055 - A Single Man

[Amyral]

Logan was somewhere in the middle of the pack as the group advanced through the rooms. He was worried, he would much rather be outside and hope the others would make their way out. But by his count, there were still four people unaccounted for. If one of them was hurt, really hurt, he might be able to help.

Besides that, looking at the assembled group he wasn’t so worried about anything physically threatening them. He smiled a bit to himself, knowing how unique of an opportunity it was for him to be traveling with all the Freedom Fighters.

“Dad!” Alex cried out, his voice getting more and more desperate as they slinked through the halls.

As they approached another door, a voice behind them cautioned. “I wouldn’t go in there.”

Logan turned his head to see Marco leading the other two. “Marco? Why? What’s in there?” he asked.

Costanza answered in Marco’s stead. “Powerful magic. There’s a labyrinth, one that is untrackable and unpredictable. The walls change, the exit moves, paths that were once there close off. We tried to enter and got lost for what seemed like an eternity.”

That seemed to do it for Alex. Somehow, he knew that his father was somewhere deep within the labyrinth. “What’s it like?” he asked.

Marco shook his head. “I wish we could say. Like he said, we tried to enter. We were able to create some paths with explosives, but we never seemed to get anywhere and soon ran out. We tried to map it out,” he said, pulling out a large piece of folded paper. “But it was impossible to backtrack. As soon as we took our eyes off of the path, it had changed. While in there we found two doors, one with a monstrous creature that we had to flee from, and the other that led out. We haven’t been back in since then.”

“Why didn’t you make your way out?” Kevin asked.

Scott glanced at the other two. “We used almost all of our supplies while in there. We’re low on ammunition. Since that place is in there, we knew someone would either be coming in or going out. A place like that wouldn’t exist if someone was meant to be put in there.”

Logan walked up to the door and looked down at Alex. Marcus’s hand was perched firmly on the boy’s shoulder. He could tell that it was taking every bit of energy not to run in there. But this entire place had been a hell to this point, with mutated beasts and horrific traps the likes of which Logan couldn’t even imagine. What Scott was saying made sense. They were all thrown into a trap once they arrived, it stood to reason that this trap existed for someone to face.

“Can you tell us anything else about it?” Marcus asked, his voice breaking the several minute silence that had prevailed.

“Traditional reality seems to have no meaning. Through magic, halls continue for as long as whomever controlling them wants to with no regard for space or dimension. A walk way that takes two minutes to traverse here could take two centuries to traverse there,” Costanza continued. “There’s heavy magical energy in it, and it’s constantly shifting. Someone, or something, is controlling it as they see fit.”

Marcus nodded and let out a sigh. He glanced down at Alex. No matter how many people were there, Logan had a feeling that it was ultimately their call.