solaris jumps just high enough to seize the last step, and I elongate myself so he can reach my hand. I haul him to me with blinding speeds just as the breach is about to close. My back hits the surface, and he falls onto me, knocking the air from my lungs. Solaris lifts himself up halfway, his hands planted on either side of my head, face glistening from exertion.

"Did you get it?"

I arch against him to pull out the gilded scroll, fluttering it victoriously.

He flashes a grin. "That's my Hera." He clambers up to his feet, lending me a hand as we both rise.

"Now that we have the prize. How do we get out of here?"

Solaris shrugs and takes the scroll, eyeing it inquisitively before he unravels it. "Heh, you will not believe this." He holds it fully open, shaking his head with frustrated shock. "You were right. The game board represents the terrain, while the scroll serves as the map. It illustrates a distinct path leading out of the labyrinth. And these symbols." He flicks a finger to the markings. "I suppose they are danger zones, but now we have a way out of here."

He goes to the spinning wheel with confidence this time and inputs the code, spinning the different segments. A new entrance opens up from the left. He wags his brows at me and nods for us to move. From there I follow Solaris's directions since his navigation has been sound and we have not encountered any perils even after several turns. Once I see the colossal tree looming in the distance, I think for sure that we have gone in a loop, but the patterns in the passageways are different. This tree is another allusion to the enormity of this game-like arena.

"Are we almost there?"

"According to the scroll, we should be free within minutes."

"That's great to hear—" Brennon rounds a corner, revealing himself, "—I have grown weary of this game." He waltzes towards us with his face caked with filth and mud. "I would love for this absurd, arduous tournament to be over, and to claim the victory I have dearly deserved."

"The only thing you deserve is that muck on your face." I say.

Solaris rolls up the scroll, readying for a fight.

"What's this?" His finger bounces between us. "An alliance?" He snorts. "I wonder how long that will hold."

"Long enough for us to revel in victory," Solaris says, tucking the scroll safely into his waistband. "Will you yield now, or will you grant me the satisfaction of forcing it from you?"

He chuckles with mocking humour. "You're not the only ones that have brokered an alliance."

Alarm electrifies me and I push Solaris sideways, then I jerk to the opposite side—the current of a blade slashes between us. A hand grips the tail of my hair like the reins of a horse and yanks me back. A sweaty arm hooks around my shoulders to keep me in place with a dagger to my throat to ensure that I stay there.

"Tsk, tsk," Markivues chides. "You did not actually believe you would win, did you?"

Solaris rushes toward me and Brennon delivers a blow with surprise force that sends Solaris to his knees. I grip Markivues's wrist and before I can maneuver out from his hold. My world splinters, my breathing hitches and I look down at the dagger submerged in my gut.

"Aurora!"

Markivues trails his nose from above my collarbone and up my neck. "Don't look so distraught, a gut wound is a slow death, but the blade has missed vital organs. You will survive."

Solaris lunges up but Brennon is quicker, swiftly hurling him against the wall. He strikes his jaw then steals the scroll, slamming his hand against the emblem like an ignition. Brennan darts back before the wall flips up, scooping him up like he's on a table, before it swivels around completely, leaving me alone with them.

Markivues tears out the blade that drops me to my knees. My hand pasted on the puncture, I crouch over, bracing against the torrent of pain. The two share a cackle, running off into the distance. A whimper escapes me as I wring out conviction, forcing myself upright to reach for my skirt and I tear off a bolt of fabric. I take it to my waist, applying adequate pressure on the wound and binding it in a tight knot.

I rise wobbling, nevertheless, I rise.

Solaris was navigating, but my memory serves me well for I remember every inch of that map. I only need to interpret it despite a cloud blooming to disarray my thoughts. An arm around my stomach, I forge onwards, alone but alive.

My foot sinks deeply and I trip, taking the blow on one knee. The ground quakes, foreshadowing my doom, gears churning once more. From all four sides, the walls close in at an inescapable speed. When the walls draw close enough, I spurt up, leaping up the wall, rebounding against the sides until I reach the apex. I grip the ledge and pull myself out of the crack before it closes, suffocating on a cry. I lay on top, on my side, gasping, the wound clenching, squeezing the life from my body.

I lift myself up to lean upon my elbow, gazing at the possible end of my pain. A circular structure in the centre, with a domed gilt head with the perfect size slot to fit in a scroll. Not only is it a map, but it's a key. The structure is suspended in the air and connected to unrailed bridges, four paths stretching from four great corners. And far below is Rimnick, watching from a safe distance as he wrestles with another Herem. A violent mesh of limbs, so ferocious I can't even see who the other Herem is. I don't know how he came into possession of it, with Brennon and Markevius out of sight. Rimnick now has the scroll. I have only but one chance to take advantage of this broil, distracted by their tug of war for the scroll. I have no idea how to steal it, and still preserve my life.

Being the fiend that he is, Rimnick gains the upper hand with animalistic force, batters the other Herem senseless, his face whipping in the directions of his jabs. Even though he is defeated, Rimnick continues to brutalize him, unleashing a volley of punches, knocking him flat on the ground. Then he slams his boot into his side repeatedly. His crippled body minced and curled in a fetal position.

Occupied by his mindless brutality. I strategies my own attack.

If I attack head-on, I won't last a second, not in this state. I might have been able to take him on before, but my injury makes the possibility slim with each passing second. No, I will have to fight fire with water and coordinate an ambush of my own. I push myself up the rest of the way, wincing, bloated cheeks holding a scream. Once I'm up at full height, I tiptoe on the head of the wall towards the northwest corner to reach the bridge. Shortly, I arrive, a faultless trajectory from where I stand on high to be above my target below. His cruelty satiated, he jerks from the severely beaten Herem, only to return to launch one last kick.

I make my ploy. Not giving myself the chance to dither. I jump, diving with the ground rushing at me and the impact drives Rimnick to the ground. He groans and turns his head to capture a glimpse of me. I snatch a fistful of his hair to lift his head and smash it against the floor, rendering him unconscious. The aftermath recoils in me and I roll off his motionless form, clutching my waist. I crawl on my elbows to the glittering gold scroll, towing my body towards it, using my one forearm. Pain flares, concentrated in my right side, my fingertips scraping against gold—a hand locks on my ankle—I twist around to see Rimnick's feral face, blood seeping from his temple.

"Come here."

He hauls me to him with one pull and when I'm close enough, I thrust my foot at his face, sending him sprawling. I scramble back, grabbing the scroll on my way back up and bolting towards the closest passage.

Scrabbling up to give chase. I zigzag through the maze, eluding him with evasive maneuvering.

"Aurora!"

His rage-fuelled bellow chases after me, only loaning speed as I push harder. After a while, the only noise I hear is the drums of my heart beating wildly, soon to burst, my legs throbbing. My body giving me no other choice, I decelerate to a stop. My flank falls against the closest wall for borrowed support, salty sweat and blood stained, my torso hunched over. I allow myself this recess, the fresh-forest air replenishing my lungs and restoring a morsel of my ebbing energy.

I mend my posture to bear the scroll aloft, unraveling it to evaluate the map. I look at the emblem on the wall from across me and my eyes dart back to the gigantic coiled diagram representing the game board. And there I locate where I am and how to return to the centre of the arena via an alternate, safer route. I trudge onwards with single-minded determination.

Long after the ambush, I reach the last tree, three of them marking major points on the board. According to the map, four more passageways and several turns until my return. Engaged in an unstable advance, I look beyond and the sun is about forty-five degrees above the horizon in the west. Eventide approaches and my time dwindles with each passing moment. 

A flash of green. A trailing plant ropes around my neck, bound by a tattooed hand as if holding a leash around a hound's throat. And then the scroll disappears from my grasp and emerges in another's.

"Bow before me, master," he whispers with malice. Dario. "And you were a good one, Aurora. I do this not because I do not care for you. I merely care for me, more."

He releases and the trailing plant whips me back, tightening around my throat like the cords of death, nearly crushing my esophagus. The view of the world shrinks rapidly until I dangle like a criminal at a hanging, hoven up sky high, gagging and floundering. My face knots into a determined frown as I lift my leg to unsheathe my dagger so I can nick a thread—it lowers me, then only do I sunder my bonds. I drop. The ground races to catch me, agility impaired, I collapse to the ground, this time, unable to rise again.