The air was thick, clogged with dust. She coughed struggling to breathe. With a groan she rolled onto her back and shook some of the rubble off of herself. She moaned clutching her side as pain shot through it. Where was she? What happened? She couldn't remember.

From somewhere a light was shining illuminating the millions of tiny particles dancing through the air. Distantly someone was calling her name over and over. Turning her head she flung out an arm reaching for the radio. Finally her fingers closed around the device.

"Elena?"

Dragging the speaker to her mouth she pressed the talk button.

"I'm here," she said carefully sitting up.

"Oh thank God!" Nate sighed relievedly. "Don't do that to me."

"Now we're even," she grumbled.

Her surroundings were becoming more familiar. She was in the labyrinth and now she was alone. Climbing to her feet she collected her flashlight and clipped to her belt. Wincing she gripped her side as pain shot through it again.

"Are you okay?" Nate asked.

"For the most part," she answered. "I did something to my side though."

"Be careful," he said. "We're farther underground now so I don't know how long we can keep the connection."

Leaning against the wall Elena staggered down the hall. It was even dustier and darker down here than it had been before.

"Just… moving… out… here… …" Nate cut in and out.

"Nate?" she asked.

"…lena?"

More static crackled out of the receiver and nothing else.

"Damn," she muttered clipping it back to her belt. Now she truly was alone.

Stumbling forward she struggled to keep moving. Her only hope was that she'd run into the others again. The silence of the stone walls was eerie, haunting. Occasionally she could hear the rumble of rocks clattering to the floor or the whispering echo of distant voices. Swallowing hard she just kept moving.

"Who?" a sudden sound broke the silence.

With a terrified gasp Elena spun around. Perched on a sconce not two feet away was the same little owl that she'd befriended earlier.

"You again?" she asked. "How'd you get in here?"

The owl whoed in response and glided down onto her shoulder. Hopping closer it nuzzled her cheek with its soft feathered head. She gently ran her finger down its back.

"So what do you want this time?" she asked.

It leapt from her shoulder and flew down the hall landing delicately on the next sconce. Cocking its head it stared at her with big eyes.

"You want me to follow you?"

It nodded.

"Okay…"

After looking around for a minute Marie bent down and beat the dust off of her jeans and shook out her jacket. Elias was sitting reclined back against the wall warily looking at his left leg. His face was pale making the dark circles beneath his eyes even darker. He'd cracked his glasses during the fall adding even more to his rag-tag look.

"You okay to keep going?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said voice thin.

Chewing on her lower lip she knelt down beside him.

"We have to keep moving, Elias," she said. "It's our only chance. If we don't we'll die down here."

"Alright," he nodded still looking uncertain.

Pulling him to his feet Marie slung his left arm over her shoulder and slowly they moved forward. They weren't getting anywhere fast at this pace and Elias was looking like he might pass out.

She felt sorry for him; he shouldn't have been dragged into this mess. Academics didn't handle near death experiences well. He was accustomed to libraries and structured scheduled digs not the bullet storm of chaos Nate usually found himself in. In a way she was jealous of him. Some days she wished she hadn't seen everything she had, that she could go back to her days of blissful ignorance. But for as green as he was he was handling it well.

"We're going to make it out of here," she assured him.

"I know," he answered.

Ryan flashed his light around in disgust. They'd already hit three dead ends. Whatever Drake's method was it wasn't working.

"We are completely lost," he said turning to Drake. "Do you have a clue what you're doing?"

"Well if you have any bright ideas feel free to speak up," Nate snapped.

"Fine," he said. "From now on, I lead."

"Fine."

Nate trailed behind Ryan muttering choice phrases under his breath. If he thought he could actually do better more power to him. He was about sick of Ryan's holier than thou attitude. If he wasn't so concerned about finding Elena he probably would have clocked him in the face by now. The way it was looking they were both up a crick without a paddle anyway.

"Where are you leading me?" Elena called jogging to catch up with the bird. "Whoa…"

Slowly she stepped out into the large chamber. Cascading down from somewhere high in the invisible ceiling was a singular column of light shone down on the center of the room. Haloed in its light was a stone pedestal with the gleaming artifact settled on top. Throwing a hand up to shield her eyes Elena tried to squint through the retina scorching light.

"Wow…" she whispered.

The shield was incredible, even more detailed than the other artifacts. Owls decorated the scalloped rim and molded in the center was the same terrified face she'd found on the labyrinth's door. The dabbled moss colored oxidization of the copper face made it dominate the piece even more. Somehow the silver had not tarnished leaving the shield to gleam brilliantly in the waterfall of light. From somewhere above her guide owl soared down onto the pedestal and cooed happily admiring its reflection in the shield's silver sheen.

"See something you like?" she smiled.

Clapping burst thunderously from the darkness echoing endlessly through the chamber. Sucking in a breath Elena spun around hand instinctually flying to her gun. Brewr and his black-clad minions melted out of the shadows surrounding her.

"Congratulations, you've found the shield," he said.

She stared at him eyes wide face etched in a mask of shear panic.

"What's the matter, Elena?" he asked mockingly. "I'm hurt. You don't seem very happy to see me."

"You…" she stuttered out. "How?"

"I knew you'd get here first," he stated ignoring her question. "Especially with the guidance of your little friend here."

The owl leapt into the air and perched on her shoulder puffing its chest out in defiance.

"I suggest you run along," Brewr said darkly with and intense glare at the owl.

"Who!" it responded not budging.

"Have it your way then."

The bird's head jerked to the side with a sickening crack. Elena flinched feeling her stomach churn. The owl wavered for a moment before dropping to the floor. Dropping to her knees Elena stroked its ting head but it did not stir.

"Why did you do that?" she choked out.

"To be fair I did warn him," he answered unremorsefully. "Owls can be such stubborn creatures."

Elena's lower lip quivered with anger as her grip on her gun tightened.

"This should be a lesson for you," Brewr said shoes clacking against the floor as he stepped closer. "I always get what I want no matter what I have to do or who I have to kill to get it, including that owl, you, your boyfriend, and all of his little friends. Nothing is off limits. This is war."

"Then it's about time somebody stopped you," she hissed through gritted teeth finger closing around the trigger of her gun.

"I wouldn't do that…"

Snapping up Elena pulled out her gun and fired three times. The shot's connected precisely exploding into Brewr's chest. Elena saw him falter back step before turning and bursting into a sprint. After a few strides she slammed straight into one of Brewr's goons stopping her escape. He snared her by the wrists and jerked her around. His vice grip on her wrist increased until she was forced to release her gun. It clattered to the floor. The brutish man spun her around to see Brewr who was nonchalantly brushing himself off despite the three bullet holes in his chest.

"Now you've made me angry," he said lowly.

His hand flew freely striking her across the face and she cried out. She knew if the goon hadn't been holding her the force of the blow would have sent her to the floor. Sucking in a breath she tried to ignore the throbbing in her cheek and blinked back the tears in her stinging eyes. Face cast down she tried to compose a sentence.

"Who are you?" she asked voice shaking.

"Why do you ask questions you already know the answer too?" he asked back. Eyes gleaming wickedly he leaned closer until their cheeks were practically touching and whispered in her ear, "I told you, you would not escape me."

Ryan and Nate stumbled forward into another junction reeling around in confusion. They had made no progress what so ever. Nate was almost sure Ryan was leading them in circles.

"I told you we should've gone the other way," Ryan said throwing his hands up.

"I was under the impression you were leading," Nate retorted.

"Y'know what, Drake?"

"Shhh…"

"I cannot even believe that…"

"Ryan would you shuddup for a second?" he asked sharply. Ryan fell silent. "Thank-you."

Nate strained his ears searching for the sound. For a moment all he heard was the creak of the stone, a stone fall, then there it was again.

"D'you hear that?" he asked quietly.

"Voices," Ryan confirmed.

"Sounds like Marie and Elias," Nate said. "C'mon."

Nate took off down a corridor after the voices. The voices were getting closer. Breaking into a run he slid around corners and burst into the next junction. He was quickly rewarded by being temporarily blinded by a flashlight beam. When the colors cleared from his vision he found himself staring at the business end of a pistol.

"Nate?" Marie asked in surprise lowering her gun. "Jesus! You scared the crap outta me!"

"Good it is you guys," he said blinking a few times.

"Who else would it be?" Elias asked.

"Any sign of Elena?" he asked ignoring Elias.

"Who?"

"Elena," Nate repeated giving her a weird look.

"I know," she said.

"Then why'd you ask who?"

"I didn't," she said.

"Who?"

"There is again," he said looking around.

"I didn't say anything," Marie insisted.

"Uh, guys…"

Ryan directed their attention to the midsized bird perched above one of the doorways. It was mottled with gray and brown feathers and had large sad looking eyes.

"Is that an owl?" Marie asked as a shocked look crossed Nate's face. "What is it?"

"Owls… Elena said she saw one earlier but I didn't believe her," he said slowly.

"If you are worthy the owls will guide you."

"Excuse me?" Nate asked turning to Elias.

"That was the last line of the inscription," he explained. "If you are worthy the owls will guide you. At first I thought it was just a reference to the mural leading to the doorway. I never would have imagined there would be actual owls down here."

On cue the owl ruffled its feathers and swooped down off its perch gliding into one of the darkened hallways. Its call rang back at them beckoning forward with urgency.

"Well, let's follow it," Marie suggested.

They took off after the owl as quickly as Elias's ankle would let them. The weaving corridors quickly had Nate disoriented.

"Where is he leading us?" Ryan asked.

"Not a clue," Nate answered.

The owl swooped around the next corner disappearing from view. Picking up the pace Nate hurried after it. Sliding around the last corner he burst out into the large chamber beyond skidding to a halt.

"Wow…"

The others careened around the corner behind him stopping dead in their tracks. The room was vast and natural light filtered in from somewhere high above landing on the pedestal in the room's center. The air was cleaner here fresher than the stale dust than they'd been breathing before.

"There's the shield," Elias said.

Nate led the group forward footsteps echoing off the stones. Throwing out a hand he stopped them. Wariness was stirring in the pit of his stomach. Everything was silent. The idle sounds of the maze had disappeared.

"Something's off," he whispered.

"Welcome, Mr. Drake," a voice rang out of the silence.

Instincts kicking in Nate's hand flew to his gun ripping it from the holster and aimed blindly into the darkness. Beside him Marie did the same her barrel appearing in his peripherals. All around them black-clad Aredites emerged from the shadows. Nate's eyes darted over them calculating; they were vastly outnumbered.

"It would seem you are last to the party," Brewr said stepping forward.

Nate instantly turned his gun on Brewr eyes narrowing. The vengeful rage in him wanted nothing more than to take this guy out right here, right now.

"I would not do that if I were you," Brewr said a threatening edge in his voice. "I would hate to have to hurt your friend."

"Let go of me!" a voice cried from inside the group.

"Elena…" Nate whispered.

She was shoved roughly forward stumbling a few steps before catching her balance. She shot Brewr an absolutely hateful glare before looking up to see him.

"Nate…" she mouthed.

His hand faltered a moment. He couldn't risk a fight now, not with Elena caught right in the cross fire. Weighing his options he snapped his gun back up posture even more ridged than before.

"If you so much as touch her I swear…"

"You are in no position to be making threats, Mr. Drake," Brewr cut him off voice still eerily calm as if he did this every day. "Now it's my turn."

Brewr snatched Elena pulling her back against his chest. He wrapped a steely arm around her shoulders and pressed the cold muzzled of a gun against her temple.

"Drop your weapons, now!" he ordered.

Nate didn't falter.

"Don't test me, Mr. Drake. I will kill her," Brewr shouted. "Drop your weapons!"

"Nate?" Marie asked.

"Do as he says."

Nate slowly leaned forward placing his gun on the floor and the others mirrored his movements.

"Now kick them away."

Nate worked his toe under the gun and flipped it away. It skittered across the floor before halting several feet away.

"Good. Now I believe you have something for me Mr… excuse me, Dr. Gravari," Brewr said. "The spear if you please."

Elias hesitated looking at Nate.

"Give it to him," Nate said flatly.

One of the Aredites stepped forward taking the spear from Elias. He returned it to Brewr and faded back into the crowd.

"You have what you want," Nate said. "Now let Elena go."

"Did you really think it would be that easy, Mr. Drake?" Brewr asked addressing Nate like a child. "That you all would just walk out of here and go on your merry way? No, I'm afraid Ms. Fisher will be staying with me."

"That's not what we…"

"We never made any agreements," Brewr grinned. "The ultimatum was you do as I say or she dies. I never said anything about letting her go."

"You son of a…"

"I tire of this, Mr. Drake. You have far outlived your usefulness and have only gotten in the way continuously since then," he said moving toward the shield. Behind him dozens of guns raised to the ready. "Good-bye, Mr. Drake."

Brewr reached forward and claimed the shield. Without the weight of the artifact the pedestal raised a few inches. The ground shook as some sort of large mechanism groaned to life beneath the floor. The creak and moan grew louder joined by the harsh grinding of stone on stone. The walls of chamber were beginning to rotate blocking the exits. They spun furiously picking up speed.

"What's happening?" Marie shouted over the roaring wind.

"I don't know," he called back, "but we need to get out of here."

"How!"

Turning around Nate flashed his light at the spinning wall. For several seconds all he saw was the blurry movement of the stone then finally he spotted what he was looking for, the doorway. It moved along the blocked passages until finally it aligned with the hallway beyond. The opening only lasted a few seconds and then it was gone.

"There!" he shouted. "Move!"

Together the group hurried closer to the grinding wall. The wind coming off it was so fierce it almost blew them backwards.

"How are we going to get through that?" Marie shouted.

"We wait for the gap then we jump," he shouted back.

"Huh?"

Nate didn't answer he was too busy watching the gap. It was coming back around fast.

"Get ready!" he said.

"What?"

"Now!"

He grabbed Marie and using all his force tossed her into the air. She soared towards the wall and flew through the gap right as it lined up with the hall beyond. As the gap closed she crashed onto the floor below.

"You next," he said point to Elias as the gap came back around.

He didn't even have a chance to protest before Nate grabbed him and tossed him through the gap after Marie. He careened through the air landing practically on top of her. The gap slid shut again. The wall was still spinning but it was losing speed. There was a loud clunking sound as the rings started to slide into place.

"We're running out of time," Nate said looking back over his shoulder.

Across the cavern Brewr was roughly dragging Elena toward the other wall. She fought and he grabbed her by the hair jerking her back. Just the sight of it made the muscles in Nate's arms clench involuntarily. When he caught up with Brewr there would be hell to pay. As if he sensed him looking Brewr looked up somehow making eye contact across the huge room. His eyes went wide at the diminished size of Nate's group.

"Kill them!" he screamed.

"Time to go," Nate said.

"Agreed."

He grabbed Ryan by the shirt and they leapt through the gap bullets pinging off the wall around them. They tumbled into the darkness beyond. Moments later the final ring clicked into place locking them in.

Nate flicked his flashlight back on, "Everyone alright?"

"Yeah, fine, we're here," the group groaned in response.
Pushing himself to his feet he turned and examined the wall that now stood where the doorway should be. He pressed his hands against it.

"Well, we aren't getting back that way," he stated.

"So," Marie said propping herself up. "What do we do now?"

Nate shook his head, "I haven't the slightest idea."