Chapter 30: The Maze
As I overlooked the maze, I could see that there was a staircase etched from stone that descended toward the opening of the maze. I presumed that is my only option to the maze, and to Liliana. I faintly heard the waging of war and screams echo through the cavern, I really hope Gideon and Ral were ok. To just leave them behind made me feel destroyed and even emptier inside than before.
How could I just allow them to handle that by themselves? I feel like I abandoned my friends, and Liliana.
Especially Liliana. How could I have been so foolish to just allow her to be taken, from me, from my arms. The thought of never seeing her again haunted me; it tore my heart to shreds. I had no idea if she was alive, if she was well, or even if the child was unharmed. How was I to expect the Dimir not to try some shallow underhanded maneuver? What am I to expect when I found her? My mind wandered to a very dark place and I had to stop the thoughts before they could continue any further. I couldn't lose heart.
As I descended the steps, massive creatures rose here and there, moving about. They looked much like centipedes, very similar to the creatures we encountered earlier. These must be the adults that Gideon had mentioned. I pressed myself flat as possible against the wall, and descend down the stones steps. Thankfully one didn't see me.
I left out a sigh as my foot hit the last step then the ground; My heart beating extremely fast, and breathing ragged. I had to get myself under control. The creature hadn't approached me, but it's size was terrifying enough to shake my nerves. Furiously my hands shook, and my knees felt like they were going to give way any moment, I sat down on a rock not too far from the last step and took a sip of water from my canteen. The cool water seeped into my body and calmed it. The water seemed to replenish me enough to get a grip. If anyone had seen the 'great and powerful mind mage,' lose his cool over seeing massive centipedes all respect and reverence would be replaced with mockery and shame. I just needed to focus, I have a task, a quest. I will succeed; I will bring Liliana home and our child. We will have a family, we must.
A few more moments passed, and my resolve was with me once more. Standing up, I stretched, trying to keep myself loose. My mind was faltering every second, and it was up to me to either stop this darkness or let it win. I began walking towards the opening of the maze, some 100 meters away, open and barren. From where I was the opening of the maze looked just like the Dimir guild gate, several archways on a stone path led to its blue and black entrance, the spider, glistening in the faint light of the flame and trace amounts of sunlight breaking through to the dead cavern. This place was terrible and reaked of death. A sudden earth shaking boom resounded within the cavern, knocking me to my knees. Several small booms ricocheted behind that one, causing rocks to fall, and break some of the columns, and litter the ground. Silence. The shaking and the small booms had ended, causing the cavern to reach that emptiness it had not too long ago. Alone, and empty once more. I got off my knees and brushed off some of the dirt from my clothes as best as possible, pulled my hood up, and continued.
I soon reached the entrance to the maze, a dark an ominous presence surrounded this maze, and I was about to willingly throw myself into it. I surged my mana for a second, and placed a ward on my head, trying to hopefully prevent some of the madness returning. I would need my wits about me within the maze to traverse it.
When I entered the maze, long spike like protrusions rose from the entrance way, extending to interlock with one another, blocking my exit. Well, I'm not getting out that way. I walked through the entrance of the maze, so far it was a pretty straight forward path, no forks or turns have yet to arise. I was all alone, no before footprints in the murky broken stone walk way. The primary of the wall had been constructed of stone; however it changed to mirrors as I took my first turn, weighing my options.
As I took the first left, I made a little mark on the stone marking my path, hoping not to run in circles. I walked, the turn opening to a large circle, with four ways in and out. The way I came from, a way directly across from me, and two entrances on the right and left of this circle like room. Mirrors lined the walls, almost obscuring the paths. Something, however, was off about the room. In all of the mirrors, there were two figures. Mine, and one other. The other figure appeared to wear bone like, pointy armor, resembling Dimir armor. I approached one of the mirrors and touched it, it was solid. The fact that there was another figure in these mirrors disturbed me, and told me I was being targeted. A soft rush of aether on one hand, and ice on the other formed my sword, the wispy trails of aether curling off it, and a spike of ice.
I wasn't going to take any chances, I raised the sword and swung it into the mirror, shattering it.
"Very good," resounded a voice. I spun, the voice intangible at this point.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" I barked.
"Peace, Mindsculptor. At this moment I mean you no harm." The voice said again. I looked to the reflections, and the other figures hands now rested in front of him, his breathing apparent. A bone like helmet covered his face, so I could not tell who it was. I approached another one of the mirrors, examining it.
"Yes, you're looking at me, and the fact that you knew off the hilt that you're being tricked by mirrors, well, that just proves our reports right," he said.
"What reports?" I asked, smashing another mirror.
"That you're very intelligent. A truly astute mind. It would be such a waste to kill you. Just think, we could harvest your brain and understand its properties," his voice said, laughing deeply.
"So, you don't want me? Or was it just her your guild went after?" I retorted.
"Ah, your intelligence is to be admired. However, do not get us wrong, we want the both of you. But you're more useful dead than alive!" He roared, coming from behind me, sword already drawn and swinging. I was a little too slow, as the blade gashed my chest open. I didn't allow a second one to connect. I rolled backwards, popped up, and parried his next blow.
"Is the training from Kallist stirring in your absent memories, or are you just reacting off instinct?" The assassin said, swinging his sword again, catching my cheek. His blows were furious, but I retaliated with a rod of ice. However, he dodged it, and the rod sunk deep into the mirror behind him.
"For such a powerful mind mage, your body is lacking. As is your resolve," he said, knocking me to the ground, and my sword away. Several daggers flew, and pinned my sleeve to the mirror I was against.
"That was far too easy, Beleren. Hopefully you and your family can serve us better in the afterlife."
As his sword came up and down, I released a blast of mana with my free hand, sending him flying. The sound of flesh and cloth being torn could be heard, as the assassin's body collided with the spike of ice, impaling him. I freed the daggers from my sleeve and got to my feet, retrieving my sword.
"Well played Beleren, I should have seen that coming," he said, blood dripping down the glass and from the wound.
"I'm not wasting my time, tell me what you know or I'll lop your miserable head off," I demanded, my sword raising his chin as I lifted it to him.
"Intimidation does not suit you Beleren. You really shoul..." He tried to say, but I wouldn't have it. It one quick movement, I cleaved his head off, and it rolled to the ground. Blood covered the sword and my face. I was not going to have any second thoughts. My mission will be successful.
I picked up the head, and searched through the remainder of the mind that had not died, and retrieved the little information that would be useful. The way out of this room. I threw the head to the ground, and before I left, turned to see blood, shattered glass and ice littered the floor. With a wave of my hand, the rest of the room was covered in ice. I threw several jets of water at the headless body, shattering it, preventing re animation. No more Dimir tricks.
I've had enough of their underhanded corruption and just want peace, and if I have to level the Dimir, and wipe them from the tablet of the Guilds, then by the eternities, I will. I will turn this hellhole into a crater and make an example out of the Dimir. "Is that all you have Lazav!? A maze?! Is that the best you can throw at me?!" I roared, my voice echoing through the cavern. Anger was seething in my heart and the madness was making my blood run cold and my mind reverberate with the whispers of terrible voices.
I knew they were watching. Any fool could tell that I was being watched. They have been following me since we entered the Dimir, and they've increased their numbers since I entered the maze.
A small picking flared in the back of my head, and there was a disturbance in the aether. A tiny, almost undetectable burst of mana triggered my senses. They were getting cocky. Time to cut them down a bit. I could almost feel the assassin's breath on my neck. I swung around and grabbed the blade before it had time to connect to me. A shocked look was on the Dimir agent's face as I stopped him. I rear back and knee him in the stomach. He dropped to the floor coughing; however I wasn't through with him. Picking the agent off the floor by his hair, I smash him into one of the walls, and blast two stakes of ice through his palms, and one through each thigh.
"You're going to tell me what I want to know, or I'll splatter you all across this wall," I said, venom in my voice.
"Hahaha...I never thought that such a powerful mind mage, one not to typically accustomed to such barbaric violence, would react in such a brutal fashion. Tell me, is it the allure of power that is driving you or is it revenge?" He cackled manically.
Without hesitation, I encased my hand in ice, and punched his elbow, shattering it. The assassin roared in pain. "Unless the next words out of your mouth reveal pertinent information, I will kill you," I said.
"Hahaha! You wouldn't!" The assassin said. I had had enough of these games. I placed my bare palm to the back of his head, and read all of his memories, drinking all of the details from him I could. I saw several paths through the maze, only a couple furthered my progress, and several other details popped out at me. There were several traps and other assassins and horrors hiding within the maze.
"Thank you for the information," I said, applying more mana to his head, until it ignited into blue flame. I had over applied the mana, literally frying his mind. What I just did was similar to Dimir based magic, I thought, disgusted. However disgust was then replaced by relief. Thankfully this assassin revealed some pertinent information.
I released my grasp from the man, and the body slumped as the remainder of the mind burned away with the blue flame, revealing only his skull. I turned from the corpse and walked on, determined to leave the maze. The smell of smoldering flesh and hair could be heard as I continued on.
At this point, no one's life meant anything to me, especially if anything was to happen to Liliana. I cared not for the Dimir, I cared little for the blood that now seeped into my clothes and dried on my skin, and especially did not care if more bodies were to litter this wretched hell. A few minutes passed as my footsteps drug my boots through sludge and other fluids, no telling what that was, and I came to a different section of the maze. The mirrors were gone and the walls were now a dark steel grey. I tapped on the wall, and I could tell it was stone. The ground had a slick paste on it, and more dripping could be heard off in the distance.
I looked around the passage as I continued to walk, and the light was soon becoming less and less until I was standing in the pitch black. There was a level of panic to this, and I couldn't ascertain my surroundings in this midnight. A small orb of light formed on my hand, and I tossed it up. It instinctively hovered over my head, illuminating the darkness. I regret that decision.
The darkness had retreated from the illumination, revealing a circular room, approximately a hundred feet in circumference, and no less than a dozen paths to take. The floor was covered in dark blood, and chunks of what appeared to be flesh. The smooth stone of the wallswere drenched in a black-like liquid, that almost moved to its own shape. In places that the blood was thickest, half-eaten bodies, stripped if their flesh and meat, littered parts of the room. Approximately twenty feet away from me, were three hulking like creatures, their lower halves reminding me of spiders, tearing into another body. All across their bodies were protrusions of bone, and spikes, resembling armor. From what I could see of the back of their heads, they were also covered in jagged, natural, bone-like armor.
Whether the Dimir agents fashioned themselves after these creatures, or they fashioned the creatures after themselves, mattered little, they were still very terrifying. I tried to pace my heartbeat and control the madness burning in my head and heart. But I couldn't, or more appropriately, my heart wouldn't allow me to do it. This madness, this poison or whatever the damned Dimir have put inside me, is eating at me. I don't have much longer until this madness takes control of me and my mind. There was no telling what this could do, or what irreversible effects it could have on my body. What if I never got to see Lili again? Or Ral or Gideon? What if this causes me to kill one of them, and I have to bury Lili like we did Kallist? These thoughts burned at the back of my mind and tore my already fragile heart to pieces, I couldn't bear these thoughts, but I continued to torture myself this way. My head screamed with terrible thoughts and apparitions, and I knew I was breaking. They had broken my one advantage. My mind. They would win; I would never see her smile again. I would never feel her gentle touch, the one she that she reserved especially for me, I will never again feel Lili's breath on my neck as we make love. Nor will I ever be able to hear the pitter patter of tiny feet on the floor, or the calling of "Papa", and the tiny little arms reach for our embrace. I would never be able to share a soft, precious moment with my beloved and our child. All because of the selfish endeavors of these damned guilds, however, I was to blame. I gave into them and I allowed Lili to slip from my grasp and myself to get comfortable. I thought I could afford a type of luxury one like myself, should never think they are deserved. I thought I would've learned my lesson from Kallist's death, and the ordeal with Garruk, but I never learn. How, I don't know. I have a brilliant mind, but it has failed.
The creatures had apparently sensed my presence, and their deep glowing blue gaze was turned upon me. I really didn't fight, or even attempt to steel my guard. I dropped to my knees, my shoulders slack, and almost accepted the end. My name is Jace Beleren, the Living Guildpact of Ravnica, fiancé to Liliana Vess, and friend to many, and this, this is where I die.