He started to move, but Yerin had him by the shoulders.
Eithan made a sound of reassurance. “Don’t worry, they aren’t coming. This wave of power is contained to the valley…so far.”
“Is the labyrinth still locked?”
“It is not,” Eithan said, grinning.
“Then we have to move,” Lindon said. “This is our chance!”
The door swung open, and two blobs of color came in that Lindon eventually identified as Mercy and Ziel.
“My mother’s—oh, Lindon’s awake! How are you feeling?”
“How did you get here?” Lindon asked.
“The whole clan’s being mobilized,” Mercy said. “They set up a network of emergency gatekeys to take people west, to cordon off Sacred Valley. I snuck in, but Aunt Charity will figure out I’m here very soon.”
Lindon slipped away from Yerin and stood. At least his feet were steady, even if his vision wasn’t. “We have to go in. Now’s our chance.”
“Go in?” Mercy repeated.
There was clear hesitation in Yerin’s voice too. “That’s a shaky bridge to walk. We’re not ready to go into the labyrinth yet, but you want to head in now that a Monarch’s getting ready to slam the lid on the whole thing?”
“The suppression field is gone,” Lindon said. “What do our preparations matter now? We’ll have our full powers inside.”
“Not our full powers,” Eithan corrected. “It is the domain of hunger madra, after all. It will slowly chip away at us as we remain inside, so we should keep this to a quick operation.”
The blob of white and black that Lindon had determined was Mercy spun toward Eithan. “You’re for this?”
“I’ll put it to you this way: if none of you come with me, I’ll head in by myself. Well, Lindon and I will. This is a unique opportunity that we won’t miss.”
Yerin pondered silently, and Lindon could practically hear her thoughts. She was skeptical about risking their lives for no reason, but then again, the labyrinth was a hiding place for all sorts of treasure. And if Eithan and Lindon were going…
Mercy turned behind her, looking for support.
“There’s a way to kill the Dreadgods in there?” Ziel asked.
Lindon nodded.
Ziel sighed. “And I’m part of the team?”
Lindon nodded again.
Ziel sighed again, more heavily. “And I still have some time left in my contract. Ah, well.” He walked out the door, leaving the other four of them behind.
“I don’t…” Mercy’s voice shook. “I can’t…Lindon, my mother…if she shows up and we’re still inside, she could…I don’t even know. She could seal us inside, but it might be worse if she didn’t. She’ll have our heads for this.”
There was something worse, something that no one had brought up yet, but Lindon remained silent.
Eithan slid up to his side and elbowed him. Lindon shifted away but remained quiet.
Yerin looked at the two of them, leaning close enough that Lindon could make out her face, and then she sighed as though she’d seen something in Lindon’s eyes.
“What?” Mercy asked.
“Somebody turned off the field,” Yerin said, speaking for all of them.
Lindon was certain that was the case, but he still protested. “It could have been natural decay after the damage from the Titan.”
“But it wasn’t,” Eithan followed up. “Someone modified the function of the labyrinth with intention. Now, they may not have intended to deactivate the suppression field, but they certainly intended to change something.”
“How do you know?” Mercy asked.
Lindon answered that. “The power shifted beneath the valley. Samara’s ring is now fueled by different aspects of madra than it was before. You could automate that, but there wouldn’t be any reason for it. If it was just damage from the Titan breaking the field, then we would have expected to see the suppression weakening before that. And Eithan…”
Eithan picked it up. “If I was indeed sensing a disruption in Fate, as now seems likely, then it must have been caused by someone. By every popular theory, natural cause and effect should not change Fate.”
Mercy let out a heavy breath. “How many people could get down there and make changes in the script formation?”
“I can’t see anyone below Sage or Herald having the ability to both survive and alter its workings,” Eithan said.