by Eric Vall
“That’s correct,” the god exclaimed as he rolled in the air onto his back and crossed his arms, “but unfortunately, that doesn’t count, you already gave me your answer. Sorry.”
“Why did you do that, Rana?” Annalíse said with unmistakable irritation. “I had just started to figure it out. If you had talked it over with the rest of us, we wouldn’t have lost this round.”
“Annalíse is correct.” I sighed. “These puzzles require collaboration. Even if you had no doubt that your answer was correct, you should have consulted us first. There is far too much at stake here.” I understood Rana’s independent nature, but this was not the time for her to rely on her solely on her own skills.
“Sorry,” Rana grumbled as she shoved her hands in her pockets and stared off to the side. “That was a pretty dumb riddle if you ask me.”
“My goodness, such a sore loser,” the deity said mockingly. “But enough griping, time to say farewell to one of your teammates.”
“Oh no, I forgot about that,” Carmedy said fearfully. “Which one of is going to--”
Without warning, the childish god snapped his fingers, and the feline woman disappeared.
“Carmedy!” the rest of the women shouted, but she was already gone. While I too was concerned about Carmedy’s well-being, my sole focus was on the childish god.
“What did you do with her?” Rana growled at the rotund giant.
“Now, why would you ask me a silly question like that?” the deity giggled while still on his back. “I told you what would happen if you lost one of the games.”
“But where is she?” Rana said through gritted teeth.
“Don’t worry about that,” the god said as he casually stretched his limbs and scratched at his substantial belly. “You have more important things to concern yourselves with, like winning the next game!” he said gleefully.
“You said we’ll get her back if we win more games than you do, right?” Rana narrowed her blue eyes.
“Yes, yes we’ve been over all of that.” The irritating deity rolled his eyes, his tone now utterly bored. “Now, let’s move on to the next puzzle.” He rolled himself over and seated himself in the air, his legs crossed as he had before.
“Is it another riddle?” Annalíse asked.
“No.” The flabby being shook his head. “I only wanted to do another one before because I wanted to see you fail. You did, so now I’m done with riddles,” he said nonchalantly. Morrigan’s lips pinched together to form a tight line while Rana, Annalíse, and I glowered at the insolent god. I was growing tired of this deity’s commentary, it was infuriating. I wanted to end his foolish games right then and there, but I resisted the urge. My minions would never develop their own powers if I simply won every encounter for them. I had to walk a careful line between ensuring they developed and protecting them from death.
“What is the third puzzle going to be then?” I asked as I tried to control my anger.
“Hmm.” The deity folded his arms as he thought for a few moments. Then he suddenly gasped and clasped his hands. “I know, how about we do the maze next? That should be fun.”
“Fun?” Rana snorted. “Who said this was fun?”
“Oh sorry,” the god said with mock innocence as he brought a finger to his lips. “I didn’t mean it’d be fun for you, I was talking about me.” He slapped his knee and burst into laughter.
“Can we just move on?” Annalíse tapped her foot annoyedly. “You said something about a maze?”
“Yes,” the deity said as he calmed his shrill laughter. “Well, it’s more of a labyrinth. It’s quite a masterpiece if I do say so myself. No one has ever made it past the maze,” the god said proudly.
“So how does this work?” Annalíse asked. “We simply have to find our way through the labyrinth, and that’s it?”
“Oh, if only it were that easy.” The giant shook his head slowly and gave us an evil grin. “To put it simply, yes, all you have to do is make it through, if you survive that is. There is no time limit for this round.”
“There is something that you are withholding, tell us,” Morrigan said impatiently. Even her ravens seemed irritated, and they cawed and flapped their wings restlessly.
“Yes, I suppose there is,” the god said with a chuckle, “but I want to see the look on your faces when you see what surprises are waiting for you in there. So, I don’t think I’ll tell you.”
“That’s not fair,” Rana said angrily.
“It’s my game,” the floating deity said with a sinister smile. “I make the rules. You can refuse to continue playing of course, oh, but wait, you won’t get your friend back.”
“He’s right, unfortunately,” Annalíse said as she turned to the fox woman. “We have to, for Carmedy.”
“Alright.” Rana sighed as she ran a hand through her curly red hair. “Let’s get this over with.”
“As you wish,” the deity said with a wry grin as he raised his palm to the air. Immediately after the god lifted his hand, the ground beneath our feet started to rumble and shake. The remaining members of the group looked down at the floor in surprise.
“What in the--” Rana breathed but her words caught in her throat when countless walls of rock burst from the ground one after another.
“Everyone, stay close together,” I shouted, and my minions quickly huddled around me in a group. The massive walls sprang up all around us, and they began to stretch far over our heads. Then the chubby god burst into uncontrollable giggles as he watched the confused and horrified expressions of my minions from above.
“This is too rich,” the giant gasped in between his laughter. “The look on your faces… it’s priceless! This is one of the many reasons why the maze is my absolute fav--” The god’s laughter choked to a halt when I scowled up at him as he floated above us and our eyes locked. After a minute or so, the walls finally stopped growing, and the four of us gazed at our new surroundings. The walls had completely surrounded us, the labyrinth had swallowed us whole.
“I can’t believe this,” Rana whispered as she looked at the four different paths that branched away from us. “This can’t be real.”
“It is real,” I said gravely, “and we have to find a way out of here as soon as possible.”
“As soon as possible?” Rana said in confusion. “But there’s no time limit. We can take our time on this one… and I promise I’ll work with you guys this time,” the fox woman said embarrassedly as she scratched her head.
“I know that he said there’s no time limit, but I don’t trust him,” I said quickly. “Remember what he said about there being surprises in here? I don’t know what he has planned for us, but it’s certainly not going to be good. We need to get through this as quickly and efficiently as we can before we find out what those surprises are.”
“Right,” Annalíse and Rana said in unison, and Morrigan nodded in response. Without warning, Annalíse unsheathed her sword and charged into one of the passageways.
“Wait!” I shouted after the swordswoman. The tall woman skidded to a halt and looked back at me over her shoulder with a question in her eyes. “Let’s come up with a plan first.”
“But you said we have to hurry,” Annalíse said as her face twisted into a perplexed look.
“Yes, but we can’t simply run wild without some sort of strategy.” I shook my head. Annalíse’s way of doing things would only result in disaster, and I realized I was going to have to take more of a leadership role in this situation.
“Might I make a suggestion?” Morrigan said calmly.
“Certainly.” I motioned for her to continue.
“To begin with, I believe that our best course of action is to stay together, not run rampant through the passages individually,” the white-haired elf said with a quick glance in Annalíse’s direction. The freckled woman bristled at the comment but listened quietly. “Secondly, Rana, while not the most efficient in combat, has exceptional instincts and is skilled in navigation. Perhaps she should lead the way.”
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“Thanks, Morrigan, I think,” Rana said with a chuckle.
“That’s an excellent idea.” I nodded. I was both impressed and pleasantly surprised by the logic of Morrigan’s plan. Not only that, I was pleased that she had spoken up and offered her opinion despite her aloof nature.
Annalíse walked back over to us and looked off to the side in frustration. Her face began to turn a distinct shade of crimson, and she shuffled her feet uncomfortably as she waited for Rana to figure out which direction to take. Annalíse had behaved similarly right before we had entered the illusion goddess’s dungeon. She hadn’t been pleased by the fact that I had been the one to lead our group into the cavern. The brown-haired woman hadn’t voiced her displeasure, but it had been written all over her face.
“Ah, you’ve chosen the fox to lead you,” the round deity gazed down at us haughtily. “Smart move. It won’t save you, but at least now you won’t die as quickly. I’ll get to savor my entertainm--”
“If you don’t shut that fat face of yours, I’m going to shut it for you,” Rana suddenly snapped, and the giant god clamped his mouth shut in surprise, crossed his arms, and began to pout.
“I don’t have a fat face,” the childish deity grumbled.
The fox woman, of course, couldn’t do anything to harm the god, he was out of reach and lounging about in the air above us. Even if he hadn’t been, Rana wouldn’t have been able to inflict any serious damage, but her sharp words still seemed to have startled the god.
After she had silenced the fleshy arrogant being, Rana closed her eyes, and her ears began to twitch repeatedly as she sniffed at the air.
“Hmm,” she murmured. “Well we definitely want to avoid this path.” The fox woman indicated the path in front of us. “I can hear something coming from that direction, something big. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t think I want to stick around to find out.”
“Alright.” I nodded. “How about the path behind us?” I gestured to the rear passageway. Rana’s brow furrowed as she concentrated on her task.
“No,” the red-headed woman said with her eyes still shut. “I’m picking up some distant screeching and snarling. My guess, it’s goblins. There’s two… no, three of them all together. We could probably take them, but it would waste time.”
“Understood,” I said. Rana was silent for a few more moments.
“This one,” the fox finally said, and her blue eyes flew open as she pointed to the path to our right. “I don’t hear anything coming in this direction. At least, not right now. I’ll keep my ears open while we’re in there,” Rana continued. “Everyone, pay close attention to my movements. I’m going to try to get us through here quickly, so there’s not going to be any time for discussion at each turn. No questions about why I’m going this way or that way or any arguments. Follow where I lead and stop when I signal you.” Rana held up a paw in the air to demonstrate. “Everyone understand?”
The rest of us nodded in affirmation. Rana had wasted no time taking charge of the situation. She was confident in her abilities, and I too had no doubt that she would successfully lead us through the labyrinth. It was unfortunate that Annalíse’s feelings had gotten hurt, but clearly, Rana had been the best choice.
“Good, let’s go.” Rana motioned for the rest of us to follow her as she quickly walked down the passageway. Morrigan went next, then myself, and finally Annalíse. I was surprised that the swordswoman had chosen to be last in line. Perhaps she was still upset over Rana being chosen to lead us, but there was no time for that. She needed to be on her toes. Her sulking would only make our situation more difficult. She would probably be distracted by her own thoughts, leaving her virtually blind. It was imperative that we all be on high alert.
There was no telling what unspeakable dangers awaited us within this ominous maze, but we would soon find out.
Chapter 15
Rana swiftly zigzagged through the passageways, her ears continued to twitch in this or that direction, and every few moments, she sniffed at the air. Our party was silent as the fox woman led us through one path after another. She had been right to warn us to pay close attention to her. For a while, Rana would continue to go straight, then without warning, she’d choose a path that branched off to the right or left. She was trying to avoid the monsters in the maze, and so far, she was doing an excellent job. We hadn’t come across any, but I knew that this could change at any moment. The creatures in the labyrinth weren’t merely going to stay in one place, they would weave through the twisting paths as we did.
“Not bad,” I heard the floating deity say from above us. “You might live even longer than I thought you would.”
I couldn’t look up to see whatever ridiculous expression he had plastered on his face this time. I had to keep my eyes on Rana, and I was also getting tired of the flabby giant’s face. As we wove in and out of the passageways without pause, the heat from the rocky walls grew in intensity. Was Carmedy’s cooling elixir starting to wear off? If she were here, she could have given us another dose of whatever lengthy-named substance she had given us. This challenge may not have been timed, but it still felt as though time wasn’t on our side.
“The temperature is increasing,” Rana said without looking back at us, and she made a sharp right turn. “We’ve gotta get out of here before we get fried. I’m sure the monsters in here would love to snack on tasty fried fox legs and I--” Suddenly, Rana held up her paw as a signal for us to stop, and she looked down at the ground.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Is there something coming?”
“No,” Rana mumbled, and she continued to scrutinize the ground.
“Then why have we stopped?” Morrigan said impatiently. “Was the plan not to move swiftly?”
“It’s the ground,” Rana said quietly as she squatted down and placed a paw on the stone floor. She frowned down at it, and her fox ears continued to twitch. “It’s almost like it’s--”
The fox woman’s words were cut off when, without warning, the entire maze began to tilt to the left. Rana, still in a squatted position, tumbled to the side. Then the women all shouted out as we lost our footing and rolled down one of the passageways like marbles down a hill. As we slid, I clawed and grasped at the tilted ground in an effort to get some sort of handhold, but there was nothing. Every surface was smooth, undisturbed rock. Our uncontrolled descent stopped when we each slammed into a wall and fell on top of one another. We each rubbed at our sore bodies as we tried to pick ourselves up from the wall that had now basically become the floor.
“I told you there were some fun surprises in here,” the colossal deity cackled. I glanced up at him and saw him clutching at his meaty sides as he threw his head back and laughed. “And that’s just surprise number one.”
“The monsters were enough.” Rana groaned as she massaged the shoulder that had collided with the wall. “How many surprises are in here?”
“Oh, just a few,” the god said through his high-pitched giggles. Suddenly, the labyrinth began to tilt again, but this time in the opposite direction. We tumbled one after another, knocking into each other and bumping into the walls every so often. As my skin brushed against one of the stony walls, I felt a burning sensation. Before the sides of the passageway had only been at an uncomfortable level of heat, but this time, it had actually burned my skin. How could it possibly be getting hotter in here? We finally rammed into an opposite wall, and once again, we collapsed into heaps of limbs.
“Oops, sorry,” the hovering deity snorted. “It does that sometimes.”
“Morrigan, I really wish your ravens could chow down on this arrogant pig’s soul,” Rana said angrily as she narrowed her eyes at the chortling god that was above our heads.
“As do I,” Morrigan said darkly, her voice almost sounded like a growl.
We each attempted to steady ourselves, and we began a slow and shaky walk along the wall that had become the floor. We held out our arms as we teetered along the maze’s side and fought to
keep our balance. Every so often, one of us would stumble or start to tilt to one side.
Every time it looked like we were making a little progress and got used to walking on the walls, the labyrinth would tilt again. Once we slid forward, a couple of times we rolled backward, and I lost count of how many times we were thrown to the left or right. I tried to count the seconds in between the tilts so that, even though we couldn’t know which direction the maze was going to tilt, we would at least be able to brace ourselves. But the timing between each abrupt slant was sporadic. I counted thirteen seconds, sixty-five seconds, thirty-seven, ninety-two… making a prediction was impossible. I hoped that the maze wasn’t going to turn like this for the rest of our time in here, it would take us forever to escape it if we were constantly getting tossed around and unable to control our direction. There was no way of telling where we’d end up.
I stole a glance at the exasperating deity above our heads as we clumsily made our way through the labyrinth. He lounged in the air on his stomach as though he were lying on a bed. He wore a bored expression and casually waved his hand over his mouth as he yawned.
“That’s enough of that,” he said as he stretched. “Let’s make things a little more interesting.” He snapped his fingers, and gradually the maze began to tilt back to its original position. Our party looked around confusedly as our feet met with the floor once more. What was this deity planning on doing? He certainly wasn’t taking pity on us or deciding to let us go. He had made it very clear that he thought we were his playthings. I guessed that whatever he was up to, it was going to be even worse than what we had experienced.
Once again, I resisted the urge to wave my hand and allocate a fraction of my power to destroy him.
Rana wasted no time asking questions as she hurried to guide us through the rest of the maze. Without speaking, she made a series of several sharp turns. Left, right, left, then left again, then right before she continued straight for some time. I gave the floating giant another quick glance and observed that he no longer wore an expression of boredom. Now, his chubby face held that same toothy and smug look that I had already grown so tired of.
