The Nexus Knight [Chapters 10-12]

Hey peeps!

More Nexus Games #2. Hopefully you enjoy the Crypt Windows!

In the middle of editing now. Dan Calley said he would return for the audiobook! If any peeps are interested in getting code for that, just message me.

—Chapter 10—

—The Center of the Catacomb Maze—

Sen gripped the collar of Kellan’s T-shirt and yanked back, practically choking him. “What’re you doing?”

But Kellan didn’t slow. He closed his eyes right as he was about to go face-first into the stone bricks. Instead of giving himself a concussion, Kellan flew through the wall, just as he expected to. Sen, physically shaking, obviously hadn’t expected that result.

Kellan forced himself to come to a halt. He wasn’t sure where he was running anymore, and he wanted to make sure Mavis kept up with him.

Slight movement caught his attention. He turned, but he was too slow.

A muscled man lumbered forward, at least seven feet tall, his fist cocked. Kellan’s first thought was to dive into the darkness to avoid the incoming strike—but Sen’s presence prevented that. Kellan only managed to take one step backward before the man slammed his fist into Kellan’s noggin.

Kellan was hit so hard he forgot cursive.

His vision went black for a split second, and when he regained consciousness, he was leaning against the rough stone wall, his breathing ragged. The warmth of healing magic spread from his neck through his busted lip and nose.

Kellan didn’t even remember seeing a damage notification after getting struck. But when the second swing came, the haze over his mind was sufficiently cleared that he managed to leap out of the way.

The muscled man—so buff that his neck had disappeared into the mountain of his shoulders—moved with the speed and force of a steamroller. He slowly turned, his T-shirt straining to keep itself together, practically ripping at the seams. Kellan didn’t know why, but the man also wore bicycle shorts, a bizarre and unsettling combination that left little to the imagination.

When the man lifted his fist again, Kellan ripped Sen off his neck and threw him to the ground. The man-child hit the stone bricks with a grunt.

Their attacker swung, and Kellan dodged under. Then he jumped to Sen’s side, grabbed the glowing stick of hane, and crushed it in his palm. Kellan’s eclipse magic responded to the sudden darkness. He felt as though it were strengthening him—without any light, the shadows reigned supreme.

Kellan’s Void Knight ability increased his physical stats by five each, elevating him to superhuman levels. Like some sort of fucked up vampire high on coke-laced blood, Kellan jumped, kicked off the wall, and then roundhouse kicked his attacker.

[Alex Kellan] struck [Gero] for 6 bashing damage.

[Gero] reduces damage of each hit equal to his natural armor rating of 2.

[Gero] takes a total of 4 damage.

The muscled man—Gero—slammed into the wall. In one clean motion, Kellan unslung his rifle and struck the man across the face. Blood exploded from his nose and mouth. The man crumpled to the floor, crashing like a tree. He gargled down air, and then lifted an arm to shield his face.

The man only had one eye.

The other had been… dug out.

That wasn’t the worst part. The man only had four fingers per hand, each digit awkwardly shaped and of varying lengths. They weren’t injured or scarred—the man was just deformed. Even his neck—thick as a trunk—wasn’t just from muscle.

How much health did the man have? After the two strikes, Kellan was certain he had done more than seven damage, which meant Gero had more. But probably not much more. He was at death’s door.

“It’s one of those inbred Nexus residents,” Sen shouted. He couldn’t see without the hane. He felt around on the floor, his gaze unfocused. “Kill him! We need to continue on our way.”

Kellan hesitated.

The residents of the Nexus were distant, inbred, children of the Arbiter. Their misshapen bodies were just as twisted as their dimension. Kellan had met a couple residents during the first few games, and each had seemed frightened, at a disadvantage, just looking to avoid death at the hands of the Nexus Games participants.

And since Kellan’s eyes didn’t offer him any information on Gero, it was likely he wasn’t a mage—just a mortal who loved lifting weights, apparently.

Mavis stumbled through the illusion wall, finally joining them. She shivered and patted at her arms, several Crypt Widows scuttling over her pebble skin. When the arachnids fell to the floor, Kellan jumped close and crushed them with his bare feet, trying not to picture the eyeballs exploding, but unable to block out the squishing noise they made.

“You okay?” Kellan asked.

“Yeah.” Mavis reached out and grabbed his shoulder. “Why is it dark? What’s going on?”

“I need to handle something. Just stand here.”

Kellan turned and found the inbred resident getting to his feet. Kellan aimed his rifle but waited with his finger on the trigger.

“Don’t move,” Kellan commanded.

Then his arm burned. Kellan sucked in air through his teeth and glanced down at the timer. The numbers read:

05:19

His heart sank, his whole body tensed with realization. Someone picked up a Summoning Chime. An hour had disappeared from their collective time.

Goddammit, Kellan thought, glaring at the numbers. We shouldn’t be wasting time.

“If you let me go, I’ll tell you the way to the center of the maze,” Gero said, his voice gurgling, as if he had cobblestones in his throat. “Please. I have a family.”

“Do you live here?” Kellan asked.

“I… No. I came here looking for information.”

Information? Kellan wanted to inquire about that, but the sting on his forearm remained—reminding him that other teams were already collecting their chimes and heading out. Did he have enough time to interrogate a Nexus resident and make it to the center of the maze?

After slowly lowering his weapon, Kellan sighed. “Gero, right? That’s your name?”

The question took a long moment to sink in. Gero’s one eye was wide, his mouth slightly open as though the words wouldn’t come. Had he heard? Why was he so stunned?

“Who cares what his name is?” Sen asked. “Let’s just get the information and hurry on!”

“My name is Gero,” the Nexus resident said.

The darkness was too thick for anyone but Kellan to see. He wanted to point to the illusion wall, and tell Gero to get out, but that was pointless. Instead, Kellan just said, “Look, if there are other residents in this maze, gather them all up and leave. Once the time on this challenge round is over, the Arbiter intends to kill everyone here.”

The statement didn’t meet with an immediate reaction. Gero stared with his one eye—his empty socket swollen, puffy, and red.

“At least have him tell us the way,” Sen shouted. “He offered! What’s wrong with you? You spurn all our advantages!”

Gero stood to his full height. His impressive seven feet brought his head close to the stone ceiling. He used his four-fingered hand to smooth his shirt. “You… I’ve seen you on the TV. You spoke before the Arbiter. You’re… Alex Kellan the Void Knight.”

Kellan smiled to himself. At least it’s not Alex Kellan the Rulebreaker anymore. “That’s me.”

With a sigh, Gero said, “Merry Christmas.”

“Wait, what?” It only took Kellan a second to remember all the things he had said to the Arbiter. He had said Merry Christmas on TV, and then later Bitso had explained it was a phrase that meant: Thank goodness I’m alive.

“Right,” Kellan stated. “Merry Christmas.”

The man didn’t move. He swayed on his feet, likely dizzy from the many strikes to the head. Then he waved a large hand and pointed.

Kellan glanced around. They stood in a long hallway. Down one end was another four-way intersection. Down the other end was a T intersection. The illusion wall that led to the spiders blended perfectly with everything around them. Kellan marked the floor with a smear of blood from the spiders on the bottom of his feet.

Gero continued to point, but his arm shook.

Knowing that everyone else needed to see, Kellan reached into his backpack and withdrew another stick of hane—the black cigarette was thin, and when he spent another mana to activate his eclipse power, the hane glowed bright, illuminating the area.

Everyone squinted against the light.

Kellan lost his improved strength, dexterity, and fortitude. He felt weaker—like he hadn’t slept in weeks—and regretted brightening the area for everyone else.

Gero waved his arm forward, more confident. “I’ll take you to the center of the maze. This way.”

“I just told you everyone is going to die.” Kellan glanced down at the timer on his arm. “You should just tell us the way and then leave.”

“It’ll be faster if I show you.”

Although Kellan didn’t like this outcome, he turned to Mavis and Sen to see if they would agree. Mavis brushed back her purplish hair and nodded once. Sen, still upset and brushing himself off, was more concerned about the lumpy tumor in his sweatshirt than anything else. He pulled out the Crafting Clay, whispered things to it as he patted it off, and then returned it to his pocket.

“Carry me,” Sen said, his arms up. “I don’t trust inbred lunatics, but since you seem so determined to make friends with these genetic defects, I guess I’ll go along with it. However, if we start rapidly running out of time, we need to head back to our room.”

Kellan sighed, knelt, grabbed Sen, and then headed over to Gero. “Lead the way.”

Gero lumbered forward, walking with an odd gait. He favored his right leg—which was slightly longer than the other. Kellan took note of it as he stayed a short distance behind the man. Mavis stayed close, but she kept grabbing at parts of her clothes, itching and patting, as though looking for more spiders.

Without hesitating, Gero led them to the T intersection, and then took a right. A few feet down the new corridor, he turned straight into the wall. The illusions didn’t seem to bother him. Kellan followed, trying not to get too far behind as he cautiously watched Mavis over his shoulder.

“You helped us before,” Gero said through huffs of breath.

“Us?” Kellan asked.

“The residents of the Nexus.”

“Ah.” Kellan thought back to the children he had helped. The ones who had died. “I wouldn’t say I was that much help.”

“You didn’t kill me for arcana.”

“Hm.”

Gero turned into another wall, seemingly at random. He passed through another illusion, and Kellan dashed after him. Mavis stayed close, but her attention was on her surroundings and less on Gero. Whenever Kellan glanced back, he wasn’t so sure what Mavis was staring at.

Another illusion wall.

And then another.

Kellan stepped into a third hallway and found more Crypt Widows. Gero covered his face, and Mavis crushed them at every opportunity, either with her shoes, or her fist. When she struck one, it exploded like a blood-filled water balloon.

The moment they ran through another illusion, Kellan found himself in a large stone room. The rot of dead bodies hung on the stagnant air, stinking the place up worse than a morgue. He coughed back the noxious smell.

The room wasn’t large—a mere ten feet by ten feet—and Kellan noticed something lingering in the corner like a hobo lingered in an alleyway near a dumpster. What was it? At first, Kellan thought it was some sort of monstrous yami, but before he could throw Sen off his back, he managed to make out all the details.

It was… two people.

Two people melted together, their bodies seemingly twisted into one being. The thing had two heads—one looking forward, the other looking behind. Its chest was giant compared to its three thin arms and two stumpy legs. It wore clothing only through the liberal application of belts and strings to keep everything up and in place.

Was it a man? Both heads seemed masculine, there were no feminine features, but the skin was twisted and shiny, as though it had been melted for a few moments like a partially used candle.

Kellan hefted his rifle.

His gun seemed eager to kill the beast.

“What’re you doing, Gero?” the two-man shrieked as he held a hand up over one set of eyes. He squinted and pressed himself into the corner of the room, the second head trying to crane around enough to see what was happening. “Why have you brought players here?”

“Alvo, Juan—this is the man from the TV. The one who helped.”

Gero lumbered over to the two-man fusion. Then he pointed at Kellan.

“The Merry Christmas fellow?” one head asked.

“Yes. He let me live. I’m taking him to the center of the maze.” Then Gero turned back around, his one eye large. “This is Alvo and Juan.” He gestured to each head. “They’re twins.”

“They’re an omelet,” Sen quipped.

Mavis shot him a glare. Then she placed a finger over her lips. “Shh.”

“This isn’t the center of the maze,” Kellan said, his rifle still at the ready. “Why did you bring us here?”

“Alvo and Juan need help escaping the Catacomb Maze. They have important information.” Gero stomped over to Kellan and then placed a massive hand on Kellan’s shoulder. “Please. If Alvo and Juan try to leave by themselves, one of the other players will find them. I… I was out trying to find a clear path, but everywhere I looked, there were either traps or Nexus Games players.”

And the players would definitely kill them for easy arcana…

Kellan sighed. Then he lowered his weapon.

“Are you insane?” Sen hissed into Kellan’s ear. “These defenseless boobs are worth a single arcana each. At least. The blob-man might be worth two, I’m not sure…” Sen tightened his grip around Kellan’s neck. “We don’t have time to help them.”

“What kind of help do you need?” Mavis asked.

Gero slapped his hands together. “Alvo and Juan must make it to the AVU Palace. They must speak with Nosferatu. He’s another player in the Nexus Games. Please.”

Nosferatu? Kellan knew the name. Some high-ranked mage—a resident of the Nexus. He was the leader of another team.

Before Kellan could answer, Gero pointed to the far wall. “There’s an illusion. Walk through, enter the main corridor, and head to the left. The center of the maze is right there.” Then he turned back to Kellan, his one eye screwed into half a glare. “But please. Return here afterward and take Alvo and Juan with you to the exit.”

“Xiang would hate this idea,” Sen said matter-of-factly.

Kellan wanted to do it now more than before. Although he didn’t know Gero, or the twins, he knew that helping the residents of the Nexus had been beneficial for him in the past. And murdering a bunch of defenseless individuals never sat right with him.

“It’ll help,” Kellan stated.

Mavis turned to him with a smile. She said nothing, but the brief look got Kellan smiling in return. It was only Sen’s loud groan of irritation that ruined the moment.

And then Kellan’s arm burned again. Even Mavis sucked in breath this time as they all glanced at their forearms.

04:01

The challenge round was halfway over, and they hadn’t yet found a Summoning Chime, yet two other teams had.

Goddammit.

Kellan gritted his teeth and ran for the illusionary wall. “I’ll be back. Get ready to run.”

The residents said nothing. Kellan ran by them, dove through the stone wall, and then tumbled out into a large corridor—one larger than all the others. The ceiling was at least twenty feet up, and the walls were lined with holes containing coffins. But the stench of rot was far worse in the corridor than anywhere else.

Kellan held a hand up to his nose as he glanced at the coffins.

One coffin read:

Arcana 90%

Trap 5%

Other 5%

While another read:

Arcana 5%

Trap 90%

Other 5%

This is the corridor with all the highest reward, no doubt, Kellan thought, his heart beating harder than he liked. But his musings came to an end when he stared down the hall. He caught his breath, the mystery of the foul odor finally solved.

A mountain of bodies blocked their path.

Not recently dead bodies. Flesh fell off the bodies in gooey chunks. The skulls were sunken in, the hair was mostly missing, each body stiff with rigor mortis.

Kellan glanced away, his breathing becoming shallow with each second the image remained in his mind’s eye. The pile of bodies had been disturbed—corpses littered the ground, and there was a path through.

The wall of bodies blocked the way to the center of the maze, and some teams had just dug their way through, no care for the decomposing flesh.

“What’re you waiting for?” Sen asked. “Go! There’s a way through.”

Kellan had to force himself to find the words. He glanced at Mavis, careful not to look at the bodies. “Can you… clear more of a way? And then can you carry Sen through? I’ll go after through the darkness.”

“Is everything okay?” she asked. “You look pale.”

But Kellan found it difficult to articulate the problem. He just motioned to the wall between them and their goal. “Please. I just need you to do this.” Then he knelt and allowed Sen off.

The man-child glared up at him. “Why are you hesitating? This isn’t like you at all. You’re a man of action and quick decision. This isn’t even a monster—it’s just fleshy debris.”

“I don’t want to touch the bodies,” Kellan muttered.

“Why not? I’ll cure you of any diseases.”

“I’m not worried about diseases.” He pointed ahead, keeping his gaze down. “Just go. I’ll catch up.”

Sen frowned. Then he crossed his arms. “I told you about my inability to be intimate, and you can’t explain why a few rotting husks have you spooked?”

Kellan ran a hand down his face, clearing away the sweat. It hadn’t been so long ago that he had carried corpses home after a botched Delta Force operation. Since then, bodies left him a little shaky.

Although he didn’t want to talk about the experience, even Mavis stepped a bit closer, her attention fixed on him, rather than their grim environment. The chill of the catacombs added to Kellan’s unease. They didn’t have time to recollect, either—but Sen had made a fair point.

“Listen, two Special Forces soldiers died on one of our assignments,” Kellan said, his words forced. “I carried them home. Like a good soldier should. But… it took days. I just… I don’t want to handle dead bodies.”

For some reason, the undead monstrosities of the Nexus hadn’t rattled him as much as the inanimate ones. Perhaps it was because the undead monsters were moving—Greer and Jones hadn’t moved after their death—and that made things easier.

“I understand,” Mavis said. “I… watched a few of my friends get torn apart by homemade grenades.” She stepped close to Kellan and hugged him briefly. It was quick—almost cold—but she seemed stiff herself. “I’ll take Sen, and you go across however you need.”

“Wait, that’s it?” Sen asked. He huffed and shook his head. “You carried a couple dead bodies? Pfft. I was expecting something more… horrific.”

It wasn’t just the dead bodies.

But Kellan found it hard to describe the terrible, suffocating weight of the guilt.

He had been the only one to survive the operation. And for days, all he could do was stare into the blank faces of men who had depended on him. Men who wouldn’t make it home.

How could Kellan articulate the twisted barb of anguish he felt when he thought of it in those terms? A barb lodged in his mind, threatening to poison his thoughts.

Sen sighed. “Never mind.” He dismissively waved away his own comment. “I know the perfect solution. We’ll fiddle with your head, perhaps remove the memories, and you’ll be fine.”

“No, thanks,” Kellan sardonically replied. “I’ll keep my head how it is.”

“You clearly have a flaw. Everyone does, but yours is an easy fix.”

“I said, no.”

The putrid odor caused Kellan to gag. He motioned them away, hoping to end this as soon as possible. Then he handed Sen the little light.

But Sen stepped forward, like he wanted to continue protesting, Mavis knelt and scooped him up. Then the pair ran toward the barrier of bodies. Mavis hurried over the corpses, her feet finding unsteady ground when she tried to climb the pile. Kellan didn’t watch much. He heard her gag a couple times before finally disappearing over the cadavers.

Kellan closed his eyes and then sank into the darkness. With the cold protection of the shadows—and no odor to irritate his stomach—he slid across the ground, then through the cracks between rotting bodies, and hurried down the corridor. Once on the other side, Kellan emerged from the darkness as though stepping out of a pond.

He stood in the center of the Catacomb Maze.

It was a massive burial chamber, complete with statues of kings, pharaohs, and dragons—a gigantic circular stone room dedicated to all things great, whether they be fantasy or reality.

And then Kellan saw members of the other teams.

—Chapter 11—

—Race Against the Clock—

There were four other players in the burial chamber.

Kellan didn’t recognize three of them. One was a rennic, the werewolf-like individuals who stood around seven feet. Another was a rezrah, which Kellan associated with dragons. They had scales on their arms and legs, and even had a thin-scaly tail. This one wore a biker jacket and jeans, but he left his clawed feet exposed.

It was easy to see the fur and scales—the whole room was brightly lit.

Futuristic chandeliers hung from the high ceilings, offering light to an otherwise ancient tomb. It was an odd juxtaposition, but Kellan even saw computer monitors mounted to the base of the statues.

The last two enemy players in the room were humans.

Kellan recognized one, and he almost couldn’t believe it.

Robert the Friendly. The man who had been as high as a kite back in the AVU Palace. Somehow, despite the tricks, the spiders, and the traps, Robert the Space Case had somehow managed to make his way to the center of the maze. Kellan never would’ve bet on that horse.

Then again, he’s still somehow in the games, Kellan reasoned. Maybe he has an extremely competent team.

Mavis and Sen stood off to the side, eyeing one of the many dragon statues. The decoration was as tall as the ceiling was high—a good twenty feet—and the beast was half made of machines. The attention to detail impressed Kellan, if only because he could see the circuit board wiring in some places on the statue itself.

His first thought was to join them, but Robbie spotted him first. The man sauntered over, his Taco King baseball cap hard to forget. Its purple clashed with the rough gray stone and gloom of the catacombs.

“Hey, bro,” Robbie called out. He jutted his chin up in a reverse nod. “I see you made it. Right on.”

Kellan remained tense. He didn’t particularly trust the man. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Oh? Why’s that?” Robbie reached into his pocket and withdrew a silver tin case. He opened it, popped out a stick of hane, and then lit it with a tiny lighter he plucked out of the opposite pocket. After a deep inhale on the black cigarette, Robbie exhaled smoke and said, “Want one?”

“No, thank you.”

“They really help me focus.”

“I somehow doubt that.”

Robbie shrugged. “Suit yourself, man.” He tucked the smokes away. “How’d you get here? You seem a little weak.”

“What does that mean?” Kellan growled.

“You’re only D-rank? I mean, that’s pretty low. There’s like, seven ranks in total, and D is the second from the bottom. I’m at least C-rank, ya get me? I’m the weakest one here. Well, I was. I guess you’re here now.”

Kellan didn’t know what to make of the conversation. Where was it going? He knew of the ranks. E, D, C, B, A—and then the last two were special. Specialist rank and master rank—S, and M. Apparently, magical abilities increased in power with the ranks, so Kellan understood that the higher the rank, the better the mage’s ability and mana, but what good did it do anyone to discuss it? And in the middle of a challenge?

“Do you have a point?” Kellan asked, curt.

Robbie exhaled another line of smoke. “Point? Nah. Just talkin’.” He allowed his hane to rest on his lip as he spoke. “You have any familiars? That’s how I got here. They helped me. Wanna see mine?”

Familiars?

Kellan had almost forgotten about his familiar. He glanced down at his shadow—the lights from above made it harsh and circular around his feet. “Vlaze?”

Despite the lighting, his shadow stretched out, becoming a hole, and out popped an arm-sized lizard. Well, not a normal lizard. It was an albino wyvern—a creature with wings for arms, two back legs, a long tail, and a dragon head.

Vlaze, as small as he was, leapt from the shadow and then scampered to Kellan’s feet, his red eyes wide.

“Aww,” Robbie said, placing a hand over his heart. “It’s a lil baby. I love him, man. A scale-baby, am I right?”

Kellan wasn’t ever certain how to reply to Robbie. Were these rhetorical questions? Or was Robbie just so high, and so California, that he couldn’t handle a conversation without thirty mans, bros, and likes?

Vlaze, once settled, rested on Kellan’s bare feet. He was cold, like any reptile, and his bat-style wings were soft as leather.

“I’ve got three familiars,” Robbie said, smiling. “But let me show ya this guy. Come out, Kenzo.”

Then Robbie’s shadow stretched from his feet—much further than Kellan’s. The void of darkness hollowed, and out stepped a fully grown chimpanzee. It wasn’t normal, though. Its fingers were tipped with bone claws, and the beast wore half a human skull as a mask over its face. Its dark black eyes stared out from the eye sockets as it turned to face Kellan.

“Kenzo, you’re adorable.” Robbie patted the back of the massive chimp.

The beast had to weigh close to two hundred pounds. Kellan’s magical gaze gave him additional info.

Name: Kenzo

Race:Animal of Pure Magic [Chimpanzee]

Magics: Metal, Entropy

Armor Rating: ---

Health: 12/12

Stats:

Strength—5

Dexterity—6

Fortitude—5

Charisma—1

Manipulation—3 [Scary]

Intelligence—4

Perception—4

Wisdom—3

Willpower—2

Abilities:

Entropic Damage—This Animal of Pure Magic’s attacks are considered entropic and rot the injured. Entropic damage can only be healed one point per day.

Kellan had read about how violent chimps could be. But this seemed different. Dark energy shimmered over the bone claws, which matched the description of its sinister ability. This was some sort of death creature—a magical beast from the darkest jungles of myth.

“Did yours hatch out of an egg, too?” Kellan quipped.

“Yeah. Of course. They all do.”

“Really?”

Robbie slapped his knee and then pointed. “Oh, man. Let me show you my other one. You’ll laugh. I was shocked when this little guy came out of an egg.” He glanced back down at the ground and whistled. “Come out, Klink.”

Robbie’s shadow opened a second time, but instead of an animal floating out, a single key with a keychain rose into the room. The key itself was the length of Kellan’s finger. It didn’t have a face—no eyes, no mouth, nothing—it was just a silver key, as if to a car, and a gold keychain, simple yet beautiful.

The key twirled in the air, seemingly dancing.

Kellan was surprised when he got information.

Name: Klink

Race:Animal of Pure Magic [Mythic Key]

Magics: Eclipse, Mind, Metal

Armor Rating: 3 [Metal]

Health: 4/4

Stats:

Strength—1 [Tiny]

Dexterity—5

Fortitude—1 [Tiny]

Charisma—4 [Likeable]

Manipulation—2

Intelligence—3

Perception—4 [Mystic]

Wisdom—1

Willpower—2

Abilities:

Lockpick—This Animal of Pure Magic may open or lock any non-magically locked door, and any magically locked door of A-rank or lower.

Guide for the Lost—This Animal of Pure Magic can sense nearby nodes, hubs of magic, or dragons (range is one mile per perception).

“Klink is a lifesaver,” Robbie said as he petted the floating key. He used only a single finger. “Isn’t he cute?”

“The sentient key hatched out of an egg?” Kellan asked, just to make sure he hadn’t heard incorrectly.

“Yeah, man. Back where I come from, we didn’t have magic and stuff, so this was all new to me. Never expected the key to be all covered in yolk or whatever that slime is.”

The chimpanzee glowered at Kellan the entire time, its dark eyes narrowed. Kellan didn’t appreciate the look, and took a step back, wondering if this would somehow turn violent. The game was a non-PvP event, which meant players couldn’t attack each other, but did that extend to their familiars? Kellan hoped so. He was pretty certain his baby wyvern would be ripped to shreds if he had to send it after a fully grown chimpanzee.

“Your familiar is about to get bigger,” Robbie stated. “They, uh, grow as you grow. All the arcana you gather. It helps them, too. They get real dangerous.”

“Uh-huh.”

Robbie slapped his hands together a couple times and then motioned to the wall of bodies—the only exit from the burial chamber. He flashed a smile at Kellan, his teeth yellowed, and smoke leaked out from between them. “Whelp, I gotta get goin’. I got my Chime, so, uh, sorry about this, bro. You seem nice, but this is a game, ya know? I gotta kill ya at some point. Now is as good time as any.”

The way he said it—Kellan almost laughed.

Did Robbie think he was going to do something?

“Kellan!” Mavis called out. Her voice echoed in the burial chamber, and the other members of different teams glanced in her direction. She lowered her voice as she called out again. “Come over here. We found something.”

Kellan gave Robbie a forced wave before turning and jogging away. Vlaze scurried after him, the little wyvern keeping pace and staring up at him with all the affection of a puppy.

“See ya later,” Robbie called out.

But Kellan didn’t answer.

When Kellan neared his team, he found Mavis and Sen staring at a computer screen mounted to the base of the dragon statue. The massive decoration was actually filled with electronics, and Kellan briefly grazed his fingers over the cold, gray stone when he examined the clawed foot of the carving.

“What is this?” Kellan asked, glancing at the screen.

It glowed dark green, similar to old-school computer monitors from the 60s. There were only words on the screen, blocky and typing themselves. Several languages appeared, each being typed out in a slow manner—English showed up as the seventh language on the screen.

“We think it’s a puzzle,” Mavis muttered as she stared at the words. “The sentences appear over and over again, and I think it wats us to rearrange things on the statue.” She pointed to five holes located between the dragon’s feet, and then to three metal rods sticking out of the side of the dragon’s leg.

Just as Kellan was about to ask questions, his arm burned again.

02:57

“Got it!” someone shouted.

Kellan, Mavis, and Sen turned. The rennic roared as he flashed his teeth. He held something in his massive werewolf-like hands.

“The Chime is mine,” he said with a growl and laugh.

Without waiting for any other statements or questions, the man lumbered for the wall of bodies, hurrying out of the burial chamber with the Chime clutched in both hands.

“We need to get out of here,” Sen muttered. He turned to the screen. “Quickly! Help us solve this.”

Mavis grabbed the three metal rods and handed them to Kellan. Confused, but determined to make this work, Kellan examined them. His eyes didn’t provide any additional information. Instead, he noticed each silver rod was etched with an image.

One rod had the picture of a raven.

The second had the picture of two lovers intertwined.

And the last had the picture of a… misshapen whale. The deformed whale had four fins and a bulbous head, its tail much longer than normal.

The rods clearly fit into the five holes at the base of the statue—but was Kellan supposed to have two more?

“Read the puzzle,” Mavis said, pointing at the words. “I think we just have to place the rods in a specific order.”

Kellan’s arm burned again. He glanced down, wondering if someone else in the chamber had gotten a Chime.

No.

02:46

Someone had activated a trap.

He returned his attention to the puzzle.

The English on the ancient computer screen read:

The dragon collects silver, three to behold

He orders them to keep track, his conquests are told

At the far end, a herald of death

At other, there is no breath

Two are forever one,

Next to an alien they are spun

They cannot stand the sounds of flight

In the distance, quite a fright

“What is this?” Mavis asked, almost breathless.

Sen pointed to the five holes in the statue, then to the first two lines of the puzzle. “It clearly wants us to order these. Three is enough. Two of the holes will be empty. See? The first clue—which of these rods is a herald of death?”

“The raven,” Kellan muttered. He held up the silver rod. “And it’s at the far end.” He placed it in the hole without hesitating.

“What’re you doing?” Sen barked. “We didn’t agree on that!”

“There’s nothing to figure out. The puzzle clearly says it’s at the far end.” The five holes were in a perfect line. “But if you’re concerned, I’ll just take it out.”

But when Kellan tried to remove the rod, it was stuck in the hole. He tugged on it, but the rod was fixed in place, unmovable.

Each rod they inserted wouldn’t come out.

Which meant… they only had one chance at solving the riddle.

“You can’t remove it?” Mavis whispered.

Kellan slowly shook his head. “It’s fine. I’m certain that’s correct. We just have two others.” He glanced down at the lovers and the odd whale. “If Robbie the Taco King got a Chime, we can do this.”

His arm—it burned again.

02:35

Who is triggering all these traps? Kellan thought, glaring at the black numbers stained into his flesh. What’s happening?

“Well, if the last one is the raven, then the first hole will remain empty,” Sen stated. “At the other end is no breath, which probably means nothing.”

“I agree,” Mavis muttered. “So, first is empty, last is the raven… what are the three between?”

“Is the second spot the couple?” Kellan asked.

He moved the silver rod over the hole.

Sen waved his arms in frantic panic. “No! Not that one.”

“Why not? The next clue is about the lovers, obviously. Two forever one.”

“They’re next to an alien,” Mavis said, her brow furrowed.

“The alien is the Oom!” Sen grabbed at his long black hair, his teeth gritted, his patience clearly gone.

Kellan just frowned. “What the fuck is an Oom?”

Sen pointed at the whale rod with the frustrated energy of a child. His face was even slightly red. “It’s an Oom on the rod! It’s clear as day! Now will you pay attention? The lovers are next to the Oom, but they’re also close to the raven, but distant, which means the solutions is, empty, Oom, lovers, empty, raven. Simple!”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because the lovers are next to the alien—their rods are touching. But they hear the sound of distant flight, which means they aren’t next to the bird, they’re just close. See! There’re only three rods and five holes! And since context clues were given in relation to the lovers, the Oom has to be on one side, and the bird has to be on the other!”

He yelled so loud the chamber was filled with his barking.

Kellan grabbed Sen by the collar of his Power Rangers sweatshirt. “Keep it down. You want the other assholes to hear you? You want them to get a Chime, too?”

The other two individuals in the chamber worked hard with their own silver rods. Was it all the same puzzle? Kellan hoped not.

Then pain flared through Kellan’s arm.

It was getting old at this point.

02:24

“Do it!” Sen said through gritted teeth. “The Oom is in the second hole. The lovers are in the third. We don’t have time to debate this any longer!”

Despite his uncertainty, Kellan decided to trust Sen’s assessment. He shoved the whale rod into the second hole, and then the lovers rod into the third. They fit easily—no fuss or confusion.

And then Kellan took a step back, his albino wyvern clinging to his sweatpants.

The green monitor flickered. Then it cracked down the middle and opened up as if broken from the other side. The glass of the screen shattered, and shards fell to the floor. But inside… Kellan spotted it in an instant.

A gold chime, practically a bell. It was spherical and marked with lettering Kellan didn’t recognize. Fortunately, his Blitzkrieg Analysis knew what it was.

Legendary Magical Item [One Time Use]—Summoning Chime

The mage thinks of the name of an individual and then rings the Chime, summoning the person to the mage’s dimension. For the next fifteen minutes, the summoned individual will answer the commands of the mage, following instructions to the best of their ability. If the mage attacks the summoned, or commands the summoned to harm themselves, the power of the Chime fades.

The following sentient races may not be summoned:

- Primordial dragons

- Oom

- Starkin

The following individuals may not be summoned:

- Anyone dwelling in Zenith

- Those participating in the Nexus Games

- Those locked in a Grand Duel

- Alternate-dimension selves of the chime’s owner

Kellan glanced at Mavis and Sen. For some reason, they both hesitated. No one reached for the Chime. Since they wouldn’t, Kellan reached into the broken computer screen and yanked the Summoning Chime from its bizarre hiding spot.

The letters on the Chime rearranged themselves. They became English, and they read:

Alex Kellan the Void Knight

That baffled him for a moment, but he didn’t have time to question it. Agony lanced up his arm. The pain… it was getting more severe as the time ticked down.

The clock read:

01:22

Then his arm pulsed with another round of aching.

01:12

“Dammit!” the rezrah in the burial chamber shouted.

He slammed his fists on the base of the statue and then took off toward the door, running as fast as he could. There wasn’t any more time to get a Chime—and if anyone picked it up, they would reduce the time by another hour, and would certainly kill themselves.

The last human also ran for the pile of bodies, obviously abandoning the puzzle in favor of their life.

“We need to go,” Mavis said, glaring at the time on her arm.

Sen was practically running for the wall of corpses. “We don’t have time to search anything else! Quickly, quickly! I can’t die here.”

Kellan tucked the Chime into his backpack, scooped Vlaze up into his arms, and then hurried after Sen.

To his horror, however, the time ticked down yet again.

Now they only had…

01:01

Their remaining time to escape was dwindling faster than ever.

—Chapter 12—

—The Collapse of the Maze—

Mavis helped Sen make it over the decomposing bodies. They slipped as their footing caught on odd parts of the corpses. Mavis’s foot sank into a stomach as though she had stepped on a rotten jack-o-lantern.

Unable to watch for long, Kellan took a deep breath, and then tossed Vlaze back into the shadows. After the knots in his chest untangled, Kellan dove into the shadows and slid across the floor at impressive speed. He zipped through the bodies and emerged from the liquid void on the other side of the cadaver barrier.

Get it together, Kellan, he thought to himself. People are counting on you.

When he glanced up, he caught his breath.

The main corridor—the largest in the maze—was covered with arcana.

Glittering red crystals littered the brick floor. Dozens of coffins were opened, their lids sprawled out on the walkway. Several yami—more centipedes, some much larger than the one Kellan had fought—crawled out of open coffins.

The yami centipedes screeched so loud, their terrifying cries echoed throughout the entire Catacomb Maze.

There were at least ten monsters—multiple were emerging from the same coffin.

Who had opened them all?

Kellan answered his own question.

Kenzo, the bizarre death chimp, was running around the hall, flinging the lids of the coffins off one at a time. He leapt from one hole in the wall to the other, his strength great enough that he effortlessly yanked the lids off and then jumped to the next location.

Arcana spilled from some of the opened coffins—like candy showering out of a broken piñata. The coffins had been so stuffed, Kellan suspected they had tons more arcana within.

But they didn’t have time.

Kenzo the chimp opened another trap coffin, and Kellan’s arm burned as another monster shot out into the corridor, its fangs large.

Their time…

00:50

It was Kenzo who was intentionally cutting their time down. Now that his master, Robbie, had a Summoning Chime, the ape was busy cutting the time down for everyone else. Robbie’s cryptic message about having to kill Kellan was because he had intended to harm everyone as soon as he left.

But Kellan couldn’t fight the chimpanzee.

There was no PvP allowed in the challenge round.

“Mavis, take Sen and go meet up with Gero,” Kellan commanded. Then he tossed her his backpack but kept his rifle.

“Do you see all this arcana?” Sen asked, breathless. But when the yami started heading their way, he gritted his teeth and grabbed on to Mavis. “On second thought…”

Mavis didn’t hesitate or gawk at the arcana like Sen. She grabbed the kid’s hand and then rushed for the illusionary wall. In order to distract the monsters, and make sure they didn’t rush after Mavis, Kellan opened fire on the corpse-centipedes in the corridor.

While most of the beasts had an entire grocery store’s worth of health, that didn’t matter. The moment bullets started cutting through their stitched-corpse bodies, they turned their hate and hunger in Kellan’s direction. All twelve monsters rushed for him, the legs of their centipede bodies nothing more than human arms pulling them across the stone bricks.

Thankfully, the burial chamber was the only place in the maze with lights. And once Mavis and Sen took the glowing stick of hane, the corridor was mostly shrouded in darkness. The last light remaining came from the crimson glitter of the arcana—it haunted the corridor with its red hue.

Empowered by the shadows—heightening his physical prowess to fun new levels—Kellan leapt away from the beasts, dove into the darkness, and then emerged near Kenzo.

The chimp, who had his hands on the lid of a coffin, flinched. His eyes under the skull mask grew wide.

Kellan slammed his hand down on the lid of the coffin, preventing the chimp from opening it. “No more of this.”

The primate went to open his mouth, but he only strangled back a bark when the yami rushed in their direction. Both Kellan and Kenzo leapt away, but the chimpanzee was slower than Kellan.

Kenzo slashed at the undead centipedes with his deadly claws, his rotting ability seemingly having little effect on the corpses—who were already rotting. The chimp slashed and dodged and then continued running down the corridor. When he stopped and headed for another set of coffins, Kellan dove back into the shadows and emerged near the creature.

The chimp grimaced and backed away.

Kellan was considerably stronger now—the beast wouldn’t be able to open the lids of the coffins without a fight, and since that wasn’t allowed…

The monsters rushed toward them, all still angry about the cuts and bullet wounds.

Satisfied that he had kept them distracted, and angry at the chimp, Kellan shifted through the darkness and stepped out into the corridor near the arcana. He scooped up multiple pieces, the crimson glow of the crystals warm and inviting.

[Alex Kellan] absorbed 10 arcana.

But he knew he couldn’t root around for more. Time was ticking. As long as the ape was preoccupied, he wouldn’t trigger any more traps.

Kellan headed for the illusion wall and dashed through it.

He entered square room expecting to find his teammates, as well as Gero, Alvo, and Juan. But instead, he found no one. His heart rattled around in his chest, and Kellan ran a hand down his face, clearing his thoughts. He rushed to the other end of the room, back into the hallways with the Crypt Widows, and kept hurrying down the path he had taken before.

They’re just heading to the exit, he reasoned with himself. I’ll find them along this path.

Then Kellan made the mistake of glancing at his arm.

00:46

It had taken them several minutes of running to actually make it through some portions of the maze. Did they have enough time? Kellan picked up his pace.

Thankfully, he heard footfalls ahead of him. Kellan controlled his breathing, trying to hide his presence as much as possible as he ran through the darkness of a catacomb with no light. The glow of the illuminated hane was a welcome sight. Although the light drained Kellan of some of his strength, it was enough to know that he had reconnected with his group.

Alvo and Juan traveled with them, but not Gero.

When Kellan reached the group, he realized they were traveling slower because of the merged twins. Their fused body was… awkward. They limped and waddled, almost without balance. Rushing wasn’t helping matters, either. Both heads panted as they went, clearly strained from the effort.

At this rate, they’ll collapse halfway to the exit.

Mavis was busy carrying Sen.

Kellan ran to Alvo and Juan, offered his shoulder, and basically carried half the men’s weight on his own. The Nexus resident tried to protest, their stuttered words killed by their inability to breathe properly.

“Just run,” Kellan stated.

His arm stung.

He didn’t even look this time. Kellan knew. They had about thirty minutes to escape. He didn’t need to be reminded by the black stained numbers on his skin.

And that was when the maze started to crack.

The walls, the floor, the ceiling—tiny chips formed in the bricks. Each small crack spiderwebbed out, creating jagged lines across all the stonework. Bits of debris and dust rained on them at a steady rate, and more than once, Kellan almost tripped over a brick that jutted upward from the pressures all around it.

“Keep your eyes on the floor,” Kellan shouted. “I marked the locations we need to turn!”

Mavis nodded. Sen just continued to clutch her tightly.

Alvo and Juan pointed a few times—seemingly to walls—and Kellan suspected he was trying to direct them to a different location. Was there an exit to the Catacomb Maze that didn’t involve the rooms the Arbiter had made? Most certainly. Gero, Alvo, and Juan had to have gotten into the maze somehow.

But they couldn’t go that way.

“We have it,” Kellan said.

The twins didn’t like that answer, though. They grunted and pointed again, but Kellan ran by each location they tried to steer him. Kellan had no interest in deviating from the path. They had to escape, and he wasn’t going to risk getting lost.

His arm burned again.

Twenty minutes.

His lungs ached, desperate to get enough oxygen. Kellan hadn’t thought about it, but he suspected the maze was filled with thin air—not to mention poor ventilation and odd bodily gases. When his head grew light, he knew they shouldn’t be exerting themselves so much, but there was no choice.

Mavis turned and ran into an illusion wall. Kellan just followed. His mind dwelled on their surroundings, trying to stay vigilant, just in case a monster emerged from a nearby coffin.

The cracks grew larger, and the maze shook.

At one point, Mavis slowed and searched the ground, her eyes squinted. The harsh shadows and bizarre lighting made it near impossible to see a smear on the bricks when they were actively crumbling apart.

Kellan grabbed the bright hane, and crushed it in hand, and then allowed the darkness to settle over them. Not only did he get the physical boost from the shadows, but his ability to see in the dark made everything easier. The others were blind, but Kellan didn’t care.

“Hold on to my shirt,” he said.

Mavis grabbed his sleeve.

Without another word, Kellan spotted his own marking and dashed forward. He almost toppled over Mavis, and he had to force himself to slow his pace. With eight strength and eight dexterity, he felt like Superman, capable of zipping through the crumbling corridors. But none of the others could keep up with that, so Kellan did his best to shoulder most of Alvo and Juan’s weight and also keep Mavis close enough that she could follow without problem.

When they made it back to the never-ending first hallway, Kellan wanted to reassure them.

“Almost there,” he muttered.

Then a searing pain lanced through his arm.

Less than ten minutes.

Kellan couldn’t bring himself to look at the numbers—he just flew forward, running as fast as the others would allow. Their heavy breathing mixed with the destruction of the maze, creating a cacophony of panic. The dust clung to his lungs, and Kellan coughed the entire way, his throat hurting as much as his lungs.

Then he stepped on a jagged rock on the floor. The arch of his foot hurt so badly he almost went face-first into the wall.

Mavis wheezed and grabbed at her throat. The thin air, and debris raining from the ceiling, was becoming too much.

Kellan spent a mana and activated his Ignore Pain ability. The fire in his chest and throat, as well as the lightning strike of agony in his foot, were all a thing of the past. He hefted most of the twins onto his shoulder, grabbed Mavis and Sen, and with his increased abilities, ran the rest of the length of the hall.

The instant he saw the mark he had left on the ground, he turned and hurled himself through the wall. If it hadn’t been an illusion, he probably would’ve broken his neck. Fortunately, it was an illusion, and they all stumbled back into Room 101.

“Time’s up!” a voice from an old set of speakers rang out, the tone filled with static.

A boom and crash echoed beyond the door of the room. Metal doors slammed shut, protecting everyone inside the room from any more dust, debris, and foul odors.

“What an intense challenge round.”

Whoever spoke was way too happy for Kellan’s taste. He set the others down and gulped in air, trying to regain his composure.

“It’s time to bring all our players back! And four people managed to get Summoning Chimes? Impressive! We’ll have to teleport them straight here for an interview. Everyone loves to see a chump get his fifteen seconds of fame, am I right?”

“Will I go as well?” Alvo asked, breathless. His twin brother, Juan, mouthed the question as well. “You didn’t take us to the exit. I don’t know if… if the Arbiter will remove us from here. We’re not part of Team 101.”

And before anyone could comment, a feeling of pressure grabbed at Kellan’s insides and tugged him forward.

He was teleported out of the room, and back to the AVU Palace.