Jaeden didn’t remember waking up, nor did he know how long he’d been moving through the labyrinth. One moment, he was enveloped in the mist and the old man’s calming presence by the river, and the next, he was trudging forward, almost on autopilot, deeper into the maze’s twisting, shadowed corridors.

His mind drifted as he walked, memories surfacing unbidden, sharp and vivid. He remembered the last Christmas with his family—their hope after his mother’s doctors had given them good news. For the first time in years, they’d allowed themselves to believe in a future without sickness, without struggle. But that hope had been ripped away in an instant.

The scene replayed in his mind—the car accident, the helplessness, the final moment when his father had mouthed "I love you" before the oncoming truck collided with their wrecked car. The sound of metal crunching, the chaos, the sirens, the numbness that followed—it all haunted him, a weight he’d carried alone, even as he tried to shield Xander from it.

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A distant sound of rushing water brought him back to the present. Blinking, Jaeden found himself by a river, its steady flow oddly soothing. He took a deep breath, letting the sound calm his racing thoughts.

But then, a low, guttural snort echoed nearby. His body tensed, every instinct screaming caution. The path ahead opened into a wide stone courtyard, empty but for a massive throne of bones at its center.

Sitting on that throne was a creature that made his blood run cold.

A Minotaur.