Chapter 118: Warm Up
Ember’s POV
Dropping the last piece of fabric on the ground, I take a sip from my canteen.
I’m getting close. I can feel it.
Taking the next left turn, I stroll down a shorter corridor before arriving at a three-way intersection. Straight ahead of me, the hall is blocked off by bars, but the hallway to the right is clear. Going right, I walk down the hall until I round a corner, the path forcing me to take a left turn.
And then, for the first time, I notice something new at the end of the hall. Approaching another three-way intersection, a painting with a wooden frame was on the wall before me. It was a painting of what I assumed to be a great warrior of the past. This warrior was sheathed in glowing armor from head to toe, and his sword was out of its’ sheathe, directed seemingly toward the warrior’s enemies. But from my perspective, the sword was pointing to the right.
This painting is telling me to take a right here… unless it’s a trap. The warrior in this painting is dressed as if he’s ready for combat… could it be that taking a right turn here would lead me to a battle? Maybe taking this right is the only way to find the exit, and I have to go through whatever obstacle is ahead… this is the only clue I’ve found this entire time; this painting must mean something.
Inspecting the hall down the right, it appeared normal, just like the others. To be safe, I swiveled my head to scan if anything was down the hall to the left, and my heart suddenly dropped. After checking the right once more to ensure nothing could catch me by surprise, I ran down the hall going left until I arrived beside her.
“Faith… can you hear me?” I asked, putting my fingers on her neck to check her pulse.
There was no pulse; Faith was dead.
“Of all the people… it had to be you…” I whispered, frowning as I put a hand on her shoulder and rolled her over onto her back.
A single wound to the heart was all there was. No weapon was left behind, and there were no signs of any other person being nearby. Trails of dried blood drooled down both sides of her chin, and it was evident the wound in her chest had stopped bleeding a long time ago.
No surprise you found this place long before me… my bad for not getting here sooner to help.
Closing her eyelids, I give her one last look, and something in her hand catches my eye. Clutched in her hand was a green beacon, which made me furrow my brows in confusion.
I thought Code kept one for himself while giving the other to Sky. So how does Faith have one?
Not wanting to waste any more time, I stand and walk away. Going down the hall the warrior was pointing toward, I delved into a series of thoughts.
Faith is the only one who has died… the watch still says ‘9’. Did she die going down this path? Maybe she tried to run but couldn’t bear the pain. No… that doesn’t make sense… there are no drops of blood on the ground. If she was already struck with a wound to the heart, she would’ve begun bleeding out far before getting to that spot. Maybe the shadow attacked her? That’s equally just as unlikely, Faith may have been quieter, but she was also smart. She would’ve noticed it. My guess? Somebody else killed her, and with such a precise wound, there is only one person I can think of who killed her...
Scar.
Taking the wooden sword out of my backpack, I venture down the hall.
Code must’ve planted his beacon on Faith. That’s the most probable explanation for why Faith had a beacon. Code is savvy, and he wasn’t a fan of Scar retaining possession of the map model. With the map model, Scar can see the locations of all four beacons. By giving beacons to Sky and Faith, Code’s location will remain unknown to Scar. Even though Code didn’t have the map model, he could still use it to his advantage, even though he is probably Scar’s number one target.
I suppose Code isn’t off the shortlist of suspects, but Scar is still the main suspect. Either way, this evidence suggests that Scar must be here either way, which means the others are probably roaming these halls, too. Forest, Hunter, and Delta. And if Scar was responsible for Faith’s death… he’s probably somewhere ahead of me.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Feeling nervous and excited, I can’t help but feel a nervous rush of adrenaline.
Things are finally getting interesting.
And as I trudge further down the hall, I’m ignorant about my follower. A crafty Code cautiously lurks behind me, keeping his distance and noise to a minimum as he continues to observe my actions.
***
This is so annoying. I don’t think I’ve ever walked this much my whole life!
With that thought, Delta took a left turn and noticed some fog creeping in from the other end of the hall.
She lets out a long, annoyed groan and turns around to go somewhere else.
This fog is really pissing me off. The bars were already blocking off enough halls, and now this fog is stopping me, too!
Her stomach growling from hunger, she bites down on her lip as she brings a hand to my stomach.
I’ve already eaten all my food! I just want to get out of here!
Taking a right, Delta re-enters the long corridor she had just come from. Taking the closest left turn, Delta begins down a hall, leading her toward a forced right turn. Rounding the corner, she saunters down the hall until she notices a pink fog slowly drifting toward her.
“Ughhhhhhhhh,” she groans once more.
Irritated and lacking grace, Delta clumsily whips her body back around and starts dragging her feet back down the hall. Taking the turn, her head falls back, and she stares at the ceiling as she walks, further wondering how much longer she will be stuck in this maze.
She was so distracted by this thought that she didn’t take notice of the pair of feet stepping out from in front of her. Only when her head returned to its’ normal position did she see a man standing before her. A man that she detested and loathed with every fiber in her body. Delta didn’t even understand where this hatred came from, but it felt right to her, so the hate only continued to fester.
“What the hell are you doing here, Ace?” she squawks as she stops, her gaze narrowing.
Snapping his fingers, a ball of fire materializes just above Alex’s thumb and index finger, his vibrant flame tattoos glimmering to life.
“Think it’s obvious,” responds Alex before throwing the ball of fire at Delta’s feet.
With her legs sore and weary from walking, Delta awkwardly attempts to dodge Alex’s attack but is unsuccessful. And as the fireball strikes Delta’s feet, a piercing scream echoes down the hall as a sea of flames scorches her alive.
“What’s wrong? I thought you were going to kill me?” taunts Alex.
Hearing that, Delta’s adrenaline takes over. Yanking the sword out of her bag, she rushes at Alex, no longer feeling the immense pain in her lower body as she falls victim to pure rage.
Remaining calm, Alex channels his iris into his forearms and hands. Activating his ‘sizzling’ technique, flame-colored razorblades flickered off his hands as Delta jumped toward him, preparing to attack. Recalling his training, Alex carefully observed Delta’s body shape and movement, and as Delta took the final step toward him, Alex lunged forward in a flameful burst and cleanly sliced the blade of Delta’s wooden sword off its handle.
Realizing what Alex has done, Delta quickly switches strategies and goes for Alex’s eyes.
If he can’t see me, he can’t kill me. And that way, I’ll bring him down with me!
Exerting a forceful grunt, Delta throws her right arm forward in an attempt to shove a finger into each of Alex’s glowing eyes. Understanding what Delta was going for, Alex wasn’t in the least bit fazed. His sizzling technique still in use, Alex swipes his left hand down through the air and slices right through Delta’s arm like butter.
Another vociferous string of agonizing screams exerts from Delta, and Alex steps a few steps back as Delta falls to her knees. Tears flooding out of her eyes, the flames from her lower body start climbing up and spreading to the rest of her body. The beautiful appearance she once carried is far gone now.
Watching Delta suffer, Alex only watches with a blank stare. It was not a stare of enjoyment, happiness, sadness, or pity. Even he didn’t think Delta deserved a death like this, but still, while Delta glared at him through his flames, blurting our insults between sobs and screams, Alex thought.
That doesn’t matter, though. Only the strong can survive in this world. That much I know now…
“Feel free to take this personally…” eventually says Alex, his words silencing Delta for a few seconds before she resumes blabbering a blend of irrational phrases, pleas, and insults.
“No! You can’t leave me! You can’t!! I called you out for what you really are, and nobody believed me! I knew it! I knew it! I’m not done with you yet! I can- I can become whatever you want! I can be– how could you… how could you do this to me?! How?!”
Completely ignoring her as he turned his back away, bits of flames crackled off Alex’s body as he spoke one final time to Delta, “You were hardly even a warm-up.”
“Is this still not enough?! What else do I have to do?! You– you won’t even look at me! Come back! Why won’t you look at– why didn’t anybody believe me then?! And now that I know the truth, you’re just going… you’re just going to get rid of me?! I can still be– I thought…!”
Throughout her mass hysteria, Delta continued to spew out remarks that meant nothing to Alex. Nonetheless, Alex couldn’t help but listen to her deranged outcries as Delta hollered out as many repulsive, illogical statements as she could before finally meeting her end.
"Now, it's time to go find Scar..." says Alex as he starts toward the maze's center.
***
Amount of time left: 34:52:23… 22… 21…
Amount of participants left: 8