When the advanced scouting parties returned to the captain of the guard they whispered about what they had found.

“Abandoned? Well that is better than occupied I suppose, though I don’t like the thought of moving through it in case they make their way back” the captain said in response. The captain nodded and then signalled them to take a rest. He walked over to the magisters and got their attention.

“Beyond are chitterling burrows, the men thoroughly explored them, and they were abandoned recently”

Latimer “That is good news, we must move swiftly then, before they return”

Baz “I agree, if those things went somewhere no telling when they will get back, so we’d better not wait around any longer”

Cassandra “I’ll send my bird out ahead and watch the exit in case they return”

Latimer nodded, and then looked at the captain who then turned and shouted at the men “Everybody up, we have good news, we have a clear path back up. But I want you all to remain vigilant and move quickly, there is no telling if the enemy will return”

The soldiers raised to their feet and gathered their things. Rem, Clive, Cassius, and Subi followed suit. Each burrow they passed through felt ominous, and it took them a couple of hours to climb through the maze like structures, but eventually they reached the exit that overlooked the swamps. It wasn’t far to the central pillar so everyone lined up and followed the Maestro’s lead and entered the pillar.

Subi looked around and noticed smoke over by the rift in the ceiling. He also noticed the crawler attached to the roof of the labyrinth. He sensed far away lizardmen watching them enter the pillar. They were not hostile however, just observing their passage. The hordes of monsters still roamed around in the valley beyond the swamp.

Latimer “Okay, lets make our way up, keep on guard”.

Subi “Did you guys see the smoke drifting down from the rift at the top of the Labyrinth?”

Rem “No, I didn’t see anything”

Clive “Me either”

Subi “I wonder if the chitterlings are topside and they are trying to get that Crawler topside too, it might be really dangerous above”

Clive “More dangerous than down here?”

Cassius eyed them as they had their discussion and thought to himself that Subi was an observant character. He thought only he alone had noticed the crawler and the chitterlings alchemy. He wondered quietly at what it would mean if the Crawler shrieked, would the horde know to make their way up this pillar? It was a terrifying idea that he couldn’t get out of the back of his mind because it seemed to him just like something chitterlings would be counting on if it was indeed their plan to bring the crawler topside.

…

The army was restless. After hours of waiting and nothing much happening they felt drained. The general had made sure the bushfire had brought down the forest in all directions, widening the battlefield but also putting strain on the magisters to use wind magic to keep the smoke and flames under control. The eagle squadron trooper looked at the general.

“The men are getting tired, they need fortifications”

The general scratched his chin and grumbled to himself “very well”.

The magisters line up around the outer lines of the spearmen and focused their hand movements towards the ground ahead.

General “I want it far enough out that the cavalry can ride, and to have gaps for them to escape, at least six of them, we don’t want to trap ourselves, also can we raise the ground on our side of the trench”

The blonde magister nodded and continued her incantation with the others. A massive rift was torn into the earth, and then the soil was built into a mound on the inside. Each hold was ten foot deep and each mound ten foot high, a fortress.

General “Now we need to bring our forces as high as we can, can you raise the ground in the center of our forces”

The magisters nodded and moved to the central formation. The General barked orders “split formation, no one standing on the ground where we were” he then signalled to the magisters to begin.

The magisters forced the ground to bulge upwards in one massive spell in order to form a fifteen foot high hill.

“That’ll do it” the General smiled, “Men get your asses to you posts! Spearmen to guard each opening, slingers on the walls, cavalry dismount and rest the horses, rotating shifts every four hours”

The magisters were breathing heavily and exhausted from the terraforming, so also walked over to where they could take some much needed rest.

The sun set over the mountains in the distance.

Dan “whoa, this is intense”

Cat “Feels kind of surreal doesn’t it”

Dan “I feel bad about everyone in town, but now I wonder if it was the right move to bring the chitterlings down on this army as well”

Cat “Cleaning up the horrors of the world is bound to get dirty I guess”

Dan “I feel so useless, isn’t there something we can do, I mean we still have the eye of power”

Cat “Using it to escape the dungeon made sense but using it here is irrational, the army should technically be capable of overcoming the chitterlings, so we just have to wait and hold the aces up our sleeve so to speak”

Dan “Yeah, guess so, if it goes really bad I’ll run us out of here. I will make sure you are safe”

Cat choked for a moment before regaining her composure.

Dan “Uh, I just mean”

Cat “Yeah we will get out of here if it goes wrong. Kind of hard to imagine though, I mean look, now we even have fortifications. Magisters really are powerful enough to turn the tide of any battle, it is remarkable”

Dan “I guess it is kind of remarkable”

Cat “The magisters are tired though… I am not sure how well they could fight if forced to in the coming hours”

Dan “Do you think the chitterlings will attack now that it is getting dark”

Cat “It would make sense”

…

The Maestro eyed the faint light coming from the opening to the surface.

“The flickers of fire against the setting sun, something is up there” Baz whispered.

Maestro “Mhm…”

Subi was focused on the scents drifting into the cave system from the surface and the sounds that echoed out from the surface.

“The chitterlings are camped nearby, not at the opening to the surface, but by the rift about five hundred meters or more away. But a few chitterlings are outside, gathering herbs, a small fire where they are boiling a mixture of some kind”

Subi sniffed, “about eight of them”

Cassius stepped forwards “Eight huh? You kids stay back, I got this”. Subi turned back to Cassius, he was unaware he had been listening in.

“Don’t be so shocked kid, I don’t know how you know all this, super senses or what not, but if there are eight up there, they will warn the group if any of them survive. And these magisters are not known for being quiet. I am the only one who can do it”

Subi “but eight of them?”

Cassius “I have the element of surprise, trust me”

Subi could sense the sweat beads on the surface of his skin, and the elevated heart rate. Cassius might not have looked cool and collected but he was nervous. He also knew that if push came to shove he would be the perfect backup plan. His wolf form was fast and silent and could catch any chitterling running to the main group, and with his senses they wouldn’t be able to hide.

Subi “I am coming with you”

Cassius “No kid, you stay back here, this isn’t a time to act brave”

Subi “I am the only one here that can sense exactly where they are, we can’t let one escape”

Rem “I am coming too, I can shoot the closest ones, so Cassius can focus on the harder ones”

Cassius “No! I know you are a good shot, but you are just a kid”

Clive “I’ll come too, if things get hairy I will retreat with her back to the cave with the magisters”

Cassius “Alright”

Baz turned around as he heard Cassius and the others approach “Guys what are you doing, stay back”

Cassius “Don’t you magisters even think about going out there, this is a job for a small and silent crew”

Maestro turned with a raised eyebrow “This crew? A bunch of kids… No you all stay back, I have this”

Cassius “All due respect, you are a powerful magician but I am of the eagle squadron, this is my wheelhouse, not yours. And ever since you retired to the academy I don’t take your orders anymore sir, so step out of my way”

Cassius pushed past and signalled to the others to follow. Latimer stared at his students as they passed by.

“Pfft, what can they do?”

Subi, “two are by the fire to the left, there are two more at eleven o’clock at fifty yards, and four at three o’clock”

Cassius drew arrows from his quiver and put them between each of his fingers, he then nodded back to Rem, “you take the two close to the fire on the left”.

Cassius “subi, you keep an eye out for when they scatter so I don’t lose em”

They slowly crept forwards to the opening and then pounced out from the cave entrance. Rem hurried and turned to the left. She could see two shapes by the fire thirty meters away. She let loose the first arrow and struck one of the shadows in the heart. She quickly scrambled for a second arrow.

Cassius moved out swiftly into the opening, his feet moved heel to toe, keeping him perfectly level as he took three shots at the figures to the right. Each chitterling was struck through the heart and collapsed to the ground spilling all the herbs it had gathered in its arms. He quickly loaded another three arrows, and shot the first at the last remaining chitterling to the right, striking it in the thigh, and then turned to eight o’clock and launched two more arrows, one striking the shoulder of a chitterling, and the other thudding into the back of the skull via the eye socket.

Rem hurried her aim, and her next shot whizzed over the shoulder of the second chitterling by the fire. Cassius quickly turned around and released another arrow, shooting it in the neck and dropping it instantly.

Cassius nodded and then swiftly moved towards the injured chitterlings to finish them off. Two more arrows were launched at the chitterling struck in the leg, and by the time they brought it down he had moved over to where the wounded chitterling that had been hit in the shoulder was. He pulled his short sword and in one sharp motion sliced off its head.

Clive “wow”

Cassius came back over to the cave opening, “good shooting Rem, you did well, thanks guys”.

He then entered the cave to speak to the magisters “We are clear to go”

Baz looked at Latimer “Hey, a job done is a job done right?”

Cassandra “Exactly, let’s just get out of this damn Labyrinth”

The Maestro quickly signalled to the captain of the guard to get everyone out.

Cassius turned to Subi “Where to now? Do your super senses let you know a way around the enemy? Anywhere safe nearby”

Subi closed his eyes and sensed his surroundings.

“There are thousands of them!” he said shocked, “and another army from the capital”

Cassius “what?”

Subi “there are thousands of chitterlings, more than you could imagine, a few hundred spread throughout the trees as lookouts all around, and the remainder by the rift trying to draw the crawler out. And by the smell of the dead bodies further beyond there was a battle where thousands of soldiers died, the remainder are in an opening a few hundred meters off from the road to the capital. Thousands of them remain there”

Cassius “is there any direction we can move without hitting chitterlings, what about the opposite direction to both armies?”

Subi nodded, “there are only a few back that way, but they are everywhere else”

Cassius “Okay, let’s go back through the woods where they are spread out thinnest then make a large circle around to the army. You point them out for me”

Subi nodded again, it seemed like a sound enough plan, though by the smell of the previous battle he was not sure the army was a safe place to be, “There is also another option, we stay away from the army and the chitterlings, and just go deeper into the woods”.

Cassius, “Yeah you are right, I’ll go let the magisters and guard know though”

Cassius “Sir, the enemy seems to be camped a thousand or more strong by the rift opening five hundred plus meters that way, an army likely from the capital has suffered heavy losses but is still strong over in the other direction, and the woods are filled with chitterling scouts. There is one direction deeper into the woods that might be our way out, or we can use it to circle around to the other army”

Maestro “how do you know this?”

Cassius “same way I know everything else, experience and knowing what to trust. Listen to me or don’t, I know which way I am going. Over that way with the kids to take em somewhere safe”

Maestro nodded “yes, get the kids to safety, we will think of the rest. Are you sure your intelligence is accurate”

Cassius nodded. He secretly thought to himself that Subi was perhaps the most powerful person here, even more powerful than the Maestro himself. Information is power after all and Subi seemed to have hold of it like no one else he had ever met before. If the general knew about what he could do, the Chancellor’s army would never move without him. It was important to keep Subi’s talent under wraps, especially knowing what the Chancellor was capable of.

Cassius then signalled to the kids to move out, and winked at Subi “Alright, point these bastards out”.

They made their way through the dark forest, the sound of a raging bushfire in the distance, and insects in the trees. The croak of whooping frogs coming from the river and ponds in the distance.

Subi carefully positioned the group to come up from behind the scouts and then tapped Cassius on the shoulder to signal where they were.

Cassius “Ah yup, I got him”

FWET!

The arrow loosed and stuck into the chitterling’s back, causing it to fall from the tree and plunge into a pile of leaves.

Clive held onto Rem’s belt as she crept with her bow half drawn just in case. His hand was still burning, the glyphs changing and whispering a strange language to him. One of the words he could make out had to be time, or rhythm, or “the right place”, but the rest of it was just noise.

The Maestro and the guards followed along behind them about a hundred meters back.

Subi “that is the last of them, we have a straight shot now to the mountains, there should be caves there, a place to set up camp”

Cassius smirked “you really do sense everything don’t you kid, that sounds great, let’s do that. But first let’s wait for the magisters, tell em how to circle around”

The Maestro was in the middle of a discussion with Cassandra, Baz, and the Captain of the guard, “Since we know the chitterlings are attempting to excavate the crawler, we will need to develop a plan to interrupt them, ideas?”

Baz “maybe we collapse the ground, send all the chitterlings falling to their death”

Maestro “and release the damned crawler to the surface?”

Cassandra “it might be unavoidable at this point, I mean if we wait the chitterlings will get it out of there eventually, and then we have both the crawler and the chitterlings to worry about”

Maestro “but how could we collapse that much stone even if that was something we could do?”

Baz “yeah you are right”

Captain “I don’t think there is much my men can do here, I think we should circle back around to town and secure it, maybe evacuate the residents that remain their south”

Maestro “keep a few of your best men with me, and you go and evacuate the town”

The captain nodded.

Baz “Do we have anything in town that could help us with a blast that big?”

Cassandra “Maybe, I mean, we have some focusing emitters that could help but we would need every magister from the academy to pull something like that off”

Maestro “Baz you go to the academy and bring back those emitters. Meet us back at the army camp. Cassandra you search for the magisters while we head over there in case they aren’t in town. And you guys there”

A handful of guards saluted the Maestro “you guys just keep alert and stay with us”

“Y-yes sir!”

Cassius “Sir, I wanted to wait for you just to let you know there are no more scouts from here on out, so if you go directly along this way and then cut in from behind the army you should get there safe and sound”

The Maestro nodded “Appreciated”

Cassius turned back to the kids and nodded towards the mountains.

Clive turned back and watched as the magisters went in all their different directions. He wondered how anything would ever go back to normal. He rubbed the burning gem in his hand and realised that sometimes things never get to go back to normal. A tear rolled down his cheek as he realised nothing would be the same ever again.

…

Jon stayed calm amidst a storm of magical energy surrounding him, listening for Yuri’s voice and the touch of her hand to certain glyphs. The flowers danced in the gusts of wind, and the cave walls flickered with specks of light coming from tiny electrical discharges of the maelstrom surrounding Yuri and Jon. The roar of the wind, the churn of the electrical charge, and wrestle of air, water, and fire all around him, it all was forceful enough to rend flesh from bone if one were to stand within it.

“Notice the air, make it softer” she said as gently placing her finger on a glyph on his chest. Jon controlled his breathing and followed her instruction, using the glyph to grasp onto the energy, and then her instruction to direct it to flow softer.

“Notice the water, it carries heat, make it hotter, more uniform in its chaos”, she gently removed her finger from his chest and touched a glyph on his abdomen. Jon centered himself even further and focused on the excitation of tiny water droplets, using the glyph to control and measure the spread.

“Now the fire, let it take over, but slowly”, she moved her hands up to his arms and onto his forearms where she gripped multiple glyphs. “And when I say, release your energy into it fimly”. Her fingers pressed slowly harder and harder into his forearms, drawing blood and forcing them to burn with incredible pain. Jon used the pain to focus, to become precise and to not make any mistake. Using the glyphs to guide and control the flames as if they were his own pain.

“Now Jon”, she gripped into his flesh tightly, and Jon resisted the urge to scream. He remained calm as the fire swept into the maelstrom and consumed it. Around him blazed a wall of fire. Oxygen and hydrogen split from each other to fuel the combustion, and the air controlled the burn. The speed of the flames was like that of a jet engine, capable of melting steel, and ripping the air apart. The electrical charge in the air still sparked at its edges, and the flowers spontaneously vaporised into a fine smoke.

“Yes” Yuri said almost as if turned on, she stroked up and down his arms with her grip, “now bring in the smoke, concentrate it into a ball, smaller and smaller until not bigger than a tooth”. Jon lifted his chin and controlled the wind around the fire maelstrom and drew it towards his chest where he compacted it down into a small ball. It was hard to control everything at one time, but the pain cut into his mind like a surgeon’s scalpel allowing him to keep all elements calm.

“Ha!” Yuri excitedly let out, her eyes widening, almost manic, “you are doing it!”

She gently stroked her hands all over Jon’s body while moaning and humming to herself, “slowly reduce the flames, and take the small sphere into your hands, take the maelstrom’s energy and force and compress the sphere as tightly as you can, until it crystallizes”

She hugged onto his body and rested her head onto his back listening to his steady heartbeat. The glyphs all along his body lit up in a dance of colors as he drew all the forces into a single shining point. And as the wind and heat surrounding them faded, all that remained was one clear gem in Jon’s hand.

Jon put it between his fingertips and admired it for a moment “what does it do?”

Yuri “swallow it and find out”

Jon didn’t hesitate, he took the gem and swallowed it down in one big gulp.

Yuri “it won’t stay as a gem for long, you must contain it within you”

Jon’s eyes widened “you mean all that force is inside of me? Ready to burst at any moment?”

Yuri “yes!”

Jon’s composed demeanor cracked a little.

“Okay, I have got this”

He focused his energies towards his heart where the gem had seemed to position itself, and held its power in a state of balance much like the pain in his body was held.

“It is stable, so what do I do with it?”

Yuri “you are now one with the Labyrinth, strong enough to gaze into the crystal above the fountain, and predict its motions. In this gem you have the capability to see as the labyrinth sees. To embody its power, and act as its warrior”

Jon “what does being it’s warrior mean”

Yuri “I don’t know, there has never been such a thing before, you will find out in time”

Jon “why did you do this for me? What is the goal, besides helping me escape”

Yuri smiled devilishly, “nothing bad I promise”

She stepped back from him and pointed at the crystal “you have your answers, now use them… Now I must go”. She took off Jon’s shirt and tossed it to the floor.

Yuri stepped back into the fountain, and slowly descended into its depths.

“Yuri!” Jon screamed with his arms outstretched, “don’t leave me”.

Jon stood there, his glyphs shimmering.

“I will be alone again”

The room became silent and still, the only reminder left of Yuri, the burning pain held within Jon’s tattooed form. Pain was his companion now. And the ever present possibility of the gem in his chest catching fire and blowing him to pieces. Jon sat down, and for the first time since meeting Yuri, he cried.

“How can I live like this thing I have become, how can I ever know how?”

“Am I a monster now...”

CHAPTER 29

“CLIMB!”

The crystal on top of the fountain spoke to him as he gazed at it.

“NOW!” it growled.

Jon discarded all hesitation and looked towards the pathway it had imprinted in his mind. And without any delay he ran. His feet thudding against cold stone. The wall opened up into a large rift and Jon ran up it like a ramp until he came speeding out the top into a cavern above. Everything was dark like it had been when he had first fell down into the hole. Creatures hunted prey in the dark, and he could hear the sound of a creature being devoured. The ground behind him closed again, forcing him to step up into the dark world.

He used a spell of infravision and enabled his eyes to see the heat and cold of all that surrounded him. Thousands of animals surrounded him as far as the eye could see. The closest animal was the rough shape of a bear only double the size and with four arms. It finished gulping down the smaller creature and then shot its eyes towards Jon. It was still hungry.

Within a split second it had charged half the distance between them. Jon dived out of the way and the bear charged on behind him. Jon turned just in time to see the bear stand on its hind legs and slash its two right arms towards him. He leapt back just narrowly avoiding the slash of its claws. It crashed down onto all four front limbs and pounced towards Jon with its gigantic jaws looking to swallow him whole. Jon shot his right hand forwards and launched a laser like blade of light into its mouth, piercing its heart. He then dived to the side and rolled to his feet as its body followed its momentum to a crashing halt.

Jon looked around to notice that several other creatures had noticed the noise and light, and they were all running his way.

“Damn it” he growled.

He chose one of the directions that the horde of monsters was coming from and committed to it. He picked up his legs and sprinted forwards at a speed he would have never been capable of before, even had he been an augmentor. He raised his hands in front of him and prepared to cast spells from each finger tip, in rapid succession.

“FLARE”

Within a matter of a second, a half dozen waves of flares had shot from each of his finger tips. Just as he had learned to control the flare to become a gentle light he had also learned to make it burn with destructive power. They burned through flesh and bone on contact.

The wave of monsters burst into flames, and as the monsters pursuing behind him reached the line of dead creatures, he turned the flames into a burning wall to stop them, separating hydrogen and oxygen from the moisture in the air.

It exploded behind him, scattering charred blood and bone across the floor of the dark cavern.

THUD THUD THUD!

SWOOSH!

Before Jon could turn around to survey his surroundings a heaving mass of muscle in the form of a giant minotaur had run over to him, giant axe just moments away from cleaving him in two. Jon rolled his shoulder over and bent his back, and watched the blade of the axe slice through where his body had been. The minotaur wasted no time and followed with a kick from one of its massive hooves. Jon could stand up straight in time to dodge the sweeping arc of the kick, all he could do was augment his muscles and bones and hope they wouldn’t fracture. He was sent flying through the air, and then smashed into the cavern wall.

He raised his hands and stared directly at the infrared image of the giant minotaur.

“FLARE!”

Wave after wave of flare launched from his fingertips.

Tink tink tink.

The minotaur swatted down the flares like they were flies. Only two flares made contact with its skin. They left glowing red marks, but the minotaur’s skin was as robust as steel. Jon looked around and saw more infrared shapes all around him. Lizards on the roofs and the walls were closing in on him.

“Grrr!” he growled and picked himself up.

The minotaur slammed its shoulder against the cave wall he had been lodged within and then spun back towards his escape with its axe. Jon slid under the blow and quickly got back to his feet.

THROP

Lizards dropped from the ceiling everywhere around him. Their jaws riddled with sharp teeth and their breath roiling with flames.

Jon “this is just getting worse, I have to conserve my mana, tsk!”

A wave of flames blasted into his side, Jon reacted and cast a barrier around himself that absorbed the attack. The minotaur behind him raised its axe above its head to prepare a mighty blow. Jon sidestepped allowing the axehead to crash into the ground. The rock below shook and the axe drove itself deep into the earth. Jon spiralled and moved behind the Minotaur, the lizards blasted their fire breath towards him but it engulfed the Minotaur instead.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Its skin was impervious to heat so the flames harmlessly deflected off its body like the wind. It tugged at its axe and with a herculean effort it drew the axehead from the stone, and turned ready to hack at Jon. But when it turned around…

He was gone.

…

Baz sprinted through the streets of town and made his way to the academy. He burst in through the doors of the storage room and searched around with his eyes for the emitters. In a dusty corner he spotted them. He scooped them up and sprinted back down the streets and towards the woods.

The captain and his men saw Baz sprint past them as they arrived in town. The smell of charred flesh was overpowering, the captain covered his mouth with his elbow so as not to ingest too much of it.

“Come on men, two men each to a street, start knocking, we will gather everyone on the other side of town”

The men formed into a single file and they each took a set of streets with a partner.

The Captain ran to the church where the injured were being treated. He arrived to see the doors off their hinges and wide open. His jaw dropped as he noticed signs of struggle all around, but suddenly silenced. Drag marks came from the beds back towards the door.

The captain turned his head back to where the paths led and he saw it head around the corner towards the center of town. He followed the trail into the main square, and dropped to his knees.

“Oh, my, god”

Tears welled in his eyes as he looked upon the pile of burning bodies. From those not yet fully burned he could see their faces were missing, chewed off by the chitterlings spoon like teeth.

He grasped his heart, and couldn’t help but begin to breathe hard.

“Ahhhhhh!” he screamed, veins bulging from his forehead and neck.

He hung his head over and stood back to his feet. He walked back to the church and walked down to the altar. He grasped the altar and grit his teeth.

“Why… Why have you abandoned us…”

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he lifted his eyes to the statue of the goddess. He hit the altar with the bottom of his fist.

He shook his head and composed himself.

“Dammit, no time for this… Gotta find survivors, get them out of here”

He heard whimpering coming from behind some curtains in the corner. He approached them cautiously, and drew his sword. Was one of the chitterlings injured and left here? His eyes were wide and his steps methodical. He pointed his sword tip at the bulge behind the curtain and drew it back ready to strike. He then took his lead hand and wrapped his fingers around the edge of the curtain, and in one swift motion pulled it back.

He lowered his sword hand and dropped to a knee. A small set of blue eyes stared back at him, cheeks red from having been crying, and blonde hair messy from having panicked.

“Hey, there little guy, don’t be scared, I’m Reggie, I came to protect you. I’m sorry I’m late. I’m so sorry”

He reached out his arm and nodded to the child, “and what is your name”

“Sammy” he pouted and rubbed his eyes.

“Well Sammy let’s get you out of here, okay?”

Sammy nodded and took Reggie’s hand. Reggie smiled and picked Sammy up, and regained his straight face. He knew what his task was, to save the people of the town, and it was what he was going to make sure happened.

…

Cassandra “the magisters are here”

Latimer nodded, “good”

They approached the guards at the opening to the rear of the fortification. Latimer lifted his arms and shouted out to the men.

“I’m here to help, I’m the head magister of the academy, I need to speak with the magisters here and the general”

One of the guards spoke up “wait there”, he turned to one of the pages and nodded. The page ran off to send the message of their arrival to the general and the mages.

General “Ah, Latimer, wondered where you had run off to, expected you to be with this lot. But you always were one to take the initiative, bet you left these guys behind as you went off to the next thing. Am I right?”

Latimer “Perhaps”

Cassandra eyed the general cautiously, she had heard tales of his temperament, he was a dangerous man.

General “You haven’t changed have you, from back in the days. You ever think of serving again”

Latimer “No”

The general smiled defensively, “Yes I suppose it takes a certain kind of man to relish in this kind of work”

Latimer “I need to talk with the other magisters, the chitterlings are about to release a Class A beast from the Labyrinth to descend upon you, I need to get them prepared to address the situation”

“A Class A beast?! A national level threat? And you’ve seen it?”

“Yes, it is a giant insect of some kind, four forelimbs with scythe like blades, and four hind limbs. Spits acid. Massive, and armored”

General “That complicates things. And what of the chitterlings?”

“They are gathered around an opening in the labyrinth widening it. Scouts littered throughout the trees. There is no way to lead an assault to stop them”

General “Well they took out a lot of my men. Light troops, but still. Caught us off guard the little bastards. You know how they are, with those fast tactics of theirs”

Latimer nodded “Yes, they are perhaps more troublesome than another nation’s army, cunning little things, fast to adapt”

General “Mhm”

Latimer “There is only one cold hard fact about this situation, we can’t fight the beast and the chitterlings at the same time. I plan to kill off this chitterlings before they release the beast”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

“Collapse the ground above the Labyrinth. Chitterlings are great tacticians but they are fragile. The fall will kill them”

“Let me get this straight, your plan is to help these bastards release this beast?”

“Yes, and then you fight the beast”

General “Hrmm, I suppose I would prefer a straight fight to all this messing around. Ok I agree, but you are wrong about something”

“What is that”

“There is a second cold hard fact. A lot of these men will die because of your plan”

Latimer stared into the General’s cold eyes.

General “you really are a killer aren’t you”

…

Baz rushed through the trees like a flash. Darting from one side to another with ease. He made his way to the camp and leapt over the walls. Guards turned around in shock.

“Halt!”

Baz “Easy fellas I’m one of the good guys”

Latimer “Ah you are here”

Cassandra smiled, “The other magisters are this way, I already filled them in on the plan”

Baz plopped down the bag he had on his shoulder. The magisters stared at him as he opened it up and pulled out the emitters.

“Haha, I got enough for everyone don’t be shy”

Latimer nodded to the magisters and they all stepped forwards to take an emitter.

Cassandra “So as we discussed we need to triangulate on the chitterlings position, how is everyone’s mana stores?”

The blonde magister nodded “it will have to do, shall we head out?”

Baz “No time like the present, let’s do this!”

…

Subi “Cassius, what do you think the odds are that the magisters and the army from the capital can handle it”

Cassius “Well you saw the Maestro battle that thing, he didn’t do half bad. Without him I don’t expect their odds would be all that good”

Clive “I wonder what brought them out here, I’ve heard that the Chancellor is very cold and calculating, so I don’t imagine it was to try to aid us with the Labyrinth”

Cassius “You aren’t wrong, the chancellor is a scary guy, not likely to help anyone unless it served his own agenda. I suspect it is his agenda that brings him here. Now what that is I don’t know”

Rem “Are we doing the right thing by leaving it up to them?”

Cassius “What difference would we make in an army of thousands. The only one here I see making a difference in the battle would be Subi here”

Subi looked shocked by the comment. He thought to himself that while he was from another world and capable of transformation magic, his ability to influence events was pretty poor.

Cassius “His senses are capable of picking up on vast amounts of intelligence, and that kind of thing is crucial for battle plans, especially when fighting unpredictable enemies”

Subi hung his head “So are you saying I should go back”

Cassius “No, you don’t owe anyone anything, you aren’t a soldier, and in fact I think it would be better that the chancellor not know about your abilities”

Clive patted Subi on the shoulder “Yeah, no need to put your life on the line. And in all likelihood they will be able to handle it”

Subi “Yeah, let’s just get far away”

…

Jon ran through the darkness, his only sound was that of a passing breeze. He had realised that the monsters in the dark relied on heat vision and scent to find his location, so had coated himself in a thin layer of ice. It acted to both cool him and contain his scent.

When he had looked into the crystal it had given him a vision of strange patterns and rhythms to help him understand the labyrinth’s twists and turns, and as he made his way through the tunnels he relied on those feelings to know whether to turn right or left. When monsters were in the way he moved faster so he could slip by before they could react.

He had been running for hours now, had taken hundreds if not thousands of turns, the Labyrinth was truly a confusing structure, and had he not the capability to hold the instructions of the crystal in his mind, he would have been lost from the very start. His body was only capable of running for hours because of his store of magical energy from the fountain and the rituals Yuri had performed to transform his mind and body. Further, he would not have made it without fine control of magic, enough to coat his skin with ice and to dampen the sound of his steps while moving at high speeds.

“I’m getting close I can feel it”

Jon began to sense a glow in the distance, less than a dozen turns away. He couldn’t see it, but the vision from the crystal suggested it was there. And then finally as making his way around the last corner, he saw far in the distance a light. He ran through the open cavern ignoring the slimes, inwardly hopeful that he had made it.

SNATCH!

A vine gripped onto his leg and slammed him face first into the ground. His cheekbone smashed onto the stone floor and he slid to a halt. More and more whip root vines grabbed at him from every direction. He lit his fingertips ablaze and shot off flares in all directions to cut himself free. It worked and the vines wilted away but as the burning flares hit the ceiling a giant mass began to churn.

SHRIEK!!!

Craw bats swarmed down from every direction. Jon got up to his knee and lifted his hands to cover his face. He began to focus on wind magic. He swept wind around him like a fast moving vortex as a barrier to stop them from getting too close. He then stood to his feet and held the spell as he walked towards the opening of the cave. As he left the cave the craw bats spewed forth from the entrance into the skies, and Jon opened his eyes wide as he saw the setting sun over the mountain tops. He was in a valley between two rocky mountains far from where the Labyrinth had opened up.

“Haha! I’m out”

He released the cold ice film from around his body and clenched his fist in celebration.

For a moment he was his old self again, but the burning pain in his arms and tracing around his body soon reminded him that he was not the same person. His smile turned to a stoic gaze, as he held the pain in his body down. A dangerous stone near his heart, he could not afford the luxury of relief, and so could not celebrate the fresh air further.

“I wonder what happened to the others”

…

Subi sniffed on the wind, “Hang on guys, I smell something coming from the mountains”

Cassius “What kind of beast is it?”

Subi “It isn’t a beast, it is Jon”

Clive “Jon? How did he get out here”

Subi “No idea”

Cassius “I assume Jon is a friend of yours?”

Rem “Yes, from the academy, he was with us when I fell into the Labyrinth”

Cassius “Oh I think I dragged him and two others away from the drowner vine”

Subi “Yeah, and if he was there back then, why is he in the mountains now, it doesn’t make sense”

Clive “That is a mystery, guess we’ll just have to ask him”

Miles ahead in the distance was the valley between the mountains Jon was in. By the time they arrived the sun had set and the stars had risen.

Rem ran forwards smiling and waving at Jon “Hey, hey, over here!”

Jon “Rem? Is that you! You got out!!!”

Clive “Hey Jon”

Jon “Ah Clive, good to see you man”

Jon looked over Clive’s shoulder “and who are these guys?”

Rem “The one in blue is Subi he and I are really close, we grew up together, and then there is Cassius”

Cassius nodded.

Jon “Ah great, I’m glad to see you guys again. Where are Dan and Cat?”

Subi “They are with the army”

Jon “Oh thankyou! They got out! Wait, there is an army?”

Cassius, “yeah, two actually, one of chitterlings and a small regiment from the capital”

Jon “Oh, chitterlings too huh… And a whole army of them, that can’t be a good thing”

Clive “So Jon, how did you wind up all the way out here”

Jon suddenly turned cold and light drained from his eyes, “Let’s not talk about that, I don’t really want to discuss it”

Rem stared at the glyphs glowing on his arms, then Clive.

Jon “Ah, these things… I’d rather not talk about these either”

Subi pulled a button up shirt from his backpack and slung it to Jon “Well, this will help you cover em up”

Jon “Thanks”

Cassius “Alright guys, let’s look for a place to camp, maybe a cave”

Jon “Not a cave, don’t know which one’s might have monsters”

Cassius nodded, “Alright, let’s get started on a fire then”

…

Cat turned to Dan who was stuffing his face with some bread by the supply wagons.

Dan “Thanks mister, this bread is delicious, really hit the spot”

Cat “Shh, shut up a second…”

Dan “Why are you always so mean to me”

Cat “Do you hear that?”

Dan “Hear what?”

Cat “Listen!”

Dan slowly stopped chewing and looked over the smoke filled landscape. Wild chirping and screeches were rising in intensity. The sound send chills down his spine as it dawned on him what the sound was. His jaw dropped open and the blood drained from his cheeks.

The magister groups hurried towards their planned positions. The manic explosion of chitterling shrieks echoed loudly through the trees. The maestro barely glanced in the direction of the screeching.

Maestro “We don’t have much time”

He raised a hand and launched a flare into the sky. It arched up long and high into the now dark sky.

The other groups of magisters hurriedly slammed the amplifiers into the ground and stepped into position to pour their magic into the receiver core. The whirling sphere at the amplifiers center began to glow and move in complex patterns. A pool of energy swirled within its depths.

Bread dropped from Dan’s mouth, as a massive roaring screech boomed through the air.

“Is that…”

Cat “The crawler”

The crawler’s head began pushing its way through the fissure in the ground, its legs scratching wildly at the opening as it sensed it was close to finding its way out. It was driven mad by the alchemy of the chitterlings, as they continued to feed it with psychedelic fumes from their concoctions. Its mandibles mashed and chomped with large globs of saliva spewing from its giant maw.

Giant ribbons of light filled the night sky like an aurora as the magical amplifiers connected in a great triangle around the chitterlings and the breach.

The maestro concentrated and gently placed both hands into the center of the amplifier’s core. The aurora in the sky began to brighten until it was streams of bright white light. The intensity built and built until suddenly like lightning it flashed and lit up the sky like the middle of the day. A powerful rumbling cracked and shifted under their feet, the earth itself violently undulating and twisting. The twists drove out in all directions, tearing and snapping the earth like broken glass.

The maestro took in a sharp breath and pushed more magic into the amplifying core, his eyes wide and filled with a look of madness. The crumbling earth spat and shook like specks of water on a hot pan, until finally the earth tore open.

BANG!

The sound was so loud it knocked down most of the soldiers. Those who weren’t already holding their ears began to bleed as their eardrums burst. Giant shockwaves of pressurised supersonic air smashed over everything in the camp aside from the large wagons that the Chancellor was within.

Cat held up a magical barrier around herself and Dan to protect from the blast and deafening noise. As the majority of the army squirmed on the ground and screamed in pain, Dan and Cat looked on in horror. Large clouds of dust blotted out the sky, and swept into the camp, suddenly covering the destruction with eerie silence and the threat of the unknown.

Dan whispered into Cat’s ear “Did they get them…”

Cat “Hrmm, if the chitterlings survived they would make a big commotion right?”

Dan “Yeah I think so… And it is quiet… It worked?”

REEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!

A horrifying screech shot out into the skies.

Cat “Its the crawler, its free”

Dan “That was the plan right?”

Cat “Yes, to drop the chitterlings into the labyrinth below hopefully killing them, so that the army wouldn’t have to fight both at the same time”

Dan “I can’t believe the Maestro’s plan came down to something this… Well… Desperate”

Cat “He has fought these kinds of battles before, he probably knew there wasn’t time for anything more clever. War is a dirty business”

Dan “I still can’t see anything, how are we going to fight that thing blind?”

Cat “You are right, the magisters probably didn’t account for the dust cloud”

Dan “Do you know enough wind magic to clear it? Like the other magisters did earlier with smoke?”

Cat “I know the basic spell but I am far too inexperienced to cast it”

Dan “What about with the eye of power?”

Cat “What are you saying? Shouldn’t we save that for when it attacks?”

Dan “Look, when that thing attacks and no one can see, there won’t be an army to fight it, just a bunch of scared and traumatised soldiers. If that happens we will be the only ones left to fight it, and even with the eye of power I don’t think we can beat it without risking our own lives. Lets just clear the fog, and then I’ll take you away to safety after, then maybe later once you wake up we can figure out the next move”

Cat “So I just trust my limp body to you in the middle of a battle, this is your plan?”

Dan “I didn’t say it was a great plan, just better than waiting here to fight that thing when the army might do a better job if we give it the chance, and that is what we are doing”

Cat “Argh, damn it, you are right… Alright here goes”

Cat snatched up the eye of power in her hands and gently closed her eyes. She began summoning up gentle strands of wind around her, until they became a whirling gust. The wind closest to her sped up and began to squeal forcing Dan to shield his eyes and step far back and brace himself against the force of the wind.

Cat’s hair flew in the wind as if she was a possessed by a goddess, and the tips of her toes gently lifted off the ground as she levitated up into the air. The wind surged in a sudden blast of force, magnifying in intensity ten times over. She rose higher still into the air and a second blast of force blew aside anything that wasn’t tied down as the winds above the encampment became like that of a typhoon. The dust cloud began to gather in thick streams that pushed outwards as the eye of the storm grew, and calmness and clarity returned to the camp.

“What is going on?!”

“Thank god, we can see again!”

“Huh? What did you say, I can’t hear you”

“Who is clearing the dust? The magisters are back?”

“No, look, its that girl”

“Oh my god, what kind of power is that?”

“Incredible!”

The chancellor heard the commotion and calmly gazed out the carriage window and kept his eyes fixed on Cat, before a knowing smirk crossed his face.

With one final blast of force the dust cloud for miles around suddenly blew away and scattered. Much like a drop of water might produce a splash in a ring that surrounds where the drop fell, giant walls of dust loomed miles away on each side.

Cat slowly descended back to the ground and Dan moved up to collect her as her feet touched back onto the ground.

“Don’t you… drop… meee…”

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and Dan scooped up her legs “no I’ve got you”. He then quickly turned his head and looked off towards the capital.

“Best get us the hell out of here, best of luck fellas, we did what we could”

The general blew a mighty horn and sat upon horseback.

“Get your asses in formation!”

Half the men couldn’t hear but were slapped on the armor by those that could and followed along with the order. Within moments they were all in lines and had weapons ready. The general looked over them with content and then stared into the distance from where the crawlers loud thudding steps could be heard, and its shadow could be seen in the dust beyond.

REEEEEEEEECH!!!

It roared into the skies again.

…

The magisters all scrambled back to their feet, the earth all around them was now jagged and broken. With the help of wind magic, barriers, and magical augmentation they began leaping from boulder to boulder back towards the army camp. Tree trunks were up turned, and the burning fires left ash everywhere. Their footprints making dark smudges as they made haste to the battleground.

…

Dan scurried off through the smoldering trees and made his way to the path to the capital and kept running. The sound of the screeching crawler behind him adding urgency to every step.

“This is soo bad, how do they intend to fight that”

…

Subi turned towards all the commotion. The entire team with him was far away in the mountains now, but even still the earth had shook and the crawlers screams were only slightly muffled by the distance.

“Cassius, you sure we can’t do anything about all that, it doesn’t feel right leaving it up to everyone else”

Cassius “Don’t even think about it kid, that is the last place anyone of you should be right now, you are just teenagers, and haven’t completed even basic training yet. What would you guys even do, throw yourselves at the crawler to inconvenience it? Get real”

Subi grit his teeth and stared into the distance “I hate feeling powerless like this, but I know you are right, I just wish it wasn’t the case. I wish I was strong enough to do something about this”

Cassius raised an eyebrow and secretly thought to himself “you are the most powerful one here by my reasoning, even so in chess if you move the queen early you risk losing it”.

Cassius snapped at Subi “look, death and destruction, and armies isn’t anything new. Focus on the future, our next steps. No doubt this battle will leave this entire area unsafe, there is no telling what kind of instability it could bring. Trust me, we are going to have a hard enough time as it is”

Subi sniffed in the air, sensing everything as it was happening with perfect clarity. “Hmph, Dan and Cat are running to the capital… Smart”

Subi sighed and relented, “you are right”

Cassius “of course I am, and besides, you guys have been through enough as it is, you just escaped a labyrinth, which hasn’t ever been done before you know, everyone always just ends up dead, which is even more reason we should actually just get the heck out of here… Know what lets forget camp, put out the fire and lets get on the move again”

Jon looked back at the commotion in the distance “I can feel something coming”

Subi turned to him “but I don’t sense anything… wait!”

A rumble surged below their feet.

Clive “An aftershock?”

Subi “That is no after shock”

Fissures began opening all over the landscape and the smell of rancid flesh and monsters poured into Subi’s nose. The smell was so thick it almost made him want to wretch.

“Yeah we have go to go! Monsters from the labyrinth are breaking out everywhere”

Clive turned to Subi in shock “What? Really?!”

Rem made a scared little mumble, and Subi looked around frantically trying to come up with a plan.

Jon “The labyrinth itself is pissed, I can feel it”

Clive “What do you mean pissed, and how can you feel it”

Jon “It is a long story, but it made me a guardian of sorts, and I can sense its will”

Clive “Its alive?”

Jon “Kind of… But also not… It is just raw emotions and fragments of logic, like a broken watch occasionally keeping time, but right now, it knows what is going on and it is sending them to us”

Clive “Them who?”

Jon “The creatures of the deepest layers of the labyrinth”

Subi “He’s right, they are all around us now, and closing in fast… Damn it… Look guys, don’t freak out, but I have to transform, Rem and Clive you hop on my back… Cassius and Jon. I can’t carry you guys so follow along behind as fast as you can”

The sound of groans and vicious growling echoed from every direction.

Subi transformed into a great wolf and Rem and Clive climbed on top. Cassius’ eyes shot open wide with shock, and Jon peered ahead seemingly unphased, and completely focused.

Creatures began stumbling into view emerging from trees and from behind rocks. Subi started striding off ahead, as Cassius and Jon ran along side. Cassius couldn’t believe the magic Subi possessed, he quickly analysed that this was no mere illusion like the trick of a shape shifter or animal form magic, this wolf before him was made of flesh and bone, not magic. Who was this kid? He wasn’t sure what frightened him more, the situation, or Subi’s potential power.

Mindless and enraged creatures snarled and snapped at them as they zig zagged through the trees on the mountainous terrain. Subi deftly stepped side to side effortless avoiding contact except when he felt the creature might hit into Cassius or Jon following behind. With a quick snap of his jaws he picked up and tossed a monster aside tearing it in half with the force.

Cassius “Fuuuuck…”

Blood splattered across his chest plate as he sprinted along behind this bouldering terror that was Subi.

…

The chancellor leant out the side of the carriage and nodded to the eagle squadron leader to come over to him. He left the door open and the leader of the squadron hopped in.

“Change of plans, the elite guard and yourselves will not be taking part in the battle”

“What do you mean sir, without us the army will be at risk”

“At an acceptable risk, there is a more important task I have for you”

“What is it sir?”

“The two children that helped clear the fog, we are going to follow them, I suspect they have a certain artifact we must retrieve it”

“So what about the crawler sir”

“Leave it to the general, if need be we will draw some of the other armies back to the city and fight the beast there, where we have artillery and traps designed for this kind of thing”

“Y-yes sir”

The leader of the eagle squadron exited the carriage half confused but resolved to follow orders and addressed his men. The chancellor smirked and closed the door. The elite guard after hearing the orders started the carriage moving back towards the capital.

The general glanced back at the Chancellor as he and the eagle squadron left the battlements.

“Bah, whatever, scurry off then. I can still win this, I never needed you all here anyway”

The magisters leapt over the forward battlements and landed softly on cushions of air.

Maestro “Ready yourselves, it won’t be long, you must fend it off while we recover and observe the battle for its weakness”

The general nodded “Don’t look so grim Latimer, I’ve got this”

The two shared looks that could kill and then passed each other.

“Alright! Any of you sorry son’s of bitches who shits themselves when that thing stands in front of us is going to feel my foot up their ass. READYYYY”

The men all cried out in unison

HUAH HUAH HUAH HUAH!

As they marched into position.

The crawler dug its feet deep into the ground and then suddenly sprung up. It launched high into the air like a grasshopper and then thudded down in a smash just outside of the battlements. It half stumbled to one side under the tremendous weight of its own impact and then stretched up to its full height, towering so far over the battlements that the soldiers looked like ants in comparison.

It drew back its mandibles and its throat undulated like it had something stuck in its throat, and then as if it had finally freed the blockage it then dipped its head horizontal with the rest of its body resting down its four scythe like blades over the battlements and spewed acid.

Rarrrgh!

Dozens of men were incinerated instantly, and hundreds more staggered back and tossed off pieces of armor being eaten away at by the toxic acid.

Thwang! Thwang! Thwang!

Giant ballista launched massive log like spears at the beasts flanks. The weight of the impact made a loud…

CRACK, CRACK, CLUNK!

Two bolts bounced off but one stabbed square into the beast’s side causing it to scream and recoil.

General “haha! Got you, you bastard! How do you like that” he then nodded off to the sides.

Rows of men with large metal poles fashioned together from individual sections spanned almost fifty yards long hurriedly passed the metal and wood through their hands in unison. Large steel chains were attached to the ends in loops and then dragged over and onto the creature’s neck. They pulled tight and snatched onto the beast. It thrashed its head violently off to one side and threw the men with it. Most men let go as the pole was ripped from their hands, and then the pole swung wildly and clashed into half a dozen soldiers killing them immediately. Nearby soldiers then dived on the poles and grabbed onto it again and made sure to pull it tight.

“Aim for those damn scythes, we gotta rip those damn things off this bastard!”

Cavalry units shot from horseback at the creatures eyes, attempting to draw its attention. The creature turned its chin up to deflect the hail of arrows then suddenly turned towards them. Its neck shook as it prepared to spit acid. Fountains of green and brown spewed from its mouth in a spray and launched towards the cavalry. Men underneath the spray lifted their shields to hide from the mist that trailed underneath the main projectile, and the cavalry split in all directions. The large glob of acid splashed into the ground creating a pool of acid twenty feet across, and one of the cavalry couldn’t change direction in time. Just one hoof landing in the acid was all it took, as the horse then tumbled into the acid. The rider’s screams were short lived as his armor and flesh was eaten away in mere seconds.

The creature lashed back and forwards with its neck, and then reared back onto its hind legs to pull free from the chains. It brought its mouth down to the chain on the left and snapped it between its mandibles, and then spun around to the other side and spat acid. The men holding the end of the chain dived out of the way as acid burned through the chain and where they were standing.

General “Grrr! 2nd team, move now!”

Another set of Ballista fired their massive spears into the creature’s side. Each spear hit with a decisive thud cracking the large crawlers armor but then falling to the ground. A huddle of men ran forward with large poles and looped chain around one of the scythe arms of the crawler.

General “Quickly, all men, pull!”

Hundreds of men all ran to the chain at one and pulled hard. The crawler lifted its scythe arm and dragged the men into the sky, it then drew the chain down like a whip and smashed those who could hold on back into the ground. Then in a blind rage it spat a wall of acid from side to side, cutting the chain.

…

Subi’s feet pounded through the mountainous treeline, he wasn’t aiming for speed but was keeping in mind agility and drawing the monsters away from Cassius and Jon who were following along behind. He snatched another goblin in his jaws and threw it to the side.

Cassius looked ahead at Subi and grumbled under his breath “just leave us kid, we are holding you back”. His legs were pounding along behind the giant wolf but he knew there was no way he should be able to follow unless Subi was slowing himself down. He gazed over at Jon who was running along side him and caught his eye, the look in his eye said “this isn’t going to work”. Jon nodded.

Jon screamed ahead “Run ahead! We’ll catch up!”

Cassius “Yeah kid, get outta here!”

Subi’s eye looked back over his shoulder, it wasn’t like the thought hadn’t occurred to him already, but he wasn’t going to leave them unless he felt they could survive. He sensed a valley up ahead and only out the other side would it make sense for everyone to run in different directions. Subi dived back behind Cassius and Jon and pushed them ahead with his snout towards the valley and shot a look at them as though they should make it there.

Cassius nodded and then thudded his arm into Jon’s side and nodded further ahead, “we’ve got to make it there”.

Jon nodded and drew his hands together, creating an orb of light between his fingertips. He drew out each of his fingers and spread his hands side to side launching flares in all directions. Flares crashed into monsters surrounding them and threw them onto their backs. He then nodded and ran as fast as he could for the valley opening. Cassius drew his short sword and slashed an orc creature’s outreaching arm causing it to withdraw its arm in shock and he then ran towards the valley at full speed too.

Subi zig zagged and shot through the trees, smashing over groups of monsters and avoiding the giants and minotaurs that were storming in from all sides. Jon and Cassius ducked and weaved underneath a giant’s legs and kept on sprinting towards the valley. Subi looked back and realised that soon he wouldn’t be able to do much to help the guys and he would have to think only of himself.

Jon drew his hands together in front of his chest and whispered the glyph names for a spell. He then shot his arms forwards. Giant spiked bamboo trees shot out of the ground in a channel ahead of them. The smaller monsters; wolves, goblins, boars, jackals, and orcs thudded into the bamboo wall and bounced back off. The ogre’s, giants, and minotaur’s however smashed on through shards of wood splintering off and blasting off in the direction of their blows.

Cassius “Damn it Subi, just go! I’ll make sure Jon makes it, you can’t protect us all”

Subi glanced all around and assessed the situation, he knew he could help them for a little longer so didn’t hesitate to double back and sink his teeth into the back hamstring of a minotaur blocking the path of Jon and Cassius. The minotaur roared in pain and slashed wildly with its axe, but Subi threw it side to side with violent tugs of his head and then slammed it into the bamboo wall knocking it out. Cassius’ eyes shot wide open as he ran past the wreckage Subi had left.

Jon looked over at Cassius and thought to himself, “hmm, I can run faster but I shouldn’t leave him behind… What can I do? A wind spell? Hrmm… It might just trip him up. No this running speed is fine, but Subi shouldn’t wait for us, something is coming up ahead”

Jon shouted out to Subi “Good one subi! But we got this, I can augment, I’ll run Cassius outta here, trust me”

Cassius “Like hell you will kid, I’ll get you outta here”

Subi smirked as it began to dawn on him that both guys had serious guts. It was a relief to know that he wouldn’t have to baby them and that they were okay fighting for their life on their own. He wasn’t eager to leave them however, not while something could still be done to improve their chances and make the challenge a little less dehumanising to overcome.

He thought to himself “don’t these guys get it… It isn’t just about survival, it is about how hard you think it should be”. Subi couldn’t help but remember his previous life back on earth, how often he felt alone and left to fight against the heartless choices of corporations on his own. The way the government always questioned his immigration status, and how he was always forced to work twice as hard because he had left his home town. His brother and niece relied on him to help fight off the broken way everyone had treated them.

…

Newscaster “this just in, parts of war torn southern Ikiwara, has left hundreds of thousands without a place to go”

Subi’s brother was holding his small daughter in his hands as he arrived at the border, “Can’t you make an exception, I mean this is an emergency, we can’t face this kind of situation alone we need help”

Subi looked on with a frown, “Heartless fuckers… C’mon let’s go we’ll try somewhere else”

Crowd “what are we supposed to do?! Where can we even go? How could you do this to us”

Newscaster: “Riots have erupted at the border as refugees have reached their breaking point”

Subi “Can you get us through”

A shady person in a hood nodded his head “but I only have two documents, one of you will have to find your own way”

“Right… Take them, I’ll work it out”

Shady Executive: “I’m not saying we don’t have a job for you but… You have to understand being an illegal in this country means you won’t find jobs elsewhere, even if you don’t like the job you are given or the pay, it is all we can do”

Subi “I don’t really have much of a choice do I”

Shady Executive “No, I don’t think you do”

Store clerk “Sir the coupon isn’t scanning”

Subi looked down at his last coins for the week, and the melting icecream in his bag, he just wanted others to have a normal life without worrying every week if the world was going to end.

But then Subi was struck down by a truck as he exited the store and now he was here.

…

Subi reemerged from the memories flooding his mind, and recognised that all these things had led him here.