The next room was laid out like a maze, but a tiny one. She could step across the tops of the walls, each only a few inches tall. The maze spread out throughout the room in all directions, twisting and coiling in places, square and jagged in others. There was a spiral section around a circle, a frustratingly long rectangular section that did nothing but weave back and forth, and another that looped back on itself making it only excessively long to no obvious purpose. Maya didn't see either an entrance or exit, no obvious beginning or end.

"What am I supposed to do here?" she wondered aloud.

The half-mask didn't answer her, but she saw it grinning down at her from the ceiling. It seemed to be dripping, like it would fall at any moment in a sludgy mass, but remained firmly stuck to the ceiling.

Maya forced herself to stop staring at it and returned her attention to the maze. So far, everything had been about perception. Changing things so they could be perceived differently. How could she apply that paradigm to the maze?

She walked slowly around the room, crouching to look at the maze from a lower angle, trying to see if it formed any discernible pattern from any direction. There didn't seem to be any secret message in the arrangement of the passages, so she reluctantly abandoned that angle of investigation.

What else could she try?

The rounded section was centered around an open area larger than anywhere else in the maze. Large enough that she had to step over it to avoid falling in...

Hmm. The impulse hit her and she went with it unhesitating, stepping fully into the circle. For a moment everything spun dizzyingly, then she stood in a full size version of the same maze, the small circle now a wide courtyard with three exits.

Maya immediately closed her eyes, trying to bring back an image of the maze as she'd first seen it upon entering the room. So far, the exit had been straight across from the entrance. So she had to find her way to the wall that had been furthest from her entry point.

It was a strain to recall the maze beyond general sweeps, but she had a pretty good idea of which direction to go. Confident, she chose the leftmost opening and started off. Her confidence only increased as she passed familiar-feeling sections of the maze, passing to the squared section, then the curved one again, then back to the squared in a meandering path that felt right. None of her choices led to a dead end.

Only when she neared the end did she start to doubt. It had been too easy. There had to be a trick. Maybe this was a trap. Maybe the actual exit was on the ceiling, where the mask leered down at her, and she should be trying to climb up and out instead.

She reached the blank wall she'd been aiming for, and pressed a hand against it in hopes of opening a door. Nothing. She turned back, not discouraged yet. There were still eight or nine other dead ends that ended against the same wall, the door could be in one of those.

But now that she was thinking laterally, she couldn't help looking up at the ceiling again and again. The mask had always been on the exit before. She had to get up. But she finished her check of the remaining wall dead ends first, just to be sure. None of them opened, so she closed her eyes and returned to her memory of the maze from above.

None of the sections had convenient stairs. But... shifting perceptions... there was that one zig-zag section off to the side that went back and forth with no purpose, an entirely bypassable hall on the far right side of the maze.

From a certain perspective, it could look like a staircase, or a ladder.

Maya sprinted down the familiar halls, weaving through the maze toward the pointless section that may prove her only escape.

To her relief, it was exactly as she'd imagined. Well, not quite. The whole section was diagonally aligned now, tilted platforms forming an awkward not-quite stair with gaps wide enough to fall through between each tilted 'step', but it was all she had. She took a deep breath, then trusted to her luck and sprinted up them like she were racing her brother as a child, bounding from platform to platform faster than she could slide off them.

Then, with a sudden lurch, she was out. The maze was tiny again, but now it was resting upright against one wall. The ceiling, now the wall ahead of her, split open. The mask scowled at her. "One more," it hissed, clearly displeased by her rapid progress.

Maya did pause to catch her breath this time, then advanced into the final room.

And here, finally, was an actual puzzle door. There was a riddle written out above it, but Maya had no doubt that she lacked the requisite tiles to solve it properly. Instead she placed her black star tile into the door without hesitation, verified the Are you sure you want to override this lock confirmation, then smirked at the mask half as it snarled from the now-open door.

"You may have passed me, but you shall not pass our champion!"

Maya waved at it, then stepped out into the next chamber.

Two doors behind her, one door beyond, and between her and the exit... the minotaur.

It towered easily half again her height, all muscle and fur, but it stood bowed, its neck and ankles bound in shackles, heavy chains binding it to the floor. But that made it no less intimidating. Its horns were scratched and damaged, testament to the many fights it had survived throughout its lifetime. A massive cleaver stood stabbed into the stone ground beside it, one hand resting on it, while the other hand gripped a spiked round buckler that looked every bit as dangerous. So it had a reach weapon, and something to smash anyone who came too close.

Maya swallowed, then glanced behind her. Her own trial's door still stood open; the other remained closed. She crept to it and tried to pull it open, hoping to help her party get through to her faster, but there was nothing to grab on to and their half of the mask only bit her when she tried to use it as a doorknob. -4 health.

Well. This was a conundrum. She didn't really want to solo the minotaur, but there was no way of knowing how soon the rest of the group would come through.

"Excuse me, Mr. Minotaur," Maya said. "I don't suppose you could just let me pass without fighting you, could you?"

The minotaur growled deep in his throat. "I will only be released when I have slain all who seek entry. If your life is the price of my freedom, I see no reason to hesitate."

"Well, I could try to release you. There's no rule that says you can't escape."

"I cannot escape. I am bound with oaths deeper than steel. I could snap these chains a thousand times and yet remain bound." He tore himself free of the chains, casting them aside with a sudden violent action, but before he'd taken two steps they snapped tight and he was pulled to a stop, the chains looking as though they'd never been broken.

"Besides," he said, slowly dragging his blade out of the stone with a terrible scraping of metal, "I don't think I said I want to be released."

"You can't really want to stay here forever."

"Why not? I am able to challenge all who seek entry, and until they prove the stronger, I shall stand undefeated."

"But didn't you just say you wanted to be released?"

"I will be freed. That is not the same. If I break my oaths, I would die of shame a thousand times."

"So, you don't want to leave, but you want to be released, just not by me?"

The minotaur growled and snorted a great huff of breath that shone like red mist for a second in the air. "I will not be twisted around by words or deed. I will earn my freedom, I will not steal it or try to escape my duty."

"Okay..." Maya backed up a bit, as he continued to advance step by step. "Now would be a really good time for my team to come join me," she muttered, hoping her luck would take a hint, but it did not. The minotaur continued advancing, and she considered that perhaps splitting up the group was decidedly unwise.

Sure, she was here faster, but what use was it to be ahead of everyone else when it meant she'd get her face stomped in by a giant cow man?

He raised his cleaver, holding it out as though in salute. "Come, you who would face me, and let us see who is the stronger."

"I'd really rather not," Maya said with a nervous laugh. "I can safely say you're stronger."

But she did shift into Heart of Magma stance, just in case he decided to attack. Four seconds of charge-up. She could survive four seconds, right?

"If you know I am stronger, then why are you here? None can pass me."

"Well, I didn't know you'd be here, see," Maya said, desperately thinking. She needed to at least stall him long enough for her party to get here, or find a way to get past him if not. Stealth? Hers wasn't great, but maybe...

No, the moment she considered it, she knew it wouldn't work. This was a mid-boss, intended for players to fight, not sneak past. She'd need a lot more than her incidental sneakiness to actually evade this confrontation.

"You have not heard of me?" the minotaur sounded surprised. "I, the eternal guardian of the Master's caverns? I, who am twice-sworn and thrice-bound? You know nothing of me?"

Maya shook her head. "Not at all. Maybe you could tell me about yourself?"

The mental strain of maintaining stance without casting was beginning to make itself known, but she refused to let up. Her energy couldn't recover, but the ability to start casting immediately if it came to combat would be worth holding out.

"You seek to twist my purpose with your words again," the minotaur growled. "I will not be deceived."

"No, truly, I won't try to lie to you. I just want to know more about you before we kill each other."

"You have no chance of killing me."

"Right, got it. But, um, surely there's more to your story than 'I stand here, I guard cavern'?"

The minotaur huffed again, and Maya reconsidered her flippant tone. Perhaps being snarky with the giant bull-headed warrior was unwise.

"I do stand here," he growled. "And I do guard the cavern. That is all that is relevant to your existence at this time. Why would you need to know anything more?"

"Well, I like making friends and would really prefer not to fight you if at all possible."

"You can turn around and leave if you wish to avoid me. But I am bound to protect the Master's caverns and will not neglect my duty."

"Yeahhh, well, if you won't tell me about yourself, how about this master of yours? What's he like?"

"The Master is wise and powerful beyond your imagination. He is generous and cunning, though he can be too trusting at times which is why I stand guard here to defend him from those who would take advantage of his kindness."

Maya's feathery eyebrows rose. "Really? He's a nice guy, who just happens to live at the end of a creepy dungeon of doom?"

"There is nothing creepy about our caverns."

Maya gestured over her shoulder to the riddle path she'd just traversed. "Apart from that stretchy-faced mask creep."

"The Door-Warden can do you no harm. Its task is only to ensure the unworthy do not waste my time."

"So you're all just layers of filters, getting rid of anyone too dumb or too weak to be worth your master's time?"

"Yes, you could say that."

"And what about you, why are you here?"

"To guard the caverns."

"No, I don't mean why is there someone positioned here. I mean, you, personally, specifically. Why are you here?"

"I swore an oath to serve the Master, and when he chose this place to abide, I found the best way to serve his interests as a gate warden."

"But how long ago was that?"

The minotaur shrugged, but set his cleaver point-down in the stone and leaned forward over it, peering at Maya. "It has been many many lives since then," he said. "Who are you? I do not converse often with the intruders who come to disturb my Master, but today, you draw more of my attention than I have given before."

"Oh, me? I'm just a mage, on a mission."

The minotaur growled deep in his throat. "A mage! You come to steal the Master's power?"

"Uh, no? What power is that?"

The minotaur yanked the sword from the ground, holding it in both hands as his eyes glowed dark red. "You would steal his magic for yourself," he growled.

"Oh, magic? Here?" That's right, she did remember someone mentioning that before they left. "I didn't know there was any, but now that you mention it, I can't deny I would love to get my hands on it. Though I'm open to trading or something, if you prefer that."

"You cannot merely come to trade. That is not how it works. You must prove yourself worthy first."

"Yes, well, my friends are running late, so I'd really prefer to put off the proving until later."

She glanced back at the closed door leading to the combat trials, the half mask on their side grinning mockingly at her.

"Stop delaying and face me."

"Alright, alright." Maya sighed. "We'll go for it, and I'll go help them when I respawn."

She threw a magma ball into the minotaur's face. He bellowed with rage and retaliated with a cleaving swing that Maya couldn’t evade without breaking stance.

-25 health

Yikes, yikes, but at least he was big and slow?

She pumped all 7 seconds worth of Heart of Magma into his face and torso, but it barely seemed to slow him. She was down to barely 30 health by the time she finished her spell barrage and switched to evasion.

But even high luck and high agility weren't enough against this particular foe. He was bigger, stronger, and somehow faster than Maya, and intended for a group. Her high powered spells may be enough against normal mobs in the overworld, but down here they weren't enough to save her.

You have died. Character Maya Starborn has been locked for 8 minutes.

Never before had her tier 5 lockout period felt so interminable, so unbearable. Whose bright idea was it to make games that actively prevented you from playing? Yes, it made sense that the penalty for failure would be greater the more powerful one was, but every minute she spent mentally pacing the lock page was a minute of luck she would never get back.