Katerin squared her shoulders and walked around the tower, scanning it for any entrance. Finding none with her own vision, she cast a spell, passing her fingers in front of her eyes.
Everything glowed in a different light now, startling bright colors of the arcane, pastel colors of natural magic, the radiant and glowing colors of divine magic, and the washed out and dull colors of necrotic and blood magic.
Fykes, Arjiah, and Brazen searched with her, and finally, she pointed. Hidden from the naked eye was a doorway, wide enough for one person. She laid a hand on the tower cautiously and began climbing, using the sharp and uneven obsidian to heave herself up, being careful not to get cut.
As she climbed through the hidden entrance, a chill ran down her spine, accompanied by a dizzying feeling she had to shake away. The room was by no means small, and low red lights lit up around a door across the way, but everything else was bathed in shadow. She had nothing to tie the rope to, so she gritted her teeth and held it taught, trying to keep an eye on her surroundings as she pulled Fykes up. From there they worked until Juen'tal appeared in the doorway, the last one to climb up.
"This is pleasant," Fykes remarked, as Katerin checked over the opposite door for any traps or magical runes.
She snorted at him. Pleasant was not the wording she would have chosen.
The doorway led into a narrow hall that quickly broke and split in two directions. The red lights were sparse and cast an eerie glow on the shining black stone. They turned left, then right, then left again. As they walked on, Katerin felt even more confused and lost.
The light cast shadows that showed alcoves where none resided.
"It's not a hallway," Arjiah said, with a groan, after several minutes of walking. "It's a maze."
Katerin cursed in dwarvish, drawing a few funny looks from the rest of the group. "Fykes, do you have any ink? I need two colors."
He frowned at her but reached into his patched cloak and held out two small vials of ink.
Katerin handed one to Arjiah, "Walk with me. I'll mark the halls the first time we pass them."
"And I'll mark them if we pass them again." Arjiah nodded, a worried look in her eyes.
Katerin grimaced and leaned toward her. "Hopefully it works... I've only read about it," she whispered. She looked up to the rest of the group. "Keep an eye on the corners as we walk. We want to avoid any path we've already taken," she said, and they all nodded.
Arnet smiled as he stared at the large crystal orb on the table. They wandered without an idea of the trick. "They brought quite a few friends."
"That won't matter," Byron said, kneeling in the sand in the center of the arena Arnet had created and finishing the last of his magical preparations.
Arnet turned his focus back to the orb and watched them walk. He was amused at how long it took them to figure out the halls were not normal, but neither were they a maze. He had enjoyed creating this trap for them. It would wear them out, put them on edge, and maybe even cause them to turn on each other, should they wander long enough.
Finally, they stopped walking in circles. Marking their passage with ink, and he smiled again. Maybe the girl deserved more credit, after all. Ink would not solve it, but many of his pets had spent days walking this same trick, slowly losing their minds. "Are you sure?" he asked. "There's ten of them." He grinned at his thoughts. Ten new pets could be fun.
"Ten?" Byron asked, standing and coming to glance at the crystal. He studied the faces, never showing his surprise. Graiden, Juen'tal, Ge'henna's brother.
"Get rid of those." He gestured to the Uhma'zarhins, then turned his gaze to Ge'henna's brother. "Leave him, though. I want him here."
Arnet smiled and moved the crystal to the side of the table, pulling a large ruby from his robes. He closed his eyes and began chanting, the volume of his words rising and falling.
They walked for hours more. Tracing their path and making small amounts of progress. Finally, they found the end, they thought. A large room, empty save for another door.
Katerin's sigh was cut off by a harsh popping sound, followed by a light clink. She spun to see them all staring at the ground. The Uhma'zarhins were gone and in their place was a large ruby, the size of Katerin's fist. Juen'tal watched it warily as Graiden moved up and picked up the gem.
"What... was that?" she asked.
He stared at it and could only shrug. "You're the one with arcane knowledge." He handed her the gem, and knelt to the floor, searching for any sign of the Uhma'zarhins.
It was hot to the touch, almost burning her skin, and magic flowed around it. But she had no clue what it was or what it had done. It was far more powerful than she was. Her stomach knotted. "We need to find our way out of this," she said quietly, before that can happen again.
"Your system seems to be working," Graiden said as if trying to reassure her. But she only seemed to deflate that much more. He squeezed her arm. "We won't get stuck here."
She nodded, keeping her thoughts to herself. "Can you hold onto this?" She handed him the gem. "I can study it later, but we need to keep moving."
They continued walking, marking every turn until she was convinced it might never end. Turn after turn, the lighting and look of the halls stayed the same. No doorways or anything else changed until the hallways gradually grew wider again. Wide enough for three to stand side by side. The silence was driving them all mad. Nothing besides their footsteps could be heard. The tight halls continued, never changing, and Fykes occasionally began humming until a plethora of angry glares silenced him again.
Katerin paused to glare at this most recent of dead ends and froze. Soft quick footsteps were coming from behind them. They grew louder until they thundered, and everyone readied their weapons. Far behind them, a hulking figure came bursting forward. Large horns curled around its head—its breath steaming as it barreled toward them.
Someone grabbed Katerin's arm and shoved her out of its path, pushing her against the wall. The creature charged into them, not slowing in the least. It shook its horns and threw Graiden back into the wall. He huffed out a breath and tried to reorient himself from the blow. It swung its head around, catching and grinding Brazen into the wall, as its jaw snapped for Auglier's arm. It bit down and tugged, but he grabbed one of its horns and tore its head away from him with a grunt.
*
Juen'tal's sword was already in hand, but to wield it here without hitting his allies was an issue. So instead, he stabbed it forward, with ferocity and his blade sank into the creature's thick shoulder. One beady, glowing eye looked at him as it snarled.
*
Katerin reached for Fykes' arm, still protectively across her, and cast a spell granting him better mobility and speed. His graceful and quick attacks left several more wounds on the creature, but none were enough to fell it. It backed away, shaking its too-large head.
*
Graiden pushed himself to his feet and threw his spear into its chest. The weapon impacted with a brilliant light, and as it returned to his hand, that same brilliant light lit up ideal places to target the creature--areas where it was unprotected or could not defend.
Arjiah pushed herself further back into the corner and released her spell. Mist enveloped Auglier's arm and sealed the wound on it.
*
Brazen came in behind his shield, slamming into the creature's front knee, his ax chopping into its shoulder.
Auglier let out a growl of his own and brought his even larger, heavier axe down towards its head. It caught on the horns, but still knocked the creature senseless for a moment.
*
Katerin held her hands forward, releasing a line of lightning through the creature. Wrapping it around Juen'tal, Brazen and Auglier. It left the closed-in space smelling terrible, but it did seem to hurt the thing. The creature swung its horns down and headbutted Auglier, dropping him to the ground. It kicked out at Graiden, and he managed to narrowly avoid the attack.
*
It stomped its hooves and pushed forward, ramming its head into Arjiah and the wall beyond. She let out a pained yell, as she felt her ribs strain under the blow. She crumpled to the floor, out of breath and unable to find more.
*
Graiden's spear jabbed forward and stuck into the side of the creature's neck. Before it returned to his hands, a soft glow filled the room, emerging from him, healing any wound it touched. His weapon reappeared in his hand and he adjusted his grip as his prayer faded. Fykes' blades sunk deep into the creature's leg, and it howled in anger, but could not turn its head fully into him.
*
Juen'tal snarled, not enjoying the tight quarters to fight this thing. He lunged for its back, carving a line across its side, and jumped atop it. He thrust his blades straight down, between its shoulder blades. It snarled and whined in protest, arching its back and standing up to slam him into the ceiling before falling to the stone floor with a heavy thump. Juen'tal slid off its back, and wobbled but landed on his feet. Blood flowed from his hairline, covering one eye. He wiped it away and glared at the creature as it vanished in a smoky haze as quickly as it had appeared.
*
Katerin gaped as it disappeared, and Fykes' face curled in disgust. More demons were not what they needed right now. Graiden leaned over Arjiah, and the same soft healing light filled the room again. Arjiah sighed and nodded her thanks to Graiden.
Katerin gave her a concerned look, but then noticed something as she looked at where Arjiah sat on the floor.
The wall did not meet the floor completely. There was a tiny gap just above the floor. She dropped to her knees, running a hand along the edge of the fake wall. She jammed her staff into a crack in the stone and released the magic in it. A crack appeared, with sound to match, which made them all turn to her in confusion. A large chunk of stone broke free but did not fall free of the wall.
The demon had been a blessing in disguise, it seemed. It had slammed Arjiah into the wall, with enough force to crack the stones. A faint red glow could be seen through the cracks.
"Help me move this, please," Katerin called to them, heaving a chunk of rubble away from the wall.
Auglier and Brazen stepped forward and hefted the stone away, tossing it into the hall behind them. Katerin huffed in relief. She had been right—there was a huge, open room on the other side of the wall. Large enough that each dead end they found could have hidden the way forward. She gritted her teeth in anger. It was not a maze after all. It was built only as a trick to mess with their minds.
A soft red light lit the room, the same as the halls.
As they all stepped through, Fykes grinned to Arjiah as she dusted herself off. "Arjiah, look what you found," he joked.
Her only reply was to give him an annoyed look.
Katerin observed the room quickly, finding a door at the opposite end that opened into another hall. But this one was far less like a maze. Katerin kept her growing despair in the back of her mind. They had been walking for so long now, it felt like days without light and the sounds of nature around them. Eventually, the halls ended, and the relief was audible among the group. They were in another room, but this one lacked any doors. They stood upon a platform at the far end that ended with a wall behind it. They searched every inch of the room before approaching the stone steps.
Fykes walked up the first step. Katerin grabbed his arm and gave him a pleading look. "No, you don't."
"It's got to be—"
"We don't know anything about what it is," she said.
The only way this place could exist was through an incredible magical control. And under that logic, its creator could easily alter anything it wished, on a whim. The previous hours they had spent here were obviously meant to stall them, but she was getting desperate. Fykes was only worsening, he was getting sicker by the minute.
Byron's words about him echoed in her mind, and she knew she was running out of time on every front. She stepped up the stairs, and a shiver ran down her spine. Her ability had increased tenfold since arriving in O'siaris, but it was nothing compared to the creator of this place. Worms of doubt chewed at her as she wondered if all this was futile. She could see Fykes worsening, his hands shaking as he held his blade. He was pale and sweating, telling her it was nothing.
But she knew the lie, knew what was happening.
She had no choice, now. No chance to walk away—fleeing out of fear would do nothing. It would only leave her a coward. It seemed both choices available to her held death. Death here, fighting to protect and discover what she loved, or death to a Reclaimer—an ancient and terrible technology.
She could not help but believe Byron when he told her the world would bow and shatter under his thumb. One seemed more personal, at least. She passed a hand across her face and stepped up to the wall. A net of arcane energy covered the space on the wall. She studied it further, being careful not to touch it. "It's a portal of some kind."
Arjiah was just behind her shoulder, studying it.
"Where does it go?" Graiden asked.
Katerin placed her hand on the wall, feeling a magical pull. "I have no idea," she said. "But it's our best way forward."
Whatever Fykes yelled after her was lost as she stepped through the portal. The magic stole her breath, spun her through the darkness, and left her struggling to catch herself on the other side. Scraping her palms on the rough stone floor, she grunted and got to her feet, trying to ignore how tired she already was.
The rest of the group came through, and most of them landed far better than Katerin had. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. This place put her on edge. The lighting, along with the fact that she had no idea what to do, weighed on her. But it seemed they were making progress. They traveled further down the halls that now resembled a prison or a dungeon. A line of cells ran along the side, and blood stained the stone in places. Then came a hallway of doors with nothing behind them.
And finally, it ended in a dark room. No red light illuminating it. There was nothing here, save for a pedestal that ended up against a wall. The sconces held the strange torches, but they were unlit, and the portal was inactive. Fire danced across her fingertips and the sconces blazed to life, letting a familiar red glow illuminate the space near the wall.
She heard an audible intake of breath from all within the room and the crumbling of stone. She turned, stumbling as she looked behind her, and her mouth fell open in shock as she took in the scene before her.