Kei made a face of anger and sadness.

"Miron, do you hear that? They're laughing at us. It's not fair!"

"I know, but alas, we have a much bigger problem here than their hateful laughter."

Soon a whole swarm of insects, similar to the two that had been at Kei's back and which Miron had reduced to ashes, gathered, making the shrill grinding of their teeth and hairy legs with sharp nails, charged at the two boys to grab them and tear them to death. The boys felt shaken.

"How can we escape them..."

"By running!"

Fortunately, they possessed the ability to run fast and with confounding agility despite the treatment they had endured throughout his years, and this was further enhanced by the magic that soaked their suits, otherwise, the wild swarm would have already caught them and torn them apart.

"I told you we shouldn't have wandered away from the door," exclaimed Kei in a worried voice. "We're in a very bad situation now."

"Inactivity was never my strongest quality."

"I've noticed that. But you also know now that it's the reason everyone hates you so much."

They ran down various corridors trying to avoid the violent attacks of the giant insects. Alas, as they ran through one of them, they encountered a beast as huge as it was terrifying, with thick greenish fur, spotted with imperfect yellow circles. They stopped just in time to avoid colliding with it. At first, the monster remained motionless, seeming almost unable to make any movement, and stared at its flesh toys with an indifferent air. At this strange behavior, Kei murmured hopefully,

"Maybe it can't see us."

But at that moment, the beast struck the ground with its sharp hooves, ready to charge. The boys slowly retreated, terrified.

"Well, you're wrong. It can see us perfectly."

At that moment, the swarms arrived in turn and gathered behind them. Miron looked to either side. Just as suddenly, a monster with a body protected by thick bark armor emerged and brutally destroyed the walls. The cursed letters on the walls stirred and moved quickly over the monster's body, covering it completely and beginning to torture and devour it in an excruciating and unbearable manner.

Kei winced in disgust.

"That's gruesome."

"Yes," Miron nodded, equally disgusted by the barbaric sight.

The monster struggled fiercely against the spell that was inexorably killing it, pushing and crushing giant swarms of insects in the process. A blackish smoke rose from its body and spread everywhere, liquefying and killing everything that touched it, including the rest of the insects and other monsters that swarmed around it. Soon, the bark-armored beast collapsed to the ground in a pitiful state. But immediately another monster emerged, a great behemoth with a body covered in ruddy spikes, its bulging eyes dilated with blood and hunger. He intended to devour his fellow beast, but unfortunately, the body of the barking beast covered with cursed letters could not be touched. So, consumed by frustration and growing hunger, the monster turned to the two young warriors and went downright crazy when it saw them and felt their coolness.

"Well?" asked Kei to his companion in an almost inaudible whisper so as not to alarm the beast. "I think this one is really abnormally crazy. What are we going to do, boss?"

The boss watched their other greenish opponent who was not infected by the poor broken monster's deadly rot, and still stood in front of them and blocked their way.

"I think there is only one way to escape from these beasts. It's to run... towards this one!"

"What?"

They ran towards the raging monster that was waiting for a single click to charge. The giant ruddy spade monster, sensing the movements of its prey, rushed towards them and roared ferociously.

"What's your plan, baby genius?"

"Baby genius? Will you stop with the stupid nicknames, yes?"

"Yes, if you want to, but I think it's a shame! Now what?"

They run separately along the walls. The twilight-furred beast, hesitating which of the two to pursue, had to let them go, though it couldn't stop its run in time to charge again, and at the same time, the greenish-spotted monster charged straight ahead from the other side. The impact was inevitable. The shock of the collision threw both boys to the ground, as much as it ravaged the walls and floor all around.

"It was a brilliant idea, as always. Alas, this time we really almost died."

"Yeah. And at this rate, we'll be finished by the next attack."

They breathed a sigh of relief, then stood up and looked around.

"Look over there Miron."

Miron followed his friend's gaze and found a half-torn wall that had become a sort of makeshift staircase through which to reach the top of the walls.

"Good. Let's go. Hurry up Kei!"

"But what about the evil spells? You saw that bark monster collapse like dry toast, didn't you?"

"The comparison doesn't make much sense. However, I don't think the curses will affect us much. But anyway, I'd better go and see how things are going."

So they climbed to the top of the wall and began to run. No spells attacked them as Miron had expected, and that was again thanks to the protective spells that permeated their cursed suit. And fortunately so, for huge raptors hovered over them, menacing and starving. The waves generated by the beating of their wings quickly swept away the veil of mist that enveloped the labyrinth. Their long feathers glistened in the ghostly light of the full moon, and their amber eyes rested on their prey with fatal greed. One of them, after an eventful flight, landed violently in front of the two boys, blocking their way. Immediately, it threw its huge clawed paw at its two targets. Miron instinctively stepped back to dodge the savage blow, but not fast enough to escape the waves of laceration that slashed his chest. Blood quickly gushed from the deep wound and soaked his chest and suit. The healing spells on those disgusting uniforms were all just enough to stop the bleeding, but could not completely close the wounds.

Worse, in his instinctive retreat, Miron shoved Kei violently and made him fall. Kei lost his scepter, which he didn't even know how to use anyway, but fortunately, he was able to hold on to the corners of the wall. Miron awkwardly rushed to help him as the massive bird of prey slowly approached.

Grabbing Kei with one hand, Miron promptly discarded his scepter in turn, which was of no use to him in this case either, due to too many monsters around them, but pulled out the object he had found in the janitor's room. A whistle. He held it feverishly, as sure as he could. The tearing sensation returned and added to his troubles. Then, having almost dropped it, he glowed as best he could and managed to blow it just in time, just before the raptor that raised its clawed paw struck a fatal blow. Hearing the high-pitched sound produced by the magic object, the bird of prey shook its proud head painfully before flying off screaming in anger. As soon as Miron was able to get Kei up, he picked up his scepter before they resumed their run. Miron whistled as often as he could into his sonic weapon to scare away creatures that tried to catch them or block their path. A huge half-spherical barrier was created around them, a magical sound barrier that no creature had the power to penetrate at the risk of suffering intolerable pain.

Full of hope, and a big smile on his face, Kei called out.

"I don't know where you found this little thing, but it's fantastic! They all ran away when they heard the sound, which was so loud and piercing that it was almost visible. So keep blowing, don't stop!"

As expected, the audience was all stunned by Miron's exceptional dexterity. Each guest oozing dirty money, corruption, and ugliness from the underworld, with their artificial and depraved but elaborate manners, and luxurious clothes contrasted ignobly with the unfortunate state of the refugees from Athok. The glitter of their priceless jewels harmoniously matched the sublime and incomparable lights of the night stars. A guest wearing a red suit with black polka dots straightened slightly, an expression of contentment and greed altering his masked face. Stroking his thin mustache, he looked at the spectacle with eager eyes and remarked.

"You are right to appreciate the boy, Sirkol. He is truly exceptional. And that whistle is a simple but very useful weapon, which I'm sure he was instinctively aware of. For this desperate situation, I mean. And if I'm not mistaken, it's a work of art created by the great craftsmen of southern Kaltan, where the prince of water has taken refuge. It's almost a waste to kill him. What if I bought him from you instead?" he asked half-seriously, half-amused."

Sirkol sketched a careless gesture.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, my dear, but this young boy is not for sale or trade. His fate is to lose his life tonight. There is no escape for him. For as a wise man once said, all good things must come to an end. Even though he is obviously a prodigious boy, all that is here," and he waved his hand over the labyrinth of a thousand monsters that were fiercely fighting each other to catch two children lost in the middle of their territory, "is the limit of the pleasure he can give me. And I would expect no less from Miron. It's so exciting and visceral to watch him try to delay as long as possible the inevitable moment when death would eventually triumph and take him away forever."

This time, his mustachioed guest turned his full attention to the Athok director and regarded him for a moment in silence with his now bright eyes, reddened by an unhealthy curiosity.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Answered the latter although he had perfectly understood the meaning of the question.

"Why do you want to destroy this boy so much?"

"Why did you come to think that?" he tried to prevaricate again.

"Because it's obvious!" the almost hilarious mustachian exclaimed. "And just so you know, we're all experts at destroying others here. So don't try to find a loophole, and answer my question. As a guest and loyal ally, I'm still entitled to a few privileges like receiving truthful answers. Why?"

The two mages looked at each other for a moment with an implacable, annoyed look, then Sirkol decided to give in.

"It's simple, Miron is the kind of being you can't let exist otherwise... nothing can stop him anymore. "

His friend raised his eyebrows, then nodded.

"I see."