Dragon's Maze

“We will do no such thing,” said Isperia. “It is my sworn duty to uphold the truths upon which Azor founded this guild. That means upholding the Implicit Maze. That means upholding the message it brings to us, and the will of he who decreed it. That means upholding the verdict.”

Lavinia’s epaulets fell just slightly. “We’re all going to die,” said Lavinia.

Jace did not see Kavin grin; the shapeshifter had enough composure for that. And he couldn’t read his mind. But the man’s tiny head-tilt at the mention of massive loss of life, was enough body language to tell Jace that somehow, some way, this was part of Lazav’s plan.

“Sentence me,” said Jace.

Everyone looked at him.

“Begin the court, and sentence me. Find me guilty, if you have to. Do whatever you have to do. Then suspend my sentence and get me out of here. Let me stop a lot of people from dying. I’m not bound by the same laws you are.”

“Ridiculous,” said Lavinia.

“Impossible,” said Kavin.

“Interesting,” said the sphinx.

Lavinia and Kavin looked at Isperia with shock, and for a moment Jace felt a surge of hope. Jace had hope that he might walk free. He just hoped he hadn’t wasted too much time.

UNSAFE PASSAGE

The decision was guilty, and the sentence was freedom. Guards escorted Jace to the Azorius guildgate and dispelled his shackles. He needed to catch up to Emmara, and fast.

Jace followed the route through a stretch of Azorius territory, cutting through an alleyway when the route demanded it. He had to climb an old metal ladder up the side of an abandoned building, trying to follow the path as best he could. The route was established thousands of years before; the architecture of the city must have changed around it since then. He climbed through a hole that was once a window frame. It looked like beings much larger than him had already passed through here.

He reached out to feel the reassuring touch of Emmara’s mind again, but she was nowhere to be found. Without Emmara nearby, it would take him hours to reach out to her mind again. He could only move to the next landmark of the maze, and hope she was making progress through the gates.

The next gate was Dimir.

Jace passed out of Azorius territory. With his magical senses he could perceive the flow of mana that marked the maze’s path, channeling like a midair stream down the center of the Azorius zone. In the Azorius area, the stream of mana followed the shape of the streets closely, and Jace was able to move quickly to follow its path. Up ahead the path led out of Azorius territory through an elaborate checkpoint. Some two dozen people were backed up at the checkpoint as the Azorius guards tried to verify permits. Jace cloaked himself in a blending spell, silently thanking the Azorius for employing guardians who had minds he could easily affect, and slipped through the checkpoint.

The stretch in between was rougher going. The other guild teams had already come this way, and the street quality showed it. The path took a strange diagonal up through empty air, connecting with a raised walkway supported by sturdy stone columns.

The passageway seemed to stretch on to the horizon, darkening as it went.

The path ended in a drab, unmarked brick wall. Jace touched it. Solid, rather like a wall.

Footprints in the dust indicated that the other maze-runners had probably been here recently. But there were no signs of destruction of the wall, or of a way that a secret door could move. Jace patted the wall with his hand again. He thought back to the way Lazav and his Dimir agents used a spell to push him through solid stone and drop him in that subterranean cell. He could use something like that now.

But somehow Jace doubted that the other teams of mages had spontaneously managed to come up with a Dimir spell on the spot. There had to be another answer.

The Dimir guild thrived on deception and manipulation. They relied on illusion magic and mind-altering magic just as Jace did. Perhaps this wall wasn’t as solid as it seemed. Perhaps it took a measure of disbelief to see through the illusion.

He steeled himself, then walked purposefully right at the wall in the spirit of discovery. His nose bent painfully as he flattened himself against the wall’s solidity.

He heard the sound of someone snickering at him. He turned around. An old viashino stood nearby.

“What’s the matter, door doesn’t have enough handles for you?” asked the viashino.

He looked to be the same wry lizardfolk that he had seen when he first headed down into the undercity to pursue Emmara.

“I really thought that would be it,” Jace said.

Jace checked the flow of mana again. It went directly through here.

“The trick with Dimir entrances,” said the viashino, “is that you have to feel what the Dimir feel.”

“What do they feel?”

“What do you think they feel?”

Jace thought for a moment. “Anger.”

The viashino gave a snort through his nostrils. “Rarely.”

“Arrogance.”

“That’s closer. But the arrogant don’t believe they’re arrogant. Think about how they would characterize it.”