Chapter 27

The Fable Labyrinth

Against my better judgment, I followed a literal trail of blood that led me to an iron door that had feral beasts etch into it. A pool of blood seeps through the crack of the door.

“What the hell happen?”

“Let’s. Check.” Jez, walk straight towards the room.

“Whoa! What are you doing?” I quickly grabbed Jez’s hand pulled her away from the door. Can’t you see what’s at the door?”

Jez turns to me. She wasn’t looking directly at me, but I could tell she focused on me. “No. Can’t see.”

“Ah, right. Sorry.” Wait, if she can’t see, how did she fight all those guys blind? I shake that thought out of my head and focus on the grotesque scene.

“There’s literally blood coming through the door.”

“I. See,” Jez said as she boldly walks to the door.

“Are you really going in there?”

“Yes.”

“Goddamn it.” I pulled my knife out and followed Jez. The door opens to the outside. In front of me was a dark forest. The dirt road was cover with blood which led deeper into the woods. Jez confidently walks on the bloody road.

“Man, it must be nice not being able to see the crap I see,” I mumble underneath my breath as I follow her. “Seriously, where are? Weren’t we in the middle of the capital? How did we get out here?”

I looked at Jez, who silently continues to venture down the road. The trees began to look more wither and wicked the further we went into the wood. The branches of the trees stretch, looking almost like gaunt hands attempting to snatch unsuspecting travelers, pulling them deeper into the forest.

Eventually, the dirt road opens, revealing an ancient castle. Overgrown plants wrapped around the castle’s wall. On top of the walls were gargoyles covered in blood. Each gargoyle has a limb or someone's guts dangling from their mouths.

“What the…” Jez places her hand on my mouth and then looked up. I follow her eyes upwards. The gargoyles that were perch on top of the castle were gone. Instead, they were up higher, flapping their stone wings flying straight towards us. I open my mouth to scream, but Jez quickly covered my mouth.

Fade to black.

Something warm wrapped around my body. A gargoyle lands right next to us. Blood dripped from its mouth as it looked left and right, somehow unable to see us.

“Shh!” Jez places a finger on her lips.

I nodded my head and back away, holding Jez’s hand. The other gargoyles begin to descend from the sky, searching for us.

I held my breath and continue to back away. It took all my self-control to stop myself from running down the road screaming.

As soon as we lost sight of the gargoyle. I ran through the wicked woods and heading straight back to the theater holding Jez’s hand. As soon I made it back inside, I carefully closed the door, making sure not to make any noise.

“What was that?!

“!” A gunshot echo through the hallway.

“Move." Jez grabbed my hand and ran down the hall, practically dragging me. My thoughts froze when we got back to the area where Max was supposed to be.

“I knew I should’ve dragged that dead weight with me.”

“Aren’t you the dead weight?” Max’s voice came from behind an iron door. The door open and Max came walking out of the room, adjusting his clothes. “So, did you two find the exit?”

“I…. don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Max tilted his head.

“The door led outside; but, we weren’t in the city. It led to an old creepy castle somehow.”

“I see. Things are starting to make sense” Max places a hand on his chin.

“How the hell does this make sense?”

“Take a look.” Max silently open the door and gesture for me to enter. I walk into the room and scan for anything out of the ordinary, but the only thing that stands out is a giant picture that hung on the back of the wall. The picture was a painting of a little girl looking solemnly through a glass window, watching the other kids happily play with each other. On the bottom of the painting was a plaque that said, ‘you can’t escape.’

“What so special about this room?” I turn to Max, who was flashing me a condescending smile.

“This room doesn’t look familiar to you?” Max knocked on the iron door. “This is the door that led us to this hallway.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. If that’s the door, then this room should be the theater we fought in.”

“It is. Or I should say it was. It seems like we’re stuck in different dimensions.”

“Do you not realize how absurd you sound?”

“It’s not really that absurd. Gifted people like Jez and me can alter reality slightly.”

“You know your only confusing me the more you talk.”

“Haah.” Max lets out a sigh and shakes his head. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by your ignorance. Most countries try to keep it a secret. Even my great family only knows the partial truth.” The reality we exist in is weak and mendable. It can easily be bent by those who possess a strong soul and will.

“You seriously expect me to believe all that?”

“And how else will you explain all the things you have seen? Magic?”

“Makes more sense than what you were saying.”

“It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. It doesn’t change the fact that we’re stuck in a different dimension. So, take me to the place I like to check it out.”

“I rather not.”

“Why not?” Those thugs ran into that room because the exist might’ve been there.”

“Did you not hear me when I said that door led to an old creepy castle? there’s nothing there for us.”

“Right now. But the exit might appear when more goons come to check on their missing crew.

“You probably don’t know this because you live in a nice neighborhood, but most gangs aren’t that organized. So I doubt anyone coming for those guys.”

And even if they did, there are thirty-three teams currently roaming around the theater. And if what Max said is correct, then every team is currently stuck in their own dimension. Meaning if someone tries to enter the theater, there’s a one in thirty-three chance they’ll enter the reality we’re inhabiting. But, of course, I’m making a heavy assumption dimension-hopping works like that.

“All I wanted to do was compete in a tournament and get my family store back. ”I rub my temple, trying to wrap my head around everything that’s happening to me. “How did I get stuck in a different dimension?”

“You should’ve left when I said so.”

“You…” Jez step in front of me just as I was about to give Max a piece of my mind and probably a fist too.

“Fo. Cus.” Jez spoke said, giving me a stern… well, I’m assuming it was a stern look. Hard to tell with her hood in the way.

“Jez, right. We need to focus. We don’t have time for arguing.” I took another looked around the room, hoping I catch something. Eventually, I look back at the sky to see how much time has passed. “Oh!” It was at that moment a brilliant thought sprung in my mind. “Hey, why don’t we just break through the ceiling. It’s made of glass, so it should easily bre-

“Tried it already.” Max dangle a pistol between his fingers before dropping it onto the ground. “Wouldn’t be much of a trial if we can escape that easily.”

“Crap, what do we do now?”

“We. Look.” Jez walked out of the room, tapping her cane on the ground. Max, dark, and I follow Jez to a nearby iron door that had clouds engraved on it.”

“You do realize there may be more monsters waiting for us, right?”

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t be much of trial if we can escape that easily.”

“You just said that.”

“I know. I just remind you to be prepare.”

“Right.” I grabbed my knife and watched as the Jez open the door, which led to another hall. No, just simply calling it a hallway would be a disservice. What we were seeing is something you can only find in a fairy tale. Before my eyes was a grandiose hall that led to a giant iron door. Standing near the walls where knights in armor. At the end of the hallway were three thrones that blocked the path to a massive iron door. On each throne sat a set of armor. A pure set of gold armor rested on the throne to the left in its hand was glaive. On the right throne was pitch-black armor. In its hand was a massive battle-ax. And in the center, sitting on the biggest throne, was a set of white armor. In both hands were a spear and shield; on his was a long sheathe sword. Every single knight in the hall was looking up towards heaven.

“What the….”

“Whoa….” Both me and Max stared at the ceiling, unable to process what we were looking at.

Through the glass ceiling was… I know this will sound strange, but there’s an ivory castle standing atop a floating cloud. The setting sun hid behind the castle, imbuing it and the clouds with a majestic glow and bathing the hall in soft golden light.

“I have never seen someone bend reality to such an extent. The only people who can do this are the royal guards or the Demon King.” Max said, his mouth agape as walk into the hall.

“Wait.” I place my hand to stop him from taking another step. “I’m not falling for this again. Max, destroy one of those statues. They probably monster pretending to be statues.”

“Fine, but don’t ever order me around again.” A ball of fire forms in the palm of Max’s hand. The fire flew from his hand and struck one of the many knights staring at the sky. The ball of fire explodes, knocking the knight. The armor fell into pieces revealing nothing was inside. “Looks like you’re just paranoid.”

“Paranoid? I love to see you casually stroll past armed inanimate objects after getting attack by gargoyles.”

“Just stick close together. We should be strong enough to handle anything that’s come at us.”

“I wonder about that.” With doubt in my mind. I follow Jez and Max into the hall. The warning alarms in my head grew stronger with each step I took.

“Sorry, but I can’t take another step.” I stopped in the middle of the hall causing Jez, and Max to bump into me. “The reason I manage to survive this long is that I listen to my gut feeling, and right now, my gut feeling is telling me that there’s something here trying to kill us.”

“Fine.” Two fireballs formed in Max’s hands. “I’ll destroy all the armor if it’ll shut you up.” The fire went straight towards the two armor. The two knights raised their shields, blocking the attack. Suddenly, all the knights turned their heads towards us.

As much as I wanted to shout out, “I knew it!” I was far too busy panicking over the fact that around fifteen knights were approaching us with their weapons drawn.

Ignite, Prometheus!

Flames erupt from Max’s body, spiraling upwards. The fire stops once it reaches the ceiling and then immediately disperses. Standing next to Max was a little girl in a short red dress. Her fiery red hair flutters in the air as she places both her hands on her hips and confidently puffs her chest out.

“Dark.” Jez’s wyvern lands on her shoulder as she pulls her dark blade from out of its sheathe.

Bloom: 10%

I close my eyes and imagine a gate opening ever so slightly in the back of my mind. Then, a surge of power course through my body, and all my fear and doubts faded away.

“What do we do? Should we breakthrough?” I bent my knees slightly, eager to use my newfound strength.

“No.” Max places a hand on my shoulder. “There’s may be more of them waiting for us ahead.”

“There’s quite a lot of them.”

“Not for me.” Max’s eyes began to glow as both he and his spirit raised their palm towards the knights. A flame erupts from their hands, consuming multiple knights. I’ll handle the small fries; you girls handle the three on the throne!” Max and his spirit clasp their hands together simultaneously. The flames they shot earlier spread, forming a wall of fire that cut Jez and me off from Max and the knights.

I turn my back towards the fire and approach the three knights on the throne. A single knight jumps out in front of me, blocking my path. A fireball flew over my head. The knight leans to the left, dodging the fireball. The ball of flame explodes just as it passes over its shoulder, causing it to stagger towards me. Both me and Jez move out the way, letting it stumbles into the wall of fire.

With the only obstacle out of the way. Jez and I approach the three thrones. The black knight and the gold rise from their throne as we got closer.

The world grew silent as we prepare for battle. The roaring flames and the clanking of amour all of it faded away. The only thing I can hear was the pounding of my heart. Then, after an eternity, our battle started. Surprisingly the first to make a move was me.

My eyes widen as I found myself charging straight at the two knights. I lower my body to the ground, practically running on all four. The black and gold knight sweep their glaive and ax at me. I dive over their sweeping attack and then jump at the white knight. The white knight raised its shield. The shield clangs loudly as my fist came in contact with it.

“You really think I’ll just let you sit there and watch?!”

The white knight grips its shield and pushes me away, then thrust its spear at me. I intercepted the spear with my knife; however, his strength pushes me away. As soon as I landed, the golden knight swung its glaive at me. In mid-swing, it stops and then turned to stop Jez’s sword. Without even looking, Jez places her sheathe behind her back, blocking the black knight battle-ax. The two knights press down on their weapons, trying to overpower Jez. Finally, the white knight stands up from his throne and dash at Jez with its spear.

Jez lets go of both her sword and sheathe and then jumps away, avoiding all three knights’ attacks. Dark swoops down from the sky and grabs Jez’s sword and sheathe and returning it to her hands.

The white knight pounds its spear on the ground and then walks to the right while staring at me. The gold and black knights walk to the left, eyeing Jez.

“Don’t. Die.” Jez said to me as she walks to the left with the gold and black knight.

“I’ll try my best.” I walk to the right where the white knight was waiting for me. “Sorry, you didn’t mean to ruin your shield.” I pointed towards his shield, which now has a small dent in it.”

“The white knight thrust its spear at me. I lean to the left to avoid the strike. I grabbed the pole to hold it in place. However, he easily overpowered me and pulled me towards its shield. I manage to block it with my arm; however, the force of the blow knocks me off my feet. When I look up, the knight thrust its spear downward at me. Dark swoops down from the sky and charges at the white knight spear, changing the directions from my head to the floor near me.

I rolled back to my feet and threw my knife. The knight moves his shield. I jumped in the air and grabbed my knife that bounces off his shield. I landed on top of his shield and thrust my knife through the slit in the white knight’s helmet. The knight leans backward, then suddenly lunge its head forwards, slamming its head into my chest.

“Agh!” I flew backward. The air knocked out of my chest. The white knight aims its spear at me while I was in the air.

“Kaaa!” Dark bites the collar of my jacket and pulls me, and slightly moves me out of the way of the knight’s attack. As soon as I hit the ground, I roll on the marble floor to put some distance between the white knight and me. Dark continues to fly around the battleground, waiting to assist anyone who needs help.

“I’m going to assume your not human.” I look down at my knife. There wasn’t even a trace of blood of it.” Probably not beastman either. You’re something that doesn’t exist in the real world, right?” I glance over at Jez’s fight. Both the black and gold knight swung their large weapons with vicious ferocity. Jez parries and block their attacks with her sword and sheathe. While her face shows no sign of distress, it was clear she was stuck on defense.

Why doesn’t she go invisible? She can easily turn the tide of the fight with her ability. My answer came to me immediately when Dark landed next to me, ready to pounce on her, the white knight.

She’s protecting me. If she went invisible, then those two knights she’s fighting would attack Max or me.

“Hey, Dark.” I put my knife away and looked down at the wyvern near my leg. “Go help Jez. Don’t worry. I’ll take this fight more seriously.” Dark nodded at me and then flew off.

“Alright, here I go.” I close my eyes.

Bloom: 25%

I open the gate in the back of my mind even more. I could feel my body growing stronger. When I open my eyes, the world seems so much brighter and clearer I feel like a butterfly that emerges from its cocoon.

I dash forward with my newfound strength. My eyes widen in shock when I almost immediately closed the distance between the knight and me. The white knight moved its shield in front of me. I placed my hand on the shield and shoved it out of the way. The sound of metal rang through the hall as I slammed my fist into the knight’s, denting its armor.

Immediately, the knight stabs downward at me. The spear impales the floor as I step to the right. I wrapped my tail around the spear and launched a flurry of blows into the armor. The white knight tries to pull its spear out the ground, but my tail held it down. The knight jumped away, reaching for the sword on its back.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Once again, I’m surprised at how quickly I closed the distance between us. I pulled the spear out the ground and then drove it into a gap in the knight’s shoulder. I leap off the ground putting all my body weight and strength into the spear, knocking the knight to the ground. Its helmet felled over, revealing nothing was inside.

What surprised me most was how unsurprised I was. The only thing going through my head was figuring out to take it down efficiently.

“Since you’re nothing but armor, I guess the only way to take you down is to immobilize you.” I grabbed the sword from the knight’s now limp hand. The white knight tries to use its other hand to pull the spear out. I kick the knight’s arm and place my foot on its hand.

“I guess it’s a good thing you don’t feel any pain.” I impale the knight’s arm. The sword plunges deep into the ground pinning the armored warrior to the ground.

I relax a little seeing how I manage to trap him successfully.

“Well. Done.” Jez’s soft and quiet voice causes me to perk back up again. I look back to Jez’s battle. The two knights continue their relentless attack trying to break through Jez’s impressive defensive. The aura around Jez’s darkens until she vanishes.

The two knights turn towards me. The black knight tries to advance, but it tilted over. Its legs severed from its body the arms and head were also served as it fell to the ground. The suit of armor fell to the ground in pieces.

Jez reappears behind the golden knight. The golden armor quickly spun around, but it was too late. Her black sword easily sank into the armor, cutting it cleanly in half. As the open torso fell to the ground, the knight swung its glaive downward. Jez raises her sword cutting the glaive and the knight in half.

Still clinging to what’s left of the glaive, the knight’s severed hand threw its glaive. Jez places her sword back in its sheathes while stepping out the way. The glaive flew past Jez embedded itself in the throne. What remains of the golden knight crawl towards Jez using its remaining arm.

“You guys still haven’t finished yet?” Max places a foot on the knight. The armor burst into flame, immediately turning into golden goo.

“If you guys can’t handle a few enemies, then you should just leave,” Max said as he tightens his tie. While Max was trying his hardest to be cool, I glance over at the little flame spirit that was happily jumping around celebrating her victory.

Sensing I was no longer in any danger, I allow myself to relax, something I immediately regret. The weight of the battle and all my near-death experiences came crashing down on me at once. I fell to the ground, my body trembling uncontrollably, my dark complexion becoming a bit paler.

“It’s only been one day, but I’ve lost count of how many times I nearly died. There’s still one more trial after this.” My eyes became blurry as I thought of all danger that awaits me.

“I’m scared. I’m really, really scared. I want to quit, but I can’t. Going back to that cold empty place that used to be my home, knowing there for me is far more terrifying.

“Which is why I can’t quit.” I grab my left hand, trying to control my shivering. “This is my best chance to make a change.” I stood up and walked towards my team, waiting for me. “Sorry about that. I’m ready.”

“I hope so. There isn’t much time left till nightfall, and we have no idea what’s waiting for us ahead.” Max looks towards the massive iron door behind the three thrones. For a moment, I could see a hint of fatigue and concern in Max’s eyes.

I took a deep breath and walked forward, leading the team. “Well, whatever is waiting for us, I doubt they’ll be able to stop us.

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As the sun sank into the horizon, shadows loom larger as if threatening to consume the dilapidated theater. Two beings clad in white stood in front of the theater. One of them stood perfectly still, its eyes slowly scan the surrounding through its iron helm. While the other anxiously pace back and forward it. The golden bangles on the person's tail and leg ring sweetly as they move.

“Did you go easy on them?” Sky anxiously turns towards the armored soldier.

“You ask this multiple times, and the answer remains the same. No, I didn’t. We were ordered to show them no mercy.”

“I know, but still, this is too cruel. Why do we have to ruin so many people's future?”

“Because we have no choice. Our King is ambitious and young, which paints a big target on his back. Many will use this tournament to get close to him. This is the perfect chance to collect information and eliminate enemies who are after our majesty’s head.”

“I know why we’re doing this, but….” Sky’s voice trail off as a fog roll in. The air became unnaturally cold-causing Sky and Harden's breath to become visible.

“Speaking of enemies.” Harden grabs his massive war hammer and takes a step forward. Multiple predatory eyes shine through the fog, eager lunge at the two royal guards.

“Hmmm~ Hmmm~ Hmmm~” A young man dress in a fine azure suit emerges from the fog. He walks towards the two guards with a confident gait. “Now, this is a weird sight. Two puppies lost in my city of pleasure~” The man spoke seductively. “Normally, I let my servant fulfill all your desires, but for renowned warriors like you, I’ll take care of you personally.