CHAPTER NINETY-TWO

Sacrificial Play, Part 1

Despite the shower of ice shards flooding the air, Sam knew they weren’t out of the woods yet, a fact made clear to him after he fell into the arms of a wounded Thunder.

“I knew you could do it, lame-brain,” she beamed at him.

“Th-thanks,” he stammered.

Even as blood dripped down her cheek from the new gash on her forehead, Sam couldn’t imagine anything more stunning than Thunder’s smile. They spent a second or two gazing into each other’s eyes before Farsight’s head popped up from behind their shoulders, a wink and grin playing on her face.

“Seriously, can you two wait to flirt after we escape this damnable haunted zone,” she teased.

Sam’s and Thunder’s cheeks flared long enough for Jackboot and Dr. Hearthstone to appear on either side of them. Neither hero commented on the obvious redness of their faces though. There were more immediate concerns on their minds.

“I vote we get out of here, now!” Jackboot said.

“For once, you’re actually making sense, Jack,” Farsight replied.

“I always make sense,” Jackboot countered.

The pair of them opened the doors leading back into the library’s lobby, prompting Farsight to add, “Finally, I can see a bit of probability leaking in... we might make it out of this alive.”

“You couldn’t frame it in a more hopeful manner?” Jackboot asked.

“What’s the point of lying,” Farsight shrugged.

“Leaving already—but the fun’s just begun!” Medea taunted from her end of the long hall.

Sam could hear the panic in her voice—a first since he’d met the sorceress—and the sound of it made him feel warm inside. Like a good swig of fine mead at the end of an exhausting workday. You snooze you lose, grandma.

Medea had certainly misjudged the capability of the heroes, and this miscalculation left her unable to do anything more than scream profanities as Sam and his friends returned to the lobby beyond the open doors.

“After them, you fools!” she snapped.

The agents of Chimera charged forward like linebackers racing across a football field, although Sam wasn’t concerned with them catching up. He was more worried that Medea’s two solar dragons might be able to fit through the doors despite how large they were. But, as Sam glanced over his shoulder, he found his jaw-dropping from the sight behind him. The two serpentine horrors were nowhere near catching up to his team as they were preoccupied with the chunks of white foam spreading from inside their open snouts.

Sam couldn’t help but smile. “Nice shot, Ash.”

“They kept opening their mouths at me like they were just begging to have my fire-suppressing arrows shoved down their throats,” Farsight replied over her shoulder. “Don’t slow down, people! I can barely see the probabilities of us escaping the clutches of ancient supervillains and their pet horrors!”

The crew of the Argo VII raced across the lobby, moving quickly through the frozen forms of Thunder’s former classmates, while Sam and Thunder—with the sweat dripping down their brows and their hands clasped tightly together—pulled each other along toward the exit at a slower pace than the others.

“Are you—”

“No worse than you,” Thunder cut him off. “Keep going, Sam.”

They made it about half the length of the lobby before one of Medea’s dragons crashed through the doors behind them with the wall breaking apart into dozens of different-sized chunks in its wake.

“Move it or lose it, heroes!” Farsight warned.

Jackboot was first to reach the end. He kicked the doors open and then led the way back into the stranger half of the Endless Maze.

“Where to?” he asked over his shoulder.

“It’s a straight path!” Farsight answered. “Go, go, go!”

It was true. What was once a seemingly endless corridor was beginning to shift back into the mundane hallway that held none of the insanity of the passage they’d earlier crossed. A mere ten yards separated them from this first corridor and into the expansive space beyond.

They jumped back into one of the platforms floating in the void, but it was tilting slightly to the right almost as if what kept it in the air was slowly losing its strength to gravity’s influence.

“What’s going on?” Sam asked worriedly.

The surrounding darkness was receding into the abyss it had been born from too. In its place, swats of stone walls were beginning to peak out like small reminders of coming change.

“This haunted zone’s warped space is beginning to break down,” Thunder realized.

“But we didn’t clear it,” Sam argued.

“Doesn’t matter...the horror responsible for this mess got trapped inside Pandora’s Box, remember?” Thunder replied.

“And with it gone, the power that held sway over this zone is losing its effect,” Dr. Hearthstone added.

“Meaning what?” Jackboot asked.

“Meaning we don’t want to be here when it all goes away or we might get taken into Hades along with it, too,” Farsight answered.

And on that ominous note, the team jumped over to the next platform right below them. They were just in time, too, because one of Medea’s dragons burst into this room only seconds later. Sadly for the horror, the platform it landed on was already disappearing, causing the dragon to fall into what was left of the void below.

“You think it’s dead?” Sam asked.

A pillar of dragon fire lanced up at them from below, momentarily lighting up the surrounding gloom in a brilliant golden glow.

“No, now jump!” Thunder ordered.

With his hand in hers, Thunder dragged Sam down onto another platform which was a door big enough for just the two of them. Their friends stood on floating bookcases and broken staircases to either side of them while the flapping of giant wings harried them from below.

“Where to next, Ash?” Sam asked.

Farsight pointed forward. “It’s a straight shot to the exit.”

“We are running out of things to jump on though,” Jackboot reported.

Ahead of them, more and more of the floating debris were beginning to disappear from view, making crossing through the wide expanse of space between them and the exit a difficult challenge.

“Hold on... I’ll find us the path,” Farsight promised.

They waited for her to sift through the possibilities in her mind while the dragon below them began flying up to their position. It soared past them like a hurricane, and the wind of its passage nearly caused Sam to lose his balance. Thunder wrapped her other arm around his shoulder to keep him from falling, forcing the pair into an awkward hug.

“Don’t let go,” he said, his cheeks flushed.

“I won’t,” she promised, and her cheeks were flushed too.

“Hey, lovebirds, open the door beneath you and go through it already,” Farsight snapped seconds later. “That’s our way out of here.”

They weren’t lovebirds, a fact that Sam was painfully aware of but was too chicken to do anything about beyond the furtive glances and awkward hugging. But, as he pulled open the door for Thunder to jump into, Sam wondered what she’d say if he did ask her out on a date.

“Stop daydreaming, idiot!” Farsight yelled. “We’ve got even more company!”

Another terrifying roar reached his ears, causing goosebumps to rise on his skin. Sam glanced up and found his rising fear justified because the second dragon appeared above them. Although it was still a distance away, it also had Medea and Pandora the 8th riding on its back.

Without another word, Sam dived into the door to fall feet first onto a familiar circular platform. A glance at his surroundings confirmed that this was where they had fought the revenant that had once been the Swordswoman.

“Sam, a little help,” Thunder called.

She was kneeling on the ground. Her hand was pressed to her side. Her breathing ragged.

Sam wrapped her arm over his shoulder and helped Thunder up to her feet. “What’s wrong?”

“Just...a little tired,” she admitted. “Think we’re nearly there?”

“Yeah, just a little more to go,” Sam lied.

Based on where they stood, he estimated that they were barely halfway to the exit, but he decided that there was no point making Thunder feel as anxious as he did.

Farsight, Jackboot, and Dr. Hearthstone dropped onto their platform one by one while a cloud of dragon fire followed close behind them.

“Scatter!” Farsight warned.

They sprinted toward the edges of the landing, allowing them to avoid the flames that exploded onto the center of the platform. Still, the heat of it forced them back so that Sam’s feet were right next to the edge.

“You don’t think...” His face wrinkled from the hot air blowing his way. “...can that thing get through the tiny door?”

An angry roar reached his ears, making his eardrums rattle.

Sam sighed gratefully. “Guess not.”

He knew this was but a brief reprieve for the angry dragon was already flying across the void toward them. The sound of its flapping wings seemed to Sam like blades cutting through the air. And, although its partner remained to hover behind them all, the violet glow expanding from the source on its back was making Sam feel all sorts of bad vibes.

“Medea’s casting another spell,” he warned. “Ash, we gotta go...now!”

“We can’t...” Farsight pointed her thumb behind her. “It’s not complete yet...”

A narrow bridge was forming by the southern edge of their platform. Built from the scattered debris of floating doors, bookcases, and stair planks. They formed a crooked, broken line that reached the staircase Sam had fallen into when he first arrived at the maze.

“Someone’s...” Thunder’s breaths were getting more strained. “...looking out for us...”

“Bloody Duat, I think you’re right,” Jackboot agreed. “This feels a little rushed though... you’d think a god would make more effort.”

“Make it a little wider,” Sam added.

“Maybe add some railings,” Farsight chimed in.

“Guys, stop complaining... Just be thankful for this blessing,” Thunder chided them, although her brow was just as knotted as Sam’s.

The bridge, if one could call it that, barely had enough space for them to cross it single-file. There were no railings on either side of it, meaning a single misplaced step would send one tumbling down into what remained of the void below.

“I’ll send an offering to every god of crafts in existence if it means whoever’s lending us a hand will hurry it up,” Farsight begged.

Portions of the bridge had yet to form so rushing through it now meant they would have to jump across these missing pieces to continue onward.

“It’ll be slow going. One small step and...” Sam couldn’t bring himself to finish that sentence.

“Would you rather stay here and fight off an alpha-level dragon?” Dr. Hearthstone asked.

“Nope,” Sam relented. “I really don’t.”

“Thought so,” Dr. Hearthstone chuckled.

With an encouraging slap across Sam’s back, the veteran hero stepped onto the bridge and led the way forward. One by one Sam’s other friends followed suit until he alone remained behind.