Ha! Wishful thinking.
Could he die? If Fionn couldn’t, why would she delude herself this thing could? He doesn’t have to die. I just need five minutes to get out of here.
His neck was twice its normal size, skin stretched so taut that she wondered it didn’t simply burst. Maybe the key was to create an injury that got worse faster than they could heal themselves. Speaking of which, she took half a second to glance at her wrist. It was grotesquely swollen, probably sprained. Maybe broken. She patted her smashed face gingerly and winced. No matter. She’d take care of herself later—if there was a later.
Slototh sank to the floor. His eyes fluttered shut. Iridescent blood trickled out his mouth, nose, and ears, picking up speed as internal channels opened. Was he far enough gone? Could she risk a jump, or would he grab her when she was most vulnerable? She checked the wards around him. They were solid. If he could have broken through, he would have.
Aislinn reminded herself to breathe. She’d never been so terrified in her life. Can’t think about that now. Her top was still north of her breasts. She yanked it savagely back down. Okay. She took one last look at Slototh. He was turning gray. There would never be a better chance.
Frantic to escape, she summoned power, expecting him to spring to his feet and sabotage her in the middle of her jump preparations. It didn’t happen. She visualized the yard where she’d left Dewi, wrapped herself in magic, and was gone. When she tumbled out into a brightly lit day, she was so relieved that sobs ripped through her.
Dewi. Where was Dewi? Aislinn looked about, frantic. From out of nowhere, familiar talons grabbed her and slung her into place as the dragon’s wings beat the air. Aislinn wrapped her arms around Dewi’s neck. They wouldn’t go very far, not nearly all the way round, but she hugged Dewi as hard as she could. Jagged pain lanced up her arm. She remembered her wrist and drew back. One side of her face throbbed.
“Tell me,” Dewi hissed. “Everything.”
Aislinn did, shamelessly sucking every ounce of compassion the dragon laved on her, drinking it down like mother’s milk. “Anyway, I couldn’t have been very far away, because it only took a few minutes to jump back to where you found me.” She paused to draw breath.
“He probably had you somewhere in that labyrinth he told you about. Wonder how extensive the tunneling is and if I could fit in it.” The dragon banked, swinging them into another large arc.
When she thought she could stand to hear the answer, Aislinn asked, “Do you think he’s dead?”
Such a long silence pulsed between them that Aislinn thought Dewi wasn’t going to answer. At last, the dragon said, “Probably not, but it will take a long time for him to resurrect himself into something menacing.”
Well, that’s a piece of good news. “You need to put me down.”
“Not a good idea. Look what happened last time I did that.”
“I have to heal my wrist and face.”
“That’s not the real reason.”
Aislinn winced. It made her face hurt worse. The dragon was canny. The time they’d spent in one another’s heads had given Dewi sharp intuition about how Aislinn’s mind worked. “No, it’s not. Once I’m done with my injuries, I’m going after Fionn and the others. I can’t let them die.”
“Did Slototh really tell you the Minotaur is somewhere down there?” Dewi sounded fascinated.
“Yes. Why? Is he a long lost relative or something? Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean that.” In spite of the backlash from the wind, Aislinn felt heat rise to her face.
“Now that you mention it, we’re sort of like cousins, in a very distant way, of course.” Dewi started the tight circles that meant they were landing. This time, she helped Aislinn down and sat guard over her while she Healed herself. Shucking her pack, Aislinn found a water bottle and drank until it was gone. Her belly clutched with hunger, but she couldn’t take the time to hunt or prepare anything. She kept hoping someone would come out the archway leading into the prison, but no one did. Other than her and Dewi, it was silent as a crypt.
“Shall we use magic to try to see something?” Dewi’s voice was uncharacteristically soft. “If you insist on going in there, you need all the information you can get.”
“Wherever Slototh took me was deep. Made my ears hurt.”
“Do you want to link to my mind?”
“Yes.” The word was no sooner out than her perspective shifted. It was like sharing Rune’s senses, but amped up a hundredfold. The dragon’s vision was multi-dimensional. She sent it auguring into the earth beneath them. Time passed. A part of them—their astral selves?—oozed through walls and floors, seeking what had become of the Celts and humans.