A commotion behind us drew our attention. I readied my spear and the others their weapons, but the burst of angry shouting came from within the crowd.

Isaac's father had red cheeks and hellfire in his eyes. "How dare you. After all that the house gave to sponsor you? This will not stand!"

"Be prepared, non-lethal if we have to, but we will not give in," Teddy whispered.

I looked at my claws and sighed. Acid filled my receptacles and the only thing I knew how to do was cut and carve. It'd have to be one of the others to ensure safety.

"Is that Toogen? The fuck is that bastard doing here?" Igas asked in bewilderment.

"Silence!" Toogen's voice filled the air.

When the noble who grabbed his collar refused to let go, he raised his hand and snapped. Pink energy crisscrossed over his wrist and the crunch of bones echoed out as jagged rents appeared over his skin. The man dropped, as he no longer had the meat and infrastructure to continue grabbing Toogen's robe.

"I'm going with them even if you sorry bastards decide to stay here and die. If you know what's good for you, you'll follow along," Toogen continued.

When he reached our group, he offered a hand to Teddy. They shook, and the others followed.

"You guys have seen better days. Nasty curse, isn't it?" he asked.

His voice was rougher than I expected. The man wore his hood even now, shading his features, but I made out the outlines of a handsome face and a neatly trimmed beard.

"It's strong," Celanae agreed. She nodded to the man screaming about a broken wrist. "That was a little much."

"I would have spoken up earlier, but they kept holding me back. They figured our brief history of knowing each other was good enough of an excuse to command like their servants."

"I don't recognize the house emblem," Teddy said.

"Because they're not a house. See the inverted tree? That's a reference to the underground. I'm guessing a merchant."

"Indeed," Toogen admitted. "Not a smart one either."

"What are you doing with the likes of them? I thought you stayed above board," Igas cut in.

Toogen scratched his chin and looked around. His eyes briefly rested on Sereza's before landing on me. He looked long enough for me to notice, but he looked away and shrugged.

"Usually. These days you have to dig a little to find information."

"Well, we're glad to see you. Is there anything you need to settle before we get moving?" Teddy asked.

"No, I'm ready to go."

Teddy nodded, and we pushed our way through the crowd. Mean looks and jealous faces—more than a few looked ready to join us but were held back by social pressure. They were idiots, but who knows, maybe they'd be the smarter ones in the end. It'd be just our luck for something crazy to happen.

A large chunk of stone ripped through the garden hedges and tore the earth. It crashed down toward us, but Igas raised his leg and stomped. A series of pillars angled it away, earning some sharp yelps of surprise behind us.

I looked up and winced. The monster had managed to smack Nathan out of the sky. The rolling debris was just a poor statue caught in the crossfire.

Celanae squeezed Teddy's arm.

"Toogen, stay in the middle. Vincent, you'll guard Arturous, alright?"

Vincent side-eyed the giant beast. "Are you sure he need's protecting?"

Teddy laughed. "Not usually. Alright, moving out. Ears open, eyes ready. Eodyne, scout ahead and try to guide us through the maze. We want to come out next to Miragee's Bakery."

"On it," Eodyne said as she launched into the air.

Because of just how excessively large the garden was, it took a while for us to move out of the crowd's line of vision. Isaac kept his face forward, but I knew how impossible it was to miss the fury on his father's face. It was only after we made a right turn that he relaxed enough to loosen his grip on his daggers.

The more we walked, we were strangely left alone. Teddy's parents fought in the background, but away from the chaos, a strange silence settled. The night sky was partially lit by the glowing barrier, but the darkness seemed to stretch with the silence.

A polite tap touched my arm, and I looked down but saw nothing. To my left, Toogen waved, and I finally noticed the string of pink waving in the air. Shimmery, but I could see the mana more with my senses rather than through physical sight.

"So you're the infamous Cyrus," he said.

"I see the others have talked about me," I said, deadpanned.

"Maybe a little," he chuckled. Toogen stepped over a toppled bust, one of the few disturbed decorations this far out in the maze. Thanks to his robes, he seemingly glided over it. "I admit, I was curious when they mentioned you. I'm not the closest of friends, but they were always a tight-knit group. For one to have been around them for so long consistently is interesting. I never expected them to slow down long enough for me to catch up."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

I studied him, discreetly trying to get a read with my mana sense, but nothing. The man was a void hidden under something that I couldn't even pick up.

"You seem strangely calm despite the situation," I said.

"Oh? I suppose I am. I'm not as defenseless as the rabble back there, and this is rather exciting. Not every day you get to participate in events of this scale."

There was a sense of wonder to his voice. An elation and whimsy that stood stark through the creepy atmosphere. The way he moved, and my inability to pierce through the shadows on his face, reminded me too much of the rift back on the island.

A roar punctured the darkness, and the ground shook as a stream of white and gold carved through the air.

I shook myself. Toogen was waiting for me to respond.

"Yeah, I suppose. Personally, if we can get out of this intact, I'd rather go without these kinds of events for a few years. I've had enough of it already."

Toogen laughed.

"If even half of what the others have mentioned is true, then I get that. We all need some rest with some good tea in hand every now and then."

"Stop teasing him," Celanae admonished.

"I am not! I merely think that tea should be enjoyed more often than it is. Our kingdom is filled with a bunch of heathens. Too much alcohol."

"Oh yeah? Where was this sentiment when Bera's alcohol came out? I remember a certain someone downing half a bottle," Isaac teased.

"Bah, you got me there. There are always exceptions to the rule. And Viper's Kiss is worth it."

We fell into a comfortable level of chatter, but as Toogen shifted back to the center, I caught a blip of pink. It radiated from his foot, barely a blink before his robe shifted, covering his boots. I clenched my fist and breathed out.

It's not so fun being blind. I guess this is how the others feel.

Toogen moved around, talking to everyone and eventually made his way over toward Sereza and Khrem. He seemed friendly enough, and my friends even laughed at a few jokes. Even Khrem, the traitorous shark.

After half an hour, Eodyne landed and raised her fist.

"There's a barrier up ahead, cutting off the path."

"A barrier? Weren't you scouting so we could avoid getting caught in a dead end?" Isaac argued.

"I was. It changed."

"Changed?"

"Show us," Teddy said.

Eodyne led us down a series of left turns where we came upon a wall. It was a mixture of flesh and blood. It wasn't the color of the barrier but almost black in appearance. Its bulk easily dwarfed the hedge maze and crushed several walls of vegetation. The ends were hidden in the dark, but a rough guess put the impromptu wall at nearly four times Arturous' length.

"When did this happen?" Igas asked as he kicked a stone into the wall.

The strands swallowed the pebble with no outward effect.

"I'm not sure," Eodyne grunted.

"What? How? This is pretty fucking hard to miss," Isaac protested.

"Sturmrorex?" I probed.

My familiar sent over his memories. It took a moment to parse through them, but I could see why Eodyne was angry. The two had been scouting the sky. They took turns, one keeping an eye on the battle on the other side of the area, while the other plotted our route through the hedge maze. The wall was a piece of appendage that somehow eluded their combined watch and crashed down at this spot.

"It's a piece of the monster. You can see part of a claw if you turn left. I don't know how it appeared…" Eodyne answered.

"We have two options then. We turn back and take a different route, or we can try ascending the barrier. It seems inert, but there's a risk of it activating if we try to approach it," Teddy said.

"Sorry, potentially a dumb question, but why not cut through the maze?" I asked.

Celanae shook her head. "Maybe if they were mana constructs, but the grass is made of rare tier three flora. It's called steelvine. Even Teddy's mother would struggle to cut through it."

I stabbed at the nearest wall with my spear and heard a sharp scthiiing. The vibration dispersed throughout my arm, generating a smidge of kinetic energy.

"Theodore," Tyrrion boomed.

For the first time in a while, the man turned around. My eyes widened at the sight. Last I saw was a hardy man, muscled and bristling. The Tyrrion before us was a shallow, gaunt figure with sunken cheeks. Mana seeped out of the man's pores like mist, the mixture of muddy brown and burnt orange wisping off the edges of his hair.

"There is no time to delay," he bit. "Every second we waste puts the king's life in danger. We must hurry."

Tyrrion looked beyond Teddy while he spoke and looked directly at me. I closed my eyes and searched through Áine's memories. She pushed another bundle of mana through the king's back, highlighting his mana pathways.

I sucked in a breath and shook my head. "He's right. We should hurry."

Teddy caught the implication in my voice and turned to the barrier, raising his mace. "Then we push through."

"Where is the king? I'm surprised the great Tyrrion Solcrust would be anywhere but his majesty's side," Toogen asked.

"That's none of your business boy," Tyrrion snapped.

Toogen held up his hands and pushed past Teddy.

"Toogen?" Teddy asked.

"We need to test if this thing will activate, let me try. I still have my movement skill encase things go wrong."

Teddy lowered his weapon but kept his shield raised. "Be careful."

We watched on as Toogen made his way slowly towards the severed limb. Sereza reached my side, a frown on her face.

"I'm getting that feeling, you called it 'Day-jah voo?"

"Close enough, you feel it too? When I saw that barrier I was reminded of how we met," I responded.

"Once was enough," she sighed. Her grip tightened on her blades and she leaned in closer. "I have a bad feeling we're missing something. Just like rift. Like the calm before the lightning strike."

"I know what you mean," I nodded. With a playful tap of my tail, I nudged my chin toward shiny boy. "Talked to your almost savior yet?"

In truth I almost forgot he was there. Despite his shiny armor, the oppressive darkness had dimmed even the chrome on his shoulders. Combined with his nervous silence, he may as well have been invisible.

Sereza groaned. "He won't stop looking at me. When I catch him he turns red."

I bumped her shoulder and made my mask smile. It was all I could do before Toogen snapped his fingers. Waves of pink mana surged outward from his chest and hovered near the strands. They moved in geometric lines and short curving motions that reminded me of runenwork. When he lowered his hand, the mana sank to the ground without much fanfare.

"It's safe. I'm practically touching it, and it didn't reach to my skill. I think we can cross it or around it," he called out.

Teddy lowered his shield and signaled for everyone to move closer.

"Celanae, do you think you can get us over this?"

She studied the ground and then briefly looked up. "Yes."

Teddy nodded. "Good. On the count of three. Everyone stay close. It may be inactive, but I don't want anyone slipping and touching that stuff. Better to be safe than regretful."

We pressed in and I mounted Zagreus with Sereza and Khrem. The others crowded around Arturous and Celanae tapped her staff against the ground. A platform of amethyst formed beneath us, reinforced by another layer built within.

We rose steadily into the air and slid onto another barrier the curved us forward. I peeked downward, watching the strands goop and reform into an endless wave of viscera. We almost cleared the hurdle when a spark of dark pink rippled from the ground. It shot into the mass and sunk through the mesh.

A tugging sensation in my chest was all the warning I was given as I raised my arms and nearly yelped as I was blasted off my feet.

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