Am I not on Earth? Wondered Christopher. “Are we on a faraway planet?”

“Not really a planet,” Lisa replied. “And there’s an entrance to the Outside only a few hundred meters away from here.”

“The Outside?”

“Yes, the Outside. It’s how the dwellers—the Labyrinth natives named our world.”

“There are aliens?” Christopher asked, and for the first time, he heard Lisa laugh. It was only a soft, gentle chuckle, but it carried some warmth into the cold room.

“No. They are people like you and me.”

“Do they also have powers?”

“No, and we don’t call them powers but abilities or skills,” she explained. “And those who can use them are called Authors.”

Lisa stood up momentarily, returned an instant later, and put a rectangular object on Christopher’s lap. It didn’t take him long to recognize it.

“The notebook?”

“We call it Tale,” Lisa corrected him. “It is essential to an Author. Not only is it integral to equipping and storing our pages, but when there’s no system, it's our only way of accessing our skills.”

Christopher leafed through the notebook absentmindedly, feeling the paper at his fingertips.

“It’s important for authors to always keep their Tales safe,” said Lisa. “If you lose it or it's stolen, not only can others find out about your build, but you also won’t be able to switch between your pages and equ–”

“There’s a new page,” Christopher interrupted abruptly.

His hand rested on top of an oily, fur-covered page, and his nose picked up a musky scent from it. Even if he couldn’t see it, he was sure it wasn’t there before.

Lisa glanced over and frowned. “That’s an Unique. I was surprised when I saw it on your Tale. You have yet to tell me when you equipped it,” she insinuated.

“I don’t know,” confessed Christopher. “What is a Unique?”

Lisa stared at him for a moment, trying to gauge whether he was lying.

“Pages are divided into different rarity ranks,” she finally replied. “That one is of the Unique rank.”

Christopher thought about the rarity system used in video games, and a shy smile appeared on his face. “A Unique must be pretty good.”

“Maybe,” Lisa said. “A Unique page is exactly that—unique. There are no other copies. Most of them are great, but not necessarily.”

“Can you tell me what the page’s ability is?” Christopher asked, not letting her explanation dampen his spirit.

“No, I can’t,” replied Lisa. “I think it’s written in some kind of Ancient Labyrinthian. Without the system, I can’t read it.”

“I want to look at it,” requested Christopher. “Please.”

Lisa didn’t reply but stared at Christopher with pity. She knew she shouldn’t, but how could she not feel slightly guilty about him?

Finally, her voice broke the silence. “Ok, I’ll do it.”

She stood up and leaned over Christopher, fiddling with the knot that kept his bandages tight before slowly unraveling them.

Once she finished, she advised, “Take it easy, Chris. That curse did a number on you.”

Christopher nodded and slowly opened his eyes.

He found himself in what could only be described as a prison cell.

The bare room, built out of rectangular stone blocks, was mostly empty, furnished only with a metal frame bed and two wooden chairs. It was dimly lit, with the only source of light coming from a few rays that filtered through a small hole in the ceiling, covered by iron bars.

But Christopher wasn’t focused on his surroundings. Instead, he was worried about the dark shadows in his vision. Wherever he looked, small, dotted shadows followed, obstructing his sight.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Compared to the blindness he had experienced in the swamp, this was only a small inconvenience. And yet, he couldn’t help but feel a sting of sadness. He knew he would never recover the vision he lost.

Lisa watched him carefully. “How is it?”

“I’ll live,” he admitted, cleaning his wet eyes to his shoulder.

That was the truth. He had almost died twice already–in the car crash and on the swamp. Surviving with only some damage to his vision and a couple of scars was nothing short of incredible.

“Go ahead and check the page,” encouraged Lisa, trying to distract him.

Instead, Christopher raised his head and looked at the woman beside him.

She seemed a couple of years older than him, but he was certain that her business-cut suit made her look older than she really was. Her blonde hair was tied in a short, tight bun, and she had a beautiful pair of gentle blue eyes.

Christopher couldn’t help but blush slightly. She was beautiful. Fashion magazine or TV celebrity beautiful.

He awkwardly brought his Tale closer to his face and checked the new page. As soon as he saw it, he knew where it had come from.

The monstrous four-eyed wolf had left a memento behind–even after his defeat, as if afraid Christopher would forget him. The page was covered in orange-colored runes and had a small white brand in the top left corner.

“Do you know anything about it?” Asked Lisa.

“No,” lied Christopher.

“Do you think it could be related to the monstrous wolf you fought?” She remarked. The similarities between the page and the creature Christopher had described didn’t escape her insight.

“Maybe.”

“I’ll leave you alone for now; you must have a lot to think about.” Lisa stood up and turned around, finally getting ready to leave. “And please, don’t try to escape. If you do after I helped you recover your vision, I’ll get in trouble.”

“There’s not much I can do with these restraints on,” said Christopher with a smile.

He watched as Lisa took a key out of her pocket and used it to unlock the thick metal door. With a last wave, she left the room.

Now that he was alone, he sat on the bed and focused his eyes on the black page. There was something else he hadn’t told Lisa.

The page was the same as before, and he surely couldn’t read the enigmatic runes. What he could do, however, was see every detail, every nook and cranny of the fur of the page, despite the small black dots obstructing his vision.

It was as if a powerful magnifying glass was being held over his eyes. His eyes darted across the room until they came to rest at the distant, small window at the ceiling.

His eyes easily pierced through the distance, and he found himself staring at the roof of a cavern.

Am I underground?

Christopher’s moment of clarity didn’t last much longer. Soon, a sulking man, wearing what he could only describe as a medieval knight’s attire, entered his room.

The man frowned upon seeing his bandages removed and, without a word, approached one of the beeping, rudimentary machines. It only took a minute of him tweaking the machine for Christopher to notice.

Despite his enhanced vision, the room turned into a blur, and Christopher blacked out, rapidly losing track of time.

When he woke up, god knows how many hours later, he once again found Lisa’s gentle eyes resting on him.

Christopher tried to talk, but his lethargic movements caused him to choke on his tongue and break into a cough.

“Take it easy, Chris,” Lisa advised, comforting his arm. “They’ve increased your dosage because I helped you recover your vision. I’ve turned it off now. Give it another couple of minutes, and you’ll recover.”

“Who are they?” He asked with difficulty.

“My boss,” Lisa said with embarrassment. Her eyes faced the door, dodging Christopher’s eyes. “It’s not every day a Lazarus makes it to the 1st floor. They are nervous…”

Christopher opened his mouth to ask another question, but Lisa rapidly shut him down.

“Sorry, Chris, but we don’t have a lot of time today. Let’s start by going through your journey inside the swamp, and if there’s enough time, I can answer a few more questions.”

He wanted to protest, but as Lisa pressed harder on his arm, his muscles relaxed and his numbed. For the first time, he realized that maybe Lisa had something to do with it.

“You wake up and find yourself in a foreign swamp…” Lisa’s tone turned eerie, and it was nothing like her regular voice.

Guided by her, Christopher opened his eyes.

There he was, surrounded by leafless, twisted trees and massive mosquito clouds, hovering over the putrid, fetid pools of water.

He looked around for a moment, describing his surroundings until a low, threatening growl echoed around him. Even though he knew what was coming, he couldn’t avoid it.

The monstrous four-eyed wolf rushed toward Christopher. It raised its seven-clawed paw, preparing to strike—.

The swamp surrounding Christopher blurred, superimposing with the room he was in.

It took him a moment to understand what was happening. Outside the room, there was a commotion, and he could hear things crashing and breaking as if a violent fight was underway.

“Don’t let the noise distract you,” Lisa said, pressing harder on his arm.

The swamp became vivid again, and the monster struck at his arm. Christopher braced himself, preparing for the pain, but instead, a loud, manly voice rose over the swamp, breaking the illusion.

Christopher couldn’t understand his words but could tell he wasn’t happy.

As the swamp surrounding Christopher vanished, he noticed a displeased look on Lisa’s face. He had never seen her with such an expression before.

“Don’t you dare stand in my way!” A man roared, and Christopher could easily make out his words this time. There was a loud bang, and the walls shook as if a canon had been shot just outside his room.

Heavy steps rapidly approached, followed by another pair of light footsteps. Christopher expected to hear the sound of a key unlocking the door lock, but instead, the man outside the room kicked the door violently.

It opened with a bang. The thick iron door flew ten feet and embedded itself on the stone wall, now turned into a distorted piece of junk.

Scared, Christopher glanced at Lisa. Her eyes were glowing with purple light.