The hill remembered. Aurora felt it the moment the ancient stone carved the first silver line into the empty space reserved for the final Ashbourne. The ground beneath her feet shuddered. Not violently. Purposefully. Like a heartbeat. The standing stones answered. One after another, the towering monoliths groaned as they shifted across the summit. They no longer moved with the slow weight of rock. They moved with intent. The maze was thinking.
Aurora stepped back. The Veil pulsed beneath her skin. Silver light crawled across her fingers before fading again. "No..." she whispered. "This place is alive." "It always was." Caelum's voice drifted through the labyrinth. She turned sharply. He stood only thirty yards away. Close enough to see. Far enough to be unreachable. The maze had opened a straight path between them. Nothing stood in his way. Nothing blocked his steps. He looked almost peaceful. "You built this." Aurora's voice echoed between the stones. Caelum shook his head. "I merely survived it."
Another tremor rippled beneath the earth. The passage between them closed. Two enormous standing stones slid together with a deafening crash. Caelum disappeared behind them. Aurora ran. She rounded the nearest corner. Nothing. The passage had vanished. Only another wall of ancient stone greeted her. The maze had changed again. "Damn it!" Her voice echoed endlessly. The echoes returned strangely. Not repeating her words. Changing them. "...help me..." Aurora froze. That wasn't her voice. It belonged to a little girl. The sound came from somewhere deep inside the labyrinth. Then another voice answered. A woman crying. Then an old man praying. Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands. The maze wasn't echoing. It was remembering. The voices grew louder. Some begged. Some laughed. Others screamed until their throats seemed to tear apart. Aurora pressed both hands against her ears. It did nothing. The voices were inside the stones. Inside the hill. Inside her.
"Aurora!" Lucien. She looked up immediately. "I'm here!" Silence. Then his voice again. "Don't move." She frowned. "I'm coming." "No." His tone sharpened. "Stay where you are." The command surprised her. She ignored it. She hurried toward the direction of his voice. The maze welcomed her. One corridor opened. Another followed. Then another. The path seemed almost inviting. Too inviting. The Veil suddenly burned. Run. The warning came like a knife through her mind. Aurora stopped instantly. The corridor ahead darkened. Very slowly... Lucien stepped into view. Relief washed over her. "Finally." He didn't answer. He simply stood there. Watching her. His silver eyes reflected no light. No emotion. No recognition. Aurora frowned. "Lucien?" Still nothing. He raised one hand. Crooked one finger. Inviting her closer. Every instinct screamed. Wrong.
The Veil erupted violently. Silver light exploded around Aurora. The figure smiled. Not Lucien's calm smile. A grotesque grin stretching far beyond human limits. Its skin cracked. Its face split apart. Darkness spilled from the opening where a mouth should have been. The illusion shattered. The thing rushed her. Aurora reacted instantly. The Veil burst forward in a spray of silver chains. The creature slammed into them. Its body twisted unnaturally. Bones snapped. Limbs bent backward. Still it kept crawling. Its fingers scraped across the stone with an awful screech. Aurora swung her arm. The chains tightened. The creature exploded into black ash. Silence returned. Aurora stood motionless. Breathing hard. The Veil slowly withdrew. It had never reacted that violently before.
The maze was learning. It had copied Lucien perfectly. Almost. She remembered his eyes. Lucien's eyes had always held sadness. The creature's held nothing.
Somewhere beyond the walls a roar erupted. Not human. Gideon. Aurora's heart lurched. She ran again. This time the maze fought her openly. Walls slammed shut. Passages twisted. Entire monoliths slid across her path. She leaped over widening cracks. Climbed fallen stones. Forced herself through spaces barely wide enough for her shoulders. Then she heard steel. Gideon was fighting.
Aurora burst into an opening. The scene before her stopped her cold. Gideon stood atop a broken stone altar. Blood covered his arms. His sword dripped black fluid. Around him... not dozens. Hundreds. Returned climbed over one another like insects. Silent. Smiling. Their pale hands reached toward him. He swung again. Another fell. Three more replaced it. "Gideon!" He looked up. Relief flashed across his face. Then vanished. "Don't come!" Too late. The returned turned together. Every face locked onto Aurora. The smile spread across each of them simultaneously. Then they rushed her. Not running wildly. Perfectly together. Like a single creature with hundreds of bodies.
Aurora planted her feet. The Veil erupted. Silver light spiraled into the sky. Chains burst from the earth. They wrapped around the first wave. Pulled them apart. Slammed them against the standing stones. The impact echoed across the labyrinth. The second wave never slowed. Aurora ducked beneath grasping hands. Spun. The Veil became twin silver blades. She cut through the nearest attackers. They fell. Stood again. Kept coming. One seized her wrist. Instantly another memory invaded her.
An Ashbourne woman stood upon this very hill. Rain poured around her. She held the Veil. She was crying. Before her stood... Caelum. Not imprisoned. Not defeated. Kneeling. Aurora gasped. The vision vanished. The returned still held her arm. She drove her knee into its chest. The creature staggered. The Veil wrapped around its neck. With one sharp pull its head separated from its body. The corpse collapsed. This time... it didn't move.
Aurora froze. It hadn't stood back up. Gideon noticed too. "What did you do?" Aurora stared at the fallen returned. The silver light around the Veil flickered strangely. Different. As if it had changed.
Behind them... slow. Measured. Unhurried. Applause echoed through the maze. Caelum emerged from between two moving stones. Completely untouched. Completely calm. His golden eyes rested on the headless corpse. Then on Aurora. For the first time since she had met him... his smile became genuine. Not cruel. Not mocking. Proud. "There it is." Aurora tightened her grip on the Veil. "What?" "The answer." He took another slow step. "The Veil is finally remembering how it was meant to kill."
The hill groaned. The standing stones shifted once more. The maze was changing again. But this time... it wasn't trapping Aurora. It was bringing her closer to Caelum. And for the first time... Aurora realized the labyrinth wasn't trying to separate them anymore. It wanted them to meet.