Chapter 21: Arc 3 – Queen of the Monster Maze 1.2

Kikori reminds herself that it’s not a matter of bravery. It’s a matter of valor.

She could just aim to become a simple warden on patrol, get her comfortable stipend and her house, and then retire after a few years of service, get a family.

But she wants to be someone people can be proud of!

Like her hero.

She wants them to remember her name when they gather by the fire and share stories of old: of her valor and all the people she helped to protect.

She is doing this for them.

Also, if the other could stop treating her like an outsider it would be nice… it’s not her fault she’s a foreigner, is it?

Besides, so far the maze doesn’t seem to be very… mazey.

She expected ending corridors, staircases and open pits, but what she finds is mostly… a simple masonry hallway.

Perhaps this is just some kind of prank. Tarika has a habit of picking on her after all.

But then she notices something beyond the edge of her lamp’s glow: it’s a huge arch, filled with swirling white mist that glistens to the light of her lamp.

She gulps and reaches for it, her hand going past the mist, without finding anything.

Maybe this is a test of courage, after all…

But then again, would Ember Soar hesitate before the unknown?

No! She would dash right through it!

So Kikori takes a step further, crossing over the mist and…

… she finds herself in a wide circular room. It’s filled with what look like roots all over the floor.

Hm, weird. She would have expected something different, maybe some monsters?

On the other end of the room rises another arch, this one filled with a golden mist.

It’s similar to the one behind her.

Maybe she just has to cross the room?

“Whatever…” she huffs, walking over the uneven terrain. She stumbles over the roots. They look strangely translucent and spongy…

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She nudges them with her foot. They budge a little and they seem… warm?

A shiver runs down her back.

“I’m getting out of here, I’m getting out of here!”

She crosses over as fast as she can, even though she keeps stumbling.

Then something moves behind her and she turns, her lamp casting wavering shadows all over the walls.

“Who’s there? I’m a Knight in training, mind you! I won’t hesitate to smash your face in!” She raises her other hand, holding her axe up. It’s the closest to the weapon of the Knights of Ember she could find. Another way to emulate her childhood hero as much as she could.

But from around her comes no answer.

She turns again to look at the next door. It’s still swirling with the same golden mist.

And that’s all it takes for something to wrap around her ankle.

“W-Whoa!” She looks down – something dark and slimy is pulling on her leg! “P-Please let go! I’m a Knight, I won’t hesitate!” She raises her axe to strike.

Hesitates.

Maybe it’s just… confused?

“P-Please let me go! I don’t want to hurt you, but…” it’s slimy and warm and it makes her feel so uncomfortable! “I’m g-going to h-h-hit y-y-you if y-y-ou d-dooohoo…!” The appendage reaches up to her thigh. That’s too much!

She shuts her eyes and starts swinging with her axe.

It strikes true - she gets a lot of heat at the Academia, but she’s still a good Knight! - but the edge skims over the spongy surface of the thing that’s assaulting her.

It’s… one of the roots.

And there’s more of them, all around! They rise out of the darkness, shuffling over the floor as they wrap around her other foot, her ankle… and then her arms, rising her in the air.

“Let me goooo!” It’s all Kikori can manage to say as the roots pry her hands open and both her weapon and her lamp fall to the floor.

Her lamp shatters in a burst of sparkles.

And she’s alone in the darkness.

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