Page 57 of A Tribute of Fire

I ran back over to Quynh and grabbed her by the wrist. I pulled so hard that I nearly yanked her shoulder from its socket.

“Sorry,” I said. I felt invincible, as if I could cut down any foe and bend the world to my will.

Was this what Demaratus had meant when he’d spoken of the thrill of the fight?

Despite my distractions, we were still being pursued. I spotted an open-air tavern and altered our course to head straight for it. When I crossed the threshold, I began to upend tables, sending drinks flying.

Drunken men yelled in protest but turned all their anger to each other and to the men following us as we darted away. I heard the sound of fists meeting flesh as I located an exit point.

We went back into the maze of walls, which somehow seemed slimmer than before. I had to let go of Quynh’s wrist as she could no longer run at my side but had to be directly behind me.

Would this get worse? Would there eventually be a point where the walls closed in completely and were impassable?

My fear was immediately eased as we entered another path and the walls widened again.

I had no idea how this labyrinth connected across those multiple paths I’d initially seen. While men had successfully tracked us down, I had to assume that there would now be hunters in front of us as well as behind us.

Those men knew this city and I did not.

Which might have also been helping me. There was no way to predict my travel route since I had no idea where I was going.

We turned a corner and I heard Quynh scream. I spun and saw a man who had latched his left hand on to her tunic, pulling her toward him.

“Lia!”

In my panic I did something entirely foolish. I ran at the man, slamming into him, but he batted me away as if I were a fly.

“I have one!” he yelled, and I wondered how many people were going to join him. Quynh still strained forward as he pulled. I considered grabbing her hands, trying to wrench her free, but quickly realized that wouldn’t do me any good.

He was too strong.

I whirled around, raising my sword, and then brought it down on his wrist, as hard as I could.

He screamed as his left hand fell to the ground.

The scent of blood filled the air and Quynh crashed into the far wall, the momentum propelling her forward now that he was no longer holding on to her.

I was sickened by what I had done, but there had been no other option.

“Let’s go!” I yelled to Quynh as the man grabbed his left arm, falling to his knees and still screaming. I ignored the metallic taste that filled my mouth and went deeper into the maze.

I went right and there was an extremely long passageway. I headed down, spotting some buildings just beyond the walls. There had to be another opening.

But when we reached the end, I realized that it had been an illusion. There had appeared to be an exit, but it was sealed off just out of sight.

A dead end.

I didn’t even need Demaratus to yell at me for this one. I knew better. “Back the way we came,” I said, but it worried me. That was where I’d cut off the man’s hand, and he had called out to someone.

It might be a trap.

I heard someone huffing and realized that we were about to crash into another hunter at the end of the passage. I turned to Quynh. “Get on the ground. Pretend to be hurt. Cry.”

“I don’t have to pretend that,” she said as she collapsed into a heap and began to wail. I crouched down next to her, placing my sword on the other side of her body, where it couldn’t be seen.

A man carrying an axe ran around the corner, spotting me.

“Please,” I said as he approached, holding his weapon up. “She’s hurt. We need help.”

---