The riddles of the sphinx left a lot of participants stumped, as they muttered among themselves trying to figure out the answer.

"What could be a tree with no roots?" Larissa mused.

"Most likely it isn't a tree at all," Morrigan said.

"Something plant-like perhaps? Or maybe something made from a tree," Galandir added.

"Alright, so let's assume that is something made out of wood. But how could it also be a bread with no taste?"

"It's probably edible then but doesn't have a flavor."

"A wooden thing that is edible? Perhaps the thing itself is not edible. Perhaps it can merely hold edible things. Or drinkable things. Like a water jug, perhaps," Larissa explained her train of thought.

"Those would usually be made from glass or metal, wouldn't they? Although it wouldn't be impossible for it to be made from wood. Alright, if we assume it's a dish of some sort how does that tie in with the second part?"

"Live together but not freely. Perhaps it may be a chest that holds some treasure. Treasure usually is plundered from various places so that could be interpreted as not living together freely."

As Larissa and Galandir continued their discussion, Morrigan's thoughts wandered in a completely different direction.

I still think they are taking the things from the riddle too literally. The answer to Deziara's riddle was echo, so perhaps our riddle could also allude to something seemingly obvious. But what could it be?

Morrigan began thinking of her sister and wondering how far had Deziara already gotten while everyone here was busy trying to decipher these riddles. Part of her felt happy, because even if she didn't win, Deziara would most definitely find that gem.

"Wait… I got it!" Morrigan exclaimed, startling Larissa and Galandir out of their discussion.

"You got it?" the elven boy narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Morrigan grabbed their hands and then dragged them towards the sphinx.

"We know the answer to your riddle."

"State your answer," the beast said solemnly, her eyes focusing on Morrigan.

"Tree without roots, bread without taste, live together but not freely, home but need no place. It is family!"

"You're correct," the sphinx nodded and moved aside to let Morrigan pass.

"That answer makes no sense," Galandir pouted as they continued running forward.

"No, it does. A tree without root would symbolize a family tree–"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. As long as we got past, that's all that matters," the boy interrupted Morrigan.

How rude! This guy could at least not interrupt others while they are speaking.

However, Morrigan said nothing as he was the one guiding them through the maze. It was a relationship of mutual gain, so she would put up with him for the time being. After all, Galandir's skill allowed them to navigate through the maze with ease.

"We won't be able to avoid obstacles going forward. Seems like they have been laid out in a way that you have to pass by at least three of them," Galandir said after slowing down his pace.

"Can you find the gem?" Larissa asked, but the boy shook his head.

"I can only get a general sense of the maze. I can't find something that small."

"Well, if there are obstacles in the way, then the gem has to be hidden somewhere behind them," Morrigan concluded and the other two nodded.

"Alright, let's take the path with the fewest obstacles," Galandir said, and they continued forward at a fast pace.

Soon enough they ran into a part of the maze where the hedge wall was replaced with menacing-looking dragon statues. They stood along the whole path, their red eyes glowing with eerie light – as if they were watching.

"Something tells me that just running past them wouldn't be a smart idea," Morrigan noted, looking over the creepy statues. Larissa took a small lock of her white hair and cut it off with her nail as if it were a knife. Then she took the small lock and threw it in front of the statues. A red beam of light came out of it, covering the whole area in front of it. Once the light disappeared, Larissa's hair had also disappeared from existence.

"I thought this contest was supposed to be a fun event!" Morrigan complained, wondering what exactly had happened to the hair.

"And it is a fun event! The statues in front of you are completely harmless. They merely teleport you to a random location in the maze," Azrael cackled with delight.

Being sent to a random location isn't the worst thing that could happen. It might actually get us closer to the gem. But knowing my luck, it'd just teleport us back to the beginning.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"We need to disable these or find a way to block the teleporting light," Larissa noted. She snipped off a few more strands of her hair and threw them at various locations – above the statue, close to the ground, and in between the gaps between statues. However, no matter where she threw it, the statue activated and teleported it away somewhere.

"Let me try something," Morrigan said and pulled out her own strand of hair. She then sent it into the maze while creating a forcefield around it. However, as soon as the red light hit the hair, it was teleported away.

"So the forcefield is a bust. Perhaps we need to block it physically?" Galandir said and created a wall of ice in front of the statue. However, the red beam appeared and a moment later, the icy wall was gone.

I wonder where that ice wall got teleported to? Would be funny if it blocked Viana's way to the gem. But how does Galandir know so much magic? I doubt that the fallen would hand their magical gem to somebody who they consider to be a slave. Who is he really?

"Seems like it'll teleport away anything that comes into its range. But there definitely must be a way to circumvent it," Larissa pondered, looking over the statues. Morrigan dared to take a step closer to it, and she noticed how its eyes sparkled a little as she did. She stepped back and the sparkle disappeared.

"Could it be that it will teleport away anything it sees?" she guessed.

"Sees?" Galandir wondered.

"I'm going to take a risk," Morrigan said and slipped into the shadows. Before either of the companions could object she positioned herself in front of the statue. Nothing happened. Statues' eyes remained dull.

"It worked?" Galandir exclaimed.

"So it did. Unfortunately, it means that the Princess will continue on without us," Larissa said with a twinge of regret in her voice. Morrigan went out of the statue's range and materialized again.

"I could take one of you along with me in the shadow form, but two is too much," she said, looking from Larissa to Galandir. The elf boy glared at Larissa, but she just chuckled light-heartedly.

"No need to get prickly, boy. You two go ahead. It'd be shameful for an adult to take advantage of children," she said and then transformed into her bat form. Before anyone could object, Larissa was already out of sight.

"At least that vampire has honor," Galandir noted, then turned towards Morrigan. "Let's not waste anymore time."

"I feel bad for just leaving her behind. I could have made two trips," she said.

"By the time you did, other contestants could already reach the end," the boy said, and Morrigan nodded. She took his hand and turned it into her shadow form, pulling Galandir along with her.

The feeling was rather unusual and heavy. Deziara had also given Morrigan a sense of heaviness, but she was a familiar presence so melting into a single shadow hadn't bothered her. Galandir felt foreign and he had a bright presence that made it difficult for Morrigan to maintain her shadow form.

As she passed by each statue, the heaviness seemed to grow and her hold on the shadow form began to slip. Morrigan pushed herself to move faster, hurrying to get past the last statue. As soon as they were out of its range, she instantly materialized out of it, breathing heavily from exertion.

"That was… so weird…" Galandir noted, looking as if he had seen something he hadn't wanted to.

"I am not doing that again," she replied.

"Agreed."

After a brief pause, they continued through the maze in silence. Turned out that Larissa had been the one to keep the conversation going before. With her gone, Morrigan wasn't sure what to talk about. On the other hand, it didn't appear like the elven boy was interested in making conversation, instead focusing on finding the path ahead.

"We're close to the second obstacle, although I think this one won't be much of an issue," the boy spoke. As they turned the corner, Morrigan saw that the maze floor was replaced with a long, deep pit. At the bottom of it, there was some water and some odd dark plants upon which sat some disturbing-looking toads. They were oversized and their gazes seemed to follow them.

"What are those?" Morrigan asked, pointing at the toads.

"I don't know and quite frankly, I don't want to find out. Let's just fly over them," he said, and a pair of translucent golden wings sprouted from his back. Morrigan turned into her shadow form and was about to go over the pit by crawling along the side of its wall. However, as soon as her shadow approached the edge of the pit, the toads jumped towards her, sticking their large tongues out towards her.

"Here dear audience we have a rare treat from our Underworld fauna – the famous or rather infamous shadow-catcher toads. Afraid somebody will break into your house while hidden in the shadow form? Do not worry, for these toads will catch them without any issues and paralyze the intruder with the use of their special venom," Azrael announced, mimicking the voice of salesmen in ads.

I never should have given him access to my laptop. To think that he would be so influenced by things he got to see only for a few days.

"Oh, and these toads will attack anything that moves. So do not make the mistake of thinking that you are safe," the demon cackled, and Morrigan materialized out of her shadow form.

"Great. Thank you, Azrael!" she called out in annoyance.

"You're welcome, Princess!"

"I'm surprised the King hasn't disposed of him yet," Galandir whispered.

"Oh, trust me. He has tried. I just made the foolish mistake of stopping him," she sighed and rubbed her temples trying to think of a way to get across the pit.

I could try levitating myself across it, but it is very likely that I'll drop myself. Levitation isn't very effective on moving objects and living beings. Perhaps if I were to make a makeshift platform from the ground or those plants in the pit…

Before Morrigan could ponder any further, Galandir hoisted her up into his arms, holding her like a princess. Well, she was a princess but it was still awkward.

"Not sure what you're thinking about, but this will be much faster. You got me over the last obstacle, so I'll get you over this one," he said and took off. Morrigan was surprised to see that such a scrawny boy had enough strength to lift her and fly as if he weren't completely unhindered.

"Do you even eat? You weigh nothing," he said as they were about halfway across the pit. The toads were chasing them from below, shooting their slimy tongues at them. However, they were too high for them – even with their long tongues.

"Can't say the same thing about you. You were really heavy to carry in shadow form," Morrigan grumbled.

"Should I drop you?"

"Sorry."

It didn't take long for them to get across the pit and continue their way through the maze. After a while, Galandir slowed down again and then stopped completely.

"Is something wrong?" Morrigan asked, looking at the concerned boy.

"There's something weird about the next obstacle… it's just a large empty space," he said, his eyebrows furrowed.

"It's probably a trap of some sort, isn't it?"

"It could be. Wait… I think there is something small in the middle of it?"

Curious, Morrigan peered around the corner to see exactly what Galandir was talking about. In the middle of the maze, there stood a thin, long pedestal upon which sat a small gem encased in glass.