The walls of the labyrinth began to tremble slightly, while Alex could see the path they had come from starting to fade away. Though the process was slow, it was constant, and Alex knew that something bad was happening. However, he didn't have time to dwell on that line of thought because both beings finally broke their staring contest.
The void entity began to absorb all the shadows that had been released from its eyes and opened its mouth wide, so much so that it seemed like its entire face had become its mouth, from which it emitted a great beam of grayish energy. Athena responded with a confident smile, opening her abyssal mouth and releasing a blaze from within.
Both attacks collided in the middle and began to press against each other, struggling for dominance. Both creatures were completely focused on maintaining their attacks, causing great destruction around them and accelerating the tremors of the labyrinth and the speed at which the previous path was deteriorating.
The collision left no clear winner in the end, even after moments of pushing each other, both sides seemed to be evenly matched. At this point, the void entity put on its unpleasant smile again, accompanied by its slightly manic laughter. Once again, it tried its attack by opening its mouth widely. Athena responded in kind.
Both energy beams met in the middle, and it could be observed that this time both were using much more energy, as the resulting shockwave was much stronger, knocking Alex to the ground. Although both powers were initially equal, Athena began to gain an advantage this time, and at a clear rate.
The void entity tried everything to amplify its power and reverse the situation, but every move it made was countered by Athena. The only thing it had managed to do was to make Athena's energy surpass its own even more rapidly; at this rate, Athena's flames would soon consume her enemy.
However, it would not go down alone. Faced with Athena's constant attack, the void entity stopped using the shadows to further enhance its attack and began to use them to create shadow clones to attack the owl. At first, Alex thought this was a desperate attempt and that it wouldn't achieve anything, but he was mistaken.
The attacks of the clones, though simple and without any skill in them, were imbued with a kind of void energy that Alex had not seen before in use. Now Alex could begin to understand why Thorel had told him that no matter how strong you became, if you ignored the weak, you would pay for it.
All those insignificant attacks from the clones, which continued to create new ones every moment, left a residual energy in Athena's body. Although she did her best to shake them off, she could not get rid of them completely, and they contaminated her body and, worse still, her own energy.
The void entity's strategy was mutual destruction; both were engaged in a frontal clash of energy which would destroy whoever lost the clash. And since the owl had the upper hand, the void entity sought to contaminate her with enough void energy to leave her crippled for life.
Although Athena had seen through this plan, she had no effective way to respond to this change, and although she did her best to eliminate the other party, she could not advance fast enough.
At this point, Athena felt tremendously despondent. It had been some time since she had regained her sanity, the labyrinth had been destroyed to such an extent that it could no longer exert its influence over her, so she knew that if she hadn't acted so hastily, she wouldn't have awakened this void being. However, there was no remedy for the guilt.
When all seemed lost, an arrow flew through the air. The arrow traveled almost in a straight line with great power and pierced the chest of a shadow clone, destroying it. Furthermore, the arrow was imbued with an energy that caused the shadows to destroy each other upon contact, preventing them from returning to the void entity.
After the first arrow, a second one came with the same results. From the third arrow onwards, they became a barrage, raining down rapidly one after another on each shadow, nullifying them and rapidly reducing their numbers.
Alex had great difficulty trying to follow where the arrows were coming from as the source constantly moved, but he knew that Thorel had sprung into action; for some reason, he must have identified that the timing was ideal.
The elf's incorporation into the battle left the void entity at a severe disadvantage. Locked in the clash with Athena, it had no way to disengage to eliminate the new fly that had emerged.
So the fight continued slowly, but none of the void entity's tricks could pass through the elf, and finally, Athena's flames came to consume it.
"It's not the end; this ethereal body may be destroyed, but it won't matter. The essence of the void is undisturbed and imperishable," the entity laughed one last time. However, this laughter was calmer and collected, more like that of a true human. Even Alex could have recognized it as his own, a laugh he hadn't had in a long time.
Slowly, the entity was consumed by Athena's abyssal flames until not a trace remained, completely extinguishing the laughter.
When it was all over, the labyrinth had been consumed to a great extent, and only a short distance remained until they reached the door. Alex saw Thorel return to him, but the elf was not relaxed in his usual demeanor; rather, he remained incredibly tense with an arrow in his bow.
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"What's happening?" Alex asked, looking around, fearing that the void entity might reappear from somewhere.
"It's not over yet," Thorel replied, looking seriously at the owl.
"What do you mean? Everything is fine now; Athena defeated that abomination; we can move on," Alex responded.
"Don't approach, Alex; it's not over yet," Thorel insisted.
Alex stared intently at the owl, which was still in its abyssal form.
"Athena, come back," Alex said aloud.
The owl looked at the duo near the door, and confusion was visible on its face. What was there? Where were they? Who were these people? Why did the smallest one resemble her son? Was he really her son? Or did he just appear to be her son to deceive her? Maybe they were here to steal her family. Were they her family, perhaps other descendants of her family? Could they know where her family was? Perhaps it was quite the opposite; they could come on behalf of her family... to exact revenge. Maybe her past had caught up with her. Maybe it was really what her son wanted, that she pay the price.
The emotions of the past overwhelmed the owl. All those repressed feelings for so many years surged like an avalanche, sweeping away any small shred of reasoning she could gather, taking away any sanity she had left. Why would she return to the forest? The forest didn't help her when she had problems; it didn't help her when her son needed it.
"So much you gave for the forest, and it refused to help your son in his time of need," the void whispered in Athena's mind.
"Silence," the owl exclaimed in her mind.
However, the voices didn't stop, and they took on a myriad of different personalities. The abyss in her stomach didn't close; on the contrary, it opened even more and threatened to consume her.
"Your son fought in your name, believed in you, where were you?" the abyss asked.
"Quiet," Athena shouted aloud.
"He held his ground for months, called out to the winds for you, pleaded to the stars, begged for a miracle, and still there was no sign of his mother," the voices haunted her.
"No," Athena screamed as her body ignited in abyssal flames. However, these flames were different from the previous ones; these were truly consuming her.
"Where were you?" the voices shouted.
"Noo."
"Where were you?"
"I had to do it."
"WHERE WERE YOU?" her son's voice sounded.
"Chasing the traitor," Athena finally exclaimed.
"Chasing the only one who truly fought for your children, chasing your husband, chasing my father," her son's voice finally exclaimed.
Then silence. The immense cacophony abruptly ceased, yet that silence weighed on her as if the entire planet were pressing down on her.
"You abandoned your son and hunted your own family, all in the name of what?" her husband's voice finally asked.
She knew the answer, yet she didn't have the strength to say it aloud.
"You answered the call of the forest, did its dirty work in the name of your people's prosperity, and what did you get in return?" the voices asked.
Nothing.
Deep down, she knew the answer.
Nothing.
There were a thousand excuses that could be given, that it wasn't the right time yet, that the forest had other priorities in these circumstances, that everyone was going through a hard time and sacrifices had to be made.
None of that could change the facts, however.
Athena had lost her entire family, all by her own hand.
She wasn't there to protect her son, because she was hunting her husband.
She failed in the only sacred duty that a mother of the Triznado Owls had, to protect the nest.
Generations after generations crumbled because she had not followed their traditions, because she had chosen the forest over the clan, because she had followed beings that did not belong to her clan, and ultimately because she had put her needs above those of the clan.
"It was necessary" was all Athena could repeat to herself over and over again in her head.
They had reached a crossroads; what else could she do? What were her alternatives? How could she know, how do you deal with such a burden, how do you carry such responsibility?
"You have to pay the price," the voice finally whispered.
"You don't have to die for past mistakes."
"You have to reunite with your family," a multitude of voices representing her old pack said, a pack that still wanted little to do with her.
Anguish and resentment continued to build up inside Athena, and all they did was feed the flames of the abyss that consumed her vitality more and more.
A myriad of voices whispering ever more vile and perverse things whose only purpose was to increase Athena's depression in order to feed the flames of the abyss to consume her vitality faster.
Athena had been fighting depression for a long time, but she had never been able to overcome it. Losing her son had been such a devastating blow that it had made her progressively more useless, making it increasingly difficult for her to perform her functions in the forest. In normal circumstances, someone with her expertise, knowledge, and strength would be utilized in many places; she would have much to do for the forest, and even if they didn't need her in the forest, she would still have a great responsibility in her own pack.
But no more.
Her pack didn't want to see her.
The other animals of the forest didn't want to deal with her.
She couldn't serve the forest master.
She was useless everywhere, so much so that they sent her to watch over a human cub.
Having been rejected everywhere, maybe it was time to just bow her head and give up, Athena thought.
The voices had stopped, as there was no need to say anything more to push her into a dark corner; her own mind began to play tricks on her.
For someone who has lost everything, maybe it wasn't a bad idea to just lie down and close your eyes.
Resting wasn't a bad idea.
She deserved a break.
Suddenly, a small murmur sounded.
The voice sounded strangely familiar, yet the message was indistinguishable.
A small, constant murmur.
What could that be, Athena wondered. All the voices had been extinguished; there was no need for them to continue harassing her, as in her mind she had already accepted that they were right.
What will it say, she wondered.
Slowly, the voice began to grow louder, and she was able to identify some parts.
Who is Athena, the owl wondered.
Why does she say she's not guilty?
Why does she sound so familiar?
She began to ask herself these questions, and slowly the volume of the voice began to increase until it became a scream.
"Awake, Athena, it wasn't your fault about your son, you weren't there, you wouldn't know what would happen, you can still make amends with your pack," Alex shouted in a loop.