by Drew Hayes
By the time they headed back, Beth had honestly cut more wood than they’d possibly need for their planned stay. She’d found something of a rhythm by the end, so Ivan had just let her go. Having a task to focus on beat whatever awaited them when she was done: more sitting around. The boredom would be an insidious enemy the longer this dragged on. Without distraction, it was all the easier to dwell on fear and hunger.
Hauling the wood in his arms—more than he’d have normally risked carrying in less distracting circumstances—Ivan quickly took note of all the kids milling about. With a rough camp established, they were getting bored. The mental part of this would be harder than dealing with the automated monsters; he couldn’t punch away a group of kids’ growing unrest, even knowing it might eventually lead to panic.
They had to keep the scouts engaged and mentally active, doing more than thinking about their situation. Having them run around or burn energy was the easiest fix, but one they couldn’t rely on with such limited supplies. Higher activity meant sweat, which would lead to emptying their pitiful water reserves all the faster, quickening everyone’s panic. Ivan didn’t have a solution, nor did one jump to mind immediately. This was far past his area of expertise, even as a parent. The best he could do was handle one issue at a time and hope Helen was moving fast.
Ivan was barely done setting down the wood when he spotted Yuri zipping over. She was walking briskly, without trying to appear in a hurry—performative for the scouts, obviously. Whatever the issue, it was only intended for adult ears.
“Why don’t you go check on everyone?” Ivan proposed to Beth, clapping off the final splinters from his hands. “Mallory and Caden are both unsettled by surprises. We should make sure they’re holding up all right.”
She responded with a mock-salute, smile fixed in place, happy to help. “Can do!”
By the time Yuri reached Ivan, Beth was already halfway across the camp; her lack of care for optics meant that she could scramble along at great speeds. Rather than let Yuri broach her topic, Ivan motioned her to follow slightly, getting them to the edge of camp. Not terribly subtle, but he suspected that would be a growing theme as the ordeal wore on.
Eyes to the sky, Ivan tried to estimate how long they’d been inside the orb already. This place’s night wasn’t too far off, though how that corresponded to time in the real world would be total speculation. Anything that folded space this much usually messed with the chronoflow as well. No matter how he squinted, it had been more than a little while. Long enough that soon, he’d need to start worrying about monsters again.
“Hey, it was Ivan, right?”
“Correct, although I certainly wouldn’t have held forgetting against you, considering the circumstances.” He noted the awkward shift in her movement and the way her eventual stance favored the back foot. Not a topic she was looking forward to, then.
“Listen, I was talking with Trey, and it seems like maybe sitting around isn’t the best idea. If there’s nothing out there, we should be hunting for an exit.”
Having kids had taught Ivan a tremendous amount of lessons, one of the most salient of which was patience. Yuri wasn’t stupid, merely afraid and inexperienced. She’d been hurled from her comfort zone, and didn’t even have the luxury of panic with all the scouts looking to her for support. Chiding her would get them nowhere; however, Ivan also had to align her thinking. Resources were too thin for major mistakes.
“Much as it might feel that way, I promise you, we are following the correct strategy.”
More weight on the back foot, yet she didn’t actually shift her position. “How can you be so sure about that? We’ve got no capes, no idea if anyone else even knows we’re in trouble, and the only two people actually trying to get us out of here weren’t exactly substantial looking. Someone like Trey would have better luck.”
“If Trey’s strength is so vital, perhaps it’s best used to protect the children.”
“From what?” Yuri demanded. “There’s nothing here. We’ve scouted all around the tower, totally empty. We’re wasting someone who could be helping to get us out.”
Given that Ivan had slaughtered the first wave of enemies, then refused to move on, whatever came next was guaranteed to be more troublesome. Not by Ivan’s standards, but strong enough that Trey would be pulped the first time he met one of the incoming creatures. If he let the man leave, it was a death sentence. While that was a sacrifice Ivan would make if the situation demanded, they were quite a way from reaching that point yet. More people to watch the kids would make Ivan’s work protecting them easier, and besides, he didn’t dislike Yuri or Trey. Wanting to help wasn’t bad, they just lacked understanding on how to best apply their strengths to the situation.
“Perhaps, or perhaps the monsters here only come out at night.” Ivan pointed up to the fake sky, where the not-sun was drifting toward the horizon. “Given that we’re surrounded by a forest, nocturnal threats would make sense.”
“It’s not a real forest,” Yuri pointed out. She pressed her hand against a nearby tree, eyes narrowing at the sensation. Off, somehow, in a way that couldn’t quite be articulated any more than it could be denied.
Ivan nodded his agreement. “But it aims to be. It mimics one in appearance, so schedule makes just as much sense. My point is, before Trey goes off on his own, perhaps he should wait out one night with the group. Help soothe the kids, make sure we’re really as alone as we think.”
Her eyes followed his to the artificial sky, noting the way their version of a sun had shifted. Without looking, he could hear her stance change, her feet more solidly rooted.
“I guess it doesn’t make much sense to start out in unfamiliar terrain with night approaching. But if it passes without incident, he’s going to head out. We don’t need this many people to keep the kids corralled. Getting out of here needs to be the top priority.”
“Let’s worry about making it through the night first,” Ivan suggested. “To that effect, my daughter procured us quite a bit of firewood. Perhaps we should get the scouts to work building a proper pit. It shouldn’t strain them much, and will occupy their time.”
Yuri caught the idea quickly, already on board. “Fire also doesn’t hurt in case there are any animals out here, or we find a water source to purify.”
Her optimism felt misplaced, but then, Ivan had never been in this particular creation of Cobblord’s. It was always possible he’d built the model to be sustainable. If nothing else, Ivan wasn’t going to take away her hope. That was something vital they needed to cling to, especially as time here wore on.
While Yuri headed back to camp, Ivan turned his attention from the sky to the forest beyond. It wouldn’t be long now, and the next wave would come. His original plan had been to slip away in the hecticness, crush their assault before it ever drew close, and then return before being missed. Unfortunately, going that route had a strong chance of getting Trey killed. More than that, he’d already spotted a few scouts poking around the borders of the camp, exploring their boundaries the way children always did. Ivan couldn’t be sure he’d caught every trap and danger, so they needed to be kept out of the woods—a much harder task with nothing to be afraid of.
To keep this working, Ivan was going to have to let the scouts know that there was danger in these woods—all without letting them get hurt, and ideally while keeping his own identity hidden. This was why Ivan loathed situations in which he had to protect people; his skills were never suited for it. Everything about Ivan was built for destruction. At his peak, he could make natural disasters shit their pants. The most he could do now was make a plan, hope for the best, and trust in Helen.
Though he really hoped she wasn’t taking her sweet time with ending this.
It was extremely tempting to use super-speed. Make an excuse, slip ahead of Tori, change, and blast through the rest of this labyrinth before they missed what counted as dinner at the End of Summer Shindig. Helen had two major hang-ups staying her speedy feet, however, the l
argest of which was not being sure of how the labyrinth would react. Zipping through the experience seemed like the sort of thing that would trip countermeasures; no big deal if they fell on her, very big deal if they impacted the kids. Even past the safety concerns, Helen might have still kept to this strategy, if not for the lack of clues.
Right now, she had zero. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Helen could rule out guild involvement, barring another coup attempt, which seemed early so soon after the last. The organization was much too smart to take this kind of swing, and against Ivan’s own children... no, definitely not the guild. The AHC was out, as well. The only one who might do something like this was Vernon, and he’d never outsource that kind of work. His pride wouldn’t bear it.
Taking those two off the board, Helen was working blind. She had no idea what this was about, the target, the goals, any of it. Until she understood what was happening, it would be difficult to prevent repeats from occurring. Knowing an enemy’s plans made thwarting them vastly easier.
So Helen trod on next to Tori, never letting on just how powerful she could be if the need arose. Watching Ivan’s apprentice had been fascinating. It was strange to see the places where his guidance had plainly left its mark. No wonder the two got along: they were emotionally closed off peas in their sardonic little pod. Yet Helen could also see Tori’s differences: the way she examined every detail, the careful thought constantly at work behind those brown eyes. Ivan’s guidance had always come from his gut; he trusted the impulses that had kept him alive above virtually any other source. It was what made Fornax so unpredictable, and so interesting.
Up the eroded steps inside the building—which was an interesting design choice in itself, considering this place wasn’t actually ancient. Or was it? Helen didn’t know if Cobblord made these to look distressed, or if he built them new and then found a way to age them. Either way, the effect was impressive—a few of the stones even gave way under Helen’s feet near the end of the staircase.
At the top, there was only a single archway open. The rest had been blocked off by coincidentally fallen rubble, adding weight to the idea that the scene was designed like this. Expecting rocks to fall in a certain pattern was a stretch, even for a craftsman of Cobblord’s caliber.
Outside the door, Tori hesitated, giving Helen a chance to put herself directly in front. Secrets were well and good when one could keep them, but she wasn’t going to risk letting Tori be hurt. Hiding the fact that she was Lodestar wasn’t allowed to grow more important than actually being Lodestar, a personal rule she’d settled on a long time ago.
Despite the shadowy appearance, there was no mildew or dankness as they entered the new hallway, just more stones as dry as those outside. Nicer on their noses, but not a great sign for this place having any drinkable water. If there were any, it probably would have been used for ambiance. As it was, the hall still cast a foreboding aura: long, looming, with sharp stones jutting out at odd angles. With every few steps, sconces near the ceiling burst into flame, lighting the way ahead.
Finally, they left the hallway as it opened into a vast chamber. At least fifty feet high, with odd breaks all along the walls, it appeared to be entirely empty, save only for a large metal pit directly in the center. As an old hand at these things, Helen wasn’t surprised when a stone slab dropped into place behind them, blocking their exit. Nor was she ruffled when pitch-black flames suddenly burst forth from the room’s pit. Not even the sudden voice that filled the room truly caught her off guard.
The words it spoke, on the other hand, shocked Helen so greatly she very nearly let out an un-Lodestar-like curse.
“Welcome to the first chamber of testing. It is a pleasure to see you’ve made it this far... Fornax.”
Chapter 81
It felt like the stale air had been sucked from the room. Both women tensed, albeit for quite different reasons, as the booming voice continued to echo around them.
“Surprised? Did you think it was coincidence that you’d ended up here, or perhaps that we were after your little pet?”
Tori’s hands tried to ball up, but she denied them. Getting riled up on someone else’s terms didn’t suit her need for the moment. She had to be clear-headed until there was a chance to find this motherfucker, then the payback could start.
“No, Fornax, this was all for you. I’d have preferred peace—we never meant to steal your toy—but I know how your guild feels about grudges, to say nothing of your own reputation. My green little helper all but begged me not to mention that she was the one tasked with trapping you. Silly thing still believes you’ll be a threat afterward. Consider this a warning, a show of force, and a threat. Because we know about you. We know, for example, that right now, you’ve almost certainly been barreling through this maze, fearful of what will happen to those kids while you’re gone. To say nothing of your sweet Beth.”
“Oh shit.” Tori didn’t mean to speak; the words came out entirely on their own. Glancing over, she found a severe expression on Helen’s face.
While outwardly she had better control, Helen’s internal reaction was more or less on par with Tori’s. Ivan was generally dependable, predictable, a functioning member of society. Except when people went for his family. That was when Fornax showed he was capable of more than wanton slaughter; hunting people for vengeance had been that monster’s entire purpose, the inferno of hate that fueled him. Attempting to provoke that side of Ivan, even as a bluff, was absolutely fucking insane. The trail of destruction he’d leave would be horrific, if she didn’t stop him first.
“I’m sure by now you’ve discovered that any attempts at skipping sections, teleportation, and strong warping of the chronoflow will all trigger more of Cobblord’s pets to appear. What you likely haven’t learned is that in each occurrence, the same enemies spawn near the starting area, where you’ll have had to leave those children undefended. We wanted to see what you could do when properly motivated; you understand. That’s also why that entire area will get rapidly more dangerous as the hours pass. Perhaps you left your pet to buy them a little time, but she won’t last long. You need to hurry, Fornax. Hurry if you want to save them. And remember that this was nothing more than a display. We know your name. We know your loved ones.”
The flames roared suddenly, rising up from the pit as the voice reached a crescendo that bordered on a hiss. “Stay out of my way!”
With that, the fire vanished, though Tori noted there were still lit sconces showing them an empty room. More than just that, there was a creaking and rustling coming from all around them. Tori strained her eyes, trying to see into walls’ dark voids where the light refused to reach. No luck, and while Tori did love both cursing and darkness, in this instance, she decided to flick on a light. Forming a fireball in her hand, Tori reared back and chunked it through the air, sending it blazing along to splash roughly against one of the opening’s corners. From the brief flash, she could make out more rocks and a splash of green, which likely meant foliage. Those were secondary observations, however. The most important factor was apparent the moment her light had landed: movement. Something was moving in those walls.
“Stay calm.” Helen’s voice was steady, a sharp contrast to the shifting surroundings. “This is going to be a fight. We have to accept that and adapt.” She wished she felt half as sure as she sounded. Someone was picking a fight with Fornax, and that was nuts, but the truly crazy part was that Helen still had no idea who it was. She had firsthand experience with every major threat to attack the world for the last few decades, the sorts of people who even could come at Fornax and the guild, none of whom fit the bill. Not like this, and not that voice.
Reorienting herself, Tori put her back to Helen, making sure they had eyes on all angles. “Any thoughts on what we’re facing?”
“Something manageable. Remember, Cobblord’s skills might be for sale, but he’s consistent with his art, and that means an escalating challenge.” The part Helen was leaving out was that this was a slidin
g scale built with Fornax in mind, but she’d deal with that once it mattered. “Based on the layout, I’d expect multiple attacks coming from different directions, probably triggered as soon as we head toward the pit to examine it for clues.”
That lined up with Tori’s observations, so it was as fine a working theory as any. “Gotcha. Okay, so what’s in our favor? That whole monologue was for...” Tori’s words faltered, as she suddenly realized just how vague they’d really been when discussing who Ivan was. From what Helen said, she might know it all, or only that he was a meta with a past. No one had actually said the name Fornax. A moment of thought made Tori realize the issue was beyond her control. The voice had called out Beth by name. There was no denying the connection.
“The monologue was for Ivan.” Tori couldn’t bring herself to use that name around someone else, even if the cat was freed from its bag. “So whoever made this can’t communicate directly. Hopefully, they can’t see anything either, or make adjustments on the fly. This whole thing was built with the expectation that only one person would be here.”
“Meaning that only one of us needs to go down to trip the attack,” Helen agreed. “Which will be me.”
“I’m not sure—”
Without hesitation, Helen cut her off, noting the way the sounds were getting louder. No matter the circumstances, the labyrinth got antsy when people stood still for too long. “Tori, you hit from a range. I punch and kick. Of the two of us, which can do a better job drawing attention, and which can do better sniping?”
