This place…
My senses may feel dulled, but it’s clear to me that this maze truly doesn’t want us here…
A moment later, I come up behind Jonah, who has stopped on what appears to be a new path.
This stretch of stone extends left and right, like an intersection on a road.
Striker is only a step behind me, quietly moving up on my right, the box safely tucked under his arm.
The mist clears ahead of us, revealing Vanguard, who has paused in front of a solid stone wall that extends upward as well as to the left and right as far as I can see.
Within the wall are five identical arched openings, each one so narrow that we would need to turn sideways to get through them.
“Tunnels,” Vanguard says, glancing back at us before his forehead puckers. He scratches his chin as he turns back to the doors. “But they look different from this side.”
“I don’t like how narrow they are,” Jonah says. “Are you sure they aren’t dead ends? Traps?”
“I’m sure.” Vanguard nods rapidly. “Every path in the maze leads somewhere. It’s what you face on the journey along the path that you need to worry about.”
The only visible difference between each door is the symbol etched into the stone above them.
“Okay, then. Which do we choose?” Jonah points to each symbol in turn, left to right, apparently able to decipher them. “Bravery, loyalty, strength, perseverance, or…” He pauses, his head tilted and forehead creased. “I don’t recognize that last one.”
Vanguard squints at the symbol. “Hope?”
Jonah shakes his head. “The central strokes are different.”
“You’re right,” Vanguard says. “That fifth door is something else.”
I can’t help but glance at the box Striker’s holding. He has unhooked it from under his arm and is studying the runes across one side. They’re identical to each of the symbols above the doorways, matching even in their sequence from left to right.
I’m not sure what to make of this, but at least we can give some meaning to the symbols on the box now.
“Which tunnel should we pass through?” Jonah asks again.
Vanguard’s emotions are suddenly in turmoil, beating out at me in waves of frustration and anticipation so strong that even my subdued senses can pick them up.
Whatever he left behind here, he’s keen to get to it as quickly as he can.
I just hope it won’t cause him to make reckless choices.
He seems to make up his mind. “Strength.” He gestures us forward, where we huddle around the third door. “Stay close. The pass is narrow. We must stick together.”
Turning sideways, he angles into the gap, sliding along the stone.
Jonah prepares to follow him, but the minute Vanguard’s body is fully within the pass, the stone begins to close over at the entrance.
“Wait! No!” Vanguard’s shout echoes around us as he attempts to lurch back toward us, only for the stone to close completely.
The symbol above the door disappears, and the space where the opening was only moments ago is now nothing more than smooth rock.
Jonah curses beneath his breath before he smacks his hands against the rock, flames bursting around his fingertips. “Burn,” he snarls. “Open.”
The rock face barely chars, and when he removes his hands, it’s perfectly smooth again.
“We have to go through,” Striker says, his focus on the box for a moment. “We each have to choose.”
Jonah rubs his temples, the heat around his body speaking to his frustration, although it takes him only a beat to choose his door.
