Jonah stood outside the labyrinth entrance reading a book on Linea’s spices. The massive room had been cleared as soon as Ede Alonse learned of the traveller. He cleared it for “maintenance” often enough for it not to look suspicious. Thankfully today was a training day—the students knew to follow their mentors’ orders and didn’t linger.

The labyrinth doors were hulking and thick, enchanted more heavily than a royal treasury’s vault door. They would be standing a million years after Centralis was dust. Most called them absurd, a Sovereign trying to show off.

Jonah didn't question why the doors were so overdone. She had read the Guide and remembered its warnings. That was enough explanation.

She heard someone approach and looked up from her book.

Hedwin Lorrant was lanky and unkempt, so pale and rough looking that you might think he hadn’t slept in years. His reddish brown clothes were old and worn, a remnant from his old home that he refused to replace. A storage ring had replaced the countless pouches he used to carry.

He cleaned his glasses—decoys, he wore contacts—as he approached.

“You’re the first here,” Jonah said, smiling. She shook his hand. “I appreciate you coming. I owe you for this.”

“You don’t owe me, it’s fine. Who else is coming?” Hedwin spoke quickly, as if he thought someone was listening in.

“Vivi.”

“Ah, a healer. Thank Ynel— Err, thank heavens?” He put his glasses back on. “Just her? Wait, only travellers?”

Jonah nodded.

“…Is this a retrieval? Is that why you were being secretive?” Hedwin started pacing as he muttered to himself. He looked back to Jonah a few seconds later. “What layer?”

“Likely middle.”

“I am not going to the trap layer.”

Jonah gave him a look.

“…I won’t go to the forest layer.”

Someone else arrived.

Vivi Sparklefoot waved toward them. She was dressed in all black battlemage garb, her brown hair cut to shoulder length. She had a silver staff propped up on her shoulder, its end adorned with a purple gem.

“Jonah, I’m so happy you called!” Vivi said. She looked at Hedwin with a stiff smile. “So happy to see you here too, Hedwin.”

Hedwin nodded. “You still haven’t told me where that title came from—“

“Anybody else coming?” Vivi asked Jonah. “Is Boreaf coming?”

“Boreaf is visiting Havash,” Hedwin said. “Besides, he isn’t a traveler.”

“Nobody told me he was in Havash…” Vivi deflated a bit. “And why does being a… Oh. A retrieval?”

“Yes,” Jonah said, putting her book back into her storage necklace. “Middle layer, Anchor likely.”

Hedwin frowned at the Anchor’s mention. “You know how my magic reacts to that thing.”

“Your headache will guide us, how fun,” Vivi said. “Hey Hedwin, what’s my level now anyway?”

“That is the most inaccurate part of Quantify. I will not spread lies—“

“What is it?”

“…259. But it doesn’t mean anything!”

Vivi sighed. “Ahh, only a couple up from last time.”

“Ready to go?” Jonah finally asked, not waiting for an answer as she started toward the labyrinth. A sleek, matte white armor appeared on her. Decorative red garb draped from different parts of the armor.

“Yay, quick job,” Vivi said, giving a quick little clap as she followed behind.

“Complacency is death,” Hedwin murmured as he took a reddish brown grimoire from his storage ring. A thin layer of ash floated around him.

“Why did you even come without knowing the details?” Vivi asked.

Hedwin adjusted his glasses. “Why did you?”’

“I trust Jonah. And I owe her more than a few favors,” Vivi said. “You’re too paranoid and high strung to go in there though.” She pointed at the labyrinth, the doors opening to reveal a mundane cave that broke into three directions. “So what, you're getting blackmailed?”

“Jonah wouldn’t do that,” Hedwin said, glaring at her. “I came because she asked for my help. The missing details were not ideal but you never know if a Sovereign is scrying you.”

“Please, the chances of that—“

“Incredibly low. Barely worth mentioning. Yet it’s why Aileen was taken from our halls,” Hedwin said, his voice growing quiet at Aileen’s mention.

“All because I stayed home,” he whispered, barely audible.

Vivi’s grip on her staff tightened.

Hedwin shook his head and picked up the pace, falling in step next to Jonah.

#

The Anchor had peeled off the wall with some effort. Its copper arrays were stressed. They could handle one more deployment but beyond that, Sidrick would have to get lucky. And the reward for his barely functioning Anchor was an utter disappointment.

“So you always rebuild yourself?” Sidrick asked the book. It refused to give him a name.

“I am invincible,” the book boasted in his mind. It was sitting in his satchel as he slowly made his way back from the grand hall, down the corridors he had already passed. The talkative little thing hadn’t retained any of the power it showed when it killed him. The cost of being bound to an unworthy host, supposedly.

The binding curse was supposed to kill everyone below archmage. How it determined that, and how his and the book’s souls were linked, was a mystery to Sidrick. He didn’t even know books could have souls until an hour ago.

He stopped at the next corridor. The labyrinth had shifted—all new challenges from here. Well, as many new challenges that a trap layer could come up with.

This time, it was pressure plates again. Sidrick spent the extra mana looking for hidden runes but found none. Which meant the physical traps would be worse.

“You can rebuild from anything, right? You’re sure?” Sidrick asked.

The book replied with a smug smile.

How can I tell it’s smiling? Sidrick sighed.

“Many humans have tried to claim me. Many more have tried to destroy me. Yet here I am,” it said. “I always come back. I am immortal, invincible, immaculate. Perfection pales in comparison to my—“

Sidrick took the book from his satchel and threw it into the corridor.

“Ah, AH! Something is clicking beneath me! HEARTLESS HUMAN, HOW DARE YOU— Is that liquid?! Aiya, no no, my pages just dried!”

Sidrick quickly moved around the corner before the traps went off. A series of fiery explosions accompanied the book’s screams and whining. Despite all the abuse, its voice never wavered. He didn’t feel any pain through their connection either.

The explosions were followed by a flood of flame that engulfed the corridor. Sidrick had to back further into the last corridor to avoid the scalding heat.

Once the flames stopped, he peaked around to see the book singed but fine. Only a couple patches of fire stubbornly clung to the cover. Its pages were visibly mending.

“Invincible.”

Sidrick ignored it as he checked for a good path to the book. It had opened up a large patch of safe tiles to stand on, thankfully. Halfway there, he almost had a heart attack when Layla slipped from his grip slightly.

“You humans and your relatives. Such connections are for the weak,” the book said as he arrived next to it.

“I can leave you in this corridor, see how much a human connection matters then.”

The book didn’t reply to that. Sidrick rolled his eyes and stomped out the lingering flames before stuffing the bastard thing in his satchel.

“…I will not again suffer the humiliation of baiting out traps,” the book finally said as they neared the end of the corridor.

“Well then you’re dead weight and I’m dropping you here. That’s twenty pounds I don’t need to carry.”

“I have many uses, you ignorant slob of an ape. You merely lack the power and knowledge to…”

Sidrick ignored the dead weight as he checked the next corridor for hidden runes. There were none again. His reservoir was a quarter down, draining much quicker now that he was keeping up the soul diagnostic and checking every room with his perception spell.

“You are a terrible speaking partner,” the book said.

“I’ll mute you,” Sidrick said as he set Layla down and got ready to meditate.

“…Why haven’t you already?” the book murmured.

Sidrick didn’t have an answer to that.

He was ready to turn off his diagnostic at the mere hint of a “You humans and your…” but the book was silent. He meditated and topped off his mana, the book only speaking once he was done.

“Do you have no food? No water?” the book asked, its voice quiet, almost shy. It had spoken in a grown woman’s voice before, authoritative and arrogant. This was closer to a young girl. Well, if the book stayed polite, he was happy to engage with it.

“My water is dirty. I have some rations but only enough for two meals. One is for her,” Sidrick said, gesturing to Layla. “But I can last longer than most on an empty stomach.”

“The last time you slept?”

“Three days ago. I think. It’s hard to know down here, but I’ve used about 20 healing salves on my sister—that’s 20 hours—plus I didn’t sleep on the last layer.” Sidrick sighed as he picked Layla up. “Doesn’t matter now, the Anchor made me good as new.”

“…Why do you have twenty healing salves? Where do you have twenty healing salves?”

“I have a storage item full of healing items. It’s almost empty now, I used most of it trying to…” He shook his head. “Nevermind. I have around fifteen salves left.”

“And you don’t have a storage item for food?” it asked like he was an idiot.

“We lost most of our items on the forest layer.”

The book didn’t ask any questions about that, at least. Actually…

“How much do you know about the labyrinth? Layers, monsters, anything,” Sidrick said.

“I know that I was protected by golems.”

Sidrick expected as much. “Why did you get a special room? How did you control the golems?”

“I only know that I’ve been in there a very, very long time,” the book said quietly. “And if I could control the golems, I would have told them to get me out of there.”

“But you ordered them around when I first got there.”

“I did…?” It stopped to think. “I don’t remember.”

Sidrick frowned deeply at that, his gut turning with anxiety. Something told him that those porcelain golems weren’t gone at all. He would be keeping his perception spell up until the next layer at least. It was the only way he’d see those things coming.

How he’d fight them in these corridors was an entirely different problem.

#

Vivi watched Jonah in awe. Where wind passed, the blood of monsters flowed. Where she gazed, flames bloomed. Naught reached them but ash and screams.

She glanced at Hedwin. The man was wearing earplugs. How a mage of his experience could be bothered by dying monsters was a mystery to her. She doubted that he found god or some such nonsense. Travellers never did.

Simply asking him did cross Vivi’s mind, but she preferred watching Jonah work. Her mana sight showed her a symphony of currents, the ethereal threads weaving to Jonah’s every whim. So many mages just pulled and prodded to get what they wanted. Their magic was crude, even ugly. They were farmboys given swords. Jonah was a born commander.

They reached the center of the labyrinth in four minutes.

“Ready to continue?” Jonah asked. Her mana was barely scratched, Vivi knew.

Hedwin took his earplugs out. “I’m fine.”

“I’m ready too!” Vivi said with a grin.

Jonah nodded and they headed down. They would appear at the outer edge of the second layer despite entering at the center of the first. The labyrinth would shift more as they went deeper, the second layer’s corridors still only moving once an hour. The tenth changed whenever it felt like it. They entered into a large room, the stairs they were going down attached to the wall.

Jonah suddenly stopped. Hedwin frowned deeply as he looked around. Vivi lacked their special sensory magic, much to her frustration. Still, she took the time to prepare a series of barrier and healing spells. Something told her they would need them.

Jonah suddenly lunged toward Vivi, stopping the shimmering glass knife that almost cut her throat. All she could see of its wielder was its porcelain arm extending from a void in the air. Jonah ripped the knife from the porcelain arm and shattered it in her armored hand. The space behind the arm flickered.

Vivi saw glimpses of the creature. Or rather, the four of them. They were beautiful porcelain golems, each holding a glass knife. Something sat at the center of them, a small thing with glowing white eyes. They peeled back space like it was a thin fabric and slipped away.

“Barriers up,” Jonah said.

Vivi nodded as layers of illusory armor formed around her.

Hedwin hadn’t looked in their direction, his eyes fixed on the bottom of the stairs.

“What do you see?” Jonah asked.

Hedwin wordlessly produced a wave of ash that passed through the room. Four spaces in the room flickered, each of the porcelain amalgams disappearing a moment later.

“Fae,” Hedwin said, his face grim. Was that hatred? Vivi thought the man was incapable of it.

“They shouldn’t be here. Their nest is on the ninth layer,” Jonah said, crossing her arms. She looked at Hedwin. “You’re the expert. Thoughts?”

“They aren’t stupid. They’ll run when they realize the power difference,” Hedwin said. “I still suggest caution. The ones we saw were low-level, but they’ll call friends if we get too aggressive.” He seemed much more motivated now that the Fae were involved. “I’ll keep my ash up, give any who come near us a good scare.”

“Any idea why they’re here?” Jonah asked. “The traveller?”

“Maybe they thought killing a few training students would be fun,” Hedwin muttered before sighing. “Fae don’t care about travellers unless they attack first. They actually avoid us, don’t like facing any magic they don’t understand. Either a braindead archmage destroyed their nest or someone stole something,” Hedwin said as he started back down the steps, ash swirling around them in a large bubble.

Vivi was disappointed Jonah wouldn’t be the star but Hedwin was still interesting to watch. His magic wasn’t as smooth or refined, but it was ruthlessly efficient. If it wasn’t, his unique magic supposedly gave him a headache.

“I don’t see any dead at least,” Vivi said. “They must have just got here.”

They turned to see a four-armed golem in full plate black armor. Wisps of red mana billowed from its helm. Each hand held a different weapon.

“Thieves in the palace,” it said in a too-human voice.

“High level,” Hedwin said as his ash condensed into spear-tipped limbs.

Jonah sighed. “Our traveller is a moron.”