“Do you see that slight golden sparkle in the rock? Here, right at eye-level along the cliff,” Calista instructed as she traced her hands along the chasm. The Huntress had noticed the subtle distinction moments after they had arrived at the entrance to the maze in the mountains.

Milly leaned in close and squinted. The shimmer was faint, but she could distinguish it if she looked hard enough.

“I see it,” Milly answered. She scratched a tiny flake of stone from the wall and rubbed it between two fingers. It crumbled into dust and tiny, golden flakes settled on her finger. “Clever.”

Calista pointed towards the other three entrances into the maze – an animal path through the forest, a small river valley, and a winding, weather-carved passage up the cliffside. “There are four paths we can choose, but this is the only one with the golden shimmer. I’ll bet you anything that if we follow the shimmer will lead us through this maze.”

“I don’t recognize any of these paths. It was two chasms, a tunnel, and an animal path when I came here last time,” Milly said, confused. “And there definitely wasn’t any shimmer.”

Calista tapped Milly’s gothic boots with her sandals. “Improved perception, honey. For me, with advanced level, the shimmer is clear as day. Hell, it practically pulls me in. At beginner level, I guess you have to actively look for it.”

“Then this maze can’t be solved by someone without that skill?” wondered Milly.

“Or another pathfinding talent,” Calista said. “There are a bunch of different talents available, each with its own strengths. I suppose a player could eventually find their way through the maze simply by trial and error, but it would take a lot longer. Though… you said these paths weren’t here last time? Brute force may not be an option. No wonder no player has made it past this point in the mountains yet.”

“Well, I want to see what’s on the other side of this maze,” Milly declared as she grasped Calista’s hand in hers. “Ready?”

“Always,” Calista smiled, and they walked into the chasm side-by-side.

* * *

Calista’s observation proved correct, and they soon found themselves weaving their way through the maze at a rapid pace. The goblin camps they came across proved no match for the Witch and the Huntress, who tore through them so quickly that it hardly slowed them down. The experience and rewards were still terrible, and soon Milly was once again drowning in pitiful rings, non-magical goblin equipment, and enough loincloths for Lunky, the Goblin Prince, to outfit an entire goblin army in the smelly garments.

At noon, they stopped for lunch beneath a waterfall that cascaded down from a glacial field at the apex of a nearby mountain peak. Devouring a fare of berries, coconuts, and boar, they sat next to each other, hips touching and feet intertwined, as they talked about their lives and their future.

“It could be years, you know,” Milly said as she tossed a boar bone into the water and watched it float down the stream. “This contest. It’s not the life I’d thought I’d be living.”

“Are you disappointed?” teased Calista.

“No, its the opposite,” Milly smiled, leaning into Calista’s shoulder. “I’ve got a wonderful girlfriend that I love, an amazing best friend, and an actual home I can call my own. Sure, it comes with its… um… Stoney downsides, but, if I’m being honest, it’s more than I had ever hoped for in my previous life.”

“Which was?” asked Calista curiously.

“Holding down a steady job. Paying rent so I stayed off the streets. Just… being able to get through each day,” Milly admitted. “In the end, I wanted little more than to survive until the next morning, just so I could do it all again. And there were days I didn’t even want that. In my dreams, there was never anyone one else in my life. No girlfriend. No best friend. Just me. Alone. As it had always been. It… it wasn’t really a life. It was just an existence.”

Calista wrapped a supportive hand around Milly’s waist.

“What about you, Cally?” asked Milly. “You must have had some pretty ambitious dreams before all this.”

“Me? My dreams were ambitious, but hardly noble,” laughed Calista. “I wanted to marry rich. Snag a man with a fortune who was too busy to pay attention to me, so I could spend my life doing what I wanted on his dime. Travel the world, buy expensive clothes, and experience the finest luxuries life has to offer. I figured if I had that much money, I could bury who I really was so deep that she would never emerge again.”

“Cally!” Milly said aghast. “You are the most wonderful woman in the world. Why would you ever want to do that?”

“Well, you only saw the tip of my self-destructive iceberg, beautiful,” Calista sighed as she opened up to her girlfriend. “Honestly, it wasn’t that much different than the life you described. Empty. Cold. Lonely.”

Calista lifted Milly’s hand to her lips and gave it a gentle kiss. “But then I had to go and meet a wonderful woman in a game of death, and she made me realize I could be so much more. I guess fighting beside a woman like that can change one’s perspective.”

“I know the feeling,” Milly echoed, enjoying Calista’s lips on her palm. “So… did you dream of you and Mr. Rich having… um… kids?”

“Honestly?” Calista chuckled. “I was willing to shoot out a couple brats if it kept his money rolling in.”

“You would not!”

“That’s what nannies and boarding schools are for, after all,” Calista continued. “Rich people don’t parent. They outsource.”

“Cally!”

Calista giggled. “Don’t worry, beautiful. I never came close to achieving that dream. I was working in Acicenter after all. And he day you saved me from that ogre, that shallow woman and her self-centered dreams vanished. There’s nothing like a near-death experience to make you reconsider your path in life.”

“So… kids?” Milly prompted. She needed to know.

Calista clutched Milly’s hand tightly. “I know what you are asking, honey. But… I never wanted a child. I didn’t think I could give a child the love they needed. My father was such a wonderful person and I… I wasn’t. I didn’t want a child to grow up to be like me – selfish and mean.”

Milly felt her heart drop.

I never wanted kids either. After a life devoid of affection, what could I possibly have to offer a child? But then I met Passi and… and Luna… and it changed me in a way I never thought possible.

Calista picked up a stone and tossed it into the stream. The ripples were carried away on the current. “I know what you’re thinking, love. I meant it when I said you’ll be an amazing mother. Ever since Passi started hanging around you, I’ve seen how you’ve changed. You love that little fairy child, and I love that you love her. And, truthfully, I like the little brat too. How could I not? I just… need more time to figure out who I want to be to her.”

“I’m not her mother, Cally,” Milly said. “We’re just… I’m just looking after her while she’s Ying’s apprentice.”

“Milly, that little girl adores you. Right now, you’re the closest thing she has to a mother. I know she’s still healing. She’s been through a lot. But I can see, plain as day, where this is going… and so do you.”

“I… if it did… what would you…,” Milly stammered as she struggled to ask the critical question.

“If you were her mom?” Calista finished for her. “I’d love you all the more for it, and I’d protect that little dumpling with my life. And, who knows, maybe our future here is more than we thought possible back home. Maybe… I could learn to be something more.”

Milly wiped away a tear she hadn’t realized had been growing in the corner of her eye. “Yah?” she asked softly.

“This is a strange world, honey. Being mothers to a fairy girl won’t even make it to the top ten list of unexpected experiences by the time we win this damn contest.”

“You’re probably right,” Milly chuckled softly, trying to hide her uncertainty. “It’s just… between you, Rain, and Passi, and having a home to call my own, I feel like, lately, the life I’m living here is better than the one I left behind. It’s more than I have ever hoped for.”

“I know. I feel the same way,” Calista agreed. “Just one roadblock we need to deal with. Well, two roadblocks, I guess.”

“Stone and Brass,” Milly agreed. “I know we agreed to work against them subtly, but…”

Milly and Calista felt a soft tone in the back of their minds as Rain’s telepathic voice entered their minds.

“Hey you two. How’re the mountains? You find those Firebush thorns?” Rain asked with a sense of urgency.

“Yes, though they were a bitch to pick, Rain,” Calista responded. Her fingers had been burned when she had plucked the sentient plant, though Milly had healed her wounds. “They’d better be worth it.”

“They will be. Thought that’s not why I need to talk to you. Elmer and Alison just came to see me at Rain On My Parade. They reached an agreement with Stone and Brass on their justice system. The one that will be trialed at Milly’s hearing tomorrow. They’d like Calista’s help to plan Milly’s defense.”

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“Does that plan include hurling my spear through Brass’ face?” Calista asked, only half-joking.

“You know it doesn’t,” Rain admonished. “This is important, Calista. It’s an opportunity to use Stone and Brass’ plan against them and show the players loyal to the CEOs that we’re not the bad guys they’ve made us out to be.”

Calista looked over at Milly, who nodded her agreement. “As much as I like the sound of Calista’s spear hurling idea, Rain’s plan is safer. And I’d feel better if you were there helping them plan, Cally. Rain, will you be there too? You’re both much better at this intrigue stuff than I am.”

“Yes, they want me on their defense team as well,” Rain confirmed. “Business at Rain On My Parade has been brisk since we opened this morning, but Anchovy can watch the store this afternoon. He’s gotten quite adept at using that Invisible Hand talent. Though he’s also developed a habit of tossing that penguin plush toy at customers who displease him. Which, as a cat, is most of them. He’s… hey, you little minx! Knock that off.”

Milly could picture the penguin plushy hitting the back of Rain’s head, and, despite the anxiety in her chest, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Will you come back with me, Milly? Calista asked as she withdrew a Waypoint Crystal.

“No. I’ll just get in the way. I want to I’ll finish this maze and see what’s on the other side,” Milly decided.

“Just be careful, okay?” Calista said hesitantly. “You have a Waypoint Crystal?”

Milly opened her inventory to check. “I’ve got two. I’ll be fine, Cally. We’ve seen nothing but low-level monsters in here.”

“Okay, but…”

Milly leaned over and kissed her girlfriend. She let the kiss linger until she felt Calista’s protests melt away in her arms. “Go. I’ll see you tonight. If I get into trouble, I’ll message you telepathically and you can come rescue me.”

Calista squeezed Milly’s hand affectionately as they separated. She held aloft the small crystal.

“Oh, and Cally,” Milly asked. “Can you pick up Passi after her apprenticeship, in case I’m late getting back?”

“You’re such a mom,” teased Calista, as she activated her crystal and teleported away.

In the blink of an eye, Milly was left alone under the waterfall, her mind now flooded with anxious thoughts of what tomorrow’s hearing would bring.

* * *

It took Milly another hour before the shimmering trail brought her to the end of the mountain maze. She passed through chasms and forests, rivers, and valleys, until, finally, she reached a long, dark tunnel just below the tree line.

This was not a natural cave system. The slides of the tunnel were perfectly smooth, and the top was rounded in a half-circle, as if it were part of an abandoned railway. Milly could see a trace of light at the end of the tunnel – a passage straight through the mountain.

I still don’t understand how this maze works. How can I walk towards a mountain but never reach it? Magic, no doubt. At least I’m finally at the end.

Using her fire magic as a torch to illuminate the darkness, Milly strode into the tunnel. The shimmering gold that led her to this place was infused into the tunnel’s every surface. Reflecting her firelight, it made the tunnel shine like the night sky.

Enamored by the sight, she nearly ran into the small, golden chest the size of a jewelry box resting on a rocky pedestal in the exact centre of the tunnel. Milly brought her light closer and the chest shined like a beacon.

Along the top of the chest was a message, engraved in silver.

Lost one,

To be a player in the God Contest is to stand at the center of the hurricane

May this gift provide you and your loved ones sanctuary from the winds, if only for a few precious moments

As my maze once did for me

- The Goddess Ariadne, Mistress of the Labyrinth

“A gift from another goddess?” Milly whispered with excitement. “I didn’t know such gifts could be found outside of an Arena.”

Milly ran her fingers along the small, ornate chest, and marveled at its detailed design. Spiraling lines stretched out from the latch in a complex pattern that defied all efforts at rationality. The lines actually moved along the surface of the chest, swirled about, as they interweaved with one another and abruptly ended, only to reappear elsewhere on the chest. Milly saw one of the lines had a faint shimmer that mirrored the one that had led her through the passageways.

“It’s a map of the maze,” Milly realized. “No wonder the starting paths were different today, and why I couldn’t find my way through. The paths change! I could have searched blindly for a hundred years and never found the end.”

Milly popped the latch on the chest, and the lines abruptly stopped moving. Milly knew that moment she had opened the chest, the maze through the mountains – now completed – had returned once more to static mountain terrain, indistinguishable from the rest of the mountains. All players would now be able to traverse its paths without getting lost.

Lifting the lid of the chest, Milly drew out a single piece of aged parchment, folded twice into a small square.

“What the…?” Milly said, confused. She’d expected to find a magic ring or necklace, or perhaps a talent book, not a piece of paper.

Milly unfolded the parchment. It was a map.

Map to Sanctuary: Mountain Meadow

Across the God Contest, hidden personal sanctuaries exist for intrepid players to discover. These sanctuaries can only be accessed by the player who discovers them and those she designates may enter. It is a place of peace – of simple solitude – where she can, for a time, detach herself from the chaos around her. They are an integral part of establishing a sense of stability and sanity within the Contest.

WARNING: Players may find themselves addicted to the peace that a personal sanctuary can provide. Ensure your use of the sanctuary is balanced against the needs of the Contest. Excessive reliance on the sanctuary can result in a player failing to grow and falling behind their peers, ultimately leading to their demise.

Milly clutched the parchment as if it were a lifeline she didn’t realize she needed. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

My own sanctuary? A place where Cally, Passi, Rain, and I can go and simply be at peace. No Stone. No Brass. No monsters. No watching my back for a knife? Just a place to be ourselves, if only for a few moments.

Wiping away her tears, Milly studied the map.

It’s close. Just past this tunnel and through the valley, until I reach a mountain with a split peak. If I hurry, I should be able to find it before nightfall.

Milly quickly memorized the basics of the map, then stowed it away in her inventory.

“Thanks, Goddess,” Milly praised. “I hope you’re one those who have escaped madness’ touch.”

The only answer was the lifeless wind whistling through tunnel.

Milly started to walk towards the end of the maze, then quickly turned back, picked up the golden chest, and added it to her inventory.

“No sense letting this go to waste,” Milly justified. “Cally will love it.”

* * *

Milly emerged from the tunnel halfway up the mountain’s slope. The beauty that awaited her drove away, for a moment, the anxiety in her heart.

A vast coniferous forest stretched out before her, and filled the broad valley that weaved its way through hundreds of mountain peaks that stretched beyond the horizon. The mountain peaks grew taller the further they got from the Castle of Glass, until those on the horizon stretched so high that Milly could not see their peaks.

Countless waterfalls cascaded down mountain slopes, fed from glacial fields at their peaks. The mist created by the waters striking stone thousands of feet below refracted the sunlight and bathed the valley in a blanket of rainbow hues that took Milly’s breath away.

The glacial water flowed down the valley, first as hundreds of small streams and then joined together in a three-hundred-foot-wide river that twisted and turned its way down the valley towards to the ocean.

Massive lakes filled with crystal clear glacial water interspersed the forest, their surfaces loaded with waterfowl and wildlife drinking on their shores. Large lake fish broke the water as they fed on the insects that hovered above its surface. Even from this distance, Milly could tell those fish were massive.

There may be some tasty fish in there, but what other creatures inhabit those lakes? I… think I’ll stay away from them for now. Especially the big lakes.

A herd of elk broke from the trees below her, bolting over deadfall and around rocky boulders in a vicious stampede.

There must be two hundred elk in that herd! It could feed the Castle and the Fairies for months. What are they… oh…

The lagging elk, an elderly buck that limped on its back leg, was suddenly set upon by a monstrous grizzly bear the size of a school bus. The bear ripped the elk clean in half and swallowed its back half whole before the elk had finished its final, pain-filled bleat.

This isn’t goblin territory anymore. I’ll need to be careful. I don’t know how strong the monsters are in this section of the mountains.

Milly waited until the monstrous bear had finished its meal before she began her descent down the mountainside.

Following the main river up the valley, she occasionally pulled out the map to check her directions. The mist felt cool against Milly’s skin and gave her goosebumps, though after her experience in the jungle heat, Milly felt herself embracing the chill.

Although Milly’s speed had greatly increased, she found herself unable to travel as quickly as she had on the prairies. The dense forest and the prevalence of deadfall, boulders, and roots along the ground made her progress irritatingly slow.

She avoided any creatures she came across, which slowed her further. Everywhere she looked, there were massive predators and great herds of prey. After the battles with the goose and toads, Milly did not want to underestimate the monsters in the world. She knew how dangerous even the most innocuous of them could be, and now was not the time to test the strength of those creatures.

It was three hours before she spotted the mountain with the split peak nestled to the west. She deviated from the river and carved her way towards it. The forest was dark and damp, and there was no path to follow. Milly formed a ball of fire to illuminate the woods and keep her warm.

She marched through the forest for another hour, growing ever closer to the twin peaks of the mountain. She avoided a pack of half-owl creatures that stalked the forest, and a giant comprised of shale.

The afternoon sun was well along its daily journey when she found what she was looking for – a narrow gap in the mountain that led to the sanctuary beyond. Its entrance was half-hidden by fallen trees that Milly had to rip out to gain access.

“Here we go,” Milly told herself, stashing the map back in her inventory. “It’ll be a bit tight, so think skinny thoughts, Milly.”

She took a deep breath and squeezed herself into the gap, barely able to fit.

Milly inched her way forward bit-by-bit, trying to keep claustrophobia at bay. The walls of the gap were weak, and Milly found herself praying the rocks would not give way. She used her earth magic to reinforce the wall she touched and to help push her along.

After ten arduous, tension-filled minutes, she finally found herself on the other side. She had found the meadow. Her new sanctuary.

And the sight took her breath away.

Congratulations! You have discovered Sanctuary: Mountain Meadow

This is a Personal Sanctuary.

Would you like to rename this location?

Sanctuary: Mountain Meadow has been renamed Milly’s Meadow

Personal Waypoint Pillar Activated. Designate Access?

You have provided Player Calista Gale, Player Rain Desjarlais, Fairy Kin Passiflora, and Familiar Anchovy with access to your personal sanctuary. They may now access it from any Waypoint Pillar.