Lu Na clenched her left fist, bringing Elder Hen’s platform up to meet her own, combining the two. With another flick of her wrist, she turned the stone platforms into a boat. If they crashed down into the lava, at least they’d be safe.

  “Not sure how long this will last, Elder Hen. Do you have any ideas?”

  Elder Hen reached into his chest pocket and took out a small ceramic vial the size of a teacup. He uncorks the top and downs whatever was inside in one gulp.

  “This is the last one I have,” Elder Hen said.

  “What was that?”

  “Spiritual alcohol. The most expensive thing any summoner can buy.”

  Before Lu Na could ask him what it did, Elder Hen’s spirit energy soared. It was the same with Hen Li in the tea shop in Jie’s village. The spirit energy pulled Lu Na down to the bottom of the boat with such force that she couldn’t stand.

  Elder Hen summoned Fengma, his horse spirit. It settled into the center of the boat, shaking it. After a few seconds, the boat broke free from the small pieces of stone that held it to the side of the volcano.

  “It’s too heavy. We’re going to sink!” Lu Na said through clenched teeth.

  The boat splashed down against the lava, but none of it came into the boat. Despite all the bubbling around them, the boat was calm. It didn’t move.

  Lu Na sat up and looked around. The volcano was still roiling beneath them, but somehow they weren’t affected. There was no way the stone boat she made was that good.

  Elder Hen pointed toward a large hole in the volcano's side where the lava was rushing out of. The boat lurched forward toward the hole. It rode the wave of lava as if it was a boat on the ocean.

  The trio blew past the hole and landed on the other side. They didn’t stop there as the boat kept moving over the land.

  This must have been Elder Hen’s technique.

  Lu Na used her spirit vision to look at the technique. It was a fascinating blend of a technique she saw her brother used to move the earth below while it combined with another technique that changed the earth into something more durable than lava.

  “This technique is amazing.”

  Elder Hen smiled for a second before losing his composure. He spat blood onto the boat and held onto his chest. The boat didn’t stop. It kept moving.

  “Elder Hen, you can stop now. We’re safe,” Lu Na said.

  “No, I can sense a horde of feral spirits right behind us. I don’t know why that crummy ghost won’t leave us alone, but if I stop now, we’re both going to die.”

  Lu Na looked back toward the volcano. Sure enough, a horde of feral spirits, mostly large cats, were rushing toward them. Out in front was one that she recognized.

  “These are the same feral spirits from within the labyrinth. Are we still inside?”

  Elder Hen coughed more blood onto the ground and got to his knees. He kept his right hand pointing toward another familiar sight: the labyrinth’s wall.

  The familiar yellow stone was just up ahead. It had a large opening right in front.

  “When we reach the hole, jump out and run,” Elder Hen said.

  “What about you?”

  “I’m not long for this world. If the least I do before I die is save my son’s friend, then that will be worth it.” Elder Hen spat out more blood. The blood was glowing orange.

  There had to be something Lu Na could do. The only thing she could think about was the spiritual bandage she used on Nugua. Would that work on Elder Hen?

  Lu Na used her spirit vision technique to focus on Elder Hen. No matter how hard she looked, she could only see a normal man. There was nothing she could do to fix him or heal him.

  Wait, he had been coughing blood. Maybe the injury was in his chest?

  Lu Na walked around Elder Hen and focused on his chest, right around where his spirit realm would be. A dull yellow glow pulsed against his purple tunic. It leaked like an open wound, but instead of blood spirit energy came out.

  “What are you doing?” Elder Hen asked.

  “I’m trying to heal you.” Lu Na took out her silver phoenix hairpin and a sheet of yellow paper. She created the same pattern she used for Nugua’s bandages. With a small fold, she activated it.

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  Lu Na placed the bandage over Elder Hen’s chest, watching as her technique sink deep into his chest toward the wound. It wrapped around the wound, covering it up like a blanket over a child.

  Elder Hen dropped his hand down and clutched his chest. Fengma disappeared and the boat lurched to a complete stop.

  “What did you do?” Elder Hen gasped before collapsing onto the boat.

  To Lu Na’s relief, the wound stopped leaking spirit energy and Elder Hen looked stable.

  To her horror, the feral spirits had now surrounded the boat.

  Lu Na looked up to see how close they were to the hole, but in the end they couldn’t make it. She clenched her left fist while trying to cycle away the dense spirit energy in her null metal bracelet. There was no way she could drain it enough to use it again. The burning bracelet had a burned meat smell coming off the leather wrap.

  Anymore, and it would be her meat that was burning.

  “Why won’t you all leave me alone? I beat all the obstacles,” Lu Na told the lead cat spirit.

  The cat spirit opened its mouth, showing off all the sharp teeth. A stench like overripe fruit came from it.

  It didn’t talk. It only growled.

  “Fine, then we do this the hard way.” Lu Na flicked her wrist left, hoping to form a strong earth wall around her. It was the only thing she could do.

  Nothing happened beside the boat rocking a little.

  Lu Na flicked her wrist again and again, pushing the mental image of the earth dome she wanted to create around herself.

  Nothing.

  The cat spirit lunged at Lu Na with its long sharp claws out, forcing her to cower over Elder Hen. She knew it was pointless trying to defend the unconscious man, but it was the only thing she could think of.

  The cat hit an invisible wall and bounced off.

  A phoenix screech pierced the relative quiet of the labyrinth.

  All the feral spirits dashed away from the boat.

  Up above Lu Na, a growing warmth pushed down on her. When she looked up, the phoenix spirit flew down toward her. It was the same phoenix spirit that helped her at the Wintersweet compound.

  When it landed, it bowed its head to Lu Na.

  “Thank you for rescuing me,” the phoenix said. It had a deep female voice that sounded soothing like the ocean.

  “Is it over?” Lu Na asked.

  “I apologize little one, but no. We must go save your friends before they’re overrun by the feral spirits. Your mother has stemmed the tide, but they’re being pushed by the ghosts. We must hurry. Come, ride on my back.”

  “What about Elder Hen?”

  The phoenix spirit looked down at the old man. It lowered its beak close to his face before touching his chest. A spark of orange entered his chest, right where the bandage was.

  Even without Lu Na’s spirit technique, she saw the dull yellow of his spirit realm turn bright orange for a second before becoming a solid yellow. It pulsed against the bandage, but it didn’t break it.

  “He should be alright now,” the phoenix said. “I’ve also put a temporary barrier around the boat. We must hurry. Your mother is weak.”

  Lu Na didn’t hesitate to climb onto the back of the phoenix. With one flap of her wings, the phoenix rose high into the sky of the labyrinth. For the first time, Lu Na could see the outline of the labyrinth from the air.

  It was amazing. The top floor was a literal maze with many paths and routes toward the center that had teleported her. Feral spirits lounged around in some of these hallways, while many more sprinted toward the last remaining humans near the center.

  Lu Na recognized the corner that they were on with the goat spirit that charged them. Or was it a deer? She couldn’t recognize it from this high up but if they chose a different route, the horde of feral spirits would have trampled them right around the corner.

  The phoenix flew down to the center and landed in front of the rebels. With one flap of its wings, the phoenix blew the feral spirits back.

  “Don’t make me kill you all.” The phoenix stood up on its legs, taller than any of the gathered spirits or men.

  The feral spirits backed off from the rebels and slunk back into the hallways of the maze. Only three large cat spirits stood at the front. Their bodies glowed green but the fresh blood smeared all over their bodies made them look like monsters.

  A woman walked up to the phoenix. She had a torn tunic and her hair flowed around her shoulder. She reached up with a calloused hand to the phoenix. When she touched the wing of the phoenix, she glowed a light red-orange.

  “Na Na, you’ve grown.” It was her mother’s voice.

  “Mother? How did you get free?”

  “You beat the test. The labyrinth has finally released its hold on everything.” Her mother pulled on the phoenix’s wing. In a moment, she teleported onto the back, right behind Lu Na.

  For the first time in years, her mother hugged Lu Na. The phoenix’s power enveloped her, yet Lu Na felt no pain. She only felt the same comfort she remembered all those years ago when her mother hugged her for the last time.

  Tears rolled down Lu Na’s cheeks, sizzling away from the phoenix’s heat.

  Her heart ached.

  Her mother was back.

  She turned around and hugged her back, nuzzling her face into her shoulder. Lu Na had grown taller while her mother had grown thinner, making the embrace awkward. Nothing mattered.

  At least until the feral spirits roared.

  “Oh hush you,” Chen Su said. Lu Na’s mother waved her hand in front of her and a large flame wall rose from the ground, separating the feral spirits. “Let me go deal with them and then I’ll come back to you.”

  Lu Na didn’t want to let her mother go, but she teleported to the ground before she could react. How did her mother do that?

  Meanwhile, Sun Ren limped over to Lu Na with her daggers in her palms.

  “Is it over?”

  “I think so,” Lu Na said. She embraced her friend, ignoring all the daggers that she had on her.

  Sun Ren broke from Lu Na’s embrace before turning toward Yang Deli and his rebels.

  “Captain Yang, set up camp and send out any medics you have.”

  Yang Deli narrowed his eyes within his iron helmet. He gritted his teeth before cupping his hand and bowing to Sun Ren.

  “Yes, of course. But we need to discuss our arrangement later.”

  Sun Ren ignored him and turned toward Lu Na.

  “Na Na, I’m too tired to stand. Help me monitor him and if he gets too close to me, kill him.”

  Before Lu Na could respond, Sun Ren collapsed onto her. It took Lu Na every ounce of strength to hold on to her friend and stop her from hitting the floor.

  Lu Na watched as her mother negotiated with the feral spirits. She couldn’t do much more than ensure that Sun Ren was safe. That wasn’t hard when the phoenix spirit stood watch over them.

  When her mother finished, she returned and sat down beside Lu Na.

  “Let’s go home, Na Na,” Chen Su said.

  “Can we finally leave?” Lu Na asked.

  Chen Su nodded.

  “You can’t leave just yet,” Zi Xu said.

  An entire army of ghosts appeared around the humans, plunging the temperature down. Even with her mother’s phoenix right next to her, Lu Na felt the chill in her bones.

  “What’s going on? Why can’t we leave? I thought I beat the test,” Lu Na said.

  “You can’t leave that easily.” Zi Xu walked forward, his previous haggard appearance gone. That same smile he had on when he first met them plastered on his face.