Gifted Ones

Chapter 37 Haven

My ears are assaulted by a horrible screeching noise that reverberates through the air at an unbearably high frequency. At first it sounds like the keen of a desperate bird, magnified to a deafening level. But then it changes slightly, morphing into a very human-sounding scream. It's the scream of ultimate suffering, the dying scream of a panicked creature.

I cover my ears with my hands, clenching my teeth and trying desperately to block out the sound. Then there's a swift whooshing noise, followed by a loud bang, like the sound of thunder, and a flash of light illuminates the cave. I look up to see the outline of Avis, the great Sphinx, but not as we saw her last. Her great wings are unfurled to their full, magnificent length, the wingspan large enough to block out the pseudo-sun, and each delicate feather slowly being consumed by the blaze of fire that surrounds the great creature. She lets out another screech, this one more desperate and painful than the last, and I feel my heart break for the demise of such a beautiful thing.

We all watch as her flight upwards stalls, and she begins to plummet back down to the labyrinth. Her wings go limp and her body still as she falls, disappearing from our line of vision. But I hear the crack and see the flash as she breaks through the electric barrier once again. I can only hope she was dead before she hit it the second time.

As we continue on through the turns of the labyrinth, my ears pick up the faint sounds of Gabriel's men cheering in the distance.

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We run for about an hour before Kara begins to slow. I lift my head as her strides grow shorter and the rhythm changes. After a second she comes to a complete stop and sinks down into a crouch, her tail thrashing violently back and forth. About twelve feet in front of us are two heavy wooden doors, each with a set of ornate silver knockers. There are no door knockers. In between them is a statue of a beautiful woman, carved into the rock with her hands folded in front of her. The folds of her dress fan out around her, blending into the long waves of her hair. Whoever carved it was a true master. Or, I reason as I climb off Kara's back, created it with magic.

"Another dead end?" Chase asks, climbing off of the back of a giant bear.

"No," Morgan says, landing beside him as the bear Shifts back into Garret. "This is a challenge. Look behind us."

We all turn to see another stone wall blocking our path back. Once again, the moving passages have us cornered. Whatever the challenge is, we can't get out of it now.

Suddenly, the statue's eyes fly open to reveal two misty orbs beneath the lids. They have no pupils, however, just a milky white that seems slightly luminescent. It's unnerving, and I flinch back as her lips part and she speaks.

"Twin doors side by side, identical in every way. One leads to the Blue Amulet you have been searching for, and one will lead to fatal consequences. Make your decision, but just know that once you choose there is no going back." Then her eyes snap shut and she doesn't move again.

"We have to leave our fate to a 50-50 decision?" I ask after a second.

"If we choose wrong then all our work is pointless!" Chase exclaims.

I stare at the two doors, fear rising in my chest. One of them is the exit, and the other is the end. The end of our lives, the failure of our mission, and the waste of my parents' lives. We choose wrong, and it's all over. I study the doors, wondering which we should pick.

But then I stop. The others continue to talk around me, voices rising, as the statue's words flow through my mind. She said we had to choose, and that there was no going back. But she never said that we all had to choose, technically. Just that someone had to make the decision.