Rosalyn watched the main screen from outside the Coliseum, listening as the announcer commented on the current fight between two teams of students that had reached one of the treasures. It seemed to be a couple of groups of C-Rank students, so their attacks weren’t too impressive, but the leaders of each team were somewhat standing out. Rosalyn supposed there was a decent chance of one of them increasing their rank should they come out of the fight victorious and leave the maze with the treasure.

  Not that it really mattered to her. Her attention was mostly still on Cris’ team, and her gaze kept wandering to the building where the council and school staff were holed up and monitoring the entire Labyrinth. The main feed had shown little glimpses of all the teams, but only the command center would have an ongoing feed, meaning only Rainier and Eleanor would know where Cris and his team were and how they were doing at any given time.

  Rosalyn began pacing, ignoring much of the fight that was going on until it finally came to an end and the rest of the teams were shown again. Cris’ group was briefly shown and it seemed like he was practicing some of his magic which was a surprise, but other than that, not much was going on. However, attention quickly turned to a team that seemed to be nearby his group which was led by a boy named Sam Dayal.

  An Echo had emerged from a path nearby his group, the walls of the maze changing and leading it right to them. Before they knew it, they were being hunted. The feed began cycling through a couple of other teams as well, suggesting this was some kind of coordinated attack from the Echoes. Rosalyn felt a fresh wave of nerves upon seeing that, wondering what the appearance of the Echoes could mean for Cris’ safety.

  “It looks like the Game Masters are steering the teams away from something. Is the top treasure somewhere close to one of them?” the announcer called out, the crowd near Rosalyn cheering in excitement.

  Rosalyn doubted anyone was too close by now, but she had no idea where the treasures had been placed. And with the way the Labyrinth was almost a living being, the paths and walls ever changing, it could be close one minute and impossible to reach the next. The best thing to do would be to avoid conflict and keep searching rather than fall for the trap of engaging in combat thinking something was being hidden.

  “Hmm, looks like Mr. Dayal and his team aren’t doing well. I think they’ll need to regroup!” the announcer then shouted, the crowd gasping as one of Sam’s team was struck and knocked to the side by what appeared to be an Echo in the form of a bull. Rosalyn wasn’t sure which staff member it belonged to, but even if it wasn’t strong for an Echo, most students would struggle with it.

  “Run!” Sam’s voice bellowed from the speakers in the street. Rosalyn was impressed as the boy moved to help his friend up and their group took off, the bull pausing as it zeroed in on them, before taking off again.

  “Enjoying the games, Miss Leroux?”

  Rosalyn jumped in alarm, realizing she’d begun to get absorbed in what was happening on screen. She turned and noticed Eleanor behind her, the councilwoman presumably having left the command room briefly to update her.

  “Councilwoman Frost…how’s Cris?” Rosalyn asked, splitting her attention between Eleanor and the screen.

  “He’s about to be in some trouble…” Eleanor said, eyeing the screen as well. “Mr. Dayal’s team is leading that bull straight for him.”

  “Just what we need. An Echo getting in his way immediately. Think it was planned?” Rosalyn asked.

  “It’s standard,” Eleanor said, shaking her head. “Nothing unusual seems to be happening so far. This month’s games are more difficult, which is a nasty trick to play on Cris with this being his ‘test’, but nothing looks too suspicious other than that.”

  “Think Cris can handle the Echoes with the others helping him?” The screen was now split, showing Sam’s team approaching Cris’.

  “Considering things are a little stacked against Mr. Parker, I’ve taken the liberty of providing some assistance,” Eleanor murmured, grinning as Sam’s team finally got into Cris’ team’s view.

  Rosalyn frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Just remember…Echoes can’t always be fully controlled.”

  Rosalyn was getting a little suspicious hearing that and watched nervously as Sam’s team continued fleeing in terror. Amazingly, Cris and the others looked like they were holding their ground, Sam shouting in alarm upon realizing it, but continuing on his way. Only Heidi seemed to have the sense to want to run, but she stayed with the others.

  “What are they doing?!” Rosalyn asked. “They shouldn’t face it head on!”

  “Don’t worry…” Eleanor whispered, grinning as the bull neared the group.

  Rosalyn’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you’re-”

  Crash!

  “Whooooaaaa!”

  The crowd roared in alarm as the wall of the Labyrinth exploded on the screen, a second Echo blasting through it. This one was in the form of a bear, and it slammed hard into the bull, a cloud of white and blue mist shooting outwards as the two spiritual creatures collided. The shock wave from their collision sent Cris and his companions flying back as well, Cris managing to do something with the magic that he’d been practicing to steady them just enough so they wouldn’t crash into a wall.

  “Guess I lost control of my bear,” Eleanor said, a finger pressed to her lips as she tilted her head. “Oops!”

  Rosalyn couldn’t help but laugh.

  “What the hell is going on?!” Cris yelled, watching as the two misty creatures engaged in combat in front of them. “Did another student send an Echo out?”

  Heidi looked just as alarmed as he felt. “I don’t think any student can use one. Not even Levi or Rose.”

  “Echoes don’t always do exactly what they’re meant to,” Finn said, laughing as the bear shoved the bull back, flipping it over. “Someone lost control of theirs I guess.”

  Cris supposed that made sense, but he couldn’t help but feel like the bear in front of them was in a protective stance. As the bull rose back to its feet, it charged again, but the bear spread its large arms out, blocking off the path and taking the charge head on. For a moment, it even seemed to glance back at Cris and the others, before shifting and pushing the bull further away from where it had crashed through the wall.

  “No need to fight if we don’t have to,” Cris told the others. “Let’s go through there!” he said, pointing at where the bear had emerged from. They all nodded, and the group took off immediately.

  For a few minutes, they stayed at a near sprint, still wary of the Echoes clashing behind them and the possibility of either giving chase. Eventually, though, they slowed down, coming to a new area of the maze that didn’t seem to have anything going on. Finn did a quick check and said a pair of students were nearby, but there didn’t seem to be any sign of combat.

  It was also much warmer in this area, and the path had turned to sandy terrain, so Cris didn’t need to worry about creating any more warm air, and Heidi returned his coat to him. He did try practicing absorbing the warmth, and seemed to find he could somewhat, but it wasn’t as easy or effective as the reverse.

  “Think we can take the pair nearby?” Cris asked, glancing at his teammates. He wasn’t thrilled with the idea of fighting students, not sure how far either side would need to take things to win. At least with those Echoes, he wouldn’t have felt any qualms about doing everything it took to win.

  “Well, it’s just two, but if the maze changes we could find ourselves with more coming at us,” Finn said. “Might not have a choice, though.”

  “We’ll have to fight at some point,” Elsa pointed out. “But we’re further in now. They’re probably a little stronger than the teams closer to the entrance.”

  “Any way to avoid them?” Heidi asked.

  “We’d have to circle back,” Finn said.

  “Then we fight. Or chase ‘em off.” Cris sheathed his dagger and adjusted his gloves. “Trying to focus some magic towards them. He could feel it pooling and released some, sending a short burst of warm air through his fingers. “We’ve gotta keep searching. No point in going backwards.”

  Finn nodded. “Makes sense.”

  With that, the group continued on, moving at a slightly slower pace, readying themselves for combat. Heidi also sheathed her dagger, while Elsa had retracted the blades in her shoes. Blades were permitted in combat in the Academy Games, but Cris had the feeling that most tried not to fight in such a bloody fashion unless it was necessary or against a certain kind of opponent. He had a feeling Levi would be the type to use them.

  After a couple of minutes, nearing a corner, Finn raised a hand after making a few clicking noises and nodding to himself. “They’re coming. Be ready.”

  Only a few seconds later, Cris heard voices. And then, shadows appeared from a nearby torch. When a pair of students emerged around the corner, Cris and Elsa were the first to step forward to meet them.

  “Eep!” one of the students squeaked out. It was a girl with blue hair. Cris recognized her from his class on magical supports. Her name was Hikari Kita.

  Her companion was a boy with dark skin and bushy hair. Cris had seen him around, but didn’t know his name. He was often fairly quiet and didn’t seem to attract much attention. Nonetheless, he kept his cool seeing Cris and Elsa ready to fight.

  “Oliver! Hikari! Didn’t think you guys would compete in these games,” Finn then said, sounding pretty friendly, although he had his slingshot ready.

  “Oliver’s a good fighter, even if his ability doesn’t work here,” Hikari said, narrowing her eyes as she raised her hands. “We’ve got just as good a chance of winning as anyone.”

  “Careful,” Elsa whispered quickly to Cris. “Hikari’s probably the top B-Rank student. She’ll be A-Rank in no time. She’s got powerful water and electrical magic.”

  Hikari smirked. “You do your homework, huh Elsa?” She glanced at Oliver briefly. “Think you can take the new guy? His magic’s unreliable, but he might still use some.”

  “I can handle him.”

  “I can take the others then,” Hikari said confidently, her fingers beginning to spark.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Oh, so we’re getting right to it, huh?” Finn said excitedly. “Fine by me!”

  Whoosh!

  “Ah!”

  Hikari suddenly fell back, her hand going to her stomach. Cris blinked in surprise at the quick strike. It seemed Finn had fired with his slingshot, although the ammo he’d used didn’t appear to be metal this time, but rather rubber. From the sounds of things, though, Hikari had still felt it.

  “Why you little rat…” Hikari responded as quickly as she could, raising her hands up and flicking them forward, a long bolt of thin electricity streaking through the air.

  Elsa responded faster, though, sliding to the side with a gust of wind and raising her arm up to block. Cris expected her to be blown back, but surprisingly, she managed to easily deflect the attack to the side. She didn’t seem to have felt a thing, either.

  “Figured these would come in handy,” she said, revealing some kind of leather and rubber arm pad she’d strapped to her arm. “Electricity is a threat for someone like me who can use the air. Always good to be prepared.”

  “Not bad…” Hikari raised her hands up again and flicked them forward once more. “How about a bath then!”

  Two jets of water rushed forth, one towards Elsa and another towards Finn. It wasn’t so simple for Elsa to block this attack, the blast immediately striking her and causing her to stagger back, while Finn was also hit, falling back onto his rear end. Meanwhile, with Cris distracted, Oliver ran forward, quickly grabbing his arms and twisting him around to hold him in place.

  “Cris!” Heidi shouted in alarm, rushing forward to try to grab on to Oliver’s arm and pry him away. She was nowhere near strong enough, though, Oliver easily able to hold his grip.

  Heidi looked like she was contemplating pulling her dagger out as a last resort, but Hikari was prepared for that, too, aiming another jet of water and firing it off. It struck Heidi in the face and she fell back as well, spluttering and coughing.

  Cris, meanwhile, remained relatively calm. He could tell Oliver was strong, but he’d fought stronger. Of course, with the way Oliver was holding him, he wasn’t going to be able to get loose very easily. There was one thing he was ready to try, though. As Oliver was readjusting his grip, Cris noticed the other boy’s hand going over the pieces of Spirit Steel on his gloves.

  “Hope you’ve got some burn ointment,” Cris said quietly, turning his head as he began to squirm in Oliver’s grasp.

  “What are you…” Oliver’s eyes widened as he noticed the Spirit Steel on the gloves. The glowing Spirit Steel. “Agh!”

  Cris shoved back as Oliver winced, the channeled warmth to the gloves finally doing its work. He’d been starting to wonder if pooling the warmth would do more than just warm the air or his body temperature. And it looked like he’d thought right. He was generating heat, and in that case, he could generate more and increase the temperature.

  As Oliver stumbled, his hold loosening, Cris spun around and sent the rest of the energy pooled in his glove outward, firing off another blast of wind. With all the pooled heat, it was a particularly hot blast, and Cris even noticed some puddles of water from Hikari’s jets steaming and evaporating.

  Tsss!

  “Agh! It’s hot!” Oliver stumbled back, wincing as he covered his face. “Hikari, he’s…”

  Hikari looked just as stunned, and also slightly uncomfortable from whatever hot air had struck her as well. “You can use your magic on command now?” she asked in surprise.

  Cris didn’t want to give away that it was just hot air, but he was happy to have a chance to show off. He raised his hands and turned them around to show the metal on the knuckles of his gloves. They began to glow as he channeled the heat of his spirit energy into them. “Looks like you underestimated us, huh?”

  Hikari narrowed her eyes and raised her own hands up. “We’ll see!”

  Pssshhh!

  Whoosh!

  Hot air met a spray of water, the latter evaporating immediately. Steam billowed outward, making it slightly harder to see. Cris had anticipated that, though, grinning as he heard clicks coming from Finn’s direction, followed by the sound of a projectile shooting through the air. There was a thud, and as the steam dissipated somewhat, Cris saw Oliver collapsed on the ground.

  “Oliver!” Hikari cried out in alarm. It seemed Finn had aimed the attack for her, but Oliver had rushed in front to protect her, the rubber projectile striking him in the head and knocking him out.

  Elsa took advantage of Hikari’s distraction, quickly moving herself and leaping up. With a quick and precise spin, and a speedy and powerful kick, Hikari joined Oliver on the ground, out for the count. Cris could admit to feeling some sense of guilt, but he was glad daggers hadn’t needed to be used.

  “What do we do with them?” he asked, looking at the prone figures of their opponents.

  “The guards will collect them,” Finn said. He then paused, looking down at his shirt, which was pretty damp after the exchanges with Hikari. “Hey Cris…mind doing the hair dryer trick?”

  “Hair dryer trick?” Cris rolled his eyes but glanced at Elsa and Heidi who were also looking uncomfortable after the sprays of water. Sighing, he channeled his magic and sent out an extended gust of warm air. He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt good being useful with his magic.

  Once they were dried off, the group decided to get moving again, Finn taking the lead and continuing checking the way forward with his echolocation. For about half an hour, things remained relatively calm. They didn’t find any more students and no Echoes came after them either. Finn noticed a couple larger groups at a couple points, but managed to find paths to avoid them and move deeper into the maze.

  Cris wasn’t surprised, however, when Finn eventually paused, signaling for the others to stop as though there was a problem up ahead. It had been too quiet since the exchange with Hikari and Oliver, and surely the games needed to keep progressing. He was sure that students would be drawn together and towards the treasures if they weren’t finding any themselves.

  “How many?” Cris asked, kneeling down next to Finn.

  “Two.”

  “We should be able to take two again,” Elsa said.

  “We are deeper in the maze now,” Heidi pointed out.

  “Still, we’re a team of four.”

  “I know which two they are…” Finn looked perturbed.

  Cris immediately had an idea of who he meant. “Levi. And Mara?”

  Finn nodded. “I think so. Can’t be too sure, but I can usually recognize movements I pay attention to. Needed to learn Mara’s pretty well when we were tracking you and David.”

  “So we need to watch what we look at and what we’re listening to. Great,” Elsa muttered in annoyance. “I hate those two working together.”

  “You guys can’t resist Mara’s Siren ability?” Cris asked.

  “Most people can’t do it as well as you,” Finn explained, shaking his head. “Even if they can, though, it’s still hard to keep your head straight. Elsa can probably fight it off nearly as well as you, but it’ll slow her down. I won’t do exactly as she says if I’m not channeling my ability, but if I use it, then I’ll be extra vulnerable.”

  “And I’m pretty useless,” Heidi mumbled uncomfortably.

  “How about we plug our ears then?” Cris asked.

  “We could, but then we’d need to focus on sight more, and that’s where Levi comes in,” Finn said. “And as tough as Mara is to handle, he’s the main threat.”

  Cris clenched his fists, trying to think of a solution. “Could use my hot air to try to keep his eyes at bay. Hard to keep your eyes open with hot air blowing at them, right?”

  “Maybe…” Finn paused, making a clicking sound. “Hmm…they’re moving in the opposite direction.”

  Cris exchanged curious glances with the others before taking a few steps forward. “Are there multiple paths ahead?”

  Finn shook his head. “For now I think it’s only their path.”

  Heidi’s eyes widened. “Maybe they found one of the treasures?”

  “This far in, it might be the top one,” Elsa added, looking alarmed.

  “Then we’ve got no choice,” Cris said, adjusting his gloves. “We’ve got to engage.”

  Finn nodded, although he looked uneasy. “Guess you’re right.” He made a few more clicking noises. “Let’s go then.”

  They moved quickly, but carefully, Finn and Elsa in the lead with Heidi and Cris watching their backs. It wasn’t long before they came to a stop, though, Heidi noticing something on the ground up ahead, and Finn crouching down to examine it. Cris realized that Heidi probably noticed due to her superior vision in the dark and needed to move forward to get a better view. He was perplexed when he saw what Finn was peering at.

  “Dice?” Cris almost laughed. “Don’t tell me that’s a treasure.”

  “No, it’s a message,” Elsa said, leaning down and looking herself. “A pair of ones.”

  “Snake eyes,” Heidi explained.

  “They know we’re coming?” Cris asked. Everyone nodded, but it didn’t make sense to him. “Why not fight us here?”

  “Levi would be the most experienced one in the Labyrinth,” Finn said. “He might know a place to draw us in and have the best chance.”

  “So he’s nervous,” Cris muttered confidently. “Perfect. If he’s that scared, that means we can win.”

  “I don’t think it’s quite like that, Cris,” Heidi said. “It just means-”

  “AROOO!”

  Suddenly, a shaking was felt, and a nearby wall began to change. Cris watched it uneasily, hearing what must’ve been a howling noise getting closer and closer. Sure enough, as the wall opened up, revealing another path, an Echo in the shape of a wolf was seen charging towards them. In a way, it was more dangerous looking than the bull, its eyes fully trained on them with a hunger deep within them.

  “Crap!” Finn quickly aimed up his slingshot, firing it and striking the wolf. It didn’t do much, but it did slow the creature’s charge, giving Cris and Heidi a chance to draw their daggers, while Elsa was able to extend the blades in her shoes.

  “Cris, hit it with a heat wave to distract it!” Elsa shouted. “I’ll circle around.”

  Cris did as told, reflex now taking over as he raised his left hand and let the magic pool within it. It wasn’t quite as good as the blast he’d sent towards Oliver, but he managed a fairly good strike nonetheless, the blast of heat striking the wolf and causing it to stagger back, its form even flickering as though the spirit magic was able to further wound it.

  “Hyah!” Elsa was quick to take advantage, using the walls of the Labyrinth to kick off and get some air. She circled behind the beast and then came down on it from above, kicking into its back and causing its legs to buckle, before swinging out and striking its head. It growled and groaned, its form flickering further.

  Heidi took this as her own opportunity, rushing forward with her own blade and attempting to slash at the Echo. Unfortunately, it was far from finished, the wolf opening its jaws and biting out towards her. She reflexively drew back, her hand without a dagger moving out to block, the jaws closing on the arm.

  Cris’ eyes widened, stunned at what he was seeing. If it had been a real wolf of this size, Heidi may have lost the arm, but it seemed Echoes had slightly different rules of physics. Or perhaps these ones were created not to do lasting harm. Nonetheless, Heidi screamed as she pulled her arm back, blood dripping from it. Cris couldn’t tell for sure, but it seemed as though she’d at least had a break and received some puncture wounds.

  Before the beast could make it worse, Finn fired off a shot from his slingshot, hitting it in one of its eyes and causing its head to rear back. That gave Elsa an opportunity to strike again as well, another kick with her bladed shoes slicing along its head. Cris then decided to rush forward himself, moving a little quicker than Heidi had, and shoving forward with his own dagger. He managed to bury his blade deep into the Echo’s throat, shoving inward as far as he could.

  “Arf!” the wolf cried, the sound much less haunting than it had been moments earlier. Its form flickered again, but this time in much more dramatic fashion. Quickly, the white, misty glow seemed to slowly disappear, and moments later, the creature turned to dust and vanished.

  “Wooo!” Finn cried out excitedly, patting Cris on the back. “Now that’s what an Echo fight is all about!”

  “Nice stab, Parker,” Elsa added, checking her shoes. “That thing was going to need a perfect hit to go down completely.”

  Cris nodded, quickly turning to Heidi, who was wincing as she looked at her arm, which was cradled against her chest. “You okay?”

  She grimaced, but moved her arm weakly outward. It wasn’t broken after all, but it was certainly troubling her. “I think…I’ll be…okay,” she murmured.

  “Maybe we should get you-”

  “Parrrrkerrrr…”

  Cris froze, turning around, facing the direction of the noise he’d just heard. The soft, melodic noise, echoing from the direction of the maze where Levi and Mara must’ve been. He had no doubt who the call was from.

  “Mara…”

  Heidi followed Cris’ gaze, and she gasped a moment later. Cris turned back to her, and she pointed ahead. He followed where she was pointing to and rushed forward, kneeling down to another pair of dice. Another pair of ones.

  “Snake eyes.”

  “Think they called the Echo?” Cris asked.

  “Can Mara control those things?” Finn asked. “I didn’t think she’d be able to.”

  “Time to come and play…”

  The voice was louder this time. Closer. Immediately Finn’s eyes became cloudy. As did Heidi’s. Elsa seemed to fight it off, but she seemed uncomfortable. Cris noticed somewhat of a tugging sensation in the back of his mind, but ignored it as best he could.

  A rattling noise was heard further along the path, and Cris watched as Finn and Heidi slowly walked towards it. He and Elsa followed along, and he hit the two ahead of them with a blast of hot air to snap them back to their senses. It seemed to work, but they still seemed to have an urge to keep moving forward.

  The group found where the rattling noise had come from, seeing more dice on the ground ahead. More ones. More “snake eyes.” They continued forward. The voice continuing to call out, and Cris continuing to fight it off both for himself and the others.

  Finally, they reached an arch over a path that seemed to pass only into shadow. Cris was hesitant to pass through it, but after about a minute of their group waiting out front of it, another pair of dice came tumbling down in front of them through the shadows. And another voice. A voice different from Mara’s. Levi’s voice.

  “Scared, Parker?”

  Cris sighed. He didn’t want to be so easily baited, but he figured he didn’t have much choice. If they were going to win, they were going to have to beat these two anyway. They might as well get it over with. He led the way forward, and their group passed through shadow, the air seeming to warp as they did so. It was somewhat familiar.

  On the other side, they entered into a wider open section of the maze, the torches along the walls much larger, the path cobbled. Behind them, the shadows disappeared and the maze seemed to go on as normal. It was almost as though they had teleported. Nonetheless, the source of the voice was still ahead of them, and Cris narrowed his eyes as he looked upon the faces of Mara Keres and Levi Ofkus.

  “Hello, Cris,” Levi said with a smirk, his sunglasses carefully covering his eyes. “Nice of you to join us. Welcome to our lair.

  “Welcome to Hell.”