Standing on the inside of the maze right at the mansion’s doorstep was completely surreal. When I had accepted November’s invitation to participate in this project, it hadn’t occurred to me that we might actually succeed. I had only imagined a gathering of people swinging their weapons at the fence in vain, becoming increasingly frustrated until everyone gave up. Of course, I hadn’t counted on Echo’s magic.

The mansion, which had seemed enormous from a distance, was absolutely monumental up close. I reconsidered Lynx’s claim that it could accommodate 300 residents. The idea had seemed preposterous before; now it sounded plausible.

He was standing in front of the front door now, giving a speech addressing the crowd. I didn’t care to listen in – I knew he was just droning on about the group’s success, and some nonsense about teamwork. I shared his excitement about our win, sure, but that didn’t mean I wanted to stand around talking about it. I wanted to push onward and see what was inside the mansion. I resigned myself to studying the exterior as I waited for Lynx to wrap up his monologue.

It was a bright and sunny day, but you wouldn’t know it from where we stood. Massive trees loomed over us, crowding the sky and blocking out a majority of the sunlight. Although the tone that Lynx and the rest of the crowd carried was overwhelmingly positive and celebratory, it still felt like there was some foreboding presence threatening us all.

The mansion itself was, undoubtedly, very old – it was clear from the cut of the stones and the designs of the pillars that this was not a modern piece of architecture. However, it struck me that there was no visible wear and tear to the exterior of the building. The tremendous wooden door was still in pristine condition, as were the walls.

This realization only served to contribute to my anxiety around the building. I had always dismissed the rumors of enchantments keeping the old building intact, but after witnessing Echo’s spell, I was having to reconsider every stance I had ever taken against magical properties.

“Genuinely, Vember,” I mused out loud, “is this somewhere I could dwell? Here? With other people?” I thought back to my modest cabin sitting in the woods. It was commonplace for me to pick up and leave for days or weeks at a time, so I trusted my cabin would be fine unattended for a good while. As always, I had my rucksack with me, carrying enough supplies to get by for a few days, and the tools and money I might need to provide beyond that. Theoretically, it was entirely possible for me to pick up and leave my home at any time. I was a hunter and I knew how to survive.

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“Why are you so worried about this, Arrow?” November waved off my concerns. “Just go inside and look around. Either move in or sell your ownership to the highest bidder. I don’t see why you’re fretting about this so much.”

She was right, but that didn’t settle the discomforting feeling inside me.

“And we can’t forget about guest of honor!” Lynx declared. I tuned back into his speech, having a dreadful feeling I knew where this was going. “Someone who, all while playing it cool, put his whole back into it and nearly led the charge in tearing down the fence.” I buried my face in my hands. Please, no. Do not do this to me. I peered out from my fingers, and beheld Lynx grinning at me, and gesturing wildly for me come forward. “Get up here, Hammerhead!”

I dropped my hands to my sides and narrowed my eyes to a glower, drawing my mouth back into a snarl. “Not until you learn my name, you absolute dunce!” I shouted back. “It’s an entire syllable shorter than the one you’ve assigned me, so I trust you won’t have any difficulty recalling it.”

Lynx laughed heartily. “Alright, alright, Arrow. Come on! I’m singing your praises up here. Come up here and face the crowd.”

I continued glaring at the man before me, not moving until I received a hard shove on my back from November. I stumbled forward, initially somewhat abashed by the surprise attack, then begrudgingly marched up to where Lynx stood before the gathering of triumphant fighters. As soon as I reached my destination, standing face to face with Lynx, he grabbed me by the arms, spun me around to face everyone, and draped an arm across my shoulders.

“Let’s hear it for Arrow!” he cried. I shot November a desperate look, silently pleading for her to save me, but she just smiled her approval. Never have I felt so betrayed… “This man is a well-known monster hunter,” Lynx continued. “He’ll take down a beast on his own in two days that five of us couldn’t kill in a week! We thought he was here to share his knowledge of the maze, but instead, he shared his absolute might!” The cheers continued. I couldn’t stand it. “The man who consistently refuses to work alongside anyone else joined us here today.”

Well. That wasn’t entirely true, that I never worked alongside anyone else. There was one person who I could work with, on the occasion where having a talented archer with me was particularly useful. Still, after coercing me into this, I wasn’t sure I would be inviting November on any future quests.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Lynx, didn’t you say a lifetime ago that it was time to stop all this and just enter the blasted mansion?”

“Where’s your excitement, Arrow?” Lynx’s long-windedness knew no bounds, it seemed, as he resumed his speech. “We need to welcome the newest member of our guild, The Maze Raiders!”

The celebratory cheers only grew louder as I stared at Lynx in a mixture of disbelief and indignance. “I never agreed to that! I would never–”

“Now, with that warm welcome out of the way,” Lynx roared, “we can finally enter the mansion!”