Page 151 of Promise of Darkness
Eris shoves me behind her and turns to leap forward, her sword flashing in the dim light. I grab the hilt of my own sword, but a hand grabs my wrist.
“No!” Thalia says. “She can handle it. We’ll just get in her way.”
It’s a struggle to stay out of the fight, but it soon becomes clear she’s right. Eris isn’t just fighting the troll, she’s destroying him. She moves like a flash of lightning, ducking and weaving the massive swings of its ironbound club before sliding to her knees beneath a dangerous swing and slashing her blade through the tendon behind its ankle.
The troll bellows in pain and smashes into the thorny wall of the labyrinth, crushing it. An opening suddenly appears, just as its friends come around the corner.
“This way!” I yell, hauling Thalia through the opening.
A pair of startled hobgoblins glance our way, but I sweep their axes aside. The clang of steel echoes behind me, and I know Eris is covering our backs.
A horn suddenly cuts through the air, and everything goes quiet. One second the maze is full of snarls and angry voices, and the next you could hear a mouse creeping.
“That’s very creepy,” I mutter.
The labyrinth quivers, leaves rustling and thorny vines lashing angrily as they subside. Ravens take flight, cawing wildly. Even the wind seems to conspire against us, hissing through the leaves as if it’s suddenly part of the hunt.
We all stare in the direction of the horn, and I can hear my heartbeat racing in my ears.
“What do you think that means?” Thalia asks.
“Death to all who enter here?” It’s a guess, but I could be wrong.
“It’s Blaedwyn’s horn,” Eris said, then curses under her breath. She glances about wildly, but there’s seemingly no escape. “If she’s entered the maze, then we’re done for. Unless you use the sword.”
“How many times do I have to say no?”
We scramble through the lashing maze, thorny whips scourging the skin from my arms and face. Around the next corner, we find ourselves in a dead end and slide to a halt.
Behind us, the horn rings again, and this time a cheer goes up.
“So, Eris has the power to destroy all of our enemies, but can’t let herself do that,” I gasp, “and you could sing them into submission if you still had your powers. But you don’t.”
And I’m about as useful as a snowball in the wake of a volcano.
Thiago and Finn are locked up.
A raging queen is on our trail, along with a pack of bloodthirsty Unseelie, and we have no way of fending her off—
A horrible thought occurs to me.
Wehave no means to defeat Blaedwyn.
“I have an idea.” The words just blurt out of me. “It’s a horrible idea, and I need the two of you to convince me not to do it.”
“What?” Thalia asks.
“If I tell you, then you have to talk me out of it,” I yell as we skid into a thorny corner of the maze.
“No promises!” Thalia yells. “You weren’t locked in a cage! I’ll let you do anything.”
I tell them.
Thalia’s eyes nearly pop out of her head. “You thinkhe’sa solution?”
“You said anything,” I point out.
“Thiago will kill you. Blaedwyn will kill you. It’s a terrible idea!” Thalia says.
