The Dragon Prince The City of Smoke and Night

Chapter Sixteen The Maze of Smoke

At the end of the maze, Ephai appeared out of a puff of smoke and freed Miyana from her bindings. Then he kicked her into the maze. "Once my monsters hunt you down, it'll be too late for your friends to save you," he said. "How can they save you if you're dead? You'd better start running if you want to escape the maze unharmed." And once more, he disappeared. Miyana sighed to herself. That disappearing of his was starting to get old. Callum, Karim, and Naima were finding their way through the maze without going into the wrong passage. "Miyana, where are you?" Karim called. She brightened when she heard his voice. "Karim, I'm here!" she called back. "This is a magical prison. I think it's keeping me from getting to you!" "But how do we get to you?" "Follow the sound of my voice and I'll find you." She started walking down. "What passage is this one?" Callum asked, looking at the sign that said: If you wish to continue down this path and rescue your friend, one of the three mages must come to terms with her past. "Does it mean us?" "I'm thinking that we need to go in there," Karim said. "But it says that one of us needs to come to terms with our past." "It's talking about my past," Naima replied. "I have to come to terms with the tragedy that turned my life upside down. Let's go in." She walked right into the passage. Then Callum and Karim followed her. The three mages found themselves inside of a simple but homey cottage. Everything in the cottage was handmade from the logwood walls to the birchwood furniture, oval shaped rooms, and sheep wool rug. Despite the cottage's dusty, empty state, the display shelves on the living room's walls were ornamented with a lively collection of seashells, gemstones, and pressed flowers. The collection of knick knacks looked as if it was all that was left of the cottage before it was abandoned. Callum and Karim found Naima staring out at a wilted garden through the kitchen's window, still as stone. "Is this cottage your home, Naima?" Karim asked her. "The one that Ephai burned down?" Finally, she spoke. "Yes. When I was little, I woke up one night to the sound of my father's guitar and saw him dancing with my mother in the garden. It didn't matter if my mother was a Sunfire Elf because my father loved her for who she is. I know my cottage isn't the same where I left it but I know the memory of its beauty will last forever in my heart." She walked away from the window and went to sit in a big armed leather chair. She picked up a sandy brown muslin doll. The doll's face had dark brown eyes and matching eyebrows sewn out of dark brown thread and a smiling mouth sewn out of pink thread. The doll's dark brown yarn hair was held back in a braid down her mid back. The doll wore a peach cotton dress with a pattern of yellow and apricot flowers. Karim guessed that Naima's mother must have made her that doll when she was young. Naima looked up at Callum and Karim with a sad smile on her face. She jumped out of the chair, doll in hand and she sang in a soft, melancholic voice. "This is the Duren of my childhood. There were the borders of my life. In this crumbling, lonely cottage. Where an Ocean mage loved his Sunfire wife. Easy to remember, harder to move on." She picked up a beautiful picture. "Knowing the Duren of my childhood is gone." It was a family of herself with her parents on the day she was born. Her mother sat in a chair, holding her in her arms, swaddled in blankets with the House of Gentlekind insignia on it, while her father had his hand on the back of the chair. Exuberant smiles were on her parents' faces. "My aunt Inaya drew this picture when I was born and gave it to my mother as a gift to remember her before she and my father left for Duren," she explained to Callum and Karim. "Your mother is beautiful. She looks just like you," Karim complimented, trying to make her feel better. "Except I don't have her horns, pointy ears, or that beautiful and

unique African French accent all the Sunfire Elves have," Naima said. Karim blushed. "You think my people's accent is beautiful?" She nodded. "When I came to my castle, my aunt told me how she and my uncle brought my parents' corpses and buried them in the Gentlekind family crypt with my grandparents. My father's staff and my mother's sword are more than weapons but they are the only keepsakes I have from them after they were killed. And after my cottage was burned." "But you still have your parents' book and your doll," said Callum hopefully. "That's true. Sometimes I don't think about my parents at all after a long day of work and then sometimes I think about what they would think of me now. They only knew me as a little girl, and now I'm a teenager, and I wonder if they would be proud of me." Callum and Karim felt sorry for her. Naima had three living relatives and three family friends in her life but she was sad that her parents would not be around to see her grow up. "I think the passage is testing me if I would be overcome by my worst fear," Naima said. "Of being rejected and ending up all alone. I've spent my life alone for sixteen years but I never lose heart by remembering my parents' wisdom and guiding light." "Naima, you are not alone anymore," Callum told her. "You're one of us now. We'll be right beside you." "Us mages stick together," Karim agreed. "If your parents can see you now, I'm sure they'd be immensely proud of you." She beamed at them and they pulled in for a group hug. "You guys are the best." The ghostly vision of the cottage vanished as they walked out. They noticed a fire fox was running up to them. Its golden eyes shone with urgency. "I think she wants us to follow her," Naima said as she knelt down to the fox. "Can you please lead us to Miyana?" The fox nodded and it hightailed down the passage. Naima, Callum, and Karim chased after the fox. They sprinted after the fox through the maze and found Miyana. "Good girl, Salana," she praised the fire fox as it jumped into her arms. "Miyana, I'm so relieved you're safe!" Karim beamed and hugged her. "I never should have left the camp," she said. "No, I'm the one who's sorry," he told her, caressing her cheek and removing the weeds from her hair. "I didn't mean what I said in my tent. You are the bravest, most understanding woman I've ever known. I don't know what I'll do with myself if anything bad happens to you. You've always been there for me but I wasn't there for you. But once Ephai is gone, things are going to be different between you and me. I have changed but I want to change again. For the better. For good. I am so so sorry and ashamed for how selfishly I was being to you and Janai and I swear with all my heart that I'll make it right." She put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him, long and hard. "You already have, Karim," she said as their lips parted. "Apology accepted." "Care to introduce us to your new friend?" Karim asked, looking at the fire fox on Miyana's shoulder. "This is Salana. She's a fire fox. I met in my chamber and we became inseparable," she said as she gave her a chin scratch. "Thank you for leading us to Miyana, Salana," Naima said as she gave the fox a kiss on her forehead. "You guys get out of here and take care of Ephai's army. I'm going after him," she said. "Be careful, Naima," Karim warned her. She nodded. She watched her friends escape the maze before heading her way to Ephai. She might not have her father's staff anymore but she was still an Ocean mage and she knew she could use her magic if she put her mind to it and knew it with her head, hand, heart, mind, body, and spirit.