Determined, Darien started to jog down the next path, taking one turn, then another. With his last turn, he stumbled out into an open clearing. He’d made it to the center.
“Koori,” he called as he moved toward the middle, his gaze searching every crevice and entrance into and out of the maze. He didn’t see her anywhere.
He kept walking until he was standing in the middle looking up at the twelve-foot sculpture crafted from blue ice on a crystal pedestal. It was indeed a woman, and there was no mistaking her dainty features and fierce gaze. The resemblance was uncanny. It was Koori larger than life, dressed in her kimono with her beautiful hair up in a complicated knot on top of her head, pinned there with the traditional Japanese hairpins.
Her frozen gaze peered over the tops of the maze toward the east. Darien wondered if she looked toward the way out, searching for her freedom. Or back toward the palace that had held her prisoner for so long.
As he looked up at the sculpture of Koori, he realized just how tied to the ice and to this place she truly was. Her cold skin, the rumblings in the palace, the breaking of the walls and ceiling right after they had made love. It all made sense to him now, in a strange, mystic way.
Every time he had touched her, the palace had shaken in response. When they had made love and he felt the heat of her body within, so the ice that made up the walls and ceiling had broken apart. As if she was the palace. Slowly, Darien had been thawing her out with every caress, every kind thought and every emotion.
Koori had been cursed with a heart of ice. And Darien had been the first man ever to find his way through the frozen layers.
Reaching out, he laid his hand on top of her frozen foot aching to be able to touch the real thing.
“Darien!”
He turned toward her voice. Smiling, she was running down one of the last paths heading toward the center, her hair an ebony cloud, his clothes hanging off her small frame. Setting his pack down, he rushed to meet her, anxious to have her safe in his arms again.
But as he walked he heard a soft rumbling that reminded him of the noise a mountain makes before an avalanche.
The walls were going to move again, effectively shutting them off from each other. He could feel it in his bones.
“Run faster!” he yelled as he charged ahead.
Eyes widening in alarm, Koori sprinted toward him. He was at the maze entrance when he saw the wall to her right begin to move. She was still five feet away from him. If either of them got in the way of the wall, it would crush them to death; he had no doubt in his mind.
With a loud whoosh, the wall slid forward, aiming right at them. It was going to be close.
He reached for her. She reached for him. Their fingers brushed, and finally Darien was able to grab her hand and pull her forward.
Taking in a deep breath, Darien yanked Koori to his chest, wrapped her in his arms and swiveled to the right. They fell to the ground in a heap, barely out of harm’s way. The wall smashed shut mere inches from Darien’s feet. He could feel the sonic impact even through the hard rubber soles of his insulated boots.
He ran a gloved hand over her head, trying to find her face. “Are you okay?”
Clutching at him, she turned her head and found his mouth. She pressed her lips to his chin and cheeks in a smattering of kisses. “Oh, God, I thought I’d never see you again.”
Smiling, he held her face still in his hands. “I didn’t find you only to lose you. I’ll always come for you.” He covered her mouth with his, angling her head to deepen the kiss.
As they hugged and kissed, Darien felt the ground move beneath him. And this time he didn’t think it was his nerves shaking his body.
Chapter 15
D arien scrambled to his feet, pulling Koori with him. He kept his arm around her to keep her from falling. The ground moved again, and they stumbled to the side, still holding on to each other.
“I don’t think this place is very happy that we’re back together.”
Holding hands, they ran to the pack. Darien scooped it up and they went to stand in the middle of the eye of the labyrinth, away from anything that could break apart and fall on them.
A riotous rumbling sounded from underground. Darien had never heard anything like it. It sounded like a groaning giant awakening from a long sleep. Again the ground shook, a little faster and little harder than before.
All around them, pieces of the maze’s walls began to crack and crumble to the ground. Large chunks came sliding across the slick ground toward them. They had to skate out of the way several times or be hit in the ankles by pounds of ice.
“I’m scared, Darien.”
He hugged Koori tighter. Fear gripped him, too, but he couldn’t let her see it. He had to be strong for her. “We’ll be okay. We just need to hang on a little longer.”
As if trying to contradict his statement, a loud resonating crack rang out in the air, echoing off the icy walls. The sound made Darien’s ears and jaw ache. From the corner of his eye, he saw the ice maiden statue rock back and forth on its pedestal as if someone were actually pushing it.
Koori turned then, nudging Darien’s arm from her view and watched in horror as the sculpture with her face started to crack. At first, small crystalline pieces fell off. They tinkled like bells as they hit the ground one by one. The sound became louder, harsher, as they fell in larger chunks and in mass quantities.
She struggled in his arms, as if she wanted to rush to her icy self’s aid. But Darien kept her still. “Let it happen, Koori. When it’s over we’ll be free.”
“Are you sure?”
He hesitated, and then said, “No, but I don’t want you to get hurt.”
She glanced at him, maybe searching his face for the truth or reassurance. He wasn’t sure what she found when she looked but she finally settled back into his arms and didn’t make another attempt to rush toward the crumbling statue.
Darien didn’t know how long the ground kept shaking. It could’ve been a good half hour while the walls around them broke apart and the ice sculpture collapsed. They had fallen a couple of times because of the intensity of the tremors in the ground. But they had gotten back up, arms around each other and watched as everything around them fall apart.
Then it became quiet, and every single wall of the maze had been knocked down. For as far as he could see, there were jagged white pieces of ice sticking up haphazardly here and there. In some places, the wall had been completely obliterated. It appeared to go on for miles.
The ice sculpture of Koori was unrecognizable as ten thousand shards, chunks and pieces littered the area. Some had slid across the ground in an explosive array.
“Is it over?” Koori asked as she eyed the destruction around them.
Darien moved toward the ruined statue, kicking chunks of ice with the toes of his boots. “I think so.”
“Do you think we’ll be able to get out of here now?”
He heard the hesitancy in her voice. She wasn’t convinced that it was over. To be honest, he wasn’t sure, either. The wind had died down, the snow had stopped blowing. It even seemed a bit brighter out. All signs pointed to an end to something, but he couldn’t be sure what that end meant.
“Well, the maze is destroyed so it should be straight walking to the road from here.” I hope. He kept that last little bit to himself as he continued to circle the destroyed statue and pedestal.
“Darien?”
When he glanced at her, his chest tightened. Something was wrong. He could see it on her face.
“I feel different.”
“How?”
She put a hand to her chest and frowned. “I don’t know. Something inside me feels…strange. Warm, like the sensation I remember from the sun.” She rubbed at her chest with the heel of her hand. Tears trickled down her cheeks.
Darien moved toward her, his hand outstretched. “It’s okay, Koori. I think you’re finally free of this place. I think you were actually part of this place and your heart was the last thing that needed to thaw.”
She smiled through the tears and lifted her hand toward him. Before he could touch her fingers, the ground trembled again. But this time it sounded different.
The ground cracked open between them. Like a strike of lightning it zigzagged the length of the courtyard, pieces of the walls falling into the crevice.
Wobbling, Darien fell to his knees, unable to keep his footing. He watched in horror as Koori also fell to the ground, but she was also sliding toward the ever-expanding crater between them.
“Koori!” he yelled as he scrambled toward the gap in the ground.
Flailing her arms and legs, she couldn’t stop from slipping on the ice toward the crack. She was heading feetfirst without the hint of slowing down.
Darien dove across the ground, sliding on his stomach with his arms outstretched as far as they could go. He had to catch her. He couldn’t let her go. Not this way.
Screaming, she tumbled into the expanding fracture. Digging her fingers into the ice edge, she tried to stop her fall, but it was useless. Her nails broke off as she continued to slide down. Both runners on her feet slid off and tumbled into the dark gap.
Darien kept reaching for her.
Reaching.
Straining.
Darien caught her by the fingertips with one hand. Legs dangling in midair, Koori tried to keep still so she could get a better hold on him.
“Reach up, and grab my arm,” he grunted, as he teetered on the edge of the crevice on his stomach. Luckily he had kept one of the ice picks in his jacket pocket and it was now jabbed into the ice and he was holding on to it with his other hand. It kept him anchored.
Koori stretched up with her other hand and gripped his forearm. Darien started to shuffle backward, drawing her with him.
“I’m slipping,” she cried.
“I got you, darling. I got you.” But the truth was he could feel his glove starting to slide off his hand. He just needed to get a little bit closer to the edge, so he could use his other hand to grab her. “Just a little bit farther. Hold on to me.”
“Don’t let go, Darien.”
“I won’t.”