by Eric Ugland
The others started hauling ass down the path away from the claws. And, for better or worse, away from the direction we’d last seen the hill in.
It meant there was a time limit on this level. Whether that was the main danger or not remained to be seen.
As we reached the first turn, Nikolai went to the left.
I snuck a glance behind us and saw a bizarre-looking creature setting a leg down in the maze. It was humanoid, an overly large humanoid with legs that were twenty feet long at least, but not super large around. The torso was very skinny and tall, and the arms were nearly long enough to drag on the ground, though the fingers of the creature seemed to make up nearly a third of the arm. It had a huge round head with a perfectly straight mouth, hanging open showing off row after row of pointy teeth. Thick ropes of saliva hanging out. The eyes, or the spot where there should be eyes, was just black. Big black dots, as if they’d been painted on the orb-like head. But the thing could definitely see because it focused on me before roaring and starting the chase.
I lost sight of the big fucker as we took the corner. Eventually, though, the dude came around the corner with no speed. He needed to take turns slow. However, straightaways were nothing to him. His massive strides practically eating the ground like I used to eat donuts.
“More turns,” I shouted ahead.
“Not like I have many choices,” Nikolai snapped back, but he did take the next corner he came to, a right.
Then a left.
And while there was a decided thundering to the creature coming along behind us, I started to pick out another noise. A grating, rumbling, destructive sound, like the world’s largest demolition sight was also moving.
Emeline, running in a ballgown, was having a tough time of it, and she tripped.
Donner, for his part, literally ran over her, stepping on her back during his attempts at self-preservation.
I slid to a half-stop, pulled her into a fireman’s carry, and resumed the sprint. Adding her to my load wasn’t heavy, but she was awkward. Especially because she kept twisting around trying to get a better view of either the thing chasing us or the collapsing maze around us. Or both. That, plus she was wearing a giant silk ballgown which was slippery as fuck during the best-case scenario.
“What do you see?” I shout-asked.
“Nothing good,” she replied.
I heard a sharp twang followed by a roar of anger.
“You shooting arrows?” I asked.
“Not like I was doing anything else on your shoulder,” she replied.
“Can you run again?”
“Kinda up to the dress, but I can try.”
As soon as we got around a corner, I set her down. I let her get ahead of me, and once I got a ways down the corridor, I stopped and turned. As soon as the creature made the corner, I launched the axe as hard as I possibly could.
The axe twirled through the air, a full-on blur. It hit perfectly, right in the creature’s knee, blowing the leg out and destroying the joint.
Screeching in pain, the creature crashed to the ground, leaving a cloud of dust as it hit. It struggled to get back up, but its leg wasn’t able to support it any longer. It was, for all intents, down. I thought for a very short moment about running back, both to grab the axe and kill the creature, but my party was just about to take a turn, and if they took more than one or two, I’d get separated from them. That couldn’t end well.
I sprinted after the party.
Don’t split the party.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Catching up to the group was the easy part of the day. But it left an awfully large question: we were running, but were we actually getting anywhere?
Additional roars rang out, occasional punctuations of the ever-present rumble as the maze collapsed in. There were other creatures out there, more of the big dudes with big teeth I supposed, and during some of the longer straightaways, I swore I saw that long fingered motherfucker crawling after us.
Leading point, Nikolai managed to take us a ways, but his entire stamina bar was drained in minutes. He was panting, slowing down, and finally had to stop and catch his breath. Donner cruised right on by.
Skeld and Ragnar stopped with Nikolai, and both of them looked to me.
Emeline stopped too, looking at me with her eyes wide.
I frowned, and scooped Nikolai up into a fireman’s carry. He rasped out curse words, but I figured if he didn’t have the breath to utter them, I didn’t need to listen.
Donner was way ahead of us, almost to the point where he was going to disappear into the maze.
“Get him to stop,” I yelled to Skeld.
Skeld tossed his spear to Ragnar, then dropped to all fours and sprinted. He moved much faster than I’d seen either of the Lutra go before, catching up to Donner just as Donner turned a corner. I ran along with the group, catching up around the corner, only to see Donner choking Skeld up against the wall.
I set Nikolai down, and calmly pulled Donner off Skeld.
He tried to resist. I think maybe he thought he might be stronger than me, but, well, he wasn’t. His eyes went a little wide as I just peeled his fingers off of Skeld, and held the man’s arm at his side.
“Not the time to get mad at each other,” I said.
“You are to be the cause of my death,” Donner said, eyes bulging, veins throbbing.
“You chose to come with us,” I snapped. “You chose danger over slavery.”
“You told me you would get us out of the prison,” he yelled at me.
“I did.”
“To a Dungeon!”
“It’s not prison, is it. Mere semantics.”
He glared at me. “I do not know what that is.”
“It doesn’t matter. You knew we could end up in a dungeon when you came with us. And now we’re here. We’re here working as a group. And I’m pretty sure if we don’t work as a group, we’re not making it out of here alive. So, how about you stop running like a chicken without a head, and focus for a minute?”
There was more staring, but Donner’s breathing started to slow down ever so much.
“Okay?” I asked. “You ready to get back on track?”
He nodded and relaxed, so I released my grip and stepped back, giving him his personal space back.
There was a guttural sort of roar or moan. Somehow, coming up from the corner was our old friend, the gangly asshole with the weird head with all the fucking teeth. He was crawling along.
Donner, who’d just been so close to returning to working with us, shrieked. He promptly turned and ran straight into the wall.
“Keep him from leaving while I finish this,” I said to Ragnar, grabbing the two spears he was holding.
I started a mild jog towards the motherfucker. He was one tenacious asshole, literally crawling along after us, a trail of pale pink ichor oozing out of his ruined leg. I hauled back, and threw the spear with everything I had.
It flew through the air in a beautifully straight line, coming down perfectly straight through the creature’s dark circle of an eye.
There was a mournful sort of noise, but the thing wasn’t quite dead. Its arm still came around, still crawling along. Just a little slower is all.
I roared out in anger at this thing that was still following us, and pumped my stride into a sprint.
The creature swung at me, but it wasn’t hard to move out of the way. I pushed off the wall, leaping high in the air, spear raised up. Then I slammed it down on the back of the creature’s neck, putting all my weight and momentum behind it.
There was a momentary pause as my spear met the spine, but steel won, and I rode the spear down as the creature collapsed to the ground.
A last gasp exited the creature’s foul maw, and then wails rose up in the distance, as if all the other of his kind knew of his death.
A purple orb swirled up, glowing, and I grabbed it quickly. A veritable shower of coins rained out, followed by a large sword.
I scooped up what I could
of the coins and snatched the sword. Both spears were stuck in the creature’s corpse, so I left them, grabbing new old spears from the ruined castle’s armory out of the bag, re-arming Ragnar and Skeld.
Donner sat against the wall, looking past me at the monster’s remains on the ground.
I tossed the sword to Nikolai, and said, “Is this anything?”
He started to look it over.
I knelt down next to Donner, waiting until he realized I was there and met my eyes. “We’ll be fine if we work together.”
He nodded.
“Okay,” I said, “let’s get back to saving our asses. Donner, I’m going to need you to climb again, see where the middle is, and point us—”
Donner shook his head, eyes wide open, fear coursing through his veins. I was about to lose him again. This was exhausting.
The rumbles from around the area were getting louder. I knew that time had to be getting short, and soon the maze would bury us. It did not, however, seem like there was anything happening with the sky or the ground — it was just outside-in. Minor distinction, but an important one. More than anything, though, it was a reminder that I didn’t have time to argue with Donner or blow sunshine and courage up his butt.
I scurried up the wall, getting just high enough to sneak my eyes over.
As I did, something massive came at me, and I dropped.
Huge wings wooshed right past where my head had been, skimming along the top of the wall with millimeters to spare. It came so close to me, it managed to lop off some of my hair.
I snatched the sword from Nikolai without looking and climbed right back up the wall.
I peeked again.
I could see the center of the labyrinth. We weren’t far off, and were heading generally in the right direction. The collapsing line was very close, something we’d missed only by chance because of the way the walls aligned, but as the line of destruction came on, we’d be getting a full view of it shortly. The skies were full of something like a dragon mixed with a dragonfly. One was angling for a run right at me.
The big beast, somehow flying despite being school bus sized, built speed in a steep dive before rolling onto it backs, wings right at wall height, slicing everything along the way. I noticed the beast closed its eyes while upside down, so as soon as I saw the eyes close, I shifted to the right a few feet with a single jump, grabbed the top of the wall with one hand, and then held the sword up in position with the other.
“This better not be cursed,” I shouted down to Nikolai.
“Not cursed,” he shouted back, “but—”
Whatever he said was lost in the thunderous rushing wind of the creature’s attack.
But the beast was lined up for my old spot on the wall. My new position was perfectly situated so the beast’s body would be going right where the sword angled forward.
The creature hit with enormous force, to the point where, even with my strength, I strained to keep myself attached to the wall and my grip on the sword. But the blade did a miraculous job slicing deep into the creature, opening the motherfucker up from teeth to tail releasing a veritable flood of viscera onto the maze down below. Momentum took the beast across until it fell on the far side. But a loot orb showed up right in front of me.
Purple.
I tapped it and held my bag up underneath it, letting the coins fall in, but grabbing a heavy pair of gauntlets that appeared at the tail end of the coins.
It took a moment because I had to get my bag back on my belt and store the gauntlets, but I climbed up on top of the wall and stood tall, watching the other flying creatures notice me and angle my direction. But that little extra height let me see the exact path we’d need to take to get to the center. You know, unless the dungeon decided to change things on us again. For the moment, though, I had it memorized.
A quick jump, barely avoiding another winged creature, and I was back with the party.
They weren’t smiling.
Mostly because they were dripping in viscera. Blood. Guts. Bile. Bits and bobs of muscle and flesh. It was all gross in a way I’d never get used to. I dug into my bag and held out another ballgown to Emeline, who looked to be the worst hit of the bunch.
“I think I can wait,” she said through clenched teeth, “until, perhaps, we are not staring death in the eyes.”
“Good point,” I said. “Follow. I know the way.”
And I ran.
Chapter Thirty-Six
After 16 sharp turns and more than a few harrowing moments where we got a great view of our impending doom, we hit the center of the labyrinth. Like the outside, the open space inside was circular, and a tall tower soared out of the exact center, somewhere close to 80 feet tall. Unlike the blue-grey walls and floors of the labyrinth, the tower provided a stark contrast being made of white marble with blue streaks. At the top, in a small housing, sat another large gem, a beautiful deep blue in color.
I skidded to a stop and pulled the sword out, prepared for whatever might be coming. Or worse, whatever might already be there.
The others fanned out behind me, weapons drawn.
Except for Donner.
It seemed that during his cowardly performance about the labyrinth, he’d lost his hammer. Or, more precisely, he lost the warhammer I’d given him. When I noticed that, I gritted my teeth and told myself to ignore it. That it wasn’t the time for anger over losing weapons I really liked.
To keep myself from yelling at Donner, I walked the perimeter and poked my head into other openings, all of which lead to visually identical pathways of the labyrinth. I counted eight entrances into the center, but nothing could denote any one from another. In fact, if it wasn’t for the fact that my party stood in front of one of the entrances, I wouldn’t even have been able to pick out where we’d come from.
I looked at the group, and behind them I could see chunks of stone flying into the air as the world continued to collapse in on itself. I’ll admit, part of me thought things would stop when we got to the center. Or even just slow down. But it appeared the reverse was true. The barrier of destruction closed even faster.
Jogging over to Nikolai, I noticed the dude was looking like three shades of shit. That last run of ours had really spent him.
“Thoughts?” I asked.
“Get the gem,” Nikolai replied.
“You think it’s as easy as climbing the tower?”
“I can only hope,” he said, dropping to one knee.
“Look after him,” I said to Skeld. “Ragnar, with me.”
We ran to the tower, skidding to a stop at the base. I looked straight up. Climbing it wouldn’t be too bad. Someone chose to do the tower up in a gothic sort of motif, so there were decorative carvings all over the damn place. A quick circle to make sure I hadn’t missed any doors, ladders, or elevators and we were ready to go.
I pulled my belt a little off and slid the new sword and sheath on. Given the dungeon’s predilections, I figured I needed to be ready with a blade.
With a quick identify spell, I finally saw what I had:
The Eternal Xiphos of Sharpness
Item Type: Rare
Item Class: One-handed Melee
Material: Magical Steel
Damage: 10-20 (Slashing)
Durability: 18/20
Weight: 4.8 lbs
Requirements: Str 12, Dex 12
Description: A sword having a cruciform hilt with a grip for one-handed use. The blade is narrow at the base and gradually widens into a leaf shape. The Xiphos of Sharpness is able to cut into anything as long as its durability is full. Eternal swords regain durability over time.
Worked for me.
“Am I climbing with you?” Ragnar asked.
“One of us has to get to the top,” I said. “Or everyone dies.”
He nodded, his face impassive, a rare moment of gravity.
“To the top,” he said.
As soon as my hand touched the tower, there was a great grating noise, and the stones beneath
our feet started dropping away into nothingness. Well, not quite nothingness, because it wasn’t a complete void beneath us. Dark, yeah, but in the murky depths, I could see the white marble tower extending way, way down. And, worse, I could see monsters already racing up.
Holding on with one hand, I grabbed Ragnar and chucked him over the yawning chasm, onto the stones beyond.
He skittered to a stop, than shouted, “You realize the hirð is supposed to be helping you!”
I winked, and I started climbing.
The handholds were pretty simple to find and grab, though they were a little ridiculous: outstretched wings, keystones on decorative arches, all kinds of crap the artist probably wouldn’t be thrilled I was mauling. But that ease also applied to the monsters climbing from below. They were making excellent time, and as they got closer to the light, they were terrifying. They seemed to be smaller versions of the clawed crawler from earlier. Big round heads, lots of teeth, a sickly pale pink, long fingers with claws perfect for climbing. One major difference: the arms and the legs of these monsters were identical, in that the legs were basically lower placed arms. So yeah - perfectly suited for climbing. Curiosity got the best of me, so I paused and shot an identification spell back down at them.
Lesser Rakemaw
Lvl 12 Monster (Dungeon)
Rakemaw. Seemed like a perfect name. In the time it took me to identify the assholes, though, they’d gotten to ground level.
“Shit,” I muttered, and powered up the tower.
No matter how I tried, I couldn’t seem to get going faster than them, but gauging the height of the tower, I figured I’d be able to keep my lead until I snagged the gem.
Something smashed me on the shoulder.
I looked up. Smaller creatures leaned off the top of the tower, whirling slings and launching stones. I was reasonably sure they were goblins, or goblinoids of some variety. And they weren’t shy about expending ammo. Stones showered down on me, slamming into my hands, my head, and my shoulders. The ones that hit my hands were the worst, causing just enough pain for my grip to slip. Which meant the rakemaws were closing.