CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE

Labyrinthian, Part 2

The eunuch didn’t respond to Sam’s latest question though, as they had now reached the end of the road. Two narrower paths branched out to the left and right of their party.

“The palace is this way.” He beckoned the heroes to follow him into the right-side path. “A word of warning, don’t talk to the locals. Many of our resident spirits can be nasty tricksters who’ll lure unsuspecting visitors into stray paths that will see you lost… and in this city, the lost stay lost forever.

It was an ominous warning backed by the discovery of one narrow path turning into a narrower alley—with those stacked tombs seeming to teeter onto the street below—only to turn right into a wider street that would end with their party taking the leftmost path from a selection of four branching pathways. From there, the eunuch led them down another right path, left, right, and then left into a much wider road.

“Okay, I was wrong. This city’s not a cemetery…” Sam sighed. “…It’s a freaking maze.”

“I think that’s the idea,” Raven Knight replied. “Remember what King Minos was famous for?”

Sam was reminded of another Saturday temple sermon. One that talked about a place called “The labyrinth…”

As for those evil locals, well, they didn’t seem so evil to Sam’s eyes. Once in a while, a few ghostly faces would peek at their party from their tomb entrances, but none of the spirits stepped out to greet them. In fact, apart from the heroes and their escorts, all the streets they crossed so far were empty of life and were as quiet as a… tomb.

This ghost town atmosphere unnerved Sam to the point that he became grateful for the ghostly faces that sometimes popped out of their hiding places so they could gawk at the new arrivals. Surprisingly, while these spirits gazed at Sam and Raven Knight with curiosity and then sympathy, they would always turtle back into their tombs whenever they catch the hollow gazes of the black spartoi escorting the two heroes.

“Um, you warned us about the locals, but they seem more afraid of you and your guards,” Sam commented.

“It is not fear,” the eunuch scoffed. “It is his majesty’s discipline that keeps the nasty spirits from becoming rowdy.”

As for ‘his majesty’s discipline’, Sam would get a glimpse of it as soon as they turned the corner.

He was elated to see more people on the street — even if the person in question was another eunuch. The spirit’s pristine white robes gave his occupation away, although he looked nothing like the rotund guide ushering Sam and Raven Knight through the city. This second eunuch was tall and slim, with long white hair flowing down his back. He might also have been handsome if there wasn’t such a devilish expression on his face at that moment.

The long-haired eunuch was glaring down at a woman who’d fallen on the pavement in front of him. Like most of the city’s residents, she no longer wore the robe that symbolized past burdens, although her old-timey clothes hung off her like they were a size too small. Perhaps this was because she was as tiny as a mouse and seemed just as defenseless in front of the long-haired eunuch who was trying to intimidate her.

“Are you as stupid as you look?” he asked in a shrill tone.

“B-but my f-family’s rations weren’t distributed today,” she protested. “I had to visit the feeding center for—”

“It doesn’t matter what you think!” The long-haired eunuch kicked her in the gut, forcing the ghost to curl inwardly. “It only matters that you’re out of your dwelling during curfew hours.”

“I-I’m sorry!” she pleaded. “B-but our r-rations—”

The long-haired eunuch kicked at her again. This time, he struck her face, causing an audible groan to escape the spirit’s lips. “Blame the Resistance for stealing the rations allotted to your piss-poor sector!”

He kicked at her again, but Sam had already arrived to block the eunuch’s attack with his arm.

“Wh-what?!” The eunuch gazed dumbfoundedly at Sam’s arm. “Wh-who are you?!”

Instead of answering the long-haired eunuch’s question, Sam pushed his arm forward, forcing the eunuch to stagger back. Then, after blatantly ignoring the long-haired eunuch’s outraged gaze, Sam helped the mousy woman to her feet.

“It’s okay now,” he promised her. “I’ve got this.”

For the first time since entering the city, a spirit looked at him with something other than curiosity or sympathy. And, later, during a moment of extreme stress, Sam would remember the mousy woman’s expression of gratitude, and it would inject him with courage just like it was doing for him right now.

Sam became belatedly aware that the long-haired eunuch was glaring daggers at him while screaming for the black spartoi escorting Sam to arrest him for, in the eunuch’s words, “Belligerence against a servant of his majesty,” but Sam wasn’t feeling anxious. He remained cool and collected while he faced off against the abusive spirit.

Interestingly enough, none of the black spartoi moved to follow the long-haired eunuch’s command. They seemed content to idle behind Raven Knight while keeping their spears pointed at her back.

“You should go,” Sam told the mousy woman. “I’ll take care of this.”

He felt someone pat him on the back, and then the mousy woman was gone as if she’d been nothing more than a mirage carried off by the wind. As for the long-haired eunuch, well, he continued to yell profanities at Sam, but the hero wasn’t overly worried because he recalled how easily he’d blocked the eunuch’s kick and judged he would win if a fight broke out.

“Calm yourself, brother,” someone interjected.

The fat eunuch strode over to Sam’s side, a wide grin plastered on his face. As if seeing his ‘brother’ get taken down a peg had been a happy sight.

“This hero is an honored guest of his great majesty,” the fat eunuch explained.

“Heroes…” The long-haired eunuch’s glowing aura dimmed somewhat. “I… yes… his majesty’s guests are beyond reproach…”

It almost looked to Sam like the long-haired eunuch’s cheeks reddened slightly as he stepped back.

Raven Knight arrived at Sam’s side to link her arms around his once more.

“Good job,” she said. “I would have gone if you hadn’t.”

“That would have been a more interesting scene,” the fat eunuch chuckled. “Now, shall we continue on our way?”

As he followed the fat eunuch to the other end of the street, Sam could sense a proverbial dagger pressed against his nape. It was an uncomfortable feeling that followed him way past the moment they’d left the long-haired eunuch and his street behind them.

The heroes would witness even more samplings of ‘his majesty’s discipline’ as they resumed their march through the city’s labyrinthian streets, although neither Sam nor Raven Knight could do anything while the few spirits who were out and about were constantly subjected to abuses by the eunuchs who seemed to revel in lording their authority over the locals.

“Causing any more of a ruckus will force me to throw you out of the city before you are given a chance to meet his majesty,” the eunuch warned.

It was a blatant threat accompanied by spears pressing against Sam’s back.

So, to continue their mission, Sam and Raven Knight were forced to restrain themselves even though it pained them not to help the poor spirits.

“Now I know why Ice Brand didn’t want to go with us,” he whispered to Raven Knight.

Ice Brand had admitted that he’d already seen similar scenes of abuse. He’d met the Phylarch’s group when they were trying to infiltrate the city and he’d pledged to assist them with their rescue mission.

“He was probably given a cloak like ours. That must be how he got into the city without completing the eunuch’s mission,” Raven Knight deduced.

“Yeah, well, I wish he warned us about all this,” Sam sighed. “I’m at my limit here…”

Sam worried he would go on a rampage soon. He couldn’t take much more of seeing his majesty’s discipline. Unsurprisingly, Raven Knight was also looking like she was about ready to stab someone with her rapier.

“We’re nearly there.” The eunuch said just before he turned another corner. “Through here. Come on.”

The alleyway they arrived in was much narrower than any of the ones they passed before. It was the perfect spot for an ambush. Nothing happened though. The eunuch simply stopped at the ground floor of a nearby tomb apartment’s entrance.

“We’re here,” he revealed.

The tomb apartment they stopped at was as shabby as the ones near the entrance. It looked nothing like the splendor Sam expected from a tyrant’s palace.

One of Sam’s eyebrows twitched upward. “This is the king’s palace?”

“No, but it’s a shortcut,” the eunuch promised.

He commanded the black spartoi to return to the city gate and then ushered Sam and Raven Knight into the chamber beyond.

Triple-A warned Sam to be wary, but it was a needless concern. Both Sam and Raven Knight were already readying themselves for a fight. How could they not when there were obvious red flags to the current situation?

“Those nasty locals you mentioned…” Sam eyed the chamber, taking note of how the graves on the back wall looked so weathered that the names carved on them were undiscernible. “You weren’t talking about the spirits, were you?”

It was just three of them now, and, since Sam and Raven Knight had gone deeper into the chamber, they couldn’t see the eunuch who’d remained at their backs. They could both sense it though; a heavy and malicious aura springing from behind them set their spines tingling. It was a feeling they knew well enough as this was usually the sort of dreadful atmosphere that preceded a horror’s advent.

Raven Knight drew her rapier from its sheath that was hidden underneath her deadman’s cloak. “You’re not taking us to the king’s palace.”

“Did you truly want me to?” the eunuch’s voice had changed. It had lost its jovial tone and became distorted. Evil. “Two livings entering the palace… what a scandal that would make.”

“You knew.” Sam turned around and wished he hadn’t. “Eugh…”

The eunuch was no longer blocking the door. In its place was a fat, grotesque thing whose head was splitting open like a blooming five-petal flower. A noxious stench exploded out into the air as jagged, shark-like teeth popped out of the five slimy appendages that had once been the eunuch’s head. There was a gaping hole at their center reminiscent of a black hole.

“Don’t worry. I’ll still take you to the palace… but first.” A long, forked tongue slid out of the hole to accompany the distorted malicious voice. “It’s only fair that I get to sample the offerings first!”