Children of Night and Snow

69. The Twentieth Flare

I woke up at the sound of what seemed like a gunshot. Liam and I exchanged confused looks before running out of the cave to see what happened. What we found was a flare in the sky. A sign that somehow the first of twenty candidates made it through already. My heart grew heavy at the thought. Just how far were we from the gate? Were all the others closer? Was the first person to cross one of my friends?

It was the thought of one of my friends on the other side with Aaron and Az, which made me feel slightly better. Even if I had no way of knowing if it was the case, I chose to believe it was, because any other thoughts were too heavy, too scary to think of and I couldn't afford that right now.

To my slight surprise, Liam didn't ditch or try to kill me yet. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I said nothing as we carried on through the maze. At some point, our surroundings changed as we began to encounter corpses. I heard Liam gasp when we saw the first one of many. A man, half frozen in one of the walls, half decayed. It was a sight I wasn't going to easily forget and judging by his reaction, neither was Liam. But we carried on towards what seemed to be the center of the maze. Two more flares went up that day and it slowly began to dawn on me, that if we were to get to the exit in time, we couldn't afford to sleep another night.

"We should look for a place to sleep," Liam said after hours of silent march. I just shook my head.

"We can't afford it. Besides, we are in the center, there is nowhere to sleep," I replied and carried on walking. He said nothing, just wordlessly followed. I was busy reaching for my food when I heard him halt in his tracks.

"What's going-" I began saying when I looked up and froze. Seeing the ground littered with corpses was one thing. But seeing a bunch of them walking towards us was another.

"Fuck!" I cursed and started running, Liam close in tow. I had no idea where we were going or what the endgame was, I was pretty sure that running all the way to the gate, while a great concept, was not exactly an option as we had no idea where or how far we were. And for all we knew, the gate was likely behind those skeletons and not in front of them, where we were currently running.

And then I heard the scream. Blood curdling scream escaped Liam's mouth as one of the skeletons reached him and began to drag him backwards. All I could do was stare at the sight before me. Up until that point, I hoped they were just an illusion, something that would go away. But they weren't.

"Please, help me!" He begged as I watched the crowd or the dead slowly devour him. But I didn't move to help. I couldn't risk it. I had too much to live for. Instead I turned around and ran as fast as I could and as far as I could before they devoured him whole and realized I was missing. I had to find Nolan. And that cursed gate.

I kept running through the maze for what seemed like hours and I was becoming increasingly frantic. More and more flares were going off. My time was running out and there was no sight of Nolan, or any of my friends. I was delirious now from the lack of sleep and proper food. Exhaustion was a cruel companion, now constantly by my side, showing me illusions on every corner. And as my desperation grew, I began panic. Any resolve I may have had was gone. In my forced solitude, I wished for nothing else than to be in that small room with all my friends again, never leaving their side. All I wanted was to curl up in a ball and cry. And for someone, anyone to find me.

But I couldn't just give up. Not only because I wanted to find my friends again, not only because I did want to make it into that mythical city. But also because whenever I even thought of stopping, of sitting down and giving up, I saw the army of magical skeletons devouring the poor Liam. A boy, who decided to trust me enough to give me his name and I just left him to die. What were his hopes and dreams? What was he hoping for, when he came to Midnight City to seek refuge? I would never know. Nobody would. He was gone now and I would be too if I didn't find my way out fast enough.

Flare number eighteen shot into the sky and my heart skipped a beat. Two spots left and then the gate would close. I prayed to all the Gods that all my friends were through that gate already. Even Nolan. That they didn't wait for me, because the chances that I would make it were growing smaller by the minute. But I had to keep going. I had to at least try. Until that twentieth flare went up, I still had a chance. Even if it was very small, it was still there. And I held onto it through all my desperation, because my entire life was now hanging on that thread. I could make it. I had to.

And then, just like that, a clearing appeared before me. I made it to the end of the maze. I looked around me to see if this was really the right place. And then I saw it. Right across from me. The gate. The almost closed gate stood there, a massive torch on each side like a light to guide those who were lost. A relieved sob escaped my lips. I found it. Last minute, but I did.

"Freya!" I heard a familiar voice. And then I saw him. Nolan was kneeling on the other side of the gate, waiting for me, calling me home. Without hesitation, I started running. I no longer cared if it was an illusion, another cruel lie of this deadly place. Because if it was just that, it was too late for me to make it anyway.

"Not so fast," a voice growled behind me and next thing I knew, I felt a searing pain across my back. And then I fell to the ground, scraping my face on the sharp ice beneath.

"Sorry little girl, but I can't have you just cross over like that. Not when my mate is still out there. Those two last spots are ours you see?" the voice spoke again and then I felt a hand grab my hair and lift me up in the air.

"I'll make it quick, don't worry," he whispered as I whimpered with pain which I simply couldn't hide. I could hear droplets of my own blood fall on the ground as I felt his fingers tracing my back, finding the perfect spot to sink his claws into. I knew that move. I did this myself just a few months ago. An extended claw straight to the heart. A painful, but quick death. I could hear Nolan screaming for me and I wondered if they were all there, watching. All my friends. I let them down. I wasn't going to make it after all.

"Surprise him, Freya."

I heard a familiar voice as I closed my eyes. I knew that voice. But who did it belong to? There was a pair of eyes looking back at me from the abyss I was staring into in my own consciousness. One gray and one brown. So very unique. And so beautiful, too. He kept repeating himself. It was a little annoying now. Surprise who? And then it clicked and I went completely still. Surprise your enemy. That's what I had to do. When I stopped moving, it did exactly that. Surprised him. And in that split of a second I gained, I raised my hands and pierced his arms with my claws.

He howled in agony and let go of my hair, causing me to fall on the ground. My entire body screamed with pain, but I couldn't afford to think of that right then, because as I looked up, I saw another two wolves, fully shifted wolves, sprinting towards the gate. And I couldn't let that happen. I tried to get up but the man who was about to kill me mere seconds ago grabbed my leg and pulled me back.

"If I die here, so will you, bitch!" he hissed. I wanted to kick him off of me, but he wouldn't bulge. And so I did the only other thing I could.

"Fuck you!" I spat at him and then I stabbed him in the back with my hidden dagger. It probably wouldn't kill him, but it was enough for him to let go and for me to break free and make a run for it. But in the meantime one of the wolves made it past the gate and the other was too close for me to catch up. I had to do something, anything to slow him down. And without thinking, I pulled out my second hidden dagger and did the only remaining thing I could think of. Without aiming properly and with all my strength, I threw it at the wolf sprinting in front of me. And then I heard a howl of pain.

I didn't kill the wolf, but I did slow them down. We were now both heavily injured. But while for them it was fresh, for me the adrenaline already kicked in. My health be damned, I broke into a sprint and without looking back, I slid onto the ground straight under the closing obsidian gate. And then the twentieth flare went up.