#justice for minotaurs | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

beek33per · 2 months ago

Text

Fioralba (chapter 11)

Asa healed Cory’s bruises and scratches while easing Fallon’s scrapes.

He dealt with Kabuki’s wounds then, carefully picking out the teeth embedded in the flesh with tweezers. The demon barely grimaced, maintaining a serious expression as Asa did his work. “We appreciate the blow you took for Cory.”

“I am your bodyguard, it is what it is expected of me.” The young man replied. One by one, the teeth clinked as he dipped the tweezers to fall into the vial. With the pieces he had collected from Kabuki, Asa would have enough to use in his mixtures.

Haruna had regretted the decision to cross the sea by boat, but Asa found it to be a productive journey, if not an enjoyable one. For his first encounter with the swarm of Den Moder, that went pretty well. He was thankful that none of the party lost a limb, as regeneration of a whole-body part would’ve been taxing.

Mermaid's teeth were hard to come by in large quantities. He understood what it took to get them now, and appreciated Ms Cabbage’s efforts to keep supply well stocked. He hoped the banknotes he transferred to her would keep the Golden Mantle Apothecary running for many more years. Their journey would be lengthy, and Ms Cabbages guidance in areas besides the procurement of materials was going to be very useful. Echoes of an old conversation between him and the giantess rang in his mind.

He settled the thread and needle into his bag, finishing his stitch work on a specific cut. Asa turned to Haruna before she spoke. Kabuki had been thinking to himself what a bloody mass he would’ve been if Asa hadn’t helped him.

”We’ve nearly reached the isle.” the sorceress said. The tone of Haruna’s voice was cautious, hushed despite the distance from the still far shores of the isle. However, she did not seem afraid. “ I’ll wake Cory and Fallon. It won’t be long until we’re received by patrol ships. We’ll have to make our way past their outposts.”

Asa nodded looking back to Kabuki’s puncture wounds. He rubbed them clean once more with an unstained bandage and proceeded to heal it. Supplies were going to be scarce, and Asa made sure to ration them. Kabuki remained stoic, feeling the strange magic pour over his skin. The demon was watching the little blood he could see scab over, the threads that sealed one puckering wound unravel, weave and freshen to smooth healthy skin. This was the last of the wounds Asa laboured over, at least for the early morning.

”How do you do this?”

Asa smiled beneath his mask, jovial over the prospect of such a question. “With patience and utmost care.”

Kabuki stretched in front of him. Just enough to make himself comfortable, turning and shifting far enough for Asa to miss his grumble. It was the demon’s way of dismissing a talk, Asa knew this.

Kabuki had seen many healers. With the reputation and hazards keen to a mercenary, such visits were necessary. Being in shape was highly important for this job, and he wasn’t complaining about the treatments Asa gave him. However, despite receiving an answer from the mysterious doctor, the red coloured demon would have preferred the more technical aspect of the response. Preferably how he did such magic, how the doctor came by it.

Kabuki was not surprised. Magic in Nenas was not rare. Sorcerers, witches, warlocks, and anything to do with magic was rather rampant. Overflowing in methodology and principle, affecting everything in any way that the caster directed. Individuals learned in specific arts and skills, gained powers influenced by professions they held in their past. Whether their past was on Earth, Nenas or any other world did not matter. Whatever the person devoted their life to, would determine the kindling of their magic. Blessing it with strength, especially so if it was their passion.

Indeed, the doctor’s magic was not of mortal means, it had too much divinity in its touch, in its mannerism. Though Kabuki did not decide to pester the masked man with questions and instead thanked Asa...

Yet the demon wondered, what made Asa Lee’s magic so potent? What past did Asa’s memories hold? What past did the sorceress hold? Was it filled with as much strife and pain as his? Or was it peaceful? Uneventful except for experiences of the mundane sort?

Fallon’s waist-length green hair lightly brushed over his healed shoulder. Fluttering wings flapping near his ear. She had been hovering over him. The fae watched him groan. “Why do you invade my personal space?”

”I’m not even touching you. My hair slipped.” Fallon’s fingers gathered the tendrils of loose hair. As she combed them onto her shoulder, her wings reflected little of the morning’s pale light like stained glass, littering the ground with various colours.

Asa had gone with Haruna to make breakfast. Both of them had been assigned to watch the horizon for the time being. They let the winds drift them towards the predestined course as they sat together.

Fallon uncorked a spare stash of the alcohol Ms Cabbage had given her, offering Kabuki a sip from the leather jug she kept slung in her underarm. After the mutual enjoyment of the beverage and the silence, Kabuki’s mood lightened and a tidbit of his curiosity came through.

“Does he always keep that mask on?”

Fallon guessed Kabuki referred to Asa. Her breath whispered in his ear. He leaned closer ever so slightly. “I’ll let you in on a little secret.” She paused “I don’t know.”

Laughter erupted from Fallon at the young man’s expression. Kabuki was fed up with her already. The demon smoothed out his hakama, gripping the sheath of his weapon with a weak façade of patience. ”I’m going to eat breakfast.”

The fae was still laughing, peeking her head through the trapdoor to Cory’s puzzled face. A delicious scent wafted from the kitchen.

A while later, everyone was up the deck. Cozi and Moon had snuggled in the hull, littering the area with themselves. They rolled on the floors and climbed cabinets, chairs and shelves. Every time Kabuki checked in, the cats had moved from one place to another. The game had been amusing, until the very moment the ship jostled with weight and Kabuki bumped his head against the border of the doorway...when the wood of the ship had come into the grips of the tall (fifteen to twenty ft) giants stationed at the shallows.

The Quebracho had been dragged from the sand. Set in a barracks that acted as a holding port for ships, merchants and their goods.

Giant silhouettes stretched on a small part of the shoreline fortifications that decorated the sea forts. Sentries consisting of pairs of armed giants and goblins were stationed at the top of the wall. Overlooking the shorelines’ further defence.

Hands of all sizes held spears, knives and slingshots. Their facial cues varied from expressions of neutrality to threatening glee. Cory had noticed several stoic giants standing tall, along with their partners of contrasting stature: impish goblins, baring their sharp teeth.

Full daylight had not set foot on the isle yet. Sunlight had yet to linger in on every rock, building and creature. Though that did not deter the speed at which each of them was snatched from the transformed carriage. Cory had been the first to meet a tight compressing palm.

Cory had been set down in a cage that opened to a separate pen, crowded with people in colourful clothing. She had been locked in, but many people in the other room had nearly squeezed to the edge of the door. Haruna, Asa, Kabuki and the cats had been set down into the cage next.

“Where’s Fallon?” The intricately woven net that acted as the top of the cage slammed the fae to fall into Kabuki’s arms. Asa turned his beak to the “umph”, ready to tend to injuries.

“Are your wings okay?” Cory asked.

“Those damn boggins are lucky they are.” Haruna opened the cage door as the fae discarded her spite.

“Thanks.” She said, winking at Kabuki as she slipped upright from his catch.

Kabuki nodded, turning his horns upward to the cage top. Cory is about to ask the same “What’s going to happen to the carriage?”

Asa with his cane in one hand placed the bag down and tapped his coat. “Right here.”

“Wonderful!” Haruna remarked, “Let’s go.” They stepped into the room, closing the cage door behind them. The chaos of the crowd seemed to mould into lines, starting from the centre and spiralling chaotically to several booth stations embedded in the walls.

”New arrivals!” One booth-man greeted, hardening his posture behind the glass of a booth.

“Gods, creatures, and humanoid-folk, welcome.” Another advertised, waving flamboyantly ruffled sleeves showered in inexpensive jewellery at them. Haruna led the group, Fallon yanking Cory from the clutches of a, particularly shady person. She shoved Cory in between Haruna and Asa, while she and Kabuki watched their rears. Moon sat by Cory, mumbling about how he missed the carriage as Cozi rolled her eyes.

“Paperwork to fill out...for whom?”

“Disciples of Disease,” Asa said sliding gold at the goblin.

The goblin bit the coin, resuming formality and addressing Asa as “Lord.”

A voice blathered more announcements through a P.A system in the background.

”I see.” The goblin paused, rather grim. “Now, your pass and permission slip?”

“None,” Haruna said. The goblin grinned enthusiastically enough for Cory to feel discomfort.

“Right this way.” A switch flip and mechanical whirs opened a door layered with several bars and mechanisms. An elevator opened, revealing its well lit and polished interior.

Moon invited himself into the elevator, flailing his tail impatiently as footsteps approached him. He jumped as the bars latched closed. Layers of shutters lapped onto each other. The room went dark, and the light flickered on again. A sign just above them blinked a set of random letters until they cohesively jumbled together to read:

“Dungeons?” Moon said, almost displeased. Cozi groomed the grey coat of a paw, in the same manner, one would roll their eyes. A clank, then a whir and an abrupt drop...

Cory’s fingers were gripping the railings behind her. And the cats had scrambled to grip at Kabuki’s legs. She moved into the corner where the elevator buttons should have been. “Why are they taking us to the dungeons?”

“This is exactly what we want. “ Fallon tuned her lute and strummed as she flapped her wings enthusiastically. She leaned against the railing and played a skilful string of notes. “It’s how we gain membership in the isle of Jewels. “

Kabuki tensed his shoulders. “I know what’s in the towers, but how are we going to get to them from the dungeons?”

The sorceress slipped folded parchment into Cory’s hands. “The dungeons are connected to underground tunnels and catacombs.”She pointed, gesturing to the layout of the map. It was a wrinkled picture.

”The network is vast, so extensive that all the prisons are connected.” Asa paused, continuing “ We’ll roam free, for the most part.”

Cory eyed the map, a section reading “torture chambers.”

“So I guess people steal a lot…cause um, security is tight.”

“Quite a thief’s haven,” Kabuki added sarcastically. The elevator opened. Moon stepped out, paws in a puddle...

It was a dark, damp chamber enclosed by stone walls, scented bitterly by sea salt. The hall extended far, light emanating from white crystals embedded in the walls. Helmets loomed over them, shading the faces of many stone guards who rose to the arched ceiling. “How welcoming,” said Cozi, not fond of the damp smell.

The hall echoed with a sound of translucent thrashings, possibly from the waves crashing on the rocky shores. The lights inside of the elevator dimmed, and the crystals beckoned them with brightness. Cory held Cozi, Moon leading the group further into the hall.

”First we have to get past the outer ring. The sooner we leave the Merchant hovels, the sooner we can begin our journey into the real labyrinth.”

The group noticed there were many other elevator doorways dispersed throughout the walls. The high ceiling went even higher, further into the hall where there were blurs of noise.

The passengers of Quebracho, presently needless of their carriage; had walked into the underground towns of the Isle of Jewels. And briefly perused through its crowded alleyways and hovels until the tumult of their residents had faded away.

No one dared stroll past the edges of ghost towns.

To begin with their official journey into the labyrinth, there were lots of stairs. So many stairs Cory’s legs hurt. The screams of the tortured didn’t help anybody feel better.

Fallon did as best as she could, and played music to distract herself. Her companions keenly listened.

Everyone walked to the sound of their footsteps, and eventually to Fallon’s focused but fluttery tune. She played the lute/instrument as she had in the elevator when a dissonant note broke the ambience.

Why did she stop playing?

“That’s some pungent mould.” The fae sniffed. “And that’s blood.”

The group looked at their feet.

Asa inspected it more closely. “Yes. That would be the point of no return.”

The P.A system rattled as Asa spoke. Now they were on the other side of the line. “Be not afraid disciples, for I only punish those who bestow harm upon my beloved sisters and send the foolish back to the darkest pits of the tower." She declared with a voice of confidence. "Many dared to leave this bitter and wretched place, but they were only proven to be fools once they've been defeated." The harpy explained as her voice becomes more serious a tone. “You had a choice to live out your lives before entering this labyrinth. You consider yourselves brave enough to escape this place.” She continued. “Brave enough to challenge the lord of fire and blood who lies beyond.”

Haruna’s ears heard from the top of the walls, and lead her eyes to a screech of gears; cranking upward to reveal darkness gaping with a drain. A vent, from which something was supposed to come out from.

Fallon stepped back, bumping into Cory. To which the human girl said. “Okay. We still have some time, it’s just leaking a little water.” Even more foaming liquid gushed out.

“What the hell is this a death box?”

Immediately a message chimes in as if being spoken through very poorly maintained audio equipment. “Flooding will begin in T-minus—“ A woman’s voice continued to blare on the system.

“Move!” Haruna yelled, slamming her fists into the ground. Pillars of sharp blue spiralled from the edges of the water solidifying into a thick frost of ice. Easily, shards of ice began to fall, crashing onto the floor as pressured streams of water sprayed through.

As more water still flowed, more walls materialized before them, so many that they had been pushed to retreat to the end of the hall. The sorceress’s skin was inflamed with power, the ice pulsing with weight as she lined the final wall with her spell.

“Moon!” Cory was already swimming. Kabuki’s horns would soon poke out of the water, Cozi laying on the demon’s shoulder as Moon paddled.

Fallon fumed as she started flapping her wet wings and arms closer to the end of the hall. Asa let himself sink to the bottom and began running with his bag and cane, to the end of the tunnel. He jumped up for air.

But they were trapped, the surroundings perfectly displaying their skills. Cory had nothing to show for it.

The human could only stare. Discerning the form of the statue avidly...beautiful, elegant and entrancing with its curving veils and crescendoing crown.

A'marie Aladyah. But something was missing.

Behind the statue was an emblazoned mural, displaying intricate designs and movable parts. Holes and switches covered the back wall.

”It’s a dead-end!” Kabuki exclaimed in frustration. The fae zipped around sticking her fingers in any crevices and holes desperately looking for a switch. Nothing worked.

The strain in Haruna’s voice made itself apparent. ”Look harder!” Cory continued to scrutinize the statue for the missing detail.

Fallon began searching the statue’s details. The fae’s lips parted in the translation of Nena's script. “Hold this answer, till a circumstance true...Lady A'marie Aladyah will bring safety or rue.

Beseech your plea to her eye...

The goddess of wishes, in goodwill with all eyes open, shall grant desires not greed. Let her sight be your guide, in this battle against the tide. Open them, to our advice. “

As Fallon recited the writing, cracks ruptured through the air, indicating the walls of ice were about to burst. Haruna materialized the water surrounding her feet higher to form a freezy barricade: a temporary platform, preventing any further distractions. “Wait—“

Pressure slammed them underwater. Cory swam upward, instinctively looking for air, only to find a stone ceiling. She met the face of the statue. Cory’s fingers gripped the crown as she pulled herself closer to the statue’s face.

Two gazing eyes overlooked the area below and in the middle of its forehead, was an eye, closed.

Here goes.

Cory tapped the eye. She blinked. The statue blinked. And Cory ingested the sudden burst of fresh air lingering at the surface. The human sank with the receding waters, finding herself at the base of the statue, again.

“Thank you. “ Fallon coughed stretching her draping wings and looking at them in dismay. Asa was prim, nearly perfect as if nothing had happened, but wet. Kabuki held the two soaked cats. Haruna, nearly exhausted of her magic, regained composure.

The statue beheld them, emanating radiance from its newly opened eye.

“We have to enter the labyrinth.” Haruna sighed, worn. “Turn the levers.”

Fallon ran her hands through her hair and wrenched out the water she could. She shook her wings again as Cory started breathing more steadily. “I’m not going to be able to fly high enough. I have to let my wings dry. Sorry.”

Kabuki’s eyes glowed momentarily, he snarled and leapt to the untouchable levers in an instant. The demon landed on all fours by the time the doorway peered from the ceiling above them.

A rope lowered from the opening. Cozi stretched, licking her wet fur in disgust while looking upwards. It tasted like saltwater. The cat stepped in thin air and began to float upwards like a balloon.

The wall of levers shrieked a mechanical clamour, emitting a cranking sound to a deafening point.

“Well, go on and climb people!” the grey cat demanded. Kabuki dismissed the claws that embedded themselves to his back, moving quickly but being careful not to let Moon fall. At some point, Asa tossed his bag and cane to the demon while he hung onto the rope with each pull upwards.

Haruna dashed a spell of levitation to Cory, allowing the girl to dangle near the top of the rope. The hatch was closed, water gushing. Cory pulled through, adrenaline excitedly pumping her veins.

Asa steadied himself, setting down wet parchment on the floor, his beak pointing to Haruna... to the hatch, that shut with her below.

Cory only realized it now.

“We have to go back for Haruna.” Kabuki pounded the hatch, attempting to break or pry it open.

”We’re on our own.”

”Don’t you mean she is on her own?” Kabuki remarked.

Fallon snickered. “She’s the toughest woman I know. Listen to Asa.”

“Ms Cabbage warned us of the dangers she could, but this labyrinth is constantly changing. We’ll have to move fast. It changes every few hours, and if we’re not in a safe zone—“

”Our death is guaranteed.” Kabuki noted.

”Except mine.” Asa added cheekily.

”Either we’ll be dead or prisoners. “

Cory shifted her stance, her eyes detailing the scratches and indentations in the wall... The traps...“How do we identify the traps? More importantly, how do we survive?” She asked, almost in a tone of panic.

”The overseers are mostly kind enough to give the margin of changing times. We’ll be hearing their voices soon enough.”

“Wasn’t that one of them?” Kabuki questioned.

”Yes.”

“Overseers so there’s two?”

”Three. Law, Order, and Enforce.”

“Sounds like a procedure. Heh. Three harpies.” Kabuki chuckled.

Fallon stretched, flailing the water off her wrists. “I’ll go on ahead. Kabuki stays in the middle with Cory, Asa will cover the rear.” To which, they all agreed.

”Remember, you can’t just walk off. This is a dungeon.”

Fallon’s wings fluttered as she turned to Kabuki. “I know, I’m inspecting this trap.”

”Without this map, the chance of your survival drops significantly. Unless you find a goblin.”

Similar to the previous room, the hallway was hollow and long...adorned with statues, the accompanying wall crystals. Empty, except for the voices of a strange wind, weak and mingling with their breathing. Cory could see her breath as she sent her shivers down her spine.

Someone in the distance wailed, as best they could through muffled walls. The very shadows entombed a presence. Everywhere they stepped smelled keenly of death like a tomb.

The black cat squirmed in Cory’s arms. Moon’s ears flicking, listening to tripping, disabling, and maneuvering of the traps. The cat was trembling, but not from fear as Cory thought. Moon was just cold, like everyone else. “I hope Haruna will be okay.”

The girl nodded.

In the last few days alone, Cory had experienced the hospitality and danger of Nenas. She was not even close to learning how to defend herself. Magic didn’t look like a feasible option and that ‘skill’ that Cory had demonstrated at the bridge against Kabuki was pure luck. “The grace of the gods.” as Fallon complimented her many times when the subject was brought.

In the distant foreground, Cory’s ears grasped to Fallon’s words ahead. ”Watch the arrows. We have to disable the trap.” Asa guided and followed Cory at the rear, switching his glance forward to back.

Cory despised being the only one standing around during a battle, the only one with doubts about defending herself. Her cat contributed more to a situation than she could have. Moon was stealthy to evade her for two days. He was competent enough to leave his victims with a clawed eye and torn fin! Cory didn’t want it to be that way.

Cory exclaimed. “Asa!” The girl’s elbows scraped stone while she was kneeling, stinging from the recovery of a push to the floor. A stout pole of wood, sharply cut, had nicked the small of her back... Asa’s gloves, which had interfered with the direction of the pole suffered a rip from the slash; revealing a slit of red underneath. The plague doctor hissed below his breath.

Further along, Fallon yelled. “Is everyone alright?” The fae had advanced quite a distance.

The same P.A. system blared in everyone’s ears. “ Changing time will be in five minutes!”

Moon dusted off his fur by shaking and complained. “I hate this place.”

“Were good!” Cory caught a glimpse of Asa: his black beak mask nodded. He was quick.

“Sounding off!” Kabuki grimaced. A pit plummeted in front of them, the red demon’s claws grappling the edge.

Cozi was happily floating above him, she was looking down past Kabuki’s gold horns. “Shit.”

Cory and Asa pulled the young man out. Both of them spotted a red-tipped spike in the pit. Cory noticed the streaming blot on the floor. “Your foot’s bleeding.”

Asa voiced his assessment. “But it’s minor, not that deep, just a puncture on your sole.”

“I know,” Kabuki growled, then hollering to Fallon.

She ducked an incoming spear. Splintering and blocking another with her rapier. “Don’t take Cory through here!” The statues that stood parallel to each other with their spears, activated. Hulking in their stature in the likeness of giants, they shot light from their spears. ”Lasers!” Fallon indignantly screamed.

“Find a safe zone! Look for the eye motifs, anything to do with sight, regroup.”

The same, alien voice wailed again, clearer in tune, alone and longing…humming in wait in the present echo, much like the one Cory heard earlier. Everyone could hear it now. But they had no time.

“Cory!” Kabuki snapped.

“Follow the statues with the fully opened eyes!” Asa looked upwards, squinting his eyes to see under their helms. “Look where they’re looking.” This way.” he said.

Asa’s directions were getting them somewhere!

Kabuki kept looking back to see if Fallon followed them. She had not.

“Why do you keep running your hand on the wall?” The demon asked. Asa had been doing so for a while. The frequency of traps lessened, much to Cory’s pleasure.

Asa nearly tripped. “Because...” the plague doctor gestured, “illusions.” His hand was deeper in the wall, had phased past it.

”How did you know?” Cory gasped.

”The overseers have certain preferences. We happen to know about a few, thanks to Ms Cabbage.” Kabuki escorted them, keeping an eye on their rear. ”She has more to hide than we do.” Asa spoke. “ Ms Cabbage is one of the six champions.”

Cory bit her lip and shrank closer to Asa. ”Guys, I’ve been hearing—“

Cozi hissed, hovering over them like a grey cloud.

Kabuki felt something too. A presence of the in-betweens, much like his own foul curse. “Eyes sharp. Feet light. And quiet.”

Pound. Pound. Each batter, the walls were setting off a crumbled dust. A statue toppled. A mist of dirt storming over the figure that arose...nearly to Kabuki’s colossal size. High above its huffing breath, rested a crest of polished horns, tainted in some parts by gold. Gleaming on its shoulders, on the ornamentation of its head.

Kabuki’s yellow eye and his blank one, locked with the Minotaur...

An eldritch face, somehow gaunt despite the bulging strength. It had white hair and ruby-clotted eyes, the head of a bull: one that was craving, hungering. As if it had waited years to eat their group specifically.

Slowly the creature approached, tasting the air loudly in search of flesh. The creature had but one intent for them.

Nourishment— in the form of blood and the warmth of prey.

That scent that it sought for, was on the demon that shadowed over the smaller things. Over a thing that smelled so human, a scent it hadn’t tasted in years until now—

The bull staggered in its charge, Kabuki’s right shoulder ramming into the wall from the force. Kabuki’s muscles strained and he yelled, roaring at the Minotaur. He was firm, projecting his vigour to heave it to the side.

But one horn slipped at full force as another was caught in Kabuki’s hands. Cozi flew above them, sweeping downward and up again just in time to avoid the second Minotaur’s clutch. Asa slashed it while Cory ran. Moon hopped beyond the sharpness of its reach, to the statue helms.

Cory was on the verge of its path, tripped by its clutch and immediate release when it had been blinded...by dust and the sudden slice of a blade. The bull had blocked the metal slice with its ivory crown.

She ran and ran, but still, she could hear its bellow and the hoofs pounding close behind.

The human girl ran back to the narrow passageways that they came from. Past a gallery of tapestries, a nest of rats and a jail full of rowdy prisoners.

A goblin knicked her leg as she turned a corner, biting her viciously, until she kicked it’s scraggly teeth out of its mouth.

Her lungs hit the floor.

Cory snatched a broken string, snapping a trap that Asa had deterred into its delayed detonation. Spears sprung from the walls, staking organs, limbs, scraping the bones. Covering its eyes with blood.

The crimson bathed fur that had seized her, unfurled its palm weakly, groaning, huffing in pain as it looked at the human with pleading, disfigured eyes.

Cory crawled under the mangled form staked on the spears. The Minotaur breathing deeply, desperately trying to wiggle out despite the pain. There was a cracking snap as its weight broke one of the many spears stabbed into its body. Then another as its fury echoed through the hall.

She snatched a sharp stick. Her legs practically flailing at the speed which she ran. Heading left two times and then going right again. The goblins, minotaurs and other jailed denizens perused the wholly unexpected sight around their bars.

Murmurs and laughter ensued as she passed them. And she stuck close to the wall, remembering the incident with her leg.

“She lives!”

”Lets give you some more scratches champion.”

“Come on, give us the secret to getting out!”

“That’s one lucky human.”

It was all a blur until Cory heard Kabuki scream again.

Arriving to see a downed Minotaur and an exhausted demon before her: Red drooled from the bull’s teeth and wounds, onto the floor and back to the horn-skewered wound. Splinters of its broken horns littered the ground next to its carcass. The Plague Doctor found himself promptly picking up the splinters of the horn, storing them in a transparent bag.

Kabuki nodded to him, signaling he was fine and he pointed to Cory. “That was—good. I thought you weren’t going to live.”

The shock in Cory’s was just settling in. She dropped the sharp stick.”Thanks.”

Asa propped his scythe-morphing cane against the wall. The masked plague doctor gave Cory a quick examining glance, dismissing the blood on the human girl. Then he saw the teeth stuck on her calf.

”Get off that foot. Sit down.”

She saw the full wound now. An oval like etching in her skin, decorated with a few blood, soaked goblin teeth. She was starting to feel the cut on her back.

“How did you escape so cleanly from that goblin?”

”How did you escape as the cleanest from that Minotaur?” Kabuki laughed, patting the floor next to him.

“Goblin was poking out from a jail. It wasn’t loose.” Thankfully, she thought.

“The thing was hungry.” Kabuki said. Leaving Cory to wonder whether he meant the goblin or Minotaur.

”We need to check up on Fallon. What time is it?”

“A fifteen minute break, so I can check your wounds.”

…

“Damn it all!” Fallon yelled. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” The fae punched a wall she had gone through. She was in cramped hallway that was about half her height. And she made herself crawl.

She sighed. At least this was better than wing destroying lasers. ”Goblins. I just have to find a goblin. No map, just get a goblin.” She continued following the eye inscriptions in the walls, letting the light of a few crystals guide her way.

The silk carpeted stone floor eventually turned to wood, and through its cracks orange light illuminated the dimness of the tunnel. The air had a stuck and cloying fragrance. Fallon sniffed.“Rot. Rotten? Blood?” The smell was enough to wrench her stomach out of itself.

The crystals above had seemed dimmer as she crawled closer to a trapdoor: to a ladder that seemed lead down a stairwell. The trapdoor slammed against the wall, causing her wings to flutter in surprise. As Fallon pushed herself out the trapdoor, her hands touched the floor. The ladder only had 4 steps. Half her height.

Creeping down, the smell only got more pungent until it merged with the scent of fresh blood. The fae followed it.

Unlike the cells Fallon had seen elsewhere in Isle of Jewel’s these were cleaner, with marble floors, sturdier looking cells. The bars and locks were polished and within the room there were seven cells, one of which was not empty.

She noticed that after flipping the light switch.

The prisoner was laying prostrate on the floor; hands and ankles bound tightly to force them into that position. He was covered in bruises, as well as deep lashes, clothed in not much of anything besides his wounds.

Fallon spoke to break the silence.

”Your not a goblin…”

”Dullahan.” He grunted. His wrists wriggling in an exhausted attempt to loosen his bindings. “I’m a Dullahan.”

He looked half dead, in the way that his vigor easily did not fail to come out in the red of his blood.

“Well. I guess you’re in jail.” The fae said.

“No shit Shergoblin, now free me.”

“You must be someone really dangerous.”

The light made the red of his hair glow more potently. His stare worn, tired evidently, from the circles which darkened the skin under his eyes, somehow still captured the spirit of his will. “I'm wrongfully convicted.”

“Aye.” Fallon rolled her eyes. “Because people who break the law, break it cause they usually don’t believe they’ve done anything wrong.”

Fallon ignored him. Leaving him to mutter more obscenities.

There was a desk full of drawers and her attention came to be entertained by its confines. Mostly paperwork. She pulled a drawer out and disregarded it immediately, eyeing a group of files held down by bottle. With dissatisfaction upon finding it empty of alchohol, Fallon eyed a specifically mistreated file. With a picture of the dullahan and a name:

“What do we have here? Cystenian?”

He grit his teeth. “You’re obviously not with Enforce.”

”How do you know?” Fallon teased. She flipped through the file, clicking her tongue.“You have nice armor.”

”Don’t even think about stealing it.”

”Wouldn’t even wear it. I’m clearly fae.”

Cystnenian “hmmphed” at the reply Fallon spat. Then he added nonchanchalantly:

“Is that bottle empty?”

”Yea…”

”I know where she keeps the wine. If you get—“ “Which way’s the wine?”

The air became colder, drier as the atmosphere blackened to complete darkness. Eyes looked on them, glowing faintly in illumination. The white crystals, humming with a voice spoke: ashen, tinged with a sprite of venom.

”Hear me.” A voice said fiercely, the echo enclosing them. Frost crept up the walls and blood-covered skin shivered with the gnawing wind. “Disciples of Disease, you have travelled far.” The crystals farthest from the shivering group gleamed. “Further you shall try.”

Where the group stood in the dark was guided with each step, forward, to a grand door, emblazoned with the luminescent stones. Ice had paved the way, crawling up past the cracks and into a gargantuan room. To an arena of unbelievable size...

Light caught the glow of the low hanging ice; which were like chandeliers from which jewels and golden riches were encapsulated and dangled over them, additionally decorated with ribbons of strange-looking plants.

Asa, Kabuki, and Cory wandered in intrigue, astray from the main path. Ancient writing sprawled the path, denoting the carved words in Nena's script.

Trial of Stamina.

Amidst the air so full of ornaments, tinged so sweetly from cloying fragrance was the harpy herself. Her face was covered in gold by a mask, blending otherwise perfectly into the landscape, if not for her brown feathers; which draped from bare shoulders in the manner of which one would think to be a thick cloak.

Underneath the creature’s wings, Cory spotted her gangly snatching grip, quietly choking something on its perch. One being crushed and writhing, another grovelling in admiration. The harpy’s fingers tapped the shiny metal on her head.

Pan: her mask, which in its style was contorted to an exaggerated expression seen commonly in Greece…bore an elaborately embroidered headband designed with motifs of nature. It rimmed the sprouting decorations that mimicked the pointed horns of satyrs of old.

“I shade thine expression.

Or preserve one’s emotion.

Worn, I am stoic regardless.”

Order hummed, her victim choking beneath her. “Answer.” She said rather forcefully, dousing her words with powdered sweetness.

Her grovelling servant exclaimed in praise. “A mask, oh most feared mistress!”

”Indeed.” The harpy’s mask glared menacingly, a toothy smile sneering through its taunting gape. Cory wanted to yell; to say something!

But the lash was too quick. Unseen by the rest of the group until a corpse unravelled in a plummet to their feet. The goblin bleeding from his neck...splayed before them in blood.

“Disciples!” The harpy’s voice called. “ Find the mask, for there is only one among these treasures!” She whipped the air, causing the goblin beside her to scramble to the nearest corner. The cracks rebounded and flayed, summoning her very own cacophony of controlled chaos.

The icicles above them were dropping in masses. Shatters of ice pierced walls, lodging themselves in any skin they could find. Crystal spikes revealed their points—while parts of the floor fell to harsh pitfalls and Minotaur’s emerged by her command.

Cozi dodged many of the projectiles, flying upwards to safety. Asa had stuffed Moon into his bag, which floated beside him as he slashed at the falling ice with his scythe.

Kabuki hunched over Cory, grimacing as he shielded her from the sharpness that rained above them.

”How the hell do we find that mask?” Cory yelled.

“I’ll locate it!” Cozi assured. “Five Minotaurs are closing in on your position!”

“Follow the Nenas script!” Asa said, holding his scythe above his head, hacking at the obstructions in his way.

Minotaurs barged in where they could, tracking Cory’s scent. Three had landed in the traps, others wandering the maze of falling icicles and piling treasure. Cozi searched and searched to no avail, there could be no obvious place for a mask. Too many masses of trinkets, gold, jade and pearl covered the arena in mounds frozen in ice.

It was madness. More so after Order flogged the remaining Minotaurs in the direction of the disciples. Lashing at Cory whenever she could.

The harpy’s cunning had separated them, detaining Cozi in a bejewelled cage as she trapped Asa and Moon. The demon remained, jumping, dodging, and at times protecting the human girl when he could.

Cory had lured several Minotaurs into the traps, leaving only one to hunt them. Kabuki followed her. Their attention had been freed and both of them attempted to focus on the harpy—except they could not.

Now, there were too many Minotaurs in the room. Too many to survive. A sharp sting curled up Cory’s leg, her hair dangling as she was launched upwards into the grasp of the harpy. She screamed, listening to Kabuki’s draining strength as ten Minotaurs pulled at his limbs.

Fallon rushed into view and howls were let off by lacerated Minotaurs. A whip strong, bulky and hard had sent flesh flying. Carving indentations with each strike that landed. Blood splattered, bathing the already stained whip red with a drip.

“Cystenian!”

The figure threw the tip of his whip in Cory’s direction. It tapped the skin, sending a searing sensation down the harpy’s leg and Cory was caught in Fallon’s arms.

The lash of the Dullahan’s whip tangled with the harpy’s own. And below, Kabuki regained ground as Fallon ran her sword down the backs of several enraged Minotaurs. She sprayed spit in their faces, taking the chance to slash their eyes.

As the demon branded his weapon towards the Minotaurs, Fallon addressed the Dullahan she called Cystenian. “I’ll help you!” She kicked a Minotaur into a pit, finishing the job by gouging her sword into its neck.

A heavy, but young Irish voice answered. “No. This is personal! ” He turned in a charged rage as flares of incandescent wisps dashed to the whirling harpy’s whip.

Cory finally saw the person. A crimson cascade of hair donned over obsidian shining armour. His weapon hallowed, and made of a string of fading bones.

”Hey!”

Cory was spooked for a moment and just realized that she had been set down where Order caged Cozi. The helpless human rattled the door to the cat's kennel. “Thanks, but she has the key,” Cozi stated. “Did you see the mask?” Cory questioned, checking containers for a key, a weapon. She tumbled a stack of coins and treasure in her scramble. The coins were cold and her fingers were starting to get numb.

Below one Minotaur slammed into another Minotaur. “What the fuck Richard!”

They heard Cystenian’s ranting. “You have goblins who worship you, giants that hate you, minotaurs who don't care and you still picked a headless man to torture!”

“No. But—“ The grey cat was interrupted. Cory jumped. Asa cracked and burst through the ice prison the harpy had made.

His hand squeezed out of the small hole and back in. “It’s the one she’s wearing. That has to be the answer.” He hissed, rubbing his irritated wrist. “We’ll be here forever if we search for it in the piles.” Asa looked at the cat. “Moon, it’s big enough for you.”

”I know.” The male cat replied. “I’m not going out there.”

“It’s really cold.” Cory shivered.

Asa cracked more of the ice and crawled through it. The human girl composed herself. “We have to tell them.” She said.

“Go on, tell them!” Cozi reaffirmed, fiddling with the cage’s lock to the best of her ability.

“We don’t know how the harpy will react. We have to think——“ Asa.

Cory blinked her eyes in disbelief and leaned over the balcony, screaming the message. “Get the mask on her face!” The Dullahan began attacking closer to the harpy’s head and Fallon had killed the last of the Minotaurs.

“Avoid the whip!” Asa grimaced, shoving Cory out the way and catching the leather string with the handle of his scythe. The harpy was dragging him and darted upwards as Asa dangled from her whip. Cory began tossing coins at the harpy. “Watch it!” He said, and swung side to side, trying to weigh the harpy down. Order slammed Asa into several icicles and the doctor held on, only tighter.

The harpy was flapping in a frustrated manner, and Cystenian managed to hook her leg with his whip. It sent Asa down, arm scraping into place as his scythe now embedded into the wall had his hand hanging on… along with the harpy’s now limp whip. He almost yelped.

The harpy expected him to and so that was where she was looking. She felt a tug and her leg further sting at Cystenian’s spine whip dug into her feathers.

Fallon yanked the woman’s hair, kicking her neck as she took the mask, revealing the harpy’s somewhat deranged and delighted expression. Fallon cast the golden mask onto the floor, hitting all the priceless junk and making a mess of it. Asa picked it up.

Order smiled at Cystenian. “That was—“ The harpy laughed. “A step! You beat me. I’ll let you have it, take it to my sister.”

With a gush of air, Order vanished, away in the translucent blue of the ice that was above them. Cystenian had cracked his whip one last time before hanging it on his belt.

Cory felt her leg now. It stung, badly and she saw the marks the whip had left her. Kabuki was covered in scratches and thinking. Both, quietly recovering from what could’ve easily been their execution. Cozi spectated above and Moon from below as Cystenian observed them, admiring the fact that he avoided any strain against the harpy. Admiring the fact that he was free…Quitting his job.

“Still haven’t found Haruna?”

Cystenian saw the red-headed demon nod his head. A growl came off his shoulders and Fallon laughed. Cystenian puffed his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

Fallon patted the dullahan on his shoulder. “Thank you.”

”Care to show me the way out as you promised?” The Dullahan said, his Irish accent heavily coating the syllables of each word.

”That’s what we’re doin’ right now.” Fallon stated back, in the manner of her Scottish habit. “We have to track down the next harpy.” The green-haired fae examined a chip on her rapier before sheathing it again and began to strum her lute for a tune. She jumped down several steps after she zoomed across the room. “This way!” The fae hummed, indulging in the pleasant plucking of her stringed instrument.

Fallon’s music echoed through the cavernous room, deep chords resounding against the walls as she led the way. She led them safely, past the monuments of carved ice into the tall tunnels guarded by the sentinel statues.

Asa quickly began bandaging the most accessible of cuts on himself as they travelled through the main labyrinth.

“Is this allowed?” Kabuki murmured.

Asa kindly replied. “Fallon can usually tell the good from the bad. If she trusts him, we can.”

“ I mean is the official? As a part of the group?” Kabuki clarified. “We should keep him.“

”Aye!” Fallon nodded, making it clear she was eavesdropping on their conversation. “We can all hear ya whispering just let the lad join the team, he hates his job anyway.”

“We’re all ears to your ‘secret’ words back there,” Cystenian added.

Kabuki retorted almost teasingly “I wager you’re a worthy opponent to spar.” “So... are you, yes,” Cory said awkwardly.

Asa happily obliged to include both Fallon and Cystenian in the conversation. “Who are you then? We’ve been intrigued.”

The Dullahan presented himself as the group walked. “My name is Cystenian, born son of Niamh. I'm a dullahan. I've been saying people's names out loud for the past 500 years in Ireland. And I want to change that.”

“ Pleasure. I assume Fallon has already taken the liberty and introduced us?”

“Yes, Failure has told me about all of you.”

“Failure?” Cory repeated, puzzled.

”It’s an eke-name he’s given me.” Fallon said. Cory’s face held visible confusion.

Asa chimed in. “ Eke-name—old English for nickname.

“Any other mislabels?” Kabuki sighed.

The masked doctor snickered, not at all afraid to delve into delinquency. “I could be Ass.”

Cory let a chuckle slip from her pent and tense throat. Fallon at this point was hysterically laughing, zooming above Kabuki while patting his thickly maned skull. “You could be Kabitch!”

Cozi pushed Fallon off to rest on the demon’s head. Participating in the conversation in the cutest manner a grey cat could. She curled up. “ I am still Cozi.”

“I am Moon and I am a boon!” The black cat nearly tackled the human girl. Cory laughed, cradling her black cat in her arms.

The dullahan smiled, eyeing the container Fallon drank from. He politely gestured to it, indicating his want. Fallon dropped it into his hands. “Failure I think this would be a terrible idea to join your party,” Cystenian said sarcastically.

“Oh, it’s not my party.”

“ I fund this party,” Asa said, watching Fallon take her bottle back. “Everyone gets an allowance of 10,000 jewels.” The plague doctor’s beak turned at the sound of his zipped open bag; from which he pulled out as instantly as he plunged, a pouch heavy with notes and coin.

And they were merry. Joking and laughing and getting to know each other. It was fun! Cory was comfortable, less talkative with Cystenian but relaxed for the most part. The “disciples”, as the harpy referred to them, were silent for a while after. Their path made them uneasy as they travelled.

They were making no business of conversation, the topics were sparse enough to spare distraction. Kabuki spoke of the obvious in an annoyed tone. He was anxious. “These traps are too easy.”

“This area is too ornamental.” Fallon grimly agreed. “And it’s been a while since we last encountered a serious one.”

“That’s an odd door,” Cory said. Her finger pointed down the east tunnel of the intersection they were in… towards a sun gleaming room.

A colossal door opened within it many other doors; comprised of circular shapes made of wood, carved into the wall at varying heights. Fountains adorned with delicate vines, protruded from the left and right walls with their trickling water at either side. The group flooded into the chamber, admiring the indoor courtyard.

”It’s a garden.” Fallon murmured.

”It’s a wall of doors.” Asa finished.

Cystenian plopped onto the furniture, scoffing as he dusted some feathers off it. Cory tried to count the entrances in the wall.

“Twenty-seven doors. Who the fuck needs that many?” Fallon swore.

“Someone flies into them,” Asa observed, prying one open with a pull to its handle. Inside was a dimly lit room that extended farther, obviously echoing the sounds of a strong current of water.

Cory sighed and sniffed the flowers. All of the doors were presented with clear instructions on their frames: Pick me. Once.

“Quite peculiar, if I didn’t already know.” The doctor said. “I’ll go first since I can’t die.” Asa slipped in, the wood slamming shut into its frame despite his wish. He groaned. “ Ah well. At least I’m not dead.” The words above the frame changed: Fourth. Chosen.

“Do we break the door?” Kabuki yelled.

“No!” Asa answered. “Choose one. Each of you! Give Cory the safe door!”

”Oh, gods! Snakes!” Fallon stabbed one, more slithering by.

“Number eight!” Asa yelled at the top of his lungs.

“You’re going up,” Fallon said, stuffing Cory into a particularly high placed door.

“Wait!”

Slam! Cory slid down somewhere in the dark as cold water splashed on her head. She yelped as she landed in a moderately shallow collection pool. Order’s Mask glared back at Cory as she saw that Fallon had tossed it in too.

She was going to wrench her hair out but remembered it was short. Her footsteps were quiet next to the noisy water and she hoped not to attract anything that way.

Then: The woman’s cries. Her lamenting singing. Cory was even closer to the sound than before. But was it wise to follow? She had two options.

Wait and allow something to find me.

Or move and find something on my terms.

Courage had gotten the best of her. Cory would go on to find doom on her terms, be it quick or slow in these next steps. The human reached the tunnel's end, with only a raft and oar to welcome her. Cory took it. She manoeuvred in the half-dark, crystals occasionally shining across the way.

Cory latched her hands on the edge of the raft. Mask loose and about fall. “No!” The raft had hit the wall and she let the oar sink, but she had the mask.

Eventually, after drifting for a few minutes she saw a lever to the right side of her path. Cory managed to wedge the raft in the corner and flipped the switch. A passage creaked open and she jumped to it. Cory had unintentionally made it to the source of the singing. It was a big room, with a dangerous harpy like the previous one before. Except this harpy did not consider hiding.

Everything about her was crumpled, somehow withdrawn, her figure slumped over. Gold shimmered starkly against her black sleeved garments, the metal of her mask and course, her beautiful brown feathers. Like Order, this harpy possessed a whip in her reach…

The wail the poor creature let off almost knocked Cory off her feet. She stayed quiet for a long time, wincing every time the harpy sang and sobbed idly. Every once in a while, she would strum a note on the lire beside her. Though from what Cory could hear, they were random, dissonant notes too far apart to be a coherent melody. Cory’s ankles were soaking in the rising water. Though it was less cold, that did not stop Cory from shivering. She was crouching at the bottom, suffering from terror and chills.

Order’s “boss room” must have been loaded with gold, but the lack of ice seemed to make the amount a lot more obvious. Cory assumed she did not hide well in the mounds of treasure. Her hair stood out too much amongst the trinkets. To add to her frustration the water kept rising, to the point where she was swimming. She was far from where the harpy was, but if she waded through the water loud enough. She’d be spotted. The acoustics of the room didn’t help. The mask seemed to her heavier.

Her legs and arms started to get tired, and she had no choice but to inch closer to the harpy. The human cradled Order’s Golden mask in her arms. In the hurry to rest her limbs Cory let a volley of coins splash loudly into the water.

The harpy’s voice ceased, stagnant now as it devoured Cory’s gaze. Ancient King Midas, with his lips, parted in woe…

The bird-woman had flown over. “So you are to be the safe one?” She whispered, her voice sad but in a beautiful tone. She hummed faintly, tracing the finery of her sister's mask. Cory hadn’t even seen her snatch it. “This mask is of my sister Order. Dear, dear sister…Is she dead?”

Cory simply stood there, looking down away from the harpy. Her heart was pulsing through her veins, loud enough that the harpy made an abrupt pause in her ramblings, till they continued again. “Oh, they’ve sent a child. A poor little human girl.” the harpy sniffled.

There was a silence. The harpy had gone off to stare at plant near her resting place. Above it she had accommodated an altar: a shrine in which a plant bathed in golden, iridescent light. The plant was unlike anything she’d ever seen on earth, but at the same time it looked as if it had come from the roots of the ground.

Law stroked the harp with a wail.

The harpy pulled out a chest from under her feathers. Placed Order’s mask inside, only for the box to vanish again under her wings. Cory’s chin looked upward, claws guiding her head while she shut her eyes. “Shhh.” The harpy’s siren-like voice said. “You’ll be safe, come now Concordia.”

Something went wrong.

Afterwards, Cory had felt everything swell, she felt her innards warped whole. She shrank and saw her skin become gilded. She only saw herself as part of the harpy’s collection, being placed amongst the other necklaces. Merely something to be looked at…

“Bummer that it’s a safe door. I wanted to test out that new technique.” Asa sighed.

”Fucking snakes! Get off!” Kabuki thundered. The demon had clamped his hand on its jaws.

Fallon stabbed another snake nonchalantly. “I thought that saint patty guy got rid of them.”

Cystenian also flicked his whip in turn at a remaining snake. “He did but Lord Cernunnos still has his snakes.”

“Have you found another door yet?” Asa enquired from inside his door. “ And are you guys trying to follow it chronologically?” He crossed out the number twelve on the list of doors checked, tapping the door again to ask in confirmation. He began mumbling to himself.

“Kabuki bit down a copper bird.”

Asa groaned. “Open door number five.”

“Opening door number 5,” Fallon repeated.

”Go through and find Haruna.”

The doctor heard a door shut. “Cystenian door number nineteen. Kabuki door number four. Take the cats with you.”

“I will protect you with my life.” Cozi and Moon nuzzled at Kabuki as he said so.

Asa stuffed the list into his bag and moved further along, leaving behind the door. It was dark now that the candle wax he kept had gone out. Everyone would be on their own merits.

Asa shuddered as rats scuttled past his ankles. The doctor straightened his mask, cane and bag in hand.

His tapping echoed in the narrow tunnel, in places that lacked a significant portion of light. The path that he took kept shrinking in size, and he crawled through it.

A waterway had welcomed Asa as expected, and naturally so did a boat. It was stout and spacious aboard, Asa took to it easily. He was bound to run into Cystenian and Fallon and Kabuki.

Ms Cabbage’s notes managed to describe the labyrinth in a fairly detailed manner. They had been reliable for the most part in describing the inconveniences the group would find in general passages. Her notes would give recommendations on how to get past traps. The expected pressure triggers were just the beginning. Punji sticks, snake pits, slamming spike studded doors, bamboo whips, grenade and cartridge traps… and a bunch of others were mentioned.

Some parts of the manual could be dismissed as wrong but Asa knew better. The labyrinth was engineered to change and a manual could only do so much. Precisely why it was refreshing to encounter a route that was familiar to Ms Cabbage’s notes. He was on the main waterway to a harpy’s lair and he expected everyone else to be too, in time.

Asa thought about Cory then. He questions if he had made the right decision: to send her in first. He had. He just needed to trust it with confidence.

Best not to think about it now.

Asa simply cruised until he found Cystenian about to drown.

The company was helpful. Cystenian’s whip latched onto switches that needed to be flipped as Asa steered. The man-made river drained into a set of bars that led to God's know how deep. In summary, the waterway was a dead end. The dullahan’s charm convinced Asa to abandon the boat.

They were treading through a dark hallway, following the crystals embedded in the wall….and then they weren’t. Cystenian couldn’t describe the feeling exactly, but there was something else at work. Either the walls manipulated their path or this hallway had morphed into the fog.

Asa adjusted the beak of his mask, as one would shift the glasses farther up the bridge of their nose.

”Who—who is that?” Cystenian breathed.

Haruna sat cross-legged, meditating while swirls circled all around her. She was drenched in water from head to toe, not a scratch on her head. A strained expression on the sorceress’ face.

“More guests.” Law hummed as she dropped someone in front of them. Cozi, Moon and Kabuki were unmoving.

The centre of a stadium revealed itself behind her, with treasures and riches bursting. Red curtains, blue ribbons and flowers bloomed; under the griffin horde that perched over its high ledges.

“It’s that humming Cory was talking about earlier,” Asa said.

Law chipped a wing piece off Fallon’s unconscious body, lumping her in with Kabuki and the cats. “Moon, Cozi, Kabuki, Fallon.”

“Concordia,” Asa said as the golden chain slipped from the cracks of the harpy’s claws. The mask glowered at the locket, then at them.

“Wretch.” The dullahan hissed.

“You.” Law put a finger to her mask’s lips. Her voice was soft, ghost-like and ethereal in texture. Somehow haunting the air in each word before she spoke.

“ You have presented to me the mask of my sister, Order. To have come this far you have done well. And in the unlikeliest event that you should be on your way...Heed. Evils were far worse than the epitome of our wrath prowl beyond these lands. Dragomir.”

The harpy let the name simmer in her mouth with distaste. “He has taken much and should you fall a victim to his magic…It shall be a fate worse, than the respite of death.”

Cysyenian whipped his arm out suddenly. And the dullahan’s whip went limp the opposite direction before it struck, lashing his face instead. He found Law hovering across from him and his skull throbbed.

“It’s not potent enough!” Law hissed. The fingers at the edge of her wings curled in anger. Asa looked to the previously unconscious group.

Cozi rolled off the black cat, awake. “Get up Kabuki! Before she drugs us again!”

“Suffer!”

Asa dodged an incoming fireball. Kabuki leapt to absorb another. The red demon, tearing through the harpy’s wings, spun onto his side as Law knocked him to the floor.

Law’s whip writhed as she flew: wriggling as if it were a live snake, summoning the griffins towards Asa. He struck them down.

Enraged screams escaped Law’s throat at the sight before her. Gold materialized in front of Haruna; the coins compressing into one metal surface: a shield to stop the harpy’s onslaught. Lash! Lash! Lash! It dented the metal and the shield shattered to a million pieces that cut the harpy.

Fallon charged her rapier past Law’s side, Cystenian’s whip dragging in her other hand. The dullahan tackled the harpy, embedding a knife into her shoulder.

The harpy flailed her wings against the floor. She hurled the golden locket and let off a shrill scream. “Give it back! ” Laws nails were swiping inches from Cystenian’s face. She sobbed, now completely paralysed from Haruna’s spell. Law looked at her mask in Cystenian’s hands, looked at the blood running down his face.

Asa kicked a griffin off its side to get his cane and bag. Haruna surveyed the group, worry finally showing on her face. “Asa? Where’s Cory?”

“You can ask her.” Fallon pointed to Law, wiping blood off her rapier. The plague doctor handed Haruna the locket. Kabuki huffed as he smoothened Moon’s black fur. Cozi smacked her chops. “I will eat you.” The cat hissed.

“Turn her back.” The sorceress commanded, slamming the harpy’s knees to the floor.

Law let more tears stream down her face while looking up at the locket with her unmasked face. She concealed it in her claws and let the locket morph back into a human girl. “Go away.” the harpy whispered, waving her feathered arm to the exit.

Cystenian’s boots echoed as he left the room. Moon yowled sharply behind him. They all left to wait outside until Haruna and Cory were left alone in the room with Law.

Haruna glared at the harpy, supposing the awful things Cory had suffered at Law’s magic.

“Can I hug you?” Cory muttered.

Haruna hugged her tightly as any mother would to their child. Cory held her posture stiffly, expressionless in everything but her stare.

Law winced.

Cory’s voice trembled into a whisper. “It’s not her fault.”

Cory’s eyes were glassy. She looked at Law, in her crumpled form and doleful cries. The words of sympathy for the harpy nearly fell out of her mouth.

Cory only managed a whimper amongst her sniffling before Haruna led her away.

Eventually, the group was back to wandering in the tunnels. However, it was only for a short time that they travelled through torchlit darkness.

Reunited once again, all six of them witnessed the stairs of an ancient and worn tower, covered in cracks and moss. The cackles of the last harpy rained down upon the disciple’s ears, her shrieks getting louder as they stepped closer to a large stone door where the final challenge will soon begin. With only a simple push by Kabuki opened the heavy door with ease, the rest following behind. Once entering the final stage, the arena rained with ribbons of Aegean blue and soft shades of purple.

Upon the centre was once of many keys to open the isle of the sun back to the world.

It formed in a cluster of blue, both dark and light shades providing light to a grand sphere of similar colours to its small counterpart.

Only hovering in the air barely touching the curved pillars to support its weight. The last floor was surrounded by stars and exposed to the cold winter air.

An ear-splitting shriek came falling from the sky as a woman ascends to the ground, arms covered with grey feathers with a blue shrine to them. Her face is covered with a mask that dons the face of the youthful Dionysus, set in gold and amethysts, emeralds and stain-glass pearls adorn her hair styled to form a crown of grapes and ivy.

"Be not afraid disciples, for I only punish those who bestow upon harm upon my beloved sisters and send the foolish back to the darkest pits of the tower." She declared with a voice of confidence. "Many dared to leave this bitter and wretched place, but they were only proven to be fools once they've been defeated." The harpy explained as her voice becomes a serious tone, raising her arm in the air, piercing the air with a cracking sound of her whip. She continued her warning. "Are you brave enough to escape this place with what you seek for your journey? Dragomir, lord of fire and blood sends fear to those who live far and wide in Nenas. He has everyone's eyes and ears, no one is safe." She began plucking a handful of glass grapes from her hair, holding them in her palm briefly before striking them to the cold ground. From the broken vessels, erupted fog.

Enforce’s wings spread at their full length, and withdrew upwards, fading; until purple smoke enveloped her to obscurity. Laughter encircled them. Mocked the disciples tauntingly in its manner…as the tail of her whip slithered into the thick fumes.

The disciples huddled, coughing as they maintained their ground. Cory was pushed to the centre with Moon still in her arms. They had lost clarity of the room to muddled depths of the smoke. The sky which was once clear above them became thick. Cystenian’s armour clattered, he grimaced, hunched over, more so than the rest of the group. It was affecting him drastically.

Kabuki tried to swat it away. “This is no natural fog!”

Enforce’s laughter continued to echo throughout the room as the disciples brushed their shoulders closer together. Both cats stuffed themselves within Asa’s bag.

Fallon grimaced, her shoulders readjusting back in the strain as her battered wings fluttered weakly.

Haruna breathed out heavy gusts to keep the smoke away. “Stay close to me. I can’t clear all the smoke out. It’s going to take time.”

“Why? Why are we here?” Cystenian groaned. “I don’t—“

Cory squealed: the harpy’s whip had just missed Fallon, flailing back into the purple fog. Fallon’s rapier frantically pointed to the smoke. “You’re lucky you had both your sisters soften me up before getting to you! Else you’d be facing me at full power!”

“Fallon don’t separate.” Kabuki snapped.

“I won’t!” Fallon said and dodged the attack again.” The fae’s eyes were beginning to water. She grits her teeth, looking at a massive chunk of her wing on the floor. Fallon began cursing.

Asa swatted the fog in the air. “Fallon Viramoth where in the 7 Hells are you going? “A bitch cuts my wings and I'm gonna cut a bitch's life short.”

“Cut me, Then we’ll see if we truly live by the same creed!”

The dullahan couldn’t see any of the group.

A crack of Enforce’s whip came from within the smoke, as she strikes Cystenian in the back, he gasped at the pain unaware he was inhaling in her smoke with fear flooding his mind.

“Augh!”Cystenian ran his fingers onto his scalp. The dullahan’s eyes were bloodshot from the gas.

Kabuki rubbed his eyes. Fallon dug her nails into her hand. “How on Nenas does this bird wench manage so many whips?”

Fallon was busy keeping back a stray griffin. She finally poked through its wings, into its chest. She didn’t have enough time to dislodge the sword before Cystenian’s whip curled with sting on her forearm. “Oi! Stupid quack-brained—“

“You’ve delivered me to the overseers!” His whip bounded again.

“This the only way out you—“

Cystenian knocked the fae back. Fallon rushed to hit him in the jaw, but fell prey to his whip.

Kabuki assumed Cystenian’s whip was misguided, only to be proven wrong yet again. Blood sprinkled the floor next to him, matching the red of his skin.

Cory held onto Fallon. “This— this is too much blood. Asa!”

”I’m fine!” Fallon began coughing. “It’s the smoke. It will overwhelm us.”

The plague doctor slashed at the incoming whips, while dodging. “Just a second!”

Cystenian lashed his whip in every direction trying to strike his new allies. In his eyes, they have been replaced with what fears.

”Get your damn dominatrix fetish sorted, Cystenian.”

“Really Fallon—“ The dullahan fisted the ground beneath him when he saw that he had missed Cory. The fae had zoomed and yanked herself and Cory behind Kabuki.

Fallon knelt, clutching at her sword getting ready to block incoming whips.

“So the smoke is manipulating you now?” He guessed.” The demon stepped forward blocking Cystnenian’s off from the human and fae pair. Asa moved in, silently tending to the attack coming for Fallon.

The dullahan ignored the comment, knocking his elbow into Kabuki’s teeth. Cystenian’s armor dented.

“As enjoyable as this is,” he dodged “Stop fighting me.”

”No!” Cystnenian’s whip nipped the edge of Kabuki’s shoulder, only for the oni to shove him back, further away.

“We are getting you out. “

“If that were the case you would have gotten me out already…and it wouldn’t have been through them.”

A harpy’s voice chimed in. “Oh—but it should be. This is the only way out.”

Kabuki’s roar filled with pain, and fell flat against the symphony of cracking whips. His feet dragging, he yanked and snarled, now farther away.

Smoke floundered in the air with each of the Harpies’ wing beats. Haruna was tied in.

As Kabuki screams in despair, Haruna is trying not to inhale the hallucinogenic smoke, with her eyes watering. Collapsing to the ground, her hand over her mouth and nose, rolling onto her back she can faintly see the stars through the purple smoke, she was hit with sudden realisation. Haruna moved her hand, taking the risk of inhaling the smoke she exhaled a large squall of wind. Knocking the harpy and Kabuki off their feet.

With the smoke gone and Haruna coughing, she slowly gets back on her feet. Animosity poured over Kabuki’s expression, over his judgment. His being responding only as a feral, wild demon.

Obey me Kabuki.

Haruna noticed the spell. Anger running through her veins, she flounces her way towards Kabuki, pulling his hair and punching him in the face. Shoving him to the side, Haruna makes her way to the warden, gripping onto her glass grape headpiece.

"What kind of fool doesn't have a roof for their dungeon!" The sorceress yelled at the harpy, ripping off the Dionsian headpiece. Smashing the grapes on cracked tiles, and immediately casting a spell to transform their smoke to a liquid.

“Enough games!” The harpy snatched the mask back from Haruna. The three overseers don their masks and face her without fear. Shadows emerged at the edges of the sorceress’s eyes, ready to let loose; to defend and retrieve what they needed at all costs. Only, severe magic compels the harpies to still. Whether it was from Haruna’s magic or their contract, Enforce did not know, but she sensed something as ancient and unmistakable as those who had helped to forge their bond to the goddess of the wishing flower.

Cystnenian was lashing just beyond the corner of the sorceress’s eye. “Get out of his reach!” Haruna’s warning came late. He whipped Cory and Fallon.

Order revealed herself to Kabuki, and liquified the floor beneath him. Causing the demon to somehow plunge into hard stone. His eyes stung as he submerged and stretched his limbs into the air.

“Asa!” Moon meowed. He threw his bag, Cozi flying with it. The harpy moved to confront Haruna, her whip dragging behind her carelessly, until it was gone.

A whip snared Kabuki’s wrist and Order exclaimed in frustration. The demon found himself clutching at it, like some makeshift rope!

She willed it to strangle Kabuki’s neck, but it only tightened in Kabuki’s horns. The demon snarled, yanking his neck and arms away once Asa had pulled him out. And he let himself fall limp, except for the deep breaths his chest heaved.

And the harpies realized the cats had stolen the keys. Nothing more could be done. Their enemies were now champions.

Everyone breathed in silence for a moment. Cory held her arms. “Where Cystnenian?”

“Right here.” Order huffed.

Cystenian gasped, on the verge of being choked to death. The Irish-man clutching at the tightening whip, allowed his fingers to slip in between his skin and the leather.

The joints of his left gauntlet pinched into his skin, straining his neck—

His body fell to the floor as the harpy’s fingers pulled the hairs on his head. Throwing itself on the floor to scramble for its own out-of-reach whip. Cystenian suddenly lost feeling of everything below his neck. His senses snapped free.

”Let me go.”

Cystnenian’s body, lying motionless on the ground began to tremble and convulse: neck suddenly bleeding red fog.

It twitches as it rises to back his feet. All but one harpy watched in silence, as a spear materialises from his hand.

“What—what is this?” Order had dropped the dullahan’s head, backing up between her sisters.

The seemingly possessed suit of armor walks towards the disoriented head, grabbing a hold it. Fallon knelt in the fog as Asa treated her wounds, chuckling to herself about skunks. Asa observed dullahan with his own speculation.

Law flapped her wings, then again, and again until her mournful visage faded and only two harpies were left. Order growled.

Enforce spoke to them. “Disciples…I decline to your victory.” She bowed.

She bit back the harshness of her tone when addressing her sister. “Order, it is time to leave them. The next prisoners shall escape if we dwell on this defeat.”

”I don’t care to torture them anymore: their pain is useless to me. I want him—he needs to pay!“

Enforce crossed her wings as if closing a cloak.

Order pointed a finger at Cystnenian. “ It was my money and he damn well knew it— headless chook-hair bastard…”

Cystnenian jeered. “Is that all you can throw at me? Your bad insults and pitiful self-worth?…You're the one who is the headless chook here. You know damn bloody well, that dried up olive was drunk.”

“What hell did you just call me—”

Fallon stood next to Haruna, grimacing as she attempted to snicker at her own statement. “These two fight more than Mr and Mrs Paterson.” Haruna resisted the urge to crack a smile, the corner of her lip and her eyes brightening in demeanor for just a second.

Enforce pulled Order back, eyeing the disciples. A door revealed itself, appearing in the blink of an eye. “Take your leave, we are tired and do not care to entertain you.”

Glares were exchanged and the disciples all went through the door, knowing little of what awaited them next.

A'marie Aladyah, seer of everything that can be

#creative writing #justice for minotaurs

0 notes