“That’s cruel,” Lu Na said. She couldn’t believe that all this time, she was no better than a slave owner, forcing Nugua to do what she wanted.

Nugua hissed with laughter.

“Not as cruel as what spirits have done to humans all these years by stealing your life force to turn into their own spirit energy. Yes, we are forced to be inside you and do your bidding for a few decades, but we live on while you die and fade away to nothing.”

Nugua turned to the other two. She eyed them like prey, with sharp teeth and being still. It was almost like she was waiting for them to run before she chased them down.

“You two better remember these words. Your spirits only want to use you for your life force. And I can already tell the brawny monk has given up most of his life force and it’s such a shame. You could have lived a lengthy life otherwise.”

“Amituofo, life is not a measure of how long, but what you’ve done. And if I can achieve the path of the Buddha with the help of my spirits, then they would have been worth it.” Hen Li clutched his beads in his hands.

“I don’t care if they take off all the years of my life as long as they help me accomplish my task,” Sun Ren said. “Now, are we going to continue talking here or are we going to move on?”

“Wait, let me try something.” Lu Na closed her eyes and pulled from within her as she’s done before. She tried to feel how the technique formed before Nugua deserted her. She braced for the feeling of drowning, but nothing came. “What’s going on? I could do it before.”

Nugua slithered over to her in a blink of an eye, staring down at her. Her eyes were pitch black and they were lidded like a snake.

“Child, you’re not getting it. I’m out. That means I’ve taken all your techniques and skills. You can’t see spirit energy. You can’t decipher techniques. You are nothing without me.”

Lu Na clutched her chest pocket, ready to throw her wards at Nugua. Despite knowing she wouldn’t hurt her until they freed her mother, her spirit evoked the most primal instincts of hers to run or fight. But she felt something in there that she had forgotten about.

Lu Na took out her spirit wand and activated it. Just as before, she could manipulate spirit energy with it. That was a skill she didn’t lose. Maybe it was because the spirit wand had a technique built into it and she wasn’t using Nugua for it at all. Would this mean that anyone could learn to make inventions and wards like her?

“What are you going to do? Poke me with spirit energy?” Nugua laughed with a hiss.

“No. I’m going to prove to you I can do anything without you.” Lu Na walked up to the wall and began drawing a simple technique she learned from her mother. The spirit energy melded together and formed simple lines. She had to do a little math on her fingers to remember the formula and drew the shapes.

The technique clicked together and the entire wall glowed yellow, highlighting the earth spirit energy running through it. But a small distance away, it turned blue instead.

The group walked over and stared at the blue section of the wall. It was the size of a door, but wide enough to fit oxen through if necessary.

“What is that?” Sun Ren asked.

“It looks like an entrance. Maybe there’s something on the other side we can use in the labyrinth,” Lu Na said.

“It’s a waste of time,” Nugua said. “We’re better off heading toward the center of the labyrinth and solving the mystery before you mortals die.”

That’s when something clicked for Lu Na. She glanced at Nugua.

“What’s going to happen to you if we die here? Will you die along with us?”

Nugua paused and coiled her lower half around Lu Na.

“Oh Na Na, are you worried about me?”

“No, just curious. Since the rules outside don’t seem to apply to you here, then it might be different for you.”

“I don’t know. But what I can tell you is that it won’t be anything good. I sense that there are spirits here, but they’re not talking with me.”

Sun Ren tensed and looked around.

“There are feral spirits inside the labyrinth, too? How strong are they?”

“We’ll meet them soon enough. Since our arrival, they’ve been headed toward us this whole time we’ve been standing here talking. That’s why I suggested we should be moving.”

“Then let’s go.” Sun Ren walked a few steps away from the wall.

“Wait, let me test this door really quick and then we can run.” Lu Na tapped the blue section with her spirit wand. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but she was trying to feel something different. There was a unique energy coming off the door, but without Nugua’s technique she couldn’t tell what it was.

“Nugua, is there any way you can lend me your technique for even a moment?” Lu Na asked.

“I could, but it would cost me spirit energy. I don’t have access to the spirit energy your mother left for me, so it would eat at me. I’m not sure I’d like that.” Nugua uncoiled from Lu Na and placed her hand on the wall. “But since you asked so nicely.”

Lu Na felt flooded with spirit energy and felt the familiar feel of the technique activating. She saw the blue door turn into a set of simple techniques meshed together to form a more complex one. The only thing is, there was a small section that was like a door handle near the bottom.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

A loud rumbling came from behind the ground. It sounded like many hooves and paws charging over in a stampede. The floor was vibrating from the pressure.

“That would be the feral spirits that don’t want to talk with me,” Nugua said. “I think they smell the life force from your three. I know I can and it smells delicious.”

“We got to go,” Sun Ren said. “Hen Li, if Lu Na doesn’t move, carry her. We can always come back later to check the door.”

Lu Na reached down with her spirit wand and drew in a small amount of spirit energy, and shoved it into the door handle. She felt the handle become solid enough for her hand. With a quick twist, she turned it.

The blue section of the wall shook for a second before pushing in to reveal a dark tunnel.

“Let’s go in here,” Lu Na said.

“Into a dark tunnel where we don’t know where it leads? That sounds like a stupid plan,” Nugua said.

“Can you close it behind us?” Sun Ren asked.

“Yes.” At least that’s what Lu Na hoped would happen after she pulled the spirit energy back out of the handle.

“Then we wait inside there. We can’t outrun all the feral spirits, anyway.” Sun Ren ran in first, activating her light ward. The others followed.

Lu Na pulled the spirit energy from the door handle, but it wouldn’t come out. The rumble became louder and the spirits were close enough to be seen. At the front was an enormous bird that ran on two legs squawking with its large beak when it saw Lu Na.

“Come out already!” Lu Na twisted the spirit wand this way and that, yanking at the spirit energy. But for whatever reason it wouldn’t come out.

The enormous bird came right at Lu Na. Both Hen Li and Sun Ren moved at once. Hen Li lifted his staff with the light ward on it, thrusting out at the bird spirit’s eyes, forcing it to twist out of the way. Sun Ren’s sword flashed in her hands, slicing into its flank. Both of them dove out of the way as the bird rolled hard to the side of their door.

“Na Na, more are on their way. We have to go. Forget the door,” Sun Ren said. She held her sword with both hands, standing in a defensive position.

Hen Li stood in front of the door. His white hair billowing from the gust of air coming from the horde of spirits.

Lu Na looked at her wand and realized something. The thing jammed inside the lock wasn’t a physical thing but something made of spirit energy that she conjured. So, with a conscious thought, she broke the connection between her spirit wand and the door.

In moments, the spirit energy faded slowly. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Outside the labyrinth, the spirit energy would have faded right away. Why was it fading so slowly?

The faster spirits arrived. There were two deer and a large cat that dove at Lu Na.

Lu Na took out her earth wall ward and activated it. Once it hit the floor, stone rose from the ground in a thick slab right in front of her. Except it was misshapen. It looked as if a child tried to draw a river.

The two deer struck the wall first, crushing it while the large cat leaped over.

Lu Na reached for her bracelet, but forgot that she put it away. Instead, she took out another spirit wall ward and placed it on herself this time. An invisible spirit barrier covered her entire body.

The large cat swiped a paw at Lu Na, knocking her back against the collapsed wall.

When Lu Na got back up, she couldn’t believe that the spirit could hit her. The spirit wall usually stopped all spirits from striking her. But she had bigger problems. Her back hurt from where she hit the collapsed wall and she couldn’t move her right arm.

The large cat spirit stalked over, padding over on silent paws. It had dark green eyes and fangs that hung outside of its closed mouth.

Lu Na knew that if the cat bit her, it would kill her as easily as any large cat outside the labyrinth. She looked around and saw Hen Li and Sun Ren fighting against two or more spirits. They would not help her. The only hope she had was to take out whatever wards she had left and activated them all.

Lu Na scrambled to grab them from her chest pocket, but they were on the left side. She yanked at her tunic, trying to get at them with her left arm.

The large cat crouched back, ready to pounce. This was the end. Lu Na couldn’t believe that she would die before she found her mother again.

But before the cat moved, large claws sliced right through it from behind. The cat dropped to the ground, its eyes going black.

Nugua stood behind the cat, smiling and admiring her claws. Unlike actual cats, her claws were stained with spirit energy that clung almost like blood. She licked it.

“Can you get up?” Nugua asked.

Lu Na got to her knees and forced herself up. Her right arm felt numb to her shoulder, but her feet worked.

“Sun Ren, Hen Li, come,” Nugua shouted. She gently supported Lu Na by wrapping her arm around her waist and pulled her into the tunnel.

Sun Ren and Hen Li both made a quick retreat behind them, with the spirits pushing through.

They all made it about halfway into the tunnel before the door finally closed. The fighting paused as they were plunged into darkness. Hen Li’s light ward had gone out in the fight.

Someone reached within Lu Na’s chest pocket and pulled out two wards, one earth wall and spirit wall each. It had to be Nugua, as she was the closest. What was she going to do? These wards were useless.

Nugua activated both wards and threw them in front of their group. The spirit energy lit up the dark tunnel briefly. As soon as the wards hit the ground, the light from the spirit energy went out. They were back in the darkness.

Loud roars echoed in the tunnel, but they were muffled. Lu Na knew it was only a matter of time before the spirits charged through the poorly constructed earth wall or the spirit wall and crushed them in this darkness. She embraced Nugua that was holding her, waiting for the end.

“Sun Ren, could you be a dear and use one of your light wards,” Nugua said.

Sun Ren activated the ward and the tunnel lit up so brightly that Lu Na closed her eyes from the flash. She stood with her sword up, ready to take on anything that burst through. Hen Li was also the same with his staff.

The earth wall and spirit wall looked perfect. They both reached all the way to the ceiling. There was some muffled tapping against the wall, but it held despite dirt falling from the ceiling.

“But how?” Lu Na asked. When she activated her wards, they were weak and useless. These two walls were perfect.

“Oh child, you have relied on me too long for your inventions, especially ones as simple as these. You forget how awesome I am that I can get your wards to work in the ways you need. Without me, you have turned useless.” Nugua shifted Lu Na off her gently to the ground. “Sun Ren, be a dear and carry her. I’ve done it for so long now that I need a break.”

“How long will that wall hold?” Sun Ren took Lu Na from Nugua, while still pointing her sword toward the wall.

“For a little while, until those spirits figure out how to take it down without trampling each other,” Nugua said. “I can hear them bickering with each other.”

“Does that mean we can take a break?”

Nugua smiled, this time showing no fangs.

“Yes, child, you can take a break.”

Sun Ren almost crashed to the floor with Lu Na, but stopped herself from falling. Slowly, they both sat down against the wall of the tunnel. Hen Li was already on the ground with his staff across his lap and his head leaning against the wall.

Lu Na leaned her head against the wall herself, feeling the cool earth on the back of her head. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second.

“Break’s over,” Nugua said.

Lu Na opened her eyes and saw light coming from the other end of the tunnel. Two large spirits approached shoulder to shoulder. Their size filled the entire tunnel. There was no escaping that.