Chapter 101

After Chuck paid the bill, he and Kahlan followed Emerell outside. "Will you be alright? Do you need us to do anything?" Kahlan asked the angel.

"No. I'm going to check on my charge, and then get myself hidden in case they come back."

"I really hope the girl is alright," Chuck offered but silently wondered if the hunters had already hurt her.

Emerell smiled. "I'm connected to her, so I know she is fine," he told them with a smile. "And I want to thank you both for what you have done and wish you luck on finding your husband."

"Hopefully the information you have provided leads us to them, and then they can lead us to Aaron," Kahlan told him.

He nodded and then grabbed her hand with gentle fingers. "If you ever need my help for anything, just pray for me. I will hear it."

Her smile was warm as she nodded. "I will, and stay safe."

He chuckled. "I plan on it. I was naïve when I first got here. Now that I know there are vile people out there who want to harm me and use me, I will keep a better look out."

XXXXX

Red led Hotch back to the door of the holding cage but then shoved him to the side as he unlocked it. "Wake up, you filthy gits!" he yelled as he struck the metal bars with a iron end of his knife.

All of the beings moaned as they stirred, but they all got to their feet as the leprechaun's eyes roamed over them. "It's time for some of ye's first test," he went on as he gestured to the right side of the cage. "Ye all can join the bloodsucker," he ordered as he grabbed the nearest dwarf and pulled him out.

He ended up taking about half of the occupants out of the cage despite some major protesting, crying, and screaming, and had them all standing in the open area.

Their glances at Hotch and their movements to get as far away from him as possible made him mentally cringe because he could tell most of the beings were still scared of him, and some of their shocked looks told him some of them were even more afraid with seeing him healed. He swallowed and looked at Red. "What do you mean by 'test'?"

Red giggled his high-pitched giggle and his evil smile made some of the beings cringe back against the bars obviously thinking that staying locked up was a much better option than whatever test the demented man was offering.

One gnome actually was able to squeeze its way back through the bars, but Red snatched his leg and pulled him back out. He held him upside down as he looked at Hotch. "It's a test to see if ye are good enough to even be considered for training in the pits," he told him as he advanced to him and locked eyes with him. "No sense wasting their time. If ye can't even handle the tests, then ye definitely can't handle the pits," he said plainly and then gestured to a passageway to the left. "Now get going before I have to call the arachna in 'ere to eat the stragglers!"

That made most of the beings scramble to the passage as quickly as possible, and while Hotch had no idea what an arachna was, he knew by the others' reactions that he didn't want to find out.

Before he could take a step to follow them, though, Red grabbed his arm and forced him to walk with him. "And just so ye know, even mighty bloodsuckers like yeself have failed these tests."

Hotch took a deep breath and tried to force down the fear that was creeping up from his gut. Don't listen to him, Hotchner. He's just trying to mess with your head. If they really want us to be trained in the pits, then they can't have made these tests too difficult.

After a few hundred yards, the long passageway finally opened up into a large cavern, and when Hotch saw what the leprechaun had herded them to, his eyes slid shut as he slowly shook his head.

"Welcome to the labyrinth, gits!" Red called out as he pointed to the towering structure before him.

Hotch sighed as his stomach tightened. A maze. Why did it have to be a maze?

"If ye can make it to the other side, ye may just make it to the pits. If not, well, ye will not have to worry about the pits or anything else for that matter, now will ye?" he asked and then laughed as he shoved Hotch towards the only opening in the walled structure.

Hotch turned back to him, though. "So what are the rules or whatever?"

Red shoved one of the dwarves towards the opening as he laughed some more. "Only two, bloodsucker, survive, if ye can, and make it out of the other side," he issued and then gestured for them all to move and then tossed the gnome that he'd been carrying through the anything but welcoming entrance.

The beings moved quickly and pushed passed Hotch, but he found them all standing and staring on the other side. Three gnomes, three dwarves, the human looking man with the big collar, the faun, and the goatman were all taken out of the holding cell, but it was obvious that none of them were sure of what to do. Before them were four passages, and they all looked the same – dark and foreboding.

"And just so ye's know, some beings have never made it out," the leprechaun told them and then started whistling as he turned away from the opening.

Hotch sighed. Kahlan wouldn't have a problem getting through this. He took a deep breath, but before he could ask the others what they should do, the ground started rumbling as the opening slid shut and drowned them in total darkness. Son of a bitch! Could this get any worse? A high-pitched screech followed by a feminine scream from somewhere within the interior of the maze answered his question, and he sighed again. You just had to ask, didn't you, Hotchner?

Hotch didn't move because he didn't want to accidently step on any of the smaller beings that had been put in the maze with him. He also didn't trust the goatman, so he didn't want to get too close to him either. A little rustling to his left told him someone was doing something, but he couldn't guess what.

"Here, Maxin, you can light my vest," was said and then followed by a sharp scratch. Sparks ignited, and Hotch breathed a small sigh of relief when he realized that the dwarves were trying to start a fire.

It took two more tries, but the rough garment was soon blazing bright enough for them to all rest a little easier.

"How did you get fire starting tools past them?" the goatman asked them.

The tallest dwarf laughed as he held up his belt and showed them the heel of his primitive boot. "No tools, just my clothes."

The faun smiled. "Mountain dwarves are very resourceful."

"Yeah? What good is that going to do us in a few minutes when that vest burns up?" the collared man asked. "I ain't letting you burn up my clothes."

"We don't need to burn anyone else's clothes," Hotch told them and then advanced into the passage right in front of them, grabbed a torch out of a holder, and took it back to the fire. Once he lit the torch, he noticed most of the beings looking at him strangely. "What?"

"Of course you saw that; vampires can see in the dark," the faun told them.

Hotch just shrugged. He figured they wouldn't believe that he'd seen it before the door had slid shut, and he didn't want to explain how the collar took away his abilities because he wasn't sure he could trust some of them to not use that information against him.

"Great! A monster who can see in the dark has the only light," the goatman uttered as he stared at Hotch with hate filled eyes.

Hotch bit back the retort that wanted to escape and took a calming breath. "If there was one, then that probably means there are others. We just have to find them."

"We?! I'm not going anywhere with you, bloodsucker!" the goatman yelled.

"We'll have a better chance if we stay together," Hotch tried.

"He is right," the faun agreed.

"Stay with him?!" the goatman yelled as he pointed at Hotch. "You stay with him, and you'll be his dinner! I'm going the exact opposite way of that monster, and if you know what's good for you, you will all stay away from him!"

"Then go," Hotch insisted as he pointed to the passageways. "Have fun finding your way without a light."

The goatman stared at him and huffed. "Goats can see in the dark, too, monster, and I would bet that I can see even better than you in there."

Hotch's eyes narrowed as he studied the fur-covered man. With the way he'd said it, Hotch had the feeling that the goatman knew he couldn't use his abilities. How the hell would he know that, though?

The goatman finally looked at the other beings. "Follow me, and you'll get out. Stay with him, and you will die," he issued and then started down the passageway on the left.

Hotch looked at the others and he could tell that most of them weren't sure who to follow. When he found the faun staring at him, he shrugged. "Unlike him, I can't guarantee that I can find my way through, but I am going to try."

The faun sighed as he nodded and then looked at the rest of them. "Come, let us see if we can find some more torches," he offered and then started into the passage in the middle.

The two older dwarves grabbed the younger one and hurried after the fawn, and the gnomes quickly joined them leaving the collared man standing alone with Hotch. He shook his head but moved to follow them, too. "Wouldn't it make sense for the bloodsucker to go first?" he asked once he caught up with them.

"Why does that make more sense?" Hotch asked as he brought up the rear.

"Because you have the light, and that way we can make sure you aren't dining on any of us," he told him flatly.

Hotch noticed that most of the others liked that idea, so he shook his head and moved towards the front of the line. "Fine, but I have to be honest; I'm not very good at mazes that aren't on paper."

The faun chuckled. "Then I will walk with you, vampire. Forest creatures have a pretty keen sense of direction."

Hotch nodded to him as they both took the lead. "The name's Aaron, by the way."

"Copperton, but everyone calls me Copper; and just so you know, faun blood is reportedly very disgusting tasting."

Hotch laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

XXXXX

Kahlan had figured the vampires had left with what she had said to them, so she was surprised to find them waiting on the plane.

"Where to next?" Sebastian asked as he stood up in greeting.

"Home. Hopefully Cam has something for us by the time we get there," she told them as she passed them to go to the cockpit.

Chuck stood there studying the ancient vampires, and then shook his head. "I warned you guys about pissing her off."

"We certainly didn't do it on purpose," Christian tried to defend himself.

"We were trying to look out for her wellbeing. I would think you would understand that, Charles," Sebastian tried.

"Oh, I understand, but what you need to realize is that Kay is a lot like a kid. When you tell her she can't or shouldn't do something, then she's definitely going to do it. She's also the most stubborn damn woman on this planet, and when she gets her mind set on something, the safest thing to do is stand back and let her do it, especially when it comes to Hotch," Chuck explained.

"We don't want to get in her way, really. We just want to help her find Aaron," Sebastian explained as he sat back down.

"Do you think she will still let us?" Christian asked.

"Well," Chuck started as he took a seat and fastened his seatbelt, "she didn't kick you off the plane, so I'd say that's a good sign."

"It did cross my mind, though," Kahlan put in as she emerged from the galley. The looks that crossed their faces made her and Chuck both laugh as she sat beside her best friend. "No, I'm not kicking you all out. There's a lot to this new world that I don't understand, so I need your all's help."

Sebastian nodded. "And we will do our best to provide that help."

"Good, and now that we have that settled, I'm taking a nap," she told them as she grabbed Chuck's arm, pulled his arm closer, leaned her head on it, and closed her eyes. She wasn't really tired, but she wanted to be fully charged in case they had to leave again right away.