The night of the third day of Hebheka came with the twin eyes in the sky illuminating all beneath their gaze, the snake-like ribbons of light stretching forth from the Occulus made the colors of the filtering moons' light to shift mysteriously. 

The time had finally come. 

"CHALLENGERS TO THE SHTAHU LABYRINTH!" The Keeper's voice echoed over all the challenge grounds around the base of Tar Eisalae. Challengers and spectators alike flocked to the Shtahu Labyrinth where stands had been erected for the viewing pleasure of those not taking part in the actual contest itself. Dark and foreboding, the walls of the Shtahu Labyrinth reached as though clawing for the light of the sky, and beneath Canelux and Parvpora and the shifting colors of the aurora, the massive hedges of black and purple seemed almost sinister. Brightly glowing runes marked the ground at the starting point for each of the Seven Challengers. As spectators filled the stands that would float above the maze to give them an aerial view of the Labyrinth and the events within, Adraejen Porthyrius appeared hovering just above the entrances of the maze where all waiting could see. 

"Welcome everyone to the first of the three parts of the days of Hebheka challenges!" his voice boomed over the clamor of the crowds, magically enhanced for all to hear as they took their seats in the stands. The noise died down a little bit as the Keeper waited expectantly for a moment or two before going on. 

"Challengers, I welcome you! You are here to test your skills as a mage, your wit, and your intelligence. This is the Shtahu Labyrinth, and inside you will find yourself tested and maybe even pushed to your limits by traps, various creatures, illusions, puzzles and riddles as you seek to reach the guardian at the end. This is, of course, a race, though finishing first may not secure your place in the next part of the competition. The purpose is to face the pitfalls within the maze creatively, to think outside the box," the Keeper explained to all below him. 

"The Five of you who finish the Labyrinth most successfully will proceed to the Heka Stage. As we speak, my Avatar, Iris, is passing to each of you the Amulet that will allow you to enter the Labyrinth and mark you as an officially competitor in the Days of Hebheka!"

True to his word, Iris, head hooded and face painted with a bio-luminescent substance that made her stand out eerily against the darkness of the Labyrinth's wall walked to Jesgil, Rhea, Hiro, Lily, Myouga, Celeste and Ernest in turn and placed about their necks the symbols of Knowledge, a copper triangular amulet with the Keeper's Eye inlaid in black onyx. As if cognizant of its surroundings, the Labyrinth reacted immediately to the presence of the amulets and shivered in anticipation. A cacophony of noises echoed from the heart of the Labyrinth, an indication of the readiness of all within.

"The rules are very simple," the Keeper said over the din. "Using the skills you have at your disposal, you are to solve the Labyrinth by any means you like, barring the use of flight over the maze, or burrowing beneath it," he explained. "The Labyrinth will attune to each of you individually, which means at no point will you cross the path of another challenger. Outside influences will be neutralized. While the spectators may be able to see and hear you challengers as you progress through the maze, you will not be able to interact with them."

The Keeper lifted his hands above his head and the stands began to float into the sky.

"CHALLENGERS! READY YOURSELVES!"

As you each take your mark, fireworks explode into the sky, and off you go into the belly of the Shtahu Labyrinth!

OFFICIAL RULES:

1 Post Only, 500 Word Minimum

Do not begin your post until you have received further instructions from Porthyrius. Once you have gotten your message, you will have until Sunday the 20th at 6:00 PM Pacific Time to get your entry in!

At the beginning of the maze stood a tiny group, some were shaking whether they realized it or not. The speed of their hearts and race of their breaths made the elf’s ears twitch with anticipation. Celeste was participating for one reason alone: Adraejen’s wife had done her a kindness. She took the copper amulet into her hands and gripped it, this was the key to her success. The Moon Elf thought that her time for games had come to an end but the more she thought about it the more she realized life was just one big game in the end so why not enjoy it. Her ears went back slightly as she heard the trigger before the fireworks released, once she heard that the Vaewolf was gone with the wind, a silver specked wolf now darting into the maze.

These were the moments she loved, Nemesis was correct in assuming the way she would die was unearthing something she shouldn’t have. Knowledge was king to her and this was all about knowledge in her mind. The thrill of the hunt was sending almost orgasmic pulses through her blood as she rounded each corner, stumbled into each dead end, and finally drew the partial map in her memory. She could feel the joy, pleasure, and lust for the maze before her and ultimately it would be either her victory ensured or her downfall.

Finally, the wolf shifted back and her delicate fingertips ran across a giant cube. Her red eyes watched as the individual cubes of the larger one began to shift with each one she touched. The runes on each surface shifted, always trading spots almost too randomly. Gently she lifted her hand up and bit her fingertip. Crimson ran down as she began to mark surfaces with different marks of her own. It took a few hours but she smirked as finally, the cube lined up perfectly on each side. It allowed her passage into what she assumed was the center of the maze.

A tall eight legged creature stood before her. It gave an ear shattering shriek. Celeste mused for a few moments as she tumbled out of the way of its first attack. “You are the legendary Drider… People speak of your kind from the deepest pits of the Umbral Depths. I’ve always wanted to shred apart one of your kind,” a childish giggle left her lips. “Play with me.”

A thick miasma filled the small arena as Celeste’s giggles echoed wall to wall. The Drider began to scream as it realized its deepest fear. He felt the female counterparts of his kind ripping into him, eating him. He felt the sweet nectar of life leaving him like a gushing river, his worst fear becoming reality. How he had never wanted to mate with his own… How cruel the spiders truly were. Celeste watched as the Drider struggled in his imaginary web.

The small Vaewolf slipped around his body her fingers giving his body a loving caress. “The world is so cruel… We are the wolves and you are our sheep,” her voice carried but she knew in the creature’s eternal nightmare that he could not hear her. The phrase was so cliché and yet she adored it. “Too much of water hast thou Poor Ophelia.” Taken straight from a page of her favorite novel.

The miasma cleared and Celeste held his lifeless body, fangs to neck enjoying the deep taste of the crimson river he provided so generously. A shallow dark light left its husk and entered the Anima ring on her finger. “How boring.” It was a disappointment. “May your life provide me strength for the trials to come.” She dropped the empty corpse and watched as it crumbled on the ground, what a glutton she had become.

Celeste cleared the rest of the maze with ease and finally came to a large sphinx. The sphinx whispered its riddle and for a few moments, she thought about it.

“Of no use to one
Yet absolute bliss to two.
The small boy gets it for nothing.
The young man has to lie for it.
The old man has to buy it.”

“I thought at first it was love… but that is not correct. The answer is a kiss.” She moved her bloody lips to the cheek of the sphinx before leaving the maze for good. With a belly full of warm blood and her Anima ring charged for the trials to come she knew she was prepared the best she could be.

Jesgil stood silently with the other competitors, listening silently to the god as he presented himself to the audience all while informing the line of contestants what they were getting ready to face. Her attention was only taken awaken when Iris stepped on by to gift her the competitor's token, giving her a kind bow as a greeting before attempting the token and letting her continue forth and returning back to the god.

It was when the Keeper announced the beginning did Jesgil faced the challenge forward, stepping into the enchanted maze before them. It did not long for her to lose everyone else, as their progress forward almost seemed like they turned into shadow, and the realm around her shifted from the cheering public to a silent forest, everything being surrounded by the dull greed leaves from the hedge maze that had formed. It did not take her long to close her eyes, taking in a deep breath before calming chanting, "Awaken, my blood, and grant me your senses," in Draconian tongue. "Let me see what is difficult to see, and hear what is challenging to hear." She could feel the skin around her eyes and her ears shift around, molding in new shapes and scale formations before opening them wide, eyes now shining a bright gold with the slits of a reptile while her ears shaped more rigged. While the sight did not give her much, the hearing caught the echoes of the bushed shuffling about. Still on the quiet end, but it did mean that they were moving in the distance. That only meant typical tricks to navigating mazes were much harder to pull off. "At least I am ready," she assured her, feeling her dragon blood and magic beginning to flow through her. As much as she did not enjoy relying on it, it was a good way to test her abilities.

The quiet, lonely air was a challenge in-of itself, taxing on Jesgil's nerves. They were to be tested, but never knew when said tests were to arrive. Each footstep echoed into the void of green as she pushed through, pausing at each split she came across. Each one offered no clue as to which was correct, and the occasional dead end formed a turn back into a new route. The best she could do was chuckle to herself at each of these intervals, telling herself she was just triggering what was needed for the correct way to go was.

"Another dead end," she muttered to herself in a sigh as she finished taking another corner. However, it seemed this was was certainly more punishing as the previous, as the new path forged was found to be flooded with tense webbing. Crossing would definitely be tricky as the wrong step would mean entrapment and becoming ensnared by the owner of said webs, whose legs clicked lightly above, drawing her eyes upwards.

Before her rested a fusion of a dark elf known as a drow and a massive spider most commonly known as a drider. "Drow… Spider… Dr-ider… Ah, now it makes sense!" she claimed before the being above dropped down below.

"I am glad you made the connection, as that will be the last one you will ever make," the drider called out, drawing her sword. "Your punishment for being my prey!" Unfortunately, the gloating gave room for Jesgil to chant herself.

"My awakened blood, grant me my breath. Let it encase all who cross its frozen depths," she chanted quickly in foreign tongue, feeling her throat form a layer of scales underneath her throat, taking a moment to quickly take in a breath before exhaling a massive zone of frost before her. The ice weaved through the webbing, quickly causing them to grow en masse while slowly encasing the drider in ice. "Ice, heed my call. Take shape and encase!" Eyes shinning brightly, the ice she forced began to shoot out icicles, working around the leggings and arms of the drider. "Please forgive me," she was quick to tell her opposition as she gave a bow, "but I must be on my way. Maybe after this I can tend to your wounds and hair?" before taking off on top of the frozen webbing.

It had been a while since her encounter with the drider as her skin began to reshape back to before the "battle." However, she did not feel any easier when the monotonous blends of bushes and leaves let up into a more open gap, as Jesgil was quick to find herself within a large circle and a gate before her. It laid before her decorated with what should have been a massive mural, but instead was a massive mess of colors and shapes However, what was significant were the number of overlapping circle shapes that seemed engraved with random straight lines pushing down the segments. "Hmm…" She could turn back, but what good would that do?

Approaching the gate before her, she held out her hand open as if to push it, but instead getting a circle to glow. "Hmm…" The circle rotated with her wrist movement, and when she moved it away, it worked to reset itself. "What about… two?" Taking a circle, she rotated it around until one circle matched the edge with other before using her other hand to grasp it and give it a spin. While she was nervous on what would happen, she released the first, only to sigh in relief that it stayed as long as its edge did not form a circle as well. With the pieces in mind, Jesgil worked hard on moving one circle after the other, concentrating on the picture and the alignment of the straight line until the final piece was turned, granting her the mural of… a large bear. 'Aww, its cute," she chuckled before pushing the door open and proceeding down, even deeper into its depths.

She had lost track of time and turns it took for her until she found herself at the final obstacle: the sphinx. Wise and unmoving, ready to challenge her whit. "Greetings," she told it, giving the sphinx a bow. "You look quite divine." However, it was unmoved by her sweet words.





The final challenge: a riddle. Thinking over the pieces, Jesgil nodded to assure her answer before stating, "That would be an egg, if I would say so myself. The marble hall would be the shell, golden apple as the yolk, and the fountain being its whites. We are often the thieves in this case, breaking them open to make ourselves a delicious omelets."

All that remained was to see the result.

Nobody had to tell her twice when they said ‘go’. As the fireworks flew in the sky, a wide grin spread over her face as she cast protection on herself, and did what she did best—make explosions. Launching herself into the maze with a bang, she sailed through the air laughing gleefully as she propelled herself through it with each successive, well-timed blast. Mazes were easy, usually. Hug the left wall and keep going until you hit a dead end, and if that doesn’t work then do the same with the right side. She followed that tactic until she reached an impasse.

There was a small chamber with three portals. Above the portals were the symbols of a star, moon, and sun. On the floor was a beautiful mosaic of the cosmos, with the moon surrounded by the stars and illuminated by the sun shining from behind them all. On the floor around the mosaic words of gold read: ‘Come unto me first through the least of these, then the greatest and in between. Time and time again the world spins, its days numbered.’

“This’ll be a piece of cake!” Myouga grinned, rubbing her hands together. Looking at the mosaic the stars were clearly the smallest and she was confident she was right. To her surprise, when she went through she was teleported back to the portal room. She blinked in confusion. “Wait. Wasn’t that the answer? They’re the smallest ones on the floor! That’s gotta be a fluke, let’s try again.”

Again she reappeared in the center of the portal room. “Fiddlesticks! How is that not the right answer? Fine. When all else fails, brute force it!” She tried the moon portal, and was sent back again. Trying for a fourth time, she charged at full speed screaming at the top of her lungs. “HRAAAAGH!!!“

By some miracle, she went through successfully and fell over from her excess momentum. Getting up, she dusted off her dress expecting to be back in the portal room when she saw a lever on the wall that wasn’t there before. Her heart skipped a beat in joy, but she gave a quick glance down at the floor to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. The floor had no mosaic. That meant her attempt was a success! Pulling the lever without hesitation, she was teleported back to the portal hub.

“Hm…so lemme get this straight. If ‘Sun’ was the right answer, then that means they weren’t talking about size—but number. Now if their logic is consistent, that’d mean the next portal should be ‘Star’!” Dashing through she found another lever, and after she pulled the lever in the ‘Moon’ portal’s room she was back in the hub again. “Well I’ve pulled all the levers! Now whaaaaaa—!“ In response to the puzzle being solved, the floor opened up under her and she fell through a tunnel that dropped her down from the ceiling near the center of the maze.

She broke her fall by deploying a levitation spell right before she hit the stone cold ground. Good thing she had that one on hand. And they thought she was silly for not specializing in one area of magic. Somewhere nearby she heard skittering. Very loud skittering. Her entire body tensed up, remembering what had happened back when she tried to sneak into the Dragon’s Hoard. Gripping a rune in her hand, she held her breath. She hovered over towards the source of the noise, and peeked from behind a wall. There was something that looked like a giant spider with the body of a dark-skinned elf from the waist up. Ducking back out of sight, she began planning her course of action. There was no way she could deal with it head-on, so she’d have to work fast. Myouga reached into her cloak and pulled out her two magic mirrors.

While the drider was searching for prey, a personal-sized mirror slid on the ground towards it. Neither seeing nor hearing anything else, it reached over to pick it up. As soon as it did, a hand emerged from the surface and blasted it with a blinding light at point-blank range. While it reeled back stunned by the light, a rain of magic arrows poured down on it until it finally succumbed to the near-endless onslaught of magical projectiles. Myouga retrieved her mirror and moved on to the end of the labyrinth.

Blocking her way was a sphinx, the infamous beast of riddles. This would prove to be the most difficult foe she would face so far, as it didn’t involve blasting or blowing up things. As she approached it spoke: “You have done well to venture this far. Now, answer me thus and you shall pass."

'While exploring the wilds of Feeorin, George was captured by hostile wood fairies. Zion, the powerful chief of the fairies told him he could make one final statement which would determine how he would die. If the statement he made was false, he would be boiled in water. If the statement were true, he would be fried in oil. George found neither of these options to his liking, so he made a statement that got him out of this seemingly impossible situation. What is the one statement he could have made?'

“Fiddlesticks…I should’ve known this was coming.” Myouga sighed dejectedly. “Alright, so let’s see—if boiling in water equals false and frying in oil equals true, then what is both true and not true? Wait, if it’s true then he’ll get tossed in oil anyway.” The sphinx said nothing, and she had a staring contest with it while she thought it over. “Hm…well if I was George, I’d say to them: ‘You will boil me in water!’ If they don’t do it, then they can’t boil him in oil ‘cause then that’d be false. And if they do it, then they still can’t ‘cause it’s true! HAH!”

Hiro Kouen wanted to follow in his father's footsteps to become a great hero. When he heard about Lord Drae setting up a competition to test their might against three different challenges, he remembered the tales his father told him about tournaments run by Gods and mortals alike that he entered. This was Hiro's chance to shine. So he entered this competition. He found himself at the entrance of a massive maze composed of massive black and purple hedges. This maze would test their wits and their strength, so Hiro welcomed the challenge.

The rules were no burrowing under the maze, no flying over the whole thing. But there was no mention about other ways to maybe get a bird's eye view of the maze beforehand, then track through it, right? This was a test of wit and might, maybe he could get an advantage over other participants. He wasn't going to fly over the whole maze, however . . .

The race was on. Hiro sat down on the floor, an odd sight to see a teenager wearing crimson armor sitting down cross-legged at the very start of a race. Hiro closed his eyes and focused.

"I am one with the Eternal Flame, the Eternal Flame is with me," he chanted to himself. This was a new technique he learned while studying with the love of his life, Sapphire. He was helping Sapphire with her studying, one night, in Lord Drae's library, when he found a worn leather tome. He dusted it off and read the title: "Zen and the Path to Enlightenment: A Dummy's Guide to Nirvana." He read over the tome and found that most of what was discussed in the book was unattainable for the young lad. It talked about men who had forgone earthly possessions, pleasures of the flesh, and found a way to spiritual enlightenment. However, many men had tried and failed to attain enlightenment this way, and the whole thing seemed a fools' errand. However, he DID find a particular technique that he thought would be useful.

It was said that those who wished to become enlightened, could be able to separate their souls from their bodies, the material from the immaterial. In short, it detailed a supposed method to attain Astral Projection. It took a lot of practice and further research to figure out how to attain separation of earthly body and the so-called immortal soul. He had to meditate, and repeat a particular mantra that one had to believe in to find enlightenment or spiritual furtherance. He read the book out of curiosity, and perhaps a way to conquer fear. Like his father could face all kinds of insanely dangerous situations and be just fine. When Lord Drae threw him off a balcony, he faltered. When he faced his fear in the Inferni's deepest layer, he was shaken.

Not again.

With concentration, he opened his eyes, and found himself floating above his earthly body, still unable to get over how creepy it was to be able to see himself from outside his own perspective. He quickly took to work with the task he presented with himself. He could not leave his body for long, he could not go far, and he could not bring his soul to the end of the maze, then bring his body there. However, he could float up to the top of the area, look at the entire maze, dedicate enough of it to memory, then huff it the old fashioned way by foot, with a map of the place in his head. He floated above the maze as high as he could go, and within a few minutes, he memorized as best he could the maze. Five or more minutes spent here could spend countless wasted minutes figuring out how to get to the end of the maze and backtracking while lost. He dedicated as much to memory as he could, then lowered himself back to his body. Ending the technique, he opened his real, earthly eyes, and stood back up, and swiftly rushed forward into the maze, a determined look upon his face. He ran through the maze, not really encountering much of a challenge, since he knew where he was going.

The raven and red haired young man turned a corner and arrived in a medium sized room littered with skeletal remains and bits of armor and discarded weapons. He didn't notice the skeletons when he was in astral form earlier, he was limited to what he could see in some parts of the maze. He figured there was some magical enchantments to prevent him from seeing through certain rooms' traps. He saw the other end of the room, and rushed to the other side before any traps triggered, but a heavy metal door shut inches before he was going to reach the exit of the room. He slammed his face into the door. Rubbing his nose and face with his hand, he noticed a crest of a skull and crossbones on the door that shut in front of him. Turning around, there was another door that slammed shut with a heavy clang on the entrance of the room, the side he entered from. A curse escaped his lips, as he realized he was now trapped in this room, with no way to go back, or no way to progress. There was the sound of bone upon bone, clattering together. Hiro watched as about a dozen undead skeleton warriors formed before his eyes, armed with swords, shields, and bits of old armor covering them.

"I don't have time for you guys," Hiro sighed, and shook his head. He drew his long sword from the sheath on his belt, he swept a hand across the flat of his blade.

"Sacred Flame Weapon! I am one with the Eternal Flame, the Eternal Flame is with me!" Father spoke about the Eternal Flame, an undying flame, that could not be extinguished. It represented hope, goodness, strength, and justice. Sabishii drew his strength from it, and Hiro did so as well. His sword flared up with a crimson blaze, and with that accomplished, he charged into the fray, cleaving through the skeletons with great vigor. His blade melted through the armor and weapons of the skeletons, setting the undead bone and flesh alight. Hiro was a whirlwind of fiery death, burning and cleaving through the skeletons, until none remained. He breathed heavy breaths, until he saw the enemies had been eliminated. The doors in the front and back of the room suddenly flew open via some unseen mechanism or magic. He merely had to clear the room of undead to progress. He sheathed his sword, the flames on the blade extinguishing as he did so. He then ran forward, determined to continue.

There was a pitch dark room in the center of the maze, he saw it when he gazed upon the top of the maze through astral projection. He was about there, seeing a closed doorway that would lead to that room. There were two torches, one lit, and one unlit on the sides of the door. Hiro took his hand and summoned a flame to his finger, lit the unlit torch, the locked door sliding open, allowing him to progress. He stepped forward with caution, the room was pitch dark in front of him. He heard a slam of the door behind him as soon as he got far enough from the doorway. He was in pitch darkness. He stood still, hearing a chittering sound echoing around him. It sounded like something armored was creeping around the room. He closed his eyes and focused.

"Eternal Flame, grant me sight that pierces the darkness." He opened his eyes, his eyes now glowing with a sapphire blue aura. He gazed upon the room with sight capable of piercing the darkness, seeing he was a few inches away from a huge pit in the ground that led . . . he couldn't tell where, but he was certain it was toward a potentially fatal fall. He stepped back with alarm, and he felt something sticking to his boot. He looked down, and saw a web that was sticking him to the floor. There were spider webs all over the room, and when he gazed upward, his eyes widened. A huge terrifying creature, with a body of an armored spider, and a torso of a buxom woman, with several pairs of glowing red, beady eyes. The Drider laughed maniacally as it descended from the ceiling to confront Hiro, moving uncomfortably close to the boy's face.

"You're a handsome one, boy! You'll make a fine sacrifice to my mistress, the Goddess of Spiders!"

The Phoenix Knight drew his blade, and struck at spider body of the beast. The Drider tanked the swing, the blade bouncing off the armored torso of the monster as if it were rubber. The Drider drew back an armored spider-leg and swatted Hiro aside, knocking him off his feet and into a spider web on the wall. His blade fell from his grip and clattered to the ground out of reach. He was now stuck on a spider web mounted on the wall. He struggled to move his limbs, to detach himself from the web he was stuck to, but the webs did not give way.

"Struggle, struggle all you want, it'll make you taste all the more delicious when you taste my venom, that'll eat you alive!" The Drider laughed maniacally, closing her eyes as she did so, and moved closer to Hiro. She opened her mouth, showing fangs dripping with corrosive poison. The She Drider laid her humanoid hands upon his breast. Hiro gave a feral growl.

"I'm not beaten yet. You've stepped right into my trap, in fact!" He took a deep breath, and exhaled a torrent of intense flames from his mouth. It lit up the darkness of the room, and engulfed the Drider's humanoid half, spreading to her armored, spidery half. A bloodcurdling scream escaped from the Drider's lips as she recoiled from Hiro, blindly flailing around, trying to extinguish herself. She stepped back a few too many steps, and fell straight into the pit in the center of the room. Hiro engulfed himself with a fiery aura, burning away the webs that had him trapped. He picked up his blade, sheathing it, then stepped to the edge of the pit. He raised his hands, summoning a large, swirling ball of flame in them, then tossed the ball down the pit. "For good measure!" The screaming continued to become fainter and fainter, until he could not hear it any more. Satisfied he finished off the spider, he walked around the pit to the other side of the room. There was a door that suddenly slid open at the exit of the room, light flooded back into the room, causing HIro to wince, as he had to adjust to the abundance of light. When his eyes had adjusted, he continued his journey.

It wasn't long now that he was now at the end of the labyrinth. The only thing that stood between him and his victory was . . . another giant beast.

This one was different, it had the body of a golden lion, and the head of a woman. She also had the giant wings of an eagle upon its back. Hiro stopped before the Sphinx, who cleared its throat before speaking.

"I have many tongues but cannot taste
By me, most things are turned to waste
I crack and snap, yet I stay whole
I may take the largest toll
I assisted all of the first men
And I will pay them back again
Around me, people snuggle and sleep
Yet run when I am released from my keep
I jump around and leap and bound
The cold man wishes I he had found.

Answer this riddle, and you may end your journey, else you will find your journey to begin once more."

Hiro stared at the Sphinx, considering the puzzle, when he realized it clear as day. This riddle was a simple one, at least to him. Either this sphinx knew him well, or it was a giant coincidence. A smirk came across his face.

"Fire. Clearly you are Fire." I am one with the Eternal Flame, and the Eternal Flame is with me, indeed.

Ernest stared into the black depths of the maze for a moment before nervously stepping forward. The maze unnerved her. It was very dark, and she didn’t know what lurked in the shadows. Still, she stepped forward, if only because she knew she was being watched. She could feel the eyes of the crowd on her, even if she couldn’t see them. That kept her moving.

She walked slowly down the passage, her eyes open for traps, but she saw nothing. That worried her more than the darkness of the maze. Part of her wished she could see better, but she knew it was best to remain unnoticed. She didn’t fully trust that she would survive this maze. A part of her never trusted anything.

Stop worrying, Ernest, she told herself. She took a deep breath, and continued into the maze. 

It was soon utterly clear to her that she was lost. Her sense of direction was decent, but the maze messed with direction so much that she could turn fully around and still end up someplace different. Either the maze was changing behind her or it had cast some spell on her to make her forget directions entirely. She hoped the first; otherwise she might be stuck in here for days, trying to find the exit. 

As she turned the corner, her foot broke a wire that she hadn’t realized had been there. “Crap,” she muttered. Then the ground broke underneath her.

She landed roughly on a platform only about a foot across. Glancing down, she could see nothing but void. This is bad, she thought. She looked forward, seeing at the edge of her vision the labyrinth once again. There was nothing in between.

She sat down in the center of the platform, glad for once that she was relatively small, and considered her options. Lord Drae had said something about not teleporting, that she remembered, so her best option was not available. Assuming, that was, that she could have teleported across the gap anyways, and that was not certain. She studied the gap more carefully, looking for a solution.

As she leaned slightly forward, her fingers brushed against the side of the platform, and, in a flash of movement, another one flickered into being for an instant. A thin smile spread across her face. There were other platforms. She just had to figure out how to activate them.

Leaning over the edge a bit more, she studied the side of the platform. Strange letters and runes were engraved upon its surface, and Ernest wished for a moment she could read them. She reached out to touch the same one. The platform flickered into being again. Holding down on the same rune, she touched another one, at random. Something exploded.

That’s bad, she thought, but gave it no further thought as she studied the runes more closely. She thought she saw another one, similar to the first, and touched it. The platform flickered again, not once this time, but in and out of reality. She frowned, but could see no other runes that looked similar.

An idea struck her, and she touched both runes with the same hand, and turned to look at another side of the platform. There, in plain sight, was the third rune. She touched it, and the platform solidified. It was about a foot above the first one, and three or four feet out, but she leapt for it anyway, grabbing on to it. Thankfully, she made it, landing lightly on the edge of the second platform.

Three more platforms she crossed in this way, finding smaller and more inaccessible runes each time to summon the next platform. But when she sat on the fifth one, she could not find the third rune. Two were there. They were visible – hard to find, but visible. The third one didn’t seem to be there. She searched. Searched again. Searched a third time, although she didn’t expect it to be there by that point. Finally she sat in the middle of the platform, looking almost identical to her position when she had sat on the first one.T hen she got an idea, and bent over, sliding her fingers along the bottom of the platform.

There were runes. 

Reaching out and touching the other two, she bent over, her fingers running along the bottom of the platform. She couldn’t touch all of it, and she feared that the rune she needed might be out of her reach. Just when she thought she would have to fall to touch it, the last platform solidified in front of her.

She was so shocked that she almost fell off the platform. Moving very slowly, she pulled herself back up, then jumped to the next platform, and finally, onto solid ground. She gasped with relief, then, looking up, realized she was not alone. A thing stood in front of her – several feet away, but looking at her all the same. Some hybrid of spider and… elf, perhaps? It was too far away to tell, and she privately hoped it wouldn’t get any closer.

Predictably, it started walking toward her. 

She was on her feet before she realized what she was doing. She ran, trying to get past the creature. She made it past, only to discover that behind it was a locked door. She had to fight it. She looked around again, then pulled out her dagger, despite knowing how ineffective it would be against this creature. 

It ran at her, possibly knowing how little she could do to it, and she slashed at it. It slashed in return.

It hit. She didn’t. 

She ducked away from it, and ran, but there was nowhere to run. It slashed at her again, and another cut opened, this time on her arm. She couldn’t fight it, but what else could she do? In front of her was only the door, and behind her, only the platforms.

The platforms.

She had a chance. It was a desperate chance, but a chance nonetheless. She ran toward the platforms, the creature following. She leapt along the platforms, adrenaline giving her speed. She landed roughly on the last platform, and, gasping, found the three runes again. As the creature leapt onto it, the second platform disappeared.

Ernest gaped. It had worked. It had actually worked. After a second, she touched the three runes again, and the platform solidified once again. She clambered across the platforms and through the doorway that had presumably opened once the creature had fallen. Beyond that laid more maze. Predictable, she thought. Of course it wasn't that easy. It never was.

She wandered through the maze, watching for any more traps. The few that she saw, she managed to avoid. Still, time passed and she feared that she was lost when she saw it. The Sphinx. What she hoped was the final guardian. She had no hope of escaping it. She walked straight up to it, hoping it wouldn’t attack. To her surprise, it didn’t.

“I have two bodies joined in one. When standing still I run and run.” The Sphinx spoke clearly and emotionlessly, and didn’t elaborate, but Ernest knew enough about Sphinxes to know that it was a riddle, and she had to answer it. She paused, thinking. Of all the riddles she knew, it had chosen one she didn’t. 

After a long pause, she spoke. “The mind,” she said. “It has the body of a person and the body of knowledge within. And it runs even when one is still.” She stood, waiting for the Sphinx’s reply.

In the time she had been awake in this world, she had done nothing worth while with her life. She felt as if she was still asleep, not moving forward in any way with her life, just letting time pass her by. So when she had heard of this contest she had thought, why not. What possibly could be the downside of entering a contest like this? She probably wouldn't win, maybe even get cut after the first part, but hey, at least she could say she tried. When the day came she was nervous, realizing just how little she knew about this place and the people in it. She smiled politely at those around her but as she stood upon her designated entrance her smile vanished and she stared straight ahead of her with a sense of foreboding. Maybe I shouldn't have done this. She thought moments before the Keeper appeared. Too late now. Her eyes flicked to the Keeper as he spoke, barely able to take in his words as her anxiety started to get the best of her. She wrapped her arms around herself and started to take deep breaths to calm herself. She really disliked the large crowd that had gathered, it made her feel claustrophobic even though she stood alone. When Iris approached with her amulet she let out a little squeak in a shocked surprise at her glowing face. She was losing it. She shook her head and quickly said, "Thank you." before Iris was gone to deliver the rest of the amulets.

As the fireworks went off she jumped and let out a yelp. it was loud but when she looks up she stared at the lights in awe for a few moments. "So pretty." She whispered before remembering this was a contest and she had to get going. She quickly rushed into the maze to make up for her lost time. once inside she paused, all sound had vanished except for the sound of her own breathing. The silence was quite refreshing. She found herself relaxing as she no longer had to worry about the crowd. Her normal happy mood was coming back. A smile spread across her face as she put her hand on the hedge to her right. She would keep her hand there and follow the maze, eventually she would find the way out. A tune floated across her mind as she proceeded. To her this felt much like one of the stories she had been told as a child. She stared humming and soon was skipping through the maze, unfazed by the multiple dead ends she was encountering. She knew that if she kept up with just keeping to the right hand side she would eventually make it out.

Her progress was soon stopped as she came to an open area with two doors. She frowned and approached them. They were both a dark oak with an engraving of a guard upon them that took up the entirety of its surface. She leaned in close to one of the doors to inspect it. This had to be one of the tests, didn't it? Suddenly the wooden eyes upon the doors opened and she let out a yelp and jumped claimed about as she fell backwards in surprise. "Ow."She said while pouting and getting up, rubbing her now sore backside. She looked to the doors again, the guards upon the wood were pulling themselves free from the doors to stand before them. Mercury colored eyes flickered from one to the other before a smile crossed her face and she said with a wave, "Hello." The wooden men nodded and the one on the right said, "Greetings contestant…" She interrupted him, "please call me Lily." he then continued, "Um, alright? Greetings Lily, you have made it to your first real task." the other chimed in, "Nothing you have faced thus far will even companies to what we have in store for you!" the first one smacked the second on the back of his head with his spear, "Hey I'm the one that's supposed to give the dialogue here so hush." he cleared his throat and began explaining, "As you can see there are two doors behind us, one of them leads to the next part of the labyrinth while the other leads….to certain doom!" he paused for dramatic effect while the second one wiggled his fingers out in front of him and imitated a ghost. Lily couldn't help but let out a little laugh, these two were funny. The first one glared at the second and continued on, "To find which door is the safe door you may ask one question to one of us, but beware! One of us speaks nothing but truth while the other says nothing but lies!" he stopped talking and gave a satisfied nod. They both stared at her as her smile faded into a frown. She looked between the two with a suspicious look before asking, "But how do I know anything you just said was true? For all I know you both could be liars saying that to catch me off my guard and send me down the wrong path." They looked at her like they couldn't believe what they were hearing. the second one chimed in, "That's, ah, not how this works though. One of us lies one tells the truth and you ask your question that's how the game works, it's quite a common puzzle haven't you ever played before?" Lily pointed her finger at him and said loudly, "See! Now you're saying the same thing! How can I trust that one of you is lying and one telling the truth if you both say the same thing!" they both slapped their palms to their face and sighed. the first one then said in a tone that seemed already weary of this conversation, "Look, we haven't started yet, just… ask a question and pick a door. We start after I'm done talking." They both just stared at her waiting for her question as she nodded and replied as she finally understood, "Oh, I see. Sorry." she started pacing while thinking it over. What should she ask? They had said this was a common type of puzzle, but she had never heard it before, it was probably from after her time. "Hmm, so one says truth and one lies so I can't just ask which door… wait… I can." She stopped pacing and looked to the guards, they were each leaning against there respective doors and she smiled triumphantly and asked to the guard on the right, "Which door would he say is the way to the next part?" he pointed to his own door and said, "He would say this door is the door through." She gave him a nod and said, "Thank you. I'll choose the other door then." the guard opened the other door an let her through, closing it with a pound bang behind her and muttered, "Kids these days.." as he and the other guard melted back into the doors.

Once past the doors she paused, everything was dark and silent. Even though she was adept at seeing in the dark, this darkness was deeper than she had ever seen before, or well not seen. Slowly she took a step forward, and then another. The darkness felt as if it was wrapping around her, holding her in its embrace expressing a will for light never to be shed here. Her footsteps echoed lightly around her, the only thing disturbing the absolute silence. This is, until another noise came, skittering noises of many legs upon the ground moving about as if stalking its prey. She couldn't handle the tension any longer and quickly summoned a fire elemental. As it appeared light burst forth shattering the darkness and revealing a small circle of light. Suddenly bursting forth came a terrifying creature. Will a battle cry it slashed at her with two from legs sharp as daggers. Quickly dashing backwards she managed to evade its surprise attack. She called out quickly, "Onos se jedar!" the fire elemental pulled then a large ring of fire erupted forth from it and speed out, lighting a large area and freezing in place to keep it lit. Before her stood a creature she had never seen before. Eight long legs with a single sharp claw at their ends shuttered about holding up the torso of what looked to be an elf like creature but of dark skin and glowing red eyes. She looked at it in horror, "sp-sp-SPIDER OH MY GODS KILL IT BURN IT GET IT AWAAAAAYYY" the elemental let out a tinkling laugh as its summoner ran to the far side of the room to get away only to be followed by the creature as it lashed out at her. She kept screaming for it to get away as she ran in circles around the room and it followed. When the elemental had gotten enough of a laugh in it darted forth and attached itself to the decider before causing itself to explode with a force that caused Lily to fly face first into a wall. with tears in her eyes she turned around rubbing at her nose. the elemental had reformed itself and was circling over the charred bits that remained of the creature. Lily sniffed and looked at the fairy looking creature composed of flames, "Thank you." She said and then looked around. Another door stood on the far side of the room. She opens it and was greeted with natural light once more. She turned back to look at the elemental and asked, "Would you like to stay and see what happens next?" it rolls it's fiery little eyes at her and gave her a rude hand gestures before vanishing. She muttered to herself before stepping through the door and slamming it shut.

Once again she was faced with a maze, though this time she wasn't in such a happy mood. She just couldn't believe how rude some elemental were! She would have to deal with that later though, for now she just had to finish this test and get out of here. She placed her hand along the right hedge once again and this time started running. She wanted this over as soon as possible, she wasn't having fun anymore. Giant spider creatures tended to suck all the fun out of things. She was supposed to care about every creature and nurture their existence equally but…She couldn't help but despise those eight legged monstrosities. She understood their importance to the balance though, so just tended to avoid them at all costs. To have one thrown into her face like that though… She wished they were all dead.

Soon enough she came to what looked to be the end of the labyrinth and sighed. All that stood between her and the exit now was a sphinx. "Oh thank the God's you're not another eight legged monster. I much prefer answering riddles with your kind than those creepy things." She said with a relieved look upon her face. The sphinx yawned and said, "I suppose you already know the rules then since you mentioned it." It said lazily as if bored with this whole ordeal. She nodded with a bright smile as she formulated a fun plan for when she was able to pass, maybe some tea, yes tea would be good. The sphinx sat up and said, "A man is trapped in a room. The room only has two possible exits: two doors. Through the first door is a room constructed of magnifying glass. The blazing Sun instantly fries anything or anyone who enters. Through the second door there is a fire-breathing dragon. How would the man escape?" She stood there for a moment thinking out loud, "No way to block a dragon if it's an ordinary man so the trick lies with the first room. Magnifying the sun. Oh that'd really be a bright room, but OH!" She smiled and let out a little giggle, "The sun does have to set though, so the answer is that the man would wait until night and then leave through the magnifying room when the sun couldn't burn him." She waited with a smile for the answer wanting to get out and get some tea and cookies as soon as possible.

Excitement had boiled in her stomach for days since Rhea signed up for this strange competition. It was a challenge of magic and wits unlike the normal ones of bronze and gallantries. The siren was instantly intrigued and signed up without another thought. As her uncle called his challengers to the first challenge, many others moved into position with her. This would be a fair challenge for sure. She would not have wanted it any other way. She dressed for the occasion. She knew better than to try to go through this challenge wearing a dress. She could have but she did not want to dirty her new collection. She felt uncomfortable with her legs covered tightly but she wanted to be able to move through the obstacles easier. A tunic, pants, and boots would have to fit for now. It just meant that she would spend the time wishing she could have gone through the labyrinth naked.

She moved quickly to the starting point and remained quiet as Drae began his speech. She tried to keep her focus directed towards the speech but the labyrinth kept side tracking her. The twisting vines of the hedges reached higher than the taller men of the group. There would be no easy way to track where she had or hadn’t been but the challenge only helped her excitement grow. He spoke of illusions, puzzles, and riddles. All things that were some of her favorite things. The avatar appeared when she was needed and donned the challengers with their necklaces. The necklace was fascinating matching the current atmosphere of the event the strange golden magic mixed with a unique darkness in the shape of an onyx. She tucked the piece away in her corset and let her eyes focus on the moment at hand. It was time for the fun to begin. The fireworks burst into the sky and Rhea excitedly sprinted into the labyrinth’s depths. She did not care how many competitors there were; she wanted to make it as far as she could.

Rhea made it a few twists in the maze before finding herself face to face with a dead-end. The path behind her no longer heads the same way it once had so there was no real way to track her steps in this place. This was the perfect moment to make use out of one of her favorite toys. Resting her backpack on the ground for a moment, she pulled out a lantern crafted from dark wood. The next thing taken out was a small box filled with fire supplies. "My dear lantern, show me where my heart is thriving to do. I know well what I desire more, help me find it.” She spoke softly to herself as she lit the light in the lantern. The magic still ran strong in the device even after her failure. It was crafted for the user to be able to follow the light towards what their heart desired most, which for her was the end of the maze. The light shined brightly in the dark environment and the light unnaturally glowed towards only one direction.

The maze twisted and turned until the path in front of her began to fill with water. Before her eyes, the area shifted into a long line of deep water. A puzzled look took over her features as she looked at the water. Why would water be in her trial? She had no issues with water. She was actually stronger with water than any other element. She let off a little giggle thinking her uncle did not know her as well as he thought. This would be an easy feat!

Her eyes glowed a vibrant green as she set one foot onto the water and began to easily walk over it. The water weaved underneath her letting her walk on it as if were stone. She made it about halfway into the water when she suddenly could not pull her foot up. From her step, ice spread and dashed across the water. She let off several curses as she tried to pull her foot from it. Her eyes glowed brightly again as she kept pulling. Her water abilities were not working against the ice and her ice abilities were mostly nothing. When was the last time she had even tried to work with ice? She could not remember. At this point, all she could hear was her dad nagging her about practicing all her crafts. She really hated when he was right.

There were many grumbles that escaped her lips as she pulled a few more times. She gripped her fist and hit the ice until her hand bled a little. Strength would not get her through this trap. Drae had made it clear that this would be a test of magic and wits. She needed to think out of the box, what the hell could she do to break her feet from the ice. Grumbling a little she began to think about what her father would do in this situation. "Eat an apple.” A small giggle escaped her lips as the words left her lips and then the idea hit her. Conjuring! Why had she not thought about it before? Holding out her hand out, a mug appeared in her hand and then it filled with hot ale. The mug was enchanted and it never emptied! She had never thought this strange mug would come in handy but using her conjuring to fill it with hot ale would allow her to pour hot liquid on the ice. Pouring it around her feet, she quickly sprinted towards the shoreline with her small waterfall of ale.

Once her feet hit solid ground, she danced around a little and let off a large laugh. She never thought her conjuring skills would come in handy so well. She rose the lantern up again and began to sip at her mug of ale. She could not return it back into the abyss to take it home, but she could enjoy it a little while she walked. She had never had hot ale before but it was actually rather good. The maze remained calm for a short time before webs began to appear along the path. The further she walked the more there were. Her steps slowed as she continued forward. She knew this had to be part of the challenge. She knew it wouldn’t have been as easy as one trap. She held no fear against spiders but she was not about to kill anything. She believed in being heroic but you did not need to kill to do it. A little blood was just fine but death was a little much. She could only hope that the spiders would just leave her alone.

Sadly, the thought was completely squashed when she went around a corner and saw a weird creature. It appeared to not exactly be a spider. The bottom half of her was a spider at least? Rhea quickly blew out her lantern and shoved it and the mug into her bag. She could only hope that the spell she cast on the ale would keep it stuck in the mud and not all over her bag. She wanted to remain unseen but with the giggles coming from the strange creature, she could only assume she had smelled her coming. There needed to be something she could do.

‘Come out and play’ A sultry voice spoke out in the darkness and confirmed Rhea’s fears. Breathing out, Rhea moved out into the faint light that shined. Rhea could only assume that the other half, the humanoid half, was that of a drow because of the soft gray skin. She had never learned of many other races that were like this. She had read a lot of books on creatures growing up and something about this creature reminded her of one she had once read. It had been such a long time that her memory was hazy on the details. She only could remember that she told herself before to watch out for this creature but why? ‘Ah, there you are. Come closer… I promise I will kill you quickly.’ The voice echoed out again towards her as she slowly moved forward. Rhea grinned at the beast then began to sing softly. The song drifted through the area but the drow creature only giggled in response. ‘That won’t affect me, little girl.’ It was then that the memory of the book dawned on her. The creature was immune to charms and sleep. Her natural siren abilities would do nothing against this creature.

"Sorry, I don’t think I am going to stay and chat,” Rhea responded with a smile before turning around and running for her life. The drow let off a hissing roar before she chased after her. Rhea twisted around a corner and quickly pushed her back against the dark vines of the wall. Her eyes glowed bright and the very appearance of her began to change. Every piece of her body shifted to a darker color as if she was a creature of shadow. Raising her hands up puppets took shape around her almost mirrors to her. The fiends would be enough to sidetrack the drow for at least a short time. The drow came around the turn and was quickly grabbed by the shadow fiends along with Rhea. With her incognito spell, she almost perfectly blended with the strange humanistic fiends. The drow threw attacks but Rhea moved behind her and let her attack only the fiends.

There was a smirk on her lips as water began to materialize in the air, being weaved from around her. The water reached out and twisted around the drow’s neck. The creature tried to fight against the attack but there was no way to pull at the water. It was obvious that the creature had no power over water and would have no way to stop this attack. She fought for a little while longer before finally going limp. Rhea let out a large sigh as she released the water. The drow was unconscious on the floor and Rhea could continue forward. All she knew was that she did not want to be there when the drow woke up. She wanted to be out of the maze before that ever happened. The fiends disappeared as their time ran out and the siren pulled the lanterns back out of her bag. It was time to finish this place. She had already used a lot of magic and she could feel how tired her body was starting to feel. She had a feeling that the drow was a marker that she was getting close to the exit. The traps were getting harder as she went.

The rest of the labyrinth was calm. The calmness only helped to make Rhea feel anxious. It was almost too quiet. She had a feeling that there was something else coming as she twisted through the maze. It would not be long before she found herself at another challenge. The maze began to twist out into a larger room. There was an opening that appeared to lead out into the actual world but resting in front of it was a large sphinx. Rhea let out a large sigh as she entered the area cautiously watching the sphinx. It did not seem to even care about her just rested in front of the entrance. She had a feeling she did not want to find out what happened if she tried to pass it. The beast finally looked to her and a woman’s voice rang out.

‘What force and strength cannot get through,
I with a gentle touch can do,
And many within twisted walls would stand
Were I not a friend at hand.’

"What?” Rhea stared at the sphinx for a moment. She was seriously confused now. "Let me guess… I must answer this riddle to pass?” The Sphinx made no movement to answer and Rhea took it as a yes.  "I see, the last part of this challenge is a riddle. I can do that. I love riddles.” Her words came out softly but the smile was beginning to take over her lips again. The idea of the challenge was helping her gain back her energy. She was excited again. She began to pace back and forth as she began saying random words and repeating the riddle over and over. She would focus on certain lines and make a face of confusion. She was unsure where to start but soon she began to get ideas. It reminded her of a couple things but most of them were quickly thrown out because they did not match the second part.

It only took a short time for Rhea to start grinning like an idiot and turning towards the sphinx. She was almost sure that she knew the answer, but she did not like it.  "I believe the answer is a key.” Her voice never wavered as she spoke. She was feeling confident but in truth, she was not completely sure. The riddle reminded her a lot of love as well and part of her wanted to say that, however, it sounded more like it was talking about something physical. A key made more sense in that case. All she could do was wait now and find out what would happen.

[OOC: And now for my parody of this first event as Natsumi. Permission granted by Gypsy for me to do this now that everyone has done their entries. :) ]

Contests like Revaliir's Days of Hebheka always reminded me of the frequent, dividing line between myself and my arcane brethren. It goes without saying that we are all drawn to knowledge, but many of my ilk are also drawn to fame. It's understandable. Sometimes the keys to information lie behind the gilded gates of fame; and many mages would gladly participate in contests just for a chance at access. They put their powers on display for the world to see in these events: staking pride and skill in order to taste more power than they already had.

That was where I parted ways from them, however. Fame was not something I desired, nor had it been for the many years leading up to Drae's ceremony. If that hadn't been the case, I wouldn't have gone to all the trouble involved in erasing my existence from history; and so, while other, great wizards and witches took part in the puzzles and acts of showmanship involved with the Days of Hebheka, I remained on the sidelines – content in my anonymity.

Of course, that's not to say that I didn't have my fair share of fun those days after the main events had ended. I watched every encounter as it happened, keeping tabs on the abilities that others so willingly revealed. My original intent had been to silently look down on them in disappointment – a trait that Robin tells me I enjoy far too much – but I eventually changed course when I saw some familiar faces on the battlefield.

During the labyrinth portion of the contest in particular, I caught glimpse of a drider and sphinx that I knew very well. They had been "guests" of mine during my reign as the nameless deity, and I half expected never to see either of them again let alone in such a masochistic working condition. Whilst the contestants weren't aware of it, both creatures encountered all challengers during the course of the trial. In reality, there were no separate sphinxes or driders in the maze, despite the numerous deaths and riddles that played out with each passing mage. Because while these creatures weren't enchanted with invulnerability, they were meant to stay alive until every participant was through the maze. Even their souls were protected, so they were both very much alive by the end of the show even if everyone else had seen their fair share of gruesome spider deaths.

It was out of curiosity and nostalgia that I went to visit those two after everyone else was already moving on to the next arena. I started with the gender confused drider, teleporting into his lair now that the area's spells were released for the evening. Clyde was his name, one of the only transvestite driders in all of Revaliir, and I arrived to find him crying into a piece of cloth he had ripped from one of the contestants.

"I just wanted food! One tiny morsel would have been fine!" Spider tears really are a sight to behold, though not a particularly graceful one; and my old acquaintance had them in spades. Mucus was flying everywhere in his sad corner when I touched down, though he did stop his blubbering long enough to turn around once he heard my rustling. "Oh no, not another one," he said while exposing his washed out makeup to me. "Are you going to burn me like the others? Lead me into a pit? Skewer me with magical arrows? Distract me with shadows while you choke me into slumber?! Or perhaps you're just going to leave me frozen so the shrubbery has to chip me out!"

I understood his cynicism, though didn't indulge in it. Instead, I replied cheerily.

"F: none of the above. I'm just here to share a drink with you, Clyde." I held up two glasses then: both filled with different types of liquid. One had blood of an elk in it that I offered to Clyde: the other, red wine for myself. He was understandably suspicious of that action after the day he had just had, but still ending up taking the glass.

"I'm not sure how you know my name, lil' fox," he said, "and I do have to wonder if this is poison, but who cares anymore?" It wasn't, but Clyde didn't even wait for my response before he downed the whole thing. "Elk's blood," he cried once the taste hit his pallet! "I haven't had this in years! I don't care who you are, but you're my new bestest buddy in the whole world!"

Funnily enough, Clyde had said that to me before during his incarceration. He had always been the easiest of the two maze monsters to contain, having been susceptible to bribes and food. One glass of elk's blood and he was dancing all about, shouting praises at me while ignoring my sudden departure. It was just like old times.

I left Clyde in his lair following that drink between friends; but not before giving him some words of encouragement.

"I wouldn't worry too much about your compensation," I told him. "I may have my misgivings about Drae, but I haven't heard anything about him being a cheat. If he promised you food, you'll very likely get food."

Gertrude, the sphinx, was next on my list once that encounter was finished. She was looking at her claws when I arrived, actually facing away from where I touched down.

"Another person," she asked upon hearing me? "There was only supposed to be seven." She turned around then, and, to my surprise, actually recognized me. "YOU! NOT YOU!" Apparently the methods I had used to erase my existence hadn't quite affected Gertrude the same as most everyone else. She still remembered her time with me in my temple; and not fondly, given her tone. I tried to play off those memories amicably, but didn't ultimately succeed.

"Hello, Gertrude. Still having problems with substance abuse? You know those red sands are bad for you." That greeting was my first misstep in the riddle master's presence, considering that it caused her to immediately raise her voice while backing away.

"Oh, sure, substance abuse. Not like it was any worse than what you did to cure me of it! I still have nightmares from your 'treatment'!" Red sand withdrawal was a nasty thing for her kind, and she had never forgiven me for forcing her to go through it. My follow-up explanation didn't help matters either.

"Well, you did kill 20 midgets before I caught you. I'd consider that sufficient justification."

"Midgets?! You told me they were children!" Indeed, my entire bait and switch strategy that I had used to lure Gertrude in many years prior to our reunion had been based on a false guilt trip. I wasn't the least bit sorry for it, either, considering that she had been tearing up Arri every time she hit the "dust." In fact, I even nonchalantly admitted to that during our meeting in the maze, something that just aggravated her beyond reconciliation.

"Well, yeah," I remember saying. "You had a secret soft spot for children; not midgets. You wouldn't have come quietly if I didn't bend the truth a little bit back then." Gertrude just fumed at those words before teleporting me back to the labyrinth entrance. She clearly wanted nothing to do with me, so all I got in terms of a parting gift from her was her yells of anger from across the maze. I still got the last word in edgewise, but only SAI was around to hear it. "And that's why helping people isn't always all it's cracked up to be."

Hours ticked on through the night as the seven challengers used their wits, intelligence, and a little bit of magic to fight through the maze. One individual even made it all the way to the end before having to be sent back upon answering the riddle incorrectly. Still, it was definitely and exhilarating evening, and at the height of the night when all had crossed the threshold, the Keeper's voice boomed out over all the crowds as fireworks exploded in the sky.

"Well done, all of you who entered and challenged the Shtahu Labyrinth! Each of you has met with your own successes this evening, and some had double the trial to face! Still your wit kept you going!" The Keeper said as he came to land on the ground before each of the challengers as the stands too descended back to the grounds. The Keeper approached the seven who stood on the runes again. 

"Now, I believe you deserve your hard earned results," he said. "But only five will progress. If your rune lights up, you will have proven your worth to enter the Heka Arena upon the morrow," he said. He stepped back and for a moment there was only the silence of excitement as all waited to see who would progress. 

The Scores are thus:
Hanaoni –50/60
Ernest (Silver Star)–48/60
Rhea– 41/60
Celeste – 40/60
Jesgil –34/60
Hiro Kouen – 33/60
Lilithrie– 32/60

The runes beneath the feet of Myouga, Ernest, Rhea, Celeste and Jesgil began to grow brightly. 

"There you have it, the five that shall progress to the Heka Arena!" The Keeper's voice boomed and the crowds exploded into cheers.