Shield's Lady (Lost Colony #3)

Sariana didn't begin to get nervous until she realized she couldn t find the exit.

Fear set in when she became aware that someone was stalking her through the maze of mirrore.

Chapter 12

SARIANA heard the laughter first. Stifled, malicious giggles and wildly excited bursts that were nervously cut off. Then the flapping edge of a cape filled the room, only to vanish an instant later as if the owner had retreated to some safe spot.

A low hiss from Sariana's cloak pocket announced the scarlet-toe's questioning concern. "Hush," Sariana said soothingly. "I just need to find the door, that's all."

But she couldn't find the door. Every time she moved in a new direction the whole geography of the room shifted around her. It was like being in the center of a kaleidoscope. She tried closing her eyes and walking in a straight line, one hand extended in front of her, but that only led her into another dazzling room. This one was even worse than the last.

She thought she found a flight of mirrored steps, each tread a shifting maze of refracted light, but when she tried to climb them, they flattened beneath her and turned into a mirrored slide.

Sariana screamed as her feet went out from under her. She sat down hard on the slick surface and found herself sliding down an endless corridor. When she skidded to a halt she was in still another room.

"Are you all right, Lucky?" Anxiously she checked the cloak pocket. Her fingers touched the little lizard and she was reassured by the feel of her small companion. The scarlet-toe was not happy, however. Sariana felt a distinct nip on the tip of her finger. Not hard enough to draw blood, but sufficient to register the protest.

"I'm sorry," Sariana whispered. "I'll try yelling for help."

She sat in the middle of a room that was constantly shifting around her and screamed for assistance. The only response was another malicious giggle.

Panic began to set in. On her hands and knees, figuring that was the best way to keep in touch with the only firm surface she could identify, Sariana began crawling in a straight line.

She might as well have been crawling through another dimension. After a while she began to wonder if she was really moving or if that, too, was an illusion. The countless copies of Sariana Dayne reflected around her seemed to move when she did, but they obviously weren't getting anywhere.

Sariana stopped, perplexed and thoroughly frightened. She took several deep breaths to control her fear and then tried to reason her way out of the dilemma. She badly needed to find some solid surface, if only for her peace of mind.

Kneeling on the bottomless floor, Sariana took off one shoe and rapped the heel smartly against the reflective surface. She was rewarded by a tiny fissure. But the crack only seemed to cause another set of disorienting reflections. Sariana struck the flooring again. The faceted mirror surface was tough. It had to be to stand up to thousands of pairs of fairgoers' feet.

Before she could try a third blow, the harsh giggles floated down the endless corridors again. Sariana froze and then scooted backward as a million booted feet suddenly appeared ahead of her. The boots were quickly withdrawn but Sariana knew they would return.

Frantically she glanced around, seeking some means of defense. She reached for what she thought was a dangling mirror, hoping to break it and secure a sharp piece of glass. But the mirror was just another illusion, the reflection of some other mirror. She groped wildly, but it was impossible to find the original.

The booted feet appeared again and so did the laughter. This dme there was a voice. It sounded to Sariana like the voice of a teenaged male, but she couldn't be certain.

"She's in the next room, I tell you. She'll be terrified right out of her mind by now. Come on, let's close in."

"Not so fast." The second voice also sounded young and masculine. "The guy said we were to make sure she was good and scared first, remember? She isn't even screaming yet. Not really. I want to hear

her scream."

"All right," the first boy said. "But let's at least get closer. We can't even see her yet. I want to see her face."

"Yeah," giggled a third voice, "let's get closer. Let's see how scared she gets." The lizard hissed softly as Sariana inched backward. "I know, Lucky," Sariana muttered softly, "I'm

not having an especially good time either. I hate to admit it, but I wish Gryph were here. He'd probably chew me up one side and down the other, but at least I wouldn't have to worry about those boys."

The realization that she was starting to chatter nervously made Sariana abruptly close her mouth. She kept retreating down a mirrored hall that seemed to vanish into the distance behind her. The worst part was that she wasn't even certain she was moving away from the voices and the booted feet. Given the crazy layout of the House of Reflections she might very well be heading straight into the clutches of the young males who were stalking her.

She scrambled on all fours around another turn in the neverending hallway and barely stifled a shriek as she confronted a giant image of herself.

Sariana blinked, struggling to adjust to this new distortion. Sariana Dayne as a monster was an interesting sight. It was all a trick of mirrors and light, but the effect was uncanny. The huge Sariana seemed to be floating freely in the center of a small circular room. Sariana stared thoughtfully at the huge reflection of herself and wished very badly she really was that big and powerful. At the moment it would be quite useful.

"Come on," said a voice, "let's try this hall. I think I got a glimpse of her cape." "Good thing we've been through this place a lot and know what to expect," one of the other teenagers

observed with a nervous chuckle. "It's kind of spooky, even now."

"You shouldn't have offered to take this job if you were going to scare so easily," chided one of the others.

"I'm not scared, I just said it would be kind of weird trying to trail someone through here if you hadn't been through it a lot of times before."

"I think Holt really is getting scared," observed the first voice.

"Well, you're not exactly acting like a Shield, yourself," Holt retorted angrily. "Look at you. Your hands are shaking."

"They are not," the other boy shouted back, his voice much too high. "Shut up. Holt, or I swear, I'll smash you right into one of these dumb mirrors."

"Shut up, both of you," the third voice snapped. "You're going to ruin everything. Let's get going. I think it's time we closed in on her. That guy will be waiting."

Sariana moved into the center of the circular room and removed her cloak. Standing in the middle of the distorting chamber she no longer saw a giant version of herself. The image had disappeared when she moved into the heart of it. Lucky hissed softly as Sariana removed the lizard from her pocket. The crimson head swiveled quickly, jeweled eyes taking in the room, immediately dismissing the dazzling effect of light and mirrors.