Phoenix and Ashes

Fire—most difficult of the Elements. Dangerous to try and control. More dangerous to lie to. But win its loyalty—

"I have to break the coercions," she said flatly. "And I have to break free of here, and get back to the real world again."

But the Elemental simply regarded her gravely. Finally, "Or—?" he prompted.

Fire is the hardest to hold, most difficult to understand, likeliest to rebel, and is impressed only by—intellect. This Elemental was showing remarkable patience by those standards. She pummeled her brain. What could she do to get out of the coercions? If she broke them, Alison would know. She'd already tried stretching them. What else was there? If she looked around herself a certain way, she could actually see them here, tangling around her in a rat's nest of bindings like—

She blinked, and looked again. Like—a—maze—just as he told me.

She took a deep breath. She couldn't solve the thing in the "real" world, but—here?

"What happens if I thread my way out of the coercions?" she asked the Fire Elemental.

He grinned broadly, and nodded, the flames that were his hair brightening. "Then her spells will no longer hold you, and yet, they will not be broken. So she will not be aware that her spells no longer hold you. But do you think you can solve this?"

"I have to," she replied grimly. "I'll see if wall-following will do it. It might take longer, but it's the surest."

She focused her concentration until the tangles of the spells that confined her became clear, concentrated further, willing the tangles to take on the tangible form of walls and passageways.

The magician imposes his will, his way of seeing on the Plane of Magic, and the Plane reflects what he wills. She couldn't will herself out of this, because the mind and will that had set the spells was stronger than she was. But she could force it to take on a semblance of something she could deal with.

She found herself at the heart of another maze. She didn't like the look of the walls that surrounded her, either; they were dark and repellent and she didn't want to touch them, but wall-following meant keeping one hand on either the left or the right-hand wall and following it, no matter what, and after a moment of thought, she put her hand on the left-hand wall, and stepped into the shadowy, intimidating darkness of the maze itself.

The Fire Elemental came with her, which surprised her a little, though it was heartening to have company. She hadn't expected it, and since he brought light with him, this meant she could actually see where she was going.

That was an advantage. Seeing the walls that made up the maze clearly was not an advantage.

They felt like something alive—but not pleasant. Faintly warm, pulsing, a touch slimy. But worse than the feel was the look; a suggestion effaces there, and not nice faces, either. She didn't ask if the walls were alive; that was fairly obvious. "Can they feel?" she asked instead.

"Oh yes," came the reply; grim, and with a dangerous edge to it.

"Are they in pain?" she continued. Not that she wanted to know— except that she did.

"Oh, yes," softly, yet somehow grimmer still.

She made another two turnings; the faces in the walls were set in frozen expressions of despair. "Can I free them?" she asked. Not that she wanted to, but—

But nothing should suffer if it doesn't have to.

The Fire Elemental stopped, looking at her with an expression of utter astonishment. "Why would you desire to do that?" he asked.

"Because if I can, I should," she replied, knowing that this was the right answer. Not the most expedient, and perhaps not the wisest, but the right answer. "This—this is wrong. If I can make it right, then it's my duty to. I have power, and power begets responsibility."

And the walls began to murmur.

She shivered at the sound, which carried something of the tone of those revenants in it. But the Fire Elemental straightened, and spread his arms wide, the little flamelets that danced over him rising from his outstretched limbs. "Hear, my lesser brothers of Earth? Do you hear this child of Flame? You are in thrall to a Dark Master of Earth. She is not bound to you; she has no responsibility to you, and yet—she would free you."

A single, enormous face formed on the wall immediately in front of her. The eyes were closed and remained closed; she was just as glad. She had the feeling that if those eyes opened and looked at her, she'd be sick with fear.

It wasn't an ugly or deformed face; in fact the features were quite regular. But there was something about it that made her wish she wasn't looking at it. Something dark and cruel, something that loved pain, and was bargaining with her only because it had no choice.