Page 71 of A Fable of Riddles and Redemption

He shot her a flat look. “Has anything here been that easy? We should expect it to have reset itself.”

She groaned, knowing he was probably right.

When they stepped into the next room and saw the ceiling closing in, she knew he was. They quickly darted across the room to the door Herrick pointed to and unlocked the door.

A pile of giant rat corpses filled the next room, and Zorina tried to keep down the contents of her stomach as they crossed the space. But at least this was not a fight they had to take on again.

Unfortunately, the hydra filled most of the next chamber with double the heads from Herrick’s last encounter with it.

He stared at the twelve heads and shook his head. “I can’t chop off that many at once. We’ll have to run for it and hope it doesn’t get us.”

Despite her exhaustion, Zorina pooled a ball of dark pink magic in her palm. “I may not be the best at magical shields, but I can shield us long enough to get across.” Uttering ancient Atlantean words under her breath, she cast a small barrier around herself, Herrick, and Anala.

Together, they ran across the room as serpentine heads lashed at them. The spell almost faltered as Herrick triggered the latch on their exit, but they made it out unscathed.

From above, arrows shot down at them. Herrick tugged Zorina close while holding his shield over their heads. Arrows pinged off the metal as they once again crossed the room.

The dead lizard monster lay on the ground in the next chamber, and Zorina had to hold her breath from the stench of it. She desperately hoped they were almost through. How many of these torturous rooms had Caliban built into his horrific labyrinth anyway?

At least one more, apparently.

A massive plant with vicious looking spikes on what appeared to be a mouth stood in the center of the floor, opening and closing its giant maw ominously. Glistening tentacles reached toward them, and Herrick made quick work of divesting the plant of its appendages as they drew near. Neither of them dared get closer to its mouth as they dashed along the mirrored edge of the room until they reached the door Herrick aimed for.

Once they reached the next room, they took deep breaths in relief—only to find green tinted the air. Zorina began to feel fuzzy and lightheaded, and breathing grew increasingly difficult. “Poison,” she whispered, her voice sounding frantic even to her own ears.

Herrick nodded as he tugged her closer and all but carried her to the next doorway.

She tried to put up a barrier for each of them to breathe safely, but she wasn’t sure how well it worked.

As they crashed into the next room, she gasped, “Are we almost through?”

“I think so,” Herrick replied. “If my calculations are correct, there should be only one more room after this.”

Anala chirped, but Zorina wasn’t sure if it meant she agreed that they were almost out, or if she hoped they were.

A flaming skull flew toward her then, and Zorina screamed. Herrick shoved his shield between her and the floating death’s head, sending it bouncing away. But another flew toward them, and another.

Visibly gritting his teeth, Herrick tightened his grip on his sword and swung at the flaming skulls as they shot toward them. When hit, each skull exploded until it burned out.

Zorina shoved them away with her magic, smashing them into the mirrored walls with the same explosive results.

At last, all of the death’s heads were destroyed, and they made their way to the next room—what Herrick said he believed was the final chamber in this torturous labyrinth.

Peering around the room, Zorina initially saw nothing but the dormant maze she had gone through earlier. Could we really be that lucky?

A skittering sound drew her gaze upwards, and the blood drained from her face at the sight: the very foe she most feared they would encounter in this horrible place.

A huge, hideous, giant spider, sliding its way down a thick rope of its own sticky webbing right above her.

Panic overwhelmed her, and she froze as she stared at the abomination creeping ever closer.

“Zorina! Watch out!” Herrick cried, grabbing her and yanking her aside.

Anala chittered angrily in her ear as if affronted by her temporary paralyzation.

Herrick wrapped his arms tightly around her before pulling her behind him. “Don’t freeze up on me now, Zorina. One more fight. We can do this.”

“But…it’s a spider.” She shuddered, sure her terror lit every line of her face.