The Nowhere Beast

The shadows closed in as Ix followed the twisting, winding tunnel. The air smelled musty. Ix traced her hands along the dirt walls, knocking loose clumps down on her head. When the last speck of light vanished, she stumbled out into a vast darkness.
Everything disappeared. Even the well behind her. It was asthough she crossed into a different world. But it wasn’t theLaby­rinth. No mist swirled around her feet, and she hadn’t felt that familiar tug inside her chest as she slipped into the Between World.
This place was empty. Hollow.
A shiver tingled up Ix’s spine. She lifted her hand, the purple Nightmare flame guttering. Then all at once the darkness surged toward her. A greatwhoosh of air smothered Ix’s flame, as if something had taken a deep breath and snuffed it out.
A pair of yellow eyes glared out of the dark at Ix. She couldn’t tell what kind of creature they belonged to—­just that they were massive, as big as carving hooks, and fixed right on her. Then whatever it was spoke.
“How strange. How unusual. A human child, trespassing where no mortal creature belongs.”
Its low voice seemed to speak right into Ix’s mind. Hankyhuddled into the deepest corner of her pocket.
“I didn’t mean to,” Ix protested. “I don’t even know where I am, or how I got here.”
The eyes drew closer, studying Ix intently.“Nothing belongs here. But whatever comes here belongs to me.”
Dread squeezed Ix’s chest. Everything around her was pitchblack, but the darkness had begun to move, squirming likehundreds of worms writhing and slithering over each other. Claws scraped against the ground as the yellow-­eyed creature approached.
“I’ll leave!” Ix promised, backing away. “I won’t tell anyone about this place. It’ll be like I was never here.”
The creature chuckled.“I am not that easy to escape. Run if you must, but know this: what is mine always returns to me.”
The voice was right on top of her now. Close enough to feel the fetid breath that wheezed from its mouth. Ix closed her eyes and tried desperately to jump into the Labyrinth.
As the daughter of a Sorrow, the Labyrinth of Souls wasalways open to her. Only this time, nothing happened. There were no curls of mist waiting behind her eyelids. No feeling of being sucked away. For the first time ever, Ix couldn’t flee into the Labyrinth. Wherever this dark place was, she was trapped.
The creature surged forward. Ix screamed as something closed around her arm. But it wasn’t a set of beastly teeth ready to rip her flesh open. What had grabbed her was a human hand.
Ix wrenched her arm free, stumbling over her own feet as she turned and ran. She threw herself into the tunnel, clawing wildly at the dark passage until she scrambled out into the stone well. She whirled to see if the yellow-­eyed creature was coming after her. But the entire passageway had vanished. Nothing was there.
Ix rolled up her striped sleeve, checking her arm. There wasn’t a mark on her skin, but she could still feel the sensation of fingers gripping her above the elbow. A phantom handprint that reminded her of the promise the creature had made in the dark.