Page 65 of A Fable of Riddles and Redemption

Zorina froze at that, not knowing how best to respond to his madness. In the end, she chose silence as she watched sweat drizzle down Herrick’s still unconscious form. Was it uncommonly hot in there with all that bright light?

Anala, however, was awake now and trying to get Herrick’s attention. At last, she roused him, and he stood while wiping sweat off his brow. His armor hid any wet spots on his clothing beneath it, but Zorina suspected the poor man was drenched in his own sweat.

Herrick glanced around the brightly mirrored room in obvious horror. He must have realized exactly where he was. “That blasted fiend,” he muttered before swearing under his breath.

Zorina was surprised she could hear him, until Caliban oh-so-helpfully explained that it was part of his ‘delightful’ enchantment.

Thankfully, it seemed that Herrick recalled what she had told him about navigating the riddles of the mirrors. His fingers edged around a frame until he found a catch. Moments later, he and Anala stepped out of the blindingly hot dodecagon—and into a new danger.

At first, nothing appeared amiss—and then a large bright green ball of slime bounced toward Herrick, followed by a red one, a purple one, and a black one. Anala chirped in alarm and climbed up his back while Herrick watched the bouncing slime balls with apprehension. More appeared behind the bare-branched trees, drawing nearer and somehow more menacing with each bounce.

The first one practically leapt onto Herrick’s arm, and he cried out as if it burned. At that, he pulled his sword out of its scabbard and began swiping at the treacherous sludge. With each hit, a slimy foe burst, spraying goop of various colors around the room.

As the fight went on, Zorina noted that the colors of the slimes seemed to correlate with both the strength of their attacks and their ability to withstand Herrick’s blows. The green ones were the weakest, followed by the red. The purple came in next, and the black were by far the strongest.

At long last, Herrick managed to defeat all of the initially innocuous-looking balls of slime. He then took a deep breath, assessed the mirrors around him, and chose another door.

Goblins immediately surged toward him, and he held his sword up in defense. Thankfully, it did not take as long for him to defeat the goblins, and he soon stepped through another mirror…

…And into a den of vicious wolves. They were significantly larger than any wolf Zorina had ever seen, and they began to circle Herrick and Anala with bared teeth. While holding his sword out with one arm, Herrick reached into his infinite pouch with the other and pulled out a large metal shield. With the aid of sword and shield, he began to fight off the wolves.

“What?” Caliban seethed behind her. “That’s not fair!”

Zorina scoffed. What part of any of this was fair? She wanted to say as much, but barely refrained.

“I let him keep his little sword and pouch, but I didn’t know it was enchanted! What else does he have in there that could help him? Hm, this could either be entertaining or detrimental to my plans.”

Hoping it would be the latter, Zorina focused on Herrick’s battle with the wolves. When he finished dispatching the creatures, he selected yet another door. She held her breath as he went through, wondering what horror would meet him next.

But in the middle of this room merely stood a single stone statue. Herrick crept forward cautiously, Anala still clinging to his shoulders. Perhaps this room wasn’t quite so deadly as the others had been thus far.

Just as Herrick passed the statue, however, its eyes began to glow red, and its head slowly turned toward him with an odd mechanical sound. Red fire gradually filled its mouth.

“Watch out!” Zorina cried, knowing he wouldn’t be able to hear her, but somehow hoping he’d dodge out of the way anyway.

Miraculously, he did—and just moments before a stream of flames shot out at him. Had he heard her after all, or, more likely, had he heard the statue’s movements? Did the sound enhancing spell go both ways? She would have to test it—when a safe enough moment presented itself.

Before the statue could fire again, Herrick chose another mirrored door and escaped.

With any luck, he would not get stuck in that room again. Though since this was a horrific maze, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t.

Snakes slithered toward him in the next room, and Anala leapt down from his shoulder to claw at them. Worse still, however, was the hydra that perched in the room’s center. Herrick cut off one head, only for two more to grow in its place. Swearing under his breath, he swung his sword at all the heads at once, removing them in one fell swoop. Then, before waiting to see if they’d regenerate, he dashed through another door.

Draugr and skeletons trod toward him here, and Zorina winced at the sight. The undead made her shudder, both in disgust and fear. Thankfully, they were easily dispatched, and Herrick—with Anala on his shoulders again—made his way through yet another mirror.

Instead of enemies to fight, however, this next room contained a deadly obstacle course of swinging axes and spike balls on chains. For a long moment, Herrick stood watching the quickly swaying weapons, studying them intently. He would have to time his movements precisely to come out unscathed.

Zorina watched with bated breath as he made his move, dodging between sharp and dangerous blades and spikes. When he finally reached the mirror of his choice without getting hit, she released her pent up breath in a long, relieved sigh.

“He made it,” she whispered.

A slight smirk lifted one corner of Herrick’s mouth, and again she wondered if he could hear her through the labyrinth’s spells.

Caliban scowled. “For now. Luck is with him.”

Herrick arched an eyebrow as if in response. “Skill, not luck,” he said, confirming Zorina’s suspicion that the sound enchantment worked both ways.

“Herrick!” she called out to him. “Save yourself! Forget about me!”