“Do they stay in here all the time?” The Speaker was interested as the T-Rexes were three to four times taller than a human and there was no way they could get out of the cavern from the openings she saw.

“Down here.” Doxuhr led the Werewolves further into the cavern where a pit was located. Looking into the deep pit, the Speaker saw 3 openings in it, two of which were big enough for the T-Rexes. However…

“How do they get up and down from there?” Darmin asked the question first. The pit was deep and the Speaker could see no way of going up or down except for climbing the walls. Looking at them, somehow the Speaker doubted that the T-Rexes were built for climbing.

“They just jump.”

“THEY JUMP?” All the Werewolves asked at the same time. This was a very deep pit. Doxuhr just smiled.

“I know. It shock me the first time I saw it too but the T-Rex are very good at jumping. The T-Rex may look clumsy but this is actually an easy jump for them. They’re also very fast. I actually saw one of them chase down a horse before and with their jaws, one bite is pretty much all they need to kill something.”

“So they are very fast; very strong; and very powerful…but they are failures?”

Doxuhr could only shrug at Kinshra’s question. There was nothing he could say and the Speaker understood his dilemma. The demons probably didn’t think of the T-Rexes as failures but the Creators were higher beings and it’s not always possible to understand them. There were times when the Speaker’s Creator made no sense to her either but she comforted herself in knowing she did not have to understand the orders, only to obey. Ignoring the pit, Doxuhr led the Werewolves further into the maze. The tunnels linking the various areas within the maze were circular in shape and at times, Doxuhr would introduce the Werewolves to the traps placed within the tunnels. The Speaker had to admit that some of the new traps the Red Creator created were interesting. There was a trap where hot steam would come out of the floor scalding the people standing on top of the trap; one where flames would shoot out of the walls; and a variation of the pitfall trap where hot lava would drop from the ceiling. Outside them, there were explosive mines which were placed throughout the maze.

Then they came into another cave. Unlike the T-Rex cavern and the Training Area, this cave had a lot of small holes on the walls. Most of the holes were high up and the moment the Werewolves stepped into the cave, small red lights appeared from the holes. One of the lights immediately flew down to the group and the Speaker took a good look at it. As she suspected, it was a fairy and she noticed that this fairy looked very similar.

“No way.” She blurred out the words before as the fairy came closer. The Speaker recognized this fairy but it was impossible. It has been several winters since the Red Creator left the Kar Mountains, there’s just no way!

“Speaker!” The fairy came to a stop before the Werewolves, floating in mid-air like it was the most normal thing in the world. “I heard you were here. I was hoping to see you before you leave!”

“You…” There was no way this fairy could be alive but there he was, flapping his wings in front of her. The Speaker’s eyes blinked furiously but he was still there. She had to ask. “How are you still alive?”

The fairy smiled and told her the truth. “Thanks the Master! I know I should be dead but I’m not. Seems that my contract with the Master had prolong my lifespan.”

Unlike most of the creatures under their control, fairies weren’t created by the Creators but by human mages. However humans did not have the abilities of the Creators and fairies created by the human mages last only weeks before dying. Even when they were alive, the fairies were tied to the mages who created them and the Speaker had never even heard of a fairy who lasted one whole season. Here in front of her was one that had lasted several. Once more, the Speaker could only marvel at the greatness of the Creators. When the Fire Creator stole the fairies from the humans, the Speaker knew the Fire Creator had changed the fairies but for the Creator to extend the lifespan of a creature was unbelievable. The Speaker suddenly thought of herself and wondered how old she could grow to be. It was then that she noticed several other lights floating down to them. These lights were smaller, dimmer, and the Speaker realized what they were.

“Impossible!”

The fairy was now laughing, a mad crazy laugh, and the Speaker can’t blame him. She felt like doing the same thing. Getting his laughter under control, the fairy introduced the smaller lights. “I know! Impossible right but here they are. These are my children!”

It was too much for the Speaker. A fairy that lived for several winters and was able to have children? The Speaker knew the Creators could create life and changed them but this…for the Creators to change a magically created creature and give them the ability to procreate? To give real life to artificial magical constructs? The Speaker had to laugh and laugh she did, an uninhibited laugh that soon echoed throughout the cave. When she finally stopped, Doxuhr gave her a strange look before quickly ushering the Werewolves further into the maze. Saying goodbye to the fairy, the Werewolves soon reached another cave which had a wide platform surrounded by a pool of lava. Three paths led to the platform and beyond the platform was another path that led further into the volcano. Doxuhr led the Werewolves down that path where they entered yet another cave. The Speaker immediately noticed that this one was different. This cave had a dome ceiling. More importantly, at the top of the dome was a huge gaping opening and sunlight shone down from it. Sunlight that shone down on a floating red crystal. The Werewolves had reached the center of the Morningstar Maze and the Red Creator was now finally in front of them. They were not alone. Several demons were in the vicinity and one of them was the demon Apep. He looked up as the Werewolves entered the cave and waved at them. Left with little choice, the Werewolves approached the demon mage.

“A spirit matrix!” The mage was practically gushing. “You guys know your “Creator” is a spirit matrix?”

The Speaker couldn’t help but smile at that. “I think the Creators are far more than that, don’t you?”

That caught the mage short and he quickly corrected himself. “Yes, yes, you’re right. This matrix/master/creator is certainly different from any spirit matrix I heard of. It’s…”

Then the Red Creator began glowing. Apep slithered back from the Creator but the Speaker had seen this before. The Creators had the ability to be at several places at once but they usually concentrate on one location at a time. The Speaker had been told by the Red Creator it would visit the Creator directly and she thought the Kar Mountains was where it was focused on. The glow meant it was now back. The Speaker was about to get on her knees when a word entered her head. It was a word from the Red Creator and it would change everything.

*Appraisal*

*Appraisal*

*Appraisal*

*Appraisal*

*Appraisal*

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