He orbits her, unable to pull away.
Good.
But the hellhound just skitters around, high on his new ability. He’s currently in his human form, but the animal is only just below the surface of his skin. The line between boy and beast is paper-thin—the manic gleam in his eye makes that obvious.
It’s disappointing that he’s such a fledgling. He won’t be ready for a fight, and I fear a fight is coming. The breeze blowing through these tunnels carries a foreboding scent. Rot, sulphur, decay.
We need to move again.
“Let’s go,” the nymph says.
—Yes, it’s time—
She nods and gathers her troops, then we go on.
Each twist and turn, each winding passage, leads us to whatever world lies beyond these caverns. My cloven hooves strike the stone with a steady rhythm. I am the anchor here. The stone speaks to me, guiding my steps.
“Ahhhh!” The horse-man shrieks.
I instantly pivot around. What’s there? I search our surroundings, my minotaur eyes not needing light to see, but there is nothing.
What alarmed the centaur?
“Sorry, sorry,” he mumbles, brushing himself down. “Something brushed my face. I think it was a spider-web.”
Theo goes to him instantly, reassuring the man with her gentle voice and soft hands. “It’s OK. I think the only things alive down here are us.” She looks at me. “Right, Ludo?”
—I can’t say, Nymph—
I watch her switch on a smile. “Yep, Ludo said this place is completely spider-free,” she lies comfortingly.
The centaur still looks concerned. “Remember your therapy,” the dragon says quietly. “Feelings are not reality.”
The breeze shifts and changes, its whispered currents growing more urgent. I pay close attention, and my senses and taste detect a different odor in the air. The scent is…unsettling.
Suddenly, knowledge crystallizes in my mind. Death is carried on this current.
I let the instinctive power of the labyrinth churn beneath my hide, a dark tide flowing through my veins. My beast hums with the idea of an upcoming battle.
—something ahead…prepare…fight—
Theo takes a sharp intake of breath, then relays my message, her voice tight with nerves. Surprisingly, it is the boy-hound who first rushes forward to join me at the battle line. A feral intensity shines from his human eyes. Within seconds, he shifts into the beast that is his natural element. Maybe the puppy has adult teeth after all.
I move forward to place myself between Theo and the threat. The hellhound at my left flank is a dark and deadly shadow, and his eyes take on a predator’s glint.
Behind me, the foot soldiers discuss their maneuvers. “Should I shift too?” I hear the centaur ask.
The professor curses. “Not yet, but if things go south, you take Theo out of here—fast.”
“I’ve no room to shift.” I hear frustration in the dragon’s voice. “How long until we are out of these fucking tunnels?”
The hellhound lets out a low, guttural growl, and every nerve ending in my body tightens with warning.
—It’s coming—
“Donovan, keep Theo close. Cosmo, be ready to unleash whatever arcane magic you have,” commands the professor as he sends more and more globes of light ahead of us. I round another corner, tension burning under my skin.
The tunnel opens into a cavern with a gaping hole that fills most of the floor. It’s a black chasm so deep, even my minotaur senses cannot gauge its drop.
