Lost in Time (Forgotten Daughter part 3)

Labyrinth

Ali's brain hurt from all the twists and turns. She was trying to make a mental map of the Labyrinth, but it wasn't long before she was completely lost, wanted to pull her hair out, and realized it was a lost cause.

Finally, she leaned against the wall in defeat, tearing her fingers through her hair. What was she supposed to do? She had to get back to camp. She had to warn everyone, but right now she was getting nowhere.

The passed three days had been... awful. She kept running into dead ends; stumbling into monster lairs; and losing her mind over the sheer size of the ever-growing maze. She was lucky to be alive, but all she thought about was getting back to camp. Hopefully, she wasn't too late.

Taking a deep breath, she stretched her aching arms and pushed off the wall. She needed to keep moving.
* * *
Ali skidded around the corner, panting, her heart racing. She pressed herself against the wall and held her breath. She watched the corner expectantly.

A massive silhouette appeared in the opening. It sniffed the air, looking down the tunnel towards her then it turned and continued down the other passage.

Ali released her breath and sank to the floor. She stared at the ceiling. That was way too close. She sucked down long breaths to calm her pounding heart. Then, she stood and turned down the corridor. She had to be getting close to something, anything. She didn't know how much longer she could last down here.
                                    *   *   *
Ali punched the wall as she walked back into a round room for what seemed like the hundredth time. A stinging pain rushed up her arm and her knuckles were bleeding when she pulled her hand back. This was hopeless. She'd tried every branching tunnel and they all led back here. What was so important about this room? Exasperated, she flopped onto the edge of the empty fountain in the middle of the room. She laid down on the cold stone rim. She was trapped in an endless loop with no other options.

Her head lulled sideways so she was staring at the central column of the fountain. It was carved with so many symbols that she almost missed the Greek delta engraved into the center, just above a crumbling water spout halfway up the stone pillar.

Sitting bolt upright, she reached out and touched the delicate symbol. It glowed blue and the bottom of the fountain dropped away, forming a spiral staircase into the darkness below.

Her heart skipped a beat. She wasn't overly excited to be heading down, but she didn't really have a choice. Steeling herself, she stepped onto the staircase and walked cautiously into the blackness.
* * *
Surprise. The staircase led to more tunnels, more confusion, and more frustration. The steps had retracted behind her, cutting her off from the round room, and she hoped she never had to see it again.

The complex of twisting tunnels seemed to continue on forever and she couldn't imagine anyone being able to navigate it, even with a magic compass.

She paused when she heard a sound like metal scraping against stone. Gripping her dagger, she scanned the many passageways for signs of a threat. Nothing. She started to relax, when something whipped out of the shadows and wrapped around her calf.

A pain shot up her right leg as she tripped and nearly face planted on the hard stone floor.

Looking down, she found a metal cable spiraled around her lower leg and over her knee. She moved to free herself, but it was layered in a slimy adhesive that clung to her leg.

As she reach for her dagger to cut herself loose, something jerked the cable and it sank into her flesh, cutting through her pants and into her leg.

She failed to suppress a scream as the bladed wire sliced her open. Breathing hard, she reached for the cable.

Another jerk dragged her forward and pulled the blades deeper into her leg.

A silhouette moved in the shadows, massive and multi-legged. Creaking mechanical sounds issued from its body. Two of its legs pinched the cable between their feet and started pulling Ali towards it.

Ali struggled, reaching for something to grab onto and slow her approach, trying to grasp her knife. The blades circling her leg tightened, cutting deeper. As she slid closer to the machination, she realized it was a huge spider-like automaton. The bladed cable was its web. She dug in her heel, pushing against the spider's strength.

It was made completely of celestial bronze. It's eight eyes were crimson in color and glowing faintly. Thousands of tiny gears and cogs held the metal monster together, all shifting and clicking as the spider moved its huge legs.

Finally, she managed to grab her dagger and unsheathe it. The spider was right on top of her. Her grip tightened on her knife. Her eyes flashed silver and her blade erupted in silver flames, tipped with a green hue of poison. She released a pained cry as she drove the flaming blade into the spiders bronze head.

It let out a deafening mechanical roar. Silver flames blasted through its body, setting fire to the oil coursing through its artificial veins.

Ali tried to stop herself, tried to quell the flames, but she couldn't.

Soon, the fire reached the spiders main power source and the whole thing exploded.

Ali just had time to shield her face before the shrapnel slammed into her and threw her backwards.
* * *
Ali groaned, pushing a mutilated sheet of celestial bronze off herself as she sat up. Everything hurt and almost everything was bleeding. She moved her legs to stand up, but a wave of pain crashed through her right leg. The spiders bladed web was still embedded in the limb.

Hands shaking, she sliced herself free of the mangled pile of scraps that had once been the spider. She sheathed her knife and took a long shaky breath. She reached for the end of the web and pulled it away from her leg, flinching as the first two inches of the blade slid out of her flesh with a squelch. Steeling herself, she gripped the sticky blade tighter and peeled the web slowly free of her leg. She clenched her jaw, but couldn't resist crying out as the pain surged through her body.

Finally, the end of the blade released her flesh. She leaned back against the wall, breathing hard. Blood gushed from the wound that spiral up her calf, passed her knee and a third of the way up her thigh. Using her knife, she sliced a strip of her shirt off and wrapped it around her leg just above the injury. Looping the cloth around itself, she jerked the knot tight to cut off circulation and slow the bleeding.

Heart pounding, breaths rattling in her chest, she leaned her head against the brick wall and squeezed her eyes shut. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

A/N
I enjoyed writing this chapter WAY too much. *evil laugh*😈
Hope you enjoyed reading it.
-Cheshire