“We’re all scared of something,” Aster said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “You did great. Now let’s get go.”
His words cut off as the ground began shuddering violently.
It was as if the Labyrinth were angry, and a deep roar rolled through the corridor, echoing off the walls like thunder.
“Move!” Aster shouted, grabbing my arm in controlled panic because it looked like our troubles weren’t over yet.
The ground split beneath us, cracking open in a jagged line and bending inward like a yawning mouth. We pushed back against the wall, away from the edge of the fissure. One so deep that all that could be seen was darkness. Then a massive, clawed hand burning with molten lava burst up, gripping the edge of the ground. A second followed, and then the body of a beast made of jagged rock that glowed from within like a furnace.
“What. The. Actual. Fuck. Is. That?”I breathed, not allowing my eyes to move away from it as I wisely backed away.
“A Guardian.The Labyrinth’s keeper.”
“For fuck sake, we just can’t catch a break, can we?” I gritted out as the creature’s head snapped toward us, its eyes brightening as if we had just added wood to the fires that burned there. Aster shoved me aside as the creature swung its arm toward us, and he jumped in the opposite direction.
Shards of splintered rock exploded from the walls from the impact of the creature's swing, and I ducked, covering my head. Aster recovered quickly and brought his blade down in a sweeping motion. Metal crashed against the beast and practically bounced off it, recoiling his weapon back with vibrations that echoed. It had no effect whatsoever, and my face dropped in horror.
“Aster, look out!” I screamed, but the beast already had hold of him, lifting the Minotaur with one hand like he was a doll. My stomach lurched, and I cried out as he was slammed into the wall. His blade dropped to the ground with a clatter.
“Let him go!” I screamed, running forward with the knife and dagger in both hands.
The weapon that Atlas gifted me burned hotter in my palm, its glow spreading up my wrist. But as the beast flung out its other arm, it ended up throwing me across the ground. I let out a cry as my elbow hit the compacted earth hard, and my back screamed in agony. But the pain was nothing compared to watching as my precious dagger flew out of my grasp.
I watched with dismay as it teetered over the edge of the crack. I scrambled across the space between it and me in a desperate hope to stop it before it tipped into the abyss. My fingertips just grazed it, but not enough to make a purchase, as it was sent over the edge.
“No!” I cried out.
“Alex!”
I looked up at Aster, his body bending in abnormal directions, and I heard his bones crunch as the beast threw him against the wall, pinning him there. Meaning there was no time to cry over its loss, not when my friend’s life hung in the balance.
I jumped up, sheathing my knife, which I knew would be useless against this creature, and ran over to where Aster’s blade had fallen. Struggling with the weight of it, the only thing that was allowing me to lift it was pure adrenaline at this point. And I roared with fury as I drove it deep into a glowing crack in the creature’s arm.
For a moment, the entire Labyrinth seemed to convulse. A wave of energy burst outward, hurling me backward. I pushed my body against the ground as I landed, making sure I didn’t fall down the crack along with the dagger.
I looked up as the creature dropped Aster into a broken heap on the floor, cracks of red light spreading through its arm where the sword struck. It roared again, stumbling forward, the light spilling out so bright now that I had no choice but to cover my eyes as I watched, still lying on the ground.
As it was distracted, I crawled to Aster. Grabbing hold of him, I pulled with a heave until he lay on his back. His eyes were twitching, and I watched in awe as his body started to heal itself just like it had when Riley had attacked him.
“Come on, we have to go, before it attacks again!” I said, pulling on his arm as he pushed up from the ground with what looked like excruciating effort. The bones in his leg were only just healing as he stood up on them, obviously ignoring the pain.
We backed away, step by step, ensuring the creature was distracted, but as we turned, ready to run down the path, the walls moved again, blocking our path.
“Don’t be scared,” Aster said.
“I’m trying not to be, but that’s kind of hard given the situation,” I confessed, trying to keep my voice from shaking. Especially in the face of certain death, as I faced facts that there was nowhere else to go.
Then, from somewhere deep in the maze, came another sound, a deep roar, loud and full of power that filled me with dread.
“I don’t even want to know what that is.”
The Guardian stopped. Its head snapped toward the noise, its entire body tensing.
A second later, the far wall exploded inward. Stone crumbled, and dust filled the air before something massive barreled forward, moving with impossible speed. But all we could do was stand there.
Trapped.
The Guardian let out a bellow of rage, cut short as an enormous axe cleaved through its chest, splitting it in two.
