Leaving Raella and the others to deal with the drama of the ballroom, we made our way back to the balcony where I had last seen Peyton and Lexie. They were still there, unaware of everything that was happening inside. They were laughing, trying some kind of dance while standing side by side, holding each other’s hands, but it looked like they were fumbling the steps. Cassandra was practically pulling Jon Umberling along – he looked a little unnerved, like this was the last thing he had expected. “I had no idea they hadn’t even told any of you,” he practically squeaked, breathless at our reaction.

“What’s going on?” Lexie asked as we all arrived. I guess all of us had quite serious expressions, because she looked instantly nervous seeing us. Peyton, on the other hand, had become expressionless.

“This is Jon Umberling,” Cassandra introduced again, standing just behind the dwarf. “He’s a scholar here in the Saph Anchor. When the elves reached out to the dwarves and told them about the seal, he traveled down into the mountains with a group of researchers, and found an old archive that provided information about the gods… and about the Chosen, especially the Chosen summoned to help reform the seal every 500 years.”

“Yes, it was quite the treasure trove of knowledge. Perhaps even a temple of the God of Knowledge himself. We’ve even unearthed the names of the entire pantheon…”

“We’re sacrifices,” I blurted out, interrupting the smaller man.

Lexie blanched and Peyton’s expression deepened into a frown. “Sacrifices?” Lexie said, her voice very small.

“I thought so,” Peyton said quietly. “But I had hoped…”

“Yes. The spell is so powerful that it pretty much zaps our entire life from us. We die when we complete it,” I continued, my voice probably louder than it needed to be from my anger.

“They never told you?” Jon said again, twisting his head to look around at all of us as we reacted to the information. He didn’t seem to want to believe it. “We were under the impression that… that your sacrifice was willingly made… well, I suppose it would be much to ask. But without you, our entire world…” he trailed off again, his expression crestfallen.

Lyre gave the dwarf a pitying look, before turning immediately to Cassandra. “We should leave,” he said.

Cassandra was staring at the dwarf. I could see the sympathy in her face even before she spoke, and hated it almost instantly. I didn’t want to die. “And then what? This great evil being gets loose?”

“We don’t even know that he’ll be powerful enough to destroy the world. That could all be a lie as well!” I pointed out bitterly.

“But the gods were worried about him all those years ago…”

Lyre grabbed her by the shoulders, his fingers gripped tight into the sleeves of her dress. “I don’t care if he frightens gods. I don’t care if he is a god! I’ll face any of the gods I need to keep you safe!” She stared at him, her eyes wide in shock at the ferocity in his tone.

“There’s another thing…” Asterollan started. “The king of my country is here as well, and looks fully prepared for a fight. Perhaps we should be having this debate somewhere safer.”

Peyton had stood quietly through the entire conversation, her expression growing stormy and distant. As Asterollan finished talking, she walked back into the ballroom. Asterollan stared after her. “Or… not?” We followed.

As we entered the ballroom, the human king and his retinue were nowhere to be seen. But it looked like Raella and Greyjon were approaching us, like they had been looking to find us. Greyjon had an openly questioning expression as Peyton stormed up to them, looking furious. Peyton snatched a glass of white wine from a passing tray and, as we approached them, splashed it dramatically into Raella’s face.

We all froze behind her. I could hear Lexie softly go, “Oh shit,” under her breath.

Greyjon took a step back.

“So you planned for us to die,” Peyton said, her voice projected clearly across the entire spacious room. The chattering in the hall hushed as everyone shifted their attention, wanting to see what was happening. Asterollan’s head twisted around – he was clearly on the lookout for the other humans. But the rest of us couldn’t take our eyes away from the scene unfolding in front of us. Chase and Zolambi were approaching, but at a slowed pace. At Peyton’s words, Greyjon and Chase at least looked ashamed, and seemed to be having difficulty making eye contact with any of us. Zolambi, on the other hand, steadily stared at each of us, though he flushed so deeply that his scar stood out like a bright white spot.

Raella coolly pulled a handkerchief from somewhere unseen, dabbing gently at the rivulets of wine that dripped from her face. “I believe this needs to be a private conversation,” she said. “There is much more than this to discuss, after all.”

Peyton turned on her heel, marching out of the ballroom by a different exit that looked as though it descended into the gardens below. The rest of us followed her. “Wait!” I could hear Greyjon calling after us. It sounded like they were following, but we didn’t stop.

We stepped out into the moonlit gardens. Even with the moonlight, it was almost oppressively dark, and the shapes of the bushes and the hedges and statues were indistinguishable shadows that surrounded us. We followed Peyton until she came to an abrupt stop. She turned on us, her expression still distant, her arms crossed. But now instead of looking regal and dramatic, she looked deflated and helpless. Strangely, seeing that made my heart twist a little uncomfortably, and I felt my own rage dissipate. “That was dramatic,” I commented.

“Actress, remember?” she said, her lips turning up into a forced smile. She sighed, and dropped her arms. “I just… wanted to embarrass her, I guess.”

“You did an excellent job,” I reassured her, but realized that she was frowning at something past me. I turned to look back where we had come – a strange shimmery field of light lay across the face of the palace, blocking the exits and the windows. It was apparently stopping anyone from following us. Greyjon was pounding against it with his fist, and he looked to be yelling, but we couldn’t hear any of the sounds beyond the barrier at all.

“Damnit,” I heard Asterollan sigh as I heard the clinking of armor and swords being drawn from somewhere in the dark. “I tried to tell you.”

Peyton looked suddenly panicked. “And I should have listened,” she said, sounding truly remorseful. A shadow shifted away from a nearby shrub, becoming a person. It rushed forward at Peyton’s voice. Whatever martial art she wasn’t a black belt in suddenly came in handy – she shifted fluidly, avoiding the sword that was thrust at her, grabbing the man’s arm and using his own momentum to fling him across the garden path. Asterollan stomped on the man’s hand, hard, causing a garbled cry, then he quickly bent to grab the sword. Without hesitation, he slid it down into our attacker’s neck. “Run!” he hissed at us. We scattered. “No. Back to the palace, idiots!” he hissed again.

We’re really not good at this coordinating thing, I thought to myself. I watched Lyre and Cassandra run off into the garden maze ahead of us, but I was more concerned for Lexie and followed her and Peyton as they dodged off across the garden displays on the outside of the maze. I could hear the clinking of armor as we were chased. How many human soldiers had waited for us out in the shadows of the gardens?

Ahead of us was the face of the mountain where it met with the palace, and what looked like a natural cave mouth that was part of the garden environs. Lexie ran into the dark opening, and Peyton and I followed. I felt myself hit some sort of stone pillar, bouncing off it hard with a loud thump.  Realizing it would leave a bruise later, I twisted around it and held my arms out, feeling for other structures in the dark.

I saw Lexie light up ahead of me, and angrily said, “Stop! Don’t touch your magic! They’ll see you!” I saw the panicky look in her eyes just as the light around her dropped. “Go deeper into the cave and hide,” I whispered as I heard our pursuers catching up outside. 

I scurried further in, finding another stone pillar to press myself against. I did my best to calm my breathing. “Damn, did someone bring a torch?” I could hear one of the men ask as they stumbled into the cave.

“No, didn’t think we’d be running into the rutting mountain,” another whispered loudly. “Do you think they got away?”

I pushed away from the pillar and moved further back into the cave. I was hoping it might lead into a passage that would take us away from our pursuers. And then I hit a wall. I followed along it a bit, feeling my palms smacking against the rough stone for a good several feet, the panic rising in my throat. Maybe this cave didn’t lead anywhere at all. Maybe we were trapped. We had no way of knowing.

I turned back to where I could make out the front of the cave, hoping the opening would provide enough backlighting to tell me how many soldiers there were. Our pursuers were far enough in now that the darkness hid them as well. I could hear breathing and the clink of armor. They would be close soon.

I held my breath for a moment, trying to think desperately of what I could do. We needed light. Despite what I had told Lexie, I reached for my magic. “There!” I heard a shout, and heard the twang of a pair of bows as the light of magic surrounded me. I gasped as one of the arrows grazed me along my right side, and the other pierced my thigh.

“Lucas!” Lexie immediately lit up after me, and a ball of fire blossomed into existence in the middle of the cave. I watched at least two men go up in flames, their screeches drowning out the shouting that erupted from the other two men I could now see in the light. I watched Peyton step away from the wall to deliver a quick series of blows to one of those men, pushing him into the ball of fire. He bounced up quickly, covered in flames and screaming, running from the cave. The two that had been initially caught in the fire had fallen to the ground and stopped moving. They were silent. It had all happened so fast that it seemed unreal. The smell of burning flesh was acrid in my nose, and I felt nauseous – I shifted along the cave wall, wanting the fresh air outside.

Lexie was moving along the opposite wall, looking almost sick as she stared wide eyed at the bodies on the floor. The ball of fire disappeared, but the light of magic still glowed around the both of us. The last man moved toward her, ready to strike with his sword. She hardly seemed to notice, still staring at the charred figures on the floor. I summoned several vines, grasping at his arms and legs before he could reach her, and pulling him hard against the ground and away from the girl. Maybe too hard – I could hear the sickening crunch of breaking bone as the man screamed in pain.

The three of us were outside of the cave quickly, gasping in the clean air. Not far from the cave entrance was the charred body of the man that had run from the cave. Pointedly ignoring him, I pulled the arrow out of my thigh, crying out as I felt it take nearly a whole chunk of flesh with it. Peyton moved toward me instantly, placing her hand over the wound, using the healing spell – though not as effective as what Cassandra or I could manage, the wound did seal and the bleeding stopped. “We need to find Cassandra,” she said, looking at the divot scar that remained in my leg. I could see that her dress had ripped through all the action – there were now slits up the sides of the hips, rising quite high, the sheer cape was completely missing, and one of the shoulder straps had broken so the dress was hanging quite revealingly. I boggled for a moment at the sight, then tried not to stare.

“Yes, we should hurry.” As we turned to jog back to the maze, I belatedly decided to pull off my jacket and handed it to Peyton.

She grinned at me in thanks. “Really. Here I thought you enjoyed the view.”

“Shut up,” I said with a groan.

“I mean, you could have offered this a little sooner. Like before you got an entire eyeful.”

“I. Did. Not. Think. Shut up!” I pulled ahead, not wanting her to see how red I had gotten. I could hear Lexie laughing, maybe a touch manically, behind us.

---

As we approached the entrance to the maze, we found that a hole had been blasted through one of the hedge walls. The branches were still glowing and smoking from the magic that had created the opening. Following the blasted path, we came across at least two more bodies and found Asterollan, glowing with magic and holding the stolen sword at the ready. He turned on us when he heard our approach, but nodded when he recognized us. “Glad to see you’re safe.”

“Any sign of them yet?” I asked, meaning Lyre and Cassandra.

Asterollan shook his head. “No. I’m not sure how they even entered the maze. It’s got its own barrier.”

“How many soldiers do you think there are?” Peyton asked.

Asterollan frowned, glancing back. “King Vanguard has two personal elven slaves, powerful in defensive and offensive magics. One of them is likely maintaining the barrier that’s trapping our other companions back at the palace. The other may be out here with us. There are ten men in his personal guard – assuming he has brought all of them. I’ve killed three.”

“We killed four,” Lexie said, her voice quite low. She was staring at the ground, a subdued frown creasing her brow. I wondered how long the screams of the burning men would stay on her mind, and wished I could reassure her somehow, but wasn’t sure what to do or say.

Asterollan hesitated a moment hearing the tone in her voice, then clapped a hand on her shoulder. “So there are three left.”

“Assuming he didn’t bring any other soldiers along,” Peyton pointed out.

“To bring too many would be… diplomatically unwise,” Asterollan said. “But yes, it would probably be wiser to assume there are more than the 10.”

“Why are they after us?” I asked.

Asterollan shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“They’re your people.”

“I’m not privy to the motivations of a king.” Looking a little annoyed to be questioned, Asterollan lifted a hand – a bright beacon of light schwoomed! through the next row of hedges in the maze, leaving the glowing, burning debris we had seen in the previous holes.

I stared at the new opening as he stepped through it. “Cassandra!” he shouted as he went. With a sigh, I followed him, readying myself for anything he was likely to draw toward us with as much noise as he was making. We continued in that manner through at least three more walls of the maze, before we hit an open space that had a fountain in the center.

A woman turned to look at us. The same one with the long silvery hair that I had seen back in the ballroom. Standing closer to her now, I could see that the tendrils of her tattoo were forming the shapes of tentacles. She was wearing a heavy looking jade gem at the base of her collarbone, shaped like an octopus. She looked surprised to see us, despite the noise Asterollan had been making. He looked surprised to see her too, but moved quickly straight up to her. The light of magic began to spring into being around her just as Asterollan ripped the octopus shaped gem away from her throat.

The light of magic dropped instantly, and she reached up to where the gem had been, crying out in rage. Asterollan turned and tossed the gem to Peyton. “Don’t let her touch it!” he shouted at her. The woman bodily jumped on him, scratching at his face with her fingers, and he cried out angrily, throwing her away. Peyton caught the gem, but two men emerged from out of the maze closest to her, angrily charging her with their swords drawn. I moved forward to help her, drawing on my magic to make the maze grow out and swallow one as Peyton slammed a fist into the throat of the other. She turned and tossed the gem to Lexie.

Lexie’s eyes went wide in panic, and she flailed her hands helplessly. “I! Can’t! Catch!” she screeched, as her fingers fumbled the gem in the air. She succeeded in accidentally batting it back towards the fountain, and closer to the elven mage, who saw her chance to dive for it.