We’d all been touching as we were pulled into the Challenge, hands together in a sports-style huddle. Physical contact hadn’t kept us together for the last Challenge - only for the Trials - but it didn’t hurt to try. Sadly, it didn’t work this time either, and I was released from my casing into an area where I seemed to be completely alone, surrounded by gray walls.

Just like the first Challenge, I thought for a moment.

No... It’s not. This is a hallway, not a room. And… there’s no ceiling?

The walls rose high around me, barriers I’d guess were around 15 feet high. There actually was a ceiling, but was maybe 30 or 40 feet above, not attached to the walls themselves.

Transfers complete. Reach the central portal to return home. The first 25% of contestants to reach the center will receive a prize. The last 25% of contestants will receive a penalty.

Penalties? Those were new, and the vagueness of the warning was unpleasant. It could be something negligible, like Money. Maybe physical punishment? An injury would be fine for me, but if there was some kind of permanent debuff that made me slower or something, that would be horrible.

At least they’re not straight-out killing the losers. Hopefully that will keep people from getting too aggressive with each other? I grimaced. That wasn’t something I could count on. Some people were still living on a knife’s edge, in precarious situations. For those individuals, any serious penalty would be as good as a death sentence.

I’m in some kinda maze. Using my Mental Speech to contact each of you, so if you get this, you’re within a few miles of me.

That had been John. I debated using one of my Ruler Messages to let him know I’d heard him. He and Davi were my followers but Kirtland had insisted that Kurt and Byron become followers of one of their own leaders, so they’d be able to maintain some contact with us even in the event of my death. Getting the crown from the warlord in Santa Fe had upped my daily messages from one to three, so I could send out a total of three messages to Davi and John, but each of them could only send one back. John could get around that restriction by using Mental Speech if he was close enough.

Better to wait, I thought. My messages are limited, and I don’t have anything really to say yet. I want to know if they’re in the same Challenge as me, but this probably isn’t the only instance of this maze. The fact that John is here makes it more likely that the others are too, but I don’t really have much information to share yet. I don’t think it’s worth burning a message just to let them know I’m in the same maze as John, when I might learn of dangers I want to tell them about. I’ll work toward the center and wait for them there. Maybe if there’s a really distinctive noise, I can reach out? I had already heard some crashes and screaming, but if there were other mazes, they’d likely heard the same things.

I spun in place, trying to decide which way to travel. Heading off in a random direction could easily take me farther from the center instead of closer.

There weren’t any clear signs, so I bunched my muscles and leapt up, pulling myself atop the wall. It was thinner than I expected, just a bit over four inches thick. From here, I could see that I was in a huge chamber. How big, exactly, I didn’t know, but well over a mile. In the center, I could see something glowing: probably the portal the aliens’ announcement had referenced. I’d started about halfway in between the exterior wall and the middle, with the turn in the hallway in front of me leading away from where I wanted to go.

I briefly considered trying to memorize the layout of the maze from up here, but dismissed the idea. The hallways were only about eight feet wide, an easy jump for me these days. Falls from this height weren’t dangerous unless I fell on a knife or something. Even then, it’d take a lot to give me more than a scratch.

I pulled myself to standing and launched myself across the hallway. It wasn’t a great jump, and I nearly forked myself on the wall. Resilient skin or not, I was pretty sure landing groin-first would still hurt. Fortunately, I weighed very little, relative to my strength; I got a hand on the wall and caught myself just in time to soften my landing.

Oops. Maybe better to just jump down and back up again. It’ll only be a little slower and that would be a painful and embarrassing mistake. Hunh… though… this next hallway isn’t empty, and those definitely aren’t plants from Earth. Let’s see how they look in Infrared-

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Something slammed into my shoulder from behind, spinning me as it knocked me to the ground.

Immediately upon landing, one of the crocosnakes Kurt hated launched itself at me from the bushes. I tried to catch it with my right hand - my left was holding my spear - but my arm moved too slowly, letting the snake sink its teeth into my torso. I screamed in pain and surprise, then dropped my spear and grabbed the monster with my other hand, ripping it free and slamming it against the wall of the maze.

The force was enough to kill it. I rolled to my knees, not relaxing until I’d scanned my immediate surroundings with infrared vision and found them clear.

I took off my backpack and nearly screamed again as the motion disturbed my right shoulder, where I’d been hit by the… the whatever… and knocked off the wall. Carefully, I pulled my shirt away, grateful that the snake monster had bitten me in the chest instead of the gut. My bones had even held up against the crushing force of its bite, leaving me with wounds that were relatively easily-healed. Lucky. A quick rinsing from my water bottle and a single Healing Touch took care of the damage from the monster, but the damage to my shoulder was more serious. My synergy in Healing Touch was high enough to tell me what was wrong with my patient - in this case, me - when I used it, and what I found out wasn’t great.

My shoulder had been penetrated by some kind of super-hot missile. I think for most people it would have shot straight through them, leaving a circular, cauterized hole, but my reinforced anatomy meant that it had only made it about a third of the way through my humerus before stopping, the heat and force of the attack entirely spent inside my shredded shoulder. Worse, the missile was still sizzling hot and lodged in the bone, filling the air around me with a scent that was a nauseating mix of burnt bone and lightly seared Vince filet. If I healed it now, I’d have to keep healing it as the shot continued to burn me from the inside out. Then, when I was finished, the projectile would be sealed inside of me.

Damn. If only Kurt or Byron were here. Pretty sure it’s metal, so Kurt could pull it right out. Byron could at least cool it down. I could pour water on it to cool it down? I’d definitely injure myself more on the steam, but I can probably take that. Maybe just… grab it and try to pull it out before my fingertips burn away? Pry it out with a knife? That might be the best of my bad options...

Argh, this is nuts. I’m not a doctor, and I can’t even really see the area. Gotta get it fixed before something else happens. No choice. At least it probably can’t hurt any more than it does right now. Fucking hell.

If there was one mercy, it was that the heat of the shot had cauterized my flesh. I was bleeding only lightly. It was too bad it hadn’t helped with the pain, which was the worst I could ever remember experiencing. Wasn’t cauterization supposed to do that?

I used my left arm to reach over my other shoulder, working the tip of a Shop-purchased dagger alongside the bullet-or-whatever-it-was.

In short order, I realized I was wrong: the pain could absolutely get worse. I couldn’t be very precise with the knife, and I was strong enough to damage my own reinforced anatomy, so every time I wiggled the knife deeper I felt a fresh surge of agony.

I had to stop three times to get control of myself as I wedged the knife in deeper.

After the third rest, I figured I probably had it deep enough.

Alright. One second to catch my breath, then I pull forward on the handle of the dagger as hard as I can. The missile should be levered right out. One… two… three…

I yanked with all my might and screamed. My vision went black, and the next thing I knew, I was falling to the ground.

Did I… pass out for a second?

I groaned, then used another Healing Touch on myself, trying to decide if I should heal myself quickly or space out the abilities to avoid tiring myself.

Quickly, for this injury, I decided. I might have to be more cautious if I get hurt again, but this is my right arm and I don’t know what else I'll have to deal with. Better to be fit to face it.

The pain actually got momentarily worse as I applied the healing - I assume as nerve ends regrew - but that passed quickly and I started to feel better as the bone regained its normal shape and fresh skin stretched over new muscle.

“Ohhhh!”

The excited exclamation drew my attention to the end of the hallway, where a motorcycle helmet was poking around the corner.

Another person.