Mikumbi walked through the corridors of the palace, its walls lined with stone carvings of macabre faces with hollowed-out eyes and mouths and depictions of the mutated fauna of the Ikwubara. Ever cautious, he could sense that there were traps abound in this place. Probably why he hasn't encountered any resistance... Yet.

  Mikumbi took a deep breath through his nostrils then entered his sorcery state.

  “Scan Traps,” he said in a soft yet authoritative tone.

  With blazing yellowy-green eyes, he entered a spectrum of sight that allowed him to see the unseen mechanics. Deep within the walls and the floor lay juyanwansi energy – dark and twisted. Its very presence warping reality and wanting to consume everything. However, for all the built up twisted energy that surrounded him, the wizard warrior could find no trap. No mechanism for pitfalls. No mechanism for anything to fall on top of him. No mechanism for anything to shoot out from the walls. Nothing. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that there was a trap somewhere in the corridors. He knew his uncle and there was no way that he'd build something as grand as this fortress without having internal defences. Matumwe maybe arrogant but he was no fool.

  Mikumbi continued walking through, one deliberate step at a time, his body and mind in a state of alert. Ready to spring into action. Juyanwansi started to swirl in the hollowed-out mouths and eyes of the walled faces. Mikumbi caught sight of it then focused more of his mystical energy on his hands and axe. The walled faces responded in kind by increasing the juyanwansi.

  “Odd. I've definitely set off some kind of trap. But how?” Mikumbi thought. “There's nothing mechanica—oh shit... My magic set it off.”

  The walled faces began to cackle, their strange stone mouths moving in an almost natural way while the juyanwansi blazed in within them. One by one the faces shot their black bolts of juyanwansi flame. Mikumbi ran as fast as his short legs could carry him. The bolts of darkness whizzed by his body as the sorcerer ran in a zig-zag pattern. He rolled. Flipped. Ducked. Each bolt, if struck had the potential to take him out. How the wizard managed to do this, Khonvoum knows? Even though Mikumbi kept his physical prowess up with callisthenics in his cell, the 'rust' was noticeable and he was feeling the effects of not having a full and proper training regimen. The burn of muscle exertion crept upon him. His breathing became heavier. To top it all off, the wizard warrior was slowly losing connection to the universe. The fortress' juyanwansi outer defences were coming back to full power. If that happens, Mikumbi can kiss his chance to escape goodbye.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Mikumbi even with his shortness of breath, ran through the booby-trapped corridor and made it to a flight of stairs. He checked the floor below. Nothing unusual, except much like the corridor, not a single guard patrolled the area. Still, he remained cautious, expecting more traps. This time, he refrained from his sorcery state. Down the stairs Mikumbi went one step at a time, feeling for any booby traps. As soon as he put his weight on one of the steps, the whole stairwell collapsed into a slide.

  “This isn't good,” Mikumbi thought as he slid down on his arse. “I should've jumped down, instead.”

  Mikumbi's eyes widened as he saw part of the floor rise at the bottom of the stairs. Row upon rows of sharp, iron points would be Mikumbi's permanent bed if he couldn't find a way out of his predicament.

  Mikumbi took a deep breath through his nostrils, then entered his sorcery state.

  “Quick Time and Shield,” he boomed.

  Within a blink of an eye, a faint yellowy-green shield appeared in front of him and his sliding speed increased more than tenfold. Mikumbi smashed through the spiked wall like wet tissue paper. Chunks of rock scattered everywhere, along with bent and broken iron points. Mikumbi stood on one knee, breathing heavily. His connection to the universe was growing weaker by the minute. The shield spell might've protected him from the spiked wall but with every impact that happens on the shield, a small portion of that energy is transferred to Mikumbi's body, mind and spirit.

  “Khonvoum... That hurt,” thought Mikumbi. “But it was the most fun I've had in a long time.”

  The door to the courtyard lay ahead of him. The outside. Open space. Something that the wizard warrior hadn't experienced in a long time. His heart pumped as fast as a hummingbird's wings. Freedom from this wretched place was soon to be his... He hoped.

  He opened the door and walked out into the courtyard.