Page 62 of The Labyrinth

Through the smoke, I could hear a cry. Thundering feet, racing through the streets. Up from behind the battle, through Panshaw, the rest of Griffin’s troops appeared. They stormed the back of the battlefield, slicing through Ravens like they were boneless. With the smoke choking out my senses, I had forgotten about them, thinking they were already on the field, or worse, that they’d been taken. But with these new numbers, we could be on top again. We could take them out completely.

But the Raven’s words echoed in my ear, even as I turned to join my men in protecting our city, our people.Can you really kill an enemy that can never die?

I didn’t know the answer. All I knew was I was willing to try.

I would do whatever it took to get home to Rissa.

Chapter27

Rissa

If Ten thought I was just going to sit back and let him lock me inside this room again, while he went out and risked his life, he was wrong. Besides, not only was he risking his life, an awful realization occurred to me while I watched him race down the streets out of view. The Ravens were here, desperate to take over. And Ten had said, if they did, they would enslave all of the humans in the surrounding villages.

Which meant Ironforge.

Which meant my family.

I needed to warn them, at the very least. Prepare them to take off at a moment’s notice. While I had been kidnapped, and it worked out okay for me, according to Ten, the Ravens were different. I couldn’t let my family fall into their hands, my mother,Ettie. No. I couldn’t let that happen.

I tied my bedsheets together, knotting them as tightly as I could. I wouldn’t have quite enough to reach the ground from the second story window, but I’d get close enough to jump to the bushes that lined the steps. From there, it was only a few blocks to the gates. I could find my way home easily enough from there. I had done it enough times in the past, right? Everyone would be too focused on the battle to notice me sneaking out. I’d scale down the wall with my makeshift rope, hurry through the streets, warn my family, and return home before Ten even realized I was missing. I might have to figure out a way back inside the gates, but where there was a will, there was a way. Easy.

I froze, my hands in the middle of knotting the sheets. Did I even want to come back here? Ten had locked me in here again, even though I thought things were different. I thought we were beyond him holding me captive. I thought…I thought I meant something more to him than just a trophy he could display, look upon every now and again, and fuck whenever he chose. But yet, I couldn’t stomach leaving him. He really was just trying to protect me, wasn’t he? Since the first day I met him, even though everything screamed the complete opposite. He had been there for me every step of the way, and allowed me to come into my own as a person. He pushed my limits, pushedme, and for that I was endlessly grateful. This whole locking me inside thing needed to stop though. Immediately. I twisted another blanket to the bottom of my rope, making sure it was secure. I would get out and warn my family. What I did after that... I’d have to see. I’d make my decision later, when I had the information I needed. After all, my family might need me. They might be struggling without my added income, without my help around the house. I couldn’t abandon them again if they were suffering. I wouldn’t.

I pressed my lips together, trying to think of happy things. The way Ettie would smile when I walked through the door. The hug my mother would give me. Even the boys would be excited to see me again after so long. And despite the luxury I had lived in here, it would be nice to be home again. It was comfortable there. Safe. I knew it like the back of my hand.

A loud crash thundered through the house, rattling the windows. I looked up to see a building falling in on itself, one of the apartment buildings near where Ten and Hades had been headed. Thick black dust billowed outward. I hoped Ten was okay. He would be, wouldn’t he? He always was. The implosion just solidified how much I needed to warn my family. Ten could handle himself. My family couldn’t.

I turned the handle of the window, half expecting it to be locked as well, but it gave with only a mild sticking. The windows were old, and Ten probably hadn’t ever opened them in his lifetime, so why would he lock them? I carefully knotted my rope around the post of the bed frame, and tossed the rest out the window. It dangled, barely brushing the top of the bushes. It would have to do. I ripped a pillowcase open, and wound it around my head, covering my face as much as I could, dangling another over my shoulders to protect from the dust. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and swung my legs over the window ledge. The rope groaned beneath my weight, but it held. I pressed my feet against the wall, shuffling down, grateful Ten hadn’t thought to take my shoes away from me. This would be ten times more difficult barefoot, especially once I got out to the desert. I came to the end of my rope, the ground still a couple feet below me. I stretched my arms out as much as I could, my toes just scraping the top of the ground and let go. I stumbled to the ground, but caught myself before I fell completely, and smiled up at my work. It wasn’t much to look at, but it had done the job. If it wasn’t being used to run away from Ten, I thought he would’ve been pretty proud of my ingenuity.

I turned, and took off through the streets. I didn’t know how much time I had, so there wasn’t a minute to waste.

The streets were oddly silent, everyone occupied with the thick black smoke in the center of town. It made it easier for me, but my heart still thumped when I hoped Ten was okay. I ran to the gates, surprised to find one lone man guarding the exit when I got there, looking pissed he had been left behind. He turned, towering over me. “Hey! You! What do you think you’re doing out on the streets?”

For the first time, I was grateful for my notoriety. I threw my shoulders back. “I’m Rissa Furie. My husband, Tennyson, has sent me to the villages to seek medical assistance for the battle. I need you to open the gates immediately!” I hoped I sounded convincing enough.

The guard frowned, but luckily for me, didn’t question my new last name. “Ten really wants doctors from beyond the gates? And he sent you?”

I held up my hands. “Listen. If you want your head on a silver platter, I’ll interrupt his battle to explain how you’re unable to help. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“No!” The guard jumped, even though his eyes were still wary. “No need! What did you say your name was again?” He pressed the button, the gates creaking open.

“Rissa Furie,” I repeated, the lie not sounding too terrible to my ears. “Thank you for your assistance.”

“I’ve heard of you. Don’t…uh…don’t tell Ten I questioned you, okay?” He shuffled his feet from side to side, but I was already darting away.

“I wouldn’t think of it.”

The gates creaked closed behind me, but I was already running. I wasfree. Somehow, I didn’t feel quite as free as I felt inside the gates. Out here, with only the dust as my companion, it felt different. Like I had left my real life, and was headed back to a dream. I shook my head, and ran toward Ironforge.

Had it always been so dusty? It seemed like even more dust had accumulated since my time in the Labyrinth. It was everywhere, and I was incredibly grateful for my pillowcase wraps to keep my skin from the blazing sun. It felt a hundred degrees hotter out here than inside the gates, and I wondered how I had ever survived out here. How did any of us?

We made do, I guessed. We’d never known any different, so we got by the way we always had. Even the people who knew what it had been like before the Fall, before everything changed…it was like a different life for them. When my mother spoke about it, it was as if she was recalling a dream. A quiet memory, gossamer, something she could barely grasp with gentle fingers. And when that generation was gone, the last of those who could remember the world before, what would we be left with? The dust, and the stories our parents had told us. The dust would outlive us all, and the stories would become fables that our children would laugh at.

The journey back seemed infinitely shorter than when Ten had taken me to the Labyrinth, and I wasn’t sure if it was fear dragging out the initial trip, or if concern for my family sped up time. The sooner I made sure my family was okay, the sooner I could return home to Ten.

Home. What a funny concept. I had spent most of this time thinking of my home as where my family was, but it really didn’t feel like that anymore. It was a place I had lived. But my soul didn’t live there anymore. It lived with Ten. I belonged with him. Inourhouse inside the Labyrinth. Insideourbedroom. Inourbed. In the life we’d carved out for the two of us amongst the dust and decay. I smiled to myself. Ten would be okay in the battle. He wasn’t indestructible, but he would come home to me. He wouldalwayscome home to me. And once my family was safe, I would be there for him to come home to.

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