It doesn’t fall right away. It takes another step forward, reaching as if to still grab us.
Oberon snarls and drives the fire harder, pushing until the creature collapses, crashing to the ground with enough force to shake the earth beneath us.
“Move!” he snaps again, already turning, already running.
We don’t wait.
We can’t.
Another roar answers the first, then another, the sound multiplying, echoing through the maze until it feels like it’s closing in on us from every direction.
“They’re everywhere,” Ashton breathes, but there’s no panic in his voice, just sharp focus as he glances over his shoulder.
“Then slow them down,” Sylvian says.
Ashton grins, quick and dangerous, even now. “Gladly.”
He throws his hand out behind him, and the air shifts violently. Wind slams through the hedges in a sudden, brutal surge, ripping leaves from branches, tearing entire sections of greenery free. The force of it slams the pursuing cyclopes head-on, driving them back, throwing one off its feet entirely. It crashes into another, both of them going down in a tangle of limbs and fury.
“Go!” Ashton shouts, his voice strained now, the effort already catching up to him.
We run harder, but the reprieve doesn’t last. They’re back on their feet too quickly, roaring louder now, angrier, the sound chasing us through the maze like a living thing.
Sylvian slows just enough to turn, his hand slamming against the ground. The earth responds instantly. The soil beneath the cyclopes shifts, then rises, thick roots bursting upward, stoneand dirt twisting together as the ground itself seems to come alive.
One of the cyclopes is caught mid-step as the earth wraps around its legs, locking it in place. Another is thrown off balance as the ground splits beneath it, swallowing one leg deep enough to trap it.
Sylvian’s breath hitches as he forces more power into it, his face tightening with the strain.
“Run,” he says, quieter now.
We don’t argue. We run.
But even as we gain distance, I can hear it. The cracking of stone. The tearing of roots. The cyclopes ripping themselves free.
There are too many of them.
Every time the kings use their magic, it slows them. Drains them.They’re too injured to be using their powers right now.I can see it now in the way Oberon’s steps grow heavier, in the way Ashton’s shoulders sag, in the way Sylvian’s breathing turns rough and uneven. Cassius is barely holding on.
And still, they keep going. Still, they refuse to stop.
The maze stretches endlessly in front of us, every turn leading us into the unknown, every path blending into the next until it feels like we’re running in circles. My chest aches with every breath, my legs threatening to give out beneath me, but I force myself forward.
Because stopping means dying. Because if they catch us… I don’t let myself finish that thought.
Just when it feels like we might be gaining some distance, like maybe, somehow, we can outrun them, we veer around a corner and skid to a halt.
A dead end.
“No,” I whisper, the word breaking apart as panic claws up my throat. “No, no, no.” The hedge looms in front of us, thickand towering, its branches woven so tightly it looks solid. The maze closes in, suffocating, trapping us in a space that suddenly feels far too small.
“Damn it!” Ashton snaps, slamming his fist into the hedge. The impact shudders through the branches, leaves raining down, but nothing gives. “What now?”
The ground trembles beneath us, heavier now, closer.The cyclopes are coming.
“There has to be a way,” I breathe, barely hearing my own voice over the rush of blood in my ears. I step forward before I can think better of it, pressing my hands against the hedge. The bark is rough beneath my palms, the branches dense and unyielding, scratching at my skin as I push harder.
I start moving along it, dragging my hands across every inch, searching.
