Thank you all for the reviews! I'm sorry it took this long to update but I've been very busy with work! Thanks for sticking with this if you're reading the 3rd chapter. There is much more to come!
For all you Doccubus fans (if there are any reading this fic at all) there is a snippet of what's to come of our favorite human doctor near the end of this chapter.
Tamsin wakes on cold, wet cobblestone, surrounded by bits of moss. She blinks and struggles to identify her surroundings. Cold water drips from a break in the roof of a castle turret. The droplets continue a steady barrage on her cheek for a moment longer before the Valkyrie decides to sit up. Right as her head leaves the slippery stone, a large, rusted blacksmith's hammer smashes down, crumbling the floor. Tamsin's eyes snap open as she rolls to her feet. A glint of sunlight catches the corner of her eye. Her eyes dart around the dark tower. She struggles to place her attacker. Suddenly, she realizes she's looking right into a large figure's black fabric covered chest. Without looking up at her attacker's face, she immediately ducks and throws herself into a bruising roll, barely missing the second swing of the hammer. Tamsin grunts as she rolls to her feet, the force of her back meeting the hard ground still throbbing along her spine. She doesn't look back as she sprints along a decrepit parapet.
The sun is setting on her right. The bright orange dot disappearing at the edge of the watery horizon flashes as she breezes past the armor archer slits in the wall. Content with the distance she's hearing in the thudding footsteps behind her, she spares a moment to glance over her shoulder. A tall, meaty figure cloaked in a soot covered sack charges steadily after her. Two large ham sized fists grip a blacksmith's hammer and a slaughterhouse meat hook respectively. Black blood and other bits of congealed filth smear the ground, marking the creature's footprints grotesquesly. Two red slits in the place of eyes glare at Tamsin from behind a worn wrap.
Tamsin searches the abandoned castle walls desperately, looking for a weapon or an exit. She gives the open sky and fresh air a harrowed look, breathing deeply as she prays this won't be the last time she sees the sun. With a frustrated scream, she bolts into the tower at the end of the wall, slipping immediately on slick steps. The Valkyrie tumbles, head over heels, completely three whole flips before skidding roughly on her back. Sharp, jagged steps scrape through her jacket, marring her back. She pushes past the pain and stumbles to her feet in a hurry. Finding purchase in the dark, she starts jogging down the spiral staircase, timing her steps carefully. Warm liquid drips from her hair, soaking her collar. Tamsin winces, feeling the cut in her scalp throb as it continues to leak blood down her neck.
"Shit," Tamsin mutters when she finally reaches the bottom of the stairs. Her feet slip in two inches of thick sludge. She gags and involuntarily dry heaves at the stench surrounding her. She is literally standing in a mixture of sewage, blood and discarded viscera. The sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs behind her rouses her from her disgust. Tamsin quickly works her way through the mess, avoiding extra large chunks of rotting flesh in her journey to a flickering torch at the end of the cavernous room.
"Tamsin!" Dyson's voice calls out in the dark. Tamsin squints, working hard to figure out where the voice came from. She shifts, wondering if she imagined his voice. "Tamsin!" Dyson's voice calls again. Tamsin quickly rips the torch from wall.
"Dyson?!" Tamsin calls out. She runs down a hall, nearing the sound of the rattling chains. She stops at a rotted wooden door hanging on rusted hinges. With a firm kick, the door implodes. Chunks of softened wood crumble under her foot. Maggots and other larvae buried in the wood shower the floor with white wriggling spots. Tamsin spits, feeling something moving in her mouth. She spits again, shuddering from the sensation of having grub in her mouth. The Valkyrie quickly runs her torch along the ground, shriveling and burning the mess of wood and worms.
Inside the room, Dyson lies, pinned to the ground by a giant carcass dressed in a black sack, nearly identical to Tamsin's attacker.
"Tamsin," Dyson groans. "I thought I smelled Valkyrie amidst a sea of shit," Dyson says, struggling to sit up. His legs and hips remain pinned under the body.
"Gross," Tamsin says. She hands him the torch. "On three," Tamsin says, sitting on the ground next to Dyson. She braces her feet on the side of the body and pushes. Dyson quickly wriggles free.
"Fuck!" Dyson growls, stretching to regain feeling in his legs. Tamsin holds out a hand. He takes it without a word and allows the Valkyrie to pull him to his feet. Dyson stares at the body on the floor. "I haven't seen a Bastard of Hephaestus in over five hundred years." Dyson gingerly lifts his shirt and winces when he see's his bruised ribs.
"There's another one. He was after me on the wall," Tamsin says, listening to the noises coming from down the hall. No foot steps. She looks down and studies the body sprawled on the ground. A pair of iron pokers juts from the creature's chest and belly.
"Someone laid into him before I woke up," Dyson says, kicking the corpse. Tamsin scowls with disgust. One of the Bastard's arms hangs from its body by a strip of bloodied tendon. "I got lucky. The Bastard slipped in this shit and stuck himself," Dyson says, not afraid to admit he wouldn't have been able to take him out on his own. "Where are Bo and Tatum?" Dyson says quietly. He peeks into the empty hall, pausing to sniff the air for any familiar scent.
"I don't know," Tamsin says. Tamsin kneels and rips a strip of fabric from the Bastards's "shirt". Wrapping the strip around an end of the poker, Tamsin grips hard and pulls. Putrid fluid spills from the Bastard's belly as it releases the poker. She hands the crude spear to Dyson and sets to work on freeing the other spike. She flinches when something touches the back of her head.
"Tamsin..." Dyson says, reaching out to touch Tamsin's hair again. The back of her head is soaked with blood; her blonde locks appear black in the torchlight.
"I'm fine," Tamsin says, swatting his hand away. In a way, she's not lying. Since they entered the lobby of The Labyrinth Landmark Hotel, her power has been humming beneath her skin. She can feel that her death cycle has paused, she doesn't know how, but she can feel herself growing stronger. Tamsin gingerly feels her scalp with her hand. Beneath the blood-matted hair, she can feel her cut closing already.
"Now's not the time to-" Dyson begins, studying her face.
"I said I'm fine!" Tamsin snaps, wrenching the other poker free with ease. Dyson nods, noticing her display of strength. She blinks and looks at her hands. She can feel her entire body brimming with power and energy she hasn't felt in a few hundred years.
"We need to find Bo and Tatum," Dyson says quietly.
Bo grins as she jogs after a slew of maidens with flowing hair and sheer silk dresses. The girls throw playful glances over their shoulders and taunt Bo, rushing into the safety of the villa on a hill in the distance. Shrieks of laughter pierce the dusk air as Bo blows through the villa's entrance. Several linen bearing slaves stop and flatten themselves against marble walls as the girls and chasing Succubus tear through the halls. Bo pulls her shirt over her head mid run. She tosses it to the wind as she closes the distance between her and her prey.
Finally, she has them cornered in the bathing house. A wicked grin quickly grows on Bo's face when she sees the girls. They stand with pitchers of warmed scented oils in in hand. A few of the younger looking girls peer at Bo from inside the large bathing pool, chins and crossed arms resting on the edge of the mother of pearl and gold inlayed tiles.
"Would you like to soak first or can we oil you?" a maiden asks, shrugging out of her dress. Bright blue fills Bo's eyes they watch the light fabric slip off a smooth, cream colored shoulder silently. The silk pools around the girl's feet, exposing perfectly perky breasts topped with caramel nipples. The girl barely has time to drop the polished brass pitcher when Bo launches herself at her. Bo's lips crash into the girl's as her force slams the girl into the cold wall.
The girl gasps when Bo releases her lips. A long drag of chi flows into Bo's mouth. The oil vase clatters on the floor, spilling the warmed, scented oil, dousing Bo's feet. Bo reaches down and lifts the girl by the back of her thighs. The girl wraps her legs tightly around Bo's hips, holding on to her neck and shoulders for support as Bo walks them over to the bath. The oil underfoot decides to take Bo's balance, sending them both into ground with a wet slap. The girl giggles and rolls over in an attempt to crawl away. Blue flares from Bo's eyes as the sight of the oiled body writhing half-heartedly away from her. The girl laughs when Bo reaches out and wraps a hand around her ankle, dragging her back. The girl grows quiet as Bo presses herself against her exposed back.
"Tell me when to stop," Bo growls in the girl's ear. The girl shivers as Bo's hand slips around her neck, the other slipping between the oil slicked marble and her thighs. Bo grips the girl's throat and leans down to kiss her again. The girl moans deeply and a thick cloud of chi escapes her lips as Bo's other hand disappears under her body.
"Bo!" Tamsin yells. They're on the last segment of unexplored castle. It's been over half an hour since they heard the remaining Bastard's footsteps echoing after them. A lone wooden door remains, marking the entrance to a small tower at the edge of the keep. Dyson throws his shoulder into the wooden door. He growls and slams into the door again. Dyson pauses when Tamsin holds up a hand. Tamsin grips the iron poker and forces it between the doorjamb. Dyson kicks at the door, creating enough space for Tamsin to wedge the poker deeper. He slams his own poker in along side Tamsin's. They both throw their weight into the makeshift pry bars. With a final kick, the door's lock gives way. Tamsin sprints up the narrow staircase, Dyson tight on her heels. At the top of the stairs, Dyson and Tamsin raise their weapons only to find themselves staring at an empty room.
A carved marble basin sits on a pedestal in the middle of the small room. Laughter and giggles emanate from the basin. Dyson and Tamsin rush to the viewing pan. Inside the sloshing liquid, Bo continues her assault on the girls' chastities. Tamsin quickly snatches a heavy lid leaning against the wall and covers the shimmering tub of liquid.
"As much as we'd all like to stay here and watch her Succubang those fair maidens into the Pomeii's ashes, this is not the time," Tamsin says, scowling at the look of disappointment on Dyson's face.
"Well where is she?" Dyson says, looking around the empty room. Tamsin holds up a hand and motions towards the giant tapestry covering the far wall. The fabric sways ever so slightly in the breezeless room. Dyson and Tamsin grip their pokers and approach the hanging. Tamsin reaches out pushes the fabric aside to reveal a hidden doorway.
Inside, a small tunnel leads into a secret storeroom. Tamsin squints in the darkness as she struggles to make out the contents of the room. Dyson raises the flickering torch, illuminating the room. Bo's body lies on a plain wooden table. A bald, grotesque Pain Eater sits behind her head, fingers extended into her ears. Bo smiles in her sleep.
"Release her now," Tamsin says lowly. The Pain Eater opens his eyes in shock as the tip of Tamsin's poker presses into his neck. The Pain Eater frowns and delays for a second retracting his fingers. Coughs wrack Bo's body as she chokes in air.
"Bo?" Dyson says, never taking his eyes off the Pain Eater.
"Bo, can you hear me?" Tamsin says, nudging Bo with an elbow, hands still gripped tightly around the poker.
"…climbed the tree…got my prize…" Bo mumbles incoherently. The Succubus blinks and opens her eyes, still lost in her haze. Slowly, her senses return to her. The stench of Tamsin and Dyson's soiled clothing fills her nose first. Bo turns to her side and grips the edge of the table as dry heaves wrack her body.
"She's ok," Dyson says, kneeling by Bo.
"Good," Tamsin says. Without a second thought, Tamsin pushes the iron spike into the Pain Eater's throat. Pale hands grasp futilely at the metal bar as the Valkryie leans into the thrust. Within the minute, the Pain Eater is dead and slumped on the floor. Tamsin places a foot on the side of the dead Fae's cheek, holding the body down as she retracts her weapon.
"We have to go," Dyson says. He hands his torch and poker to Tamsin before gathering a delirious Bo in his arms. Tamsin nods and holds the torch out, lighting the Pain Eater's sparse robes.
"Bo? Wake up," Tamsin says walking besides Dyson. Bo's eyes flutter open for a moment before rolling back in her head. "Shit, she needs to feed," Tamsin says. Dyson nods, looking down at the Succubus in his arms. He pauses and sniffs the air. Tamsin turns to the corridor behind them and listens. Dyson shifts Bo, lifting her up and over his shoulder, freeing an arm. He takes the iron poker from Tamsin as the sound of heavy footsteps echoes in the dark hall.
"There," Dyson whispers, spotting a staircase at the end of the hall. He heads towards the tight spiral staircase as Tamsin hangs behind to watch the darkened end of the hall.
"Go!" Tamsin shouts as the Bastard of Hephaestus lumbers into view. She pushes Dyson, urging him faster up the stairs. The giant under fae's hulking form barely scrapes by between the walls.
"Shit!" Tamsin strikes a wall in frustration when she realizes she's back to where she woke up. Dyson quickly runs into the night air, breathing deeply. He lays Bo on the ground, propping her up against the side of the armored wall. He turns to face the turret. Tamsin tosses Dyson the torch. He quickly wedges the torch into an archers' slit, keeping Bo in the light.
"Dyson!" Tamsin yells when the Bastard reaches the top of the stairs.
The Valkyrie leaps forward, driving the iron spike deep into the Bastard's belly. Tamsin screams as she rips and twists the thick bar, struggling to push it up and under the Bastard's ribcage into his heart. A low, ghoulish chuckles escapes from beneath the Bastards's head wrapping. The Bastard places a hand on the iron poker and pulls Tamsin close. Tamsin swears she can feel her eyes burn from the stench rolling off the Bastard. She releases her grip and jerks backwards as the Bastard swings at her with his great hammer. The brunt of the swing misses her, but she miscalculates the angle. The rusted handle catches Tamsin's forehead with a muted thud. The brute force sends her crashing to her back. A small pool of blood grows on the ground around Tamsin's head.
"Tamsin!" Dyson screams, lunging at the Bastard. With hands gripped at the ends of the poker, Dyson slams the flat of the bar into the giant's face, knocking his head back. Dyson presses forward, smashing the poker into where the Bastard's nose should be. Satisfied with the fleshy wet smack from the blow, Dyson narrows his grip and jabs the sharpened poker into the Bastard's chest. He snarls, baring his shifting fangs in the Bastard's face as he pulls the poker out. Dyson slams the bar into the beast's chest repeatedly until the iron bar sticks in a thick chunk of bone. "Tamsin! Get up!" Dyson yells, glancing down to check on his partner. His voice rouses the Valkyrie. Tamsin holds a hand to her bleeding forehead as she staggers to her feet.
Seizing the opportunity, the Bastard swings at Dyson as his eyes linger on his partner. The hammer catches Dyson full on in the chest. Before Dyson can process the pain of a freshly shattered rib, he's lying on his back, ten feet away.
"Dyson?" Bo croaks. She fights to gain control of her limbs as the horrific scene plays out in front of her. Dyson lies a few feet from her. Blood leaks from his mouth at an alarming rate as he wheezes. Her eyes hazily work their way down the parapet to where the Bastard looms over Tamsin. "Tamsin!" Bo screams as the Bastard reaches down and grips Tamsin's head in his giant hand. His thumb hooks under her chin, closing her airway as he lifts her off the ground. Tamsin's feet kick futilely in the air.
"What a pity…" the Bastard's low, demonic voice grumbles. "A Valkyrie and a werewolf working together and yet you fail to seek passage into the Labyrinth?"
Bo's stomach drops as she watches the Valkyrie fall limp in the Bastard's hand Dyson forcefully spits a mouthful of blood, splattering the limestone with red. He pushes himself to his feet and moves towards Tamsin. He pauses as an eerie laugh spills from Tamsin's lips. Dyson pauses as an instinctual gut reaction of fear rips through his body. He can feel Tamsin's power building. The familiar sensation of despair and doubt bubbles up in his throat and he cannot take another step.
The Bastard stops in his steps as she reaches up and grips his wrist with her hands. Her eyes open. Shadows consume her face as she stares into the Bastard's face. The Bastard freezes in his but does not release his grip on Tamsin's skull. He struggles to move his hand, to turn her gaze, but an invisible force takes a hold of his body. Tamsin calmly lifts her legs and rests her feet on the iron pokers jutting out from the Bastard's chest. She lifts her legs and kicks down, wrenching the pokers in the Bastard's gut. The Bastard howls and releases Tamsin when he feels the iron inching closer to his heart. The Valkyrie falls to her feet. She meets the Bastard's gaze for a moment before stepping back. Her first push kick to the end of the poker sends the iron bar deep into the Bastard's chest, piercing the surface of his heart. Wrist sized fingers uncurl around the blacksmith's hammer. The great hammer drops to the ground at Tamsin's feet. The Valkyrie picks the hammer up, pausing to whisper something to the tool. Bo strains to hear what Tamsin's saying.
"You're no Mjølner but you'll do." Tamsin smirks. She steps back and swings hard. The hammer meets the poker with a clink, driving the iron through the Bastard's heart.
Dyson finds his strength again and moves to Tamsin's side as the Bastard staggers, keeping his eyes away from her face. The Bastard knees thud into the walkway, shattering stone. Dyson kicks the Bastard in the back, pushing his falling body against the edge of the armored wall. The monstrous under fae's neck catches in one of the many armor archers' slits. Dyson takes the hammer from Tamsin.
"Hello?" Bo says, wondering why her friends are still gathered around the felled body. "Shit!" Bo's eyes widen when Dyson slams the hammer down on the back of the Bastard's cloaked head. He lifts the hammer high above his head and swings again and again, against the mashed skull until the bastard's neck is wedged deep into archer's slit. With a final blow, the remains of the Bastard's head splits from the body, dropping into the black abyss on the other side of the castle walls.
"The Gods were with us," Tamsin says. Dyson laughs and throws his arms around his partner as they stagger towards Bo. Tamsin laughs and slaps him in the back roughly. An arm's length away from Bo, the Valkyrie and the Wolf slump to the ground in exhaustion. They lie there, savoring the cool night air.
"Guys?" Bo says. Tamsin and Dyson open their eyes and peek at her from where they're splayed on the ground.
"Can we have a second?" Dyson pants. "We just killed a fucking Bastard of Hephaestus," he says. Tamsin rolls over and crawls to the wall next to Bo. She grabs the torch from its resting place on the wall and flings it at the corpse. Bo coughs and covers her mouth and nose as the heap of flesh lights on fire.
"You're welcome," Tamsin says tiredly. Bo smiles at the Valkyrie.
"Wh-," Bo can barely get a sound out when the castle starts shifting beneath them. The flooring of the parapet starts grinding loudly. Large segments of the wall crumble away. Tamsin, Bo and Dyson start sliding as the ground tilts. The entire side of the castle sinks into the ground, forming a long ramp. The trio rolls for what seems like an eternity as the stone ramp seems to materialize beneath as they fall. Finally their tumbling bodies hit grass. Waist high wheat surrounds them as they choke for air.
"What the hell was that?" Dyson groans. "Shit," Dyson mumbles when he opens his eye. Bo and Tamsin follow his gaze. Above them, the castle looks like its made of clay and a toddler has smashed a side of it with his fist. The stone and mortar has melded into a slope down the side of the cliff, effectively serving as their exit slide. Before their eyes, the stone heals itself, clanking back into shape, reforming the wall.
In the distance, at the edge of the wheat field, a low rumbling begins. Clods of dirt and sand spray into the air as an enormous set of iron gates burst up from the ground.
"Look!" Tamsin says. She gets up and starts jogging through the field. An "It's the gateway to the labyrinth," Tamsin calls out over her shoulder. Beyond the gate, a long dock shoot out into a vast, black sea.
"Tamsin!" Dyson yells as the Valkyrie breaks into a sprint. "Wait!" Dyson screams. Bo watches as Dyson takes off after Tamsin.
"What hell guys?" Bo says to no one as she walks after them. Her blood runs cold when she realizes what set Dyson off. A figure is quite literally pinned to the iron gates. "Tamsin!" Bo screams, forcing herself into a run.
"We did it!" Tamsin says, grinning at Dyson when he catches up. "We made it to the ferry!" She pauses when she sees Dyson's face. "What?"
"Tamsin…" Dyson says, trying to keep her eyes averted from the gate. Tamsin turns around and looks up. Thirty feet in the air, a female body sways in the wind. A particularly strong gust pushes long brown hair from the body's face.
"No," Tamsin says. "Dyson, help me," Tamsin says, reaching up to climb the gate.
"Bo, stay here and keep your eyes open," Dyson says, following Tamsin.
"Help me lift her," Tamsin says when they reach Tatum's body. The Bastard's slaughterhouse hook protrudes gruesomely from the front of her shirt. As they struggle to lift her body, the rusted chains binding the hook to the gate snap. "No!" Tamsin shrieks. They watch helplessly as Tatum's body drops. The hook handle and scraps of chain catch roughly on the fence, jerking Tatum to a stop several yards below. The hook rips deeper into Tatum's chest.
"Tatum!" Bo screams in horror as blood drips from her lips. Dyson lets go of the gate and drops. He manages to catch himself on the iron spokes a few feet from Tatum. Ignoring his bleeding palms, Dyson works to free her. He shifts desperately, letting out his claws as he swipes at the chains.
"Help!" Dyson yells when he manages to break Tatum free. He cradles the girl in his arms and pushes off the gate. He lands messily, spilling both their bodies on the ground with a thud. Tamsin quickly climbs down and drops to their sides. Tamsin kneels by Tatum's body and grips the hook. With a rough yank, the hook rips free from her back.
"Tatum?" Tamsin says, patting her face. "Come on girl. This is nothing for you…" Tamsin says, cradling her head in her lap. A sickly pallor fills her normally tan face. Tamsin looks up at Bo then Dyson. "Can you do CPR or something?" Tamsin says, voice wavering. She turns back to Tatum. "Remember when we took Babylon? Getting hit by three chariots and an axe to the neck didn't stop you then, a stupid fucking hook isn't going to stop you now…"
Bo drops to her knees and eases Tatum away from Tamsin. She takes a deep breath and prays that Tatum won't react to her chi the way Tamsin does. She presses her lips to Tatum's ignoring the coppery tang of blood. Her chi starts flowing into Tatum, slowly at first. "Come on," Bo says, pausing to another deep breath. She leans down and kisses Tatum hard. Bo gasps, unable to move, her lips cemented to Tatum by an invisible force.
"Stop!" Dyson grabs Bo and lifts her off Tatum. He drags her kicking and screaming to a patch of flattened wheat stalks. "You ok?" Dyson asks, looking into Bo's unfocused eyes. She slips from his arms to the ground, drained. "She needs to feed!" Dyson says. Tamsin lays Tatum on the ground and rushes to Bo's side.
"Bo? You have to feed," Tamsin says, looking down at Bo. "Bo can you hear-," Tamsin begins when Bo sits up. The Succubus's lips crash into Tamsin's. The kiss is painful and searing. Tamsin groans in pain as Bo rips the chi from her. Suddenly Bo's power kicks in. Desire pulses through Tamsin's body. The Valkyrie involuntarily moans and straddles Bo's waist. Tamsin's heart thuds rapidly as the kiss deepens. While the pain subsides, Tamsin can feel herself rapidly weakening.
"Guys?" Dyson says. He swears he can see Tatum breathing. He ignores the kissing women and moves to examines the girl on the floor. Dyson kneels and rests his ear on her chest, above the messy rip in her shirt. When he's about ready to give up hope, a light thud greets Dyson's ear. Tatum's lips part ever so slightly. A labored breath escapes from the otherwise still body. Dyson sits up and checks Tatum's eyes, lifting her eyelids.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Tatum whispers coarsely. She reaches up and weakly swats Dyson's hand.
"So you guys really are impossible to kill," Dyson says, a grin spreading on his face. His face falters when Tatum slams her eyes shut in pain. He watches helplessly as the girl holds the tear in her chest, working to bear the pain that comes with each breath.
"Impossible? Nothing is impossible," Tatum says, opening her eyes again. When she unclasps her hands, the skin on her chest is smooth and unbroken.
"That is amazing," Dyson says, marveling at the speed of her healing
"Amazing indeed," Tatum whispers. She rolls over and clutches her chest. Although her physical wounds have healed, the pain from the attack wells deep within her chest. Tatum musters all her strength and pushes herself to her knees. She wavers and drops to the ground again. Tatum looks up at the blood streaks coating the gate. It feels as if she is still swaying on the hook. Tatum kneels in the wheat, breathing deeply as the sensation of being torn open resonates over and over again in her chest. She can still feel herself pressing her own blade into her heart at the Dal. Tatum gathers fistfuls of dried grass in her hands, squeezing hard and powdering the plant. She opens her hands, allowing the dust to swirl away in the wind.
"Watch out," Dyson says when the massive gates start creaking open. Bright red and blue flames roar to life, filling basketball rim sized torches along the edges of the dock beyond the gate. A single Viking longboat bobs in the tide. A figure stands, waiting in the ship. "Bo! Tamsin!" Dyson shouts into the wind as he takes off running into the field.
Bo leans back and inhales deeply, taking a long pull off Tamsin's chi. With knees planted on either side of Tamsin's waist, Bo grinds down, pinning her to the ground. Bo deliberately slips a knee between Tamsin's, moving between her thighs. Tamsin moans at the friction and reaches up to pull Bo close. The Valkyrie's eyes flutter as Bo sets her attentions to the pulse point in Tamsin's neck. Bo's skillful mouth makes short work of her smooth, pale skin, marking her neck with a deep hickey. By the time Dyson breaks into the clearing, Bo has her hand shoved down the front of Tamsin's unbuttoned jeans.
"That's enough!" Dyson shouts, forcefully lifting Bo away from a beautiful female for the second time that night. Bo spins around with astonishing speed. Her right fist moves in a blur, connecting with Dyson's jaw. A loud crack echoes through the night air. Dyson falls to the ground in a daze. The sound of Dyson's jawbone shattering rouses Bo from her stupor.
"Shit! Shit shit shit!" Bo says. She quickly grabs Dyson by the collar and forces her chi into him. Bo breathes a sigh of relief when she sees the sunken bone mend before her eyes. "I'm sorry!" Bo says when Dyson pushes her away. Guilt bubbles up nauseatingly in Bo's throat as she studies Dyson's face. Dyson nods and waves her apology off. He understands, but Bo feels like she doesn't deserve it. Dyson gets to his feet and walks not so steadily back towards the gate. He pauses, not looking back.
"Get Tamsin. The boat's here."
Tatum and Dyson stand waiting at the gate when Bo and Tamsin emerge from the wheat field. Tamsin's eyes perk at the sight of Tatum. Her eyes fall to the tear in Tatum's shirt. They walk silently down the pier to the waiting boat keeper. The boat keeper, a tall blonde woman, stands, holding a tall pike.
"Your will is true. You are granted access to the labyrinth," the boat keeper says. She watches as Bo, Tamsin, Dyson and Tatum enter the boat. The boat keeper lifts the pike, dipping the butt into the water.
"What?" Bo says when the boat keeper pauses before pushing off. The boat keeper studies each of their faces quietly.
"Each one of you is entering this journey for love. You will find what your heart desires most," the boat keeper says. "But some of you may not leave the Labyrinth alive. Do you accept this?"
"We're not hearing anything we haven't heard before," Dyson says, making himself comfortable at the front of the boat.
"If we will find what we are truly seeking, I will enter, even if I die in there," Tatum says. Bo nods, agreeing.
"Very well," the boat keeper says. She taps her pike against something solid in the water. A great scale covered behemoth rises, breaching the water in front of the boat with a giant splash. A chain with links the size of monster truck wheels trails behind the creature. The chain pulls taut, jerking the boat forward.
"Sorry-," Bo says, reaching out to steady herself on the boat keeper. Her hand brushes against the exposed skin of the boat keeper's hand. A spark arcs between them, jolting Bo. A rush of images flood Bo's mind.
"Bo!" Lauren's voice cries out, echoing in a great hall. "Bo please!" The doctor grips the polished bars on a giant cage. "Bo I can help! It doesn't have to be this way!" Lauren pleads. Her grip tightens on her golden prison. A sprawling hall appears around Lauren's cage. A royal court with blurred faces sits, watching as the human doctor screams. "My Lord! Please!" Lauren's desperation grows as a struggle breaks out beyond Bo's view. The vision muddles.
"What the hell was that?" Bo gasps, the vision still playing behind her eyelids. The tortured look on Lauren's face grips Bo's heart in an icy fist. "Where the hell is Lauren?" Bo growls, advancing on the boat keeper. Tamsin quickly steps in and places herself between Bo and the boat keeper. "Tamsin, they have Lauren," Bo says.
"You don't know that. It could be another trick," Dyson says.
"No! It's not a trick," Bo says. "I felt it. It's real. Tell them!" Bo screams at the boat keeper.
"She has seen a future," the boat keeper says, pulling her cloak around her, covering any exposed skin.
"A future?" Tamsin asks. "So there could be another?"
"You know as well as I do that not everything is written in stone, Valkyrie."