Chapter 211: Chapter 209: Waste of Time

 

Time was ticking down, and a decision had to be made. Our options basically boiled down to only two. We could either try our luck deeper in the labyrinth floor, hoping to find our way out of the walls of the distorted space, or muster up our courage and try to walk through.

“How’s the link of the Thread, Ironhoof?” asked Pinescar, looking at the golden string winding into the distance across the grass-covered rolling hills and meadows that surrounded us. “Still holding?”

“It would seem so, sir, but...”

“Yes?”

“...I have little experience with the tool. I could be wrong.” It wasn’t that long ago since he talked about the tool’s flaws and how the magic string of the Thread, in such cases, could snap or latch on to something else. Because of that, following the string raised a bit of doubt within Squad Four - yes, me included - even though the tool Meneur had was, as a matter of fact, brand new.

Realizing that, Pinescar frowned. “It’s good to know your limits. But we have these tools for cases just like this. Sure, over-relying on them is a mistake, but so is avoiding using them.”

“Sir, you’re saying we should follow the string, even though...” Freyde said, pointing ahead of us where hidden from our eyes, not from my ears, was a wall of misshapen space, a weakened barrier between floors, and that was the least bad scenario. “...even if it goes through whatever it is.”

I could see Pinescar struggling to decide, toying seriously with the idea for the first time as our time was running out.

“I think it’s a maze,” Meneur said to Freyde out of the blue, notebook in one hand, pencil in the other.

At first, no one reacted. That was a very random thought. After all, how could something like misshaping in space have anything to do with a maze? Not to mention the absurdity of a maze being in a labyrinth, yet the more I thought about it, the more I visualized the layout of those invisible walls threatening to squeeze us here, the more I saw what our mage saw, a maze, moving or shrinking maze.

Look," said Meneur, showing everyone his notebook with a few lines on it. “These are the walls we’ve come across so far. I know what I’m saying is a stretch, but...it looks like a circular maze to me.”

“It can’t be, can it?” Harper said, hoping someone would disprove Meneur’s not-so-wild theory. To her chagrin, no one was able to do so. “This is a labyrinth, for fuck’s sake!”

“Labyrinths don’t have dead ends,” Stella pointed out, herself, still pondering the possibility of where we found ourselves being a maze, trying to make sense of it.

“Oh, really? So why the fuck are Fallen’s Cry and other labyrinths called fucking labyrinths, huh?!”

She gave the baker girl a sympathetic look. “Because that’s essentially what they are. All floors, although different from each, are wide and open, with no dead ends. All you have to do is find your way from the entrance platform to the exit platform.” That might have sounded very easy, but the floors were ridiculously vast, and the labyrinths tried to confuse and lead you astray along the way.

“Yeah, all the way from the top to the bottom. Their name is fitting,” Freyde added. “...but, maze seriously. More like a trap in the shape of a maze. Sir, have you heard about this, sir? Because I sure haven’t.”

Sergeant Pinescar, one of the master guards who operated on floors below a hundred and had way more experience with Fallen’s Cry than any of us, didn’t answer right away but gave us all a look before he spoke. “No, I’m afraid not, Welkes. Look, I’ll be straight with you, all of you. Chances are, if anyone has ever encountered something like this, they didn’t make it out of here.” 

He merely hinted at the horrid possibility before, and that alone was enough to give me goosebumps. Now that he said it out loud openly like that, a shiver ran down my spine while a shaky growl escaped my throat.

“Shit!” Freyde cursed as he, too, and so did the others, figured that we were seriously fucked. Hearing it said so openly just struck harder than to hear a hint of what might have happened. It simply shattered any hope that what we got ourselves into might have been nothing really dangerous.

“Traiana’s tits, so why are we just standing here?!” Harper snapped. “We shouldn’t waste our time here fiddling our thumbs but trying to get the fuck out!”

It was hard to disagree with her, yet I had to, kind of. “Are you suggesting we try to go through?” I asked, making it clear I didn’t like the idea one bit.

She sneered. “And you think it’s smarter to go deeper into that shit?”

“I...”

“There might be a way out,” Meneur pointed out, still relatively calm despite the situation.

“Yeah, it might,” Harper agreed. “Might as well waste our time searching for it when chances are we’ll just walk through, and nothing will happen. Correct me, but besides Korra and Idleaf, do any of you feel a thing, hear a mere whisper? Because I fucking don’t!”

I understood her; I totally understood her. In a nutshell, what her rant was about was me wanting her to trust what I heard and some wild maze-conclusions when all she could see were grass-covered rolling hills and meadows, like always.

“That doesn’t mean it’s not there, Breadbaker,” Sergeant Pinescar said sharply, reminding her to rein in her temper. “I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s crucial to learn to trust your squadmates. Did you forget what I said so quickly? I once doubted that a monster was hiding in a puddle, and it cost me a leg.”

Evidently, it grew back. Healers, I bet.

“It’s not that I don’t trust Korra, sir. Just...”

“Maybe if we get closer to it,” I suggested before Harper could say anything else. Until now, due to safety reasons, we always approached the walls, the misshaping in space no closer than ten meters. I thought that maybe if others got closer to it, they might feel something more, something different, perhaps even me. Honestly, the fact that my instincts were silent was freaking me out. If I were to believe them, as I had so far, then whatever it was, was safe to pass through, just as the baker girl thought. 

Only what I heard from the quite-possibly-maze-walls suggested otherwise.

“Closer to it?” Harper was taken aback that I would suggest such a thing. “Don’t tell me that you got up your balls to go through.”

“No way. I was just thinking...”

“Ah, still the same pussy.”

“Breadbaker!” Pinescar raised his voice in a warning not to go too far. The last thing we wanted was to have fallout here.

Harper clenched her fists, obviously struggling not to snap at the man. “Then what do you suggest, sir?”

“If I may, sir,” I said. Harper cut me off before, and I wanted to get my point across. “What I was saying was that maybe if we got closer, even one of you might be able to say more. Traiana’s tits, maybe even me and Idleaf.” Damn! That local cuss slipped out of my mouth way easier than I ever thought it would.

Pinescar, instead of being immediately dismissive of my suggestion the way I expected him to be, nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. Dangerous, risky, damn risky, but we don’t have many other options. We need to find out more about what we’re dealing with.”

“So?”

“Yes, Breadbaker, we’re getting closer,” he said resolutely, though clearly reluctant, and looked at all of us, especially at Harper. “Don’t even think about touching that thing!”

“How am I supposed to know what I’m not to touch when I can’t fucking see it, sir,” Harper argued, getting more and more pissed by the whole situation, her inability to do what she thought was the way.

“You’re not the only one, Breadbaker. Idleaf will tell us. You will be able to warn us, will you?”

The spirit’s chest puffed up. “Of course, I will...although it’s ever-changing.”

Pinescar raised an eyebrow. “Meaning?”

“The misshaping ripples like smoke in the breeze,” she explained, punctuating it with swaying movements of her whole body to illustrate the point.

“You heard her!” Pinescar bellowed. “Now, Idleaf, lead the way. Our safety is in your hands.”

Although the man meant it as a kind of stern warning not to mess around too much and warn us the moment she deems it too dangerous, hearing that everyone was depending on her made the spirit even happier.

“Follow me,” she said merrily while jumping for joy and headed for one of the walls, us following behind.

I could hear the whispering at a distance of fifty meters if I focused, then at forty, whether I wanted to or not. At thirty, I was able to make out the individual voices and the urgency in them, which brought a chill to my bones. Twenty meters was where hearing those eerie voices sent shivers down my spine. At ten meters, the closest I had dared to approach the misshaping so far, I was breathless and found myself whimpering with my wings pressed against my body and my tail tucked safely between my legs. Embarrassing, for sure. I couldn’t help myself, though.

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This time was no exception. Aware of what I was doing, I pressed my wings against my body to make myself feel safer and keep what little warmth in my body left from escaping. The same with Sage. I was amazed that the way that overgrown duster, as Deckard called my tail, was tucked between my legs didn’t hinder my walk.

And so, like the others, I took two more cautious steps, shortening the distance from the misshaping by another meter. The voices grew louder in a heartbeat as if the people they belonged to were standing just in front of me, talking, arguing, and despairing. Yet I couldn’t understand a word they said, muffled as in heavy rain or as if a wall separated us, a veil between worlds.

Two more steps, and I fought the urge to press my ears to my head, to hide them under my hands.

“Damn!” Freyde on my right gushed, dumbfounded, immediately drawing everyone’s attention. “It’s there. It’s actually there. I can hear the whispers. Korra wasn’t lying.”

“Of course Korra’leigh wasn’t lying!” Idleaf said, outraged at the thought. It was sweet of her and warmed my heart. Not enough to stop me from shivering, though. Nevertheless, if Freyde’s ears weren’t just tickled by the wind, it meant I wasn’t losing it; the voices weren’t just in my head. A thing to celebrate, yet I didn’t feel like it.

“Seriously, Pointy Ears?” Harper asked, doubt seeping into her voice. She wasn’t mocking him, but genuinely wanted to know whether the quarter gnome was fucking with her or not, and so did the others.

“Yes, seriously, Harper. I’m not kidding you,” he said, still not believing it himself, and threw an apologetic look at the spirit. “I should know better.”

“Yeah, you should.”

“Fuck this!” Harper hissed and took a few steps, getting within six meters of the misshaping before anyone else could react.

“Stop right there, Trainee!” Sergeant Pinescar shouted. First time I heard him use the rank that Harper, Freyde, and Meneur possessed in the Castiana City Guards. The man was seriously pissed off by her conduct; in a flash, he was at her side, his hand on her shoulder. “I won’t have you endanger us all!”

She gritted her teeth. “But sir, nothing happened. See?” She threw up her hands. “Besides, I wasn’t going to go any further.”

“That’s not helping your case, Trainee. One more shit like that, and I’ll put you in shackles, unable to take a piss without me letting you. You understand!”

Harper took a breath, her eyes never leaving the Sergeant’ in what seemed to turn into a staring contest, a show of wills.

“We don’t have time for this, sir,” Stella pointed out as she, too, approached the misshaping, matching the distance of the two.

“Hmm, I don’t hear anything...” She hummed.

“So I’m not the only one. Great,” Harper smirked at Pinescar.

“...but something is tickling my auras,” Stella added, ignoring the baker girl.

Tickling her auras? That was quite a particular way to say she felt the misshaping. Not that I mind her way, though. What mattered was that she sensed it - unlike me. Yes, I could hear it. But the thing was, if I focused, I could hear someone scratching their crotch in a tavern full of people, I was able to feel someone’s gaze on me from hundreds of feet away, yet in the face of this, my instincts remained silent.

So, mustering my courage, I took a few steps forward as well. Still nothing.

“Idleaf?” Pinescar asked, wanting to know if it was safe to approach any closer.

“Six of your steps,” she said, her eyes fixed on the space. “Not for long, though. It’s getting closer.” Good of her to remind us all that whether it was a maze or not, it was slowly trapping us, and we may just be wasting our precious time here.

“You will only follow after my strides!” Pinescar growled, squeezing Harper’s shoulder tightly so she would understand. Then, after taking a breath, he took the six steps Idleaf said he could take and got within two meters of the misshaping, staring ahead, transfixed. Heeding his instructions, Harper did the same and froze there, just like he did.

“Fuck me...” she gasped as she visibly shuddered. “You hear this all the time, Korra?”

“Yeah,” was all I was able to say to her; glad she finally heard what I did, that she knew it wasn’t just some bullshit I made up with Idleaf to mess with them all.

As Freyde and Meneur walked past me, I moved, too.

It took a lot out of me to force myself to stand so close to that thing, but it was worth it. For the first time, my instincts kicked in, and what a kick it was! I almost threw up as my stomach turned upside down from the sick feeling misshaping was giving me. Every hair on my body was bristled up, my guts were screaming at me to get the hell out of there, and my bladder was about to pop loose. Growling, I had to cover my ears from the eerie voices, now so loud - though still hidden behind the veil - they were hurting my ears.

And it wasn’t just the despairing voices of the people and beasts, the chill they carried, or the sickening feeling they gave me what messed with me, but now I could see the faint shivering of the air in front of me. The thing that had been out of my reach all along, more or less because of our caution and my reluctance to approach it, was actually there, seen by the naked eye. It wasn’t a mere figment of my imagination, proof that my mind was breaking down as a result of what I’d suffered, regardless of the skills I possessed.

In all the tension, I found it a great relief. Tears even started rolling down my face. It was so stupid. Yet I couldn’t help it. Worse, unable to wipe them as my hands shielded my ears, I had to let them burn my eyes, tickle my cheeks, and for all to see.

“All right, guys. That’s enough for me. Going through is our last resort.”

“Isn’t that what the other seekers have heard...and seen, though, sir?” asked Stella, her eyes fixed on the shimmer in the air. “Don’t get me wrong, sir. I agree with you. That thing burns my auras. It’s just...”

“Yeah, I know, Palemoon. Many have heard what we hear, found the source of it, and no matter how much they mess around, nothing has happened to them. But nowhere does it mention anything of this magnitude,” he gestured around. “Anyone still keen to take their chances there, Breadbaker?”

“No, sir.” It was apparent that to say that, to admit that she chickened out of going through, didn’t sit well with Harper, yet she lowered her head and, in a sense, acknowledged that Pinescar was right.

“Welkes, Ironhoof?”

“Oh, I’m all for trying our luck there, sir,” Freyde said, his voice trembling slightly, pointing deeper into the floor and wherever this maze led. This close, the misshaping seemed to affect him more than the others.

“As you say, sir.” Under normal circumstances, Harper would make fun of Meneur for that, that he mindlessly followed what he was told. But now she’s kept her mouth shut.

“All right, then stop staring at that shit, get off your asses, and...”

“Sir,” Meneur dared to cut in. “I’m sorry, sir. I was thinking. Idleaf is a spirit, projection of the World Tree.”

“If you’re suggesting she send for help, it’s pointless. No one can get to us from the outside,” Pinescar pointed out. “We’re on our own down here, Ironhoof.”

“No, sir. I understand that. What I meant was, couldn’t she try to pass through? The worst that could happen is she loses the connection with Korra, temporarily.”

What the fuck?! Did he really suggest we put Idleaf at risk? Just like that, for what she was? That was a low blow from him and not something I was willing to allow. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of Idleaf in a defensive stance, growling in a warning of anyone who dared to approach. I had to say I looked rather ridiculous doing that, with tears still streaming down my cheeks, my hands up my head, holding my ears pressed down, and Sage safely tucked between my legs.

A happy chuckle behind me made me turn around. “You are truly my Guardian, Korra’leigh. And an anchor for my spirit to wander the world.” She giggled again and went on when I didn’t understand what she was getting at. “Wherever you are in this world, only there my spirit can be.” Making her point, she hopped through the misshaping, giggling like a fool, finding herself seemingly safely on the other side before jumping back. “The funny space doesn’t affect me...but it would you...”

“You were able to get more details on it?” Pinescar asked her, unwilling to dwell on her antics when he was responsible for five lives. And in fact, it was an excellent question. She touched the misshaping and seemed sure it would affect me.

The spirit hung her head and wings in dismay. “I am too weak, unable to say much.”

“Idleaf, even a little is enough. Besides, you’ve already helped us tremendously,” I said to cheer her up...and make her tell us what little she knew faster.

She beamed and brooded. “Should you touch it, it will drag you somewhere, where I don’t know.”

“Enough for me. We’re not getting another step closer to that,” said Sergeant Pinescar, bellowed loud and clear, looking at each of us. “Do any of you have experience with solving mazes?”

 

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