There was a roar from within Dan’s soul, loud enough that it woke him from his exhausted stupor. The sound seemed to come from everywhere at once, a monstrous howl from something unknowable immense. As his eyes opened and fought to focus, all he could see were grey walls everywhere. The world bounced along with aggressive indifference to the small inferno of a headache that was growing stronger with each jostle.
After defeating the creature known as Steel Fever, Guan Ah Dan along with three others escaped to the labyrinth. The twisted monstrosity of Guan Po Shang had forced them through the door, tearing down the vault behind them and leaving nothing but void. Dan himself had been completely spent and, once the immediate danger was no longer a threat, he lost consciousness for a while.
There was no way back through the path they arrived, all they could do now was go forward. Which was easier said than done in the gargantuan maze they now found themselves woefully unprepared within.
“Where do we go?”
Through the fog of tiredness, Dan began to hear conversation. The bass of Hyun Soon’s voice broke through the obfuscating sounds of footfall and heavy breathing. It was in his strong arms that Dan was currently being carried. Too tired to care about being infantilized, Dan instead began cycling his mana. It was sluggish, as though the magic itself was slow to awaken.
Forward and back. Up and down. In and out. Around and around. Dan moved through the basics of his channelling technique. If his friends were without direction, he could help. With each step of the mantra, the flow of his mana increased. His secondary sight, his mana sense, slowly trickled back to life.
“How should I know? Just keep moving.”
Guan Fa Lian’s exasperated reply also spoke to the rest of the group’s state. Her reply came in ragged half gasps. Her voice came from in front of Dan and Hyun Soon, clarity being increased as Dan’s mana began to fill the air.
“It’s getting closer!”
Guan Xiaomei was normally a reserved and quiet girl, but her shriek from behind Hyun Soon was anything but. The shaking increased and finally Dan saw why.
“Duck!” Dan forced his shout through his mana, amplifying the sound. Dan lurched as Hyun Soon followed his command without question, the girls both following immediate suit. He had seen the creature in pursuit, and the scene was becoming more and more clear. Dan didn’t have to tell the group to continue running, so he instead tried to take time to think.
A gout of flame punched through the air, incinerating Dan’s mana where it touched it. If it could annihilate mana, Dan could only imagine what the flames would do to their skin. The conflagration had erupted from the mouth of what Dan could only describe as an amalgamation of the scariest animals possible. As though a menagerie owner’s worst nightmare had come to life, the massive creature was clawing and screeching with multiple mouths as it gave chase to the group.
Pounding on four massive paws, the unwieldy creature was terrifying. Their saving grace was that it was clearly not made for this environment. With the furred orange legs of a tiger, a large leathery hide that shook with blubber, a whipping and fire breathing snake for a tail and a massive, misshapen bat’s head, Dan could not imagine an environment it was made for.
“Left!” Dan shouted, though he wasn’t sure what he could see was an escape. The corridor they currently ran down was wide, but the offshoot path Dan’s mana sense had shown him was tighter.
“Now, he’s awake.” Fa Lian huffed, but she followed Xiaomei down the smaller hall to the left. Hyun Soon was nothing but apologies as he squeezed into the space. Unable to slow his speed, he had ran Dan clean into the side of the wall and the resulting explosion of pain threatened to return Dan to unconsciousness. Dan bit his tongue hard, the taste of tangy iron pushing away the shadows.
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“Hyun,” Dan gasped through gritted teeth, “the knuckles. I can stand.”
It was true, but barely. Dan used both hands to keep him up, one on either side of the small alley. The creature had not given up, but the horrible, half screamed howl was all that could reach them, now. Its huge paw clawed the air, the chimeric body too large to squeeze into the gap. Hyun Soon turned and squared his shoulders before putting his hands into his pockets.
As Hyun Soon pulled his hands out, they were equipped. The boy’s knuckles were white as they gripped the leather handles, his fingers clad in the black metal of the artefact Rise and Ruin. Dan blinked when they came into his view, the still unfamiliar golden script appearing as the magical items were analysed by the soul stone within himself.
[Rise and Ruin]
[Forged by the master smith Davrgr in payment for saving the life of his child. In his effort to replicate the mythological powers of a dwarven folkhero, Davrgr succeeded.
When hitting a solid surface, Rise can bring forth a pillar of stone using the wielder’s mana. A punch using the counterpart, Ruin, can turn this pillar into a devastating hail of rock.]
Understanding that it would not be able to squeeze after the children, the creature decided to simply try to kill them. Turning around, the snake which was the tail began to swell, a glowing orange ember rising behind the yellow scales on its throat. Hyun Soon raised his left hand before dropping to his knee and punching the ground with all his might. A spear of rock tore from the ground, a stalagmite of sharp stone growing out of the floor metres at a second. It punctured the snake-tail, pinning the creature to the ceiling of the labyrinth.
The wail it loosed almost made Dan feel sorry for it. Whether it had any effect on Hyun Soon or not, it didn’t show. Without slowing, he rose from the ground in a swift motion and put every fibre of muscle into a punch that showed off the power of both the relic he was using and Hyun Soon’s immense strength at once. The arm width spear of stone disconnected from the floor and exploded. The shrapnel shredded the monster terribly, much to the group’s delight.
Due to the dust which his manoeuvre had kicked up, Dan was the only one who saw that the danger was not yet done. “Hyun! Block the hall, now!”
If he had been a second later, they would have found out exactly what those evil feeling flames did when they touched you. The second chunk of stone that Hyun Soon pulled from the floor blocked the gout of fire just in time. The monster continued wailing, and did whatever it could to escape. It didn’t get far with the damage to its hindquarters as extensive as it was. With no desire to make any more certain of its demise than he was, Dan gave Hyun Soon a thumbs up.
“Where did that thing come from?” Dan asked, still trying to get his bearings.
“It looked like it came from a nightmare.” Hyun Soon answered. “It’s been chasing us since we came in. Thanks, Dan.”
“”S nothing,” Dan said, “it was literally all you.”
“Okay, yes, yes, you’re both amazing, boys.” Fa Lian clapped sarcastically. “Can we keep moving or do you want to take a quick break to kiss each other?” Without waiting for an answer, she stalked off down the thin hall, pushing past Xiaomei when she reached her.
“She’s not wrong, but she doesn’t have to be rude about it.” Xiaomei pulled both boys to their feet. “Can you walk, Dan? There must be a place we can rest down here somewhere.”
Dan agreed, and told them that he could move. Now that he had time to channel his mana uninterrupted, he was beginning to feel more and more normal, despite the surroundings. Dan’s mana didn’t cling to the walls of the labyrinth for some reason, but he could still map the space before them. The hallway they were in would lead to a wider room, so they followed after Lian.
Now that they were in the labyrinth, what was the plan? They’d followed the instruction of Guan Shi Ai but without the chaos and energy of the attack on the Jiaoduo, what was next? As though answering his question, Dan felt a tug from the soul stone within himself and smiled. Elder Yaya was still guiding him, it seemed. Dan himself might not know where they were going, but Lian knew what she wanted to find. Her brother was in the labyrinth somewhere. If finding Guan Yo Shen would make things easier, then Dan was all for it.
After a short walk, the hallway expanded as Dan knew it would. A large circular room greeted them. Around its perimeter were the first doors that Dan had seen since entering the labyrinth. His mana could not push through the doors, like there was a massive wind behind them keeping it pushed away. Each door was different, indeed it was the first thing which was not uniform within the labyrinth. The dull grey stone which made up the entire place was, in this area, replaced with metal or wood. One door had a window in it but, as Dan looked through it, there seemed to be nothing on the other side.
“Here.” Dan had never received a pastry in such an angry manner before, but he happily scarfed down the warm bun he took from Lian. “We’ll start from here. Hopefully there’s something useful behind one of these doors, but for now at least there’s space.”
Making immediate use of the wide room, Fa Lian began performing an intricate series of poses and forms. Judging from the cracking in some of her joints, the stretches were well needed stress relief. Dan himself had never been particularly adept at maintaining the more acrobatic positions, and watched with a pained expression knowing how some of those bends had felt when he tried them.
The mad escape from the Jiaoduo had left them no time to find supplies, and Dan was now kicking himself for it. With no bedrolls, cooking equipment or rations - other than the bag of pastries and unending flask - their survival chances weren’t looking supreme.
“Do you know what is behind these doors?” Dan asked Fa lian.
“How would I?” She replied, petulant.
“You were trying to get in, weren’t you?” Dan snapped back, far too tired for childishness. “Are you saying that you didn’t have any idea what to do once you got into the labyrinth? We were sent by Elder Yaya to help you and you don’t even know where we’re going?”
Then came a silence that was slightly too long. Just as Dan was about to regret his tone, Fa Lian turned. The tears that were brimming in her eyes made Dan’s heart feel like it was made of lead, dropping to his stomach.
“No.” She said, her voice cracking. “I have no idea what to do now.”