5. Kalistratos

From the very moment he leaps into my arms, I feel my powers begin to replenish, and his arousing goodbye should be more than enough to give me the energy I need to make my escape.

It should be.

There's something about this world that has numbed my powers. Or, an even worse possibility—something about the journey to this world has crippled me permanently. I feel a weakened grasp on my phoenix abilities, and whether or not they've regenerated enough for me to navigate this labyrinth with a passenger in tow is questionable.

Not that I have much of a choice. I can't do it alone. And I don't have any time to think about it.

They open the keyless door that holds the cage. As I walk through it, I release the bindings on the phoenix fire burning within my heart and wrestle to take control of it. The sensation of time becomes apparent to me, like an anchor line flying by at unbelievable speed. I grasp it with invisible talons, and the monumental force of its sudden arrest is like a whip crack through the cosmos. The strain on my very being is immense. I don't have much time.

The guard behind me is frozen mid-blink, his eyes partially closed. I turn and grab the keys from his hand, then hurry to the cage. Inside, one of the men is sneezing, little droplets of saliva motionlessly cascading across one of the other men who has his arm up over his face, which is locked in an expression of angry surprise. Another is in the middle of picking his nose. Everyone is like statues held in time—except for one.

Nelly looks around, his eyes as wide as the moon. Then he looks at me and nearly falls off the bench. I'm fumbling with the keys, trying to get the damn lock open.

"I'll be a son of a bitch," he says.

I finally get the gate open. "It's your lucky day, Nelly," I say. "You're helping me escape from this place."

He stares up at me in shock and I have to grab his arm and haul him up from the bench to break him out of his trance.

"It's real," he stammers. "It's all happening just like?—"

"Come on, let's go," I grunt. "Show me how to get out of here."

We make for the door, and Nelly stares in wonder at the guards frozen in place as we pass them. The next room has the table with the gem-like bahtuns on it. I point at it.

"You said this will open the doors and release us."

"Well, yeah. But I don't know which one to press."

The weight of time is bearing down on me like a mountain. A drip of sweat sweeps down the side of my face. "You had better figure it out, or we'll both find ourselves in a lot of trouble. I can't keep this hold forever."

"Don't need to tell me twice. Fuck it." He goes over to it and starts jabbing the gemstones with his finger.

The door unlocks, but the room fills with a ghastly wail that pierces my ears. Nelly yanks the door open and we hurry through.

"What is that sound?" I shout.

"I think I might've just unlocked all the damn doors!" he shouts back. "This way, follow me!"

We weave around two guards walking in the hallway, and Nelly takes a moment to slap a cup out of one of their hands. The dark, steaming liquid fans out slowly through the air like tail plumage.

"That'll really ruin his day," he chuckles.

Nelly leads me left and right down different passageways and through another set of doors. Thank the gods he knows where to go—it's immediately clear that I would've found myself stranded had I attempted this escape alone.

"You must be well acquainted with this place to navigate this maze so easily!" I say.

"I ain't some kind of career criminal if that's what you're trying to say, fella." He points up at a white tablet engraved in a glowing language I cannot read. "I'm just following the exit signs."

He kicks open another door, and we emerge into a large room exposed to sunlight. We've made it. The street lies just ahead, and I see Tyler is right there, sitting on a bench. I sprint forward at full speed and suddenly collide with an invisible force that explodes with the sound of breaking pottery. As I stumble forward and fall onto the grass, I realize there was a barrier there made of some astonishingly transparent material. A web of fine fractures has spread across its surface, making it visible, and the pieces from where I'd charged through spin and sparkle in the sunlight. Nelly opens a door made of the same magic barrier and hurries over to help me. I struggle to get to my feet. My energy is running thin.

"Up, up, Kalistratos," he says.

"My mate…is right there…" I say. My eyes are fixed on Tyler as my vision begins to waver and grow dim. My grasp is slipping.

"No, no, no, fella. You let the clock run now and while we're standing right here in front of the station and we're fucking done for. Just hold on a little longer and all three of us will be out of here."

"Then we fly," I tell him.

I focus my powers into my phoenix form and call it forward. Feathers erupt across my skin and envelope the orange fabric of the prison tunic as my body transforms. But something is wrong. I see Nelly growing taller, and his mouth drops open in stunned shock.

I'm shrinking.

I flap my stunted wings and fall sideways onto the ground in a flurry of feathers. What kind of horrific creature have I transformed into? What has this world done to my powers?!

"Oh, great," Nelly says. "I didn't see this part in my dreams. What am I supposed to do, eat you for dinner? New plan. We're stealing a kah."

He reaches down to pick me up, and I don't have the strength to protest. We're moving away from where Tyler is sitting, and soon we reach a field filled with gleaming chariots. Nelly runs around, testing each one for something I do not know. Finally, he finds one which opens up to reveal its strange interior. He tosses me inside. It's surprisingly soft, like I've fallen onto the rump of a fattened cow. Nelly sits on the other side of this strange kah and breaks a shard of something away from beneath the wheel that juts out from its front, revealing a coiled mess of tendons hanging from metal bones.

"Hang in there, my feathered friend," he mutters as he rips one of the veins free. "Just a few more seconds and we're out of here."

Sparks fly from the veins and the beastly kah shudders to life with a tremendous roar. I'm thrown against the rump-like chair as we hurtle forward, and the last thread of time slips out of my grasp.